Belarus police detain dozens of protesters

December 19, 2011 — MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Dozens of demonstrators, including some topless female activists, were detained Monday for denouncing Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko on the first anniversary of his re-election.

It was the latest crackdown on dissent in the ex-Soviet state, where Lukashenko has repressed the opposition and stifled independent news media since becoming leader in 1994. Protesters on Minsk's main square Monday carried candles and pictures of people still jailed after protests on election night a year ago, when tens of thousands of Belorussians denounced a Lukashenko win they claimed was fraudulent.

Some 700 people were arrested in those protests, scores of whom remain behind bars. Police quickly broke up the unauthorized rally Monday, arresting around 30 people. Human rights group Vesna said some of the arrested were beaten.

Also Monday, three members of the Ukrainian group of female activists called Femen and several journalists were detained after the women bared their breasts in front of the Belorussian KGB headquarters and called for freedom for political prisoners.

The women were released after several hours, but the journalists were still in detention on Monday night. In a joint statement marking the election's one-year anniversary, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton demanded that "all political prisoners to be immediately released and rehabilitated."

The pair also expressed "grave concern over new laws that will further restrict citizens' fundamental freedoms of assembly, association and expression and that target support to civil society," the statement said.

NASA to hold alien planet briefing

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Earth-like planets outside the solar system will help humanity know its place in the galaxy, the U.S. space agency said ahead of an alien-planet news briefing.

NASA's alien, or extrasolar, planet announcement, set for 1 p.m. EST Tuesday, was expected to be based on findings made by the space agency's Kepler planet-hunting observatory, orbiting Earth since March 2009.

The Kepler mission is designed to discover Earth-like planets in or near the "habitable zone," where liquid water can exist on the surface of an orbiting planet, and determine how many of the billions of stars in our galaxy have such planets, NASA said.

The spacecraft was named in honor of German astronomer Johannes Kepler, a key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution -- in which new ideas and knowledge in physics, astronomy, biology, medicine and chemistry transformed medieval and ancient views of nature and laid the foundations for modern science.

The Kepler mission has already found 2,326 potential Earth-like extrasolar planets in the past 19 months, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said. Twenty-eight of those were confirmed as planets, Space.com reported.

Earth-like planets are rocky planets, as compared with gas giants that might not have solid surfaces. Within the solar system that Earth is part of, the rocky planets are the smaller inner planets closest to the sun.

The Kepler science team announced Dec. 5 it discovered Kepler-22b, the first potentially habitable alien planet. This distant world, located about 600 light-years from Earth, orbits its sun in the habitable zone that could support liquid water and perhaps life, NASA said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/12/20/NASA-to-hold-alien-planet-briefing/UPI-39751324373400/.

China says 'shocked' by death of North Korea's Kim Jong-il

BEIJING (BNO NEWS) -- The Chinese government on Monday said it was shocked by the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and offered its deep and sincere condolences to the North Korean people.

Ma Zhaoxu, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, hailed Kim as the 'great leader' of the North Korean people and a 'close friend' of the Chinese people. He said Kim made important contributions to develop North Korea's socialist cause and promote good neighborly and friendly cooperative relations with China.

"Shocked by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death, we express our deep condolences and send sincere condolences to the Korean people," Ma said. "We believe that the Korean people will turn their grief into strength, united as one, and continue to push forward the socialist cause of North Korea."

The spokesman said China and North Korea will work together to continue and develop their friendship and to maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Earlier on Monday, the North Korean government announced that Kim died of a massive heart attack on early Saturday morning. He suffered an 'advanced, acute myocardial infarction, complicated with a heart shock,' while on a train for a 'field guidance tour', the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Kim ruled the Communist nation since the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994. KCNA described Kim Jong-un, Kim's third and youngest son, as the "Great Successor" following Kim's death, but gave no specific details although he is widely expected to take over from his father as the Supreme Leader.

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Source: Newstro.
Link: http://newstro.com/article/china-says-shocked-by-death-of-north-koreas-kim-jong-il.html.

UNICEF welcomes release of Palestinian child detainees from Israeli prisons

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Monday welcomed the release of more than 50 Palestinian children from Israeli jails as part of Sunday's prisoner swap agreement with Hamas.

The 55 released children are between the ages of 14 and 17. "We welcome this release of children by the Israeli authorities and we look forward to further progress on the issue of child detainees," said Jean Gough, UNICEF Special Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The children were released as part of the second phase of a prisoner swap agreement with Hamas. Under the agreement, Israel agreed to free 1,027 prisoners in exchange for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit who had been held in Hamas captivity in Gaza for almost six years. During the first phase in October, Israel released 477 Palestinian prisoners...

All prisoners released as part of the deal were forced to sign a document in which they pledge not to engage in terrorist activity in the future. Israeli officials previously said they will hunt down any released prisoners if they are found to have engaged in "terrorism" again.

According to UNICEF, a total of 161 Palestinians under 18 years of age were in Israeli military detention as of December 1. At least 106 Palestinian children remain in Israeli jails following Sunday's release.

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Source: Newstro.
Link: http://newstro.com/article/unicef-welcomes-release-of-palestinian-child-detainees-from-israeli-prisons.html.

Six killed as floods, landslide hit village in Indonesia's Central Java

JAKARTA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- At least six people were killed on Sunday afternoon when flash floods and a landslide struck a small village in the Indonesian province of Central Java, officials said on late Monday. Several others remain missing.

The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon when a rain-triggered flash flood and a subsequent landslide hit the village of Tieng in the town of Wonosobo. The floods and landslide swept away at least thirteen houses and damaged seven others.

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told the Jakarta Globe that five bodies were found on Monday, bringing the number of confirmed deaths to six. However, five others remain missing and are believed to have been buried under the mud.

Officials said 627 people have been displaced in the village, which has been seriously affected by the current rainy season.

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

Source: Newstro.
Link: http://newstro.com/article/six-killed-as-floods-landslide-hit-village-in-indonesias-central-java.html.

Bouteflika pledges transparent elections

2011-12-19

The Arab League, United Nations, EU, African Union and other organizations will be invited to observe Algeria's parliamentary elections next spring, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika told legislators on Sunday (December 18th). The elections will be followed by a revision of the constitution, in line with the Algeria reforms promised last April, he said.

The government will also authorize new political parties and launch a wide-scale media campaign about the parliamentary poll, Bouteflika said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/12/19/newsbrief-03.

Youth unemployment tops Morocco priorities

Persistent joblessness remains a concern for both the incoming and outgoing Moroccan governments.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 19/12/11

Unemployed young Moroccan graduates hope that once new Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane assembles his government within the next few days, their situation may finally begin to improve.

In its electoral platform, the Justice and Development Party (PJD) vowed to reduce unemployment by 2% and to give 100,000 grants to unemployed young people to support them through training courses. The PJD has proposed to introduce jobseekers' allowance and to raise the minimum wage to 3,000 dirhams.

PJD Secretary-General Abdelilah Benkirane, set to be sworn-in as the new prime minister, has said that efforts must be made to reduce unemployment. Above all, he argued, corruption and authoritarianism must be tackled in order to have a real impact on the economy and jobs.

The labor market is flooded with graduates because of the 1980s baby boom, according to Najib Boulif, an economist and senior PJD official. Significant efforts must be made to boost regional development, he told Magharebia.

"That will help to achieve a balance between the regions and prevent vacancies from being clustered in Rabat and Casablanca, as is the case at present," he said.

Outgoing Employment Minister Jamal Rhmani believes that joblessness among young graduates requires specialization, with new professions emerging to meet sector-wide plans in the pipeline.

During a seminar held in Rabat on December 5th, Rhmani said that the situation has spurred authorities to step up their efforts to create a workforce with the necessary skills and address labor needs by implementing the concept of "fair work".

An agreement on two measures was signed by the government and the General Confederation of Moroccan Businesses (CGEM) last May with a view to consolidating and improving job promotion plans, as well as assisting direct integration into businesses.

The employment ministry said that the first measure is intended to improve the on-going Idmaj plan, which enables young graduates to develop their professional skills by gaining work experience while helping businesses increase their competitiveness. The project involves the state paying 12 months of social welfare contributions if a permanent contract is signed during or at the end of the 24-month training period.

The second measure is aimed at creating a "Professional Integration Contract" (PIC) to assist jobseekers having difficulty securing their first job. The program allows businesses to address their needs while training university graduates for six to nine months. The government then makes a financial contribution to companies that offer a permanent employment contract.

According to initial forecasts, these two new initiatives will create 297,000 posts for jobseekers between Q4 2011 and 2016, at a cost to the government of more than 2 billion dirhams.

But despite government efforts to tackle unemployment, the rate remains high.

"This could have a negative impact on stability and public order," Rhanmi said. "We need to think of alternative ways of getting young people into work," the minister said, adding that a new vision was being developed based on the outcome of talks between trade unions and employers, as well recommendations from the CGEM.

According to the CGEM, businesses need skilled employees to boost productivity and competitiveness. This has been underlined repeatedly by Jamal Belahrach, the chairman of the CGEM Employment and Business Relations Committee. He has called for measures to be put in place to help young people find jobs with companies.

Jobs are linked to wealth creation and educational reform, according to Chakib Benmoussa, the president of the Economic and Social Council. He said growth over the past decade hasn't reduced youth unemployment significantly.

According to a report issued by the council, jobs held by young people tend to be insecure as they are often "underpaid, non-contracted and seldom covered by a social welfare scheme".

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/12/19/feature-03.

Algeria passes divisive media law

Observers say a restrictive new press act isolates Algeria at a time of expanding freedom throughout the Arab world.

By Nazim Fethi for Magharebia in Algiers – 19/12/11

Algeria's People's National Assembly passed a controversial new media law on Wednesday (December 14th), despite opposition from journalists and many politicians.

Although the act does away with prison sentences for journalists, opens up the audio-visual sector to private companies and includes a provision for new authorities to govern the press, it also places numerous restrictions on the free exercise of reporters, particularly in terms of access to sources of information.

"The law contains serious restrictions imposed in the name of defending the country's foreign policy and economic interests," according to Mustapha Bouchachi, president of the Algerian Human Rights League. In his view, the new legislation restricts freedom of expression through "a series of considerations adapted by the regime to suit its own interests".

Khaled Bourayou, a lawyer who specializes in defending journalists, commented that the new law was "merely window-dressing by the authorities for the sake of our image abroad, when the reality is different". He said he lamented the situation in terms of free expression following the act's passage, adding that "all efforts made by media professionals to improve the law were ignored".

Bourayou called on "all parties worried about the future of civil liberties in this country to continue their efforts to guarantee freedom of expression".

Kamel Amrani, National Journalists' Union Secretary-General, said that his union warned against amending the 1990 Information Act. "We said that amending it would not necessarily mean that greater freedoms would be guaranteed," he said.

As the vote was taking place, press freedom campaigners gathered outside parliament. The demonstrators issued a statement expressing their "rejection of the bill on the Information Code, which does not address the expectations, aspirations and hopes of journalists, who aspire to professional and social protection".

"To speak of an opposition force, you must first have a political scene. In Algeria, however, we no longer have politics or a political scene," commented Redouane Boudjemaa, an information and communication science teacher.

"The Algerian authorities are moving even closer towards the margins of history," Boudjemaa added. "They are thinking about their own interests, not the interests of the state."

Brahim Brahimi, the head of the journalism graduate school in Algiers, commented that "the adoption of the two laws runs counter to what is going on around the world and the Arab world in particular".

"With this law, we are isolating ourselves," Brahimi said. "What's more, the law goes against the reforms. In 1990, we insisted on the right to information, and now, with the opening-up of the audio-visual sector, we need to emphasize the right to communicate."

"We are really taking a backwards step towards the law of 1982. The press must prove that it is the second authority in Algeria. Journalists must step up their efforts. The authorities have succeeded in destabilizing political parties without the courts daring to react," he added.

"The press must now keep fighting to ensure that civil society finds its rightful place in a modern state," Brahimi said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/12/19/feature-02.

Libya, Tunisia reopen border

The main border crossing between Tunisia and Libya is again bustling with traffic after almost three weeks of closure.

By Monia Ghanmi for Magharebia in Tunis – 19/12/11

The Ras Jedir border crossing between Tunisia and Libya fully reopened on Monday (December 19th). The Libyan side restored the traffic four days after Tunisia re-opened the border.

"The security situation at the Ras Jedir crossing is now excellent, as the various forms of militancy were eliminated from the crossing," the Libyan News Agency quoted Libyan Interior Minister Fawzi Abdelali as saying last Thursday.

He said that Libya was monitoring the situation there around the clock, pointing out that his ministry had put in place two checkpoints along specific distances before reaching the crossing.

Tunisian authorities closed the border on November 30th after a Libyan gunman threatened Tunisian border guards. Tunisia complained about a rise in armed attacks from the Libyan side of the border and violations of its sovereignty.

In response to Tunisia's request to place the border crossing under the responsibility of regular troops, the Libyan interior ministry forces on December 5th assumed border control from police, immigration and customs. The crossing was previously in the hands of former rebel fighters.

Travelers using the shared border welcomed the reopening of the border and restoration of rule of law and security between the two states.

"This is what Libya needs today—law and order and a sense of security," Mabrouk Musrati, a Libyan taxi driver on the Tunis – Tripoli line, told Magharebia. "We are content that arms ended the uprising. Today every Libyan must take his natural place and assume his real role. We must look ahead to the future of the country."

Abderrazak Dhiffallah said, "The new Libyan government did well. It began to develop action plans on its border crossings, and this is what we want from the brothers in Libya: army deployment and putting an end to loose security until movement between the two countries returns to normal, because our future is a single future, and our need for each other is increasing day by day."

Five Tunisian parties along with Libya's February17th Forces coalition on Thursday launched a joint call for creating "real integration" between Tunisia and Libya and establishing "a real brotherly relationship between the two people in the spirit of love and common interest".

The parties included the National Coalition for Peace and Development, the Reform and Development Party, the Movement of Popular Unity, the Secretariat Party and the Tunisia Dignity Party. They made their appeal from the Ras Jedir border.

Mohamed Koumani, Secretary-General of the Reform and Development Party, said that their action aimed to formally support efforts to restore relations between Tunisia and Libya and to accelerate the pace of restoring normal operations at the Ras Jedir crossing after the rising security tensions.

The appeal comes in the context of efforts to bring the views of the Tunisian and Libyan sides closer, especially in this period of a summer cloud in bilateral relations due to isolated actions causing strife between the two peoples, said Abdelhamid Abou Dabra, Director of Administrative Affairs of the Libyan February 17th Forces coalition.

Tunisia remains the sole lifeline of Libya, and Libya remains an important lifeline of Tunisia on both social and economic levels, he added.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/12/19/feature-01.

Next ESA Astronaut Ready For Launch As Soyuz Rolls Out

Baikonur, Kazakhstan (SPX)
Dec 20, 2011

The Christmas season has brought the gift of a Soyuz launcher for the PromISSe mission. ESA's Andre Kuipers and his crewmates are running their final simulations and preparing to board the rocket on Wednesday to head towards the International Space Station.

The weather at the Baikonur Cosmodrome was a crisp 24 degrees C below zero and the cloudless sky above the Kazakh Steppe was a deep blue. Respecting traditions, the rocket and its precious spacecraft on top was rolled out this morning at 07:00 local time (01:00 GMT) and moved horizontally by rail to the launch pad - the same site where Yuri Gagarin began the first human spaceflight more than 50 years ago.

"It is so cold that even microphones have a fur hat," said Andre's crewmate Don Pettit in a TV interview at the 'Cosmonaut Hotel' in Baikonur town some 30 km from the cosmodrome. Russia's Oleg Kononenko completes the crew, as Soyuz commander.

Routine launch preparations
The rocket that will loft the Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft into orbit on 21 December was assembled over the last week at the cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Once the crew had made their last fit checks inside, it was inserted into its protective fairing and rolled to the rocket's integration and checkout facility.

The assembly was mated during the weekend with the rocket's upper stage and the escape tower added to the nose.

Finally, the upper stage was bolted to the rest of the launcher.

Shortly after the rollout and the slow train ride this morning, the vehicle was erected on the pad and is now being prepared for Wednesday's launch.

Busy crew in quarantine
Andre and his two colleagues are busy reviewing procedures and taking refresher classes. They are staying in the hotel's special crew quarters, where they are allowed contact only with people certified by flight surgeons to be in good health.

The crew are also preparing their bodies for weightlessness: they sleep with wooden blocks under the feet end of their beds. Lying heads-down helps to redistribute the fluids in their bodies like in space.

Normally, gravity pulls blood and other fluids to the lower part of the body, but in space they distribute evenly, giving astronauts a characteristic puffy face, for example.

The effect is particularly strong during the first days in weightlessness and may also cause headaches, but this low-tech preparation reduces the symptoms.

The crew will suit up for their ride to space on Wednesday, boarding Soyuz 2.5 hours before the evening liftoff at 13:16 GMT (14:16 CET; 19:16 local time).

They will chase the International Space Station by fine-tuning and raising their orbit for two days, docking on Friday, 23 December at 15:22 GMT (16:22 CET). Andre's PromISSe mission will last until mid-May, after 148 days in orbit.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Next_ESA_Astronaut_Ready_For_Launch_As_Soyuz_Rolls_Out_999.html.

Goddard Scientists Selected as Participating Scientists in Mars Lab and Cassini Missions

Greenbelt MD (SPX)
Dec 20, 2011

Five scientists from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. have been selected as Participating Scientists in NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and Cassini missions. The new MSL Participating Scientists are Jennifer Eigenbrode, Daniel Glavin, and Michael Smith.

Jennifer Eigenbrode was selected for her proposal to study the effects of high-energy ionizing radiation on the organic chemistry in sediments that are analogous to those of the Gale Crater, the MSL landing site. The study will draw from MSL observations on the sediments, minerals, salt chemistry, and radiation in that environment.

Results of the radiation tests will be used to help guide organic analyses on Mars by the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Eigenbrode will work primarily with the SAM and Radiation Assessment Detector teams on MSL.

Daniel Glavin was awarded a grant to investigate new Sample Analysis at Mars instrument protocols to search for amines of biological origin on Mars. Goddard team members include Jason Dworkin, Amy McAdam, Caroline Freissinet, and Millie Martin. The proposal was one of 22 U.S. investigations selected out of 149 total proposals submitted.

Michael Smith was selected for his proposal to study ozone, dust, and ice particles in the Martian atmosphere. He will determine the abundance and physical characteristics, such as size, of the particles using a combination of MSL instruments that operate at the visible, ultraviolet, and near-infrared wavelengths.

From that, the illumination of Mars's surface from the sky will be calculated; this information is helpful for scientists who study processes at the surface and for identifying minerals using remote sensing.

The new Cassini Participating Scientists are Carrie Anderson and Brigette Hesman. Both Anderson and Hesman will work with the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) team at Goddard.

Carrie Anderson's proposed work for the Cassini Data Analysis Program would investigate the organic particulates that make up the aerosol and the clouds in Titan's atmosphere. Titan is Saturn's largest moon.

By studying how these particulates move through various layers of the atmosphere as well as around the globe, researchers can trace the global atmospheric currents and determine how these change with Titan's seasons.

The study will use both CIRS and the Cassini Huygens Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer data to detect a wide variety of chemical species by looking at wavelengths from the near-infrared (IR) to the far-IR.

Brigette Hesman's proposed work for the Cassini Data Analysis Program involves studying the effects of storms in Saturn's atmosphere by looking at changes in the temperatures, winds, and the amounts of certain gases. The study will focus on prominent features such as the ovals that have been seen in "storm alley" and other areas of Saturn's southern hemisphere.

Also of interest is a major storm in the northern hemisphere that has been going on for nearly a year and grew so large that it stretched all the way around the planet. By using CIRS data, the effects of these storms on the composition and chemistry of the atmosphere will be probed.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Goddard_Scientists_Selected_as_Participating_Scientists_in_Mars_Lab_and_Cassini_Missions_999.html.

As Soyuz Rolls ISS Crew Work On Science

Baikonur, Kazakhstan (SPX)
Dec 20, 2011

The Soyuz TMA-03M spacecraft that will carry new Expedition 30 Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko, Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers into space rolled out to the launch pad Monday at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The launch is scheduled for Wednesday at 8:16 a.m. EST, with NASA TV coverage beginning at 7:30 a.m. The Soyuz will dock to the International Space Station Friday morning.

Aboard the station, Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank worked with the Biomechanical Analysis of Treadmill Exercise on the International Space Station, or Treadmill Kinematics, experiment.

Treadmill Kinematics studies the difference between exercising on a treadmill in space and on Earth. It is the first rigorous investigation to determine the most beneficial treadmill exercise conditions to maintain or improve crew health during long-duration spaceflight.

Burbank also continued his work with the Preliminary Advanced Colloids Experiment-2, or PACE-2. Housed in the Fluids Integrated Rack, PACE-2 studies the effects of vibration on particles suspended in fluid in the space environment.

This work aids in the development and optimization of crew procedures for the future Advanced Colloids Experiment, also known as ACE, which will fly samples that may have an important impact on our understanding of fundamental physics.

Additionally, he updated software for the SOdium LOading in Microgravity (SOLO) experiment. SOLO researches the ways in which the human body retains fluid and salt during bed rest and space flights. Subject crew members follow a diet of constant low or normal sodium intake and increased fluid consumption.

Shkaplerov and Flight Engineer Anatoly Ivanishin worked to replace several of the panels, fuses and batteries inside the complex's Russian segment.

All three crew members continued unpacking supplies from the ISS Progress 45 cargo craft, which arrived at the station on Nov. 2.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/As_Soyuz_Rolls_ISS_Crew_Work_On_Science_999.html.

Iowa State engineers study how hills, nearby turbines affect wind energy production

Ames IA (SPX)
Dec 20, 2011

Hui Hu pulled a model wind turbine from the top of an office filing cabinet. The turbine tower was just 10 inches high. Its three blades were 10 inches in diameter. It was a perfect 1:320 scale reproduction of the 80-meter diameter wind turbines spinning across Iowa, the country's second-ranked state in installed wind power capacity.

That mini turbine is helping a research team led by Hu, an Iowa State University associate professor of aerospace engineering, understand how hills, valleys and the placement of turbines affect the productivity of onshore wind farms.

While the wind industry has data about offshore turbine performance over flat water - especially from European studies - Hu said there's little data about the effects of uneven ground on wind turbines.

And so Hu and his research team have created the mini turbines and started running tests in Iowa State's $1.25 million Aerodynamic/Atmospheric Boundary Layer Wind and Gust Tunnel.

"We want to work with the wind turbine industry to transfer some of our findings," Hu said. "We can help boost total energy capture. And we can lengthen the lifetimes of wind turbines, making them more efficient."

The research team led by Hu includes Richard Wlezien, professor and Vance and Arlene Coffman Endowed Chair in Aerospace Engineering; Partha Sarkar, a professor of aerospace engineering, of civil, construction and environmental engineering, and director of Iowa State's Wind Simulation and Testing Laboratory; Zifeng Yang, a former Iowa State post-doctoral researcher and now an assistant professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio; Wei Tian, a post-doctoral research associate in aerospace engineering; and Ahmet Ozbay, a graduate student in aerospace engineering.

The engineers' studies are supported by a three-year, $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation and a two-year, $100,000 grant from the Iowa Alliance for Wind Innovation and Novel Development.

The researchers are using wind tunnel tests to quantify the characteristics of surface winds over hilly terrains, determine the best placement of wind turbines on hilly terrains and find the best design for large wind farms on hilly terrains.

Experiments include:
+ Mini generators mounted inside the mini turbine nacelles measure power production

+ Sensors mounted at the base of the mini turbines measure the wind loads placed on turbines and turbine towers

+ Advanced flow measurements such as particle image velocimetry (which uses a laser and camera to take nearly simultaneous images that show the movement and velocity of individual particles) to measure wind flow fields, the wind vortices created by the tips of turbine blades and the total wind energy captured by the blades.

Hu said preliminary results indicate that wind turbines on hilly terrain are hit with much higher wind loads than turbines on flat terrain. The experiments also show that, compared with turbines on flat ground, wind flowing over hilly terrain recovers its power potential more rapidly as it moves from turbine to turbine.

Data from the wind tunnel indicate a turbine on flat ground in the wake of another turbine at a distance equal to six times the diameter of the turbines loses 13 percent of power production. A turbine in the wake of another with the same downstream distance on hilly ground loses 3 percent of power production.

"That means you can put wind turbines closer together in hilly terrain," he said.

In November, Hu, Yang and Sarkar published the first paper about their wind-turbine studies - "Visualization of the tip vortices in a wind turbine wake" on the Journal of Visualization's website. The three researchers also presented findings of their turbine wake studies at the June 2011 Applied Aerodynamics Conference of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

The project's next steps include building a nine-turbine array in Iowa State's big wind tunnel to study power production and wind flows through a mini wind farm.

Hu is confident that data from the experiments can be valuable as more and more wind farms are built across Iowa and the country.

"These studies are telling us things we didn't know before," Hu said. "And this will help optimize the design of wind turbine layouts with consideration of the terrain."

Source: Wind Daily.
Link: http://www.winddaily.com/reports/Iowa_State_engineers_study_how_hills_nearby_turbines_affect_wind_energy_production_999.html.

Ocean dead zones shrinking habitat for blue marlins, other tropical billfish and tunas

Washington DC (SPX)
Dec 20, 2011

The science behind counting fish in the ocean to measure their abundance has never been simple. A new scientific paper authored by NOAA Fisheries biologist Eric Prince, Ph.D., and eight other scientists shows that expanding ocean dead zones - driven by climate change - have added a new wrinkle to that science.

In the December 4 paper published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, these scientists sound an alarm that expanding ocean dead zones are shrinking the habitat for high value fish such as marlins in the tropical northeast Atlantic Ocean. As dead zones expand, marlins, other billfish and tunas move into surface waters where they are more vulnerable to fishing. Dead zones are areas in the ocean where oxygen levels are so low that creatures cannot survive over the long term.

"By combining the disciplines of oceanography and fishery biology, we are getting a much clearer picture of how climate driven dead zones are shrinking the habitat for some of the world's most valuable fish to commercial and recreational fishermen," Prince said. "With a clearer picture, we will be able to make better management decisions for the long-term health of these species and their ecosystems."

In the past, Prince has studied the movement of marlins and other billfish in ocean waters off Florida and the Caribbean as well as in the tropical waters of the eastern Pacific.

The new paper combines Prince's research on marlins in the northeast tropical Atlantic Ocean off Africa with oceanographic research in the same waters by Lothar Stramma and his colleagues at the Leibniz Institute of Marine Science in Kiel, Germany, as well as scientists at the University of Miami Rosensteil School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.

Prince tagged blue marlin, one of the most valuable recreational species on the planet, with pop up satellite tracking devices to record their horizontal and vertical movement. He compared this information on fish movement with detailed oceanographic maps developed by Stramma and his colleagues on the same ocean areas showing the location of zones with low dissolved oxygen.

Prince, Stramma and Sunke Schmidtko, who was at NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle at the time of the research, are the three equally contributing first authors of the paper.

Blue marlins and many other billfish are high energy fish that need large amounts of dissolved oxygen. By comparing the movement of the blue marlins and the location of low-oxygen areas, the scientists show that blue marlins venture deeper when dissolved oxygen levels are higher and remain in shallower surface waters when low dissolved oxygen areas encroach on their habitat from below.

"The shrinking of habitat due to expanding dead zones needs to be taken into account in scientific stock assessments and management decisions for tropical pelagic billfish and tuna," said Prince.

"Without taking it into account, stock assessments could be providing false signals that stocks are healthy, when in fact they are not, thus allowing overfishing that further depletes these fish stocks and threatens the sustainability of our fisheries."

While the new paper focuses on the tropical northeast Atlantic Ocean off Africa, the expansion of low-oxygen zones is occurring in all tropical ocean basins and throughout the subarctic Pacific, making the compression of habitat a global issue. The problem for pelagic fishes in the tropical Atlantic is particularly acute, the authors note, because many of these fish species and the unintended catch, called bycatch, are already fully exploited or overfished.

The new paper follows earlier research by Prince published in 2010 in Fisheries Oceanography based on tagging of marlins and sailfish in the waters off Florida and the Caribbean, which also showed these billfish prefer oxygen-rich waters close to the surface and move away from waters low in dissolved oxygen.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Ocean_dead_zones_shrinking_habitat_for_blue_marlins_other_tropical_billfish_and_tunas_999.html.

China villagers warned against protest march

Beijing (AFP)
Dec 19, 2011

Villagers in southern China in a rare stand-off with local Communist authorities said Monday they were being bombarded with calls from officials to warn them not to take part in a planned protest march.

The residents of Wukan, which has been under police blockade for over a week, say they will march on local government offices in a nearby town on Wednesday if their demands are not met.

They want authorities to release three villagers detained on December 9 for allegedly inciting riots in September, and to hand over the body of a fourth, Xue Jinbo, who died in police custody.

A fifth villager detained at the same time has been accused of unrelated crimes, and the villagers have dropped their demand that he too be released.

But they also want a full investigation into what they say are years of illegal land grabs that has cost many local farmers their livelihood.

Addressing a rally in Wukan on Monday afternoon, villager Yang Semao said the government was bombarding families with telephone calls warning them not to petition, a commonly used term for complaining to the government.

"They even called Xue Jinbo's family and threatened them with arrest if this continues," Yang told the rally, referring to the 42-year-old father of three, who villagers suspect was beaten to death. Authorities say he died of a heart attack.

Wukan, in the wealthy southern province of Guangdong, has been under police blockade for more than a week after residents drove out local Communist leaders in September.

Officials in Guangdong have refused to comment to AFP, but there are recent signs they may be trying to engage with the villagers to persuade them to end their stand-off.

On Monday Lin Zulian, an unofficial spokesman for the village who along with Yang is wanted by police over the September riots, said authorities sent an envoy to his home on Sunday in an apparent attempt to defuse the situation.

Lin said the envoy had urged him to turn himself in, saying he would be treated leniently if he did so, and to end the village protests.

But he said villagers would not back down from their demands.

"I told (the envoy) if they do not release the three detainees and return the body, then we would march to Lufeng on Wednesday and petition again," Lin, 65, told AFP, referring to town near Wukan where the local government is based.

"I also said that the village wants a full investigation into the land requisition and into those responsible."

Lin, who has taken charge of briefing the large numbers of foreign journalists who have flocked to Wukan, denied that he had broken any laws, saying he was actually trying to uphold the law.

"All that I have been trying to do is to see that the laws and regulations on land acquisitions are implemented fairly and the central government policies on land are implemented in accordance with law," he said.

"For this they call me a criminal, it is unacceptable."

Source: Sino Daily.
Link: http://www.sinodaily.com/reports/China_villagers_warned_against_protest_march_999.html.

British army Lynx upgrades complete

YEOVIL, England, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- AgustaWestland in Britain has marked the end of its Lynx Mk9A helicopter upgrade program for the British army air corps.

The production total of 22 helicopters was ordered as Urgent Operational Requirements in November 2008 -- for 12 aircraft -- and March 2010 for the remainder.

"The Mk9A program has been a major success story for both AgustaWestland and the Ministry of Defense," said AgustaWestland Ltd. Chairman Graham Cole.

"Many doubted this major upgrade program could be done in the timescale initially laid down, but I am very pleased to say not only will we complete the delivery of the final aircraft in December but we will have achieved this milestone three months ahead of schedule."

The upgrade to the helicopters included work on the aircraft's main gear box, top deck structure and rear fuselage for a new engine, the CTS800-4N. Changes were also made for new engine controls and digital cockpit displays.

To mark completion of the upgrades a ceremony was held at the company's Yeovil, England, facility.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2011/12/19/British-army-Lynx-upgrades-complete/UPI-19761324308414/.

Oil strikes prompt emergency in Kazakhstan

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Protesters in western Kazakhstan expressed solidarity with striking oil workers under what one demonstrator said was the watchful eye of security forces.

At least 13 people were killed and another 86 were wounded in clashes between striking oil workers and national police, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev last weekend imposed a state of emergency in the western oil city of Zhanaozen and blamed "hooligans" for the violence.

Police, he said, opened fire on demonstrators to "protect themselves and local citizens and preserve order."

Oil workers have protested since May, calling for better pay and the right to organize independent labor unions. Clashes escalated Friday as the country celebrated its 20th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union.

Protesters during recent clashes set fire to a hotel and the regional office of state-run oil company OzenMunaiGaz. The company, RFE/RL reports, said oil production wasn't impacted greatly because of the strikes.

Oil workers continued their strike last weekend despite the government crackdown. One worker, who gave his name to RFE/RL as Esbol, said workers wanted an investigation into the police response.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/12/19/Oil-strikes-prompt-emergency-in-Kazakhstan/UPI-64231324303854/.

Spain's next PM: Very tough times lie ahead

December 19, 2011 — MADRID (AP) — Warning that very hard times lie ahead for Spain, the country's next prime minister said his incoming conservative government aims to reduce the country's deficit by €16.5 billion ($21.6 billion) next year.

In a keenly awaited speech to Parliament a month after being elected, Mariano Rajoy still did not specify what bitter cocktail of spending cuts and tax hikes might be used to get the deficit down to Spain's stated goal of 4.4 percent of GDP in 2012.

The deficit was 9.2 percent of GDP last year and estimated by the outgoing Socialist government to be about 6 percent this year — a figure Rajoy suggested may be too optimistic because the economy posted no growth in the third quarter. That stagnation prompted Spain, the IMF, the EU and many private economists to lower the country's growth estimate for this year from 1.3 percent to 0.8 percent.

Spain was in recession for nearly two years and posted only listless growth this year, and some economists expect its growth could turn negative again. Rajoy said Spain's staggering jobless rate had risen to around 23 percent overall and around 46 percent for people under 25.

"The panorama could not be more somber," Rajoy said. Spain's overall debt stands at €706.34 billion ($919.6 billion) as of the end of September, up 15 percent from a year ago. The new figure is about 66 percent of GDP and includes the substantial debt held by Spain's 17 semiautonomous regions.

Outlining his economic plans for the first time, Rajoy said he would end a freeze on cost-of-living adjustments for pensions but every other category of government spending would now subject to review.

Rajoy said by year's end, his government will approve an extension of the 2011 budget as a stopgap and then offer a full 2012 budget by the end of March. Except for security forces and positions in basic public services, he said government jobs that become vacant as people retire will not be filled.

Spain's opposition Socialist Party slammed Rajoy for providing few specifics on how he will cut government services to reduce the deficit or create jobs. But the Socialists will be able to do little to counter Rajoy's proposals, since his party won an absolute majority in the Nov. 20 election.

"He didn't explain how he's going to do it," said Jose Antonio Alonso, spokesman for the Socialists. "It was a disappointing speech ... it was ambiguous and it wasn't clear." Spanish stocks and bonds rose Monday in line with increases across Europe. The Madrid stock exchange was up 1.6 percent while borrowing costs for Spain's 10-year bond dropped 0.13 of a percentage point to 5.13 percent.

Spain's economy was upended after the 2008 credit crunch exposed a national real estate bubble. Now borrowing costs are rising for the eurozone's fourth-largest economy, and Spain is often cited along with Italy as troubled economies that might have to join Greece, Ireland and Portugal in accepting international help. But both Spain's and Italy's economies are each larger than those three smaller nations combined and considered too big for Europe's rescue fund to handle.

The Fitch Ratings agency warned last Friday it was considering downgrading the credit ratings of Spain, Italy and four other eurozone nations. Rajoy's Popular Party won the Nov. 20 elections by a landslide over the ruling Socialists. Rajoy will be voted in as premier on Tuesday, then formally take office Wednesday at the residence of King Juan Carlos.

Another key focus for the new premier will be labor market reforms designed to encourage hiring, such as changes to the way companies and unions negotiate collective bargaining accords. Rajoy said he has given Spain's main business federation and labor unions until mid-January to come up with their own reforms, otherwise the government will impose a plan.

"These reforms must be done as soon as possible," Rajoy told the 350-member Congress of Deputies, the lower chamber of Parliament. He also announced tax changes to help self-employed people and small and medium-size companies, and says banks heavily exposed to the burst real estate bubble need to get rid of thousands of unsold homes they hold. Rajoy said Spain is saddled with about 700,000 unsold new homes from the construction binge.

Rajoy also envisions further bank mergers — troubled savings banks in Spain have already fused from 45 to less than 20 over the past two years. Also, Rajoy endorsed a business leaders' proposal to boost productivity by moving most midday holidays to Monday — ending a cherished Spanish practice of creating four-day weekends when holidays fall on a Tuesday or Thursday.

Antonio Barroso, an analyst with Eurasia group, said Rajoy's measures addressed Spain's most pressing difficulties, such as unemployment and a vulnerable banking sector. Barroso said "controlling expenditure is the number one problem" but reducing the deficit and reforming public administration will be easier than restoring the health of the financial sector and tampering with labor entitlements.

He said tackling the problems of Spain's financial sector "is very complicated," adding that the Bank of Spain and the Popular Party are both split about the possibility of setting up a bad bank for toxic assets. Another possibility is establishing an asset protection scheme for financial institutions with bad property debts.

"The situation is very fluid," Barroso said of government solutions to the country's debt crisis.

Alan Clendenning in Madrid and Barry Hatton in Lisbon contributed to this report.