The seed of a peach contains an almond-like nut containing the anti-cancer medicine laetrile

Monday, July 25, 2011
by Mike Adams

(NaturalNews) Peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots and almonds are all closely related fruit trees with very similar pits. In all these fruits, the pit must be broken open to reveal the almond-shaped kernel within. In fact, this is what almonds actually are: the kernel within the pit of the fruit of the almond tree!

The kernels of all these species contain high concentrations of a chemical known as laetrile. It's also known as amygdalin or vitamin B-17. Research has shown that laetrile induces programmed cell death in cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. It's sort of like Mother Nature's chemotherapy except that it doesn't make you suffer the way man-made synthetic chemotherapy does.

Laetrile appears to work because the nutrient is actually composed of four separate molecules: two of glucose, one of benzaldyhide and one of cyanide. The latter two chemicals are toxic, but are bound up in a non-bioavailable form. Cancer cells contain an enzyme that healthy cells do not, known as beta-glucosidase. This enzyme actually breaks apart the component pieces of laetrile, and the cell is poisoned by a combination of benzaldyhide and cyanide. Healthy cells do not undergo this effect, which is why they remain unaffected by laetrile.

The medical establishment, learning about this natural "chemotherapy" that killed cancer cells and didn't even require a prescription, quickly began to attack it by spreading lies about the dangers of laetrile. The FDA, long an enemy of healing through nutrition, banned laetrile in 1971. Highly toxic chemotherapy substances, however, remain perfectly legal and continue to kill hundreds of thousands of people every single year. (Most people who "die from cancer" are actually killed by chemotherapy and radiation, not from the cancer itself. "Cancer survivors" are people who miraculously survive chemotherapy.)...

Source: NaturalNews.
Link: http://www.naturalnews.com/033123_laetrile_vitamin_B17.html.

Iraq aims for 200,000 bpd at al-Ahdab

BAGHDAD, July 25 (UPI) -- Oil production from the al-Ahdab field in southern Iraq could reach 200,000 barrels per day next year, the country's oil minister said.

Iraqi officials announced production started at the al-Ahdab field in Wasit province along the border with Iran. Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi said oil production would increase from the current rate of 60,000 bpd to around 200,000 bpd next year, Bloomberg News reports.

China National Petroleum Corp. won production rights for al-Ahdab during November 2008 auctions. Field totals are estimated at around 1 billion barrels.

The Iraqi finance minister in May confirmed the first oil export payment to contractors in the Kurdish region. Kurdish Prime Minister Barham Salih said the federal government in Baghdad confirmed payment to the Kurdistan Regional Government for revenues derived from the export of 5 million barrels of oil early this year.

Baghdad doled out dozens of oil and gas contracts since 2003. The country is trying to ramp up oil exports to help stimulate an economy ravaged by pre-war economic sanctions.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/07/25/Iraq-aims-for-200000-bpd-at-al-Ahdab/UPI-45521311601765/.

'Potter' film franchise hits $7B marker

BURBANK, Calif., July 25 (UPI) -- The Harry Potter film franchise has crossed the $7 billion mark at the worldwide box office, Hollywood's Warner Bros. Pictures Group said.

The announcement was made by group President Jeff Robinov.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2," the final installment in the blockbuster movie series, earned $640.2 million worldwide in its initial week.

The success of the movie has propelled Warner Bros. Pictures' combined 2011 domestic box office past $1 billion for an 11th consecutive year, which is an industry record, the studio said.

"It is an extraordinary privilege for everyone at Warner Bros. to share in this piece of cinema history," Robinov said in a statement. "We are extremely grateful to the Harry Potter fans, who have remained loyal to the movies for more than a decade. We also want to congratulate the amazing roster of actors and filmmakers, whose artistry and talent is evident in every frame of every film. But special thanks must go to the woman whose incomparable imagination literally changed the world, Jo Rowling, [author of the Harry Potter books]."

Sue Kroll, Warner Bros. Pictures president of worldwide marketing, added: "Each film has inspired us creatively and it has been exciting to watch the evolution through eight remarkable movies. It has truly been the movie event of a generation, as Harry Potter fans who were there from the beginning have been joined by new fans over the years, and their enthusiasm -- as well as our own -- has never waned."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Movies/2011/07/25/Potter-film-franchise-hits-7B-marker/UPI-93721311597721/.

China launches largest dock landing ship

Beijing (UPI)
Jul 22, 2011

China has launched its largest amphibious dock landing warship, the 19,000 metric ton Jinggangshan, in Shanghai.

The 689-foot-long warship can carry 1,000 soldiers, helicopters, armored fighting vehicles, boats and landing craft, a report in the China Daily said.

The vessel is the second Type 071 dock landing ship built by Shanghai's Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding.

The first Type 071 dock landing ship, Kunlunshan, which has no helicopter capacity, was launched in December 2006 and commissioned into the Chinese navy in 2007.

By definition, the U.S. Navy says, an amphibious dock landing ship has a well deck and a ballast system that raises and lowers the vessel in the water. This allows small ships to move into the well and be dry-docked within the ship's well when the vessel is raised in the water.

Analysts said the introduction of both ships gives the Chinese navy a global reach that it hasn't had before. The ships can handle large troop accommodation as well as maintain smaller vessels in far off seas away from China's traditional closer-to-home waters.

In particular, a large helicopter flight deck at the stern of the Jinggangshan is enough to support the operation of two medium-size helicopters such as Z-8/AS-321 Super Frelon, analysts at GlobalSecurity.org said.

A vessel such as the Jinggangshan can be very useful in the South China Sea where China has been flexing its naval muscles this year over its territorial claims to the Spratly Island group.

The Spratly Islands -- the largest group -- lie off the southwestern coast of the Philippines as well as near the coasts of Brunei and Malaysia. China is one of the claimants, which include Vietnam and Taiwan. Philippines and Vietnam in recent months have complained of Chinese vessels encroaching upon their territorial waters near disputed islands.

The belief that the Jinggangshan might be used in the South China Sea is based on the fact that the home port of the first ship, the Kunlunshan, is at China's South Sea Fleet's headquarters at Zhanjiang Naval Base in Guangdong Province, GlobalSecurity.org said.

Analysts also have said the Jinggangshan looks similar to the U.S. San Antonio-class landing platform dock vessel. The Jinggangshan's cargo capacity is possibly as large of the U.S. Navy's Austin-class LPD.

"If this estimation was correct, the Type 071 LPD can carry a marine corps battalion, including 400-800 troops, 15-20 amphibious armored vehicles and their associated logistic supplies," GlobalSecurity.org said.

The consortium China State Shipbuilding and Trading Corp. reportedly has offered to build a modified version of the 071 LPD for the Malaysian navy.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/China_launches_largest_dock_landing_ship_999.html.

US forces to stop joint operations in Iraq's north

Tikrit, Iraq (AFP)
July 23, 2011

In one week US troops will cease joint operations with Iraqi and Kurdish forces, begun in early 2010 to dampen tensions between Kurds and Sunni Arabs in disputed northern zones, a US military official said on Saturday.

Colonel Michael Bowers said that from August 1, American forces will no longer be part of the trilateral operation.

"By August 1, they (operations) will be bilateral" between Iraqi Kurd and Arab forces, Bowers told AFP at the US Contingency Operation Base Speicher outside the city of Tikrit north of Baghdad.

He indicated that US troops would no longer be on the streets in the northern zones.

"Once they're all bilateral supervised, the only place we are is in the command and control centers," said Bowers, the strategist for Major General David Perkins, the Commanding General for the army's US Division North.

He said that out of 22 checkpoints across the disputed zones, 15 already had no US participation. He said seven checkpoints remained with an active US presence, which would stop at the end of this month.

"If something were to go wrong, obviously we could go help mediate," he added.

US forces began the tripartite operations with Kurdish and Iraqi army forces, that are dominated by Sunni Arabs, in the northern areas early last year. That marked a new chapter in the US military's role since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

The US military, which currently has 47,000 troops in Iraq, began jointly manning checkpoints and carrying out security patrols in the provinces of Kirkuk, Nineveh and Diyala.

Apart from the oil-rich province of Kirkuk that is claimed by both Baghdad and the autonomous Kurdish government in the north, there are 11 other disputed territories in northern Iraq.

All US forces are scheduled to pull out of Iraq at the end of this year in accordance with a 2008 security pact.

American forces suffered their worst month in three years in June, when 14 soldiers were killed, mostly in rocket attacks that Washington says were launched by Iranian-backed Shiite insurgents.

Four US soldiers have been killed in attacks this month.

The spike in attacks against US troops comes as Iraqi leaders approach decision time on whether they want to maintain a contingent of soldiers after the end of 2011.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_forces_to_stop_joint_operations_in_Iraqs_north_999.html.

Algeria launches hybrid power plant

The opening of the world's first hybrid power station marks Algeria's full entry into the era of clean energy.

By Mohand Ouali for Magharebia in Algiers – 24/07/11

Algeria last week inaugurated the first-of-its-kind gas-solar hybrid power facility. The Hassi R'mel power plant in the Tilghemt region has an overall capacity of 150 MW, including 30MW from solar energy.

The completion of the 350 million-euro project is "an eloquent example of co-operation, a ground-breaking experiment for the whole of the Mediterranean region", said Spanish Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian, who launched the July 14th ceremony with Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi.

The plant, carried out by New Energy Algeria (NEAL) and Spanish company Abener, is "a viable model for electricity generation in rural and mountainous areas far away from traditional electricity networks", he added.

The Spanish minister underlined his country's desire to become "a strategic partner for Algeria" in the realm of renewable energy.

The site of the facility, 25km north of Hassi R'mel, was chosen due to its proximity to gas installations and the amount of sunshine enjoyed by the region, which is estimated at 3,000 hours per year.

Eighty per cent of the funding was provided by a consortium of Algerian state-owned banks. A team of 70 people, including 65 Algerians and five Spaniards, will be responsible for operating the power station.

In addition to electricity production, the project will benefit the environment by substantially reducing carbon dioxide emissions and saving more than 7 million cubic meters of gas annually.

The opening of the new power plant can be seen as the first step in the realization of Algeria's innovative energy policy.

The government in February adopted a new strategy, designed to expand the country's capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources, particularly solar and wind. According to the plan, alternative sources will produce as much as 40% of electricity production in the next twenty years.

As part of this, the government has committed itself to several partnership agreements. In May, Yousfi announced that Algeria was ready to begin long-term co-operation with the Desertec Industrial Initiative, which aims to deliver energy to Europe from solar farms in North Africa and the Middle East. Siemens, Deutsche Bank and nearly a dozen other European industrial, engineering and finance companies partnered for the 400 billion-euro project. Last December, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to set a joint economic commission to develop the initiative.

Another large-scale project will come to fruition in 2013. The Rouiba factory producing photovoltaic systems and modules will cost about 40 billion dinars (383 million euros), employ 500 workers and have a production capacity of 116 MW per year.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/24/feature-01.

Drought-hit - Kuwait relief mission first to arrive in Somalia

- Asif Khalifa
Sunday, 24 July 2011

Global Arab Network - Kuwait Red Crescent Society's mission was the first to arrive in Somalia to offer humanitarian relief aid to the drought-hit Somali people, Head of KRCS mission to Somalia Musaed Rashid Al-Enezi told KUNA.

KRCS has started its work in Somalia with sending two planes loaded with 20 tons of aid immediately following the UN appeal upon instruction from His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

HH the Amir has pledged USD 10 million in aid for the Somali people, who are suffering from malnutrition and famine as a result of the worst drought to hit the nation in 10 years.

The mission was warmly welcomed by the Somali people and government, Al-Enezi said, noting that Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmad has received KRCS mission and hailed HH the Amir's initiative.

"The charitable work of the state of Kuwait is not strange to a country that used to offer all help to Somalia and all Arab nations," he said.

Last week, the UN declared that two regions in the south of the war-torn country were suffering from famine. Hundreds were dying every day across the Horn of Africa region, the FAO said.

The United Nations issued an appeal of aid to address what it is calling the worst food crisis in Africa in 20 years.

Nearly half of Somalia's estimated 10 million people face a food crisis and malnutrition rates there are the highest in the world.

Source: Global Arab Network.
Link: http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/2011072411240/Related-news-from-Kuwait/drought-hit-kuwait-relief-mission-first-to-arrive-in-somalia.html.

Assad's men in Lebanon - Baathist official's ferocious rampage caught on camera

Sunday, 24 July 2011

Global Arab Network - A CCTV video that recently emerged on the Internet has kicked up a storm in Lebanon. It shows five men enter a pharmacy, insult the employees and ransack several displays . But it is the identity of one of the thugs more than the rampage itself that has caused the biggest stir: he has turned out to be a known representative of the local Baath party – which is widely despised in Lebanon for its close ties to Syria.

The incident took place on July 3 in the coastal town of Saida, south of Beirut. The man in the blue T-shirt is Mostapha Al-Awass, a Baath party candidate in the 2009 elections. Other members of his family have recently made headlines as well: last month his brother verbally lashed out at an imam in a Saida mosque because he had denounced the repression of the Syrian regime against pro-democracy protesters.

The Baath Arab Socialist Party was established in 1956 and is a branch of the Syrian Baath Party in Lebanon. The Syrian army pulled out of Lebanon in 2005 after 30 years of military presence, and tensions between the two countries are still rife.

Lina Bashasha is the pharmacist captured in the footage.

It all started when a young boy came into the pharmacy to buy some medicine. The medicine cost 11,000 Lebanese pounds [5 euros] and he only had 10,000 on him. He left the money he had at the till and went to fetch the rest. Shortly afterwards, I received a call from Mostapha al-Awass who told me that the young boy in question was his nephew. He asked me why I hadn’t handed over the medicine, and complained that the price had gone up. When I tried to explain, he hung up on me.

His nephew came to get the money that he had left behind. Shortly after, Mostapha al-Awass showed up with four armed men. They ordered all the customers to leave and one of them at that time rang the police. Then the men started shouting and hurling abuse and me and my husband, before knocking over several displays. Mostapha cursed and insulted the authorities, including the police. At one point, he screamed: “My name is Mostapha al-Awass and God himself speaks to me with respect!” We were really scared; the Filipina cleaning lady was terrified and fainted after they left.

Mostapha al-Awass was arrested and remains in prison awaiting his court appearance. But it is not the first time that he has used such intimidation tactics - many people in Saida are scared of him. He reportedly forces people to lend him money, then never pays them back.

People told me to be careful because who knows what he is capable of doing when he gets out of prison. But for now, it seems that the judge does not want to release him because other complaints have been filed against him and they are being taken into account. I believe that other people were waiting for something like this to happen.

This time we were lucky: the camera footage evidence was irrefutable. I hope that this will put an end to the impunity that Baath Party members currently enjoy.”

Contributors: Lina Bashasha

Source: Global Arab Network.
Link: http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/2011072411241/Lebanon-Politics/assads-men-in-lebanon-baathist-officials-ferocious-rampage-caught-on-camera.html.

Kuwait loans Morocco to fund High Speed Train project

- Mohamed Tamer
Sunday, 24 July 2011

Global Arab Network - The Kuwait Fund for Arab and Economic Development (KFAED) loaned Morocco 712 million dirhams (89.2 million dollars) as part of the first phase of its participation in funding the project of the High Speed Train (HST) linking Tangier to Casablanca.

Two loan and guarantee agreements related to the project were signed, Tuesday in Rabat, by the Fund and Morocco with the attendance notably of Kuwati Ambassador in Rabat Shamlan Abdulaziz Al-Roomi.

This project is part of the ambitious development program meant to reduce the distance between the Kingdom's cities. It also aims to promote high speed rail services to meet the growing demand for this environment-friendly transportation means and support Morocco's development dynamic.

The two agreements were signed, on the Moroccan side, by secretary general of the Economy Ministry Khalid Safir, and director at the railway office (ONCF) Mohamed Smouni, and on the Kuwaiti side, by director general of the KFAED Abdelwahab Ahmed Al Badr.

Source: Global Arab Network.
Link: http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/2011072411244/Industry/kuwait-loans-morocco-to-fund-high-speed-train-project.html.

Sudan: Egypt builds new Khartoum Airport

- Mokhtar Thabet
Sunday, 24 July 2011

Global Arab Network - Al-Nassr Construction and Contracting Company, one of the Egyptian public business sector companies will to carry out the project of building the new Khartoum Airport.

Head of the company Ahmed Fouad Abdul Aziz said that a meeting was held in Khartoum last week between the company's board members and representatives of the Sudanese government to consider all issues related to the building of the airport and other projects Sudan is to carry out this year.

This comes within the government's efforts to further economic cooperation with Sudan.

Unifying stances over Nile water file

Members of the Egyptian-Sudanese joint technical authority, currently in session in Khartoum, stressed that development projects on the Nile river course, including dams, should be established on the basis of what has been agreed upon by all Nile Basin countries.

They added that such projects must be useful to all countries, while avoid damaging the interests of any Nile Basin country.

The authority said that in case of a negative impact on Egypt and Sudan due to any of these projects, the two states have the right to take a stance to amend this project, supported by the technical and legal bases approved by international law.

Dr. Hesham Qandil, head of the Nile water sector and Egyptian chief delegate to the meeting, said that members of the authority stressed the importance of coordination between the two sides on the Nile file in order to unify the visions and agree on a strategy in the next phase.

Source: Global Arab Network.
Link: http://www.english.globalarabnetwork.com/2011072411246/Aviation/sudan-egypt-builds-new-khartoum-airport.html.

The Dead Sea: Deader than Ever and Getting More So

By Karl Vick / Mount Sodom
Wednesday, July 20, 2011

There is dead and there is dying. The Dead Sea manages both.

It's dead because the water in it contains way, way too much salt — eight times as much as the oceans — for virtually any living thing to survive. With a shoreline at the lowest land point on the globe — 1,388 ft. (423 m) below sea level — and no outlet, millennia of evaporation has left the seabed so caked with minerals the freshwater that flows in turns immediately lethal.

Not that much freshwater flows in these days. That's why the sea is dying, or drying up, at the rate of more than 3 vertical feet (1 m) per year — which on the gradual slope of the western shore can translate into 65 ft. (20 m) of exposed seabed. Most of the damage has been done in the last half-century, when almost all the water that once reached the Dead Sea was diverted to farms and taps. The Jordan River, so mighty in the Bible, is today a puny creek that draws snarls from disappointed tourists. "Everything changed when we started diverting water from the Sea of Galilee," says Mira Edelstein of Friends of the Earth Middle East. "The Jordan River used to bring 1.3 billion cu. ft. [37 million cu m] of water a year. Today it's 50 million. That's 2% of what it was."

At the same time, a unique and thirsty industry has been taking water from the sea, accelerating its decline. At the southern tip of the sea, the sprawling Dead Sea Works leaches huge quantities of the fertilizer potash from the seawater by funneling water through a canal into vast evaporation ponds in what once was the sea's southern basin. The Israeli company puts some of the water back, but combined with a similar operation on the Jordanian side, the result is a net loss for an already shrinking lake. "It's the combined issue of the Jordan River not flowing in anymore and industry drawing out water from the south," Edelstein says. "No wonder the Dead Sea is dying."

It's a spectacular death. Huge sinkholes are opening up, the earth's crust collapsing as freshwater springs follow receding seashore downhill. When the freshwater encounters massive subterranean boulders made of salt, it dissolves them, leaving the crust to collapse under its own weight, or, say, the weight of the woman who dropped 25 ft. (8 m) into the first one to open at the Ein Gedi campground in 1998. The same process is killing sumptuous oases. Three gardens fed by springs are drying as the water heads downslope, the plants unable to follow because the former lake bed is lethally saturated with salt. "Huge oases are disappearing," says Ariel Kedem, an instructor at the field school in Ein Gedi, Israel.

What to do? One especially extravagant option: pipe in water from the Red Sea, 118 miles (190 km) to the south. The Red-to-Dead canal would cost at least $17 billion and risk throwing the ecology of the Dead Sea wildly out of balance, not least because the Red Sea is a piece of the Indian Ocean, while what's been flowing into the Dead Sea for millennia is freshwater. Still, the plan has a fan in the Kingdom of Jordan, which would build a desalination plant on the canal and thereby supply its capital region with badly needed (and hugely expensive) drinking water.

Among those leery of this plan is Dead Sea Works, which has based a $20 billion business (the market cap of owner Israel Chemicals) on the current ecology. "We are afraid the mixture of waters will create something we don't want to see," says Noam Goldstein, vice president for infrastructure.

Potash is usually mined, but at the Dead Sea it is gathered by moving water from one evaporation pond to the next. In the first, the salt falls away, collecting on the bottom. In the next pond what gathers are crystals of carnelite, which are 25% potassium chloride. That's dredged and piped to a nearby factory that looks like something from a fanciful children's book as bulldozers move like toys atop a massive snow white mound of potash. The viewing point off Route 90 is almost a better show than nearby Mount Sodom, the massive, sinister-looking salt mountain with the outcropping known as Lot's wife.

"The real canal to the Dead Sea is the Jordan River," says Edelstein, of Friends of the Earth. "Not everywhere in the world do you have the Jordan River — which we've killed — a river that's holy to half of humanity." Reviving the Jordan, however, would require cooperation from all the countries currently draining it, including two technically at war, Israel and Syria. Such cooperation is also a precondition to the Dead Sea becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site, a designation that seems reasonable enough given its current position as a finalist to be named one of the Seven Wonders of Nature.

"The only thing that can really help is if the Dead Sea won the Seven Wonders," says Kedem, who sees tourism as the best protector of the place. Just now, though, tourism itself is in jeopardy, at least Israeli tourism. Jordan's plush resorts remain unthreatened, but every hotel on the western side was built not on the sea itself but on the shallow evaporation ponds to the south. This was a dubious choice in more ways than one. Guests peer from beach chairs at berms and earthworks. And the ponds are slowly filling up with salt — which means their water levels are actually rising. By 2030, six hotels will be flooded unless Dead Sea Works agrees to dredge the salt. It says it will, but is negotiating with the Israeli government and hotels over who should foot the $1.5 billion bill (about a year's profit).

It's a peculiar twist, given that receding water is the area's paramount problem. Even so, Dead Sea Works wants to dig yet another massive evaporation pond, filled with more water pumped from the actual Dead Sea, further accelerating its demise. Goldstein points out two other factors: the new pond would let visitors to the nearby mountaintop fortress of Masada look down on water again. And, not least: "We would be more profitable." With reporting by Aaron J. Klein

Source: TIME.
Link: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2084164,00.html.

High-Speed Train Collision Kills At Least 32 in China

By Chen Jinghui & Gao Zitan
July 23, 2011

Fourth accident on rail system since July 10.

A fatal train crash on China’s high-speed rail system took place on the night of July 23. On the line from Hangzhou to Fuzhou two trains collided on a bridge. So far 32 fatalities have been reported and more than 191 are said to be injured.

China National Radio reported that the accident was caused by the train D3115, from Hangzhou to Fuzhou, losing power after being hit by lightening, causing it to come to a stop on a bridge in southeast China’s Wenzhou City in Zhejiang Province.

Then train D301, from Beijing to Fuzhou, plowed into D3115 from behind.

D3115 was almost fully loaded with about 1,300-1,400 passengers, with about 100 passengers per car. On impact, two passenger cars from D3115 derailed, along with four passenger cars from D301. Two of the derailed cars plunged off the bridge. The driver of D301 was among the dead, his body found at the scene.

Internet users posted messages from the scene of the crash. One blogger wrote, “Help! D301 derailed just outside of Wenzhou South Railway Station! Now the carriage is filled with the sound of kids crying, but not a single crew member has come out to help! Please come help us!”

One blogger wrote that the lights in D301 went out immediately after it violently collided with D3115, and cars one to three fell off the bridge. Many blood-soaked, injured passengers broke the windows to get out of the cars, the blogger said.

One passenger, who was in carriage five of the D301 train, wrote that it was completely dark in his car after the collision and the passengers were not able to break the windows, so they had to escape from an opening in the front of the car.

Over one hundred ambulances have rushed to the scene to tend to the victims, and local hospitals are said to be in dire need of more blood.

Mr. Zhang was near the scene. He said he heard a thundering crash and saw two bullet trains collide with each other. He and many local residents immediately rushed to the scene to help with rescue work.

A blogger described the scene after the collision: “There are so many fire trucks. A friend of mine saw a slow-moving train hit by a fast-moving train from behind. He saw smoke coming out of the trains. Those fire trucks must be heading that way.”

Many netizens posted messages on microblogs, looking for their loved ones.

Mr. Hu, a passenger on one of the trains, told The Epoch Times “There are still a lot of people inside the train waiting to be rescued.”

A patient in Wenzhou Kangning Hospital told The Epoch Times: “I heard that four passengers were seen being sent to the hospital morgue. My friends told me that all the hospitals in Wenzhou are treating injuries from this collision.”

One railroad engineer wrote in a blog post that D3115 stopped at a bridge after being hit by lightening. The rail line’s network system was damaged and failed to detect a train parked on the bridge, which caused the second train to collide with the train before it.

A Wenzhou City resident, Mr. Chen, raised doubts about the explanation given for the crash. “The weather was not good, but those experts should have taken this into consideration. I’m not convinced by this explanation.”

In an interview with Beijing News in June, Chang Zhenchen, a high-speed rail engineer and official with the high-speed rail system claimed that the rail system met European standards. He guaranteed that a collision from behind will not happen.

The accident in Wenzhou City was the fourth accident on China’s high-speed rail system since July 10.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/high-speed-train-collision-kills-at-least-32-in-china-59455.html.

Egyptian Protestors Continue in Tahrir After Clashes

By Shannon Liao
July 24, 2011

Hundreds of Egyptians continued to protest in Tahrir Square Sunday after a night of violent clashes with military forces that left hundreds injured.

Violence erupted after protesters were blocked from proceeding to the headquarters of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), AFP reported.

Earlier that day SCAF had accused one pro-democracy group, April 6, of sowing strife, according to another AFP report.

The Egyptian government reported that 231 people were injured after fighting broke out Saturday night in the neighborhood of Abbasiya in central Cairo.

On Thursday, Egypt’s interim military government rearranged the Cabinet bringing in 14 new faces and keeping 13 from Mubarak-era ministers. The move failed to appease protesters who are upset at what they say is the slow pace of reforms.

For nearly the past month, protesters have returned to the square to demand speedier reforms and the prosecution of crimes committed against protesters during unrest earlier this year that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/egyptian-protestors-continue-in-tahrir-after-clashes-59473.html.

Tamil Party Wins Elections in Former War-zone Regions

By Jasper Fakkert
July 24, 2011

Sri Lanka’s largest Tamil party Saturday won a majority of seats in regions torn by decades of civil war.

The local elections were the first in the country since government forces defeated Tamil Tiger separatists in armed conflict in 2009.

The Tamil National Alliance won with two-thirds of the vote coming away with 18 out of 26 seats in the north and east of the country.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s United People’s Freedom Alliance won all other contested districts in Saturday’s elections, BBC reported.

Tamil politicians and civil society groups had accused the government of using threats and scare tactics ahead of the elections, according to the report.

The United Nations reported that both government forces and the Tigers committed war crimes during the three-decade-long conflict.

According to the U.N., there are credible allegations that the Sri Lankan government killed many civilians in widespread shelling, which hit hospitals and other humanitarian facilities. The rebels are accused of using civilians as human shields and killing civilians indiscriminately, as well as recruiting child soldiers, according to the report.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/tamil-party-wins-elections-in-former-war-zone-regions-59482.html.

Deadly Attacks in Norway Bring Sorrow and Solidarity

By Angela Wang
July 24, 2011

“It is nearly two days since Norway was hit by the worst atrocity it has seen since the second world war—On Utoya, and in Oslo. It seems like an eternity. These have been hours, days, and nights filled with shock, despair, anger, and weeping,” said Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg to the victims of Friday’s attacks in an emotional memorial service at Oslo Cathedral on Sunday.

The country known to the world as one of the most peaceful is still reeling from the act of right-wing extremist, Anders Breivik, who blew apart the main government building, housing the prime minister’s office among others, and opened fire on members of the governing party’s youth league at their yearly summer camp on an island two hours later. His plan to bomb two more buildings was foiled after police arrested him on the island.

So far, 93 deaths have been confirmed, 7 from the bombing and 86 from the shooting spree. Thirty people are still in critical condition at the nation’s leading Oslo University Hospital. With several people still listed as missing, the death toll it is feared will rise.

’Pure Evilness’

The man who carried out the gruesome killings, described by the prime minister as acts of “pure evilness,” has been identified as 32-year-old Norwegian citizen Anders Behring Breivik. Breivik is currently in detention and is scheduled to attend a closed meeting with the police at Oslo City Court on Monday.

A far-right extremist who believes that what he did was “necessary,” Breivik’s target was the governing leftist and pro-immigration Labor Party. In a YouTube video and a 1,500-page manifesto published online the same day as the attacks, Breivik expressed hatred toward the Muslim presence in Europe, leftists, and multiculturalists.

Breivik describes his ideology as cultural conservatism, seeing it as his goal to “influence the society and the way it is governed,” said lawyer Geir Lippestad according to newspaper VG. Parts of the writings were copied from those of the unabomber Ted Kaczynski.

Adrian Pracon, a 21-year-old who survived the Utoya Island with a gunshot wound in the shoulder, said during the ordeal he came across a teary 11-year-old on his desperate run to escape from the island. “He came and told me that his father died,” Pracon told national broadcaster NRK.

“The situation was so chaotic that he just walked further.” Pracon soon overheard a heartbreaking cry from the child and a plea, “Do not shoot at me. You have shot enough. You already killed my father. I am too young to die,” he said in a direct encounter with the perpetrator. Miraculously, his words saved his life.

With no boats to escape the island, trapped youths took off their colorful clothes, hid in the bushes, under cliffs, or ran toward the beach to try to swim away. According to reports from survivors, Breivik kept shooting and shouting, “You are going to die.”

“He started shooting at us, and shot and shot until no one moved. I was shot in the thigh, but acted like I was dead. I heard him refill ammunition, and that’s the worst moment in my life,” said 16-year-old Ingvild Stensrud who played dead while lying between dead friends, reported NRK.

A Small But Strong Nation

In the face of tragedy, Norwegians are standing in solidarity.

After news of the shooting broke, Norwegian Facebook users set up a group to call for volunteers. Thousands of wall posts offered bedrooms for sleepovers, transportation in private cars and boats, and blood donations.

The city of Oslo, almost emptied for an entire day after authorities ordered people to keep away on Friday, but Sunday was a gathering point for tearful citizens lightening up the town with candles, flowers, and cards.

“I strongly believe that freedom is stronger than fear. I strongly believe in an open Norwegian democracy and society. I strongly believe in the opportunity to live freely and safely in our nation,” King Harald told the nation, as broadcast by NRK.

At the ceremony at Oslo Cathedral, Crown Princess Mette-Marit, fighting back tears, helped 7-year-old Princess Ingrid Alexandra and 5-year-old Prince Sverre Magnus light candles.

Sunday night, tens of thousands people gathered in front of Oslo City Hall for a parade, a rally and a night to stand together in solidarity.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/deadly-attacks-in-norway-bring-sorrow-and-solidarity-59483-all.html.

Anti-austerity protesters return to Madrid plaza

July 24, 2011 — MADRID (AP) — Thousands of protesters angry about Spain's brutal economic woes once again filled Madrid's downtown Sol square Sunday after many spent weeks marching hundreds of kilometers (miles) from far-flung cities across Spain.

Seven columns of marchers converged on the city late Saturday and met at the square where thousands camped out for three weeks in May. They were joined by more who took public transport into the capital.

"Politicians don't represent us! No! no! No!" the crowd chanted, with some waving handmade banners reading "It's not a crisis, it's the system that's wrong." Some protesters began their march 34 days ago and walked 650 kilometers (404 miles) from the southwestern city of Cadiz.

Physiotherapists and masseurs accompanied demonstrators to treat them for aching legs and blistered feet. Protesters say they are outraged with politicians for failing to solve Spain's high unemployment and accuse them of being uncaring, corrupt and inept.

"You will find highly qualified people in this demonstration because we can't get a job," said Amanda Sastre, 24. "All we want is the dignity of being able to earn a living." Two years of recession following a property boom that went bust left Spain with 21 percent unemployment — the highest in the 17-nation eurozone. Joblessness for those aged 16 to 29 stands at about 35 percent.

Spain also has a swollen deficit and is battling to convince investors it can handle its debt and will not need financial help like Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

Hell of a Choice: 'Cerberus' Leads for New Pluto Moon Name

Natalie Wolchover
20 July 2011

A fourth moon orbiting the dwarf planet Pluto has just been discovered. The tiny satellite — it's a mere 8 to 21 miles (13 to 34 km) across — showed up as a faint dot on new, long-exposure photos of the Pluto system taken by NASA's Hubble Telescope.

But enough with the technical details: What will we call the newest member of the solar community?

"It's called P4 for the time being," said Trent Perrotto, public affairs officer at NASA headquarters. "It'll get a name, but it's not up to NASA to decide on it." As usual with newly discovered astronomical objects, he explained, P4's name will be subject to a tough selection process overseen by an organization called the International Astronomical Union.

In an unofficial Facebook poll of SPACE.com readers, the top choice is "Mickey." Unfortunately for them, though, this won't satisfy the IAU's official naming conventions. According to the IAU guidelines, "Objects crossing or approaching the orbit of Neptune … notably [Pluto and its moons], are given mythological names associated with the underworld."

Pluto was the god of the underworld in Roman mythology. Charon, Pluto's largest moon, is named after the ferryman who carried the souls of the newly deceased across the River Styx, which divided the world of the living from that of the dead. Nix, Pluto's second moon, was the Greek goddess of darkness and night, and Charon's mother. Hydra, the third, was a many-headed serpent that guarded a back entrance to the underworld located deep below the surface of a lake.

In choosing a name along these hellish lines for P4, the IAU nomenclature committee will try to honor the wishes of its discoverer: planetary astronomer Mark Showalter of the SETI Institute in California. What's his choice?

"This is a topic under discussion," Showalter told Life's Little Mysteries. "We have a lot of colorful names to choose from because all the moon names come from, essentially, the minions of Hades [the Greeks' name for Pluto]. One name that seems to come up most is Cerberus, the dog who guards the gates to hell."

Three-headed Cerberus is Hydra's sibling.

"Cerberus: How could you go wrong with a name like that?" Showalter said. "But, unfortunately, Cerberus is already the name of an asteroid. The IAU balks at the idea of using asteroid names, although it's not necessarily out of the question. Even then, Kerberos, [the spelling that] is closer to the original Greek, would be OK even if Cerberus is not. I don't want to say that's the name we've chosen. There are a lot of interesting names being discussed."

Showalter has been perusing the Internet today (July 20), looking for ideas. He and his discovery team will submit their top choices to the IAU soon, and he thinks they'll choose a name within two months. Perhaps Cerberus/Kerberos will soon be guarding the Kuiper Belt.

Source: SPACE.com.
Link: http://www.space.com/12374-pluto-moon-choice-cerberus-hell.html.

Morocco prepares for legislative elections

Authorities in Morocco are looking to establish new rules for political party financing ahead of early parliamentary elections.

By Imrane Binoual for Magharebia in Casablanca – 22/07/11

Morocco's interior ministry recently introduced two bills on political parties and election observers as part of preparations for early polls.

The ministry on Wednesday (July 20th) launched a series of meetings with politicians and other members of civil society to get feedback on the prospective laws. The draft legislation was originally submitted to political parties on July 14th. The majority of the kingdom's political leaders praised the move to adopt a legal framework for monitoring elections.

"The first bill is to be applauded because it represents the legitimization by Morocco of the presence of both national and international observers at elections. This is likely to guarantee greater transparency in elections," said Abdelhamid Jmahri, a member of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) policy committee.

The preliminary law on political parties, however, stirred up a hornet's nest of heated debate. The most controversial aspect concerns party financing. The proposed text suggests three categories of funding for the parties. One type of funding would be for "legally constituted" political parties as a whole, while a second category would apply to parties with between three and five percent of the votes. Those receiving more than 5% of votes would be given additional funding.

"The fact that all political parties will receive funding is a good thing," according to Abdelouahed Souhail, a member of the Party for Progress and Socialism (PPS) policy committee.

But some politicians said this would allow the creation of parties which were simply looking for money. "This will only encourage the fragmentation of the Moroccan political landscape," Jmahri said.

"We want there to be criteria for the granting of subsidies to political parties, particularly the number of votes received in elections," he stressed.

The Front of Democratic Forces (FFD) general-secretary proposed a different criterion, suggesting that funds be awarded "on the basis of the plans set out by the various organizations".

Another point of disagreement surrounds the issue of party alliances. The proposed bill only discusses mergers between parties and not alliances. Political leaders would like the draft law to provide for blocs too, according to Mohand Laenser, Secretary-General of the Popular Movement, an alliance between three parties.

The bills are expected to be considered before Parliament sometime in the middle of next month.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/22/feature-03.

Jordanian protesters burn U.S. flag

AMMAN, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Jordanians held a demonstration Friday, where they burnt a U.S. flag and stressed rejection of America's interference in the region.

During the sit-in in downtown Amman, the demonstrators voiced rejection of any U.S. interference in reform efforts in the country.

Stressing on the importance of unity among Jordanians of all origins, they called for uprooting corruption in the Arab kingdom and ending the "security iron fist."

The demonstrators also condemned police assault against several media personnel during a demonstration last Friday.

The police department in Jordan on Wednesday announced its responsibility for the "limited" attacks against media people during last week's demonstration and said the involved police members will be referred to law.

On Thursday, King Abdullah II of Jordan rejected the beating of journalists by policemen as "unjustified and unacceptable."

The Jordanian king also voiced rejection of any practices and restrictions obstructing the work of media, which has an important role in accurately and independently delivering information to citizens and addressing their issues, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Source: Xinhua.
Link: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-07/23/c_131003417.htm.

Teargas fired at protesters in Oman's Sohar

July 22, 2011
By Sunil K. Vaidya

According to witnesses, the march started with a handful of protesters but later in the afternoon the numbers kept increasing.

Muscat: Security forces fired tear gas shells on demonstrators in Sohar on Friday and arrested a large number of young protesters as they marched from Shaikh Khalifa Mosque after afternoon prayers, according to an activist from the Industrial Port town about 230km north to Muscat.

According to witnesses, the march started with a handful of protesters but later in the afternoon the numbers kept increasing. After a while the security forces, present in big numbers, intervened.

The protesters, chased from the main road, spread into the nearby streets and gradually their number increased. The police had to fire tear-gas shells to disperse protesters. "Many shells were fired. Some shells fell very close to some of the houses," an activist told Gulf News from Sohar on the condition of anonymity. Protesters handed over a letter listing their demands to a senior police official.

The protesters were demanding the release of those convicted last month for protesting in Sohar last February and March. They were also demanding reforms, better wages and jobs for young Omanis. The protests in Oman started with a peaceful Green March in January earlier this year but later turned violent in Sohar, the last week of February. Since then three people have died during confrontations with the police.

Last Friday no demonstrations were held after only about 50 turned up for demonstration on July 8.

According to witnesses, the number was much larger on Friday and several were also arrested. There are unconfirmed reports of injuries to some of the demonstrations following baton charge by security agencies to break them up. The demonstrators in Sohar ended their protest at around 5.30pm.

"To avoid confrontation with security forces that could have bad consequences, the young protesters decided to end their demonstration and returned home," an activist said. A posting on a social media site claimed that an Omani journalist working for a local English daily was held in Sohar.

Source: Gulf News.
Link: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/oman/teargas-fired-at-protesters-in-oman-s-sohar-1.841690.

Exoplanet Aurorae 1,000 Times Brighter Than on Earth

By Mimi Nguyen Ly
July 22, 2011

Aurorae on planets outside our solar system, or exoplanets, could be 100 to 1,000 times brighter than those on Earth, according to new research, and this could also affect their habitability.

On Earth, these magnificent green and red lights flicker across the North and South polar skies when particles from the sun are attracted to the Earth’s magnetic field, and strike our atmosphere, causing air molecules to glow.

On exoplanets, the display is even more spectacular because the lights travel across the planet’s entire surface due to their closer proximity to the stars they orbit.

"I’d love to get a reservation on a tour to see these aurorae!" said lead author Ofer Cohen at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

Strong aurorae can occur due to Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) when large amounts of plasma erupt from the sun’s surface into space. CMEs can cause geomagnetic storms on Earth, interfering with power grids and satellite-based systems like telecommunications.

"The impact to the exoplanet would be completely different than what we see in our solar system, and much more violent," said co-author Vinay Kashyap at CfA in the release.

Many exoplanets are gas giants like Jupiter, and hence dubbed "hot-Jupiters." They are orbiting their stars up to one hundred times closer than Earth’s orbit of the sun.

So what would happen to an exoplanet when its host star emits a CME?

In the computer model, a CME hits the "hot-Jupiter," weakening its magnetic shield, and creating aurorae around the equator up to 1,000 times stronger than on Earth. Yet the exoplanet is shielded from the nearby star’s huge forces.

"Our calculations show how well the planet’s protective mechanism works," Cohen said. "Even a planet with a magnetic field much weaker than Jupiter would stay relatively safe."

To be in the habitable zone, exoplanets associated with red dwarf stars, our galaxy’s most common stars, must be in a close orbit for water to be liquid as red dwarfs are cooler than the sun.

However, this means they would be subject to more violent CMEs, making them potentially less habitable.

The new research was published in the Astrophysical Journal on July 7.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/exoplanet-aurorae-1000-times-brighter-than-on-earth-59434.html.

Indian Kashmir shuts down to protest alleged rape

July 23, 2011 — SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Shops and businesses shut down Saturday in Indian-controlled Kashmir to protest an alleged abduction and rape that triggered two days of violent anti-India demonstrations.

The protests, held in the alleged rape victim's village south of the main city of Srinagar, kindled concerns of a return to the deadly street violence that has consumed the disputed Himalayan region in recent years.

Police have barred public gatherings in Manzgam village, where thousands on Friday marched and threw stones at law enforcement officers, who responded by swinging batons and firing tear gas, police said. At least five civilians and four officers were injured.

Answering separatist leaders' calls for a general strike on Saturday, banks, schools and most other businesses remained shuttered in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar. Public transport was not running, and few government workers showed up at their offices.

Police said, meanwhile, that a medical examination of the woman alleging rape by two Indian soldiers showed "no marks of violence or resistance on any part of the body." The investigation continues, and officials assured that justice would be done.

"We've collected the woman's clothes and sent them for forensic examination. We've also videographed the spot where the alleged crime took place," special police investigator Mohammed Shafi Mir said. "The probe will be completed within shortest possible time." The army has opened a separate investigation.

The woman says in her police statement filed Thursday that two soldiers abducted her Tuesday near her Manzgam home and held her in a meadow hut, raping her repeatedly over two days. Her husband later told reporters she was left in the meadow and made her way home in a state of shock, but that she would be able to identify her attackers.

Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani rejected the police and army investigations as biased and called for Saturday's public boycott across the region. Mounting anger prompted Kashmiri officials to call for calm, wary that the case could touch off renewed conflict in the volatile region that is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in its entirety.

Protests by stone-throwing youths and clashes with police have become routine during the warmer months in Kashmir, where anti-India sentiment runs deep among the mostly Muslim population. Human rights groups have accused the Indian military of using rape and sexual molestation to cow the local population.

In 2009, massive protests broke out after allegations that two women were raped and murdered by men in uniform. A federal investigation later decided they had not been raped and had died from drowning.

Local separatists in the Indian-ruled portion have been fighting since 1989 for independence or merger with Pakistan. More than 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the armed uprising and subsequent Indian crackdown.