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Tuesday, July 3, 2012

TALON Laser-Guided Rocket Team Completes Key Development Milestone

Yuma Proving Ground AZ (SPX)
Sep 14, 2011

Raytheon has completed additional testing of the TALON Laser-Guided Rocket on the AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter. Raytheon and Emirates Advanced Investment Group are developing TALON under a cooperative development effort.

TALON met or exceeded all Raytheon test objectives, which included firing from hovering and moving platforms and engaging targets from short (1.2 km/.74 miles) to long (6.0 km/3.7 miles) ranges.

"TALON has been tested to the very edges of its performance requirements and is the only laser-guided rocket solution in the world to achieve an air-launched direct hit from a range of 1.2 km," said Michelle Lohmeier, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Land Combat Systems. "This milestone puts us one step closer to providing warfighters with an unprecedented precision rocket capability."

The successful flight tests were conducted using production configuration TALON systems. The seven direct target hits included two tactical warhead shots. These tests demonstrate the maturity of the TALON design and readiness to begin full-rate production.

TALON is a low-cost, semi-active laser guidance and control kit that connects directly to the front of 2.75-inch unguided rockets currently in U.S. and international inventories. It has been designed to fill the critical operational gap between unguided rockets and guided heavy anti-tank missiles.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/TALON_Laser_Guided_Rocket_Team_Completes_Key_Development_Milestone_999.html.

Tunisia debates Constituent Assembly powers

Some Tunisian political parties want to limit the authority of the Constituent Assembly in an effort to avoid concentrating power in the hands of one body.

By Mona Yahiya for Magharebia in Tunis – 13/09/11

Just weeks before Tunisians head to the polls in historic Constituent Assembly elections, politicians are debating what role the legislative body will play in the future of the country.

Parties, independents and intellectuals are divided into two groups. The first group supports a proposal to restrict the task of the Constituent Assembly to creating a new constitution through a referendum on the same day as the October 23rd poll. The other faction, meanwhile, has called for making the assembly a sovereign entity with full powers.

Mohsen Marzouk, Secretary-General of the Arab Organization for Democracy who came up with the idea of referendum, believes that the role of the Constituent Assembly must be restricted to drafting the constitution, and that the government should proceed with its work until legislative and presidential elections are held within one year. Marzouk expressed fear that members of the Constituent Assembly might not agree on the formation of a new government.

More than 40 parties, including the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP), which was founded by Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, support limiting powers of the assembly.

Others have rejected that idea and accused those involved of trying to "perpetuate tyranny".

For its part, the interim government denies that. Interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi said that the government has nothing to do with the proposal and that this issue should be agreed upon among all political parties.

Communist Labor Party Secretary-General Hamma Hammami attributed the limited assembly plan to "a fear of the results of the election".

"Those who call for conducting a referendum are afraid of the Ennahda Movement. However, we're against that, as Tunisians must be left to choose whoever they want," he said. Ennahda currently leads opinion polls, with slightly more than 20%, followed by the PDP and the Democratic Forum for Labor and Liberties.

Parties opposed to the referendum include the Ennahda Movement and the Congress for the Republic (CPR). They believe that the Constituent Assembly should enjoy all powers, such as legislative and executive powers, including the appointment of a new government and the selection of an interim president pending the end of the Constituent Assembly's tenure. Ennahda has said that the Constituent Assembly's tenure should not exceed one year.

The October 23rd Coalition, which consists of the Popular Unity Party (PUP), Ennahda Movement, Reform and Development Party and CPR issued a statement on September 8th in which they said that there was "a conspiracy against the revolution" aimed at disrupting the transitional process and preventing Tunisians from building their own institutions.

The coalition rejected the call for conducting a referendum, saying that the "election should lead to a fully sovereign Constituent Assembly".

Legal experts have expressed doubt about the feasibility of conducting a referendum on such short notice. That has led some observers to urge politicians to agree on a compromise solution, or a third way that wouldn't give the Constituent Assembly all powers, but would instead allow for a parallel election.

Mohammed Kilanni, President of the Leftist Socialist Party (PSG), called for reaching a political agreement instead of holding the referendum and for setting the tenure and tasks of the Constituent Assembly.

The Constituent Assembly should first choose a government and a president, pass all executive power to it, and then proceed to draft the constitution only, in the view of Rachida Ennaifer, a professor of constitutional law.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/09/13/feature-04.

Algeria raises female candidate quotas

Some experts fear that a recently passed measure to boost women's presence in elected bodies will bring less qualified candidates into politics.

By Hayam El Hadi for Magharebia in Algiers – 13/09/11

The next generation of Algeria's elected bodies will include more women than before. A new law, which establishes a quota for female candidates, will come into force with the 2012 parliamentary vote.

From now on, any list of candidates for legislative elections or elections to wilayas and communal assemblies must include a one-third proportion of women candidates. Failure to abide by the rules will result in the list being rejected.

The law, adopted by the council of ministers on August 28th, also states that any elected official who does not serve out their full term will be replaced by a candidate of the same sex from the list presented at the original ballot.

To encourage political parties to grant more opportunities to women, the state has promised financial assistance for political parties based on the number of women candidates elected to different assemblies.

The measure elicited plenty of reactions, but not all of them were positive.

The Labor Party was among those who questioned the quota system. According to MP Bousemaha Haouariya, "party lists should include equal number of men and women".

"Leaving gender aside, ability remains the most important criterion when choosing the best representatives for the people in elected assemblies," she said at the opening of parliament autumn session on September 4th.

Haouariya is not alone in her criticism. The chairman of the Algerian National Front (FNA) has spoken out against the quota system, describing it as "anti-constitutional". Moussa Touati explained that "Article 31a of the Constitution does not make any mention of a quota system", referring to the constitutional provision that obliges the state to promote the place of women in elected institutions.

"This law will only put pressure on the political parties," he added. "Why doesn't the government apply it to itself? Why aren't there 16 women within the government?"

Women's rights campaigners, however, have given the law a more favorable reception.

Lawyer Nadia Ait Zai, who is also the director of the Center for Information and Documentation on the Rights of Children and Women, is one of the law's supporters.

"We need to see a National Popular Assembly which reflects the realities of Algerian society, made up of both men and women," she said. "We cannot continue to operate with an Assembly mostly made up of men."

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/09/13/feature-02.

Russia sets first post-crash manned flight for November

Moscow (AFP)
Sept 13, 2011

Russia on Tuesday set its next manned space flight to the International Space Station for November and said it will not let the orbiter be abandoned despite a recent accident involving its workhorse Soyuz rocket.

"According to the schedule ... the launch of the manned Soyuz spaceships (has been set for) November 12 and December 20 of this year," Russia's space agency Roskosmos said in a statement.

"The schedule has been put together taking into consideration the readiness of propulsion systems of third-stage rocket boosters," said the statement, noting the move also took into account recommendations of industry officials.

A Soyuz-U rocket carrying an unmanned cargo ship to the International Space Station failed to reach orbit on August 24, instead crashing in Siberia shortly after blast-off.

The first such failure since Soyuz rocket launches began in 1978 prompted Russia to ground its manned flight program until the causes of the accident were found and raised fresh doubts about the reliability of its Soviet-era technology.

Soyuz rockets are used to launch the unmanned Progress cargo vehicles as well as the Soyuz manned capsules going to the ISS.

Roskosmos also announced plans to send the first post-crash unmanned cargo Progress ferry to the ISS on October 30.

Russia is the only country capable of sending manned missions into space and the accident has prompted a series of urgent consultations with NASA officials who are concerned about the prospect of possibly leaving the ISS unmanned.

A spokesman for the Russian Space Mission Control told AFP later on Tuesday that the resumption of manned and cargo launches indicated that there was no need to evacuate the space station.

"This means that the ISS will constantly operate in piloted mode, with astronauts onboard," spokesman Valery Lyndin told AFP. "Crews will be changed as originally planned, only the schedule will be somewhat pushed back."

The first three of the six spacemen on board the station are due to return to Earth on Friday and NASA had earlier raised the prospect of bringing the remaining crew home if the next manned mission was not sent up by mid-November.

There was no immediate reaction from NASA to Russia's announcement but Roskmos said it was holding constant consultations with its US colleagues about the upcoming missions.

An unidentified Russian space agency source had earlier told local news agencies that Roskosmos would prefer to send two unmanned missions to the ISS as a precaution before sending up a manned crew.

Roskosmos did not explain its decision and said only that a second unmanned cargo craft would be sent up on January 26.

Space officials last week blamed the accident on a one-off production fault in a rocket engine.

Analysts have said the crash landing of the spaceship exposed a systemic lack of proper checks and a dearth of qualified staff. The embarrassing accident came after five satellites have failed to reach their orbits since December.

Russia jointly with the European Space Agency is due to begin launches of Soyuz rockets from French Guiana in South America on October 20, carrying satellites for Europe's Galileo navigation program.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Russia_sets_first_post-crash_manned_flight_for_November_999.html.

Dozens of crocodiles escape Thai farm

Bangkok (AFP)
Sept 13, 2011

An urgent hunt was under way near the popular Thai beach resort of Pattaya on Tuesday after at least 20 crocodiles escaped from a flooded farm, a spokesman said.

The crocodiles at Million Years Stone Park, a zoo and reptile farm, are thought to have made a break for freedom Sunday when heavy rains caused a mudslide around an enclosure containing thousands of the creatures, said a spokesman for the farm, Suthawuth Temthab.

Farm workers and locals had joined in the search for the missing reptiles and he said over 20 crocodiles had already been found, but a few more were still on the loose.

Suthawuth predicted most of the rest would be rounded up on Tuesday.

Thai television ran images of large crocodiles being returned to the farm with their jaws tied shut and carried by up to six men.

On its website, the Million Years Stone Park, which is 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of Bangkok, says it has the "largest population of salt water crocodiles in this country" as well as smaller fresh water crocodiles and other exotic animals.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Dozens_of_crocodiles_escape_Thai_farm_999.html.

CIA boosts covert operations in Somalia

Mogadishu, Somalia (UPI)
Sep 13, 2011

The clandestine U.S. campaign to counter Islamist forces in Somalia appears to be growing daily, with allegations the CIA is running covert operations from a base at Mogadishu airport.

These operations allegedly include the rendition of suspected jihadists seized in East Africa and spirited to an underground CIA interrogation center in Mogadishu and using mercenaries to train Somali assassination teams to hit al-Shabaab, the main insurgent group and which is linked to al-Qaida.

Jeremy Scahill, who specializes in security affairs, recently spent time in Somalia and reported in The Nation that the CIA operates from a heavily guarded compound at the capital's beachside airport secured by guard towers and has its own fleet of aircraft.

The agency, he adds, has a "secret prison" under the headquarters of Somalia's National Security Agency, an arm of the dysfunctional Western-backed Transitional Federal Government which is kept in power largely by a 9,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force known as AMSOM.

Suspected al-Shabaab operatives are held there along with prisoners seized in Kenya, Uganda and other East African countries, where al-Qaida is known to operate, and secretly flown to Mogadishu.

This is all part of an expanding U.S. counter-terrorism campaign that also embraces Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan, even the Philippines and Indonesia.

It is spearheaded by the CIA, which has become increasingly militarized in recent years, and the U.S. military's Joint Special Operations Command.

The Americans, aided by their allies, have killed or captured dozens of senior al-Qaida chieftains over the last couple of years as this new strategy has shifted into high gear under U.S. President Barack Obama's administration.

The administration shies away from putting large conventional forces on the ground as it quits Iraq and starts drawing down forces in Afghanistan as popular support for distant wars wanes in the United States a decade and trillions of dollars after 9/11.

Instead it has stepped up the use of armed drones to kill jihadist leaders.

On the ground, Scahill says the Americans are increasingly replaying the tactics and often unsavory alliances they made with warlords and tribal chiefs in Iraq.

"Over the past year, the Somali government and AMISOM have turned to some unsavory characters in a dual effort to build something resembling a national army and, as the United States attempted to do with its Awakening Councils in the Sunni areas of Iraq in 2006, to purchase strategic loyalty from former allies of the current enemy -- in this case, al-Shabaab," Scahill reported.

"Some warlords Â… have been given government ministries or military rank in return for allocating their forces to the fight against al-Shabaab.

"Several are former allies of al Qaida or al-Shabaab, and many fought against the U.S.-sponsored Ethiopian invasion in 2006 or against the U.S.-led mission in Somalia in the early 1990s that culminated in the infamous 'Black Hawk Down' incident."

Among these warlords is Yusuf Mohamed Siad, a notorious paramilitary chieftain known by his nom de guerre of Indha Adde, or White Eyes. He's also known as "the Butcher."

Siad, who was allied with Islamist militants before the CIA bought him off, is now a three-star general funded by the agency and armed by the U.S.-sponsored AMISOM.

At times, Scahill reports, there are up to 30 CIA agents operating in Mogadishu. They appear to function outside the ambit of the TFG and its president, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed.

The Americans reportedly have little faith in his corrupt administration in lawless Somalia, which has been without a functioning government since 1991.

The Americans appear to be focusing on building up an indigenous counter-terrorism force that they control, independently of the TFG in this 5-year-old proxy war.

That's where the mercenaries come in. They include Richard Rouget, aka Col. Sanders, a former French army officer who has fought in several African wars. He works for Bancroft Global Development, a private security company that has a 40-man team of "mentors" in Mogadishu.

Rouget and a group of former French, Scandinavian and South African military personnel help train AMISOM's Kenyan and Ugandan troops.

This has paid off, sort of. TFG forces, led by AMISOM, recently succeeded in pushing al-Shabaab out of Mogadishu in an offensive launched in May.

But that may have had more to do with crippling clan rivalries within the group than anything else.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/CIA_boosts_covert_operations_in_Somalia_999.html.

US national forests can provide public health benefits

Portland, OR (SPX)
Sep 14, 2011

Each year, more than 170 million people visit national forests for recreation. And the physical activity associated with these visits burns 290 billion food calories. That equals enough french fries laid end to end to reach the Moon and back-twice-according to a recent study in the Journal of Forestry.

While the recent strategic plan of the U.S. Forest Service includes sustaining and enhancing outdoor recreation opportunities, the benefits of exercise and outdoor recreation also are recognized by President Obama's America's Great Outdoors initiative to reconnect Americans with their landscapes, as well as the First Lady's Let's Move Outside campaign.

But how exactly do our national forests contribute to helping people develop a healthier lifestyle? A recently published study may reveal some answers.

"We examined the extent that national forests might provide public health benefits by estimating the net energy expended for a range of outdoor activities engaged in by visitors to national forest lands," explains research forester Jeff Kline.

"We did this by combining data describing national forest visitors' outdoor recreation activities with data characterizing the calories expended with each type of physical activity."

Kline, a scientist with the Forest Service's Pacific Northwest Research Station, and Oregon State University co-authors, Randall Rosenberger and Eric White, recently published their findings in the September issue of the Journal of Forestry.

The article, "A National Assessment of Physical Activity in U.S. National Forests," contends that national forests can help Americans meet guidelines for regular physical activity set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Key findings from the study include:

Hiking, walking, downhill skiing, fishing, relaxing, camping, relaxing, and driving for pleasure are among the primary activities accounting for about two-thirds (68 percent) of all visits to the national forests.

Annual energy expenditures in national forest recreation represent 6.8 million adults and almost 317,000 children meeting the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention guidelines regarding regular aerobic physical activity for a year.

The distribution of these health benefits may vary with proximity and income. Fifty-two percent of recreation visits are by people who live within 60 miles of a national forest. These "local" visitors are more likely to come from lower household income groups than non-local visitors, with 45 percent earning less than $50,000 per year versus 25 percent for non-local visitors.

National forests in the Western states account for the greatest share of all outdoor recreation visits (75 percent) and associated net energy expenditures (75 percent).

However, national forests in the Northeast and Southeast yield proportionally greater net energy expenditures because they are closer to major population centers compared to the west, and their visitors tend to engage in more intensive physical activities.

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/US_national_forests_can_provide_public_health_benefits_999.html.

Deal brokered for Sudan's Abyei region

Sept. 12, 2011

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was thankful to African Union leaders who helped broker a settlement in Sudan's disputed area of Abyei.

Leaders from Sudan and South Sudan met with delegates from the African Union. A panel led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki helped convince the countries to pull forces out of the disputed area of Abyei.

Ban, in a statement released through his spokesman's office, said he welcomed the African Union's leadership in "helping the parties adopt modalities" for a troop withdrawal.

South Sudan became an independent state July 9 as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended one of the bloodiest civil wars in modern history. Abyei lies at the heart of border issues threatening to unravel the peace deal.

The United Nations in July sent peacekeepers to Abyei and rights groups have called for similar action in South Kordofan, the site of alleged ethnic killings along the border of Sudan and South Sudan.

Conflict has spread to Blue Nile state along the border between Sudan and South Sudan. Sudan, through its official news agency, has repeatedly brushed off allegations regarding the severity of the violence.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/09/12/Deal-brokered-for-Sudans-Abyei-region/UPI-77381315840580/.

Cairo hints at election schedule

Sept. 12, 2011

CAIRO, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The date for nominations for both houses of the Egyptian Parliament will be announced at the end of the month, the government declared Monday.

State-run news agency MENA reports that the ruling military council was expected to announce a date for opening nominations for parliamentary elections by the end of September.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces decided to have separate elections for each house to allow for proper judicial oversight, MENA added. The government expects to have around 9,000 judges supervise the election.

Elections were originally planned for September. Gen. Mamdouh Shaheen, one of the leading SCAF authorities in the military council, said the delay was in part to give post-revolution political parties more time to organize.

Post-revolutionary groups complained established parties like the Muslim Brotherhood and the Wafd Party had an unfair advantage in the emerging political landscape.

The Muslim Brotherhood took 20 percent of the seats in 2005 elections by running candidates as independents because they were barred from politics.

Presidential elections and constitutional reform should follow the country's parliamentary vote. Cairo said it wasn't keen on outside election monitors, however.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled 30 days after nomination season opens.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/09/12/Cairo-hints-at-election-schedule/UPI-95801315836648/.

Kabul ratifies cluster bomb treaty

Sept. 13, 2011

GENEVA, Switzerland, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- The ratification on the convention on cluster munitions by Afghanistan strengthens the notion that those weapons are undesirable, the ICRC said.

Afghanistan became the 62nd nation to back the cluster munitions treatment when its ratification was filed with the United Nations last year.

The convention prohibits the use, development, production and other proliferation activities associated with cluster munitions. States party to the convention are obligated to take measures to destroy their stockpiles and clear the munitions remnants from their territory.

International Committee for the Red Cross President Jakob Kellenberger said Afghanistan's signature proved the detrimental nature of cluster munitions.

"The signing of this convention by so many states is evidence that the suffering of victims and affected countries has not gone unnoticed," he said. "The convention will establish that these are prohibited weapons and become a bulwark against their further proliferation."

The United Nations during the early stages of the Libyan war noted that targeting medical facilities in Libya and the use of indiscriminate weapons like cluster bombs could amount to war crimes.

Cluster bombs break up over a target and disperse hundreds of tiny bombs over a wide area.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/09/13/Kabul-ratifies-cluster-bomb-treaty/UPI-24301315931747/.

More than 100,000 displaced in Sudan's Blue Nile – UN

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- More than 100,000 people are estimated to have been displaced as fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and rebels in the country's Blue Nile state continues, the United Nations (UN) reported on Tuesday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that tens of thousands of displaced people cannot be reached by relief agencies due to movement restrictions against UN staff imposed by the Government in both Sennar and Blue Nile states.

Last Thursday, the Government said an assessment of humanitarian needs and the distribution of aid in Blue Nile will be coordinated by state authorities and that any humanitarian activities will be carried out by local humanitarian organizations, including the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS).

In an update that little is known about the situation in Blue Nile, particularly in the SPLM-N controlled areas due to lack of access, OCHA said that the number of displaced people could be over 100,000. In addition, the report said that while the security situation in the Blue Nile capital, Damazin, where fighting broke out at the beginning of the month, is normalizing, the city remains tense

The fighting pits government forces against the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) and was previously confined to Southern Kordofan state before it spread to neighboring Blue Nile last week.

Meanwhile, the UN World Food Program (WFP) has received official requests from SRCS and another local group for food assistance to communities displaced from Blue Nile. However, due to government-imposed restrictions on pre-positioning of food stocks in Blue Nile, WFP has only enough stocks to feed 20,000 people for two weeks.

While three international NGOs have reported that their compounds in Damazin were looted, police in Damazin have continued to provide protection to UN offices and warehouses to prevent such incidents.

Some 8,000 newly displaced people in the eastern areas of South Kordofan have received non-food relief items as reports arise of ongoing fighting in various parts of the region. However, no further details have been forthcoming.

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/news/more-than-100000-displaced-in-sudans-blue-nile-un.html.

Lebanon hosts Conf on cluster bombs

Tue Sep 13, 2011

The delegates from more than 100 countries are participating in a five-day conference on cluster munitions with aim to eradicate the inhuman weapon.

Organizers have said that hundreds of thousands of unexploded cluster bombs remain in Lebanon after being dropped by Israel during the July 2006 war, The Daily Star reported on Tuesday.

“These bombs have until today disabled or killed more than 400 victims, therefore constituting a form of occupation [of the country],” Lebanese President Michel Sleiman said on Monday in his inaugural address in Beirut.

The conference will last through Friday.

Sleiman added, these weapons “still threaten our citizens' lives on a daily basis while we have not yet completely removed them and obliterated their impact.”

More than 200,000 unexploded cluster bombs have been found and made harmless since 2006, but millions still remain unfound in southern Lebanon.

The president said the primary reason the conference is being held in Lebanon because the country has suffered severely because of this inhuman weapon.

The UN investigations in southern Lebanon show that Israel dropped over four million cluster munitions during the last days of Tel Aviv's war on the country in 2006.

Sleiman went on to say that the legacy of the Israeli war machine throughout its aggression against Lebanon, especially during the month of July 2006, has caused huge devastation, claimed hundreds of innocent lives, and inflicted physical and moral suffering upon the Lebanese people.

An international convention on cluster munitions has been in force for over a year that requires signatories to give up the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of the weapons.

All the countries, which are participating in the Lebanon conference, have joined the convention.

The United States, Israel and Russia manufacture and stockpile most of the world's cluster munitions. They are among countries who have not signed the treaty.

International researchers say the US has transferred hundreds of thousands of cluster munitions, containing tens of millions of bomblets, to 28 countries in the world.

The worst affected countries are Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/198994.html.

Saudi activists form political group

Tue Sep 13, 2011

Saudi activists have established a political group to launch a peaceful campaign for asserting the rights of citizens living in the eastern parts of the Persian Gulf kingdom.

The group, named “Change and Progress Society”, will be headed by Saudi prominent author Ahmad Mohammad al-Rebh from the eastern province of Qatif.

Rebh insisted that the group is part of the Saudi society and will conduct its activities based on that principle.

Saudi Arabia's east has been the scene of protests over the past months and authorities have arrested scores of people, including bloggers and writers for taking part in anti-government demonstrations.

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 160 dissidents have been arrested since February in Saudi crackdowns on anti-government protesters.

According to the Saudi-based Human Rights First Society (HRFS), detainees have been subject to both physical and mental torture.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/198910.html.

Demands grow for UK to consider cutting EU ties

July 02, 2012

LONDON (AP) — Will Britain's EU membership be one more casualty of the continent's devastating debt crisis?

Senior British lawmakers warned Monday that Britain must consider a future outside the European Union as the 17 members of Europe's currency union, which the UK has stayed out of, develop closer fiscal and political ties.

Plans to exit the EU — a policy once advocated primarily on Britain's political fringe — are rapidly gathering mainstream appeal and could dominate debate at the country's scheduled 2015 national election.

"I do not believe that Britain's national interest is served by its current relationship with the EU," Britain's former Defense Secretary Liam Fox said in a speech offering support to growing calls for a national vote on the issue.

Opinion polls show most Britons are deeply skeptical about closer European ties and eager to win back national decision making powers previously lost to Brussels. Britain last held a vote on its membership of the EU, then the European Economic Community, in 1975.

Fox said that European nations which don't use the euro currency should press for much looser ties to their neighbors, or contemplate quitting the bloc altogether. "Life outside the EU holds no terror," Fox said, insisting that much like non-EU members Switzerland and Norway, Britain would be able to continue to trade easily with its neighbors.

Prime Minister David Cameron has acknowledged that Britain may need a future national vote on its ties to Europe, but insists that shouldn't happen while the debt crisis is unfolding. He told lawmakers that Britain's priority must be to "deal with the instability and chaos" sweeping the eurozone, before considering its relationship with its neighbors.

"Far from ruling out a referendum for the future as a fresh deal in Europe becomes clear, we should consider how best to get the full consent of the British people," he said. However, Cameron said euroskeptics were wrong that the only option for Britain to defend its interests was to quit the EU altogether.

Cameron pointed to his decision in December to veto changes to the European Union treaty, when he was the only leader among the bloc to refuse to endorse a plan for nations to submit their budgets for central review and limit the deficits they can run.

Ex-government minister John Redwood, like Fox also a member of Cameron's euroskeptic Conservative Party, said many British people would welcome a chance to vote to leave the European Union. While residents in the Eurozone nations "want more EU power over their lives, we intend to have less. We should travel in the opposite direction," he wrote on his blog.

Britain's main opposition Labor Party has suggested it could include plans for a national referendum in its manifesto for the 2015 election. However, the Liberal Democrats — junior members of the coalition government with Cameron's Conservatives — are staunch defenders of European ties.

Spain fetes its soccer champs with happy abandon

July 02, 2012

MADRID (AP) — Swathed in the red and yellow colors of Spain, hundreds of thousands packed central Madrid to give a hero's welcome home Monday to "La Roja" — the national soccer team that erased the economically struggling country's gloomy mood by winning the Euro 2012 Championship with flair.

With the celebrated team back, it was time to party for a second straight night. After a 2 ½ hour open-air bus ride through the fan-packed streets, squad members took to a stage in Cibeles plaza against the backdrop of Madrid's majestic town hall and danced to pop music while spraying each other with sparkling wine.

"It was a merited triumph, we made history and now it's time to celebrate it," said mastermind midfielder Xavi Hernandez, adding that Spain hopes to build on the success of the past four years. "Next we*ll go for the Confederations Cup (2013) and then the World Cup in Brazil (2014), but first we want to enjoy this one."

Earlier, King Juan Carlos and members of the royal family congratulated the players at the Zarzuela Palace outside Madrid within hours of their returning from Kiev, where they crushed Italy 4-0 to defend their title Sunday night. The Iberia plane that brought them to the Spanish capital bore the logo "proud of our national team."

Team captain and goalie Iker Casillas proudly held the tournament cup as he emerged from the plane in Madrid with coach Vicente del Bosque. In the palace gardens, the king, Prince Felipe, his wife, Princess Letizia, and one of the king's two daughters, Princess Elena, chatted and laughed with the players while two of the monarch's grandchildren gazed at and touched the cup.

"Congratulations on behalf of the family and the whole of Spain," the king said. "You have made the entire country happy." Prior to reaching Cibeles, a multitude jammed the paths and roads along a near 5-kilometer (3-mile) victory route chanting "Champions! Champions! Oe, Oe, Oe!"

Blowing horns, they put up with a baking evening sun to catch a glimpse of their heroes as they paraded by on the bus, escorted by police on horseback and motorbikes. Thousands more fans cheered on from apartment balconies.

The players danced and sang, raised the trophy and sprayed drinks on the screaming, flag-waving crowds below as the bus crawled along at a snail's pace. In Cibeles, organizers sprayed the crowds with water hoses to help them keep cool.

The team's elegant performance in the Euro 2012 final raised spirits across a country drowning in financial woes and rampant unemployment. It also made them the first team ever to bookend a World Cup championship (2010) with two Euro Cup triumphs (2008, 2012).

"This is historic and I'm here to support the team. They just might be able to do it again so we can win the (2014 World Cup) in Brazil," said Jose Luis Clemente, 47, a bus inspector clad in the team jersey. "It's a rare positive point against such a terrible crisis in my country. It gives you some relief."

Still, he was realistic. "No football win is going to solve the crisis. That's work for the economists and the politicians," he added. The victory even had some Spaniards offering a tongue-in-cheek suggestion: Why not have the players run the country instead of Spain's feckless politicians?

In one newspaper cartoon, del Bosque is surrounded by Casillas and other stars such as Xavi and Andres Iniesta, who are all dressed up in suits for a new line of work. "The solution to our problems: the government of prime minister del Bosque and his ministers," read the vignette in El Mundo.

As the country recovered from a national hangover of elation, pride and booze, Spaniards soaked up sweet memories of a night no one will forget. For a few hours, the realities of 25 percent unemployment, a grinding recession and a banking bailout from the European Union to the tune of up to €100 billion ($125 billion) were put aside.

"No team has ever done what they have done, and it helps you to stop thinking about the crisis for 90 minutes during the game and the next day for the party," said Carlo del Pino, 25, a university student.

Del Pino said he hopes to teach physical education and coach one day but prospects are grim for graduates now with cutbacks in education funding, teacher pay cuts and layoffs of temporary teachers. "I don't know where I will be working when I graduate, whether it's in Spain, Portugal or some other country," he said. "But all the Spanish kids who are here cheering the team may want to do sports because of the victory, so that could help me."

Retired air force officer Ramon Ramirez, 76, looked a bit out of place, dressed smartly in long sleeve formal shirt and pressed jeans amid a sea of folks decked out in red and yellow as he waited for the team to pass.

"For Spain, the headlines around the world have finally changed to good instead of the bad we've seen for months. Let's hope it continues," he said. Maria Jose Herraiz, a 54-year-old homemaker, was so nervous she had to listen to the game on the radio instead of watching it on TV.

"When I heard people scream 'Goal!' I would run to the TV," she said. She called the victory marvelous, a potent shot of mood-boosting adrenalin for people sorely in need of it, but said reality would come back soon.

"It will be a sort of flower that blooms for just one day, because economic problems do not go away just because Spain wins," Herraiz said. Her two adult children — aged 26 and 28 — are both still living at home. They are struggling on rock-bottom salaries as low as €300 ($377) a month for half-day work despite being a computer scientist and a physicist.

Still, for one night, they came home just before dawn after a rousing celebration, their faces painted in red and yellow.

Ciaran Giles contributed to this report.