Palestine protesters disrupt Israeli concert in UK

Friday 02/09/2011

LONDON (AFP) -- Pro-Palestinian demonstrators repeatedly interrupted a performance by Israel's Philharmonic Orchestra at London's famed Proms festival in a protest against its links with the Israeli army.

Security was tightened before the show at London's famous Royal Albert Hall after protesters set up camp outside and urged concert-goers to "rip up their tickets".

However, the measures could not prevent a group of around 30 demonstrators from loudly booing and shouting as soloist Gil Shaham prepared to play Max Bruch's violin concerto.

BBC Radio 3, which was broadcasting the event, temporarily took the performance off air.

"We regret that as a result of sustained audience disruption within the concert hall which affected the ability to hear the music, tonight's Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Prom was taken off air," a BBC statement said.

Palestine campaign director Sarah Colborne earlier called on "those who support peace and human rights" not to attend.

"The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's services to the Israeli army continue up to the present day, performing for Israeli soldiers at army outposts," she said.

The concert was conducted by Zubin Mehta, who is celebrating 50 years with the orchestra, which last played at the festival in 2003.

The Proms, which is run by the BBC, is a world-renowned eight-week season of around 100 classical concerts that has been running since 1895.

A spokesman for the BBC said the invitation was "a purely musical one".

"We will be having extra security as protesters could get into the hall but there will be bag searches of the audience which they will be alerted to," the spokesman said before the concert.

Source: Ma'an News Agency.
Link: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=417197.

Opportunity Begins Study of Martian Crater

Pasadena CA (JPL)
Sep 02, 2011

The initial work of NASA's Mars rover Opportunity at its new location on Mars shows surface compositional differences from anything the robot has studied in its first 7.5 years of exploration.

Opportunity arrived three weeks ago at the rim of a 14-mile-wide (22-kilometer-wide) crater named Endeavor. The first rock it examined is flat-topped and about the size of a footstool. It was apparently excavated by an impact that dug a crater the size of a tennis court into the crater's rim. The rock was informally named "Tisdale 2."

"This is different from any rock ever seen on Mars," said Steve Squyres, principal investigator for Opportunity at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.

"It has a composition similar to some volcanic rocks, but there's much more zinc and bromine than we've typically seen. We are getting confirmation that reaching Endeavor really has given us the equivalent of a second landing site for Opportunity."

The diversity of fragments in Tisdale 2 could be a prelude to other minerals Opportunity might find at Endeavor. In the past two weeks, researchers have used an instrument on the rover's robotic arm to identify elements at several spots on Tisdale 2. Scientists have also examined the rock using the rover's microscopic imager and multiple filters of its panoramic camera.

Observations by Mars orbiters suggest that rock exposures on Endeavor's rim date from early in Martian history and include clay minerals that form in less-acidic wet conditions, possibly more favorable for life.

Discontinuous ridges are all that remains of the ancient crater's rim. The ridge at the section of the rim where Opportunity arrived is named "Cape York." A gap between Cape York and the next rim fragment to the south is called "Botany Bay."

"On the final traverses to Cape York, we saw ragged outcrops at Botany Bay unlike anything Opportunity has seen so far, and a bench around the edge of Cape York looks like sedimentary rock that's been cut and filled with veins of material possibly delivered by water," said Ray Arvidson, the rover's deputy principal investigator at Washington University in St. Louis. "We made an explicit decision to examine ancient rocks of Cape York first."

The science team selected Endeavor as Opportunity's long-term destination after the rover climbed out of Victoria crater three years ago this week. The mission spent two years studying Victoria, which is about one twenty-fifth as wide as Endeavor.

Layers of bedrock exposed at Victoria and other locations Opportunity has visited share a sulfate-rich composition linked to an ancient era when acidic water was present.

Opportunity drove about 13 miles (21 kilometers) from Victoria to reach Endeavor. It has driven 20.8 miles (33.5 kilometers) since landing on Mars.

"We have a very senior rover in good health for having already worked 30 times longer than planned," said John Callas, project manager for Opportunity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"However, at any time, we could lose a critical component on an essential rover system, and the mission would be over. Or, we might still be using this rover's capabilities beneficially for years. There are miles of exciting geology to explore at Endeavor crater."

Opportunity and its rover twin, Spirit, completed three-month prime missions in April 2004 and continued working for years of extended missions. Both have made important discoveries about wet environments on ancient Mars that may have been favorable for supporting microbial life. Spirit ended communications in March 2010.

"This is like having a brand new landing site for our veteran rover," said Dave Lavery, program executive for NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It is a remarkable bonus that comes from being able to rove on Mars with well-built hardware that lasts."

NASA will launch its next-generation Mars rover, Curiosity, between Nov. 25 and Dec. 18, 2011. It will land on Mars in August 2012. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Opportunity_Begins_Study_of_Martian_Crater_999.html.

Poachers Feel the Long Arm of New Law

By Arsène Séverin

BRAZZAVILLE, Aug 26, 2011 (IPS) - Authorities in the Republic of Congo are showing an encouraging new readiness to arrest and prosecute people trading in endangered species.

Chen Xiongbing, a Chinese national, was sentenced to four years in prison on Aug. 10 in the Congolese capital, Brazzaville, for "possession and trafficking of tusks and other ivory objects".

Apprehended in January 2011 at the Brazzaville airport as he attempted to fly to Beijing, Chen was also ordered to pay a 6,000 dollar fine and 8,000 dollars in damages to the government.

The civil engineer's sentence - for attempting to smuggle five large ivory tusks, three statuettes, several carved document seals and numerous other ivory items - was unprecedented for a wildlife smuggling case in this central African country.

The completion of Chen's case follows the March conviction of Congolese citizen Jules Ngami, who was sentenced to 15 months in prison and a 600 dollar fine for "possession and commercialization" of two leopard skins. Around the same time, three other traffickers in leopard pelts began serving their 12- month sentences in Brazzaville prison - they were each also assessed a 1,000 dollar fine.

These convictions of wildlife smugglers are a new phenomenon in Congo. Previously, rangers and forestry and water officials only impounded cargoes of prohibited species. The payment of a minor fine was enough for the offense to be forgotten.

There was for a long time no law specifically covering the hunting of or trade in protected species. But Congo, having ratified the international treaties including CITES - the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora - has reviewed and revised its domestic legislation, explained lawyer Ghislaine Mayoulou.

Nearly two-thirds of Congo's surface area is forested - 11.6 percent of the country has been designated as protected areas. Congo has three national parks, six game reserves and several sanctuaries for chimpanzees and gorillas. A number of international organizations are working alongside the government to protect threatened animal species.

In November 2008, the Congolese government adopted a Law for the Protection of Wild Animals and Protected Areas which explicitly forbids "the export, import and commercialization of protected animals or their parts".

"It's thanks to this legislation that law enforcement agents have begun to track poachers and traffickers of prohibited species," William Nguembaud, a Brazzaville lawyer and environmentalist, told IPS.

"We are helping the government to send a message of zero tolerance to ivory traffickers," said Naftali Honig, head of PALF, a wildlife law enforcement project. "We decided to support the government in this way, because the application of the law is the part which is lacking in conservation. But there is still much to do."

In the interior of the country, even three years after its passage, few people know about the law on wildlife, and many continue to butcher protected animals. In March 2011, a trafficker in leopard skins was arrested at the Tiétié market in Pointe-Noire, the economic capital in the south of the country.

At major intersections in some of the country's large towns, large billboards have been set up, showing the list of protected species. "We are trying to raise public awareness of this new law," said Honig.

"The hunters don't respect the law, and hunt without permits. But if we catch them, we enforce the law," said Pierre Kama, head of conservation and wildlife management at the Ministry for the Forest Economy.

But the crackdown on trade in endangered species has had some undesirable effects. Rangers have carried out violent searches of entire villages, beating up anyone caught with even a scrap of meat suspected to come from a protected species.

"The people living near wildlife parks have suffered humiliation or beatings, sometimes for nothing more than possession of a simple ground squirrel," said Roger Bouka Owoko, the executive director of the Congolese Human Rights Observatory and author of a 2006 report on the poor treatment of indigenous populations.

Non-governmental organizations believe that some prominent people are involved in this traffic. "We welcome the fact that the poachers have been tried and sentenced. But, the links making up the rest of their networks are still unknown. For example, in the traffic in ivory, the customers are not bothered," said Bouka Owoko.

"Often, government officials arm the hunters to kill protected species. The same people help traffickers to sell their product in the city," said Vivien Ilahou, president of Congo Environment, an NGO based at Dolisie, in the southwest.

In April, at the northern town of Ouesso, seven people - including four rangers employed by the government - were convicted of trafficking in ivory and leopard skins. They were transferred to detention in Brazzaville to serve sentences of between 12 and 24 months.

Paul Telfer, head of the U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society's Congo program in Brazzaville, said "Corruption in conservation is not acceptable. The rangers must be more honest."

Source: Inter-Press Service (IPS).
Link: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=104903.

Princess accuses Riyadh of corruption

Fri Sep 2, 2011

Saudi Princess Basma bint Saud has accused the Riyadh regime of corruption, saying a vast majority of the Persian Gulf country's population are living in poverty, Press TV has learnt.

The princess, a niece of King Abdullah and a social activist and prominent supporter of women's rights in Saudi Arabia, has said that some 95 percent of the country live below the country's poverty-line and have no access to water and electricity.

This is while the remaining five percent enjoy the country's wealth.

She also accused Saudi officials of pocketing more than USD 21 billion that were supposed to be invested in order to expand the holy mosque in Mecca.

Mohammad al-Qahtani, the head of the Saudi Civil and political Rights Association, confirmed the allegations, saying that the country's princes possess all the power and wealth in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Qahtani further accused the regime of holding thousands of political prisoners without charging them.

Saudi Arabia has long been accused of having one of the world's most repressive regimes.

Several right groups and international bodies including the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have frequently condemned the Saudi regime for their widespread violation of human rights.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to ban women, both Saudi and foreign nationals, from driving.

The state has no written ban on women driving, but Saudi law requires citizens to use a locally issued license while in the country. Such licenses are not issued for women, making it effectively illegal for them to drive.

Women are also barred from voting, except for chamber of commerce elections in two cities in recent years, while no woman can become a cabinet member.

Less than three months ago, the princess had called on Saudi rulers to be more open to change, stressing that no Arab country is immune to the wave of popular movements in the region.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/197005.html.

Bahrainis hold funeral for teen victim

Thu Sep 1, 2011

Tension runs high in Bahrain as tens of thousands attend a funeral ceremony held for a 14-year-old teenager, who was brutally killed by security forces after Eid al-Fitr prayers, Press TV reports.

Bahraini security forces resorted to firing tear gas and live rounds in vain to disperse the angry people who took to the streets in towns and villages around the capital, Manama, on Thursday to condemn the killing of the boy.

Ali Jawad was killed on Wednesday when he was shot at close range, directly in the face, by a tear gas canister fired by Saudi-backed security forces in the southern city of Sitra.

Large crowds of people, among them human rights activists, participated in the funeral for the young victim, shouting slogans against the ruling Al Khalifa family. “Death to Al Khalifa,” chanted the outraged protesters.

Separately, people have held demonstrations in several cities and villages across Bahrain to condemn the murder of the teenage boy by the regime forces.

The Manama regime has, however, claimed that all the evidence in the teenager's death suggested foul play, saying it was still investigating the incident.

The killing of Jawad comes a few days after a televised speech by Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, announced a decision to pardon the demonstrators arrested during the country's popular uprising that broke out in February.

During his Sunday speech, King Hamad also promised to reinstate employees and students who have been dismissed for participating in anti-regime protests.

The remarks were immediately met with street protests by Bahraini people and activists, who deem the remarks as an insult to hundreds of political activists held in regime prisons and the majority of Bahraini public who have turned against the US- and Saudi-backed Al Khalifa regime.

“The picture of the situation on the ground is totally different from the speech he delivered,” said President of Bahrain Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab, referring to the continued killing of protesters, attacking and looting of houses and demolishing mosques and holy places by the Saudi-backed regime.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/196890.html.

Turkey cuts all military ties with Israel

Fri Sep 2, 2011

Turkey has suspended all its military ties with Israel and has expelled Israel's envoy from Ankara over Tel Aviv's refusal to apologize for last year's deadly attack on a Gaza-bound flotilla, Press TV reports.

The Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made the announcement in a press conference on Friday and said, “The time has come for Israel to pay for its stance that sees it above international laws and disregards human conscience."

"At this point the measures we are taking are: The relations between Turkey and Israel will be downgraded to second secretary level. All officials over the level of second secretary, primarily the ambassador will turn back to their country at the latest on Wednesday," added Davutoglu.

Relations between Turkey and Israel began to deteriorate after the Israeli military attacked the Gaza-bound relief aid convoy Freedom Flotilla in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea in May 2010, killing nine Turkish citizens on board the Turkish-flagged M.V. Mavi Marmara and injuring at least 50 other activist that were part of the team on the six-ship convoy.

Turkey's President Abduallah Gul says expulsion of Israeli envoy is just the first step in many possible measures taken against Israel if it persists in its refusal to apologize.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/197024.html.

World War 3? Unlikely

by Ammaar ibn Walid
The Star Trail Lines Writer

The 19th of April 2012, Wednesday

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful...

Within the last several years, there have been people from different aspects of life spreading what are only rumors these days. Rumors of a third World War happening or going to happen in the near future. Personally I don't believe in such rumors or such a thing happening. I would like to look into different scenarios that some rumors might use to support their claim of a third World War happening. First though I would like to summarize the first two World Wars.

World War 1 was at first called the Great War. It happened in Europe and in parts of the Middle East. What I call the Great Arab Disgrace happened during that time. It happened during the period between 1914 and 1918. It was between the "Allies" and "Central Forces". The Central Forces were Germany, the Ottoman Khilafa and Austria. The allies were already known. The Zionists of that time might have initiated it in order to destroy the Ottoman Khilafa. As such the Global Oligarchy manipulated the Arabs in Hijaz to "help" vanquish or fight the Ottoman Khilafa in the Middle East. The results were the Great Arab Disgrace. The results of the war were the territory of the Ottoman Khilafa decreased greatly to only that of what is currently Turkey, among other stuff.

World War 2 followed World War 1 after a short period of turmoil in Europe. It was indeed a "World War" as it occurred not only in Europe, but also in Africa and Asia. Once again the Zionists were pulling the strings and the Nazis of Germany led by Hitler were fighting against the Zionists and the Global Oligarchy. The German entrance into Russia and entrance into other parts of Europe (excluding the Iberian Peninsula) was a start. It was only with the help of the U.S. and the blunder of the German air force against the weakened British forces, which changed the tide however slow it was.

The end result was Germany being divided into West Germany controlled by the U.S. and its allies, and East Germany controlled by Russia. World War 2 might have extended longer if Russia didn't control half of Berlin, with the Global Oligarchy wanting to go after Russia, or the Soviet Union at the time.

Part of the end result of World War 2 was the Zionists arriving in Palestine to create their fictitious "homeland". Under the Zionists' lies of the Holohoax, the Global Oligarchy was open to Palestine having a foreign presence in it.

With the tensions across the world as they are now, one might make the invalid mistake that there would be a World War 3. The U.S. and its allies are already stretched in forces on foreign bases in lands that aren't theirs. That's one, but they are also stretched with their invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention their assaults on Somalia and Yemen.

Russia is still weak and recoiling from the collapse of its former power of the Soviet Union. Not to mention they are busy in battling the Mujahideen in the Caucasus Emirate. China and India have their own problems with Kashmir and East Turkestan as well.

One scenario or rumor might have to deal with Iran, with Iran being the trigger that would lead to World War 3. One way that might happen would be the reckless assault the Zionists would do on nuclear facilities in Iran, possibly using Azerbaijan as the launch pad for such an assault. The question is not whether or not the assault would be successful or not. It isn't even if it would be enough to stop the nuclear drive Iran has.

The questions deal with how Iran would respond and how allies of two sides would come together to battle. One could easily see countries like Iran, Venezuela, Russia, China and Pakistan rallying together, with the U.S., some European countries and some Arab countries rallying on the second side. The question of who or if any Arab country would take sides is still there.

The Global Oligarchy wants to protect its precious Zionists in Palestine against any possible enemy that is a danger to them. It was mostly because the Zionists pulled the strings that the Global Oligarchy went into Afghanistan and Iraq. The Zionists pulled off 9/11 in the U.S. and as such the U.S. went to war with Afghanistan and occupied it.

For me there is no question of whom or how 9/11 was done. I clearly see the Zionists behind it and the Global Oligarchy supporting it. The ripples of Iran being attacked and Iran responding might be only limited to the Middle East, but if Russia and China get involved, it might spread.

One needs to look at what's happening in the U.S. and Europe these days and this year (2012) before continuing to spread such rumors. With the Occupy Movement in the U.S. and Europe, not to mention the elections in the U.S., the possibility of a World War 3 scenario triggered through Iran -but not by Iran- is highly unlikely.

There are pacifist movements in the U.S. and in Europe. There are also anti-war movements and groups in both the U.S. and in Europe. They are being stronger and louder against the invasion of Afghanistan and are strongly being against any assault or attack on Iran.

The people were cleverly manipulated both with Afghanistan and Iraq by the Global Oligarchy, but it is obvious that the people aren't falling for the tricks or manipulation of the Global Oligarchy toward Iran. With the Arab Spring still active in the Middle East; the Russian Spring still alive in Russia; the Occupy Movement still active in the U.S., the people are clearly making up their minds.

The Zionists were pulling the strings for the invasions of both Iraq and Afghanistan, but their influence with the world has decreased greatly since then. As such the Zionists can't pull the strings strong enough for there to be war against Iran, and the Zionists aren't stupid enough to launch an assault on Iran alone by themselves.

That's one scenario with it being normal warfare of ground, air and sea. Another war could be a cyber war, and there have been battles or skirmishes on the internet between Iran and the Zionists in a way. With Anonymous and other "hacktivists" active on the internet, the possibility of a cyber war with Iran is unlikely for that and other reasons.

A third scenario would be a nightmare scenario. That's the threat of a Nuclear War, with World War 3 being a Nuclear War. However such war might not last to be a World War for one thing. Such scenario is unlikely because the Global Oligarchy wants to control the land and resources of any land it invades or occupies. Iran is rich with resources. A nuclear war would affect any foreign occupation of the land one way or another. As such the Global Oligarchy isn't stupid to resort to a nuclear war against Iran.

Another scenario or rumor might have to deal with China, with China being the trigger that would lead to World War 3. Instead of the nuclear excuse the Global Oligarchy would give for invading Iran, it would be a different excuse for China. A nuclear war between China and the U.S. is unlikely because it won't benefit and would only severely harm the interests both have.

China might have the upper hand against the U.S. if there was to be a war. The U.S. might have India get involved in it. The Korean Peninsula, Japan, Russia and Central Asia would also be pulled into the war one way or another. Once again it might only be a regional war, but the possibility of it becoming a world war is there but low.

One also needs to keep in mind what's happening in China, with there being protests and such happening in different parts of China, and I'm not talking about lands China occupies like East Turkestan or Tibet.

Even though the Global Oligarchy and Russia are old rivals -older than the rivalry of the Global Oligarchy and China- the Global Oligarchy is clearly seeing Russia becoming weaker on its own. As such the possibility of World War 3 starting between Russia and the U.S. is unlikely.

I would have went into more details about World War 2, but the purpose of this opinion or analysis (if it could be considered that) was to focus on how World War 3 happening - whether in the near future or far future- won't happen. The future is part of the Unseen for us humans, but nonetheless World War 3 happening during that time isn't possible.

The rise of the Islamic Umma would hamper and prevent that, like it is slowly rising through the Arab Spring. Only focusing on nations like the U.S. or nations of Europe or Russia, Iran or China as being a trigger for World War 3 and ignoring the Islamic Umma entirely is stupid and silly. If people want to spread rumors or continue spreading rumors of World War 3, they should put the Islamic Umma in the equation, especially with the Arab Spring more than a year old now.

I say to people who spread rumors of World War 3 happening, look closely at what you use to try to make such claims or rumors. To simply say it, such people spreading such rumors need numerous doses of reality. The world is in no position of World War 3 happening, and that's final.

Source: The Star Trail Lines.
Link: http://startrailines.blogspot.com/2012/05/world-war-3-unlikely.html.