Libyan exiles occupy Libyan Embassy in Stockholm

By MALIN RISING | AP
Aug 11, 2011

STOCKHOLM: Police stormed the Libyan Embassy in Stockholm on Thursday to arrest seven protesters who had occupied the building, torn down images of Muammar Qaddafi and threatened to commit suicide by jumping out windows.

No injuries were reported, and the embassy was empty of staff members, but it was the third time this year that Libyan exiles living in Sweden had occupied the building since the civil war began in Libya six months ago.

On Thursday, authorities first sent a negotiator into the embassy to talk with the protesters and placed inflatable mattresses around the building after the demonstrators threatened to jump from its windows, officials said.

But police then stormed the embassy after the protesters threatened to start a fire there, said police spokesman Kjell Lindgren.

Police arrested the seven protesters on suspicion of vandalization, trespassing, and preparation of arson, said Lindgren.

The standoff began after an embassy alarm was activated and police closed the road outside the building. The protesters, and small group of supporters standing outside the embassy, waved a flag of the monarchy that ruled Libya before its 1969 coup. It has lately become the symbol of the rebels fighting Qaddafi’s forces and is known as the “independence flag.”

Eyewitness Helmi Alnadori said the demonstrators took control of the building and were shouting and throwing books and pictures of Qaddafi out of the windows. He said the situation was “complete chaos” when police arrived and circled the embassy.

Qaddafi’s opponents in Sweden were permitted to hoist the independence flag at the embassy in February, but it was removed after the appointment of a new ambassador loyal to Qaddafi.

In April, six people were arrested after demonstrators broke in to the embassy to protest the installation of the new ambassador.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article487052.ece.

Turkey's Erdogan to visit Somalia

By REUTERS
Aug 11, 2011

ANKARA: Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he would visit famine-hit Somalia along with his family in the coming days as part of an effort to draw international attention to the East African country’s plight.

Visits by world leaders to Somalia are extremely rare due to the extreme security risks, but Erdogan was undeterred.

“It is impossible for us to be spectators to the human tragedy in Africa,” Erdogan said.

“My foreign minister and I will visit Somalia with our families. So, we will get a chance to see the situation there,” Erdogan told a meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara.

It is especially dangerous to visit the Somali capital Mogadishu after Islamist rebels mostly pulled out last weekend, raising the specter of more guerrilla-style attacks such as suicide bombings after their failure to win a military combat.

The government and African peacekeepers admit they do not control all of the capital even after the rebels’ withdrawal.

The last leader to visit was Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in November last year.

His army contributes more than half of a 9,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force propping up the government. But no one from outside Africa has been for a very long time.

Istanbul will host a meeting on Aug. 17 of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference aimed at galvanizing support for Somalia and drought-struck neighboring regions.

The meeting, which comes during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, was proposed by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Turkey sent two cargo planes laden with 50 tons of food and medical supplies to Somalia on Monday and the Turkish Red Crescent is working with the government’s development agency and Office of Religious Affairs to raise donations from the public.

Turkey, with its multi-party democracy and rapidly growing economy, is widely regarded as a model for development in other countries of the Muslim world.

Erdogan’s wife, Emine, visited flood-stricken areas of Pakistan last year, raising Turkish awareness of its people’s plight. Turkey’s speedy response to disasters has strengthened its reputation within the Islamic and developing world.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article486765.ece.

Syrian forces storm town in province near Turkey

11 August 2011
REUTERS, AMMAN

Syrian armored vehicles stormed a strategic town on the main northern highway on Thursday, a resident and local activists said, in the third day of a military assault on a northwestern province bordering Turkey to crush pro-democracy unrest.

"Around 14 tanks and armored vehicles entered Saraqeb this morning, accompanied by 50 buses, pick-ups and security cars. They started firing randomly and storming houses," said the resident who fled Saraqeb, situated on a main highway juncture, 50 km (30 miles) southeast of Turkey's İskenderun (Hatay) province.

Source: Today's Zaman.
Link: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-253405-syrian-forces-storm-town-in-province-near-turkey.html.

FIFA gives $1M to aid projects in Somalia

11 August 2011
AP, ZURICH

FIFA says it will donate $1 million (?700,000) toward humanitarian aid work in Somalia by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

FIFA says the money will fund programs helping people affected by drought and conflict in the country. It says one-third of the donation will buy food for "25,000 families or 150,000 people over a period of one month."

FIFA has recently supported disaster relief work in Japan, Haiti, Pakistan and Chile.

Somalia's football federation showed its close links to FIFA by nominating Sepp Blatter to stand for re-election as president this year.

Source: Today's Zaman.
Link: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-253404-fifa-gives-1m-to-aid-projects-in-somalia.html.

The Tuidang Movement: 100 Million Chinese Hearts Changed

By Matthew Robertson
August 10, 2011

Movement to renounce the Chinese Communist Party reaches major milestone.

When poorly constructed elementary school buildings collapsed in Wenchuan, China, after a massive earthquake in 2008, parents wanted answers. Rather than launching an investigation or tallying the student deaths, however, agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) infiltrated the parent groups, broke them up, arrested the recalcitrants, and jailed a man trying to help them.

A similar dynamic happened after the poisoned milk powder scandal broke in 2008. The man who lobbied on behalf of the parents, and whose child was also a victim, ended up in jail.

Meanwhile, millions of peaceful Chinese citizens are monitored, arrested, and tortured to death, because the CCP considers their religious beliefs to be a threat to its rule.

The Chinese regime also crushes all attempts by anyone organizing politically—hence hopes for a future China without these depredations seem bleak.

Enter “Tuidang,” meaning, “Renounce the Party.”

Yan Zhijun is the archetype of a Tuidang activist. A 62-year-old Chinese woman with a broad, disarming smile, she started promoting Tuidang in early 2005, on a trip from the United States back to China.

It began with a small circle of family members. She would remind them of the horrors of Communist Party rule, past and present, and simply ask, “Do you want to be part of that?”

After she got back from China, her Tuidang activities picked up momentum. From family members and friends she extended the circle to friends of friends, former school students and teachers, and then strangers (she now says everyone she meets is like a “brother or sister,” and if they’re Chinese, she talks about Tuidang.)

People who hadn’t heard from her for four decades were surprised to get a phone call, she in America, explaining why they needed to sever ties with the Chinese Communist Party. She’s helped 1,800 people resign, by her own calculations.

Severing Ties

The idea of severing ties with an organization, which one might not be a formal member of may seem strange, except for the fact that the CCP is no normal organization. Since taking power in 1949 it has forced the populace to swear allegiance to it, dominated or attempted to control every aspect of life in China, and implicated a large swathe of the populace in its misdeeds.

In the words of the “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party,” an editorial series published by The Epoch Times in the fall of 2004 that gave birth to the movement, under CCP rule: “Traditional faiths and principles have been violently destroyed. Original ethical concepts and social structures have been disintegrated by force. Empathy, love, and harmony among people have been twisted into struggle and hatred.”

The result has been predictable: “A total collapse of social, moral, and ecological systems, and a profound crisis for the Chinese people … brought about through the deliberate planning, organization, and control of the CCP.”

Chinese people get it. An experience of the CCP is the common denominator for every person who grew up on the mainland, and as Tuidang activists see it, it is time for the Chinese people to determine their own fate.

The concern is not with severing one’s ties physically or professionally with the CCP. One can use an alias to quit the Party, and even go back to work as a Party official as long as the psychological separation has been made. “Gods look at one’s heart,” Tuidang participants repeatedly say.

Participants explain that Tuidang peacefully dissolves the Party, one renunciation at a time. Tuidang also provides participants with the chance to separate themselves from the crimes and corruption of the CCP. Caylan Ford, a graduate of George Washington University, writes in her master’s thesis on Tuidang that it offers Chinese people a path to “solace, moral redemption, and freedom by severing their psychic and symbolic ties to the Communist Party.”

Peace of Mind

Given the extremes of violence the Party has wrought on the Chinese people over its decades in power, some of the renunciation statements are extreme. One is from a decommissioned soldier calling himself Chen Xiaoyu. He describes being forced, along with his company, to open fire on a village of the Hui ethnic group in China. “I will never forget that extreme cruelty and tragic scene, which cannot be described with words,” Chen wrote.

The next lines go to the heart of the Tuidang experience for Chinese people: “I was raised as an honest and kind person, and I could have passed a happy and peaceful, normal life, but the demon robbed me of this happiness I should have had. … If gods hear my repentance, please grant me peace of mind so that I will no longer be terrified by this recurring nightmare. Today, I solemnly declare that I withdraw from the CCP and any of its affiliated organizations.”

A policeman, using a pseudonym (since getting caught could lead to punishment from dismissal to torture), wrote that he was full of remorse after years of “suppressing the common people.”

“Because I have lost hope with everything the CCP has done and have been an accessory to its crimes for the past 30 years, my conscience can no longer take the huge pressure. With the help of Falun Gong practitioners, I am publishing my withdrawal from the CCP and its affiliated organizations,” he wrote.

References to gods or higher forces that watch over man are a common feature of the longer statements. Such beliefs were a fundamental part of Chinese culture until 1949, when the Communist Party forcefully suppressed all religions as “superstitions.” And the reference to Falun Gong is fitting, since most of the people on the front lines pushing the movement forward are practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted since 1999 in China.

A New China

Tuidang not only enjoins Chinese to face the moral issues presented by the CCP’s dictatorship, but it also presents a compelling vision of another China that is grounded in authentic Chinese traditions, rather than the theories of Marx and Lenin.

“When I meet people I ask them if they had heard about the ‘santui,’” Yan Zhijun says. Santui means the “Three Withdrawals,” referring to the Young Pioneers, the Communist Youth League, and the Party proper.

“I talk to them about it simply: ‘Why do you want to fight with heaven and earth?’” as is espoused by CCP communist theory. “This isn’t what the Yellow Emperor taught us,” she would say, referring to the mythical founder of Chinese civilization.

Yan peppers her speech with ancient Chinese phraseology and historical references. “China has persisted for thousands of years, but no dynasty has ever tried to brainwash its people out of being a good person. Chinese have always emphasized the truth, but do you have that feeling today?” Few do, she notes.

Tuidang presents itself as the alternative to the culture that has been created by the Communist Party: it is the old China, the China long before the communists arrived; it’s about understanding the law of karma, embracing simple virtues, and honest living. And it is finding a receptive ear.

On a recent sunny weekend, Yan obtained one renunciation within 30 seconds. A man approached seeking some of the materials she and her colleague were handing out. She asked him if he had joined the Communist Party. He said no. Had he joined the Youth League? Nope. But what about when he was young, didn’t he wear a “red kerchief”? Like most Chinese, he had. When he was just a tot he also made an oath to “resolutely obey the Chinese Communist Party.” Now that he realized the CCP was bad news, shouldn’t he make a clean break? She gave him a pseudonym of Xia Ming (a play on words of “It’s summer; I understand the truth”) and he agreed. She would later enter that name for him onto the dajiyuan.tuidang.com website.

Xia Ming’s entry is recorded somewhere in the tidal wave of 55,000 new statements that appear on the website each day—every one of them stating a time, ID number, and number of people making a renunciation. As of the evening of Aug. 9, the numbers had reached 100,141,700; by Aug. 10 they will be over 100,200,000.

Around the world, wherever there are Chinese, and particularly in China, people like Yan Zhijun are talking to friends, relatives, former school friends, and tourists, reminding them of the dark horrors of Communist Party rule, and informing them that they do have a choice—something the Party has resolutely tried to take away from its citizens. “Shouldn’t you make a clean break?” activists ask. Over 100 million have said, “Yes,” they should.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/the-tuidang-movement-100-million-chinese-hearts-changed-60195-all.html.

Seeming to Defy Authorities, Ai Weiwei Speaks Against Injustice

By Mimi Li & Helena Zhu
August 10, 2011

The Chinese Communist regime attempted to muzzle him, but prominent Chinese activist-artist Ai Weiwei did not manage to stay silent for long.

Not two months since his release from a three-month detention on dubious and retroactive charges of “tax evasion,” the 54-year-old Ai, an outspoken critic of the Chinese communist regime, created an account on the social networking site Google+, resumed use of his Twitter account, and spoke with the nationalist Chinese newspaper Global Times, ignoring the official one-year ban on interviews and social media imposed on him as conditions of his freedom.

A month after his June 22 release, Ai wrote on his Google+ profile: “I’m here. Greetings.” The July 25 post was followed up with a top-down self-photo of Ai along with the note, “Here’s proof to life.”

On Aug. 5, Ai appeared conspicuously on Twitter, where as of Wednesday evening he had 98,000 followers.

“How’s it going? … Hugs and good night,” Ai posted. In subsequent days, Ai announced to his followers that he had gained seven pounds after overeating dumplings; he shared a photo of his feet on a scale that read 214 pounds.

State-run news agency Xinhua reported in June that police had released Ai “due to his good attitude in confessing his crimes,” a chronic illness, and his agreement to pay back “taxes” that he had supposedly evaded.

While authorities maintain that the case was strictly one of pursuing his “economic crimes,” many believe it was clearly retaliation for Ai’s frequently acerbic political remarks.

After testing the waters for a few days with superficial greetings and posts, Ai began a string of updates about his associates and fellow pro-democracy activists who were still imprisoned.

“I saw Liu Zhenggang today,” Ai wrote on Monday, Aug. 8, referring to his designer friend who worked at Ai’s studio, and who was detained due to his connection with Ai.

“It’s the first time that he has talked about the detention. He held up his right hand and said, ‘Reporting to supervisor, I need to drink water.’ Then, tears rolled off this tough man’s face. … He had a heart attack when he was at the detention facilities and almost died.”

A day later, Ai spoke out in support of writer and blogger Ran Yunfei, who was released on Tuesday, Aug. 9, after nearly six months in detention, and another dissident, Wang Lihong, a 56-year-old woman who was arrested in March for protesting outside the court where three fellow activists were on trial in the southern city of Fuzhou.

“If you don’t speak up for Wang Lihong and Ran Yunfei, you are not only a person who does not stand up for fairness and justice, but a person who fails to have any self-respect,” Ai said in a Tweet that was by far his strongest since his release.

Ai didn’t limit his outspokenness to the Internet and social media, accepting an interview with a Chinese newspaper and speaking out about human rights.

“I’ve been drawn into the vortex of politics,” Ai told the Global Times, saying that he would “never avoid politics” because he vowed to fight for rights and saw China’s political system as unjust. The Global Times is under the control of the Communist Party flagship newspaper People’s Daily.

“You give up your rights when you dodge them. Of course you might live an easier life if you abandon some rights,” Ai told the state-backed newspaper. “But there are so many injustices, and limited educational resources. They all diminish happiness. I will never stop fighting injustice.”

Amid potential sanctions should government officials admonish him over his fresh criticism of the status quo, Ai remains optimistic about political and social change in China.

“Look, the information explosion, and the development of the Internet, have made the impossible possible,” Ai said. “This is the best time for China.”

Ai has declined giving interviews to Western media outlets, citing the authorities’ restrictions. His recent remarks were published only in English in the Global Times, indicating that the authorities may see some propaganda value in allowing the internationally famous artist to speak publicly without reprisal.

The only mention of Ai in the Chinese version of the paper was from May, stating, “The law will not make any allowances for Ai Weiwei.” That strident editorial was published after Ai had been in extralegal detention for over a month.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/seeming-to-defy-authorities-ai-weiwei-speaks-against-injustice-60229.html.

Ben Ali teen daughter owned 10 cars, panel finds

2011-08-10

The Tunisian government's expropriation commission seized 234 luxury vehicles owned by ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and his family members, Mosaique FM reported on Tuesday (August 9th). Ten of the expensive foreign cars belonged to 19-year-old Halima Ben Ali, the ex-president's youngest daughter. The government panel, led by Finance Minister Jaloul Ayed, said the vehicles were placed under army guard pending their sale.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/10/newsbrief-06.

Guetna, Ramadan bring rare economic opportunities in Mauritania

Many Mauritanians are finding jobs during this year's date harvesting season, earning additional income from the popular iftar snack.

By Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud for Magharebia in Nouakchott – 10/08/11

In a rare coincidence, Mauritania's date harvesting season, or Guetna, coincides with Ramadan this year, offering new economic opportunities for the nation's unemployed youth.

Mauritanians used to depend on canned dates imported from Tunisia, Morocco and Saudi Arabia in past years. But with Guenta occurring during Ramadan this year, the increased demand created by the holy month is leading to new jobs for Mauritanians.

"Like other young people in rural areas, I have benefited from Guetna season," Mbark Ould Mohamed told Magharebia. "I started my business in trading in dates weeks ago. I transport dates from the oases in the north to capital Nouakchott, where I sell them."

Ould Mohamed said that "there is high popular demand for the dates because of the advent of Ramadan; something that made some unemployed people, mainly holders of university certificates and students, go for trading in dates in view of the profits that can be generated from such a trade."

The benefits of the Guetna season are seen by urban Mauritanians as well. Hundreds of young people in cities now buy dates from rural distributors and then market them in their own way.

"I signed a marketing agreement a few months ago with some owners of oases in remote areas who can't go to cities to market and sell their products of dates because they are busy," Mohamed Val Ould Bekren, a man in his 30s, told Magharebia. "I've hired a lot of young people to work with me in this business. Thank God, we've managed to make considerable profits, and the process is still ongoing."

Mohamed Ould Bahiye, a man in his 50s who works in the tourist sector, told Magharebia that while Mauritanian dates were of a high quality, the country lacked the factories to can and preserve them for longer periods.

"Therefore, the Guetna season is the only period in which these dates can be used. Now that Ramadan doesn't often coincide with Guetna season, Mauritanians resort to imported dates," he said, adding that "it seems that this year is an exception. There is no doubt that the fact that the Guetna season coincided with Ramadan will revive the national economy."

For his part, environmental specialist Bedder Eddine Ould Salem said: "Mauritania has about 7 million date palm trees in the northern and eastern parts of the country. They annually produce hundreds of thousands of tons of different species of dates; something that makes Mauritania's 4 million people self-sufficient, but only during the Guetna season."

"We should also take into consideration that large quantities of these dates are wasted every year because of insects and birds, and also because of the lack of refrigeration and preservation equipment that can preserve dates for longer periods of time," Ould Salem said.

"There are no companies working in the field of date palm trees oases," he added. "Most of the oases are owned by families that inherit them from generation to another away from state control."

The increase in opportunities in the date industry in Mauritania may well assuage the country's unemployment problem for a time.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/10/feature-04.

Tunisian protesters demand judicial reform

After ministers facing corruption charges were freed from custody, Tunisians are questioning the effectiveness of the post-revolution justice system.

By Monia Ghanmi for Magharebia in Tunis – 10/08/11

Hundreds of people demonstrated Monday (August 8th) in downtown Tunis to demand an independent judiciary and a break with the former regime.

The protest came after presidential confidante Saida Agrebi was allowed to leave the country and former ministers Bechir Tekkari and Abderrahim Zouari were released from custody.

Tekkari, who served as justice and human rights minister during the regime of ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, was arrested July 11th on accusations of corruption and abuse of power for allegedly forging property deeds of a famous restaurant in Sidi Bouzid. Former transport minister Zouari was arrested on April 13th for corruption in the ministry and for financing the disbanded Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD).

"They are just deceiving us," said Souha Dridi. "Can it be imagined that a man who was a pillar in the former regime and who desperately defended Ben Ali and his family be released under the pretext that he was sick?"

Her colleague Samia Belhadi accused the interim government of procrastinating in reforming the judiciary, allowing criminals to go unpunished.

"We won't be silent about this injustice," she said. "We will defend our right to have an independent judiciary."

These decisions also sparked criticism from political parties that accused the government of intervening in the judiciary to be lenient with officials associated with corruption and abuse of power.

The Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) said that it "came as a surprise to those who know quite well the violations committed by those senior officials".

"Delaying the trial of those who committed crimes against the people and this country casts doubt over the integrity and justice of the Tunisian judiciary in this interim period." The PDP said.

The Ettajdid Movement stressed in a statement the need to remove all obstacles that hinder accountability and punishment "so that it may be an unequivocal message showing the serious break with the regime of despotism and corruption".

However, some parties fear that the decision to release a number of former officials is just the beginning.

Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist Ennahda Movement, said in a statement that the judiciary in Tunisia was still subject to corruption. He expressed his fears that these developments would serve to put an end to the gains of revolution and would lead to the release of the remaining former regime officials and some of Leila Trabelsi's family.

"Their games have become clear," Mohamad Ali Sallami said. "But we have to calm down. The election is drawing near, and we shouldn't give them any pretext to postpone it. After that, everyone will be relentlessly held to account." Lawyers also debated the judiciary's commitment to try former regime officials.

Lawyer Nacer Aouini doubts the integrity of the judiciary, saying that it is still subject to political pressures because Ben Ali's judges are still in their positions.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Justice Saturday (August 6th) said that the judiciary has been completely independent since the January 14th revolution and that no power, other than conscience and law, is influencing it.

As to Tekkari and Zouari, the ministry said their release would " not affect the course of investigations".

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/10/feature-02.

Algeria seeks alternatives to hydrocarbon economy

The Algerian president is the latest to call for the country's diversification from the energy sector.

By Walid Ramzi for Magharebia in Algiers – 10/08/11

The Algerian government is looking to reduce the economy's dependence on the hydrocarbon sector, which represents 98% of the country's currency income.

"Algeria is called upon to exert a great effort to bring its economy out of dependence on oil and to diversify its resources so as not to be a hostage to the fluctuation of oil prices in international markets," President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said at an August 4th meeting on the energy sector.

Economists have long raised concerns over the vulnerability of the Algerian financial system to shocks in the event of a drop in oil prices. Experts warn the dependence could continue in the coming years unless action is taken.

"The danger of the situation in the medium term is continuation of the economy being excessively linked to oil and gas prices in the world market, and the absence of any serious strategy to support economic diversification," economist Mohamed Sellama told Magharebia.

He said that at the end of 2010, the hydrocarbon sector comprised a third of GDP, the equivalent of 98% of total exports and more than 70% budget revenue.

The economist stressed the necessity of adopting other means to develop the Algerian economy, particularly by relying on the knowledge economy. Sellama said Algeria "should quickly prepare for a post-petroleum phase with the acquisition of additional resources from other sectors, particularly agriculture and tourism".

A government report released last year showed that the value of Algeria's hydrocarbon exports during the period between 2000 and 2009 amounted to nearly $400 billion. The report said Algeria produces 1.45 million barrels of oil per day and 152 billion cubic meters of natural gas. It exports about 62 billion cubic meters annually and plans to increase the exports to 85 billion cubic meters per year beginning in 2013.

"The Algerian economy is facing a double jeopardy because of the nature of exports, as hydrocarbons make up 98% of exports and, in addition, half of the exports of non-hydrocarbon products are in fact derived from oil," noted Samir Kateb, a financial affairs journalist.

In the opinion of many citizens, continuing to rely entirely on oil will lead the Algerian economy into an abyss. Businessman Mohamed Amarni, age 45, said, "Despite the government's announcing several measures to raise the level of public expenditure and to increase salaries, they remain insufficient to address the structural imbalances of the Algerian economy."

Amarni said Algerian companies face administrative complexities and a bureaucratic banking system that stood in the way of efforts to improve competitiveness.

"The deteriorating business environment, the instability of the legislation and the rules governing investment weaken the country's attractiveness for investment and discourage foreign investors from launching industrial and service projects that could enhance the domestic economic fabric and support its competitiveness," he added.

Economics student Said Brakni believes that talk about diversifying the Algerian economy "is an old record officials have repeated for several years without anything being achieved on the ground".

For her part, Halima Salhi, a media company employee, believes that solutions exist but the "political will and courage in taking strategic decisions do not exist".

"What is required is implementation of solutions, and we want to see results with our own eyes and without deception as soon as possible," she said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/10/feature-01.

Exotic quantum crystal discovered

Kiel, Germany (SPX)
Aug 11, 2011

Nature knows two opposite types of solids: one that emerges upon compression from a liquid and a second that appears if the pressure on a liquid is reduced.

While the former is typical for substances in our everyday life the latter occurs for example in a dense quantum liquid of electrons (such as in metals) or ions (in exotic white dwarf or neutron stars).

Now it has been shown that there exists yet a third form of matter that inherits both of these properties. This unusual behavior has been predicted to exist in crystals of excitons - hydrogen atom-like bound states of electrons and holes - in a semiconductor quantum well placed in a strong electric field.

A team from Kiel University (Germany) consisting of Dr. Jens Bonning, Privatdozent Alexei Filinov and Prof. Michael Bonitz has performed extensive accurate computer simulations that shed light on the mysterious properties of this material.

The results appear in the current issue of Physical Review B. There the authors present a simple explanation for the coexistence of the two seemingly contradicting melting behaviors.

The secret lies in the character of the forces acting between two excitons: at low pressure excitons repel each other via a dipole force and form a quantum liquid.

Upon compression this fluid freezes into an exciton crystal. Further compression brings two excitons so close together that the quantum wave nature of their constituents (electrons and holes) starts to weaken the forces.

As a consequence, further compression leads to an increasing overlap of the exciton quantum waves that is no longer balanced by the inter-exciton repulsion, and the crystal melts again.

The researchers have made precise predictions where to search for this exotic crystal of excitons (particularly well suited are zinc selenide or gallium arsenide quantum wells) - it is now up to the experimentalists to find this new state of matter.

Source: Space Mart.
Link: http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Exotic_quantum_crystal_discovered_999.html.

NASA selects Virgin Galactic for Suborbital Flights

Los Angeles CA (SPX)
Aug 11, 2011

Virgin Galactic has been selected by NASA to provide flight opportunities for engineers, technologists and scientific researchers to fly technology payloads into space.

This arrangement marks the first time that NASA has contracted with a commercial partner to provide flights into space on a suborbital spacecraft, and represents another important endorsement of the value of regular commercial space access for a wide range of science and educational applications.

The announcement came from NASA's Flight Opportunities Program, funded by NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist and managed out of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, CA.

Through this program, NASA has already arranged the flight of several innovative scientific payloads on low-altitude rockets. With selection of Virgin Galactic as a flight provider, NASA will soon be able to offer the research community access to space itself.

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo is the only crewed suborbital vehicle in flight testing, and the only such vehicle based on a spacecraft that has already sent humans into space, the X Prize-winning SpaceShipOne.

Virgin Galactic offers a significantly larger cabin than any other company taking deposits today, allowing for unique technology demonstrations and research.

"The Flight Opportunities program is an efficient research program that leverages investment in private vehicles to drive new discoveries for researchers and real benefits for taxpayers," said George Whitesides, President and CEO of Virgin Galactic.

"NASA leadership, the Office of the Chief Technologist and Congress deserve credit for supporting this worthy program. We look forward to providing a high-quality, cost-effective research platform for researchers and scientists over the coming years."

With several flight providers selected, NASA will now be able to begin the process of offering these flight opportunities to the research community, which has already expressed very strong interest in such a novel environment.

Proposals are being invited from the research community by NASA and are expected to span a wide variety of disciplines. NASA's Flight Opportunities Program will be responsible for selecting those which go forward for flight.

These research flights mark an important milestone for Virgin Galactic. Although generally referred to as a space tourism company-Virgin Galactic has already collected more than $55 million in deposits from 445 future tourist astronauts-providing access to space to researchers and their experiments is viewed by Virgin Galactic as both a future mission segment and a significant business opportunity.

To best serve NASA and the research community, Virgin Galactic assembled an expert team of partners to provide payload integration and flight services. This team includes: Southwest Research Institute of Texas; NanoRacks, LLC of Texas; SatWest, LLC of New Mexico and Spaceflight Services of Washington.

These partner organizations bring extensive experience flying scientific experiments on high performance jet aircraft, suborbital and orbital rockets, and the International Space Station. Researchers flying experiments onboard SpaceShipTwo will be able to work with these companies directly when desired to allow for the quickest paths to flight.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/NASA_selects_Virgin_Galactic_for_Suborbital_Flights_999.html.

Israeli protests over rising costs of living enter fourth week

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) — Protests against the rising costs of living in Israel continued in several cities across the country on Wednesday as the housing protest movement enters its four week.

Protesters in the city of Holon near Tel Aviv burned tires and blocked roads after city inspectors ordered them to dismantle their tent compound within 24 hours. Most of the people occupying the tents are homeless, according to the Haaretz newspaper.

Approximately 250 people marched in Jerusalem to protest against the state of public transportation in the city, while the Arab community joined the nationwide protests in the northern city of Haifa for the first time. At least 200 protesters from the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood marched chanting the usual slogan – “the people want social justice” – but in Arabic.

This was the first protest organized by Haifa’s Arab community, which constitutes ten percent of the city’s population. The first rally involving both Jews and Arabs since the beginning of the protests took place in central Nazareth last week.

Raja Za’atra, who organized Wadi Nisnas’s tent city, said the protest also seeks to highlight the specific problems facing the Arab sector. “The banks won’t give mortgages to people who want to buy an apartment,” he told Haaretz. “In the case of the Arab population, the supply is limited and the prices keep rising.”

Protests also took place in the southern city of Be’er Sheva and other parts of the country. In addition, activists in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa also protested against unfair employment conditions. More protests are scheduled to take place across Israel on Thursday and Saturday.

Hundreds of thousands protested on Saturday night against surging real-estate prices and the housing shortage in the country as thousands of Israelis continue to sleep in tent camps across the country since mid July.

The Israeli parliament on August 3 passed a controversial housing bill aimed at resolving the country’s current housing shortage, despite the objection of activists. The bill, which was passed by a vote of 57 to 45, will slash red tape for construction by setting up national committees to approve new housing projects.

The chairman of the National Students Union, Itzik Shmuli, said that all groups in the housing campaign opposed the government’s approval of the housing law, which “defied the public and choked the chance for trust and dialogue,” he said.

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19374/israeli-protests-over-rising-costs-of-living-enter-fourth-week/.

NASA's Mars rover reaches new grounds

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) — NASA on Wednesday announced that its Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has reached the planet’s Endeavor crater to study rocks never seen before.

On Monday, the golf cart-sized rover relayed its arrival at a location named Spirit Point on the crater’s rim, after a journey of almost three years. Opportunity was able to drive approximately 13 miles (21 kilometers) after climbing out of the Victoria crater, NASA said.

Endeavor crater is more than 25 times wider than Victoria crater, being 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter. At Endeavor, scientists expect to see much older rocks and terrains than those examined by Opportunity during its first seven years on Mars.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter first detected clay minerals that may have formed in an early warmer and wetter period, making Endeavor an intriguing destination.

“NASA is continuing to write remarkable chapters in our nation’s story of exploration with discoveries on Mars and trips to an array of challenging new destinations,” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. “Opportunity’s findings and data from the upcoming Mars Science Laboratory will play a key role in making possible future human missions to Mars and other places where humans have not yet been,” he added.

Matthew Golombek, Mars Exploration Rover science team member at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said the exploration will allow sampling of a rock type the rovers had not seen before. “Clay minerals form in wet conditions so we may learn about a potentially habitable environment that appears to have been very different from those responsible for the rocks comprising the plains.”

NASA launched the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity in the summer of 2003. Both completed their three-month prime missions in April 2004 and continued years of extended operations. They made important discoveries about wet environments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable for supporting microbial life. 


In search for evidence that water persisted on the Martian surface for a long period of time, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched on August 12, 2005. Other Mars missions have shown water flowed across the surface in the planet’s history, but scientists have not determined if water remained long enough to provide a habitat for life.

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19375/nasas-mars-rover-reaches-new-grounds/.

At least 7 killed in eastern Afghanistan tribal clashes

JALALABAD, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) — At least seven people were killed during tribal clashes in the eastern region of Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.

Clashes erupted after two tribes disputed over the ownership of territory in the Bati Kot district, located in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Nangarhar, spokesman to the Governor Ahmad Zia Abdulzoi told Wakht News Agency.

The disputes began a couple of days ago, but they intensified on Wednesday and violence caused the deaths of seven people while 11 others were wounded. According to reports, a member of one the tribes blamed police for attacking and killing five people, but local authorities have denied such claims.

Meanwhile, local tribe elders have formed a delegation, along with members of the provincial council and other government officials to try to resolve the issues and bring calm to the region. In addition, security forces have been deployed in order to disarm both sides and secure the area’s stability.

On Tuesday, at least six people were killed and 18 others were injured after violent clashes broke during an apparent land dispute in in the Mirwais Mena neighborhood, located in the Afghan capital of Kabul. According to some locals, Mirwais Hassan and MP Qais Hassan seized some of the area’s territories and tried to take over the land when the fighting broke out.

The violence and killings triggered Bagrami residents to block the Kabul-Gardez Highway and put bodies of the people killed during the clash on the road in front of the Presidential Palace as a protest to the violence. Demonstrators demanded the arrest of the killers, as they set tires on fire on the road near the Ministry of Finance and Fire Department.

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19378/at-least-7-killed-in-eastern-afghanistan-tribal-clashes/.

Allies of former Ivorian President Gbagbo charged over post-election violence

ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (BNO NEWS) — The son of former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is among 12 more people who have been charged over post-election violence which killed an estimated 3,000 people, the BBC reported on Thursday.

Michel Gbagbo, who has both French and Ivorian nationalities, was charged along with other close allies of his father, including former prime minister and head of Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front (PFI), Pascal Affi N’Guessan.

All the key figures arrested along with Gbagbo in April have now been charged, except for the former president himself and his wife Simone. The 12 Gbagbo allies have been charged with taking part in an armed insurrection and attempting to undermine the state.

The group is being held in separate towns in the north, which is a stronghold of current President Alassane Ouattara. Officials have said they could also face an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

But Gbagbo’s lawyer, Herve Gouamane, condemned the charges saying the lawyers were not informed. “At the same time they talk about reconciliation they go after those who were close to Gbagbo and they’re attacked simply for being linked to Gbagbo,” Gouamane told the BBC.

26 other allies of Gbagbo had already been charged while international arrest warrants have been issued for those who have fled overseas. These include militant youth leader Charles Ble Goude and Kone Malachie, a self-proclaimed prophet who told the former president he was God’s appointed ruler of Ivory Coast.

President Ouattara has always insisted that those on both sides of the political divide should face justice if they committed crimes during the five-month post-election dispute. But so far, none of his supporters have been arrested or charged, even though human rights groups have accused some of them of killing people suspected of backing Gbagbo.

An armed rebellion in 2002 split the country into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-held north. Since then, peace deals have alternated with renewed violence as the country has slowly edged its way towards a political resolution of the conflict.

However, the presidential elections in late 2010 led the country to a new crisis when Alassane Ouattara won the UN certified poll and incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo refused to accept defeat. The five-month fighting killed as many as 3,000 people and left up to 1 million Ivoirians displaced.

The impasse ended in April when forces loyal to Ouattara entered Abidjan and captured Gbagbo with the backing of UN and French troops. Ouattara was sworn in as the country’s legitimate president in May 2011.

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19379/allies-of-former-ivorian-president-gbagbo-charged-over-post-election-violence/.

FIFA bans six match officials for life for match-fixing

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (BNO NEWS) – The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) Disciplinary Committee decided on Tuesday to ban six match officials for life after finding them guilty of corruption and match-fixing, FIFA announced on Wednesday.

Charges were brought against the Hungarian and Bosnian referees after they were found guilty of match fixing during an international tournament in Antalya, Turkey, on February 9. During the matches, Latvia against Bolivia and Estonia versus Bulgaria, all the goals were scored from penalties.

The six match officials have been banned from taking part in any kind of football-related activity at national and international level for life. They were found guilty of passive corruption and unlawfully influencing match results, according to the FIFA disciplinary code.

The BBC reported that the Hungarian referees are being held by police in their country while authorities are further investigating the match-fixing accusations. The Bosnian officials denied the charges at the hearing but were found guilty.

The two friendly matches were fixed for a betting scam, which has become an important case as FIFA attempts to bolster its fight against match-fixing. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee meeting also examined the case of Lisle Austin, head of the Barbados Football Association.

Austin was punished by FIFA after he lodged a claim in the ordinary courts in the Bahamas to succeed Jack Warner as president of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).

Austin was initially made interim president when Warner was suspended on bribery charges, but was himself suspended when he attempted to remove Chuck Blazer from his position as General Secretary of CONCACAF. The FIFA Disciplinary Committee decided to ban Austin from taking part in any football-related activity for a period of one year.

Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19380/fifa-bans-six-match-officials-for-life-for-match-fixing/.

Russia considers North Korean pipeline

SEOUL, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Russia is having discussions with North Korea to build a pipeline across the country to supply Siberian natural gas to South Korea.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Moscow with South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan with energy issues on the agenda.

Lavrov said there currently are "contacts at the level of gas companies' chiefs" in the Russian Federation, South Korea and North Korea for the proposed natural gas pipeline project.

"If experts agree at the corporate level, all three capitals will provide political support," he said. "We want (North Korea) to develop dynamically and to solve its international problems that would facilitate the normalization of the situation in Northeast Asia," Yonhap news agency reported.

Kim said he and Lavrov had "in-depth" discussions about the political situation on the Korean Peninsula, remarking, "Both sides agreed that the six-party talks, if resumed, should be substantial and practical."

Political decisions on supplying an annual 10 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas to South Korea were made in the autumn of 2010 during President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Seoul.

The proposed pipeline faces a number of logistical difficulties, not the least being that the two Koreas are still technically at war, as no peace treaty -- only an armistice -- signed at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

If built, the pipeline could help North Korea's chronic shortages of hard currency, as Pyongyang would earn tens of millions of dollars annually from transit fees.

"Energy starvation" has severely stressed North Korea, and in July its Moscow ambassador visited the headquarters of Gazprom, Russia's state-owned natural gas monopoly.

Also, Gazprom Deputy Chairman Alekhsandr Ananenkov traveled to Pyongyang and Gazprom head Alexei Miller is going to visit both the North Korean capital and Seoul for further talks about the potential pipeline.

There is a second Russian initiative to supply its Siberian natural gas to South Korea. Ananenkov signed an agreement with Kogas Chief Executive Officer Choo Kang-soo in Moscow on Friday to consider options of shipping natural gas from the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok natural gas transportation system to South Korea.

Lavrov added that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has a long-standing invitation to visit Russia, noting, "The timing and other organizational issues have to be coordinated by the nations."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/09/Russia-considers-North-Korean-pipeline/UPI-23831312910418/.

U.S. invests more cash into solar power

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Energy Department announced it was offering a $967 million loan guarantee to back a 290-megawatt solar plant in Arizona.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the loan for Aqua Caliente Solar to support the construction of a solar generating facility in Yuma County, Ariz.

The Energy Department said that when the facility is completed, it would be one of the largest plants of its kind in the world.

"The Agua Caliente Solar project will bring hundreds of jobs to Arizona, while helping increase the reliability of renewable solar power," Chu said in a statement.

The Energy Department said the United States had a dominant position in the solar energy sector in 1995, manufacturing 43 percent of the world's solar panels. That market share slipped to 7 percent last year, however.

The so-called SunShot program by the U.S. government aims to spur American innovations to reduce the cost of solar energy.

U.S. President Barack Obama in a January address to the nation laid out a clean-energy target of meeting 80 percent of U.S. energy needs with clean sources by 2035.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/09/US-invests-more-cash-into-solar-power/UPI-43011312885990/.

Gbabgo allies rounded up in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- A lawyer for former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo said the current government can't call for reconciliation while simultaneously arresting former officials.

Herve Gouamene, a lawyer for Gbagbo, said he condemned the arrest of former regime officials in Ivory Coast by the government of President Alassane Ouattara.

"What we deplore is the bizarre nature of this -- the lawyers aren't informed," he told the BBC. "At the same time they talk about reconciliation they go after those who were close to Gbagbo and they're attacked simply for being linked to Gbagbo."

Michel Gbagbo, the 41-year-old son of the former Ivorian president, was among 12 allies of the former leader charged with taking part in violence during a political impasse that pushed the country toward civil war. More than two dozen Gbagbo allies were already charged.

Gbagbo refused to step down after the international community recognized Ouattara as the winner of a November presidential election.

Ouattara has called on the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged atrocities committed during the standoff, which ended with Gbagbo's arrest in April.

Human rights groups accuse both sides of human rights abuses during the conflict.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/10/Gbabgo-allies-rounded-up-in-Ivory-Coast/UPI-19591312998997/.

Will members of the hacker group Anonymous try to bring down Facebook?

By Joe Pompeo | The Cutline
Wed, Aug 10, 2011

Some members of Anonymous, the nebulous group of hackers whose high-tech activism has wreaked havoc on law enforcement agencies, government ministries and corporations, appear to have a new target in their cross-hairs: Facebook.

A threatening message on YouTube was allegedly disseminated by affiliates of the shadowy collective, which in recent days has hijacked the websites of the Syrian Defense Ministry (in protest of the restive nation's autocratic regime) and dozens of rural police offices in the United States (in retaliation for the recent arrests of some of the group's suspected cohorts). "If you're a willing activist or guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill Facebook for the sake of your own privacy," implores the narrator of the message, using a voice scrambler.

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly been criticized for his alleged lack of concern for the privacy of his 700 million users.

"Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so they can spy on people all around the world," the Anonymous message, titled "Operation Facebook," claims. (It was uploaded on July 16, but it only began circulating widely around the web on Tuesday...)

"Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your privacy settings, and deleting your account is impossible," the statement continues. "Even if you delete your account, all of your personal info stays on Facebook and can be recovered at any time. Changing the privacy settings to make your account more private is also a delusion. Facebook knows more about you than your family. ... You are not safe from them nor from any government. One day you will look back on this and realize what we have done here is right. Think for awhile and prepare for a day that will go down in history: Nov. 5, 2011."

If successfully carried out, the allegedly pending attack would coincide with Guy Fawkes Day, a British celebration that commemorates a failed assassination attempt on King James I of England in 1605. Members of Anonymous are known to don masks resembling Fawkes.

A spokesman for Facebook declined to comment. But Anonymous weighed in on its Twitter account. The group initially claimed the YouTube video was a hoax, but later clarified: "#OpFacebook is being organized by some Anons. This does not necessarily mean that all of #Anonymous agrees with it." A subsequent tweet reads: "We prefer to face the real power and not to face to the same medias that we use as tools."

Some observers are skeptical about the authenticity of the threat.

"Why didn't this news spread like wildfire three weeks ago?" writes Emil Protalinski on ZDNet. "Whenever Anonymous or [affiliated hacker group] LulzSec declare a new target, the world definitely notices. Furthermore, while Guy Fawkes Day is a perfectly understandable choice, it's very far away. There are 112 days between July 16, 2011 and November 5, 2011: Anonymous rarely gives more than a few days notice, if at all."