Air Algerie workers begin wage talks

2011-07-21

Air Algerie management and cabin crew representatives are expected to launch salary negotiations on Thursday (July 21st), Liberte reported. Flight attendants, who ended a four-day strike last week, are demanding a pay hike of 106%. The national carrier is reportedly ready to offer a 20% increase. Renewed protest actions may resume should the sides fail to reach a compromise, Afrik.com reported.

The Air Algerie strike left hundreds of passengers stranded at Algerian and French airports and caused significant financial damage to the carrier.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/07/21/newsbrief-03.

Disease threatens southern Tunisia refugee camps

Displaced families along the Libyan-Tunisian border complain of scant health services and deteriorating conditions.

By Monia Ghanmi for Magharebia in Tunis – 21/07/11

The summer temperature hike brings new dangers for refugees who fled the war in Libya for southern Tunisia.

Thirty-nine cases of tuberculosis and 29 cases of AIDS have been recorded on the border with Libya, the Tunisian health ministry announced on Monday (July 18th).

The infections are worrisome because they are of long duration, said Mongi Slim, the head of the Tunisian Red Crescent in Medenine. There are regular check-ups for these cases in local hospitals, he added.

Slim, however, reassured that the cases did not constitute an extreme danger and could be addressed and controlled. A number of actions to prevent the spread of the infections had taken place, where carriers of these diseases were isolated from the rest of the displaced families to prevent any intermingling, he said.

According to Slim, the public health administration has intensified its presence in the camps to avoid potential health problems that could result from high temperatures, especially food poisoning, through periodic field visits to refugee shelter centers to determine the availability of basic hygiene conditions.

More than 5,000 wounded Libyans have been recorded on the border along with 40 deaths since the conflict broke out in February, Nabil Ben Salah, a representative of the Tunisian health ministry, told reporters on Monday.

Still, he maintained that the health situation was under control, and hospital facilities were supplied with numerous ambulances, medical and quasi-medical staff, as well as sanitary materials.

The increasing summer heat has exposed many refugees, particularly children and the elderly, to the risks of sun strokes and dehydration.

Relief organizations have failed to perform their duties in providing medicine, food and health care, complained Libyan refugee Salah Al-Magariaf.

In the Remada camp, displaced families were evacuated, with many housed in school auditoriums and with Tunisian families. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the camp hosts 909 refugees.

Preparations also took off in the Dhiba camp, created by the UAE Red Crescent three months ago, to equip two giant tents with air-conditioning systems for nearly 200 refugees.

Meanwhile, Libyan families from the north of the country continue to find havens in Tunisia following the security deterioration in the areas between Ajdabiya and Brega. The Dhiba border crossing last week saw a fresh influx of refugees, including those who had earlier returned to their towns, thinking that security conditions had improved.

"We thought that the situation had calmed down," said Mohamed Ben Aissa. "I left my children with a friendly Tunisian family. My wife, my brothers and me returned to my town of al-Qalaa in order to rebuild our house before the fasting month, but the on-going battles forced us to go back to Tunisia."

"Here, everyone will feel safe," he added. "I hope the situation does not continue long so soon we can return once and for all."

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/21/feature-02.

Tunisian journalists criticize government tactics

Relations between Tunisian journalists and the interim government have soured in recent weeks.

By Houda Trabelsi for Magharebia in Tunis – 21/07/11

Tunisian reporters on Monday (July 18th) staged a protest outside the headquarters of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) to denounce what they say are government efforts to control the press.

The demonstrators criticized remarks made by interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi directed at media organizations. Protestors took particular issue with last week's violent dispersal of the Kasbah sit-in, which left ten journalists injured.

SNJT's executive bureau expressed concern that authorities were seeking to reassert their control over the nation's newly free media. The SNJT issued a statement in which it condemned "insults and humiliation" by the interim administration.

"The bureau is declaring its absolute rejection of the measures that are aimed at marginalizing the media sector and imposing restrictions on journalists," said Najiba Hamrouni, a SNJT chairperson. "The SNJT's executive bureau considers these behaviors a stark aggression on journalists, freedom of opinion and expression, and citizens' right to information."

She added that the syndicate was "warning against the consequences of repetition of such practices and is reserving its legal right to react to them in the way it deems appropriate".

"It is also calling for putting an end to attempts to restrict journalists' right to obtaining information and presenting it to the public opinion neutrally and independently," Hamrouni said.

The union is taking legal action against Interior Minister Habib Essid over the Kasbah clash, according to Mongi Khadraoui, a member of the SNJT executive bureau. He said the clash was a "disgrace in the face of the repressive police apparatus".

"After January 14th, attacks on journalists have taken several forms, starting with rebukes by the police with so much malice, then verbal attacks by several political parties and forces against anyone who reports any information that is not in their favor, and finally assaults and detention by some citizens of journalists while they were doing their job," said Aymen Rezgui, another member of the SNJT executive bureau.

Rezgui accused the government of using the media as a scapegoat for the country's problems, telling Magharebia that "journalists have become the weakest ring and a card that the government plays to mask all of its mistakes and shortcomings".

In his turn, young reporter Aymen Bchini told Magharebia that the prime minister's remarks were "an insult to the people". He added that the government's aim was "to treat journalists lightly, denigrate, intimidate and force them to show their allegiance".

"This is rejected both in form and content; otherwise we will lose our credibility with our people who are still not trusting us and doubting our integrity although they know that journalists' behaviors differ from one person to another. Therefore, the interim minister should officially apologize," Bchini said.

Meanwhile, Anissa Slim told Magharebia that "the government and public opinion's lack of respect for the media is mainly because the fragility of sector and due to some journalists' failure to observe the ethics of profession."

"We don't have any other option but to continue to struggle against those opportunists who have sabotaged the media sector in Tunisia," she concluded.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/21/feature-01.

Space Shuttle Era Ends with Atlantis Landing

Houston TX (SPX)
Jul 22, 2011

Space shuttle Atlantis touched down on the Shuttle Landing Facility's Runway 15 at 5:57 a.m. EDT on July 21. After 200 orbits around Earth and a journey of 5,284,862 miles, the landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida brought to a close 30 years of space shuttle flights.

"Although we got to take the ride," said Commander Chris Ferguson on behalf of his crew, " we sure hope that everybody who has ever worked on, or touched, or looked at, or envied or admired a space shuttle was able to take just a little part of the journey with us."

The STS-135 crew consisted of Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim.

"I really want to thank the space shuttle team and the Space Shuttle Program for just a tremendous effort and throughout the entire history of the program. We gave them a tremendous challenge to fly and execute these missions and to finish strong and I can tell you that the team accomplished every one of those objectives," said Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier as he addressed the media at the post-landing news conference.

"I'd also like to thank the nation for allowing us to have these thirty years to go use the shuttle system."

"It is great to have Atlantis safely home after a tremendously successful mission - and home to stay," said Bob Cabana, Kennedy Space Center director, referencing Atlantis' retirement at Kennedy's Visitor Complex.

"I'm unbelievably proud to be here representing the Space Shuttle Program and the thousands of people across the country who do the work," said Mike Moses, space shuttle launch integration manager. "Hearing the sonic booms as Atlantis came home for the last time really drove it home to me that this has been a heck of a program."

"The workers out here and across the country in the Space Shuttle Program have dedicated their lives, their hearts and their souls to this program, and I couldn't be more proud of them," said Mike Leinbach, space shuttle launch director at Kennedy.

A welcome home ceremony for the astronauts will be held Friday, July 22, in Houston. The public is invited to attend the 4 p.m. CDT event at NASA's Hangar 990 at Ellington Field. Gates to Ellington Field will open at 3:30 p.m. The ceremony will be broadcast live on NASA Television.

On the 13-day mission, the STS-135 crew delivered to the International Space Station more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, spare equipment and other supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module, including 2,677 pounds of food. The supplies will sustain space station operations for the next year. The 21-foot long, 15-foot diameter Raffaello brought back nearly 5,700 pounds of unneeded materials from the station.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Space_Shuttle_Era_Ends_with_Atlantis_Landing_999.html.

UK Defense Equipment Budget Rises As Future Force Takes Shape

London, UK (SPX)
Jul 22, 2011

The Government has committed to increasing the planned MOD equipment budget by over GBP3bn during the Spending Review period after 2015 to fund vital future military equipment.

The longer-term vision for the make up of our military - Future Force 2020 - will be secured by this one-per-cent-a-year real terms increase in the planned equipment and equipment support program.

The culmination of this work has meant the Defense Secretary Dr Liam Fox was able to announce that this funding will allow the MOD to order significant pieces of equipment over the next decade, including:

+ 14 extra Chinook helicopters from 2014 onwards

+ The Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier conversion to catapult and arrestor gear ('cats and traps')

+ Initial spending on the new Joint Strike Fighter fast jets (known as Lightning II) delivering Carrier Strike capability from 2020

+ Development of the Global Combat Ship

+ Three new Airseeker signals intelligence and surveillance aircraft in 2014

+ Upgraded Warrior armored vehicles.

Defense Secretary Dr Liam Fox said: "This commitment to increase Defense equipment funding after 2015 will ensure our Armed Forces remain a formidable fighting force on the world stage. I am determined to maintain Britain's position in the international premier league and to ensure that our Royal Navy, Army and RAF are given the tools they need to do their vital work.

"The Government has committed to deliver a package of new money, further efficiencies, and adjustment to the future Defense equipment program, turning the unfunded aspirations of the last Government into real contracts and real equipment. For the first time in a generation, the MOD will have brought its plans and budget broadly into balance, allowing it to plan with confidence for the delivery of the future equipment program."

This funding announcement is part of a broader body of work to implement the Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR), including the publication of the Basing and Reserves Reviews.

The Future Reserves Study 2020 (FR20) identified that the Army can meet the vision for Future Force 2020 in a more cost effective way, by changing the balance between Regulars and Reserves. The Government will proceed with a GBP1.5bn investment package over the next 10 years, GBP400m in this Parliament, to enhance the capability of the Reserves and consequently increase their trained strength.

As a result, the department will plan for an Army of around 120,000 comprising of Regulars and Reserves with a ratio of about 70 per cent regulars to 30 per cent Territorial Army.

Chief of the Defense Staff, General Sir David Richards, said: "This decisions by the Secretary of State represent a key step forward in the radical transformation program Defense is undertaking. If we get it right, this will result in a modern, hard-hitting joint force still capable of operating at the divisional level across the full spectrum of conflict. It will deliver Armed Forces of which we can all be proud.

"Using the Reserves as an integral part of the overall forces available to Defense builds on the 'One Army' concept that has been successfully employed over the past decade of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Balancing the Reserves and Regular forces in all three Services along with the budget increase will also bring the Defense program broadly into balance and represents a major achievement. The Department can plan for the longer term with much greater certainty than before."

Equipment Program
Through the combination of this funding announcement and substantial savings delivered through tough decisions taken in the SDSR, the Government will have addressed the inherited multi-billion pound deficit in the forward Defense program.

For the first time in a generation, the MOD will have brought its future plans and future budget into close alignment, allowing it to plan with greater confidence for the delivery of the equipment program.

The MOD will publish a fully funded and balanced 10-year Equipment Plan by September 2011, and the National Audit Office will conduct an affordability audit of this; the first of its kind.

"This commitment to increase Defense equipment funding after 2015 will ensure our Armed Forces remain a formidable fighting force on the world stage."

The Prime Minister commissioned an independent review of the Reserve Forces known as the Future Reserves 2020 Study (FR20). This was led by Vice Chief of the Defense Staff, General Sir Nicholas Houghton, working alongside Julian Brazier MP and Lieutenant General (Ret'd) Graeme Lamb.

The key recommendations of the review are:

+ Reservists bring with them a huge range of skills, experience and capabilities and more investment must be made in recruiting, training and better integrating them into the Regular force.

+ Consideration should be given to the attribution of Reservists to a wider range of military tasks, especially UK resilience and Homeland Security.

+ Defense should adopt a Whole Force Concept, where the Reserve component should be increased. The Reservist element of the Armed Forces must grow to become a far greater proportion of the overall Force Structure.

+ The Review has found that other NATO countries use Reserves to make up a much greater proportion of their Armed Forces. In the UK, the current commitment of Reserve forces is below 20 per cent, whereas in the United States the figure is 35 per cent, in Canada 35 per cent, and in Australia 25 per cent.

Based on the conclusions of the Reserves Review, the Government will now proceed with a GBP1.5bn investment package over the next 10 years to enhance the capability of the Reserves and allow a significant expansion. As the capability of the Territorial Army improves, it is envisaged that this will allow a progressive adjustment of the regular/reserve balance while maintaining the land forces capability set out in the SDSR.

By 2020, if the Reserves develop in the way that we hope, we envisage a total force of around 120,000 broadly in the ratio 70:30 regular to reserve. Details of how this will be achieved will be considered during the next Implementation phase.

Commenting on the findings of the Future Reserves Review, the Vice Chief of the Defense Staff, General Sir Nicholas Houghton, said:

"We firmly believe that this report represents good news for the Reserves, Defense and the UK more widely. This is a once in a generation opportunity to change our Reserve Forces model for the better, to ensure the systemic decline of our Reserves is reversed and to enable our Armed Forces - Regulars and Reserves - to better meet the security challenges of the future."

Rebasing
Moving towards Future Force 2020, and returning the 20,000 personnel stationed in Germany, means the Armed Forces' estate requirements will change. As a result, the MOD has reviewed its future basing needs.

The driving force behind the review of basing is the military requirement. By 2020, the Army will be made up of five Multi-Role Brigades (MRB) of around 6,000 people. These brigades need to be geographically close to suitable training areas so they can prepare for deployment.

The changes to military basing announced by the Defense Secretary include:

+ Former RAF bases and existing Army bases in the east of England will accommodate one Army MRB, concentrated in Cottesmore, North Luffenham, Bassingbourn and Woodbridge

+ Lyneham will be the preferred location for future Defense Technical Training

+ The other Army MRB will be in Scotland, centered on Edinburgh. The base at Kirknewton, south east of Edinburgh, will be developed into a major Army base

+ The Typhoon Force will be built up at RAF Lossiemouth which will become the base for the Northern QRA missions. Leuchars will cease to be an RAF base but will be used to house two major Army units and a headquarters. Flying will continue at both Leuchars and Lossiemouth until at least 2013

+ It is also planned that Army units will move into Kinloss around 2014/15.

The military footprint in Scotland overall will increase over the coming decade.

The Army's Project Avanti has also been working on proposals for restructuring its personnel and support function. At Regional Brigade level, the Army will maintain all 10 Brigade headquarters. The project recommends disbanding HQ 2nd Division at Edinburgh, HQ 4th Division at Aldershot and HQ 5th Division at Shrewsbury and replacing them all with a single 2-star support command, which will be based in Aldershot. The Army has concluded that 19 Light Brigade in Northern Ireland should be disbanded.

Defense Secretary Dr Liam Fox said: "This has been an incredibly complex decision and has inevitably been a balancing act. There were many different options and permutations across the UK but we have looked at this very carefully and are sure that the conclusions we have come to are the right ones.

"We will make efficient use of bases that become available for alternative uses; we will sell estate that is valuable and makes no sense to keep, and we will protect vulnerable communities and increase the Defense footprint. Most importantly of all this plan will deliver a basing laydown for the future for our Armed Forces that offers them stability and enables the delivery of military capability."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/UK_Defence_Equipment_Budget_Rises_As_Future_Force_Takes_Shape_999.html.

'Anonymous' fires back at hacker hunters

San Francisco (AFP)
July 21, 2011

Notorious hacker group Anonymous on posted a defiant message to police Thursday and boasted of plundering sensitive data from NATO computers.

"We are not scared anymore," read an online message that purported to be a response by Anonymous and splinter group Lulz Security.

"Your threats to arrest us are meaningless to us as you cannot arrest an idea... there is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- you can possibly do to make us stop."

As if to underscore the point, a message posted at a Twitter account by "AnonymousIRC" claimed to have looted about a gigabyte of NATO data that even the rebel hacker group deemed too sensitive to release.

"Yes, we haz (sic) more of your delicious data," the Twitter post read. "You call it war; we laugh at your battleships."

US authorities arrested 16 people for cyber crimes on Tuesday, including 14 over an online attack on the PayPal website claimed by Anonymous.

The US indictment against the 14 hackers alleges the denial of service (DDoS) attacks on PayPal were "retribution" because the site terminated a donation account for the whistle-blowing group WikiLeaks.

Anonymous hackers called the PayPal attacks "Operation Avenge Assange," in reference to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the indictment said, adding that the US raids were coordinated with police in Britain and the Netherlands.

The PayPal attack suspects were arrested during raids in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio and the US capital Washington.

The cyber attackers used aliases such as "Toxic," "Reaper," "Anthrophobic" and "No."

Separately, two suspects were arrested under similar indictments in Florida and New Jersey, while British police arrested one suspect and Dutch police four.

In all, FBI agents made 35 raids across the United States as part of a probe into "coordinated cyber attacks against major companies and organizations," the FBI said, adding that to date more than 75 searches have been carried out.

Anonymous said its targets are governments that manipulate people with lies and fear, and corporations that lobby and ally themselves with such governments for profits.

"These governments and corporations are our enemy," the message at pastebin.com read.

"And we will continue to fight them, with all methods we have at our disposal, and that certainly includes breaking into their websites and exposing their lies."

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos on Wednesday tweeted that his Facebook page had been hacked by Anonymous, which took a swipe at the country's independence celebrations.

Anonymous left short phrases that are one of its calling cards, and a link to a video entitled "False Independence" on his personal page as Colombia marks the 201st year of its independence from Spain.

Anonymous also sabotaged Turkish sites last month to protest against Internet censorship.

"The Anonymous bitchslap rings through your ears like hacktivism movements of the 90s," said the online message rebutting FBI comments condemning the group's attacks.

"We're back and we're not going anywhere," it continued. "Expect us."

Anonymous rose to infamy last year with cyber attacks in support of WikiLeaks.

The group was linked to attacks on Visa, Mastercard and PayPal, which blocked donations to the controversial anti-secrecy WikiLeaks after it published a quarter million US diplomatic cables stolen in a cyber attack.

Early this year, Anonymous took credit for breaking into the website of HBGary Federal, stealing tens of thousands of email messages and temporarily routing traffic in retaliation for the technology security company's work in helping hunt the group.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Anonymous_fires_back_at_hacker_hunters_999.html.

New French nuke plant beset by more delays

FLAMANVILLE, France, July 22 (UPI) -- French utility EDF this week announced more delays in its plans to construct one of the biggest nuclear power facilities in the world at Flamanville.

EDF's 1,650-megawatt Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor was already two years behind schedule and $2.4 billion over budget before Wednesday's announcement, in which the utility says it needs to carry out tougher safety inspections in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.

Citing "structural and economic reasons" for the new delays, the state-owned company sent notice its flagship plant's costs will increase to $9 billion due to the new requirements while its opening has been pushed back to 2016.

The utility noted there were two fatal accidents at the work site, "including one that partially suspended the civil works for many weeks," and thus work on the project was slowed in the first half of 2011.

Also, it said, it will carry out a "comprehensive analysis" of Flamanville's safety audits and submit the results to the French Nuclear Safety Authority by September.

The latest cost overruns and delays are a blow to the French company and its hopes for the worldwide commercialization of a new type of nuclear reactor, known as a European Pressurized Reactor, manufactured by the French nuclear group Areva.

It also comes at a tricky time politically for French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose strongly pro-nuclear stance is coming under attack by his Socialist and Green Party political opponents as the parties prepare for next year's presidential elections.

Sarkozy last month committed to a $1.5 billion investment in France's nuclear power industry at a time when some other European countries have placed moratoriums on new plants and a major poll indicates French public opinion has turned against it.

He said he intends to beef up nuclear safety research and development in a move meant to assure the public nuclear energy is safe and reliable after Fukushima but critics contend the nuclear lobby of EDF, Areva and its unions is preventing the country from joining Germany in phasing out nuclear power and putting more emphasis on renewable energy.

Cecile Duflot, national secretary of the French Green Party, said last month her party is demanding that a commitment to phase out all nuclear power -- as well as to immediately close all nuclear plant more than 30 years old -- be part of any alliance it forges with the Socialists for next year's elections.

EDF operates 58 nuclear reactors in France, which provide more than 74 percent of the country's power, as well as 16 in Britain. Progress on its new EPR is being closely monitored because of its plans to build four identical ones in Britain, the New Civil Engineer trade magazine reported.

The publication said EDF originally planned to start building the new British fleet of EPRs in 2012 to 2013 and have them operational by the end of 2017.

The Flamanville EPR and another in Finland -- which is also facing delays and cost overruns -- were the targets of criticism this spring by environmentalists who demanded France reexamine its power generation priorities.

Greenpeace on May 4 blocked the construction of the Flamanville work site, claiming to have anchored two trucks to the ground, blockaded the entrance and scaled construction cranes.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/07/22/New-French-nuke-plant-beset-by-more-delays/UPI-90751311338555/.

Tortoise gets prosthetic leg with wheel

PULLMAN, Wash., July 22 (UPI) -- Animal surgeons at Washington State University said they attached a swiveling wheel to a tortoise that had to have its leg amputated.

The Pullman school's Exotic Animal Service said Gamera, a 12-year-old African spur-thighed tortoise, lost its left front leg due to thermal injury and tissue damage but was getting around well after having a prosthetic with a swiveling wheel attached to its shell, KCPQ-TV, Tacoma, Wash., reported Thursday.

Dr. Nikol Finch of the Exotic Animal Service said there was concern Gamera would have trouble eating following the surgery so they attached a feeding tube and the tortoise has gained 3 pounds since being admitted.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/07/22/Tortoise-gets-prosthetic-leg-with-wheel/UPI-99201311321600/.

Qatar breaks Arab ranks over Syria

Thursday 21 July 2011
Ian Black

Ian Black: While most Arab states sit on the fence, Qatar is standing up to Damascus over an attack on its embassy.

Qatar lived up to its reputation as a maverick in Middle Eastern politics this week by suspending the operations of its embassy in Damascus. The emir of the small but fabulously wealthy Gulf state has already gone far beyond the Arab consensus by supporting the Libyan rebels, sending cash and weapons to help them in their fight against Muammar Gaddafi. The United Arab Emirates is doing the same, but in a lower profile way.

Qatari investments in Syria have also reportedly been frozen, but the emirate was not reacting directly to Syrian repression. The measures were taken in response to attacks on its diplomatic mission in the leafy Damascus suburb of Ein Rummaneh, which was pelted with stones, eggs and tomatoes in protest at coverage of the unrest by al-Jazeera TV. The satellite channel is owned by Qatar, based in Doha and watched by millions of Arabs.

Qatar's moves, in the words of analyst Karim Sader, were "more like a shrewdly calculated divorce from the Syrian regime than a fleeting spat".

Other, more discreet action, is afoot. Arab media circles are rife with rumors of financial support from Qatar, the UAE and the Saudis for Syrian opposition groups— paying for conferences, communications and perhaps more.

Crucially though, there is no sign that Arab leaders are ready to publicly abandon Bashar al-Assad, five months into one of the bloodiest and most unpredictable episodes of the Arab uprising.

Nabil Elaraby, the new secretary general of the Arab League, certainly stuck to the non-interference script when he criticized Barack Obama for saying that Assad had "lost legitimacy". That was an issue that could be decided only by Syrians, he insisted - a diplomatic disappointment for some critics - after visiting the Syrian president and sounding supportive about his belated, half-hearted attempts at reform.

It was easier for Elaraby's predecessor, Amr Moussa, speaking just before stepping down and launching his bid for the Egyptian presidency. Moussa first criticized NATO's bombing of Libya - despite having being instrumental in providing cover for UN-sanctioned action against Gaddafi - and then spoke of Arab "anger" about the violence in Syria, winning a rebuke from Damascus that he was "unbalanced and politically motivated".

The turmoil in Syria has paralyzed other Arab regimes. The country that describes itself as the "beating heart of Arabism" may not be popular, but it is a powerful regional player with strategic ties to Iran and important relationships with Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories - and it craves a better relationship with the US.

Saudi Arabia, Syria's bitter rival, especially in Lebanon, does not want to see chaos if Assad is forced from power or uses overwhelming violence and repression to hold on. Saudi officials have said nothing in public about the Syrian crisis and have no sympathy for the Arab spring. But they would doubtless like to see Assad cut down to size as a regional actor.

Post-revolution uncertainty in Egypt is a powerful reminder to the conservative Gulf states of the potential risks if "stable" dictators like Hosni Mubarak are abandoned by the US and forced from office. And their fear of fitna, which translates as sedition or sectarianism, look not entirely unjustified - as the ugly events in Homs have shown in recent days.

Syria's neighbors Iraq and Jordan are watching anxiously, but keeping quiet. Their assumption is that the cohesion of the Damascus regime, opposition divisions and above all the near impossibility of Libyan-style foreign intervention all mean that Assad is not about to fall.

Israel is also monitoring the Syrian crisis but keeping uncharacteristically quiet. Its listening posts on the occupied Golan Heights, less than an hour from Damascus, must be picking up some unusual intelligence from Syria's telephone and radio networks – and YouTube is a handy source for tracking defections by army officers refusing to kill their own people. As Binyamin Netanyahu acknowledged in an interview with the Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV - which, like its rival al-Jazeera is covering the Syrian uprising closely - anything Israel says will be counterproductive.

But Syria's crisis is mainly a problem for Arabs. This week the Arab Writers Union, meeting in Cairo, held heated discussions about the situation in Syria, Yemen and elsewhere in the region, but its final communique managed only to condemn the crushing of peaceful protests "in more than one country" - without daring to name which ones.

As Ahmed Asfahani, commentator for the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, put it: "If even Arab writers can't protest about what's happening in Syria, what hope is there that their governments will do anything?"

Source: The Guardian.
Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/21/qatar-syria-ian-black.

Japan eyes $291 bln for reconstruction: reports

Tokyo (AFP)
July 21, 2011

The Japanese government estimates it will need to spend $291 billion in the next decade to rebuild areas destroyed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, local reports said Thursday.

In the first five years, the government would spend 19 trillion yen or more than 80 percent of the total 23 trillion yen necessary for reconstruction, according to major media, including Kyodo News and the Yomiuri Shimbun.

To pay for the various projects, the government was considering spending cuts, sales of public assets, new bond issues and tax hikes, the reports said.

The plans are expected to be included in basic guidelines that the government is aiming to complete within this month, Kyodo said.

The government earlier estimated that costs resulting from damage from the disasters at 16.9 trillion yen.

Parliament approved a four trillion yen additional budget in May, and it is at the final phase of approving a second extra budget, worth two trillion yen.

A third extra budget is anticipated later this year, with analysts estimating it to be worth 10 trillion yen.

Details of the latest reconstruction plans could change as the government moves to restore Japan's finances, which currently include the industrialized world's largest public debt at around 200 percent of GDP.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Japan_eyes_291_bln_for_reconstruction_reports_999.html.

Spain summons Iraqis over deaths of Iranian exiles

14 July 2011

A Spanish judge has summoned three Iraqi officers over a raid by Iraqi security forces on a camp housing an Iranian exile group.

The UN says 34 people were killed in the raid at Camp Ashraf, in Diyala province, in April 2011.

Judge Fernando Andreu has summoned Gen Ali Ghaidan Majid, the head of army, and two other officers to appear.

He is investigating allegations that crimes against humanity were committed during the raid on the camp.

The investigation is an enlargement of an existing probe on a separate raid which took place at the camp in July 2009, in which 11 people were killed.

Universal justice

Under Spain's universal justice doctrine, grave crimes committed in other countries can be prosecuted.

Judge Andreu said that the Geneva Convention applied to the case, as it addresses the protection of civilians in wartime and all those killed and injured in the attack were considered "protected persons" under the terms of the Convention.

According to documents released by Madrid's investigative court, a total of 377 "protected persons" were injured in the 8 April 2011 raid, 154 with bullet wounds.

More than 3,000 members of the banned opposition group, the People's Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI), have been confined by the US military at the camp since the invasion in 2003.

The group, considered a terrorist group by the US and Iran, were given permission to shelter in Iraq by former President Saddam Hussein during the 1980-88 war between the two countries and they have lived at the camp ever since.

In January, the judge had said he would close the dossier into the July 2009 attack if the Iraqi authorities opened their own investigation.

Iraq responded by saying it had carried out its own legal inquiry but this was not judged sufficient by Spanish authorities.

The three Iraqi officers have been summoned to appear before the Madrid court on 3 October 2011.

Source: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14159897.

Jordan king urges media protection after assault

Friday 22/07/2011

AMMAN (AFP) -- Jordan's King Abdullah II called on Thursday for protecting journalists after several reporters were beaten up as they covered a demonstration in Amman last week.

"The king rejects what the journalists were subjected to last Friday, stressing that it was unjustified," the state-run Petra news agency reported after the monarch met with Jordan Press Association President Tareq Momani.

"He also rejects any practices and restrictions that would obstruct the work of media, which have an important role in accurately and independently delivering information to citizens and addressing their issues."

At least 17 people, including journalists and policemen, were injured when police tried to stop clashes between pro-reform demonstrators and government supporters in central Amman.

Police used batons and other instruments, including a barbecue grill and a ladder, to break up the clashes outside city hall, beating and injuring at least nine journalists wearing orange vests marked "Press."

"The king said he will instruct the government and security services to ensure the protection of journalists as they cover political, social and other activities," Petra said.

"We want active and effective media to help carry our reform vision," he was quoted as saying.

A police report released on Wednesday blamed the demonstrators and the media for Friday's violence, but said "more time is needed for further investigation and determining those who beat the demonstrators and journalists."

"Suspects must be put on trial in line with penal and public security laws," it added.

The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders have condemned the attacks on journalists and called for protecting the media.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=407370.

Jordan Feature: "Some Kind of Silence Has Broken"

Thursday, July 21, 2011
Scott Lucas in EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran

Since January, when Jordan’s protest movement started holding regular demonstrations, the marches have grown, and persisted, but have never reached a critical mass. Hobbled by infighting and outflanked by King Abdullah II and his security forces, the protesters keep calling for greater freedoms and an end to corruption, but remain frustrated that their regular gatherings — sometimes only two-hour affairs — have hastened no real change.

Their quandary was illustrated in the demonstrations this past weekend here in Amman. On Friday, riot police officers beat demonstrators trying to stage a sit-in during clashes that spilled into a busy market district.

On Saturday, a smaller group of protesters shut down traffic in another part of the city. The police did not interfere, and the gathering dispersed after a few hours. Afterward, opposition leaders were unsure what, if anything, had been accomplished.

The protesters’ demands seem modest compared with their counterparts in Egypt and Tunisia: a reform of the system, not its downfall. And yet, as those countries have evolved to the next stages of their revolutions, Jordanians still seem stuck deciding when, and how hard, to push.

The anger fueling the protests has not dissipated, and if anything, it has grown into broader doubts about the king’s intentions. Those doubts are carefully expressed, since direct criticisms of the king, a close American ally, are banned.

“He does not want to be reformed,” said Labib Kamhawi, a political analyst. “He wants people to accept his definition of reform. During the past six years, corruption was so rampant.” As a result, Jordan almost went bankrupt, he said. The king, he added, “is not accepting that this issue needs to be addressed.”

Zaid el-Fayez, a businessman who attended the demonstration on Friday and who belongs to a tribe considered fiercely loyal to ruling Hashemite family, said: “He can’t see us. He can’t hear us. He’s acting like nothing is happening. Most of the Jordanian people are angry.”

Government officials argue that the king has already responded, promising to amend the Constitution and election and party laws, and move to a system where political parties and not the king appoint the prime minister. They say there is no easy fix to the country’s dire economic problems, and that corruption accusations are convenient scapegoating.

The prime minister, Marouf al-Bakhit, acknowledged the frustrations of the protesters, but said some of the demands, especially regarding corruption, reflected impatience. “They want me to hang someone, and later, look at his case,” he said.

The genesis of the protests in Jordan included a worker’s strike in the port city of Aqaba in 2009 and dissent from retired army officers last year. They started in earnest six months ago, when Mohamed al-Snaid, a water pump operator dismissed from a government job, gathered laborers in Dhiban, south of Amman, to protest poor working conditions. Hundreds of others joined, and a week later demonstrations spread to other cities.

The authorities have occasionally intervened to forcibly contain the dissent. In March, riot police officers and government loyalists injured scores of protesters who had pitched a tent camp intended to imitate Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

The foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, argued that Jordan’s reaction to the protests was mild compared with those of other Arab countries. “It’s very difficult to forget that not a single bullet was fired,” he said. “We deal with things in a civilized way. The system is listening and the system is responding. In Jordan, reform is led by the king.”

But some protest leaders, deeply skeptical, say they plan to escalate both their statements and their activism. Their attempt at a sit-in on Friday seemed to reflect a new approach.

Other activists said that slogans shouted at marches already make more direct references to the king — tying him, for example, to the cheap sale of public land to private companies. “Abdullah, son of Hussein,” goes one chant, heard at protests recently outside of Amman. “Where is the land, where?”

Kamal Khoury, a 25-year-old protester allied with a leftist movement, said: “Something has broken — some kind of silence. More and more people are speaking about the king.”

But the protesters face long odds. Many of their problems are self-inflicted, by a fractured movement that has argued about ideology and tactics. A coalition that includes young people, leftists and workers stopped marching with the Muslim Brotherhood, accusing it of trying to hijack the movement and secretly collaborating with the government.

Jordan’s foreign allies have provided the king valuable cover, including Saudi Arabia, the kingdom’s most generous financial benefactor, and the United States, which provides political and military support. An invitation to Jordan to join a regional grouping of Arab states — also extended to Morocco — is seen as another attempt to strengthen a friendly monarchy in a turbulent times.

The authorities have also undermined the opposition by exploiting Jordan’s deep schism, between so-called East Bank Jordanians and citizens of Palestinian origin, over fears that the Palestinians are trying to take over the country.

And online activists say dissent has brought government hackers to their Web sites or led to arrests. Alaa Fazzaa, a journalist, was arrested in May for linking to a page that advocated naming King Abdullah’s half brother, Prince Hamzah, as crown prince...

Source: Enduring America.
Link: http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2011/7/21/jordan-feature-some-kind-of-silence-has-broken-fahim.html.

Urban Farming Takes Root in Europe

By Julio Godoy

BERLIN, Jul 21, 2011 (Tierramérica) - Since the end of World War II, and especially since the 1960s, the Kreuzberg district in Berlin has been a melting pot of cultures, with residents hailing from the Balkans, Central Europe, the Mediterranean, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

In keeping with this cultural diversity, the Moritzplatz urban garden in the heart of Kreuzberg – one of the first urban agriculture projects undertaken in Berlin – grows tomatoes from India, Turkey, Morocco and Russia, parsley from Italy, Greece and Japan, potatoes from Africa and the Andes mountains of South America, and mint and other herbs from around the globe.

"Often the seeds for our vegetables are given to us by neighbors who bring them back with them from trips to their home countries," Robert Shaw, one of the garden’s founders and coordinators, told Tierramérica. "Other times we order the seeds by catalog."

Shaw, a documentary filmmaker, and professional photographer Marco Clausen started up the garden in 2009 by clearing a 6,000-square-meter vacant lot of community land located next to Moritzplatz, which had been a wasteland for decades.

"With the help of the local residents and friends we collected and removed two tons of garbage that had accumulated on the lot over the course of many years," said Shaw.

After a trip to Cuba, where Shaw learned about the development of urban agriculture in Havana, he and Clausen came up with the idea for the Prinzessinnengarten ("Princess Garden"), named after the street on which it is located, Prinzessinnenstrasse, which they envisioned as a community project in which the whole neighborhood could participate.

Urban farming in Cuba is in a whole other class. In the first quarter of 2010 alone, urban farms and gardens on the Caribbean island produced 362,608 tons of vegetables and provided employment for around 300,000 people. Based on the success of these initiatives, the Cuban government has ambitious plans for suburban farming projects to help further reduce the need for food imports and work towards the goal of food sovereignty.

In Mortizplatz, meanwhile, "the garden doesn’t belong to anyone," explained Shaw. "We manage it, but anyone who wants to can participate, because the goal is to provide locally produced organic vegetables to the people who live in the district and promote community work and the revival of organic agriculture traditions that have been forgotten in cities like Berlin."

This means that anyone who works in the garden receives, as compensation, the chance to buy organic vegetables and herbs at lower prices than in the local marketplace. No chemical substances are used in the garden, and because the food grown is consumed right in the neighborhood, the costs of transportation and the associated emissions of carbon dioxide are drastically reduced or eliminated.

During the winter, the transportable vegetable plots are moved into an old covered market that has been recently remodeled and now serves as a community center.

A wide range of crops are produced, including 15 varieties of potatoes, 15 varieties of tomatoes, 10 varieties of carrots and squash, numerous varieties of cabbage and beets, and herbs like parsley, mint, savory, basil and cilantro.

In addition to the garden, the Prinzessinnengarten encompasses a café and restaurant where a Japanese cook prepares soups and other dishes made exclusively from the vegetables grown there.

Shaw and Clausen’s team also works in cooperation with similar projects in other cities in Germany and abroad, organizes seminars with universities, and advises Berlin-based organizations in the remodeling of gardens and green spaces.

"Our premise is that everyone can learn from everyone," said Shaw. He added that he inherited his love of gardening from his grandmother, who was "obsessed with food self-sufficiency after the experience of the war."

The Prinzessinnengarten is one of many organic agriculture projects flourishing in numerous cities across Europe. In Berlin itself, another initiative organized by UrbanFarmers, a group based in Zurich, Switzerland, uses aquaponics, which combines traditional aquaculture or fish farming with hydroponics, the cultivation of vegetables in water. The result is a sustainable food production system that reduces both water consumption and waste.

The two activities are combined in the Rostlaube or "container farm", in which vegetables are grown in a greenhouse mounted on top of an old industrial container converted into a fish farming tank.

"Our goal is to help people remember that we can produce food using the smallest possible amount of chemical substances, without fertilizers or pesticides or antibiotics," UrbanFarmers director Roman Gaus told Tierramérica.

In the aquaculture tank, the ammonia in the fish feces is converted into nitrates by bacteria, resulting in an excellent natural fertilizer for the vegetables and herbs grown above them.

The aim of UrbanFarmers - whose motto is "good food from the roof" - is to take advantage of all free urban spaces, from rooftops and vacant lots to abandoned industrial parks, to grow food.

The Rostlaube produces around 200 kilos of vegetables and 60 kilos of fish a year, but "it is only a model," said Gaus.

"In a city like Basel, in Switzerland, there are two million square meters of rooftops that could easily be transformed into gardens and fish farming tanks," he noted. Using just five percent of this area, or 100,000 square meters, "it would be possible to provide vegetables, fruits and fish to 25 percent of the local population, using almost no chemical inputs and with minimal emissions of greenhouse gases, since there is no transportation involved."

Nicolas Leschke, assistant director of Malzfabrik, the sustainable economy business center that houses the Rostlaube in Berlin, explained that a local fish species was chosen for the project to avoid additional costs.

"That’s why we chose the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), which is commonly found in the lakes and rivers around Berlin and is very easy to raise," he told Tierramérica while snacking on a tomato grown in the greenhouse that sits over the fish tank.

Almost all of the inputs in the process are recycled, except for the fish food, vegetable seeds and water filter, where the ammonia is converted into nitrates. "Even the electricity to power the filter can be generated with solar panels," he added.

Similar projects are sprouting up in other European cities like Amsterdam and Paris.

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56575.

Egyptian Cabinet Changes Not Enough for Protesters

By Nicholas Zifcak
July 21, 2011

The Egypt ruling military council swore in a new Cabinet Thursday, with more than half of the Cabinet ministers new to their posts. The move aims to appease protesters who are demanding a purge of Mubarak’s old allies.

The ministers of foreign affairs, finance, and trade were all switched out. The new minister of trade and industry, as well as the minister of communications were both promoted from within their departments.

"This will calm people a little but it is still not enough because … people expected changes in the interior and justice ministries," said Adel Soliman, who spoke with Reuters. He is head of the Egyptian think tank International Center for Future and Strategic Studies.

"It is obvious that the prime minister does not have full authority to change them and he is under pressure."

Interior Minister Mansour el-Essawy kept his post, as did Justice Minister Abdel Aziz al-Gindi, who protesters have accused of delaying the trials of former regime officials.

Protesters continued to demonstrate in Tahrir Square Thursday despite the shake up. Many were disappointed to see certain ministers with alleged ties to Mubarak retain their posts.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/egyptian-cabinet-changes-not-enough-for-protesters-59389.html.