Species reemergence after collapse is possible but different

Washington DC (SPX) May 26, 2011

Species pairs that disappear through hybridization after human-induced changes to the environment can reemerge if the disturbance is removed, according to a new mathematical model that shows the conditions under which reemergence might happen.

The findings, published in the journal Evolution, are important for conservationists and ecosystem managers interested in preserving, or even restoring, systems that have been disturbed by human activity.

By simulating environmental disturbances that reduce the ability of individuals to identify and select mates from their own species, the model explores the mechanisms that cause hybridization between closely-related species. Hybridization can lead to population decline and the loss of biodiversity.

For instance, certain species of stickleback fish have collapsed into hybrid swarms as water clarity in their native lakes has changed, and certain species of tree frogs have collapsed as vegetation has been removed around their shared breeding ponds. Such hybrid swarms can replace the original species.

"What is happening isn't just speciation in reverse. The model shows that populations after collapse are likely to be different from the parental populations in ways that affect the future evolution of the system," said Tucker Gilman, postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis and the paper's lead author.

According to the model, the reemergence of species pairs was more likely when disturbances were strong than when they were weak, and most likely when disturbances were quickly corrected. However, even temporary bouts of hybridization often led to substantial homogenization of species pairs.

This suggests that ecosystem managers may be able to refill ecological niches, but probably won't be able to resurrect lost species after species collapse.

"The encouraging news from an ecosystems service point of view is that, if we act quickly, we may be able to refill ecological niches emptied by species collapse. However, even if we can refill the niches, we probably won't be able to bring back the same species that we lost," Gilman said.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Species_reemergence_after_collapse_is_possible_but_different_999.html.

NASA's Spirit Rover Completes Mission on Mars

Pasadena CA (JPL) May 26, 2011

NASA has ended operational planning activities for the Mars rover Spirit and transitioned the Mars Exploration Rover Project to a single-rover operation focused on Spirit's still-active twin, Opportunity. This marks the completion of one of the most successful missions of interplanetary exploration ever launched.

Spirit last communicated on March 22, 2010, as Martian winter approached and the rover's solar-energy supply declined. The rover operated for more than six years after landing in January 2004 for what was planned as a three-month mission.

NASA checked frequently in recent months for possible reawakening of Spirit as solar energy available to the rover increased during Martian spring. A series of additional re-contact attempts have ended, designed for various possible combinations of recoverable conditions.

"Our job was to wear these rovers out exploring, to leave no unutilized capability on the surface of Mars, and for Spirit, we have done that," said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Spirit drove 4.8 miles (7.73 kilometers), more than 12 times the goal set for the mission. The drives crossed a plain to reach a distant range of hills that appeared as mere bumps on the horizon from the landing site; climbed slopes up to 30 degrees as Spirit became the first robot to summit a hill on another planet; and covered more than half a mile (nearly a kilometer) after Spirit's right-front wheel became immobile in 2006.

The rover returned more than 124,000 images. It ground the surfaces off 15 rock targets and scoured 92 targets with a brush to prepare the targets for inspection with spectrometers and a microscopic imager.

"What's really important is not only how long Spirit worked or how far Spirit drove, but also how much exploration and scientific discovery Spirit accomplished," Callas said.

One major finding came, ironically, from dragging the inoperable right-front wheel as the rover was driving backwards in 2007. That wheel plowed up bright white soil. Spirit's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer and Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer revealed that the bright material was nearly pure silica.

"Spirit's unexpected discovery of concentrated silica deposits was one of the most important findings by either rover," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for Spirit and Opportunity.

"It showed that there were once hot springs or steam vents at the Spirit site, which could have provided favorable conditions for microbial life."

The silica-rich soil neighbors a low plateau called Home Plate, which was Spirit's main destination after the historic climb up Husband Hill. "What Spirit showed us at Home Plate was that early Mars could be a violent place, with water and hot rock interacting to make what must have been spectacular volcanic explosions. It was a dramatically different world than the cold, dry Mars of today," said Squyres.

The trove of data from Spirit could still yield future science revelations. Years of analysis of some 2005 observations by the rover's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer and Moessbauer Spectrometer produced a report last year that an outcrop on Husband Hill bears a high concentration of carbonate. This is evidence of a wet, non-acidic ancient environment that may have been favorable for microbial life.

"What's most remarkable to me about Spirit's mission is just how extensive her accomplishments became," said Squyres.

"What we initially conceived as a fairly simple geologic experiment on Mars ultimately turned into humanity's first real overland expedition across another planet. Spirit explored just as we would have, seeing a distant hill, climbing it, and showing us the vista from the summit. And she did it in a way that allowed everyone on Earth to be part of the adventure."

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/NASA_Spirit_Rover_Completes_Mission_on_Mars_999.html.

Bahrain police detain 2 reporters for foreign media

Mon May 23, 2011

* Obama has criticized crackdown in U.S.-allied Gulf state
* DPA journalist says police handcuffed and beat him

DUBAI, May 23 (Reuters) - Two Bahraini journalists working for Western media were detained and at least one was mistreated by police this week, one of the journalists said on Tuesday.

Mazen Mahdi, who works for the German news agency DPA, said he and a reporter for French television station France 24 were called in for questioning on Sunday.

"They questioned me about my Twitter postings, stories published on DPA, and if I had links to Lebanese or Iranian media," Mahdi said.

Mahdi said he was held for several hours, handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten about the head until a senior officer arrived to interrogate him.

The Bahraini Information Ministry could not be immediately reached for comment. Bahraini officials have said they would investigate allegations of mistreatment.

U.S.-allied-Bahrain was thrown into turmoil by street protests for democratic reforms in February, put down in March in a government crackdown which included calling in troops from neighboring Gulf Arab countries.

Last week U.S. President Barack Obama criticized the crackdown, saying that "mass arrests and brute force" were at odds with the universal rights of Bahrain's citizens, and would not make legitimate calls for reform disappear.

The authorities say the protesters, mainly from Bahrain's Shi'ite Muslim majority, were driven by sectarian aims and influenced by Shi'ite power Iran. Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah has also criticized Bahrain over the crackdown.

Hundreds have been detained and four people died in police custody. Two protesters have been sentenced to death for the murder of two policemen during clashes. Four journalists from Bahrain's only opposition newspaper pleaded not guilty last week to charges of fabricating news about the security forces' crackdown against protesters.

Source: Reuters.
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/23/bahrain-journalists-idUSLDE74M1Y820110523.

UN chief, Nigerian leader discuss Sudan, Libya

By Ola Awoniyi (AFP) – May 23, 2011

ABUJA — UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Nigeria's newly-elected leader Goodluck Jonathan on Monday discussed the crises in southern Sudan and Libya and proposed reforms of the global body.

Meeting in Abuja they "discussed the deterioration of the security situation in Southern Sudan," said a statement from Ban's office, after violence broke out in Sudan's flashpoint town of Abyei.

The United Nations mission in Sudan said the town was ablaze Monday with gunmen looting property after its capture by northern troops.

Soon-to-be independent south Sudan also claims Abyei district, which has a special status under a 2005 peace deal that ended 22 years of civil war. It has called the occupation "illegal".

World powers have condemned the seizure as a threat to peace between north and south Sudan.

On the second and final day of Ban's visit to Nigeria, he and Jonathan also agreed on "the need for consensus with regard to the situation in Libya," the UN chief's spokeswoman said.

Earlier Ban met Nigerian Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia.

"We talked about the challenges still prevailing in Libya with the call for ceasefire and how that might be handled," Ajumogobia told reporters.

Ban commended Jonathan for his role in helping resolve the crisis in Ivory Coast.

As chair of a West African grouping ECOWAS, Nigeria took a leading role in calling on the former strongman Laurent Gbagbo to step down for elected and internationally recognized leader Alassane Ouattara.

Even as Gbagbo has been ousted and Ouattara installed, Jonathan warned that the cocoa-producing country still needed international backing.

"There is a critical need for the international community to remain engaged in Cote d?Ivoire (Ivory Coast) especially with respect to the urgent work of reconstruction; and the challenges of disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation," said Jonathan.

Ban arrived in Nigeria Sunday, his first trip here since taking office in 2007, from Ivory Coast where he attended the inauguration of Ouattara on Saturday. He flies out to Ethiopia on Tuesday.

Nigeria, which is seeking permanent membership of the Security Council, also took opportunity to lobby the Secretary General on UN reforms.

"A situation where Africa is totally excluded from the permanent membership of the Council is unfair and untenable," Jonathan said in remarks to Ban distributed to the media.

"Given the realities of today's world, a comprehensive reform of the United Nations system is imperative at this time," said Jonathan.

Ban said UN member states have been discussing the issue for the past 20 years but are still to negotiate and agree on the modalities.

"If I may say, in general terms member states agree and this is a widely shared view, that considering such a dramatic and significant changes in international situation, the Security Council should be changed and reformed in a more democratic and representative way," Ban told reporters after talks with foreign minister.

Ban said last month's elections, hailed as the fairest in Nigeria's history, pointed to "matured democracy."

The two men also discussed efforts to combat global terrorism. A young Nigerian was arrested after a botched 2009 Christmas Day plot attributed to Al-Qaeda, to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner with explosives stitched into his underwear.

And Ban praised Nigeria's "generous contribution" of troops to UN peace keeping operations.

His trip was focused on a campaign to combat deaths among young children and pregnant women.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with 150 million people, has one of the highest child and maternal mortality rates in the world.

"We have to prevent all these women and children who are dying needlessly from preventable diseases," said Ban.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Yemeni president refuses to sign GCC deal

SANAA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Sunday refused to sign a power-transition deal brokered by Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders, an aide to Saleh told Xinhua.

"President Ali Abdullah Saleh sent a short message to visiting GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif al-Zayani, telling him his final word that he refuses to sign the deal that requires his resignation within a month," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-05/22/c_13888377.htm.

Gulf Cooperation Council suspends mediation effort in Yemen

Vittorio Hernandez
Sanaa, Yemen
May 22, 2011

The Gulf Cooperation Council suspended mediation efforts in Yemen because of the refusal of Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to sign an agreement to step down from power.

The decision was the result of an emergency meeting among GCC foreign ministers who met Sunday in Saudi Arabia.

The Yemeni opposition signed the deal on Saturday, but Saleh wanted a public signing ceremony at the presidential palace, which is surrounded by pro-Saleh armed supporters.

Saleh even warned of a civil war if opposition leaders refused to sign again the documents in a public ceremony. He said any subsequent civil unrest arising from the incident would be blamed on the opposition.

The agreement would have Saleh resign within 30 days, but provided him immunity from prosecution.

The civil unrest continued in Yemen as armed supporters of Saleh blockaded GCC Secretary General Abdul Latif Zayani and ambassadors from some Arab and western nations inside the United Arab Emirates embassy on Sunday. The foreign diplomats were airlifted out of the embassy.

On the same day, anti-government protesters held a rally at the Yemini capital city of Sanaa. The protestors threatened to step up pressure on Saleh to quit his post by threatening to march to government buildings. The protesters had done that in the past, which had cost about 140 lives.

Tribal leaders stations armed gunmen on main roads in anticipation of violence erupting in the strife-torn nation.

Source: All Headline News (AHN).
Link: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90049289?Gulf%20Cooperation%20Council%20suspends%20mediation%20effort%20in%20Yemen.

Jordan's king warns of new intifada as Israel approves settlements

May 23, 2011

WASHINGTON/OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The prolonged stalemate in the Middle East peace process will lead to yet another war between Israel and the Palestinians, Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned in an interview broadcast Sunday.

“I just have a feeling that we’re going to be living with the status quo for 2011 … Whenever we accept the status quo, we do so until there is another war,” Abdullah told ABC television’s “This Week.”

“If you look to the past 10 years, every two to two-and-a-half years, there is either the intifada or a war or a conflict. So looking back over the past 12 years, my experience shows me that if we ignore the Israeli-Palestinian issue, something will burst,” the monarch said.

Earlier Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved the construction of 294 new homes in the Beitar Ilit settlement in the occupied West Bank, anti-settlement NGO Peace Now reported.

It also said that work had started on more than 2,000 settler homes since the end in September of Israel’s 10-month freeze on Jewish construction on Palestinian land.

Peace Now said Barak has also approved building of homes for the elderly and a shopping center in the settlement of Efrat.

The group could not say exactly when Barak had signed off on the projects, although it said that it had seen a letter dated April 28 from the Defense Ministry advising the Housing Ministry of its decision.

The plans still need local authority permits to build but that is considered a formality, requiring no further government action, Peace Now said.

The Defense Ministry, contacted by AFP, issued a brief statement saying that “since the end of the freeze period a few building permits have been approved for communities situated in the [settlement] blocs to meet their living needs.”

Peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have been on hold since late September, when the partial Israeli settlement freeze expired and Netanyahu declined to renew it.

Peace Now said Sunday that since the moratorium had been lifted Israeli settlers had started construction on about 2,000 homes in 75 different settlement sites.

“This construction might create facts on the ground that will make the price of peace much higher for Israel,” it said in a statement, adding that one-third of the new construction was going on beyond Israel’s West Bank barrier, which itself regularly cuts into land the Palestinians claim for their future state.

Peace Now added that in addition the Israeli government had given planning permission to 800 new homes in 13 settlements.

Peace Now called that decision “not just miserable timing but a miserable policy” and said it sent a “clear message to the Americans.”

The Palestinians have insisted they will not talk while Israel builds on land they want for a future state, and Israel has attracted fierce international criticism for its settlement policy.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said Israel must choose “between settlements and peace.”

But in response to U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech Sunday, Netanyahu issued a blunt statement rejecting the pre-1967 lines as a basis for negotiation.

Meanwhile, Palestinian factions, including Fatah and Hamas, will seek Russian backing for a new government after their reconciliation deal at talks with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Monday, a delegate said.

“We are expecting that he will show his support for the reconciliation accord and the formation of the new Palestinian government,” Bassam Salhi, leader of the Palestinian People’s Party, told AFP on the eve of the talks in Moscow.

Salhi said that the factions had held talks among themselves over the weekend about the formation of a national unity government, without giving further details.

The factions are due to meet Lavrov Monday morning where they will try to drum up support from Moscow for the reconciliation accord.

Source: The Daily Star.
Link: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/May-23/Jordans-king-warns-of-new-intifada-as-Israel-approves-settlements.ashx.

West Bank businessmen to rebuild Gaza Strip

By MOHAMMED MAR’I | ARAB NEWS
May 22, 2011

RAMALLAH: Some 100 businessmen from the West Bank will visit Gaza on Tuesday to push forward plans to reconstruct the coastal enclave which was damaged during the 2008-2009 Israeli military operation.

Osama Kohail, head of Palestinian Contractors’ Union, said the businessmen would arrive in Gaza on Tuesday to start consultations for reconstructing the damage.

The Gaza-based Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights said the Israeli offensive left about 500 families living in tents and destroyed or damaged 11,152 houses.

For its part, Amnesty International said at the time that more than 3,000 Palestinian homes and hundreds of other properties were destroyed during the fighting, and more than 20,000 structures were damaged. In addition to private homes, Israel destroyed factories, workshops, animal farms, orchards, government buildings, police stations and prisons, Amnesty said.

Kohail said that the businessmen would “sign agreements with their counterparts in Gaza Strip to ease the reconstruction efforts.”

The official said his union coordinated the initiative with the Hamas government.

Tens of donor countries pledged more than $4.4 billion to rebuild the war-torn territory at a conference held in Sharm El-Sheikh in March 2009, but little has happened on the ground up to now due to the Palestinian internal split.

As a result of the lack of materials, Gazans manufactured mud bricks in an attempt to overcome the Israeli restrictions.

The United Nations and human rights groups have voiced concern about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and called on Israel to ease its blockade imposed on the coastal enclave following the abduction of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006. Since the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt lifted its part of the blockade.

Groups in Gaza have also focused on bringing in construction materials, such as cement and iron, which would be used to rebuild the damage caused by Israel’s three-week Gaza offensive last winter.

The "fight" between the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza over donations that should be allocated to rebuilding the Gaza Strip began after Israel halted its offensive. Control over reconstruction funds would put huge sums of aid money expected to flood in from abroad at Hamas’ fingertips and could also give the group a measure of international recognition.

The PA is urging all parties and others to look to it as the sole channel for administering the construction process. The Gaza-based Hamas government said is the legitimate channel "to any Arab or foreign body that wants to rebuild what has been destroyed by the Israeli occupation."

However, Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo earlier this month.

The two movements agreed to form a transitional government of neutral technocrats to rebuild the Gaza Strip and prepare parliamentary and presidential elections in a year.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article422307.ece.

Libya's Misrata struggles to recover after weeks of siege

By MOHAMMED ABBAS | REUTERS
May 22, 2011

MISRATA: Residents of this battle-scarred city in west Libya searched for food from poorly stocked shops on Sunday and fighters stripped weapons from the carcasses of Muammar Qaddafi’s armor.

Distant blasts rumbled through the eerily quiet roads of Misrata, Libya’s third biggest city and the scene of some of the fiercest fighting since an uprising began in mid-February.

Fighters say they have pushed Qaddafi’s forces 25 km from the center of the besieged city after weeks of street fighting and bombardments.

The main shopping district lies ravaged by the fighting, its streets strewn with abandoned tanks, their turrets blown off.

The ruined contents of damaged shops spill onto the streets and bullet-pocked manikins litter the floor of a once-bustling shopping center.

Gutted restaurants were heaped with tables and chairs amid shattered glass. A clock atop a tower in a central square had stopped at 7.45. The turret of one dismembered tank was leaning upright against the entrance to a watch shop.

The sound of battle rumbled far in the distance.

Amran Zoufrey, 84, wept as he staggered through the town center past buildings blasted open or crumpled by the artillery shells and rockets that rained down upon Misrata for weeks.

“Look at all this. I can’t believe it,” he said. “If God hadn’t brought us NATO, they would have burned us all. Even in the Second World War, when I was young, we didn’t have this destruction. Now I wonder when the next rocket will come and kill me.”

Government forces shelled residential areas of Misrata on Saturday, according to fighters.

Hundreds have died in the siege of the port city since residents rose up against Qaddafi in late February. NATO air strikes against Qaddafi’s armor failed to stop the destruction.

Opposition fighters have erected sand berms at intersections and the central streets are empty of cars. Some fighters busied themselves stripping the gun placements from tanks.

One of them, 26-year-old Abdulhakim, said: “It’s quiet here in the city but they (Qaddafi’s forces) are on the outskirts.

There was fierce fighting yesterday, every day.”

A ship chartered by the International Organization of Migration brought aid including flour and vegetables to Misrata late on Saturday.

A few street vendors were selling fresh vegetables but residents said they were surviving mostly off processed cheese and other goods that take longer to perish.

“It’s a catastrophe but we have hope. We’ve liberated our city,” said Ali el-Houti, a 42-year-old civil servant, as he walked through the street.

On Tripoli Street in central Misrata, the scene of some of the fiercest clashes, the tops of many buildings were still littered with empty bullet casings where snipers had taken positions.

Gaping holes in buildings around the Misrata’s Lawyer Syndicate suggest it saw some of the fiercest house-to-house fighting.

“All the people were scared. We were in the house listening to the explosions and tanks. The house shook many times,” said Youssef Faitouri, 55.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article422311.ece.

Dozens wounded as Moroccan police beat protesters‬

By ADAM TANNER AND SOUHAIL KARAM | REUTERS
May 22, 2011

RABAT/CASABLANCA: Moroccan police beat dozens of protesters who defied a ban on demonstrations on Sunday, leading to several injuries and arrests, witnesses said.

The police violence appears to signal a tougher government line against the protest movement, which has become more defiant after festive demonstrations starting in February.

Some are also becoming more outspoken about criticizing the king, but the protests have failed to match the scale of those in several other Arab countries.

“Protest is a legal right, why is the Makhzen afraid?” crowds in Casablanca chanted, referring to the royal court. “Makhzen get out. Down with despotism.”

A Reuters correspondent saw seven riot police attacking one bearded man in his 30s, repeatedly hitting his head and body, causing severe bleeding.

“We have been called here to preserve order because of this unauthorized protest,” said a senior police officer on the scene who declined to give his name.

Protesters wanted to camp in front of the parliament in Rabat, but authorities were anxious to avoid a repeat of the events in Cairo earlier this year when protesters occupying Tahrir Square eventually helped topple the government.

In both the capital Rabat and Casablanca, police armed with batons and shields moved people off the streets wherever they gathered. Protesters broke off into smaller groups, often with police chasing behind.

One prominent protest leader in Rabat who had been beaten the week before suffered severe concussion, said protester Jalal Makhfi. About six people were injured in Rabat, he said, but others said far more were hurt.

Demonstrators said police beat dozens in Casablanca. “We are standing together for dignity,” one protest leaflet said. “We are against despotism, against corruption. We are for dignity, freedom, democracy and social justice.”

Long seen as a relatively moderate and stable state, Morocco has experienced increasing unrest this year inspired by successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

In recent months, protesters seeking more democratic rights and economic benefits have held several nationwide protests in the country of 32 million, resulting in at least six deaths.

On Friday, a group of jobless graduates worked their way through a crowd to approach King Mohammed after he led Friday prayers and chanted “Your majesty, we want jobs.” State television cut off a live broadcast as the slogans began.

The outburst was considered a daring breach of protocol in a country where the king’s portrait adorns many shops and public spaces and many treat him with reverence. The king is also the commander of the faithful, the leader of Moroccan Muslims who is said to descend from the Prophet Mohammed.

The royal family has ruled Morocco since the 17th century and survived both French colonial rule and independence.

Morocco has the lowest per capita GDP in the Maghreb region that also includes Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria. Many live in poverty and nearly half of the population is illiterate.

In response to the public protests, the king announced in March that he would amend the constitution to allow more democratic rights. A commission is due to announce its draft constitution next month.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article422594.ece.

Iran's military gets new missile system

By REUTERS
May 22, 2011

TEHRAN: Iran’s military received a new ballistic missile system on Sunday, which it said demonstrated the country’s self-sufficiency in mass producing weaponry.

“The new surface-to-surface missiles, Qiyam (Resurrection) 1, were successfully tested and delivered to the armed forces today,” Iran’s Arabic-language state television channel Al Alam said.

It did not disclose the range of the missile, delivered to the aerospace wing of the elite Revolutionary Guards, but said it was designed to be less easily detected than older models.

“The mass production of the Qiyam missile, the first without stabilizer fins, shows the Islamic Republic of Iran’s self-sufficiency in producing various types of missiles,” Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

Iran is at loggerheads with major powers over its nuclear work, which it says is peaceful and intended solely for generating electricity but which Washington and its allies fear is aimed at making nuclear bombs.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article422305.ece.

Palestinian factions to boycott unity government

By HISHAM ABU TAHA | ARAB NEWS
May 22, 2011

GAZA CITY: Eight Palestinian political factions affiliated with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) will not nominate candidates for the government of technocrats proposed in the unity deal that was reached early this month in Cairo.

The local independent news agency “Maan” reported on Sunday that the factions are protesting the “bilateral monopoly” by Fatah and Hamas movements over the unity government intended to end years of fractured politics in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The factions said in a joint statement that they support the efforts toward unity but hope the deal will also take their views into consideration.

The signatories the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Palestinian Democratic Union, the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, Palestinian Liberation Front, the Arab Liberation Front and the Palestinian Arab Front.

The factions including Fatah and Hamas have all signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo this month to end the division between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and to hold elections in a year.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article422318.ece.

Jordanian officer killed, four injured in Afghanistan

By ABDUL JALIL MUSTAFA | ARAB NEWS
May 22, 2011

AMMAN: A Jordanian Army officer was killed and four soldiers injured Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded as a humanitarian convoy passed by in the Afghan Lugar province, a spokesman for the Jordanian armed forces said in a statement.

The statement, carried by the official Petra news agency, identified the officer killed as First Lt. Majed Abu Qudairi. ”The four wounded are in good health,” the army spokesman said.

“The General Command of the Armed Forces is making the necessary arrangements with the Jordanian contingent in Afghanistan to bring home the martyr and the wounded, so that they can receive treatment at Jordanian hospitals,” he added.

This is the second Jordanian fatality in Afghanistan in less than 18 months.

On Dec. 30, 2009, a Jordanian intelligence officer, Captain Ali bin Zeid, was killed along with seven leading members of the US Central Intelligence Agency at a US forward base in the eastern province of Khost in a suicidal attack that was carried out by a Jordanian doctor, Humam Balawi.

Balawi turned out later to have been a double agent of the terrorist Al-Qaeda organization and the Jordanian Intelligence Department.

In a related development, Jordan’s top criminal court on Sunday acquitted two prominent Jordanian writers of charges directed against them for strongly criticizing Jordan’s intelligence cooperation with the United States in Afghanistan.

Sofian Tal and Muwaffaq Mahadin were found not guilty on the charges of offending ties with a foreign country, provoking sectarian and racial feuds and calling for the overthrow of constitutional government through violent means.

The new fatality is expected to stir a new wave of criticism inside Jordan, which has witnesses a series of demonstrations over the past four months to press demands for reform and fighting corruption.

The authorities so far kept a tight lid on the number of Jordanian troops operating in Afghanistan to support humanitarian operations there, but NATO’s website put the number at 90 alongside other contributions to the multinational force.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article422403.ece.

Bahrain to fly GCC flag alongside its own

Habib Toumi, Bahrain Bureau Chief
May 22, 2011

The decision will come into effect on Wednesday at 10am.

Manama: The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) flag will be flown along the Bahraini flag at the borders and in all places related to common GCC activities, the government said on Sunday.

The decision will come into effect on Wednesday at 10am, according to a statement released following the weekly meeting.

"The new flag rule is in line with the decision taken by the 31st GCC summit in Abu Dhabi," the government said.

A large number of Bahrainis have been pushing for closer integration of their country in the six-member alliance that also includes Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The GCC was launched in 1981 in Abu Dhabi.

Source: Gulf News.
Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/bahrain/bahrain-to-fly-gcc-flag-alongside-its-own-1.811541.

NASA's Atlantis Moves To Launch Pad May 31 For Final Shuttle Launch

Kennedy Space Center FL (NASA) May 23, 2011

Space shuttle Atlantis will begin moving to its launch pad at 8 p.m. EDT on May 31, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The six-hour rollout from Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building is a major milestone as Atlantis is prepared for the final shuttle launch targeted for July 8

Journalists are invited to cover the shuttle's 3.4-mile journey atop a giant crawler-transporter. Activities include an 8 p.m. photo opportunity, followed by a 9 p.m. interview availability with Atlantis Flow Director Angie Brewer. Media representatives must arrive at Kennedy's news center by 7:30 p.m. for the rollout photo opportunity.

On June 1, NASA also will provide a sunrise photo opportunity at the launch pad following Atlantis' arrival. Reporters must arrive at the news center for transportation to the viewing area by 6 a.m.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/NASA_Atlantis_Moves_To_Launch_Pad_May_31_For_Final_Shuttle_Launch_999.html.

Hamas calls on PA to "reconsider" peace process with Israel

May 22, 2011

Gaza City - The de-facto Hamas government in Gaza on Sunday called on the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank to reevaluate its stance in favor of peace negotiations with Israel.

'The Palestinian Authority (PA) is asked to seriously reconsider and reevaluate its positions,' Gaza's Foreign Ministry, led by the Islamist movement, said in a statement.

It should do so following remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.

On Friday, Netanyahu said after meeting US President Barack Obama that Israel would not withdraw to the borders of the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967.

'This clearly shows that Israel continues with its hostile policies, which reject any peaceful solution whatever its shape and content,' said the Hamas Foreign Ministry statement.

'For Netanyahu, the priority is to build more settlements, annex more lands and change the demographic features of the Palestinian territories to impose facts on the ground,' it said.

Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and has demanded a Palestinian Islamist state stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

Its leaders have said in recent years that it would be willing to temporarily accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza only, not in exchange for an end to the conflict, but in return for a long-term truce lasting several generations.

Short-lived direct peace talks between the Netanyahu government and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, of the PA, were suspended late last year, after Israel did not meet a Palestinian demand to extend a construction freeze in Israeli settlements.

Hamas and Abbas, of the secular Fatah party, had been feuding for years, causing a de-facto split between Gaza and the West Bank. But the rivaling parties reconciled earlier this month, with Abbas contemplating a request to the United Nation General Assembly for recognition of Palestine according to its 1967 borders.

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan and the Gaza Strip from Egypt in the Six-Day War of 1967.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1640686.php/Hamas-calls-on-PA-to-reconsider-peace-process-with-Israel.

Hamas agreed to Fayyad as finance minister in new unity government

AFP, Sunday 22 May 2011

The Hamas movement accepts Salam Fayyad as finance minister in the new National Unity government but reject him as prime minister.

The Hamas movement has accepted the appointment of Salam Fayyad as Minister of Finance in the new transitional Palestinian unity government, Palestinian Safa news website reported on Sunday. Fayyad is currently Prime Minister of the Palestinian government in Ramallah.

The website reported that a senior Fatah official said Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent several messages to Hamas leaders in the past few days urging them to accept Fayyad as prime minister or finance minister.

“President Abbas urged Hamas leaders not to take any hasty decisions that might give Israel an excuse to convince the international community to boycott the Palestinian authority,” the source said.

He added that Hamas leaders said the movement does not mind putting the appointment of Fayyad as finance minister on the negotiation table; however, the movement needed guarantees from President Abbas that there would be no crackdown on movement figures or interests in the West Bank in the future.

Other Palestinian sources added that US President Barack Obama’s recent speech convinced Palestinian leaders that the new unity government must include technocrats who have the approval of the international community.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/12686.aspx.

'Turkey could host mediation talks between Fatah and Hamas'

22 May 2011, Sunday / CUMALI ÖNAL, CAIRO

Chief Fatah representative Azzam al-Ahmed, who chaired reconciliation talks with Hamas, has said Turkey could very well be the venue for the next round of talks aimed to solve differences between two Palestinian groups.

“Turkey is a brotherly country, not just a friend. We need Turkey more than ever and Turkey needs to be more active,” he told Today’s Zaman, adding that Turkey could very well bring the Palestinian sides together in its own country.

Al-Ahmed dismissed suggestions that Egypt would not want Turkey to take a leading role. “Egypt is no longer the same Egypt.” he said. “We also believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that our martyrs are Turkey’s martyrs.

Whatever upsets us also upsets Turks. Turkey has every right to assist the Palestinians,” he explained.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was not so enthusiastic to amplify Turkey’s role in mediation talks, however. Speaking to reporters in Damascus last month after a meeting with Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal, he said, “Egypt has made very valuable contributions on this issue. We have not been attempting to bring the role it [Egypt] played to Turkey. We believe that, with the latest change in the region, Egypt will make many more valuable contributions on the Palestine issue in particular. We believe that we will be engaged in efforts that are not different alternatives but complementary to each other.”

On May 3, both factions signed an Egypt-brokered reconciliation pact agreeing to form a national unity government. The accord, signed in Cairo, ended a four-year rift between the two groups. The differences between the two sides are still being worked out. Al-Ahmed said some of the talks will be held in Moscow at the invitation of Russia. “Turkey could very well invite us to hold talks there as well,” he said, adding that

Turkey has much more clout in the Palestinian issue because of religious, cultural and historic ties.

Al-Ahmed asked Turkey to apply pressure on both sides and positively engage in discussions through dialogue. “Turkey should not hesitate to exert pressure on both sides,” he underlined. Looking back at the past, he said, Turkey has had more contact with Hamas than Fatah. “Turkey could have played an active role in the Palestinian issue but was slow to react. Today, however, it can play a larger role,” he explained.

The chief Fatah representative also blamed Syria for not helping reconciliation talks. “To the extent that the old Egyptian regime played a negative role in talks, Syria was also a negative factor,” he said.

Source: Today's Zaman.
Link: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-244745-turkey-could-host-mediation-talks-between-fatah-and-hamas.html.

Côte d'Ivoire: UN chief attends inauguration of President Alassane Ouattara

21 May 2011 – Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today attended the inauguration of Côte d'Ivoire's President Alassane Ouattara in the country's political capital, Yamoussoukro, during which the new leader reiterated his commitment to promoting reconciliation, dialogue and peace following the recent post-election violence.

Côte d'Ivoire's political crisis ended when former president Laurent Gbagbo finally surrendered in mid-April, ending months of violence that erupted in the wake of his refusal to step down after he lost the United Nations-certified presidential run-off election in November last year to Mr. Ouattara.

The Secretary-General met with Mr. Ouattara who expressed his gratitude to the world for showing solidarity with Ivorians and helping democracy triumph, according to a press release issued by the UN peacekeeping mission in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI).

Mr. Ouattara paid special tribute to the United Nations for remaining engaged in his country and helping restore democracy and contributing to the establishment of lasting peace.

Mr. Ban was accompanied by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alain Le Roy and his Special Representative in the country Y. J. Choi.

Source: UN News Center.
Link: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38465&Cr=Ivoire&Cr1=.

Cyprus elects new parliament ahead of key UN talks

May 21, 2011

NICOSIA — Greek Cypriots went to the polls for parliamentary elections on Sunday ahead of key talks with UN chief Ban Ki-moon on ending the island's 37-year division.

Polls opened at 0400 GMT and were due to close at 1530 GMT. Results were expected by 2000 GMT.

The Mediterranean island has a strongly presidential constitution and has no prime minister.

The polls were seen rather as a test of public opinion on the governing coalition led by communist-backed President Demetris Christofias and his policy on reunification talks with the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north.

Christofias is to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu in Geneva on July 7 for talks hosted by Ban that had originally been scheduled for April.

The UN chief had postponed them, expressing frustration with the lack of progress in UN-backed negotiations between the rival leaders.

The holiday island has also been hit by the financial crisis sweeping the world since 2008, with ratings agencies repeatedly downgrading their prospects for its economy in the face of a deficit the government is still struggling to control and a large banking sector heavily exposed to indebted Greece.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

UN chief visits Nigeria in wake of landmark vote

May 22, 2011

ABUJA — UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in Nigeria on Sunday for a two-day visit weeks after Africa's most populous nation held elections viewed as the fairest in nearly two decades despite deadly rioting.

Ban arrived in Nigeria, his first trip here since taking office in 2007, from Ivory Coast where he attended the inauguration of President Alassane Ouattara Saturday. He will on Tuesday travel on to Addis Ababa.

The UN Secretary General decried an "unacceptable" rate of child and maternal mortality due to poor health systems globally.

"Unfortunately around the world, health systems are not working for women and children. A thousand women die every day from complications, pregnancy and child birth," he said on a visit to a UN-funded hospital in the capital Abuja.

"The crisis of complications can and should be dealt with in a hospital like this one. Twenty thousand children under five die everyday. This is a totally unacceptable situation especially because most of these deaths can be easily prevented."

Ban is scheduled to visit the Dutse Makaranta public health care facilities on the outskirts of Abuja on Monday, also funded by the UN.

The UN chief has meetings lined up with President Goodluck Jonathan and his ministers, as well as with the head of the country's electoral agency and governors from among the country's 36 states.

His trip comes less than a month after Nigeria concluded parliamentary, presidential and governorship elections judged to be the fairest since a return to civilian rule in 1999.

The presidential election won by Jonathan however set off rioting across the country's mainly Muslim north that a rights group says killed more than 800 people.

Nigeria's 150 million population is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south. Jonathan is a southern Christian, while his main opponent was northern Muslim ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari.

Ban's trip aims in part to promote women's and children's health under an initiative he launched in September, UN officials said.

Nigeria has one of the highest maternal death rates in Africa.

About 145 women die each day during pregnancy or childbirth, as do 2,300 children aged five years and under, according to UN statistics, placing the country among the worst places in the world for child-bearing women and babies.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

Muslims replacing Jews as Europe's scapegoat, says academic

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Muslims in Europe have replaced the continent’s Jews of yesteryear as the largest target of discrimination and prejudice, according to a prominent Swiss academic and Islamic expert.

“There are new alliances in Europe against the Muslim presence, and people who were against Judaism are now against the Muslim presence in Europe,” Tariq Ramadan, an Oxford professor and grandson of Hasan al-Banna, the founder of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, said Friday at a seminar at Istanbul Bilgi University.

“[These discriminatory European attitudes] are not only about Islamism; they are about a power struggle. It is not integrated into people’s minds that Islam is also a Western religion,” Ramadan said, criticizing the attitudes of some Europeans he described as “Islamophobic.”

“People like the head of France’s far-right National Front Party, Marine Le Pen, and Dutch politician Geert Wilders are imposing the politics of fear against Islam and this is very dangerous,” the academic said. He added that what lies beneath the growing anti-Islamism in Europe is the changing demographics of the continent’s Muslim population.

“The more Muslims become European, the more Islam becomes a problem for Europeans,” Ramadan said.

Speaking to a group of journalists in a different meeting, Ramadan also said young people in the Arab world had been undergoing social-media training in the United States, Serbia and the Caucasus over the past two or three years in order to learn how to mobilize the masses during uprisings.

“However, the revolts [of the Arab Spring] were still controlled by the people themselves,” he said, adding that despite some successes, the democratic uprisings against despotic regimes in the region are not yet complete. “These are revolutions that are not completed yet, and maybe there is a chance that they will never be successful.”

Criticism of Obama

Ramadan also criticized U.S. President Barack Obama for not touching on Turkey during his speech Thursday regarding the Middle East.

“I think what Obama did not say is more important than what he said. The United States might have some other interests in the region of which we are not aware,” said Ramadan.

Regarding Obama’s request from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to stabilize and modernize the economies of Tunisia and Egypt, Ramadan said the United States was attempting to make these countries economically dependent even as they secured their political autonomy.

The academic also said the Muslim Brotherhood, which has emerged as one of Egypt’s key political players with the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak, was attempting to implement a modern understanding of Islam.

Source: Hürriyet.
Link: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=tariq-ramadan-8220europeans-who-were-against-judaism-are-now-against-muslim-presence-in-europe8221-2011-05-22.

Muslim Brotherhood opens new headquarters in Egypt after 60 years

Sunday, May 22, 2011

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has opened its new headquarters in Cairo after 60 years of being banned, in a ceremony attended by officials from a Turkish Islamist party.

Felicity Party, or SP, deputy leader Hasan Bitmez and board member Oğuzhan Asiltürk were among the political figures from Egypt, Jordan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Somalia and Turkey that attended the opening ceremony in the Moqattam area along with Egyptian intellectuals.

“For 60 years we were considered an illegal group, we were raided and arrested by the police all the time, but now we have our headquarters legally and we even put the logo of the Muslim Brotherhood onto the chairs,” one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, Dr. Ashraf Abdel Ghaffar, told the Hürriyet Daily News on Sunday.

Bitmez said the Muslim Brotherhood will play an important role in the future of Egypt, the Anatolia news agency reported. His colleague Asiltürk said it was very good that the Muslim Brotherhood now has a headquarters in Cairo after such a long time.

The chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood, Dr. Mohamed Badie, who presided over the opening of the headquarters, said the group’s aim was “to have a civilian government with a reference to Islam.”

Dr. Abdel Ghaffar said the Muslim Brotherhood now had offices in 26 cities and aimed to have one in every city in Egypt.

Founded by the schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in the Suez Canal town of Ismailia in 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood was one of the first and most successful movements advocating Islam as a political program in a modern context.

Within 20 years the movement grew to more than 500,000 members, with several branch movements in other Arab countries.

The Egyptian government banned the Brotherhood in 1954 after accusing it of trying to assassinate President Gamal Abdel Nasser, a charge the group has always denied.

The movement had been using an apartment as its “communication center” until former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak was toppled in January.

Source: Hürriyet.
Link: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=muslim-brotherhood-opens-its-new-headquarters-after-60-years-2011-05-22.