Loss of top animal predators has massive ecological effects

Stony Brook NY (SPX)
Jul 20, 2011

"Trophic Downgrading of Planet Earth," a review paper that will be published on July 15, 2011, in the journal Science, concludes that the decline of large predators and herbivores in all regions of the world is causing substantial changes to Earth's terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems.

The paper claims that the loss of apex consumers from ecosystems "may be humankind's most pervasive influence on nature." The research was funded primarily by the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The paper is co-authored by the Institute's executive director, Dr. Ellen K. Pikitch, and the lead author is Dr. James A. Estes, professor of ecology and evolution at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

The review, conducted by an international team of 24 scientists, illuminates the patterns and far-reaching impacts of predation and herbivory on the structure and dynamics of global ecosystems. The researchers relied on both experimental and observational evidence, which provides a strong basis for their conclusions.

"By looking at ecosystems primarily from the bottom up, scientists and resource managers have been focusing on only half of a very complex equation," said Dr. Estes. "These findings demonstrate that top consumers in the food web are enormous influencers of the structure, function, and biodiversity of most natural ecosystems."

Apex consumers include animals such as big cats, wolves, bison, sharks, and great whales, and are typically large, long-lived, and not amenable to laboratory experiments.

As a result, the effects of removing them from ecosystems are not easy to document. The team of scientists reviewed an accumulation of theoretical and empirical evidence on how the decline of top predators and herbivores has affected Earth's ecosystems on land, in freshwater, and in the ocean.

Their findings suggest that "trophic downgrading" - the ecological consequences of losing large apex consumers from nature - causes extensive cascading effects in ecosystems worldwide, especially when exacerbated by factors such as land use practices, climate changes, habitat loss, and pollution.

"Our review of existing studies clearly shows that a top-down cascading effect in natural systems is both powerful and widespread," said Dr. Estes. "There is an urgent need for interdisciplinary research to forecast how a continued loss of top level consumers will further harm the planet's ecosystems."

This paper documents some of the negative effects that the widespread loss of these animals has already had on Earth's biosphere, climate, biodiversity, and vegetation:

+ The reduction of lions and leopards from areas of sub-Saharan Africa caused the baboon population to swell. This unexpectedly increased transmission of intestinal parasites from baboons to humans as the primates were forced to forage closer to human settlements.

+ As large ungulates recovered from a devastating rinderpest epidemic in the Serengeti in Africa, herbivory increased, and the frequency of wildfire declined in that region. Wildfire frequency increased following the late Pleistocene/early Holocene decline of megaherbivores in Australia and the northeastern United States.

+ Industrial whaling in the 20th century resulted in the loss of large numbers of plankton-consuming great whales, which are now known to sequester carbon into the deep sea through deposition of feces. The result has been the transfer of approximately 105 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere that would have been absorbed by whales, contributing to climate change.

"We must assume going forward that significant changes to the ecosystem are occurring when large predators and herbivores are removed from the top of the food web, and, thus, that efforts to manage and conserve nature must include these animals," said Dr. Pikitch. "An old paradigm has shifted, and those who question this theory now have the burden to prove otherwise."

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Loss_of_top_animal_predators_has_massive_ecological_effects_999.html.

Egypt Embraces Oil Monarchs, Dubiously

By Cam McGrath

CAIRO, Jul 18, 2011 (IPS) - With the nation's economy in tatters from the uprising that ousted its dictator of 30 years, Egypt's transitional government has turned its back on the Western lending institutions that once propped the Mubarak regime. But its decision to accept the massive aid packages dangled by the oil-rich Arab Gulf states has raised suspicions about their intentions, as well as its own.

In May, Egyptian officials estimated that the populous Arab country would need between 10 billion and 12 billion dollars in international aid to plug a budget gap following the uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak in February. They said the political turmoil resulted in enormous losses to Egypt's tourism sector, capital markets and economic production.

In a surprise move, Egypt's military-run government declared last month that it would not tap the 3 billion dollars loan facility it had secured with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), nor a contingent World Bank offer of 4.5 billion dollars in assistance. Instead it said it would slash government spending and turn to the Arab Gulf monarchies for the rest.

"Borrowing from our wealthy Arab neighbors makes economic sense," says Alia El-Mahdi, dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences at Cairo University. "But these are countries that were strongly opposed to Egypt's revolution, so we must treat their (display of benevolence) with suspicion."

Egyptian officials attributed their decision to refuse the IMF and World Bank offers to unacceptable lending conditions and concern over the country's debt level. Central bank figures reveal domestic and foreign debts in excess of 190 billion dollars, or about 90 percent of GDP.

"There is a high level of discomfort with the idea of borrowing from outside," explains Amr Hassanein, chairman of MERIS, a regional affiliate of Moody’s credit ratings agency. "At one point, (before the first Gulf War), Egypt was riddled with debt and wasn't able to handle it so it had to pay a high political price."

IMF officials rejected accusations that its loan facility would have come with hidden strings attached such as a government commitment to reduce subsidies and carry out privatizations. They said the lending agency had offered unusually lenient terms with the aim of helping the battered Egyptian economy get back on track as quickly as possible.

But even the scent of conditionality was too much for Egypt's interim government, which reportedly saw the soft loan as a political hot potato.

"This was more of a political decision than an economic one," explains El-Mahdi. "The government is not in a strong position right now, and it is under intense pressure from public opinion not to accept any aid from the IMF or World Bank, regardless of the conditions."

Many Egyptians exhibit a deep distrust of the two international lending institutions, which they blame for pushing neoliberal economic policies that resulted in high unemployment and glaring income disparities.

Protesters who continue to gather in Cairo's Tahrir Square have opposed any lending that would lock Egypt into a particular economic model before an elected government is in place. Many are calling for an economy based on "social justice," with an emphasis on subsidy programs, job security and robust social welfare programs.

By contrast, the prospect of Gulf aid would appear to enjoy wide acceptance on the Egyptian street. Nearly two million Egyptians work in the Arab Gulf states and the country shares a common cultural bond with its Islamic neighbors.

So far, Arab Gulf states have dangled over 17 billion dollars in loans, grants and new investment. The offers include 4 billion dollars in financial assistance from Saudi Arabia, 3 billion dollars from the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar's pledge to invest 10 billion dollars in Egyptian projects and provide a 500 million dollar grant.

Hassanein speculates that the Gulf states view their aid packages as investment in the region's stability that will protect their investments in Egypt. They may also hope to garner support for various political issues, including opposition against Iran.

El-Mahdi suspects darker motives. She finds it suspicious that Gulf monarchs who have suppressed the democratic ambitions of their own people would generously lend support to Egypt's attempt to build a democracy.

"It is not in their interest for Egypt's revolution to succeed, and the absolute rulers of these countries are afraid (the dissent) may spread to their own," she says.

Saudi Arabia in particular has shown unswerving support of embattled Arab dictators, going so far as to send troops to neighboring Bahrain to crush anti-government protests there. The Saudi government provided asylum to Tunisian ex-president Zine al-Abdine Ben Ali after he was deposed by a popular uprising in January, and reportedly extended an offer to host Mubarak after his ouster.

Nervous Arab rulers are suspected of funneling money to remnants of the former Mubarak regime in an attempt to destabilize Egypt and undermine its revolution.

"There appears to be an organized effort to create strife, and many people suspect that Gulf Arab countries are financing it," El-Mahdi told IPS. "These states want our revolution to fail."

In recent months, armed "thugs" have attacked protesters demanding faster reforms and the prosecution of former regime officials. At the same time, Salafists who practice a Saudi brand of radical Islam have been blamed for instigating attacks on minority Christian churches and monasteries that threaten to ignite simmering sectarian tensions.

This has led to an unsettling question: is Egypt's military-run government turning to traditional Arab monarchies for support to avoid the stringent lending conditions of Western institutions, or to leverage the financial clout of wealthy Gulf nations in order to undermine the country's transition to democracy and protect the interests of the former regime?

Disillusioned activists who participated in the 18-day uprising that led to Mubarak's ouster see the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) as an obstacle to change. Some charge that the military, headed by long-time Mubarak ally Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, is corrupt and unwilling to implement reforms, making just enough concessions to mitigate the wrath of protesters.

"The SCAF is part of the old regime," charges Gamal El-Sayed, a café manager. "It is trying to protect the former regime by mobilizing people against the revolution to discredit it."

In this scenario, the decision to tap opaque Gulf financial assistance would be a way to avoid the demands for greater transparency and accountability that typically accompany IMF and World Bank aid packages. The two lending institutions have already urged Egypt to pass a freedom of information law, reveal hidden assets, and disclose secret funds in the state budget, according to rights groups.

Ahmed Sakr Ashour, an expert in public administration, sees no duplicity on the part of Egypt's military rulers, just better economic policy. He takes the government's decision to impose austerity measures to avoid unnecessary IMF lending as an indicator that it intends to rationalize expenditure and break the debt cycle.

"I think the current government is very aware of the political risks in accepting Gulf aid, and I expect any borrowing will be short-term until the economy has a chance to recover," he says.

Ashour adds that Egypt appears ready to do away with loans altogether and claim sovereignty over its economy. But to do so it will need to end the profligate budgets characteristic of the Mubarak era.

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56517.

Arms Trade Treaty May Bypass Anti-Riot Weapons

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 18, 2011 (IPS) - When weeklong negotiations on the control and regulation of the global arms trade were concluded last week, there was one missing link in the proposed treaty: riot control equipment used recently against peaceful demonstrators in the streets of Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria, Yemen and Jordan.

The Arms Trade Treaty, which is expected to be finalized and signed next year, is either ambiguous or excludes "weapons of repression", including rubber bullets, water cannons, tear gas canisters, and high voltage electric-shock stun guns.

Described as combat protective equipment, these weapons are used not only by national armed forces but also by law enforcement agencies, including the police and prison services.

The London-based Amnesty International (AI) warned that if certain types of security and police equipment such as non-military firearms, including riot guns, crowd control vehicles, shotgun ammunition and tear gas, are not clearly covered by the ATT, "many governments will not prevent such arms being supplied and used for serious violations of human rights".

Jeff Abramson, coordinator of the Control Arms Secretariat, a global civil society coalition, told IPS the last draft of the chairman's text will need to be transformed into treaty language, but the precise process as to how that will happen is still unclear.

"There could be both improvements and backsliding as that happens," he said.

Members of the Control Arms coalition will be working hard to see that improvements occur on what is generally a positive paper now, he added.

"Those areas for improvement include inclusion of police and crowd control equipment, the same items that are often used to commit the abuses for which a robust Arms Trade Treaty would work to stop," noted Abramson.

Currently, there are no comprehensive or binding international rules or treaties governing the international trade in conventional weapons. Gaps and loopholes in national controls allow weapons and armaments to end up in the hands of serious human rights abusers.

In a statement released Friday, AI pointed out the recent repression in the Middle East and North Africa demonstrates that a wide range of arms used by military, security and police forces must be covered under the scope of the ATT.

The international community has widely recognized that conventional weapons, munitions and armaments are often used for internal repression as well as armed conflict, most recently by imposing arms embargoes against certain governments in the Middle East.

AI said it has identified U.S.-made tear gas canisters and solid rubber bullets, and French tear gas grenades and solid rubber dispersion grenades in the aftermath of the attacks on civilian demonstrators in the streets of Bahrain early this year.

In Egypt, the extensive use of a lethal type of shotgun ammunition by security forces resulted in many fatalities.

In Libya, AI said, UK-made vehicles were used by security forces, and in Egypt security forces drove into protestors using armored vehicles.

The main arms suppliers to Bahrain, Egypt and Libya have been Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, the UK and the United States, according to AI.

"The recent events in Bahrain, Libya, Egypt and elsewhere have shown how a wide range of conventional military and security equipment can be persistently misused for unlawful force often with lethal consequences," AI said.

Abramson of the Control Arms coalition told IPS the ATT must have a broad scope that includes all weapons and all deals.

He said other critical areas of improvement include text that requires public reporting, as well as cooperation with relevant international and regional organizations and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

"The treaty must work to improve transparency into what is now an opaque process of loophole-ridden arms dealing that allows irresponsible and illicit trade to flourish," he said.

All these improvements are doable and can be achieved if states remain focused, hardworking and proactive in the coming year, Abramson declared.

Asked about the next meeting aimed at finalizing the treaty, Abramson said "this is not 100 percent clear right now".

He said there will be another meeting in February, which was originally intended to be a mostly procedural one and lasting less than a week. One of the topics that will likely be determined is the means and manner of civil society participation for the upcoming summer negotiating conference, "an issue we feel is very important".

That meeting may now be extended to a full week and include some of the same content as past meetings.

"We're waiting to see how this is finalized," said Abramson.

The four-week conference, scheduled to take place next summer, is billed as the biggest event in the U.N. ATT process.

The expectation is that it will be held in July, but it's possible that it may start in mid-late June.

"We're again waiting to see final dates," said Abramson.

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56532.

Israeli Navy Seizes French Flotilla Ship

By Shannon Liao
July 19, 2011

The French Gaza flotilla ship, Dignité/Al Karama, was seized by four Israeli naval ships this Tuesday morning, 40-50 miles away from the Gaza coast.

Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said that they offered the ship an invitation to dock at the Israeli Port of Ashdod to unload their cargo of humanitarian aid. This offer was rejected, thus leading to the seizure.

The Free Gaza Movement website makes it clear that their mission was to break through “Israel’s illegal blockade” of Gaza and makes no mention of providing humanitarian aid.

An IDF statement said that once the ship is led to Ashdod, its passengers would then be "turned over to officials from the Israel Police, the Immigration and Population Authority and the Interior Ministry," says an IDF statement.

Currently there is no contact with the ship’s 16 passengers who are in Israeli custody. Organizers sent a letter to the European Parliament asking that action be taken to re-establish communication via satellite or telephone with the passengers.

In response to the seizure, flotilla organizers said they would hold a rally in central Athens on Tuesday 7:00 p.m. local time in protest.

The ship had been allowed to sail from the Greek island of Kastelorizo whose mayor was born in Gaza, the Free Gaza website reported on July 17.

Prior to the ship’s capture, a statement from Free Gaza said that they could not predict how Israel would behave as the ship approached but that Dignité/Al Karama intended to reach its destination.

Gaza is ruled by the terrorist organization Hamas. IDF has said before that the flotilla organizers want to dispute Israel’s right to repel a group that has terrorized Israel for years.

The Dignité/Al Karama is part of a 10-ship flotilla with participants from various countries such as France, Canada, Greece, Sweden, and Tunisia, whose goal is to protest the Israeli blockade on Gaza. Many of the flotilla’s ships have been intercepted by Greek authorities.

Greece had showed its support for Israel by refusing the flotilla permission to leave Greek ports. Greece has offered to transport humanitarian aid to Gaza without the flotilla’s help, but activists have refused the offer.

The crew of the American ship, The Audacity of Hope, ended their journey in early July to return home to their jobs and families.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/israeli-navy-seizes-french-flotilla-ship-59264.html.

Horror in Homs after Syrian forces kill 10 mourners

By Duraid Al Baik
July 20, 2011

Dubai: Syrian security forces opened fire at a funeral procession yesterday, killing at least 10 people in a city that has been rocked for days by some of the most serious violence yet in the country's four-month-old uprising, activists said.

The killings bring the death toll in Homs to about 50 people since Saturday, according to a number of activists, human rights groups and witnesses.

"We haven't slept since yesterday," a Homs resident was quoted by the Associated Press as saying by telephone, the sharp crackle of heavy machine-gun fire in the background. "I am lying down on the floor as I talk to you. Other people are hiding in bathrooms."

He described Homs as a "ghost city".

Sectarian fighting

Abu Jaafar Al Homsi, spokesman for the self-proclaimed Syrian Revolution Coordination Committee in Homs, said the regime's forces were very angry since its plot to create a fight between Alawite and Sunni residents of the city failed to gain momentum.

A day after Qatar shut down its embassy in Damascus, Nabeel Al Araby, secretary-general of the Arab League, said his recent visit and meeting with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad was to evaluate the situation in Syria.

Al Araby visited Damascus last week in his first Arab tour since he took over as Arab League chief earlier this month.

In his visit, Al Araby publicly denounced any foreign interference in reshaping Syria's leadership, but the European Union warned on Monday that it was considering tougher sanctions against Syria.

"Arabs, mainly the Gulf countries, will form a unified stand towards the incidents in Syria and the stand of the Arab League should become clearer and firmer towards Syria," one analyst said.

Dr Ammar Qurabi, head of National Human Rights Organization in Syria, said: "Al Assad was given more than four months to handle the uprising during which nearly 2,000 people were killed, 12,000 arrested and 15,000 people became refugees in neighboring countries.

"This has to stop and the Arab League should play pivotal role in helping Syrians to achieve their goals of freedom and democracy."

Source: Gulf News.
Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/region/syria/horror-in-homs-after-syrian-forces-kill-10-mourners-1.840541.

Shh! There's a Secret CIA Prison in Somalia

Michael Tennant
Wednesday, 20 July 2011

With President Barack Obama having issued an executive order banning secret Central Intelligence Agency prisons and then-CIA Director Leon Panetta having stated that “CIA no longer operates detention facilities or black sites,” one might think a credible report that the CIA is still operating such a prison would make the front page of every newspaper in the country and be covered on all major television news programs. Alas, in 21st-century America, where the news media are the handmaidens of the state, the story has largely been ignored; and those outlets that have deemed it worthy of coverage have done so in such a way as to play down its revelations and play up the government’s denials.

On July 12 The Nation published a lengthy article by Jeremy Scahill exposing a secret CIA prison in Mogadishu, Somalia. Scahill’s report was based on an in-person investigation of the allegations, undertaken at great personal risk.

Scahill found that the CIA is using “a secret prison buried in the basement of Somalia’s National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters, where prisoners suspected of being [Somali militant group Al] Shabab members or of having links to the group are held.” The prison houses not just suspects captured within Somalia but also those picked up in Kenya (and possibly other countries) and rendered to Somalia for interrogation.

The conditions inside the prison are deplorable, says Scahill:

According to former detainees, the underground prison, which is staffed by Somali guards, consists of a long corridor lined with filthy small cells infested with bedbugs and mosquitoes.... The former prisoners described the cells as windowless and the air thick, moist and disgusting. Prisoners, they said, are not allowed outside. Many have developed rashes and scratch themselves incessantly. Some have been detained for a year or more. According to one former prisoner, inmates who had been there for long periods would pace around constantly, while others leaned against walls rocking.

“While the underground prison is officially run by the Somali NSA,” Scahill writes, “US intelligence personnel pay the salaries of intelligence agents and also directly interrogate prisoners.” There are two reasons for this. First, it gives the U.S. government plausible deniability concerning the prison; it’s run by the Somalis, and when U.S. agents do get involved in interrogations, it’s “rare” and “always jointly with Somali agents,” as one U.S. official told Scahill. (In fact, Scahill points out, U.S. agents “directly interrogate prisoners” and “are [t]here full time.”) Second, it offers the Americans a way around the nominal government of Somalia, which they do not trust. “Instead,” Scahill explains, “the United States has Somali intelligence agents on its payroll. Somali sources with knowledge of the program described the agents as lining up to receive $200 monthly cash payments from Americans.”

The prison appears to be part and parcel of U.S. policy with regard to Somalia. Writes Scahill: “On the one hand, the CIA is training, paying and at times directing Somali intelligence agents who are not firmly under the control of the Somali government, while [the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command] conducts unilateral strikes without the prior knowledge of the government; on the other, the Pentagon is increasing its support for and arming of the counterterrorism operations of non-Somali African military forces.” As with most U.S. counterterrorism policy, its efficacy is doubtful. A “senior Somali intelligence official” told Scahill that “the CIA-led program in Mogadishu has brought few tangible gains” and “conceded that neither US nor Somali forces have been able to conduct a single successful targeted mission in the Shabab’s areas in the capital.”

In short, Obama’s foreign policy, like his domestic policy, does not differ significantly from his predecessor’s. As Scahill put it in an interview with Salon’s Glenn Greenwald: “they [the Obama administration] continue even the most controversial Bush terrorism policies by having some other government technically operate it so they can keep their fingerprints off it.” Greenwald points to other examples of Obama’s clandestine continuation of George W. Bush’s policies:

Indeed, the administration has even resorted to this playbook by using “torture by proxy” — as we saw when the Kuwait government, with at least the complicity if not direction of the U.S., detained and beat American teenager Gulet Mohamed during interrogation sessions. Just yesterday, a federal judge “reacted skeptically” to the Obama DOJ’s demands for dismissal of a lawsuit (on secrecy grounds) brought by an American citizen imprisoned for four months in Africa, where “U.S. officials threatened him with torture, forced disappearance and other serious harm unless he confessed to ties with al-Qaida in Somalia.”

Despite all this, the mainstream news media have remained curiously uninterested in reporting on the stunning disconnect between Obama’s stated policies and his actual policies — though one notable exception is Scahill's appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe.

But in general, when the media have deigned to cover the story, it has been under the guise of debunking it.

CNN’s Barbara Starr, in Greenwald’s words, “filed a truly incredible report” that managed to (a) sound like “a headline-making scoop for CNN” in which a CIA official revealed the existence of the Mogadishu prison to Starr and (b) repeat the government’s talking points about the prison’s being under Somali control and the CIA’s participation in interrogations being a “very small,” “support” role. More incredibly still, she managed to do this without once mentioning Scahill’s report (though she was forced to add “Parts of this story initially appeared in the magazine The Nation on Tuesday” after the magazine complained to CNN).

Luis Martinez, writing for ABC News, also took the government’s side against Scahill. According to Greenwald, Martinez “doesn’t pretend to do anything other than serve as obedient stenographer to the CIA by uncritically writing down and passing on the statements of an anonymous Government official in denying Scahill’s report.” At the same time, says Greenwald, Martinez actually went Starr one better (or worse) because his report

justifies the CIA program by quoting the anonymous CIA official as describing the program as “the logical and prudent thing to do.” ABC then helpfully adds that “senior U.S. officials have expressed concern that al Shabab may be trying to expand its terror operations beyond Somalia” and that “U.S. government officials worry that those lawless regions might become a safe haven for al Shabab and other terror groups.” There is no discussion — zero — of the illegal aspects of maintaining a secret prison, the dangers of allowing unchecked renditions of prisoners to Somalia hidden from international human rights monitoring, or the likely violations of Obama’s highly-touted Executive Orders.

Because of this attitude on the part of the establishment media, Scahill has largely been relegated to appearing in alternative media which, while certainly important, simply do not have the reach or the respect that the major news outlets do. Scahill performed real, on-the-ground research; Starr and Martinez regurgitated CIA talking points. Yet Scahill is ignored and derided, while Starr and Martinez are treated as serious journalists. Observes Greenwald: “That’s because ‘Serious Journalism’ in Washington means writing down what government officials tell you to say, and granting them anonymity to ensure they have no accountability.”

Source: The New American.
Link: http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/foreign-policy/8276-shh-theres-a-secret-cia-prison-in-somalia.

Erdogan affirms Gaza visit

20-07-2011

Al Qassam website - Turkish premier Recep Erdogan on Tuesday affirmed intention to visit the Gaza Strip later this month.

Turkish media quoted Erdogan as telling reporters before leaving on a visit for Northern Cyprus that given appropriate circumstances he would consider visiting Gaza.

He pointed out that the Turkish foreign ministry was currently preparing for the visit and that his visit would depend on such preparations.

The Turkish deputy premier said earlier that Erdogan would visit Egypt after visiting northern Cyprus, adding that the visit would take place on 23rd July or within ten days.

Source: Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades - Information Office.
Link: http://www.qassam.ps/news-4752-Erdogan_affirms_Gaza_visit.html.

Hamas condemns Israel's piracy

20-07-2011

Al Qassam website - Hamas has strongly condemned ”the international piracy” against the pro-Palestinian activists on board the French Dignite – Al-Karama boat, which set out to challenge Israel's siege of the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli army spokesperson has announced that Israeli naval forces intercepted the yacht on Tuesday as it neared the Gaza coast.

The force claimed the boat had weapons on board, which the passengers have denied altogether.

Israeli Radio said the interception took place without incidents reported.

Hamas said in a statement that ensued: ”The Zionist occupier's continuance in preventing the supporters and humanitarian aid from arriving to the besieged Gaza Strip and its attacks on them will not stop the solidarity campaigns with the Palestinian people, but will increase the determination and work until the siege and injustice on our people in occupied Palestine is lifted”.

Hamas emphasized the need for continued siege-busting campaigns and called on human rights groups not to surrender to Israeli pressure and to help expose Israel's practices and prosecute its leaders in the international courts.

Dr. Ahmed Bahar, the deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, also condemned the attack, adding that the Israeli government was responsible for the safety of the Dignite's 17 passengers, who were taken to the Israeli Ashdod port and detained.

He added that the act contravened the most basic human rights principles and international law.

Discussing the next step to be taken, Bahar called on Arab and Muslim organizations to lead a rights movement in facing Israel's acts by filing legal complaints with all international courts.

In a separate statement, the popular committee against the siege on Gaza blamed world silence for Israel's continued attacks on pro-Palestinian activists who come from abroad.

Another statement by Hamas leader Ismail Radwan calls the boat takeover a war crime.

Radwan called on the international community to act urgently to preserve the safety of the pro-Palestinian activists who were on board and allow the Dignite to be released to the Gaza Strip.

Source: Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades - Information Office.
Link: http://www.qassam.ps/news-4753-Hamas_condemns_Israels_international_piracy.html.

Shuttle Atlantis heads home from space station

Washington (AFP)
July 19, 2011

The crew of Atlantis undocked Tuesday from the International Space Station, wrapping up the last visit by a US shuttle to the orbiting outpost and setting its sights on an emotional homecoming.

With a spectacular orbital sunrise illuminating a vessel in the sunset of its career, Atlantis maneuvered away from the ISS at 0628 GMT about 350 kilometers (217 miles) above the Pacific Ocean.

"Thanks so much for hosting us. It's a great station, and it's been an absolute pleasure," Atlantis commander Chris Ferguson said of his crew's eight-day stay at the ISS, closing the book on the storied relationship between the two iconic spacecraft.

"We'll miss you guys. Godspeed," space station flight engineer Ronald Garan called out as Atlantis floated away.

As the age of the shuttle -- which has carried US astronauts into space longer than any other vessel -- drew to a close after 37 dramatic rendezvous with the ISS, their crews Monday exchanged embraces and kisses before shutting the hatches separating them for a final time.

Astronauts placed an American flag that flew on the first shuttle mission in 1981 on the passageway separating the shuttle and the space station, to symbolize the end of one era of US spaceflight and the dawn of a new one.

"When this flag returns again someday to Earth by astronauts that came up on an American spacecraft, its journey will not end there," said Ferguson.

"Its journey will continue, it will leave low-Earth orbit once again, perhaps to a lunar destination -- perhaps to Mars."

Atlantis blasted off July 8 with a four-member crew, lugging the Raffaello multipurpose logistics module and several tons of supplies to the ISS to help sustain the outpost for a year.

The shuttle is scheduled for a predawn touch-down Thursday at 5:56 am (0956 GMT) at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

Emotions ran high during the undocking and its aftermath, with Atlantis accomplishing one final task after another, including a flyby of the ISS to document seldom-seen outer parts of the station, as it prepared for re-entry in two days' time.

NASA flight director Dan Tani praised the work of "the magnificent machines that delivered, assembled and staffed our world-class laboratory in space."

The warm words gave way to a focus on getting the shuttle crew home safely. By 10:30 am (1430 GMT) Tuesday, Atlantis had completed one last inspection of its protective heat shield, using the robotic arm to scan and photograph the wings' leading edges, the nose cone and the shuttle's underbelly.

With the conclusion of America's vaunted shuttle program, the world's astronauts will rely on Russian Soyuz rockets for rides to the ISS until a new US space craft -- a commercial launcher and capsule built by a private corporation in partnership with NASA -- is ready to fly sometime after 2015.

The end of the shuttle program means that opportunities for astronauts to embark on journeys to space will become much rarer.

"Of course it's hard, because we dedicate our lives to fly in space. We are astronauts and it's what we do for a living," astronaut Steve Robinson, a veteran of four shuttle missions, earlier told AFP.

Over the course of the three-decade-long program, five NASA space shuttles -- Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery and Endeavor -- have comprised a fleet designed as the world's first reusable space vehicles.

Besides the prototype Enterprise that never flew in space, only three have survived after Columbia and Challenger were destroyed in accidents that killed their crews.

At a time of US budget austerity, President Barack Obama has opted to end the program that has averaged about $450-500 million for each of its 135 missions.

Obama also canceled Constellation, a project that aimed to put US astronauts back on the Moon by 2020 at a cost of $97 billion.

NASA administrator Charles Bolden told US lawmakers last week that there would be opportunities in commercial space flight in the near future.

"We are not abandoning the human space flight. We have a big job to do of operating the ISS for the next nine years at least."

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Shuttle_Atlantis_heads_home_from_space_station_999.html.

Final Space Shuttle Crew Says Last Goodbyes in Orbit

by Clara Moskowitz
18 July 2011

HOUSTON — The last astronauts to fly on a space shuttle have boarded their spaceship for the return trip to Earth and closed its hatch on the International Space Station for the final time.

The four-astronaut crew of the space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 mission has wrapped up a delivery mission to the station to drop off spare hardware and new supplies to outfit the laboratory for the years ahead.

Now Atlantis' astronauts will prepare their vehicle for one final trip down to Earth before the orbiter and its two sister shuttles are retired. Atlantis is due to land at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Thursday (July 21) at 5:57 a.m. EDT (0957 GMT).

National symbol

Atlantis' four-astronaut crew, led by commander Chris Ferguson, said goodbye to their six space station counterparts in a farewell ceremony before boarding their ship. The crews closed the hatches separating the vehicles at 10:28 a.m. EDT (1428 GMT), while the spacecraft were flying about 240 miles (386 km) above Earth.

"I'd like to thank the commander of the International Space Station, AndreyBorisenko, for your hospitality," Ferguson said before departing."You’ve been absolutely fantastic to us. It's been wonderful to be here with you. You have a wonderful home, you're taking fantastic care of it."

"It's been an honor having you guys onboard," space station flight engineer Ron Garan of NASA said. "It's great being a part of this really important and historic mission."

Before floating out of the station, the shuttle astronauts left behind an American flag that they had carried up to the station with them on Atlantis' launch. But the flag's history goes back further; it was also launched on the very first shuttle mission, the STS-1 flight of Columbia in 1981.

"Since we've been here we've prominently displayed the flag on the forward flight deck [of Atlantis]," Ferguson said. "It just symbolized what we are all here for."

The shuttle astronauts will leave it behind to be hung inside the station's Harmony node. But that's not intended to be its final home. When a commercial American spacecraft is ready to replace the shuttle as a ferry to the orbiting outpost, the first crew to ride it will return that flag to Earth. Finally, the astronauts hope the same flag can be carried by U.S. spaceflyers when they finally embark on a mission beyond low-Earth orbit to the moon or Mars.

"This flag represents not just a symbol of our national pride and honor, but in this particular case it also represents a goal," Ferguson said.

Packing up

The shuttle astronauts will perform final checks and get a good night's sleep inside their orbiter before undocking from the space station early Tuesday (July 19) at 2:28 a.m. EDT (0628 GMT).

Before the final goodbye both crews completed the last of the packing to make sure all the new supplies were unloaded onto the space station and the shuttle was filled to capacity with trash and broken parts to be brought back to Earth. Much of this equipment was loaded into the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module, a storage container used to transport goods back and forth from orbit.

This morning Atlantis mission specialist Sandra Magnus and pilot Doug Hurley used a robotic arm to move the fully packed Raffaello from its temporary perch on the outside of the space station to the shuttle's payload bay.

Savoring the experience

Atlantis is making the 135th flight of NASA's 30-year space shuttle program. The orbiters are being retired to allow NASA to shift its focus to building spaceships to take humans beyond low-Earth orbit, ultimately to Mars.

While most shuttle workers are mainly focused on the job at hand, they are also aware of witnessing the end of an era, NASA officials have said.

"I actually had a dream last night that I was in Mission Control and looking at the downlink video," flight director Chris Edelen said during a Sunday news briefing. "When I woke up, I realized, hey I really do need to savor these moments 'cause this will be the last time we'll see a big winged vehicle like that docked to the station. It will definitely be something to tell your grandchildren about."

Edelen said he reminded his flight controller team to stop and savor the experience.

After the shuttles are grounded, NASA will rely on Russian spacecraft to carry U.S. crews, until commercial American spaceships are ready to transport astronauts.

"Even though we're losing the shuttle, we're looking forward to seeing some new vehicles come up to the station," Edelen said. "It'll be an exciting time."

Source: SPACE.com.
Link: http://www.space.com/12327-shuttle-atlantis-astronauts-space-station-farewell-ceremony.html.

Huge uranium find reported in India

NEW DELHI, July 19 (UPI) -- A huge uranium deposit was struck in a mine in India's southern Andhra Pradesh state, with experts saying the site could hold the world's largest reserve.

The discovery was made in the mines in the state's Tummalapalle area, the Press Trust of India reported Tuesday.

"At today's estimates, the uranium reserves are to the tune of 49,000 tonnes (54,000 tons). We expect it to be three-fold of that," Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Srikumar Banerjee told reporters at a gathering marking the start of construction of two nuclear-power reactors in Rawatbhata in the western desert state of Rajasthan.

The report said the uranium reserves at the site had been estimated at 15,000 tonnes (16,500 tons) prior to additional exploration by the Indian Atomic Energy Department's Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD).

The report said if the identified deposits are found to be over 150,000 tonnes (165,300 tons), the Tummalapalle mine could become the largest uranium reserve in the world.

"It's confirmed that the mine has 49,000 tonnes of ore, and there are indications that the total quantity could be three times of that amount. If that be the case, it will become the largest uranium mine in the world. The plant is ready, and will begin production by the end of this year," the Times of India quoted Banerjee as saying.

AMD scientists expect to find uranium deposits over the entire length of the 160 kilometer (nearly 100 miles) Tummalapalle belt, PTI reported.

The Uranium Corp. of India Limited, which has uranium mines and an ore processing mill in northern Jharkhand state, has identified additional deposits in two other states.

Analysts were quoted as saying the latest find would still not be able to meet the nuclear energy demand of India, which plans to build up to about 30 reactors.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/07/19/Huge-uranium-find-reported-in-India/UPI-39471311076331/.

Moroccans mount new protests

Ahead of legislative elections, fresh demonstrations and political debates flare across Morocco.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 18/07/11

With parliamentary elections drawing near in Morocco, protests continue unabated in big cities. Thousands rallied on Sunday (July 17th) in Rabat, Casablanca and Tangier in support of and against the recent constitutional changes.

Moroccans overwhelmingly approved the reforms proposed by King Mohammed VI, with the turnout in the July 1st referendum reaching 73.4%. Early legislative elections are now scheduled for October 7th. Among politicians and activists, a major point of discussion is a voter turnout.

Socialist Party (PSU) Secretary-General Mohamed Moujahid predicted that the participation would be lower than in 2007 due to nationwide demonstrations held by the February 20 Movement. He also cast doubt over the referendum turnout.

"In the big cities, that percentage was no more than 20%," Moujahid claimed.

He called for a genuine dialogue about the real problems to prevent political activities from being pushed to the margins of society.

Speaking for the Justice and Development Party (PJD), Deputy Secretary-General Lahcen Daoudi stressed the need for continued vigilance. He insisted that the referendum had nothing to do with the political parties, who have yet to rekindle confidence in politics among the public.

The voter participation will be around 40%, Daoudi predicted. The state needs to clear the atmosphere and the electoral lists and send out a signal to voters that they can have confidence, he said. For their part, political parties need to adopt a new strategy which does not involve co-opting just anyone in elections.

MP Abdellatif Oummou, of the Party for Progress and Socialism (PPS), voiced his optimism, stressing the need to implement a whole raft of measures before a positive turnout can be seen.

Following the results of the referendum, he said, it is clear that the process of reconciliation between Moroccans and politics has begun, but it will take time.

Will this trend continue? It depends on a number of things, including the capacity of the political parties to adapt to the new age in terms of alliances and fair competition, Oummou said.

"All of this needs to be supported by state measures relating to political life, particularly the release of political prisoners, a clean-up of electoral lists, the observation of elections, the elimination of electoral fraud, and the introduction of strong, credible institutions," he added.

The aim is to empower the Moroccan people, giving them all they need to play a full role as citizens, Oummou concluded.

Political commentator Najib Aarfi struck a similar chord. If people want to see a higher turnout in the legislative elections, then political organizations need to present an offer which is acceptable to voters, and particularly young people, who have demonstrated their awareness of what goes on in the world of politics, he commented.

"If the public feel there has been a change within the parties and the authorities, it is highly likely that the turnout will be acceptable," Aarfi said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/18/feature-03.

Rights group: Release of Raed Salah a 'victory for justice'

Tuesday 19/07/2011

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A European human rights NGO has welcomed the release of Sheikh Raed Salah after 3 weeks in British detention.

The chairman of UFree Mohammad Ramdan on Monday called the release a "victory for justice" and said Salah's arrest had tarnished the reputation of Britain's justice system.

UFree believes he was arrested following a campaign of lies and smears against him by the pro-Israeli right wing press in the UK, Ramdan added.

"We understand that Sheikh Salah's lawyers will now take action against journalists who have spread unfounded rumors against the Sheikh to clear his name."

Sheikh Raed Salah's arrest has been widely condemned by sections of Palestinian and Arab society.

UFree is an independent European-wide human rights network set up to defend the rights of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=406441.

Grand Cayman Blue Iguana Saved From Extinction

By Christy Su & Cassie Ryan
July 18, 2011

In a rare good news story, the once near extinct Grand Cayman blue iguana is making a comeback that has experts hoping for a complete recovery of the endangered species.

The Blue Iguana Recovery Program began in 2002, when there were only between 10 and 25 of these big lizards left on the island due to a variety of factors, including habitat loss and predation by domestic animals.

Since then, the project has increased the iguana population by more than 500 through captive breeding. Each iguana hatched lives a year or two in a breeding facility and then gets a health screening before being released.

Vets weigh and tag each lizard, and take fecal and blood samples for analysis. Once an animal is given a clean bill of health, it is ready for release into a reserve.

"We expect to reach our goal of 1,000 iguanas in managed protected areas in the wild in a few years," said Fred Burton, Director of the Blue Iguana Recovery Program, in a press release.

"After that, we will monitor the iguanas to make sure they are reproducing in the numbers needed to maintain the wild population," he added. "If we get positive results, we will have succeeded."

These reptiles, which can grow to more than five feet long, originally inhabited most of the island, but have been protected in reserves during the recovery.

Most of the lizards were released at the 625-acre Salina Reserve on the eastern side of the island, but this year, they are being introduced to a new area, the Collier Wilderness Reserve.

Juanita, a female released last year, mated with a male called Zarco, and made a nest containing eight or more eggs.

Burton received the ‘Blue Turtle’ award from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee in 2009 for his efforts to bring the species back from the brink of extinction.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/grand-cayman-blue-iguana-saved-from-extinction-59229.html.

Greek Taxidrivers Launch 48-Hour Strike Against Planned Reforms

By Shannon Liao
July 18, 2011

Greek taxidrivers started a 48-hour strike on Monday over the government’s recent decision to liberalize the industry. The strike is planned for 5 a.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Wednesday, local time, but the unions say they are prepared for longer strikes if the issue is not resolved.

Reversing a decision just last month to more strictly regulate taxi licenses, the new transport minister has decided to lift all restrictions on issuing taxi licenses to create more job openings as a way to soften the rigid labor market.

For taxidrivers, the change may mean more competition in an already tough market. There are currently 14,000 taxis in the capital city Athens alone, which represents about 4 taxis per 1,000 residents. Taxi fares in Greece are among the lowest in Europe.

The reforms announced last month would have reduced the number of licenses in the country. Under those rules, taxis in Athens would have dropped to 2.5 licenses per 1,000 residents and the average would have been 2 per 1,000 elsewhere in Greece.

However, after a Cabinet shuffle the new Transport Minister Yannis Ragoussis changed the plan.

The IMF has required Greece to enact a series of strict measures to try to stimulate the economy.

Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF’s team on Greece, explained in an IMF interview last week that the reform program is going to be tough for the Greek people but the program is a prerequisite for improving Greece’s economy.

“I think that the majority of people understand that the reforms are necessary to develop a more dynamic and competitive economy that creates jobs and new opportunities,” Thomsen said.

On July 8, the IMF approved a 3.2 billion euro (US$4.5 billion) disbursement for Greece, along with heightened expectations for progress, according to the IMF report. Greece will have to pass tens of billions of dollars in austerity measures to compensate.

Major traffic jams have been reported in Greece, particularly leaving the main airports and ports.

“We sincerely apologize to our passengers that we are not able to meet their transport needs,” read the statement issued Monday about the strike by Greece’s Taxi Drivers’ Union.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/greek-taxidrivers-launch-48-hour-strike-against-planned-reforms-59227.html.