High Planetary Tilt Lowers Odds for Life?

by Adam Hadhazy for Astrobiology Magazine
Moffet Field CA (NASA)
Feb 08, 2012

If you think summer is too hot or winter unbearably cold, take solace that in the distant past seasons on our planet might have been much harsher. However, the advent of milder seasons did more than offer comfort, some scientists suggest.

Subdued seasonality might be linked to the emergence of complex life on Earth around 600 million years ago. On alien worlds, extreme seasonal spikes and plunges in temperature could likewise determine whether life teems, scrapes by, or dies.

Seasons arise when the axis of a planet's spin is tilted relative to the plane of the planet's orbit. Recent research has suggested that a loss of axial tilt and its attendant seasonality, which helps moderate global temperatures, could doom extraterrestrial creatures. Scientists are also considering the opposite case: worlds where blazing summers and devastatingly frigid winters make the development of life with any complexity a long shot.

"Axial tilt, or obliquity, is a crucial parameter for climate and the possible habitability of a planet," said Rene Heller, a postdoctoral research associate at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics in Potsdam, Germany. Heller was the lead author on two papers last year on obliquity loss due to tidal interactions on habitable planets around red dwarf stars.

Seasonally maladjusted
Many phenomena influence obliquity over a planet's history. Major examples include the impacts of large cosmic bodies, as well as the gravitational pulls from companion planets and central stars. Over the course of a year on a tilted planet, varying amounts of warming sunlight strike the northern and southern hemispheres.

The Earth presently has an obliquity of about 23.5 degrees. Along with daily rotations, this moderate obliquity ensures that the temperature differences between the coldest polar and hottest desert regions are not too extreme.

Unlike our planet, another world with a low axial tilt of no more than a few degrees would not experience much seasonality. The colder poles would lead to a narrower habitable region, and if coupled with a too-hot equator could render the world a difficult place for complex life. It is an even grimmer picture for high-obliquity planets in a planetary system's "Goldilocks" zone, the orbital band where water can stay in liquid form on a world's surface.

Take the case of an Earth-like planet with an obliquity close to that of Uranus, about 90 degrees. The north pole would point at the central star for a quarter of the year and then directly away for another quarter.

"Your northern pole will be boiled during part of the year while the equator gets little sunlight," said Heller. Meanwhile, "the southern pole freezes in total darkness." Essentially, the conventional notion of a scorching hell dominates one side of the planet, while an ultra-cold hell like that of Dante's Ninth Circle prevails on the other.

Then, to make matters worse, the hells reverse half a year later. "The hemispheres are cyclically sterilized, either by too strong irradiation or by freezing," Heller said.

Some like it hot . . . or cold
Life - always resilient - could still find ways to persist on planets that spin on their "sides," Uranus-style. Maybe migrating critters could follow a survivable, fast-shifting climatic zone while others find refuge at the equator. Hardy organisms might just ride out the temperature extremes. Examples of these rugged creatures right here on Earth, mostly bacteria, are known naturally enough as "extremophiles."

A class of these organisms, called thermophiles, thrives in hot springs and in the lightless oceanic depths around hydrothermal vents. The species Methanopyrus kandleri can reproduce in high-pressure waters hotter than 250 degrees Fahrenheit. On the other end, psychrophiles grow in ice-covered cavities of briny seawater down to 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

When conditions get too hot or cold, sporulating bacteria go into stasis, encasing themselves in tough structures called endospores. The microorganisms can lie dormant in ice for millions of years and upon thawing go right back to replicating.

Earth becomes more Earth-like
For more than the simplest biota, such feats of durability would surely pose a lot of challenges on exoplanets with higher obliquity than Earth's, though far less than that of Uranus.

"Perhaps an obliquity of just 40 degrees would be tough for complex animals due to the very hot summers and cold winters that would affect much of the globe," noted George Williams, a geologist at the University of Adelaide in Australia.

Climatic conditions of this very sort might have held back the evolution of big and diverse creatures on our planet, Williams suggests. Prior to about 580 million years ago, scientists think most of earthly life consisted of microscopic algae and bacteria. Complex animals such as jellyfish and worms arrived on the scene thereafter.

Then, starting about 540 million years ago, in what is known as the Cambrian explosion, life went nuts. All sorts of intricate body types sporting spines, shells, eyes, legs and more suddenly show up in the fossil record.

Could Earth have once possessed a high obliquity? Computer models say yes. The cataclysmic impact with a Mars-sized body 4.5 billion years ago, thought to have created the Moon, could have knocked Earth's spin axis well off-kilter from the plane of the planet's orbit. Intriguingly, some geological evidence is consistent with Earth having a high obliquity for much of its history, up until about 600 million years ago.

Glaciers provide crucial information in this regard. As shown by numerous geophysicists headed by Phil Schmidt at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia, glaciers used to form preferentially in formerly low latitudes. (Somewhat counterintuitively, an obliquity exceeding 54 degrees renders the equator cooler than the poles, on average.)

Magnetic directions fixed in glacial deposits have revealed this ancient icy activity. Associated sand-wedge structures, like those that occur in modern-day polar regions, suggest big seasonal temperature fluctuations as well. From winter to summer near the former equator, temperatures varied in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. If that were to occur today, blizzards could dump snow on the Amazon rainforest.

Geological markers of high obliquity peter out around the so-called Precambrian-Phanerozoic boundary. After this time, significant glaciations occurred in just the high latitudes, and life took off.

"There seems to have been a dramatic improvement in the habitability of the Earth at around the Precambrian-Phanerozoic boundary," Williams said. "I have suggested that reduction of obliquity was the main cause of this major change in habitability." Models of the Earth's climate with a high obliquity by atmospheric physicist Gregory Jenkins at Howard University buttress this idea.

Of course, many other explanations have been offered for the Cambrian explosion, though each has its drawbacks. Ideas include a greater concentration of atmospheric oxygen or calcium or phosphorus in seawater, or even the evolution of eyes jumpstarting biodiversity.

Williams' hypothesis has its own big gap: a mechanism that could have clipped the planet's tilt by about 30 degrees in 100 million years prior to the Earth's oldest confirmed circumpolar glaciation. Research into the history of tectonic processes within the Earth and gravitational interaction with the Moon may illuminate the matter.

A "Goldilocks" obliquity?
At this point in exoplanetary research, very little is known about the characteristics of most alien worlds beyond their size, mass and orbital period. Discerning axial tilts and the effect they have on planetary habitability will be an important aspect of the search for alien life in the decades ahead.

It could turn out that Earth's obliquity of 23.5 degrees, like its orbital distance from the Sun, is a "Goldilocks" figure for seasonality - not too extreme in either direction - and therefore ideal for complex life.

"Obliquities of bodies in the Solar System have been studied extensively," said Heller. "But with exoplanets we are entering new territory."

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/High_Planetary_Tilt_Lowers_Odds_for_Life_999.html.

Mars Express radar gives strong evidence for former Mars ocean

Paris, France (ESA)
Feb 08, 2012

ESA's Mars Express has returned strong evidence for an ocean once covering part of Mars. Using radar, it has detected sediments reminiscent of an ocean floor within the boundaries of previously identified, ancient shorelines on Mars.

The MARSIS radar was deployed in 2005 and has been collecting data ever since. Jeremie Mouginot, Institut de Planetologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG) and the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues have analyzed more than two years of data and found that the northern plains are covered in low-density material.

"We interpret these as sedimentary deposits, maybe ice-rich," says Dr Mouginot. "It is a strong new indication that there was once an ocean here."

The existence of oceans on ancient Mars has been suspected before and features reminiscent of shorelines have been tentatively identified in images from various spacecraft. But it remains a controversial issue.

Two oceans have been proposed: 4 billion years ago, when warmer conditions prevailed, and also 3 billion years ago when subsurface ice melted following a large impact, creating outflow channels that drained the water into areas of low elevation.

"MARSIS penetrates deep into the ground, revealing the first 60-80 meters of the planet's subsurface," says Wlodek Kofman, leader of the radar team at IPAG.

"Throughout all of this depth, we see the evidence for sedimentary material and ice."

The sediments revealed by MARSIS are areas of low radar reflectivity. Such sediments are typically low-density granular materials that have been eroded away by water and carried to their final destination.

This later ocean would however have been temporary. Within a million years or less, Dr Mouginot estimates, the water would have either frozen back in place and been preserved underground again, or turned into vapor and lifted gradually into the atmosphere.

"I don't think it could have stayed as an ocean long enough for life to form."

In order to find evidence of life, astrobiologists will have to look even further back in Mars' history when liquid water existed for much longer periods.

Nevertheless, this work provides some of the best evidence yet that there were once large bodies of liquid water on Mars and is further proof of the role of liquid water in the martian geological history.

"Previous Mars Express results about water on Mars came from the study of images and mineralogical data, as well as atmospheric measurements. Now we have the view from the subsurface radar," says Olivier Witasse, ESA's Mars Express Project Scientist.

"This adds new pieces of information to the puzzle but the question remains: where did all the water go?"

Mars Express continues its investigation.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Mars_Express_radar_gives_strong_evidence_for_former_Mars_ocean_999.html.

Iran shipping line masks 'arms vessels'

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UPI)
Feb 7, 2012

Iran's state shipping line is reported to renaming many of its freighters in a bid to circumvent international sanctions on arms transfers and the clandestine supply of high-tech equipment for its contentious nuclear program.

A study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released Jan. 30 said the state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines has renamed 90 of its 123 vessels since 2008, many with innocuous English names like "Bluebell" or "Angel." One was simply named "Alias."

SIPRI reported the company has also reflagged a "significant percentage" of its fleet to further mask its clandestine arms shipments to Tehran's allies, such as Syria, and proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.

This is also intended to confuse U.S. authorities striving to block Iran's acquisition of components and high-tech machinery for what Washington insists is a secret program to develop nuclear weapons.

Western intelligence officials say Iran has consistently used IRISL to transport nuclear components, largely bought clandestinely through front companies in the West.

"The Iranian ships are being shuffled like a deck of cards in a Las Vegas casino," observed Hugh Griffiths, SIPRI arms trafficking expert and one of the authors of the institute's report.

"There is a constant game of cat and mouse being played and the renaming and reflagging of vessels is a way of trying to avoid inspection because of sanctions."

The United States launched a crackdown on IRISL in 2008. Stuart Levey, then U.S. Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, observed that Iran's merchant fleet was "a critical lifeline for Iran's proliferation and evasion.

"Some of Iran's most dangerous cargo continues to come and go from Iran's ports, so we must redouble our vigilance over both their domestic shipping lines and attempts to use third-country shippers and freight forwarders for illicit cargoes."

SIPRI reported that the Iranian shipping companies reflagging efforts, aimed at shielding their vessels from international scrutiny, has meant that on paper the Islamic Republic's maritime fleet has shrunk dramatically.

Until 2011, IRISL was ranked the 23rd largest container line in the world. Now it's not even listed in the top 100.

In 2008, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, invoked regulations designed to freeze the assets of proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and initiated sanctions against IRISL for working with the arms of the Revolutionary Guards Corps that oversees Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

That brought a swift response from companies around the world, which stopped dealing with IRISL.

It was then, the Financial Times reported, that the Iranian company "started to use an array of deceptive and practices to conceal its identity and skirt sanctions -- including falsifying shipping documents, changing names and nominal ownership of vessels and even repainting ships.

"It has also sought to assign vessel ownership to front companies outside Iran," the Financial Times reported.

Most of the vessels originally identified as belonging to IRISL are listed as being owned and operated by companies that don't appear on the U.S. blacklist. These companies are invariably located far from Iran, in places such as Hong Kong, Germany, the Isle of Man, Malta or Cyprus.

But in most cases, international investigators have established from corporate records that these fronts are either run by IRISL officials or are wholly owned by the Iranian company.

IRISL denies any involvement in clandestine weapons or nuclear shipments but the unmasking of its corporate camouflage efforts underline the extent of Tehran's maritime operations.

Lloyd's of London, the international shipping registry, says at least four IRISL vessels have been scuttled.

Lloyd's issues large merchant vessels with unique identifying numbers and tracks them across the globe during their operational lifetimes.

SIPRI reported that in October 2010, Germany removed ships suspected of being owned by IRISL from its shipping registry after the European Union imposed sanctions on the Iranian company.

But, the institute noted, other EU members, including Cyprus and Malta, continue to have Iranian ships on their registries.

Since the U.S. Treasury crackdown began, the United Nations has named three IRISL subsidiaries for international sanctions and granted powers to allow Iranian-flagged ships, and vessels carrying cargoes to or from Iran to be inspected.

The U.S. Treasury later sanctioned five IRISL front companies and 27 ships and identified many IRISL vessels that had been renamed.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_shipping_line_masks_arms_vessels_999.html.

Europe sends in ice-breakers to battle big chill

Belgrade (AFP)
Feb 7, 2012

Authorities employed explosives, icebreakers and tractors Tuesday in the battle to overcome Europe's big freeze, as dozens more died of hypothermia and tens of thousands remained cut off by snow.

Around 400 people have now died from the cold weather in Europe since the cold snap began 11 days ago and forecasters warned there would be no early let-up to some of the lowest temperatures seen in decades.

While there was some respite for people in Ukraine -- where more than 130 deaths have been recorded -- the mercury plunged overnight to minus 39.4 degrees Celsius (-38.9 Fahrenheit) in the Kvilda region of the Czech Republic.

More bodies were found either on the streets, in their cars or in their homes in Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Hungary and across the Balkans.

Authorities in Serbia said that 70,000 people were trapped in snow-bound villages in the south as officials declared an "emergency situation".

In a dramatic effort to prevent two of the country's main waterways from becoming completely blocked, officials called up army explosive experts.

As ice layers threatened to cause widespread floods on the Ibar, Alexander Prodanovic, the country's top water official, said dynamite would be detonated to break up the huge blocks which had formed.

Authorities also hired icebreaking ships from Hungary to ease the flow on the Danube, the main waterway for all commercial shipping in Serbia. The port authority said the Danube was navigable around Belgrade but with difficulty.

There was similar chaos elsewhere in the Balkans with train linking Croatia's central coastal town of Split and the capital Zagreb derailing as a result of a snow drift. There were no reports of injuries.

The army, firefighters and rescue services were trying to get food and medicine to the population in several hundred villages in southern Croatia where snow up to 1.4 meters (4.6 feet) high was piled up.

"This is a disaster, we have been cut off from the rest of the world ... Snowploughs cannot reach us, so we have to walk to get some bread and basic things," Marko Ancic told the Slobodna Dalmacija daily after trekking some 17 kilometers (10 miles) from his village to reach the nearest town.

Large parts of eastern and southern Bosnia were also cut off by the snow and avalanches. There has been no contact since Friday with the hamlet of Zijemlje, some 30 kilometers from the town of Mostar.

"We don't know what is going on there. They have not had electricity since Friday and phone lines are cut, they have no running water," Radovan Palavestra, the mayor of Mostar, told AFP.

"There are elderly people who are very fragile and children including a baby of two months."

A helicopter which should have flown in aid to Zijemlje was unable to take off Tuesday morning because of heavy snowfall.

In Romania, two heavily pregnant women had to be flown out by helicopter in the eastern area of Iasi after their villages were completely cut off. Another pregnant woman had to be ferried to hospital by tractor in the eastern Paltinis area after her ambulance became stuck in the snow.

Schools were shut in large parts of the country, including Bucharest, while many train services were cancelled. Around 40 percent of roads were also closed, although flights did resume from Bucharest airport.

Snowstorms lashed Bulgaria, a day after eight people drowned in raging rivers and the icy waters from a broken dam that submerged a whole village to the southeast.

A Briton living on the Greek island of Symi drowned in a river which had been swollen by heavy rains as he tried to move his moped to safety.

The numbers killed by hypothermia in Poland rose to 68 after the authorities there recorded another six deaths in the last 24 hours. The majority of those who have died were homeless, many of whom had been drinking heavily.

The cold snap has also seen a sharp rise in the number of people being killed by carbon monoxide poisoning from faulty gas heaters.

According to the state weather forecaster in Ukraine, temperatures there could rise to a relatively modest minus six degrees. But the respite will be short-lived with temperatures expected to plunge to minus 30 by the weekend.

The UN weather service said temperatures would remain low until March.

"We might expect the change in the current cold wave to to start easing from the start of next week up to the end of the month," Omar Baddour, a scientist at the World Meteorological Organization, told reporters.

It was a similar message from Britain where forecasters said the cold spell could last for two more weeks and heavy snow at the weekend.

And in France, authorities appealed to households to save power where possible as they predicted electricity use could hit a record high.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Europe_sends_in_ice-breakers_to_battle_big_chill_999.html.

Commerce returns to Iran-Iraq border river

Al-Nashwa, Iraq (AFP)
Feb 7, 2012

Commercial traffic has resumed on the strategic Shatt al-Arab waterway after a three-decade break with the official opening of a port for oil giant Shell, an Iraqi official said on Tuesday.

Part of the 200-kilometre-long (120 miles) waterway forms a section of the border with Iran.

An unresolved boundary dispute was a major reason for the 1980-1988 war between Iraq and Iran that resulted in the waterway's closure.

"The Shatt al-Arab is reborn again after being closed for 31 years," Mehdi Badah Hussein, head of a joint committee to develop Majnoon oil field, told AFP at a ceremony to open the port.

"There are other harbors on the Shatt al-Arab, but commercially, this is the first time Iraq succeeded in turning the Shatt al-Arab into a maritime passage which will help in transporting heavy equipment," Hussein said.

Dia Khalil, an Iraqi engineer and joint committee member, told AFP the journey up the Shatt al-Arab to the new port is about 80 kilometers (50 miles), and that ships will pay customs fees in Umm Qasr to the south before heading to the new harbor.

A consortium of Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell and Malaysia's Petronas signed a contract with Iraq in January 2010 to operate the enormous Majnoon field.

"We believe this is the first jetty harbor to bring in ships that can come from all over the world back off the river with heavy equipment in 31 years," Shell Majnoon general manager Ole Myklestad told AFP.

"This is very important," Myklestad said at the ceremony. "I hope that ships leaving this harbor in the future will also be carrying goods."

Myklestad said the first ship arrived at the harbor on January 5 and clarified that the port would not be used to export oil which is to be carried by pipeline.

"This is a happy day," said Khalaf Wadi, deputy manager of Iraq's Southern Oil Co, a partner with Shell and Petronas. "We are officially opening the first commercial jetty in the Shatt al-Arab since the start of the war with Iran."

The port's main function will be to facilitate the transportation of equipment to the massive Majnoon oil field.

But ordinance in the field, which was a major battleground during the eight-year war with Iran, poses a danger.

Simon Mawdslag, Shell's Explosive Remnants of War Coordinator, said "over 4,000 individual items of ordinance" have been located and removed from a roughly eight square kilometer (three square mile) area -- the only part cleared so far.

"These items are handed over to the Iraqi armed forces and their explosive ordinance disposal team. They actually do the destruction of the items," he said.

The Majnoon field was discovered in 1975 by Brazilian firm Petrobras but its work was interrupted in 1980 by the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war, after it had drilled 20 wells.

In 1990, French firm total negotiated a contract for the field but was unable to sign due to international sanctions after Saddam Hussein's Iraq invaded Kuwait in August of that year.

Oil sales account for the vast majority of Iraqi government income and around two-thirds of gross domestic product.

Source: Energy-Daily.
Link: http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Commerce_returns_to_Iran-Iraq_border_river_999.html.

China to face electricity shortages?

Beijing (UPI) Feb 7, 2012

China could face power supply outages this year due to a shortage of coal, China's Electricity Council warned.

CEC, an association representing power firms, estimates the country's power shortages to reach 40 million kilowatts in 2012, compared with a 30 million kilowatt shortage in 2011, it said on its Web site.

China relies on coal for more than 70 percent of its energy needs.

To address electricity supply shortages, CEC recommended differentiating electricity charges, limiting exports of electricity-consuming products and increasing the development of hydropower and nuclear power plants.

Acknowledging projections that China's economy -- the world's second biggest -- is headed for a slowdown in 2012, CEC said the country's power supply could still be affected by other factors besides energy-consuming economic growth, including strained coal supply and drought, which could threaten hydropower.

CEC urged China's coal sector to increase coal production and imports and also to restrict exports of the raw commodity.

CEC projects coal usage by China's power plants to reach 150 million tons in 2012, requiring an extra 300 million tons of new coal supplies.

Aside from pressures on China's energy supplies from economic development, the country's now-regular power shortages are also caused by struggle between the coal and electric power industries over the price of coal supplied to power stations, says Tim Wright, author of "The Political Economy of the Chinese Coal Industry: Black Gold and Blood Stained Coal."

"The power stations, who have to accept electricity prices fixed by the state, have argued that they cannot afford the ever-increasing price of their main fuel, coal," Wright told The Wall Street Journal.

"The state has attempted to pressure the mines to supply coal at cheaper prices but of course this has reduced the mines' incentive to produce, resulting in occasional shortages and power cuts."

Figures from the National Energy Administration indicate that China used a total of 4.69 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity in 2011, an increase of 11.7 percent from 2010.

Broken down by sector, industries including manufacturing, water and electricity production consumed 3.52 trillion kilowatts in 2011, an increase of 11.9 percent from 2010; industries including agriculture, livestock husbandry, fisheries and forestry used 101.5 billion kilowatts of electricity, an increase of 3.9 percent; service industries used 508.2 billion kilowatts, an increase of 13.5 percent; and households, including urban and township residents, used 564.6 billion kilowatts, up 10.8 percent from 2010.

Source: Energy-Daily.
Link: http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/China_to_face_electricity_shortages_999.html.

Hezbollah says gets support, not orders, from Iran

Tuesday, February 07, 2012
By Laila Bassam

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah acknowledged Tuesday for the first time that his militant movement received financial and material support from Iran, but denied it took instructions from the Islamic Republic.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah previously only confirmed Iranian political and moral backing because it did not want "to embarrass our brothers in Iran," but had changed policy because Iran's leadership had announced its support in public.

"Yes, we received moral, and political and material support in all possible forms from the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1982," Nasrallah told supporters by videolink in a speech marking the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammad.

"In the past we used to tell half the story and stay silent on the other half ... When they asked us about the material and financial and military support we were silent."

Nasrallah said Iran had not issued orders to Hezbollah since the movement was founded 30 years ago, adding that if Israel attacked Iran's nuclear sites, the leadership in Iran "would not ask anything of Hezbollah."

He said if that were to happen, Hezbollah's own leadership would "sit down, think and decide what to do."

Speculation has grown that Israel might be planning to attack Iranian nuclear facilities after strong public comments by Israeli leaders about Iran's atomic ambitions.

Many analysts believe that in the event of an Israeli attack on Iran, Hezbollah - which fought a punishing 34-day war with Israel in 2006 - would attack the Jewish state.

Nasrallah's statement will not surprise world powers, including The United States, which lists the group as a terrorist organization, and says it has military support from Iran and Syria.

Hezbollah was set up 30 years ago by Iran's Revolutionary Guards to fight Israeli forces which had invaded Lebanon.

DENIES MONEY LAUNDERING

Nasrallah denied U.S. charges that his movement was involved in money laundering or drugs smuggling, saying Iran's support meant the movement was not in need of cash.

Federal prosecutors in the United States said in December three Lebanese financial institutions linked to Hezbollah laundered more than $240 million through the U.S. used car market.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials have also said Hezbollah has become involved in the drug trade, facilitating distribution and sale of cocaine in West Africa.

Nasrallah said Hezbollah was not involved in money laundering, nor in drug smuggling which was religiously forbidden. "No drugs, no money laundering and not trade at all," he said of Hezbollah activities.

The Hezbollah leader also defended his support for close ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is trying to crush an 11-month uprising against his rule. The United Nations says Assad's crackdown on protests has killed 5,000 people.

Nasrallah, who has praised the uprisings in other Arab countries which toppled three entrenched leaders last year, said Assad still enjoyed support from the army and a large section of the population, and criticized Syria's opposition for rejecting Assad's promised reforms and offers of dialogue.

"They say we don't want dialogue and we don't want reform (because) it's too late ... It's too late when there is fighting in Syria and there are people pushing it to civil war?"

"They are betting on the West, on America, on money and weapons to overthrow the regime. But this is a losing bet," he added.

(Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: The Star.
Link: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/2/8/worldupdates/2012-02-07T220222Z_1_TRE81629O_RTROPTT_0_UK-LEBANON-HEZBOLLAH.

Nasrallah: No government change

February 08, 2012
By Hussein Dakroub
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah ruled out Tuesday a government change, disclosing that contacts have been initiated with the aim of ending a row between Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.

Although Cabinet has been riven by political differences since it was formed last June and is currently at a standstill, Nasrallah stressed that the continuation of Mikati’s government, which is dominated by Hezbollah and its March 8 allies, was essential for the country’s security and stability.

Nasrallah also reiterated his support for embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying “a real dialogue table” between the government and the opposition was the only solution to end the 11-month-old turmoil in Syria.

“We are keen on the Cabinet to stay in office. There is no need for mediation given that it is everyone’s responsibility. There are ongoing contacts that will lead to a solution for this crisis,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech on the occasion of Prophet Mohammad’s birthday which was marked in the Arab and Muslim worlds last week.

Nasrallah scoffed at calls by the opposition March 14 politicians for the formation of a new technocrat government in view of the constant rifts between Mikati and ministers from Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc.

“There will be no new government,” he said, speaking via video link to a large crowd of Hezbollah’s supporters at a complex in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“Regardless of its labeling, this government is so far the basis for stability in the country. We must work hard in order [for the government] to achieve something,” Nasrallah said, adding: “Now is not the time for the toppling of governments, neither [is it] the time for political tension in Lebanon.”

He rejected March 14 accusations that Mikati’s 30-member Cabinet was a Hezbollah-controlled Cabinet.

“I say to those who have started to fix their suits and neckties for a new government, there will be no new government,” Nasrallah said.

He did not elaborate on the efforts being made to resolve the Cabinet crisis. But a senior Hezbollah official told The Daily Star Monday that the party has begun behind-the-scene contacts aimed at resolving the Cabinet crisis sparked last week following sharp differences between Mikati and Aoun’s ministers over the thorny issue of civil service appointments.

The government crisis began last week when Mikati abruptly ended a Cabinet session after ministers from Aoun’s bloc rejected the prime minister’s proposed names for appointments to the Higher Disciplinary Committee.

Mikati has implicitly accused Aoun’s ministers of obstructing the Cabinet’s work, saying he will not allow anyone to undermine the prime minister’s prerogatives. Mikati has since said that he will not resume Cabinet sessions before agreement is reached on a formula to make the government productive.

But Aoun hit back at both Mikati and President Michel Sleiman Tuesday, blaming them for the Cabinet crisis. “They [Sleiman and Mikati] don’t want us to reach to the higher positions in the state,” Aoun told reporters after chairing a weekly meeting of his bloc.

In his speech, Nasrallah denied media reports that Hezbollah was involved in money laundering or drugs trafficking to fund the group’s resistance against Israel. He also denied media reports that Hezbollah was involved in any commercial ventures in or outside Lebanon.

But he acknowledged Hezbollah has been receiving moral, political and financial support from Iran since the party was founded in 1982. In his speech, Nasrallah renewed his support for Assad in the face of what he said was a decision by the United States, the West, Israel and some moderate Arab states to topple the Assad regime.

Nasrallah said a solution to end the violence in Syria lay in “a real dialogue table” coupled with Assad’s readiness to carry out political reforms. “Betting on America and money and weapons is a losing bet,” he said.

“The Syrian leadership has agreed to most of the reforms demanded and it is ready for dialogue. Now they [the opposition] are saying it is too late. How is it too late when a war is raging in Syria and when there are some who are pushing Syria to a civil war?” Nasrallah said. “Whoever cares about Syria would never say that it was too late but would instead go to dialogue without prior conditions for the resignation of the president.”

Nasrallah categorically denied opposition claims that his group was fighting along with government forces against protesters and rebel groups in Syria.

Source: The Daily Star.
Link: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Feb-08/162576-nasrallah-no-government-change.ashx.

Spy chief nominated as Romania's new premier

February 06, 2012 — BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania's president has nominated foreign espionage chief Mihai Razvan Ungureanu as the country's new prime minister.

The announcement from President Traian Basescu came after Romania's government collapsed Monday following weeks of protests against austerity measures. It is the latest debt-stricken government in Europe to fall in the face of raising public anger over biting cuts.

Emil Boc, who has been prime minister since 2008, said earlier that he was resigning "to defuse political and social tension" and make way for a new government after thousands of Romanians took to the streets in January to protest salary cuts, higher taxes and widespread perception that the government was not interested in the problems of ordinary people in this nation of 22 million.

Libya plans to recruit Jordanians to help in rebuilding

Feb 08, 2012

Premier, delegates discuss with officials prospects of cooperation.

AMMAN — Jordan on Tuesday offered to put all its capabilities and expertise at the disposal of the new Libya as the Arab country goes through a rebuilding stage.

A senior Libyan official said his country is interested in the offer, adding that Tripoli is particularly interested in Jordanian human resources.

The message was carried to the Libyan leadership by Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh and a wide-ranging delegation of officials and businessmen, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The premier held talks in Tripoli with National Transitional Council (NTC) Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil over ways to develop relations in the post-Qadhafi era.

For his part, Abdul Jalil expressed gratitude for His Majesty King Abdullah and Jordan’s political, humanitarian and logistic support to Libya, which will always be remembered by the Libyan people.

During the Libyan revolution against Qadhafi’s 42-year rule, Amman worked under an international coalition mandated by the UN to protect civilians.

After the regime change, Jordan undertook to train around 10,000 Libyan troops, while approximately 20,000 Libyans, including people injured during the revolt, have arrived in the Kingdom to receive treatment at its hospitals, according to officials.

Abdul Jalil voiced appreciation of the King’s gesture to deploy a Jordanian military hospital to the Libyan city of Benghazi, noting that the medical cadres have been not only treating Libyan patients but also extending their medical expertise to Libyan medical staff.

Libya is also expected to offer Jordanians jobs to help it in the rebuilding efforts, while the private sector eyes contracts in an array of projects designed to change the face of the oil-rich North African country.

According to Petra, Abdul Jalil said his country plans to benefit from Jordan’s expertise in various fields and from its “distinguished and highly qualified” human resources, especially in medical care, adding: “We are looking forward to benefiting from the Jordanian human resources which will be the basis of our future relations.”

Also during the meeting, HRH Prince Mired, chairman of the National Committee for De-mining and Rehabilitation noted that the agency is “fully ready” to extend its support and guidance to the Libyans to help remove mines scattered on their land.

Several ministers and senior officials accompanying Khasawneh made presentations to their Libyan counterparts on ways through which various Jordanian sectors can help Libya.

In this regard, Libya’s interim Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abushagur noted that his country, after the difficult situation it faced, is in need of a “complete overhaul”, and the government plans to benefit from the expertise of the Arab and Islamic states, adding that “priority will be given to Jordan due to its advanced expertise in various spheres”.

The delegation included Prince Mired, Minister of Justice Salim Al Zoubi, Minister of Industry and Trade Sami Gammoh, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Rowaida Maaitah, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Bassem Roussan, Minister of Transport Alaa Batayneh, Minister of Health Abdul Latif Wreikat, Minister of Public Works and Housing Yahya Kisbi, Minister of Labour Maher Wakid, Minister of Public Sector Development Khleif Al Khawaldeh, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Klaib Fawaz and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Qutaiba Abu Qura.

The Jordanian delegation also comprised secretaries general of several ministries, directors of public agencies, heads of parliamentary committees as well as representatives of chambers of trade and finance, professional associations and businessmen.

Also on Tuesday, Khasawneh met with Libya’s interim Prime Minister Abdurrahim Al Kib. The two stressed the need to continue cooperation and coordination between Jordan and Libya.

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/libya-plans-to-recruit-jordanians-to-help-in-rebuilding.

Teachers strike continues for second day

by Laila Azzeh
Feb 08,2012

Gov’t downplays extent of work stoppage, but teachers, parents say otherwise.

AMMAN – As a nationwide strike by public school teachers entered its second day on Tuesday, activists warned that the government’s “silence” and “negativity” in dealing with the teachers’ demands will only “make things worse for all involved parties”.

Ministry of Education Spokesperson Ayman Barakat issued a statement yesterday saying that classes were held as usual in many schools across Jordan, while some schools only held certain classes, and teachers refused to teach at all in others.

However, teachers and parents claimed that more teachers took part in the strike yesterday than on Monday, expressing their “surprise” over the government’s stance in “playing down the protest”.

“Students, especially those in secondary school, are the ones most harmed by the teachers’ escalatory measures… they are victims of the government’s inflexibility and the teachers’ insistence on using students to place pressure [on the government],” said Saeed Qatameen, who has three sons that attend a public school in Tafileh.

Parents gathered outside several schools in various governorates yesterday, threatening to head to court if teachers continue their work stoppage and asking the government to intervene so their children can start their spring semester, describing the teachers’ action as “irresponsible”.

“Parents should understand that improving the situation of teachers is a win-win situation,” Raed Azzam of the Amman Free Teachers Committee countered, asking how parents believe that teachers who spend their nights “frying falafel” can provide their children a proper education.

Yesterday’s strike, which activists said took place in more than 90 per cent of the Kingdom’s state schools, took a new turn when directors of the schools and education departments started “threatening” and “interrogating” teachers.

“They wanted to pressure teachers to end their strike by terrorizing them,” Azzam charged, stressing that this act is considered a “dangerous turn in an already appalling situation”.

Barakat voiced the ministry’s commitment to communicate with teachers and meet their “achievable” demands.

The teachers’ main demand is an increase in their professional allowance from 70 per cent to 100 per cent of their basic salary.

Under the recently enacted public sector salary restructuring plan, allowances of all workers in the education sector were unified at 70 per cent of their basic salary.

The ministry has proposed raising the allowance from 70 to 80 per cent retroactively from the beginning of this year and phasing in the remaining 20 per cent in 2013 and 2014, but the compromise offer was met with outrage, as teachers said they have been waiting for their full professional allowance for more than 16 years.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Sector Development Khleif Al Khawaldeh underlined that raises in the salaries of teachers and employees in the education ministry under the salary restructuring plan are considered “rewarding” in light of the difficult economic situation, especially when compared to the raises granted to other public sector employees.

In a statement to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, he added that the salary restructuring plan will cost the government JD110 million after its latest decision to raise teachers’ professional allowances gradually over three years, which he said would cost JD76 million or 61 per cent of the total cost of the restructuring plan.

Khawaldeh underlined that the government’s decision to raise the professional allowance to 100 per cent over three years was “out of its commitment to the role teachers play in the educational process”.

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/teachers-strike-continues-for-second-day.

Jordanians join Syrians to protest Russia's UN veto

by Muath Freij
Feb 08,2012

AMMAN — Around 100 Jordanians and Syrians gathered outside the Russian embassy on Tuesday in protest against the Russian veto of a UN Security Council resolution to condemn the Syrian regime’s crackdown on protesters.

Organized by the Jordanian Commission to Support the Syrian People (JCSSP), the one-hour demonstration was the third held outside the Russian embassy since the beginning of this month.

JCSSP President Ali Abul Sukkar said yesterday’s demonstration was held to denounce Russia’s veto, which he said provided the Syrian regime with a license to continue killing its people.

He noted that the JCSSP’s demonstrations are meant not only to express solidarity with Syrians, but also to help raise awareness among Jordanians of the need to support refugees.

“We are encouraging charitable societies to raise funds and distribute clothing to Syrian refugees across the Kingdom. We hope that international organizations take notice of the Syrian refugees, because their numbers are increasing,” Abul Sukkar told The Jordan Times during the protest yesterday.

“We have representatives in the governorates of Karak, Maan, Irbid and Zarqa. We try to help as much as possible,” he added.

Abul Sukkar indicated that businessmen are also cooperating with the JCSSP by hiring some Syrian refugees to help them earn a living.

“Unfortunately some refugees are not able to work because of the psychological shock caused by the massacres in Syria,” the JCSSP president stressed.

Some 3,000 Syrian refugees have registered with the UNHCR in Jordan, while estimates of their total number range from 4,000 to 8,000.

Abul Sukkar explained that the situation in Syria is of particular concern to Jordanians, motivating them to go into the streets to protest the violence.

“Photos and videos of massacres in Syria are really awful and they encourage Jordanians to participate in any demonstration or event that can help support Syrian refugees,” he said.

Raeda Atoum, a Jordanian demonstrator, agreed, adding that Syrians and Jordanians are brothers.

“A group of my friends are collecting money and clothing for refugees. The massacres are a tragedy for both Jordanians and Syrians,” she said.

Atoum noted that she took part in yesterday’s demonstration to denounce the negative stance of Russia.

“Although the number of killings is increasing significantly, I sense that the last days of [Syrian President] Bashar Assad are about to come,” she told The Jordan Times.

Omar Masri, another protester, asserted that Russia’s position on Syria has ruined its “bright image” in the Arab world.

He also denounced the Arab states’ unwillingness to take action to stop the violence in Syria, adding that the only thing they can do is denounce.

Haitham Yasin, another Jordanian protester, claimed that Russia used its veto only to assert its relevance in the international community.

“They also wanted to oppose the US,” he said.

Aziza, a Syrian protester who refused to reveal her full name, stated that only God will help them defeat the regime.

“We are not waiting for the Security Council or any other party’s help. God and the Free Syrian Army will overcome the regime,” she said.

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://jordantimes.com/jordanians-join-syrians-to-protest-russias-un-veto.