Opposition calls for Japan defense minister to go

Tokyo (AFP)
Sept 3, 2011

Japan's main opposition party called for the new defense minister to resign on Saturday for referring to himself as an amateur shortly before he took office, but there was a poll boost for the new premier.

Yasuo Ichikawa told Japanese media just before his formal appointment to the defense brief: "I am an amateur concerning security", comments that the opposition Liberal-Democratic Party said proved he was not qualified for the job.

"For that comment alone he deserves to be discharged from his ministerial post," said LDP policy chief Shigeru Ishiba, a former defense minister.

He said the wisdom of new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in appointing Ichikawa was also "put into question".

But there was better news for Noda as Kyodo news agency reported a public approval rating of 62.8 percent on Saturday, compared with 15.8 percent for his predecessor Naoto Kan in late August.

The cabinet announced on Friday by Noda, Japan's sixth new leader in five years, featured untested talent in key posts including the finance and foreign ministries.

Ichikawa, 69, who worked in the farm ministry for 25 years before entering politics, said his comment had been misinterpreted.

"I meant to say that most of the people are amateurs and it is important to pursue security policies from the people's viewpoint," he said late Friday.

But the controversy refused to go away on Saturday, with LDP policy expert Ichita Yamamoto joining calls for Ichikawa to quit as soon as possible.

"We feel very anxious leaving Japan's national defense to a person with such an attitude," Yamamoto said.

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan have been at odds with the United States over a huge US military presence in Okinawa since it ended the LDP's long domination of Japanese politics in 2009.

Noda's two predecessors have failed to resolve the issue with the key ally due to Okinawa islanders' resistance to the planned transfer of a US Marine Corps air station from a growing urban area to a scenic stretch of shore.

Major newspapers on Saturday noted that Finance Minister Jun Azumi, 49, and Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, 47, are "unknown quantities" with little experience in the fields related to their jobs.

But they also commended Noda for allocating cabinet posts to strike a balance among quarreling factions within his party.

The business daily Nikkei said the line-up "emphasized a balance of power" after a leadership battle between supporters and enemies of veteran powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa, who has been indicted in a political funding scandal.

Two members from Ozawa's group joined the cabinet.

"There is no room for futile confrontation within the party," the daily said, citing crucial issues such as the recovery from the March earthquake and tsunami, emergency at the disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant and economic strife.

The influential Asahi Shimbun said Noda, a former finance minister, may have proven his reputation as a "candidate from within the finance ministry" by appointing two figures close to the ministry in his cabinet.

The appointments showed the Noda government's readiness to follow the finance ministry's drive for tax increases to solve the public debt problem, Asahi said.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Opposition_calls_for_Japan_defence_minister_to_go_999.html.

India postpones latest Agni missile launch

New Delhi (UPI)
Sep 2, 2011

India postponed until next week a test-firing of its indigenously built Agni II ballistic nuclear capable missile due to a technical glitch.

The two-stage surface-to-surface missile was to be tested by its Strategic Forces Command from Wheeler Island off the Bay of Bengal on Monday, a report in the Indian Express newspaper said.

"But we had to postpone the test due to technical problems," Avinash Chander, director of the Agni missile program, said.

The day next week for the launch is not decided, said Chander, who gave no reason for the failure.

But previous missile failures have been blamed on guidance problems.

There also were doubts about continuous rainfall in Balasore near the test-firing range over the past three days.

India has a checkered history of launching indigenously built missiles, including the Agni I, II and III weapons.

The basic Agni series includes the single-stage 450-mile range Agni I, already inducted into service, and the two-stage Agni II and III models.

The 1,200-mile range Agni II was inducted into the army in 2004 and still is undergoing test-firings. The 65-foot missile weighs around 17 tons and can carry a 1-tonne payload.

The 2,000-mile range Agni III is in the last stages of development.

The solid-propellant Agni series of ballistic missiles are manufactured by Bharat Dynamics, one of India's major manufacturers of munitions and missile systems founded in 1970 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

Bharat Dynamics also manufactures India's Konkurs anti-tank missile.

Agni-II has been developed by Advanced Systems Laboratory along with other laboratories under the government-backed Defense Research and Development Organization.

India's main missile test launch center is Wheeler Island -- just over 1 mile long and 6 miles off the country's east coast in the Bay of Bengal and about 90 miles from Bhubaneshwar, the capital city of Orissa state.

It was from Wheeler Island that Agni III, with a range of just over 2,000 miles, was successfully test-launched from a mobile launcher in February last year.

During a test launch the following month, a Prithvi missile veered off its path, failing to reach its required altitude of around 70 miles. It climbed to around 45 miles before tumbling back into the Bay of Bengal.

Then in September, the DRDO acknowledged guidance problems that caused a failure in another Prithvi missile test launch. The surface-to-surface missile remained on the launch pad during a trial in Chandipur, Orissa.

The short-range, 4.6-tonne nuclear-capable missile became enveloped in orange smoke and the launch was aborted, officials from the DRDO said at the time.

"The failure to lift Prithvi II was due to a snag either in the main missile or the sub-system, including the launcher," a DRDO spokesman said.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/India_postpones_latest_Agni_missile_launch_999.html.

Russia successfully tests veteran missile with new warhead

Moscow (AFP)
Sept 3, 2011

Russia on Saturday successfully tested its Topol strategic missile with a new warhead designed to breach missile shields, Russian news agencies reported, citing the defense ministry.

"The experimental warhead of the missile hit the designated target with high precision at the testing site on Kamchatka peninsula," a spokesman for the strategic rocket forces told the Interfax news agency.

The Topol intercontinental missile used has been operational for 23 years and was being tested to check its durability in extended use, the spokesman said.

The missile was fired from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the northwestern Arkhangelsk region to its target area around 6,000 kilometers (3,730 miles) to the east.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Russia_successfully_tests_veteran_missile_with_new_warhead_999.html.

Arab film festival honors Tunisian revolution

2011-09-04

Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian credited with launching the Arab Spring, is featured on the poster for the 2011 Arab Film Festival in Rotterdam, TAP reported on Friday (September 2nd). The event opens September 7th with Tunisian director Mongi Farhani's "Al-Charara". Forty films from 20 Arab and European countries will be presented at the festival, initiated in 2000 by Tunisian Khaled Shawkat, who lives in the Dutch city.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/09/04/newsbrief-07.

Tunisia, NTC hold bilateral talks

2011-09-04

Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) foreign emissary Mahmoud Jibril on Saturday (September 3rd) led a delegation to Tunisia for bilateral talks with Interim President Foued Mebazaa and Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi, TAP reported. Discussions reportedly focused on the protection of national security. Tunisia will "spare no effort to strengthen co-operation with Libya in all fields… to contribute to the construction of a better future for the two countries and for the two peoples", Mebazaa said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/09/04/newsbrief-02.

Tunisia clashes spur curfews

2011-09-04

Tunisia on Friday (September 2nd) imposed an overnight curfew on Sbeïtla, TAP reported. According to the defense ministry, a row that started at a wedding led to clashes between security services and young people. A 17-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet. Another curfew was imposed Friday on the Kebilie town of Douz, after clashes between youths from El Kalaa and Abedla left 30 people injured.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/09/04/newsbrief-04.

UN begins Tripoli operations

2011-09-04

The United Nations Secretary-General's special adviser for post-conflict planning in Libya arrived in Tripoli on Saturday (September 3rd) to meet with the transitional government. Ian Martin's visit follows the "Friends of Libya" conference in Paris last Thursday, when Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon vowed to send a UN mission to help rebuild the state and confront the humanitarian crisis. According to Ban, the immediate challenge is to assist hospitals and clinics.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/09/04/newsbrief-03.

Space Agencies Meet To Discuss A Global Exploration Roadmap

Washington DC (SPX)
Sep 05, 2011

Senior managers representing 10 space agencies from around the world met in Kyoto, Japan to advance the Global Exploration Roadmap for coordinated space exploration.

During the past year, the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) has developed a long-range human exploration strategy. It begins with the International Space Station and expands human presence throughout the solar system, leading ultimately to human missions to explore the surface of Mars. The roadmap flows from this strategy and identifies two potential pathways: "Asteroid Next" and "Moon Next."

Each pathway represents a mission scenario over a 25-year period describing a logical sequence of robotic and human missions. Both pathways were deemed practical approaches addressing common high-level exploration goals developed by the participating agencies, recognizing that individual preferences among participating space agencies may vary regarding these pathways.

The first iteration of the roadmap will inform and focus the planning currently underway in each of the partner agencies in the areas of planetary robotic exploration, advanced technology development and use of the space station in preparation for exploration. It was agreed that during the next few weeks, this initial version of the Global Exploration Roadmap would be finalized and released to the public.

Yoshiyuki Hasagawa of Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency, in his capacity as chairman of the International Space Exploration Coordination Group said, "We are very happy with the progress of the Global Exploration Roadmap to technically coordinate both near and long term space exploration planning, with world space agencies."

During the meeting, the senior agency managers also reaffirmed the role of the ISECG to facilitate the ability of space agencies to take concrete steps toward partnerships that reflect a globally coordinated exploration effort.

"NASA is confident that the release of this product, and subsequent refinements as circumstances within each space agency evolve, will facilitate the ability of space agencies to form the partnerships that will ensure robust and sustainable human exploration," said NASA's Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations and outgoing ISECG chair William Gerstenmaier.

The ISECG was established as a voluntary, non-binding international coordination forum, where the partner agencies that contributed to the Global Exploration Strategy (GES) can exchange information regarding interests, plans, and activities in space exploration.

The GES set forth a shared vision for concerted human and robotic space exploration missions focused on solar system destinations where humans may one day live and work. Another stated goal is to encourage the partners to work together on strengthening both individual exploration programs and collective efforts.

The development of the Global Exploration Roadmap is the second step toward achieving this goal, following the development of the ISECG Reference Architecture for Human Lunar Exploration.

The countries participating in the meeting included in alphabetical order: Canada, Europe, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Space_Agencies_Meet_To_Discuss_A_Global_Exploration_Roadmap_999.html.

Rare martian lake delta spotted by Mars Express

Paris (ESA)
Sep 05, 2011

ESA's Mars Express has spotted a rare case of a crater once filled by a lake, revealed by the presence of a delta. The delta is an ancient fan-shaped deposit of dark sediments, laid down in water. It is a reminder of Mars' past, wetter climate.

The delta is in the Eberswalde crater, in the southern highlands of Mars. The 65 km-diameter crater is visible as a semi-circle on the right of the image and was formed more than 3.7 billion years ago when an asteroid hit the planet.

The rim of the crater is intact only on its right-hand side. The rest appears only faintly or is not visible at all. A later impact created the 140 km diameter Holden crater that dominates the center and left side of the image. The expulsion of large amounts of material from that impact buried parts of Eberswalde.

However, within the visible part of Eberswalde, the delta and its feeder channels are well preserved, as seen near the top right of the crater. The delta covers an area of 115 square kilometers. Small, meandering feeder channels are visible towards the top of the crater, which would have filled it to form a lake.

After the deposition of the delta sediments in the crater's ancient lake, fresher sediments accumulated to cover up a major part of both the channels and the delta. These secondary sediments, presumably deposited by the wind, were later eroded in the delta area, exposing an inverted relief of the delta structure.

This delta structure, first identified with NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, is characteristic of the presence of a lake in the crater at that time. Such features provide a clear indication that liquid water flowed across the surface of Mars in the planet's early history.

Both Eberswalde crater and Holden crater were on the shortlist of four possible destinations for the next NASA Mars rover, to be launched late this year.

The main objective of the Mars Science Laboratory mission is the search for present or previously habitable environments on Mars. ESA's Mars Express mission has been helping in the search for the best landing site.

Eberswalde was proposed because its delta indicates the long-lasting presence of liquid water in the past and Holden Crater was a candidate because of its mineral diversity and many structures that again suggest past liquid water.

Another candidate, Mawrth Vallis, exposes some of the oldest clay-rich layers on Mars. However, in July, Gale crater, the final entry on the shortlist, was selected as the mission's landing site, given its high mineral and structural diversity related to water.

Eberswalde, Holden and Mawrth Vallis will get to hold on to their secrets for a while longer.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Rare_martian_lake_delta_spotted_by_Mars_Express_999.html.

S. Korea activists plan protest against navy base

Seoul (AFP)
Sept 3, 2011

South Korean activists gathered Saturday on a southern holiday island to protest against the construction of a navy base, a day after hundreds of riot police dispersed demonstrators blocking the work.

About 300 activists and opposition party members flew to Jeju island to join protesters already there, Yonhap news agency reported.

They plan a "peace event" including a concert and cultural activities to demonstrate opposition to the planned base at Gangjeong village on the south coast.

Protesters say the base, which will be open to US forces, will damage the environment and could spark disputes with China over the American presence.

Opponents have occupied the site since June, preventing construction.

Police dispersed about 130 people on Friday and arrested 38 of them. Scuffles broke out but no serious violence was reported.

Construction workers later Friday completed a fence around the site.

Jeju police have sent 230 officers to support 606 riot police already stationed in Gangjeong, some of them dispatched from the mainland.

Military officials say the $970 million project is vital for national security. Once completed in 2014 it will host some 20 warships, including submarines, to help protect shipping lanes through which virtually all the country's sea trade passes.

The deployment will also help guard against sea infiltration by North Korea and could quickly respond to territorial disputes with neighboring states, the military has said.

Some islanders support the project for the boost it will give the local economy.

Opponents ranging from environmentalists to religious leaders and anti-government activists allege South Korea bowed to pressure from the United States, which they say is eager to establish a military presence near China.

Both Seoul and Washington, which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, deny the accusation.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/S_Korea_activists_plan_protest_against_navy_base_999.html.

Turkey to host radar for NATO missile defense

Ankara (AFP)
Sept 2, 2011

Turkey plans to deploy an early warning radar by the end of the year as part of NATO's missile defense system for Europe, officials said Friday.

Leaders of the 28-member NATO alliance endorsed plans in Lisbon last year to launch a Europe-wide ballistic missile shield, which US officials say is aimed at thwarting missile threats from Iran.

Technical negotiations about the deployment of the defense system in Turkey "have reached a final stage," Selcuk Unal, spokesman for the Turkish foreign ministry, said in a written statement.

"It is foreseen that the early warning radar system dedicated by the United States to NATO will be deployed in our country," Unal said.

"Turkey's hosting of this element will contribute to the ... defense system, which is developed under NATO's new strategic concept (and) strengthen NATO's defense capacity and Turkey's national defense system," he added.

In Washington, the Pentagon on Friday welcomed Turkey's decision as a step forward for the missile defense project, which initially will rely on naval ships equipped with interceptors designed to knock out incoming missiles.

"The hope is to have it deployed by the end of this year," spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters.

"This component will link in to the ballistic missile defense capable AEGIS ships that we operate in the Mediterranean," Lapan said.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Turkey's decision marked "a critical contribution to the Alliance's overall defense against current and emerging ballistic missile threats."

He further applauded Ankara for its contribution to "NATO's capability to provide protection to its European territory populations and forces against the growing threat posed by the proliferation of ballistic missiles."

Turkey, concerned over its delicate position with neighboring Iran, persuaded NATO allies to leave out any mention of Iran when the missile defense plan was approved at an alliance summit in November.

Reacting to Turkey's announcement, Russia's foreign ministry restated Moscow's demand for guarantees that "the anti-missile systems deployed in Europe are not aimed at the strategic nuclear forces of Russia".

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Turkey_to_host_radar_for_NATO_missile_defense_999.html.

Libyan rebels besiege Bani Walid, Sirte

2011-09-04

Libyan rebels on Saturday (September 3rd) encircled the Kadhafi stronghold of Bani Walid and besieged Sirte, Jufra and Sabha, BBC reported. National Transitional Council (NTC) Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil said that the cities under siege were being given humanitarian aid but had one week to surrender "to avoid further bloodshed". According to Al Jazeera, a team of negotiators from Bani Walid told the rebels that they wanted two more days before surrendering their weapons.

In other news, Algeria denied political asylum to some 30 high-ranking military and intelligence officials from the Kadhafi regime who tried to enter Algeria last week near Debdeb, El Khabar reported on Saturday (September 3rd). Following the refusal of Algerian authorities to allow them entry, the Libyan officers reportedly headed in a convoy to the border with Niger.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/09/04/newsbrief-01.

Turkey to challenge Israel's Gaza siege

Sun Sep 4, 2011

Turkey says it plans to challenge Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip at the International Court of Justice, amid rising tensions between Ankara and Tel Aviv.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced the decision on Saturday, one day after the release of a United Nations report on Israel's May 31, 2010 attack on a Gaza-bound aid convoy in international waters and the deaths of nine Turkish nationals on board the fleet.

The report, written by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, approved Israel's blockade of Gaza -- tightened a year after the election of Hamas in Palestine's general elections of 2006 -- as a so-called security measure.

It called the Israeli raid "excessive and unreasonable," but also blamed Turkey and the flotilla organizers for contributing to the killing of pro-Palestinian activists.

Davutoglu rejected the Palmer report saying it was in contrast with an earlier report on the incident prepared by the UN Human Rights Council in September, which found that Israel violated international law by attacking the civilian aid convoy.

He argued that the recent document was not endorsed by the United Nations and was therefore not binding.

“What is binding is the International Court of Justice,'' Davutoglu said.

“This is what we are saying: let the International Court of Justice decide,'' he added, explaining that Ankara was preparing the necessary grounds for the legal action.

The comments came a day after Turkey, irked by Israel's refusal to apologize over its deadly attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, expelled Tel Aviv's ambassador to Ankara and froze all military ties with Israel.

Turkey, which has been actively pursuing the case of Israel's flotilla attack, also promised to support legal actions against Israel by the families of the victims of the attack.

It also vowed to take measures to ensure freedom to navigate in the eastern Mediterranean, a move that analysts suggest could mean sending navy forces to escort future aid convoys.

In his Saturday comments, Davutoglu warned Tel Aviv that its persistence in disdaining to apologize could seriously endanger Israel's interest in Arab and Muslim countries, swept by popular revolutions and a surging wave of Islamic Awakening.

"If Israel persists with its current position, the Arab spring will give rise to a strong Israel opposition as well as the debate on the authoritarian regimes,'' he said.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/197323.html.

Iranian sniper fires across the border, killing Iraqi civilian

BAGHDAD (BNO NEWS) — An Iraqi civilian was killed on Saturday when an Iranian sniper opened fire from across the border, according to the Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Few details were immediately released.

The report, citing sources, said the shooting happened along the border line near the town of Haj Omran in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan, resulting in the death of an Iraqi civilian. It was not immediately clear why the sniper fired on the civilian, who was said to be a shepherd.

At least four civilians, including Saturday’s casualty, have been killed since mid-July as a result of Iranian attacks on northern Iraq, according to a Human Rights Watch report which was released on Friday. It added that an unknown number of people were injured while hundreds of families have been forced to flee the area as a result of the attacks, which target PJAK militants.

Farmers from the border regions told Human Rights Watch in early August that Iranian shelling had damaged their homes and that they saw Iranian soldiers cross the border into Iraq and kill farmers’ livestock. The attacks on civilians and their property that they described were similar to attacks documented by Human Rights Watch in June 2010.

“It has been more than six years that Iran has been shelling our area, but this year, it was unbelievable,” 70-year-old Fatima Mahmoud, who fled with her family, told Human Rights Watch. “I don’t know why Iran is shelling our village – we have never seen any PJAK members at all. I have never seen any [PJAK] members in our village.”

Iran regularly shells areas in Iraq to target the separatist Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), which is fighting to establish semiautonomous regional entities or Kurdish federal states in Iran, Turkey and Syria. The group has been accused of carrying out a number of attacks in those countries.

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19876/iranian-sniper-fires-across-the-border-killing-iraqi-civilian/.

White House protest against oil pipeline ends with hundreds arrested

WASHINGTON (BNO NEWS) — A two-week demonstration outside the White House against a planned pipeline stretching from Canada through East Texas wrapped up on Saturday after hundreds of arrests.

Tar Sands Action, the group organizing the protest, said in a statement that over the course of the two-week sit-in, 1,252 Americans were arrested. Among those arrested were top climate scientists, former White House official Gus Speth, NASA scientist Dr. James Hansen, actress Daryl Hannah, and author Naomi Klein.

Bill McKibben, who spearheaded the protest and was also arrested, said that the group will intensify a nationwide campaign to push President Barack Obama to deny the permit for the new oil pipeline. “That movement is being born right here in front of the White House and reverberating around the country,” he said.

The group has said that the Keystone pipeline is among the most important environmental decisions that confront the president. “President Obama must decide whether or not to grant a ‘presidential permit’ for a Canadian company, TransCanada, to begin construction of the Keystone XL, a 1,700 mile (2735 kilometers) pipeline from the Canadian tar sands to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico,” the organization said in a statement.

A petition with 617,428 names opposing the pipeline was delivered to the White House on Saturday, the organization said. Thousands are expected to descend on Washington, D.C., for the final State Department hearing on the Keystone pipeline on October 7.

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19874/white-house-protest-against-oil-pipeline-ends-with-hundreds-arrested/.

Iran hails expulsion of Israeli ambassador from Turkey

TEHRAN (BNO NEWS) — The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Saturday hailed the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and other senior diplomats from Turkey following the publication of a UN report about the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry called for the prevention of Israeli influence on changing the results of the international independent investigation of the May 2010 Gaza flotilla raid. Iran also stressed that the United Nations (UN) should prevent Israel’s ‘meddling’ in the UN reports on Gaza.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced on Friday that Israel’s ambassador and senior diplomats have been expelled from the country after Israel refused to apologize regarding the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid in which nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists died. Davutoğlu also said that all military ties with Israel will be suspended.

“Iran welcomes the expulsion of the Zionist regime’s ambassador to Ankara,” the statement issued by Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, adding that Israel is attempting to change the results of the UN Palmer Report and to ‘distort reality.’

The UN report, released on Friday after repeated delays, stated that the naval blockade was “imposed as a legitimate security measure in order to prevent weapons from entering Gaza by sea and its implementation complied with the requirements of international law.”

However, it also stated that Israel’s decision to board the vessels with “such substantial force at a great distance from the blockade zone and with no final warning immediately prior to the boarding was excessive and unreasonable.”

Because the UN report said the Gaza blockade is legal, Tehran denounced the UN report. The statement said the contents of the report surprised several diplomatic circles since it justified Israel’s “illegal and inhuman acts” during the Gaza siege. As a result, Iran questioned how much influence Israel had in the report.

In May 2010, nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed and dozens more were injured when Israeli commandos boarded a ship participating in the ‘Freedom Flotilla I’, which was heading to the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid on board. The incident caused global outrage over alleged excessive force, but Israel has denied that and said its commandos were being attacked.

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19877/update-1-iran-hails-expulsion-of-israeli-ambassador-from-turkey/.

Sudan declares state of emergency in Blue Nile state

KHARTOUM (BNO NEWS) — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has declared a state of emergency in the Blue Nile State following heavy fighting in the region, the Sudan Tribune reported on Saturday.

Bashir has also dismissed Blue Nile state governor Malik Agar, who is also chairman of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N), amid reports of aerial bombardments in the region. He instead appointed the commander of Sudanese army (SAF) base in the Blue Nile’s capital of al-Damazin, Major General Yahya Mohamed Khair, as a military ruler of the state.

The announcement came after fighting broke out on Friday between the SAF and the SPLM, and the house of Agar was allegedly targeted during a military offensive.

The warring sides traded accusations over who started the fight. SPLM-N secretary-general Yasir Arman told the Sudan Tribune that Sudan’s army instigated the clashes by attacking the SPLM-N’s Joint Integrated Units and the residence of Agar. Meanwhile, Sudan’s army said that SPLM-N forces carried out attacks in al-Damazin and more than four areas in the vicinity.

According to the army’s official spokesman, Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad, SPLM-N was mobilizing its forces to launch coordinated attacks on a number of army units. In contrast, Agar told Sudan Tribune that the Sudanese army was the one who instigated the fighting by attacking the positions of SPLM-N’s troops and accused Sudan’s army of carrying out aerial bombardments.

Meanwhile, Sudan’s foreign ministry announced that it intends to include the violent events in al-Damazin to the complaint it lodged to the UN Security Council (UNSC). The Sudanese government this week sent a letter to the UNSC accusing South Sudan of supporting SPLM-N rebels in South Kordofan State which neighbors the Blue Nile.

The government in Khartoum has been engaged in clashes with SPLA forces in South Kordofan, another state in the north that is on the southern border, since last June. Both states are part of north Sudan but their population sided largely with the South during the second Sudanese civil wars 1983-2005.

South Sudan became the world’s newest country when it broke away from Sudan on July 9 as a culmination of a six-year peace process which began in January 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of Sudan and the SPLM.

More than two million people, most of them civilians who died due to starvation and drought, were killed during the 20-year civil war in Sudan. Although there were hopes that South Sudan secession would lead to peace, violence has continued both on a local level in South Sudan as well as with the Sudanese forces.

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19866/sudan-declares-state-of-emergency-in-blue-nile-state/.

Gazans hold rally in support of Turkey

Sun Sep 4, 2011

Dozens of supporters of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas have rallied in the streets of Gaza to show support of Turkey's decision to cut its diplomatic relations with Israel.

Chanting slogans in support of Ankara and against Tel Aviv, the demonstrators condemned the recent UN-leaked report on the deadly Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound relief aid convoy Freedom Flotilla in international waters in 2010.

The marchers slammed the report, which offers an air of legitimacy to Israel's prolonged blockade on the Gaza Strip, burning flags of Israel, Xinhua reported.

On Friday, Turkey expelled Israel's envoy from Ankara and suspended all its military ties with Israel after Tel Aviv refused to apologize for its deadly attack on the Gaza-bound aid convey.

Meanwhile, following the release of the UN report, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Ankara would take legal action against Israel's blockade on Gaza at the International Court of Justice.

The report, written by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, approved Israel's blockade of Gaza -- tightened a year after the election of Hamas in Palestine's general elections of 2006 -- as a so-called security measure.

It terms the Israeli raid "excessive and unreasonable," but also blamed Turkey and the flotilla organizers for contributing to the killing of pro-Palestinian activists.

The top Turkish diplomat challenged the report, saying the latest report is in contrast with an earlier report prepared by the UN Human Rights Council in September, which blamed Israel for violating international law.

Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza when the Hamas government took control of the territory in 2007.

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the territory.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/197360.html.

US drone shot down in Somalia

Sun Sep 4, 2011

Local fighters say they have shot down a suspected United States operated aerial vehicle in the south of Somalia near the capital, Mogadishu. Press TV reported.

Al-Shabaab fighters say the drone crashed into the sea after it was hit near the lower Shabelle region in Merka town, located south of the capital.

The fighters say six other drones have been seen flying over Mogadishu and the nearby town of Merka.

Numerous US remote-controlled drones have in the past few weeks crashed in Somalia.

Drone attacks in Somalia make the lawless state the sixth country where the US military has used remote-controlled aircraft to conduct such lethal strikes.

The United States has now employed drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq and Yemen to launch aerial bombings.

Somalia has been without a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/197383.html.