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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Allowing cats to hide may help relax them

BRISBANE, Australia, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Allowing cats to hide may play an important role in having them relax, a University of Queensland researcher suggests.

Honors student Mark Owens' project focuses on the behavior and welfare of domestic cats in shelters.

Working in the Centre of Animal Welfare and Ethics, Owens studied 37 cats over seven days for their behaviors and emotions, which indicate if they are feeling stressed, anxious, frustrated or content.

"Welfare is a major issue in many countries for animals that are kept in cages, shelters and captive environments like zoos," Owens says in a statement.

Half of the cats Owens is observing are provided with a hiding box, and the remaining cats are in open view.

"A big part of my research is whether hiding provides a certain type of enrichment for cats in stressful situations," Owens says. "Unfortunately I am not sitting in a room playing and watching cats, I have prerecorded the cats for 24 hours over seven days, and have just finished coding their behaviors on the videos."

A cat's position in the cage, its posture and certain escape behaviors are all observations that contribute to identifying its emotions, stress levels and ability to adapt to their environment, Owens says.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/08/17/Allowing-cats-to-hide-may-help-relax-them/UPI-76901313560531/.

Chinese turbine maker enters Irish project

DUBLIN, Ireland, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Chinese wind turbine maker XEMC Group has forged a strategic partnership with Irish renewables firm Gaelectric Holdings, the companies announced this week.

Under the deal, Gaelectric will work with XEMC to develop three onshore wind farms in Ireland totaling 13.6 megawatts, worth a combined $26 million, Gaelectric Chief Executive Brendan McGrath told reporters at a Monday signing ceremony in Dublin.

"With the backing of XEMC's industrial strength and technological capacity and their track record and commitment to long term relationships, we are confident that Gaelectric's portfolio of wind farm sites will be realized to the highest commercial and technical standards," he said.

The deal marks the European debut of turbines made by the state owned XEMC Group of Hunan, China, which says it has 820 of its XE series direct-drive, permanent magnet generator, or PMG, wind turbines installed in China.

Another key element of the deal, McGrath said, is that XEMC will co-develop Gaelectric's remaining wind energy projects in Ireland and the United States.

Initially, the agreement covers three onshore farms at Roosky in County Roscommon, Leabeg in County Offaly and Crowinstown in Westmeath, Ireland, the companies said.

McGrath said his March visit to China satisfied him that XEMC had a sufficient commitment to research and development, which "combines Dutch engineering design and pedigree with Chinese industrial power."

Together, he said, the companies "share a vision for the significant opportunities from offshore wind energy generation on which we are already working closely together."

"Gaelectric's pipeline of wind farm projects in key locations in Ireland and the U.S., combined with our shared focus on innovation in renewable energy technologies, makes us ideal allies in co-developing Gaelectric's portfolio of renewable power projects," XEMC Group Chairman Zhou Jianxiong told reporters.

The Irish Industrial Development Agency called the XEMC-Gaelectric partnership an important development in the history of Chinese-Irish business cooperation, the Irish technology news Web site SiliconRepublic.com reported.

It said XEMC is putting its research and development emphasis on its PMG technology -- a prototype of its new 5-megawatt turbine has been installed at a test center in the Netherlands.

Gaelectric, established in 2004, has assets and projects under development in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and North America, including up to 3,000 megawatts of wind power projects in the U.S. state of Montana. The company says the first of its farms there, a 430-megawatt effort, is to be commissioned in 2014 or 2015.

Gaelectric announced in March it had secured planning approval for 42-megwatt wind farm at Dunbeg in Northern Ireland's County Derry, which it built for $98 million.

It called Dunbeg "one of the most significant wind farm developments on the island of Ireland," generating enough renewable power to meet the electricity demand of 24,000 homes.

The big wind farm will consist of 14 wind turbines with a maximum hub height of 260 feet and a maximum blade diameter of 295 feet, the company said.

The project had initially been quashed by the Northern Ireland Planning Service because Dunbeg, between Coleraine and Limavady, Northern Ireland, was designated as a scenic preserve, The Irish Times reported.

But an appellate commission subsequently overruled the planning shouldn't stand in the way of green energy projects, the newspaper said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/17/Chinese-turbine-maker-enters-Irish-project/UPI-25531313576520/.

Top Israeli singer suspected of mob ties

TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Popular Israeli singer Margalit Tzanani was arrested by police for alleged ties to a local mobster and extorting a music agent over a debt, police said.

The Rishon Lezion Magistrates court Wednesday extended Tzanani's remand for an additional nine days, Israel Radio reported.

On Tuesday, Tzanani, 58, and several members of the alleged crime organization headed by mob kingpin Amir Mulner were arrested.

Police said Tzanani, who also plays a judge on the Israeli TV series "Star is Born," accused her agent, Assaf Atadegi, of failing to pay a debt and allegedly turned to members of Mulner's organization to help resolve the dispute, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israel Radio said police suspect Tzanani approached other underworld figures.

Police suspect Tzanani believed Atadegi also owed her royalties from a young singer they represent who appeared on the talent show series, Ynetnews.com reported.

Tzanani allegedly admitted she hired an arbitrator to settle the disagreement, but said it was done in full agreement with Atadegi, Ynetnews.com said.

The Web site said Tzanani denied the charges and told police she did not hire criminals and is not familiar with the underworld.

Tuesday's arrest culminated a two-month undercover investigation by the National Economic Crimes Unit and Lahav 433, which allegedly had members of Mulner's organization and Tzanani under surveillance, the Post said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Music/2011/08/17/Top-Israeli-singer-suspected-of-mob-ties/UPI-41281313582685/.

India's Anti-Corruption Figurehead Arrested

By Shannon Liao
August 16, 2011

New Delhi police detained the figurehead of India’s anti-corruption movement on Tuesday, the day he was to start a hunger strike unto death or until the Indian government agreed to pass strong anti-corruption legislation.

The arrest of Gandhian social activist, Anna Hazare, 73, sent thousands of supporters into the streets to protest. India Against Corruption (IAC), the organization behind the protests, reported that 10,000 people joined demonstrations in 20 locations across India resulting in 2,500 arrests. Hours after the arrests, the roughly 1,100 detained protesters in Mumbai were released, reported the Hindustan Times.

Hazare and IAC are demanding that the government adopt the Jan Lokpal Bill—an anti-corruption bill drafted by ministers, legal experts, and civil society designed to stop corruption, resolve grievances, and protect whistle-blowers.

The bill calls for a central government institution called Lokpal whose members would be appointed by judges and would be supervised by the Cabinet secretary and the Election Commission. Under the bill, corruption whistle-blowers would receive protection for their efforts.

The Indian government drafted its own version of the bill, which activists consider too weak to be effective. The activists’ version gives Lokpal more authority and extends the maximum punishment for corruption from seven years to a life sentence.

Chairman of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International India, P.S. Bawa, said in a statement on the organization’s website that the government shouldn’t ignore activists’ complaints about the bill because they have a lot of validity.

Hazare declared that he would start fasting on Aug. 16 until the Jan Lokpal Bill passed, according to a letter he wrote to the Indian prime minister on Aug. 14. He had also told the PM that fellow activists would join him.

“I and my team are ready to give our lives away,” wrote Hazare. According to his letter, the plan was to practice civil disobedience until the bill is passed, even if they are arrested for illegal protests and have to protest from jail cells.

On June 5, Swami Ramdev, a renowned yoga guru, was arrested, a day after he began an indefinite fast in support of the Lokpal Bill.

“The country is today ridden by corruption,” states the Lokpal Bill Public Consultation website. “What we need is an effective and independent institutional mechanism for tackling the malaise of corruption in this country. That institution is the Jan Lokpal.”

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/indias-anti-corruption-figurehead-arrested-60463.html.

Haiti: Little Rain But Troubles Remain

By Giordano Cossu & Elodie Vialle
August 16, 2011

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—In early August, several western media turned to storm Emily and its threatening arrival to Haiti. Eventually it lost power and did not cause the expected damage. As a result, Haiti disappeared once again from the headings, pushed away by other news.

Yet living conditions are still deplorable in the country: living under tarps surrounded by rubble since the earthquake, no access to proper health care, employment or education, and plagued by insecurity. Whether the storm came or not, Haiti is devastated and far from any acceptable level of reconstruction.

A Haitian joke says that when a storm approaches Haiti, it looks at the country from the sky. Seeing its terrible conditions it says, “Ah, I must have already been here,” and it steers away. This is what storm Emily may have thought when it reached the coasts of Haiti last week: in Port-au-Prince, only a light rain was recorded.

"The international opinion only turns its eyes to Haiti when a disaster is looming over us," says Maryse, a woman living in Pacot, to the east of Port-au-Prince, adding that several Haitians grin ironically at this attention as their day-to-day struggles are forgotten.

Cholera

The authorities and international organizations also fear a surge in cholera cases as a consequence of rising water levels and the lack of drinkable water for over 600,000 people who are still living in makeshift camps, 18 months after the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake. Cholera has already resulted in nearly 6,000 victims in Haiti since its arrival last October.

Gabriel Thimothé, general director of the Health Ministry, insisted on the priorities to be tackled in partnership with the World Health Organization: providing free drinkable water to the population; and preventing water contamination as well as the overflow of latrines. This might ease the further spread of the disease in a country where hygienic conditions are appalling, and waste treatment is virtually nonexistent.

Security

Just as the latest news about storm Emily was announced at the National Center of Emergency Operations to Haitian and international organizations and the media, repeated gunshots were heard a few meters from the compound. The emergency center is located near Parc Jean Marie Vincent, one of the largest tent camps in Port-au-Prince with tens of thousands of disaster victims living there. The number has gradually decreased over time from the original 48,000, specifically because of security issues.

In June 2010, the camp had been subject to a clean-up mission by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and Haitian police evicted criminal gangs who used it as their base. Yet in spite of those efforts, violent incidents remain frequent, as larger and smaller gangs use the camp as a base for criminal activities. In a survey taken last December, 68 percent of people said that they did not feel safe in the camp.

At the sound of the gunshots, some 20 inhabitants of the area quickly found refuge inside the compound while other passersby scattered in all directions. “It’s only sporadic, roughly three days per week,” explained the police guard at the gate, without stress.

“Some gangs shoot around to intimidate the people. Wait 10 minutes before leaving, and then drive as fast as you can, without stopping” he advises the journalists who came here for the press conference on storm Emily. Bullets are part of the day on this side of Port-au-Prince.

Among those who have found refuge in the compound, Augustine, a young mother carrying her infant in her arms, looked scared as she did not want to go back to her tent for fear of the thugs who spread terror within the population. The risk of rain and flooding, for them, is clearly their last worry now.

Unemployment

Even in quieter areas, those living in camps find it difficult to meet their basic needs. Most have no job and struggle to feed their families. The world thinks that plastic sheets and tarps were donated to those in need, but in fact the great majority of those in the camps had to buy them. Second-hand of course, often already ripped apart and offering only minimal shelter from sun, wind, and rain.

Joseph, 49 years old, living in the camp at Canapé Vert, paid 500 gourdes (US$12) for each of the five sheets that give shelter to him and his family. He makes flower arrangements for funerals, but he sells very little since the earthquake. He spent the whole day in Carrefour (about one hour from Port-au-Prince) unsuccessfully looking for clients.

“No way I can be ready for the storm. I have no means. We just tightened the ropes around the tent,” he says, adding complaints about “the absence of the authorities who left us alone.”

Political deadlock

Haitian President Michel Martelly did send warnings to the homeless in the camps. He encouraged people living in the lower-ground of the city to move up to the hills. Martelly was recently inaugurated as president but is still struggling to form a new government due to harsh contrasts with the Inite opposition party who has majority in the Senate. This political deadlock contributes to creating tensions amid the feeling that the state is not in control, hence no strong actions or reforms are being employed despite election promises.

Lack of Resources

All those living in the camps would certainly like to move out to a safer area; where to go is their dilemma.

“We don’t know where to go, and we are afraid that we will not find our tents and things again when we come back,” confides 27-year-old Anouza, mother of two girls aged 13 and 11 and a young boy aged 4, pointing to the small tent, ripped on the side, where they all live. The school year re-opens in September, but she has no money to send her two girls to school, just like the majority of families in the camps. In a country in desperate need for the younger generations to take the lead for a better future, the lack of free education accessible to the poor represents a handicap for decades to come.

If Emily closely missed Haiti, what if the next hurricane does take a toll on the country? According to OCHA, the U.N. humanitarian agency, between 200 and 300 emergency sites (for 30,000 to 50,000 people) were available to host earthquake victims if a forced evacuation by the Haitian Civil Protection became necessary. However, the list is still not consolidated as inspections at these sites are still ongoing, which raises concerns about the effectiveness of emergency evacuation procedures.

When compared with the 600,000 still living under tents and tarps, these figures appear largely insufficient. The Haitian population can still pray “Bondye” (the Good Lord) that the next hurricane, too, will take compassion on them and stay away from their country. Because nobody else seems to have the will and strength to seriously address the structural issues of post-earthquake Haiti.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/haiti-little-rain-but-troubles-remain-60442-all.html.

Algerian harragas caught off Annaba coast

2011-08-16

Annaba coast guard (GTCC) officers on Monday (August 15th) intercepted a boat carrying 23 Algerian harragas, El Watan reported. Two women and three children, including an 18-month-old baby, were among the illegal immigrants from Annaba, Algiers, El Tarf and Batna. They were headed to Sardinia when they were stopped several miles off El Tarf's Chatt Beach.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/16/newsbrief-07.

Police disperse Tunis protests

2011-08-16

Tunisian security forces on Monday (August 15th) used tear gas to disperse protests in Tunis, TAP reported. The Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) organized a large rally to demand that the interim government respect the principles of the revolution and undertake judicial and legislative reforms. When lawyers protesting separately outside the Justice Ministry attempted to join the UGTT march on Mohamed V Avenue, police intervened. According to TAP, protestors were prevented from filming the clashes with their mobile phones.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/16/newsbrief-05.

Difficult Ramadan for Libyan refugees in Tunisia

Forced from their homeland by Kadhafi's battalions, Libyan refugees in Tunisia are struggling to find peace during the holy month.

By Monia Ghanmi for Magharebia in Tunis – 16/08/11

Libyans in Tunisia have little to celebrate this Ramadan. Thousands of stranded refugees are being forced to spend the holy month away from home, as the war enters into its seventh month.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that it planned to distribute free Ramadan meals to more than 55,000 Libyan refugees, including 11,000 families, in the Tunisian wilayas of Medenine, Tataouine, Kebili and Sfax.

The food consists of basic items such as cooking oil, milk, eggs, cheese, and dough-based products along with vegetables or dates, according to UNHCR representative Maness Ghanem. He explained that the aid organization would provide support to Tunisian families hosting Libyan refugees, helping them deal with the costs of electricity and water. The UN official added that some 800 families from Tataouine wilaya have already benefited from assistance.

Despite efforts to aid the displaced families, some Libyans in Tunisia have criticized the level of assistance. Libyans interviewed by Magharebia said that the food provided could not restore the Ramadan atmosphere from Libya before the revolution.

"I only obtained several kilograms of dates, a few liters of oil and a little rice and macaroni," Younis Abd Allah Assayar said, adding that it was not enough for his three-member family.

He said that he felt bitterness and anguish when he saw his iftar table missing fruit, milk, honey and Libyan sweets associated with Ramadan. He said he has not received his pension in four months and must rely on aid organizations to provide for his family's needs.

Libyan Jannet Mediane, who fled the village of Al Majabira, said that despite her new friendships in Tunisia, she was struggling to create a Ramadan air similar to that in her homeland.

She added that what she missed most about her home was "the dish bazin, the foremost popular food in Libya and the main meal in the month of Ramadan, which the iftar table cannot be without for Libyans".

"I discovered that the customs of Tunisian society are no different from what exists in Libya, but in truth, I found it difficult to cope with some of the meals provided to us, yet we thank God," she said.

Normally, the Libyan Ramadan table is filled of many types of dishes, including bazin, couscous and boric. But this year, refugees are forced to mark the holy month not at home but in temporary shelters or with host families across southern Tunisia.

"It is true that Ramadan this year is very different from others and we are suffering, but we must be patient and call for victory for the rebels during this holy month until we get rid of the tyrant and return to our homes safe and sound," said Abid Arifi.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/16/feature-03.

Iran's Green Movement Lie

February 20, 2011

Shirin Sadeghi
Host, New America Now. Former producer, the BBC and Al Jazeera.

The Iranian people have been in the streets for decades. The big moments are crystallized in media memory -- 1979, 1999, 2009, and now. There are people in the streets in Iran this week, as they were last week. They do not want an Islamic Republic of Iran. They want Iran.

In 2009, it was declared all across the international media that these people -- young, old, men, women -- are part of an organized movement called the Green Movement. "Iran's Green Revolution" flashed across cable news networks and front pages worldwide.

Immediately, in the moments, then days, weeks, and now years of the discontent surrounding the election dispute, this green thing -- the scarves, the flags, the color, the word -- suddenly appeared in the protests and from the mouths of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and other figures who ultimately did not secure a win in the presidential election against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

And then the phrase "where is my vote?" appeared. In English. On placards and posters, and t-shirts, and buttons.

You haven't seen any of this behavior in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen -- anywhere where similar anti-government protests have taken place in the last month. It is not how people protest -- they don't get together and name their revolution, then color it, and choose a catchphrase for it, then pour into the streets to let everyone know.

It didn't happen in Iran either.

The millions -- and there were millions -- who were in the streets in 2009 could care less about the Green Movement -- in 2009 or today. They want rid of the Islamic regime -- whether it is Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, or the old guard of Mousavi, Karroubi and the "Greens" who were and still are, so powerful in the Islamic establishment.

The Green leadership is a morally-compromised faction of the establishment -- as any other element of the establishment -- that wants power in an Islamic Republic of Iran, but cannot seem to get it or regain it because old friends have become new enemies in the regime.

As their individual histories and powerful political records have clearly reflected, they are not secular, they are not democratic, and they do not care about the inherent rights of the Iranian people, let alone see them as a priority.

For most Iranians, the Green Movement is what the international media is calling the massive mobilization to dismantle the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Even outside of Iran, if you attend rallies claiming to be of the Green Movement, many of them are actually rallies against the Islamic regime. Some of the speakers openly address the fact that the Iranians do not want more figures from that regime, they do not want the Green Movement's leaders, they want the whole regime to be replaced with a government that is elected by the people.

And yet, the irony is that while so many Iranians say this, they know, and so does the US State Department and the UK Foreign Office and the other governments who support the Green leaders, that the Iranian people are so miserable, so trapped in a nation overtaken by Islamists and their massively powerful military and security complex, that they will accept the Greens.

Iranians will accept them -- there is no other option anymore. The hope is that change -- any change -- will finally open the door to serious reform. In a poverty so deep as that which the Iranian soul has experienced in the last 32 years, hope is the only chance for survival.

But Iranians are not nearly as politically and internationally naïve as they were in 1979 and 1999. After the current Green Leader, former President Mohammad Khatami, crushed the student protests of 1999, refusing to support the students, many of whom died or suffered in the violent prisons of the Islamic Republic, everyone in Iran realized that the Islamic Republic's establishment -- a boy's club of unshorn Islamists, many of whom are actually clerics -- has not produced individuals who care about changing Iran into a government that represents the people.

In the last 32 years, any individual who displayed any loyalty to the people of Iran above the Islamic Republic has been eliminated. Anyone who could have been a sincere leader of the people -- a person who valued inherent rights, a person whose religion did not supersede the people's needs -- that person was not allowed to live. So there remains no one powerful but those from the regime. The Green Leaders know this very well.

But what they don't know -- and the reason they shuffled into the background when they didn't get the power they wanted -- is that in this Internet age, in this age when Iranians are some of the most educated and knowledgeable people in the world, they do not need a leader to change their country. They are doing it themselves in the streets.

Listen to them this year as compared with 2009 -- they are no longer merely denouncing Ahmadinejad -- they are denouncing the system itself.

They have been shouting "down with the system", "down with the velayat-e faqih." Iranians have for millennia been of different tribes, religions and ethnicities but they have always survived as a nation. They do not want this 'velayat-e faqih' system -- rulership of the supreme Islamic cleric, to put it simply -- which is the foundation of power of the Islamic Republic establishment and the Green Leaders.

So as you watch the new protests -- these demonstrations that were inspired by recent Arab revolts which were in turn inspired by Iran's earlier demonstrations -- remember this: the Iranian people do not want the Islamic Republic, whatever shade it comes in.

They want a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. When the Green Leaders win the power they have sought for years -- and they will eventually win -- they will not be off the hook, because the people want real change, not another game of musical chairs.

Source: Huffington Post.
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shirin-sadeghi/irans-green-movement-lie_b_825737.html.

Dangerous Voyage To Site of Israeli Attack on USS Liberty

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

by Ann Wright

At the site, Toenjes will be holding a memorial service honoring those killed on the USS Liberty by the Israeli military.

Larry Toenjes, 74, from Clear Lake Shores, Texas, is sailing his 39-foot sailboat, the s/v Liberty, to the coordinates of the June 8, 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty that killed 34 sailors and wounded another 173. 207 were killed or wounded out of the 294 on board the USS Liberty in the 90 minute attack by strafing attack planes and torpedoes. At the site, Toenjes will be holding a memorial service honoring those killed on the USS Liberty by the Israeli military.

Toenjes is a 5 year Coast Guard veteran with a PhD in economics. He worked for years in the Bureau of Budget in the state government of Illinois and upon moving to Texas in 1983, taught at the University of Texas in Austin and was a research professor at the University of Texas.

Toenjes and Joe and Sherrie Wagner, his 2 person crew also from Texas, set sail from Texas in July. They have sailed over 7,000 miles and are currently in Malta. According to Joe Meadors, the President of the USS Liberty Veterans Association (www.usslibertyveterans.org), Toenjes has Egyptian government permission to travel in Egyptian territorial waters to the site of the attack.

A Call for Congress to Listen to the Survivors of the Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty

Toenjes said: “I do not intend to go near Gaza. All I intend to do is exercise my right as an American citizen to proceed to a point in international waters where a grave injustice was perpetrated against US sailors and express my dismay that that injustice is being extended by the failure of Congress to have the “courage” to listen to what these men have to say. Members of Congress never seem to miss an opportunity to say to a service man or woman, “We thank you for your service!” It seems, however, that their service is not to be acknowledged if it would have the effect of embarrassing the State of Israel and the pro-Israel Lobby here in the US.”

Meadors said Toenjes told him he is considering mooring at the coordinates of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty for a few weeks. Toenjes will be staying well clear of the coordinates of the Israeli blockade of Gaza as published in the Israeli Notices to Mariners, but Meadors said contact with the Naval Attaché’s office in the US Embassy, Tel Aviv had not produced written assurances from the Israeli government that Toenjes will not be harassed or attacked by the Israeli military, even though Toenjes will be in Egyptian waters.

US Embassy Refuses to Send a Delegation to the Ceremony

Meadors has been assisting Toenjes in getting the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to be concerned about the safety of Toenjes. He said the US Embassy in Tel Aviv has been invited to attend the ceremony but that representatives have refused to send an official delegation to rendezvous with the s/v Liberty and attend the memorial service because “they cannot find a single vessel in all of Israel that is capable of making the trip.”

Meadors added, “You know as well as we do that the last thing the US government wants to do is to send an official to attend a memorial service honoring the 34 of our shipmates who were killed in action during the attack on the USS Liberty (because of the U.S. Government cover-up of the Israeli attack). We want the Naval Attaché to convey to American Embassy officials in Israel that their refusal to attend the memorial service for Americans who were killed on the USS Liberty is unacceptable and not in keeping with the way America treats its honored dead.”

Meadors said that he also has invited the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to send an official representative to attend the memorial service.

Letter of Concern for Toenjes’ Safety from President of the USS Liberty Veterans

On August 10, 2011, Meadors wrote an extensive letter to Assistant Naval Attaché Lieutenant Commander Jason K. Edgington at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel giving details of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty 44 years ago and his concern for the safety of Larry Toenjes.

Given our history with the US Navy, the US government and the Israeli government I’m sure you will understand when I tell you that your reassurances do nothing to quell our concerns for Larry’s safety and the sanctity of the memorial service for our fallen shipmates.

If you will recall your US Navy history you will remember that our skipper, Capt. McGonagle, recognized the potential danger involved in working at the station to which we were sailing. He asked the Sixth Fleet for a destroyer escort but that request was denied because we were “a clearly identified US Navy ship.”

Further, the Israeli government did not issue any NOTMARS to inform ships sailing in the area of any danger.

When we were attacked, two flights of Sixth Fleet aircraft that had been launched to come to our assistance were both recalled while we were still under attack and calling for help which allowed the Israelis to continue their attack for over an hour more unhampered by the threat of Sixth Fleet intervention. To this day the US government has refused to conduct an investigation of the attack on our ship despite accounts of USS Liberty survivors telling them that we were attacked by unmarked aircraft, that our radios were jammed on both US Navy tactical and international maritime distress frequencies, that our life rafts were deliberately machine gunned in the water and that the torpedo boats slowly circled our burning and torpedoed ship while firing from close range at Liberty crewmen who ventured topside to help our wounded shipmates. More information about the attack on our ship is available at usslibertyveterans.org files/Docs.pdf. I would like to specifically direct you to the War Crimes Report we filed with the Department of Defense (DOD). To date they refuse to investigate the allegations contained in that report and they refuse to send a spokesperson to USS Liberty reunions to explain their actions vis-à-vis our War Crimes Report.

Move to May, 2010 and the Freedom Flotilla. The Israelis issued no NOTMARS closing any areas near where the Freedom Flotilla was sailing. Regardless, the Israelis intercepted the Freedom Flotilla some 60 miles from shore, attacked the Flotilla and killed 9 passengers – one an American citizen. This elicited not a single word of concern from the US government despite the fact that one of the vessels was of American registry.

Just this year the Israelis intercepted, boarded and impounded the French ship Dignite as it participated in Freedom Flotilla 2. That was done in international waters well clear of the coordinates provided by the Israelis for their blockade of Gaza and very near to the coordinates of the attack on the USS Liberty. They did this without issuing any NOTMARS closing the area.

That said, I am sure you will understand that your reassurances to the contrary we do not have any confidence whatsoever that Larry will be allowed to proceed to the coordinates and conduct the memorial service absent any harassment from the Israeli government. Despite his being well outside the area defined by the Israeli government as the boundaries of their blockade of Gaza and despite the s/v Liberty being a US flagged and registered vessel he will be harassed by the Israeli Navy to the extent that his vessel will be boarded and impounded by the Israeli Navy and the US government will do absolutely nothing either to prevent it or to assist Larry in getting the Liberty released from Israeli custody.

In closing, let me respectfully submit that the reason I believe the US government will not provide an official to represent them during the memorial service is not because they cannot find a single vessel in all of Israel capable of making the trip as they claim but because they know the s/v Liberty will be intercepted, boarded and impounded by the Israeli Navy (even in Egyptian waters).

Warmest regards,

Joe
Joseph L. Meadors
USS Liberty Survivor
President
USS Liberty Veterans Association

Israeli Military Attacks on Vessels in International Waters

The Israeli military’s history of attacking ships in international waters extends from 1967 to the present. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, a vessel carrying a Nobel Peace Laureate and a US Congresswoman was rammed and seriously damaged. Six ships in the 2010 Gaza flotilla were attacked with eight Turkish citizens and one American citizen executed by Israeli commandos and over 50 wounded. A seventh ship in June, 2010 was attacked, as well as another boat in September, 2010. In April, 2011, a cargo ship came under a barrage of bullets from the IDF, but, with the help of the Egyptian navy returned into Egyptian waters. In June, 2011, one ship out of ten in the Gaza flotilla escaped the Israeli diplomatic offensive that resulted in a Greek government ban on ships sailing from Greece to Gaza. It was forcefully boarded by the IDF and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod...

Source: Veterans Today.
Link: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/08/16/texas-man-making-dangerous-voyage-to-site-of-1967-israeli-attack-on-the-uss-liberty/.

China successfully launches maritime satellite

Taiyuan, China (XNA)
Aug 17, 2011

China successfully launched a maritime satellite at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China at 6:57 a.m. Tuesday Beijing Time.

The orbiter, Haiyang-2, was boosted by a Long March-4B carrier rocket from the launch center in the city of Taiyuan in Shanxi Province.

The satellite is for the supervision and survey of the maritime environment, an important measure for prevention and reduction of maritime disasters.

China launches Haiyang-2 maritime satellite

Beijing (RIA Novosti) China launched a rocket carrying a Haiyang-2 (Ocean-2) maritime satellite early on Tuesday, the Xinhua agency said.

The Long March-4B rocket carrying orbiter Haiyang-2 lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province.

The satellite was developed by the Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST).

"The Haiyang-2 satellite is for the supervision and survey of maritime environment, an important measure for prevention and reduction of maritime disasters," Xinhua said.

Using the space remote-sensing technology to monitor China's 3 million square kilometers of sea area is very important and necessary for safeguarding the ocean rights and interests of China, CAST said.

This was the 144th launch of Chinese Long March rockets.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/China_successfully_launches_maritime_satellite_999.html.

NASA Plans to Visit a Near-Earth Asteroid

by Dauna Coulter for NASA Science News
Huntsville AL (SPX)
Aug 17, 2011

In a few years a NASA spacecraft will seek the building blocks of life in a shovelful of asteroid dirt. The OSIRIS-REx1 spacecraft, targeted for launch in September 2016, will intercept asteroid 1999 RQ36, orbit it for a year, and then reach out a robotic arm to touch its surface.

"We call it 'touch and go,'" explains principal investigator Michael Drake of the University of Arizona. "OSIRIS-REx will approach the surface at 0.1 m/sec (only 0.2 mph, less than a tenth of walking pace) and, without landing, stretch out its arm equipped with a sample collector. We'll simply agitate the asteroid's surface with ultra-pure nitrogen to stir up material for capture."

Asteroids appear to be as lifeless as Yorick's skull, yet material captured from 1999 RQ36 could hold clues to life's origin on Earth.

Some scientists believe Earth's surface was sterilized2 soon after the planet was formed some 4.5 billion years ago. Planetoids and other debris left over from the genesis of planets pummeled Earth, turning it into a cratered wasteland. The tremendous kinetic energy from the collisions heated Earth to the boiling point.

"Earth at 'time zero' had a steam atmosphere that was wrung out to make a boiling hot ocean," says Drake. "Imagine standing on a lava lake in Hawaii, but it's a planet-wide, 600 mile deep lake. You and everything else, including any organics and any one-celled organisms, would be converted to carbon dioxide and water. Gone."

In this scenario, an infusion of organics from elsewhere might be required to ignite life here. The building blocks for life on our planet may have come, at least in part, from asteroids.

"Observations by ground-based telescopes suggest that asteroid 1999 RQ36 has a wealth of carbon-based compounds, but we don't know exactly what is there. Are there amino acids? To find out, we need to bring a sample home where we have sophisticated, exquisitely precise instruments, plus the ability to react to new discoveries."

Obtaining that sample is a key part of OSIRIS-REx's mission.

Upon reaching 1999 RQ36 in 2019, the spacecraft's suite of cameras and instruments will spend a year photographing the asteroid and measuring its surface topography, composition, and thermal emissions while its radio provides mass and gravity field maps. This information will increase our understanding of asteroids as well as help the mission team select the most promising sample site.

Like the ancient Egyptian god Osiris, the OSIRIS-REx mission is associated with death as well as life, with both our destiny and our origin. That's because 1999 RQ36 is the Near Earth Object "Most Likely to Succeed" - in affecting our destiny, that is. It has a 1/1800 chance of hitting Earth by the 22nd century.

Evidence suggests that a 6-mile wide asteroid smashed into Earth about 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs and altering the history of life. Instead of dinosaurs prevailing, mammals flourished, evolving into humans.

"We're the first species that can mitigate asteroid extinction," notes Drake. "With enough information, we can project the orbit of a threatening asteroid."

If researchers can track an NEO's precise path, they can devise a way to nudge the object out of a collision course with Earth. OSIRIS-REx wil help NASA learn to navigate near an asteroid, laying the groundwork for landing on one. That could be pretty tricky, considering asteroids like 1999 RQ36 have so little gravity.

"If you simply pushed your finger into the surface, you'd fly off into space, disappear, and never come back!"

OSIRIS-REx, however, will hang close, and its cameras will give us window seats to watch its delicate sampling maneuvers. The mission team plans near-live coverage of the operations. But the real action starts, says Drake, when the sample is returned to Earth in 2023...

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_Plans_to_Visit_a_Near_Earth_Asteroid_999.html.

SpaceX plans November test flight to space station

Washington (AFP)
Aug 15, 2011

California-based rocket maker SpaceX said Monday that it will make a test flight in late November to the International Space Station, now that NASA has retired its space shuttle program.

"SpaceX has been hard at work preparing for our next flight -- a mission designed to demonstrate that a privately-developed space transportation system can deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS)," the company, also called Space Exploration Technologies, said in a statement.

The mission is the second to be carried out by SpaceX, one of a handful of firms competing to make a spaceship to replace the now-defunct US shuttle, which had been used to carry supplies and equipment to the orbiting outpost.

"NASA has given us a November 30, 2011 launch date, which should be followed nine days later by Dragon berthing at the ISS," the company said.

It said the arrival of the vessel at the space station would herald "the beginning of a new era in space travel."

"Together, government and the private sector can simultaneously increase the reliability, safety and frequency of space travel, while greatly reducing the costs," SpaceX said.

The company won $75 million in new seed money earlier this year, after it became the first to successfully send its own space capsule, the gumdrop-shaped Dragon, into orbit and back in December 2010.

The shuttle Atlantis completed its final journey to the ISS and back last month, ending the 30-year-old US space shuttle program.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/SpaceX_plans_November_test_flight_to_space_station_999.html.

Egyptian groups condemn military trials for civilians

CAIRO (BNO NEWS) — Several political groups and public figures on Tuesday condemned Egypt’s military trials of civilians after a prominent activist was arrested and referred to a military court on charges of insulting the Armed Forces, the Al-Ahram state-owned newspaper reported.

Egyptian military prosecution officers on Sunday detained and interrogated activist Asmaa Mahfouz, who is accused of inciting violence against the military and insulting members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. She was summoned by the military prosecution on Tuesday after being released on a 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,355) bail on Sunday.

The military’s action against Mahfouz has angered many, reviving support for the campaign against the military trials of civilians. According to the No to Military Trials Campaign, more than 10,000 civilians have received prison sentences through military prosecution in the past six months.

Mahfouz is not the first activist to be tried in a military court, however. Activists arrested during demonstrations and sit-ins were tried by the military and some received prison sentences, varying between six months and five years in length.

The case prompted previously silent groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, to speak out. The Deputy Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahmoud Ezzat, argued that the military trials are unconstitutional and violate the United Nation’s declaration of human rights, the newspaper reported.

According to the organization’s official website, Ezzat said that the Brotherhood have been harmed in the past by the military trials of civilians and that hundreds of its members have been put in prison as a result. He added that after the revolution, such trials should no longer exist.

Presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei also condemned the trials and warned that the path to democracy is being hampered. He wrote on his twitter account: “Military trials for young activists, while Mubarak & Co. stand before civilian courts, is a legal farce. Don’t abort the revolution.”

Several of those arrested during clashes at Cairo’s Tahrir Square in late June were also being interrogated by the military prosecution on Sunday. In addition, clashes erupted between families of those killed during the January 25 Revolution and Central Security Forces between June 28 and 29.

According to Amnesty International, at least 840 people were killed and over 6,000 people were injured in the violent repression that took place during the January uprising. Activists and protesters have been asking for the prosecution of those implicated in the killings of protesters.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19493/egyptian-groups-condemn-military-trials-for-civilians/.

Thousands protest against carbon tax in Australia

CANBERRA (BNO NEWS) — Thousands of Australians protested in front of Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday to protest against the Prime Minister’s plan to introduce a carbon tax, local media reported.

An estimated 4,000 protesters called on Prime Minister Julia Gilliard to abandon her carbon tax plan and allow an immediate election after she had ruled out a carbon tax during her re-election campaign.

“I don’t rule out the possibility of legislating a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, a market-based mechanism [during the next parliament]. I rule out a carbon tax,” Gilliard told The Australian newspaper during last year’s re-election campaign, after which she won a second term as prime minister.

However, in February, Gilliard announced a plan to implement a fixed price to be imposed on carbon pollution from July 2012. The carbon tax would be placed for three to five years before a complete trading scheme on carbon emissions is implemented and some key issues are further discussed and negotiated.

Tuesday’s rally was organized by the Consumers and Taxpayers Association to mark the first anniversary of Gilliard’s pledge that she would not introduce a carbon tax. The government has meanwhile blamed Tony Abbot, the leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives, for calling for a “people’s revolt” against the carbon tax.

Abbot was very careful to tell the protesters that, while he supported their opposition to the carbon tax and their call for a fresh election, he did not agree with every sign he saw or all of their opinions. This comes after some signs were considered disrespectful for insulting PM Gilliard in a similar demonstration earlier this year.

Other Members of Parliament also attended the rally and encouraged the protesters to keep up the fight, local media reported. But despite Tuesday’s protest, the carbon tax looks set to pass Parliament in September with the support of the Australian Greens and the three lower house independents.

Next week, truck drivers from all over the country will converge on the capital in an attempt to close down roads around Parliament, in protest against the controversial carbon tax.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19496/thousands-protest-against-carbon-tax-in-australia/.

UN: Somali death rates at Ethiopian refugee camp 'alarming'

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) — Death rates of Somalia refugees have reached “alarming levels” at a camp in Ethiopia where an average of 10 children under the age of five die every day, the United Nations reported on Tuesday.

The United Nations refugee agency said that while malnutrition is the greatest concern, a suspected outbreak of measles is responsible for many deaths. Adrian Edwards, spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva that a measles vaccination campaign in the Kobe camp, which hosts 250,000 refugees, was completed on Monday.

“An assessment of the mortality rate in one of four refugee camps at the Dollo Ado complex in southern Ethiopia found that since the Kobe camp opened in June, an average of 10 children under the age of five have died every day,” the UNHCR said.

Elsewhere in Ethiopia, some 17,500 refugees from Somalia have crossed into the Gode and Afder areas over the past six weeks. The new arrivals are mainly women and children who are “in very poor nutritional and health states,” according to the UN.

The United Nations recently declared famine in five areas of Somalia where acute malnutrition and starvation has already claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. Before the current crisis, the Somali capital hosted some 370,000 internally displaced persons, who have now been joined by an additional 100,000 who flocked into the capital in June and July from the famine-hit southern areas in search of food, water, shelter and medical assistance.

The hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa has also affected large areas of Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti and has left an estimated 12.4 million people in need of assistance. According to the UN, the drought is expected to continue until early 2012, and the number of people in acute livelihood crisis is expected to increase from 8.8 million in the coming months.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19499/un-somali-death-rates-at-ethiopian-refugee-camp-alarming/.

Malawian rights groups postpone anti-government protests after court action

LILONGWE (BNO NEWS) – Malawian rights groups announced on Tuesday they have postponed a nationwide anti-government demonstration scheduled for Wednesday after a court injunction was issued to stop it, local newspaper The Maravi Post reported.

“We have postponed the vigils to allow the court process and dialogue to move on but the issues still stand until the government responds to them,” activist Rogers Newa, one of the main organizers, told a news conference in the country’s capital of Lilongwe.

The organizers decided to postpone the protest after loyalists of President Bingu Wa Mutharika filed an application to a Malawi high court to revive an injunction which stops demonstrations against or in support of the government.

Newa said that by suspending the rally, the civil society was also giving a chance to a dialogue process long due since President Mutharika announced last month that he had established a presidential committee on dialogue.

The society groups announced the protests, to be held across the country, after Mutharika’s government failed to immediately address their concerns over the economy and governance issues.

Last month, 19 people were killed and several others were injured when police opened fire on those taking part in anti-government protests which lasted for two days. Around 500 people, including human rights defenders, were arrested.

The protests in July brought together students, human rights activists and religious groups over a range of issues including repressive legislation, poor governance and fuel shortages.

According to an Amnesty International report released on Tuesday, over the recent months, the Malawian government has intensified its harassment and intimidation of critics and dissidents, many journalists and human rights activists among them.

The rights group has also urged the Malawian authorities to start an investigation into the lethal use of force during last month’s protests and to respect the citizen’s right to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

“If Malawians want to exercise their right to peaceful demonstration, they should be allowed to do so in safety,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International’s Deputy Program Director.

Earlier this week, President Mutharika accused the European governments of seeking to overthrow his government by funding the demonstrations. He also claimed that the economic problems besetting the country were not unique of Malawi as there is economic turmoil elsewhere.

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19502/malawian-rights-groups-postpone-anti-government-protests-after-court-action/.

Syrian Opposition Members Disappearing in Lebanon

By Mona Alami

BEIRUT, Aug 11, 2011 (IPS) - A wave of mysterious disappearances is befalling members of the Syrian opposition in Lebanon, where Syria’s military and intelligence apparatus had a strong presence during its occupation of the country from 1976 until 2005.

On May 24 at 4:30 in the afternoon, 86-year-old Shibli al-Ayssami, a Syrian former politician and opposition member, left his daughter’s house on the outskirts of the Lebanese mountain city of Aley. He was going for a walk, as he had done every day since he had arrived in Lebanon from his home in Washington five days earlier. Two hours later, the elderly man had vanished without a trace.

"We have not heard from him since," Ayssami’s daughter, Rajaa Charafedine, told IPS

After several months with no leads, some new information surfaced last week. According to a source that is close to the investigation, three dark-colored four-wheel drive vehicles with tinted windows were seen circling the area before Ayssami’s disappearance. At one point, the cars blocked the road leading to Charafedine’s house, and two men pushed Ayssami into one of the cars. The three vehicles were then spotted a few hours later crossing the border into Syria, en route to Damascus, added the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the case is still under investigation.

Ayssami was one of the founders of the Syrian Baath Party. He was the minister of education, culture and agriculture in the 1960s and was vice-president of Syria in 1966, before the government was toppled by Hafez al-Assad, the father of current president, Bashar al-Assad. He was imprisoned and sentenced to death but was able to escape to Lebanon. Two years later he co-founded the Baath Party in Iraq. He retired from political life in 1992.

Walid Saffour, president of the Syrian Committee for Human Rights, said his organization has information that Ayssami was kidnapped by a patrol led by a Lebanese security forces officer who is "known for his loyalty to a major Lebanese political party that is allied with the Syrian authorities."

"Our information points to Ayssami being detained in one of the branches of the military intelligence in Damascus," said Saffour.

Ayssami’s kidnapping is not the first of its kind to take place in Lebanon since the beginning of the Syrian pro-democracy uprising and the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on it.

In February, when anti-regime activity was just beginning in Syria, Lebanese military intelligence agents arrested six Syrians belonging to the Jasem family while they were distributing flyers calling for democratic change in Syria. Three of them disappeared in the early hours of the morning after their release on Feb. 25, according to Nadim Houry, head researcher at Human Rights Watch’s Beirut office.

"Three civilian cars were seen waiting by the police station the night of the Jasems’ disappearance. One of the drivers was identified as a member of the Lebanese security services who was at the time in charge of security at the Syrian Embassy," a high-ranking officer from the Lebanese security services, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told IPS. The Lebanese security officer who allegedly led the kidnapping was identified as Salah al-Hajj by pan-Arab daily ‘al-Hayat’.

"We could not arrest him due to the current fiery political situation, but he was stripped of any official responsibilities," the Lebanese security services officer said. In March, the Syrian embassy issued a statement denying that anybody associated with it had played any role in the disappearance of the Jasem brothers.

The Jasem case bears many similarities to a host of disappearances that occurred in Lebanon during the heyday of Syria’s occupation of the country in the 1990s, and even after its military withdrew in 2005.

In one instance, Nawar Aboud - an accountant at the United National Alliance (UNA), a political group affiliated with Syrian opposition figure Refaat al-Asad - was arrested on Dec. 24, 2008 by members of the Lebanese Military Intelligence in Tripoli, Lebanon’s northern capital. Aboud was taken to a local military base for interrogation along with two other UNA employees. Like the Jasem brothers, he disappeared after his release the next day.

"Lebanon has a painful history of people being detained and illegally transferred to Syria. This issue is too sensitive to be dealt with lightly," said Houry. If members of the security services are involved in the kidnapping of members of the Syrian opposition, they should be prosecuted. Lebanon’s judiciary should open an independent and transparent inquiry to shed light on these disappearances and establish responsibility for them… Only a credible and transparent investigation will put to rest fears that Lebanon’s security services may have acted outside the law and cooperated with Syrian security services in the kidnapping of Syrian opposition members."

Source: Inter-Press Service.
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56819.

PKK takes blame for pipeline blast

ANKARA, Turkey, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party said it was responsible for an attack on a natural gas pipeline in Turkey, it's second this month.

An explosion last week on a gas pipeline near the Turkish border with Iran could severe gas transits for about a week, Iran said. The rebel group, known by its Kurdish acronym PKK, took responsibility for last week's attack.

"On Aug. 11, our guerrillas carried out a sabotage action against the Iran-Turkey natural gas pipeline near Dogubeyazit town of Agri," CNN quoted the group as saying.

A PKK attack in the southeastern Turkish province of Diyarbakir killed 13 soldiers last month. Iran and Iraq are arguing over Iran's military operations along the border targeting PKK affiliates in the Party for Free Life of Kurdistan.

Turkey last week announced it was planning to extend police operations in southern parts of the country as part of counter-terrorism operations against the PKK, which seeks autonomy for parts of the border regions.

The PKK claimed responsibility for a separate Aug. 3 attack on a natural gas pipeline connecting the two countries.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/15/PKK-takes-blame-for-pipeline-blast/UPI-90971313411236/.

Gulf of Guinea pirates trigger alarm

PORTO-NOVO, Benin, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Pirate attacks off the coast of West Africa are increasingly sharply in a region that is becoming a major oil-producing zone and trading hub.

Security and shipping analysts say the number of attacks is underreported and that, left unchecked, the emerging crisis could soon rival the Somali piracy scourge off East Africa that now extends deep into the Indian Ocean.

Nigeria, the main oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, and Benin, its tiny eastern neighbor, have reported 27 attacks this year.

Piracy in these waters and the Gulf of Guinea, which runs along the Atlantic coasts of a dozen countries from Guinea to Angola, has gone from low-level robberies at sea to hijackings, cargo seizures and major holdups over the last eight months.

So far, there have been no hijackings for ransom, the primary tactic used by the Somali pirates.

But London's maritime insurance market has added Benin to its list of high-risk zones for shipping, on a par with the Gulf of Aden off Somalia on the other side of the continent.

Benin is the maritime access point for land-locked states such as Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso and its economy depends heavily on shipping.

"Dozens of ships are already fleeing our shores because of fear of these pirates," Maxime Ahoyo, commander of Benin tiny navy, said last week.

The Gulf of Guinea, the center of the West African oil boom, is the main focus of the pirate gangs, who are becoming increasingly organized. Oil tankers are prime targets.

Earlier this month, Lloyd's Market Association, a London umbrella for a group of insurers, listed Nigeria, Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as lawless Somalia, where there has been no central government since 1991 and anarchy has flourished.

That could signal higher insurance rates for Nigeria's shipping agency, which exports crude oil across the Atlantic to the United States. The West African oil fields, many of them offshore, are crucial to U.S. efforts to reduce dependence on Middle Eastern oil imports.

Within the next few years, as much as one-quarter of U.S. oil imports will come from West Africa. So any serious threat to supplies could have an impact in the United States.

The International Maritime Bureau's reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, says 12 tankers have been attacked in Benin's water since March.

The area was relatively free of pirates until late 2010, although the maritime marauders have been around since the 1980s.

One reason for the sudden growth of piracy in the region is the lack of naval combat forces and the absence of any maritime security cooperation among the countries, many of them impoverished and politically volatile, along the coast.

Even so, West Africa's waters are nowhere near as dangerous as the Gulf of Aden and the busy trade routes and tanker lanes of the Indian Ocean.

The IMB, a division of the International Chamber of Commerce, reported 163 attacks or attempted attacks by Somali pirates in the first half of 2011.

These attacks, carried out by gangs that have become increasingly sophisticated, with international sponsors and financiers and are capable of long-range operations, cost the international community up to $8.3 billion a year, says Geopolicity Inc., a consultancy that specializes in economic intelligence in the Middle East and Asia.

That could escalate to $13 billion-$15 billion by 2015, it cautioned in a recent analysis of the piracy threat.

The Somali pirates continue to intensify operations despite the presence of NATO and EU naval task forces deployed in the Gulf of Aden two years ago.

There are no such forces operating off West Africa, so security and shipping analysts expect the piracy problem to escalate sharply.

As it is, they say the crisis is undoubtedly far more serious than the number of attacks that are actually reported.

Some ship owners are reluctant to report such incidents to avoid having insurance premiums hiked, particularly if illegal cargoes are involved.

In other cases, many attacks that take place within the territorial waters of the littoral states aren't considered acts of piracy under international law and thus aren't recorded as such.

"In Nigeria, it's estimated that approximately 60 percent of pirate attacks go unreported," the London security firm AKE Ltd. says.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/15/Gulf-of-Guinea-pirates-trigger-alarm/UPI-31951313431324/.

جهاديو الأردن ينفون تهم الإرهاب

الأربعاء 17/8/2011

محمد النجار-عمان

نفى المتهمون من أعضاء التيار السلفي الجهادي بالأردن وعددهم 150 متهما التهم الموجهة إليهم في الجلسة الثانية التي عقدتها محكمة أمن الدولة اليوم الأربعاء داخل أسوار سجن الموقر (50 كلم شرق عمان).

وتجري المحاكمة التي تعتبر الأكبر لأعضاء التيار في الأردن على خلفية المواجهات التي جرت بين منتمين للتيار ورجال الأمن بعد اعتصام أقيم بمدينة الزرقاء منتصف أبريل/نيسان الماضي وأدى إلى جرح العشرات من الشرطة، وفقا للرواية الرسمية، إضافة لجرح 12 من السلفيين.

وأجاب المتهمون الـ98 الذين يحاكمون حضوريا أمام المحكمة بأنهم غير مذنبين، ردا على سؤال القاضي لهم عن اتهام الادعاء العسكري لهم بتهمتي القيام بأعمال إرهابية وإثارة النعرات والفتن الطائفية.

ويحاكم 52 متهما غيابيا باعتبارهم "فارين من وجه العدالة"، كما يحاكم ضمن القضية شبان من غير المنتمين للتيار السلفي الجهادي وآخرون أكدوا أنهم لم يشاركوا باعتصام الزرقاء.

واستمعت المحكمة لشاهدي نيابة أحدهما من جهاز الأمن الوقائي والآخر من الأمن العام حول اعتقال الأول أحد المتهمين "من حملة الفكر التكفيري" وفقا لما جاء بشهادته.

واعترض المحامي ماجد اللفتاوي على إدانة الشاهد للمتهم مسبقا بأنه من حملة الفكر التكفيري، في حين أفاد الشاهد بأنه اعتقل المتهم بناء على أوامر من مسؤولين عنه.

وقال اللفتاوي للجزيرة نت إن الدفاع قرر العودة لحضور الجلسات التي قرر مقاطعتها الأسبوع الماضي بناء على طلب الأهالي الذين عبروا عن مخاوفهم من تأثير غياب الدفاع على أبنائهم.

ولفت إلى أن الدفاع كرر طعونه برفض التهم الموجهة للمتهمين والطعن بإجراءات الاعتقال والتحقيق والطعن بمكان المحاكمة، كما كرر الطلب من المحكمة الإفراج عن المتهمين مقابل كفالة نظرا لأن القضية ستحتاج لسنوات للانتهاء منها، حيث دعت النيابة نحو مائة شاهد في القضية في حين ينتظر أن يقدم الدفاع عددا أكبر من الشهود والبيّنات.

وفي بداية الجلسة تحدث منظر التيار في شمال الأردن أبو محمد الطحاوي الذي نفى تهمة الإرهاب عن أعضاء التيار، وقال إنهم نفذوا سبعة اعتصامات قبل اعتصام الزرقاء ولم تسجل أي مخالفة تذكر.

واتهم الطحاوي من وصفهم بـ"البلطجية" بالتسبب بالأحداث والاعتداء على شبان التيار السلفي الجهادي، وطالب المحكمة بإحضار البلطجية باعتبارهم طرفا في القضية وبيان إن كانوا مدنيين أم أعضاء في جهاز سري تابع لوزارة الداخلية.

اعتراض على المحكمة
وحضر المحاكمة المعارض البارز ليث شبيلات، ومقرر لجنة الحريات في النقابات المهنية المهندس ميسرة ملص.

واعتبر ملص في تعليق للجزيرة نت أن موقع المحكمة غير مناسب حيث إنها تجري داخل أسوار سجن، وتطبق على المحامين والحاضرين إجراءات السجون "وهو ما يتناقض مع إجراءات المحاكمة العادلة".

وتابع "القاعة التي يحاكم بها المتهمون لا يمكن اعتبارها قاعة محكمة فهي ضيقة للغاية ودرجة الحرارة فيها مرتفعة".

واعتبر ملص أن تاريخ محكمة أمن الدولة "غير مريح من ناحية استقلاليتها وعدالة أحكامها".

وأضاف "حجم التهمة وهي الإرهاب لا يتناسب مع حجم الفعل المتهم به المتهمون وهو حمل سكين أو قطعة خشب وحتى الاعتداء على رجال أمن"، معتبرا أن الأصل محاكمة المتهمين أمام القضاء المدني كونهم مدنيين.

واستغرب الناشط الحقوقي محاكمة السلفيين الجهاديين بتهم الإرهاب "بعد أن اقتنعوا بأساليب التعبير السلمي المدني من حيث التعبير عن آرائهم بطرق مدنية متوافقة مع أساليب المجتمع المدني".

وشهدت المحاكمة حضور نحو أربعين من أهالي المتهمين في القاعة التي انتقلت لها هيئة المحكمة، في حين نفذ العشرات من أهالي المعتقلين اعتصاما أمام السجن احتجاجا على استمرار اعتقال أبنائهم ورفض الإفراج عنهم بكفالة.

ورفع المعتصمون لافتات منها "الموقر=غوانتانامو"، وأخرى تنفي تهم الإرهاب عن المتهمين.

وقال القيادي البارز في التيار السلفي وسام العموش للجزيرة نت إن الأهالي سيتقدمون بطلبات جديدة لكفالة أبنائهم غدا، لافتا إلى استمرارهم بإجراءاتهم التصعيدية المتمثلة بإقامة الاعتصامات حيث سيقيمون اعتصاما الجمعة بمدينة السلط، في حين سينفذون اعتصاما الأحد المقبل أمام رئاسة الحكومة.

وكانت محكمة أمن الدولة حكمت الشهر الماضي بسجن منظر التيار السلفي الجهادي أبو محمد المقدسي لمدة خمس سنوات بتهمة دعم حركة طالبان.

المصدر: الجزيرة.
الرابط: http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/EXERES/BF4B772B-A641-47B2-9319-5E769C2C16FC.htm.

نقابيو الإصلاح: ما يحدث بسوريا ينزع شرعية النظام

2011-08-17

خبرني- دان تجمع نقابيون من اجل الاصلاح الاربعاء القمع الوحشي الذي يتعرض له الشعب السوري المطالب بالحرية والكرامة على يد قوات الامن السورية.
وقال التجمع في بيان حصلت "خبرني" على نسخة منه ان "ندين ممارسات السلطات السورية بالقتل والتنكيل والاعتقال والتعذيب للمعارضين المسالمين الذي يدعون الى الاصلاحات الجذرية في بلدهم لنستغرب ان كان متابعة الإرهابيين والجماعات والعصابات المدعومة من الخارج تبرر للسلطات هناك قتل المواطنين!".

وتاليا نص البيان:

يتابع "تجمع نقابيون من أجل الإصلاح" بقلق بالغ التصعيد الأمني والقمع الذي يقوم به النظام السوري ضد شعبه، ويرى أن سلوك الخيارات العسكرية في التعاطي مع المطالب الشعبية السلمية من شأنه أن يفاقم أزمة أي نظام سياسي وينزع الشرعية عنه.
وإذ نعلن وقوفنا إلى جانب شعبنا السوري المطالب بالحرية والعدالة والديمقراطية، و ووقوفنا معه في الكيفية التي من خلالها يقرر مصيره ويصوغ رؤيته السياسية المستقبلية ،فإننا نؤكد حرصنا القاطع على وحدة كامل التراب السوري، ورفضنا التدخل الأجنبي مهما كانت هويته، ومهما كانت ذرائعه، و حرصنا على استمرار موقف سوريا الداعم لخيار المقاومة إننا في "تجمع نقابيون من أجل الإصلاح" نحترم خصوصية الشعب السوري، والشعوب العربية كافة في أن تختار قياداتها الوطنية التي تدعم المقاومة ومعركة المواجهة الحتمية مع الكيان الصهيوني، ومع سائر قوى الشر والظلام التي لا تضمر الخير للشعوب العربية والإسلامية.
اننا اذ ندين ممارسات السلطات السورية بالقتل والتنكيل والاعتقال والتعذيب للمعارضين المسالمين الذي يدعون الى الاصلاحات الجذرية في بلدهم لنستغرب ان كان متابعة الإرهابيين والجماعات والعصابات المدعومة من الخارج تبرر للسلطات هناك قتل المواطنين!
فهل متابعة الارهابيين في دولة اجهزتها الامنية تعرف من يفكر بالعمل ضدها قبل ان يقوم بتنفيذه مبرر لقتل كل هولاء الشهداء واصابة كل هذا العدد من الجرحى و الزج بكل هذا العدد من المعتقلين بالسجون والتنكيل بهمّ!؟ اننا في التجمع ونحن ندافع بكل قوة عن المعارضين المسالمين لنرفض وبشدة ما قام به بعض المعارضين بعقد مؤتمرات للمعارضة بمشاركة الصهاينة والسلطات الغربية المتصهينة في الولايات المتحدة وفرنسا و غيرها من دول العالم.

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60214.

الاتحاد العام لطلبة الاردن يؤيد القيادة السورية

2011-08-17

خبرني- زعمت وكالة الإنباء السورية " سانا" اليوم الأربعاء انها تلقت بيانا من"الاتحاد العام لطلبة الأردن " يؤكد في وقوفه الى جانب القيادة السورية ضد المؤامرة .
ويمثل هذا الاتحاد المظلة التي تجمع كافة الطلبة الدارسين في الجامعات السورية، حيث يتعين على الطالب الذي يرغب بالدراسه هناك الحصول على وثيقة من الاتحاد تؤهله للالتحاق بالجامعات السورية.
وقال الوكالة السورية إنها تلقت بيانا من "الاتحاد العام لطلبة الأردن" يؤكد فيه "وقوفه إلى جانب سورية قيادة وشعبا ضد كل ما يستهدف سيادتها وقرارها وأمنها ووحدتها الوطنية مستغربا كل ما يصدر من بيانات تعطي غطاء للتدخل الصهيوامريكي وحلفائه في الشؤون الداخلية لسورية".
وأكد الاتحاد في بيان له أن" سورية رقم صعب وان المساس بها هو مساس بالكرامة العربية وأن التآمر عليها تآمر على الأمة العربية منوها بمواقفها القومية من أجل فلسطين ولبنان والعراق وغيرها من الأقطار العربية". على حد وصف الوكالة .
وأشار البيان إلى أن "الشعب العربي لن ينسى القواعد الأمريكية في المنطقة والتي قتلت أكثر من مليوني عراقي وشردت خمسة ملايين مؤكدا أن جميع شرفاء الأمة العربية سيقفون سدا منيعا بوجه كل المؤامرات التي تستهدف سورية والأمة العربية وسيكونون معها صفا واحدا".
من جانبه اصدر المكتب الإعلامي لاتحاد طلبة الجامعة الأردنيّة الأربعاء بيانا حصلت " خبرني " تمنى فيه نجاح الثورة السورية ودان ممارسات النظام الوحشية بحق شعبه.
وقال البيان " إننا كاتحاد شبابيّ لا علاقة تحكمنا سوى الشعور الإنساني تجاه إخواننا الشباب و ما يواجهونه في شتّى المدن السوريّة من حمامات للدم طالت بشكل مفزع حتى الأطفال و النساء نندّد بهذه الممارسات غير الإنسانية القمعيّة لهذا النظام ".
وتاليا نص بيان اتحاد طلبة الجامعة الأردنية :
وبعد مرور ستة اشهر على قيام الشعب السوري بانتفاضته المجرّدة المطالبة بأبسط حقوقه التي تقتضي بكرامة عيش و حرية طالما فقدها حدّا بلغ به السيل الزبى و بعد أن عاف هذا الشعب الحر نظامه الذي نشر وحشيّته بإجرام ظالم و بقمع غير مسبوق بمثيل جرّد فيه كل معنى للإنسانية فضلا عن القيم الدينيّة.. و بعد أن تجرّع هذا الشعب القهر و الذلّ قتلا و سجنا و تشريدا لأكثر من نصف قرن و خرج بحراكه الشبابيّ الجريء و بكلّ سلميّة تذكر ضدّ حكم سرطانيّ الانتشار عاث في كل بقعة من قلب الشام بظلم و قمع مذهل نجدنا نحن في اتحاد الطلبة في الجامعة الأردنية نقف إلى ثورة الشباب الذين خرجوا معلنين الموت في سبيل كرامة العيش على حياة المذمّة والمذلّة .
لقد ثار الشباب كلّه,, بشتى انتماءاته الحزبية والفكرية والدينية .. ومن غير تخطيط ومن دون قيادة داخلية أو خارجية .. وهو في ثورته تلك لم يستشر العلماء ولا المفكرين ولا أصحاب التجارب السياسيّة وغير السياسيّة لأنّه فقد الأمل من الجميع خصوصاً وهو يرى بعض كبار العلماء أبواق سوء وكذب وافتراء، فهي تدافع عن القاتل ضدّ الضحيّة من غير مشاهدة ولا محاكمة ولا حوار عادل ، في وقت نرى فيه تصعيد للسلطات السورية من سياستها القمعية حين حاصرت المدن وعزلتها عن العالم من أجل ترويع المواطنين وإجبارهم على الخضوع و في الوقت الذي لم يظهر النظام السوري أي إرادة واضحة في الاستجابة ولو للحد الأدنى من مطالب المحتجين السلميين . .
نعم ثار شباب سوريّا الأبيّة ضدّ الظلم ، لكنّ ثورته بتلك الصورة لا تعفي العلماءَ والمفكّرين و النشطاء والإعلاميين و الشباب في ميادينهم المختلفة أن يقفوا إلى جانب هؤلاء الشباب ، وأن يباركوا ثورتهم لا أن يقفوا في طريقها.
بدورنا كاتحاد شبابيّ لا بعلاقة تحكمنا سوى الشعور الإنساني تجاه إخواننا الشباب و ما يواجهونه في شتّى المدن السوريّة من حمامات للدم طالت بشكل مفزع حتى الأطفال و النساء نندّد هذه الممارسات غير الإنسانية القمعيّة لهذا النظام المتوغّل و ندعو الى ضرورة التفاف المبادرات من الجميع و بشكل موحّد لحقن المزيد من الدماء .. و نغتنم فضيلة هذا الشهر الكريم بالدعاء لهم بأن يعجّل الله في نجاح ثورتهم وأن يخفّف الله آلامهم و يحقّق لهم آمالهم .. إنّه القادر على ذلك و المجيب ..

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60217.