Egypt's FJP keen on dialogue

Jan. 31, 2013

CAIRO, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Egyptian national interests should prevail over partisan and personal viewpoints, the secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood's political party said.

Egyptian opposition groups initially shrugged off calls from President Mohamed Morsi to have a national dialogue. Hussein Ibrahim, secretary-general of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, said Islamist politicians were interested in broad-based talks, however.

"We really need to give priority to the interests of the country over intellectual and partisan agendas and narrow personal interests," he was quoted on the party's website as saying. "Politicians and party leaders have to compete to offer programs to rebuild Egypt that can positively change the living conditions of citizens."

Morsi hails from the Muslim Brotherhood. His election in June sparked concerns over the role that Islam has on post-revolutionary politics in Egypt.

Morsi declared a state of emergency in parts of Egypt last week. Frustration boiled over, leading to deadly protests as the country marked the second anniversary of an uprising that unseated longtime President Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptian leaders next month start preparations for parliamentary elections.

"Is it coincidence, though, that the repeated waves of spiraling violence and attempts to spread chaos and lawlessness precede each election event, where the ballot box is the arbitrator?" Ibrahim asked.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/01/31/Egypts-FJP-keen-on-dialogue/UPI-17231359659349/.

Argentina pushes Falklands claim in EU

Jan. 31, 2013

BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Argentina is pushing its claim on British-ruled Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic in a diplomatic campaign launched this week in, of all places, London.

In a continuation of Buenos Aires' bitter rhetoric that calls the islands Las Malvinas, accuses Britain of neo-colonialism and threatening conduct in Argentina's neighborhood, Foreign Minister Hector Timerman plans to raise the claim when he meets with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Senior EU officials are expected to attend international talks in London where both Hague and Timerman will meet other European personalities, which Argentine officials see as an opportunity to air their views on the Falklands. Names of participants in the meetings weren't revealed.

Argentina's former military dictatorship invaded the islands in 1982 but was beaten back by Britain. After return to civilian rule, Argentina resumed its claim, setting aside a formal surrender after a 74-day war that claimed about 1,000 lives.

Argentine analysts see the government's diplomatic effort as a timely intervention set to try and profit from Britain's current acrimonious dialogue with EU partners on future ties between London and Brussels.

Critics of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner see the Falklands initiative as a diversion from any discussion of the Latin American country's economic and political woes.

Britain said it would welcome any discussion but has asked two lawmakers from its overseas territory taking part in any talks that mention Falklands.

London says the islands are self-ruled and that Falklanders have chosen to remain part of its overseas territories, 14 remnants of the British empire that are spread across the globe.

The real estate exceeds 667,000 miles with a population of about 260,000 worldwide. About 3,000 Falklanders who inhabit the islands' 4,700 square miles are one of the more prosperous overseas British communities in the constellation of former colonies.

Falkland Islands' Legislative Assembly members Jan Cheek and Dick Sawle will be at hand to give Hague backing during talks in London, officials in Stanley, the islands' South Atlantic capital, said in a statement.

Sawle is fluent in Spanish and an expert on Falklands' history. Cheek, a longtime legislator, met with British Prime Minister David Cameron last year.

The Falklands' lawmakers wrote an open letter to Fernandez in 2012 to argue for their case against Argentine claims.

Argentina has announced populist events to mark the 180th anniversary of Britain's "forcible usurpation" of the Falklands in January 1833. The Falklanders' say the Argentine campaign is part of an effort to belittle a planned referendum March 10-11 that will confirm their status as citizens of the British overseas territory.

A statement from the Falklands government said Hague has "reiterated to Argentina that there can never be any negotiations over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands unless and until the Falkland Islanders so wish. The Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly believes that the result of the forthcoming referendum will demonstrate definitively that we do not. Should the issue of sovereignty be raised at the meeting, it will not be discussed."

It added, "We want to reassure anyone concerned by this that we are not going to be negotiating any deal with Argentina. Rather we are anticipating a full and frank exchange of views. Indeed we look forward to giving Mr. Timerman some very direct messages on the unacceptability of Argentina's actions against the Falkland Islands in recent years. We demand that our rights be respected, and that we be left in peace to choose our own future and to develop our country for our children and generations to come. It is only right that he should hear this directly from us, as well as from Mr. Hague," the Falklanders said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/01/31/Argentina-pushes-Falklands-claim-in-EU/UPI-87871359666468/.

Activists: 10 bodies found on road near Damascus

March 01, 2013

BEIRUT (AP) — Activists say the bodies of 10 men, most of them shot in the head, have been found on a road outside of the Syrian capital.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the bodies were dumped on the road between the Damascus suburbs of Adra and Dumair. Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said on Friday that all of the bodies were of men who appeared to be between the ages of 30 and 45. He said one of the men had been decapitated.

The identities of the men were not immediately known.

Austerity triggers novel protests in Portugal

March 01, 2013

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — A Portuguese revolutionary song from 40 years ago is haunting the bailed-out country's government.

Anti-austerity protesters are hounding senior officials by loudly singing at public events a celebrated tune from the 1974 Carnation Revolution. They have managed to silence some of their targets, including the prime minister when he was trying to give a speech in Parliament.

At the same time, people are putting the prime minister's name and tax number on their store receipts. That makes it possible, in theory at least, that Pedro Passos Coelho's spending will outstrip his official income and leave him liable for an end-of-year tax assessment.

Portuguese unhappy about the center-right government's relentless austerity drive aren't just getting mad, they're getting even — in imaginative ways. The government is locked into debt-cutting measures in return for the ailing country's €78 billion ($102 billion) financial rescue in 2011. More tax hikes this year sliced another chunk off wages. The result: public outrage has mounted as living standards have tumbled.

After winter weather discouraged street protests and with strikes petering out amid falling income, dissenters in Portugal have formed civic movements which have come up with new ways of retaliating against their leaders' unpopular policies.

People in other European countries stricken by the eurozone financial crisis appear no less disaffected. In Italy's national elections last weekend Beppe Grillo — a comedian with no political experience whose blog fed off public discontent with austerity — and his 5 Star Movement collected almost a quarter of the votes cast. In Spain, "Surround Parliament" protests take aim at what are perceived as discredited politicians amid a 26 percent unemployment rate.

"There's a broad feeling of powerlessness" among aggrieved Europeans, says Antonio Costa Pinto, a political scientist at Lisbon University's Institute of Social Science. "With few resources, (the civic movements) can make a big impact."

In Portugal, civic movements whose message travels quickly on social media have to a degree eclipsed trade unions, traditionally in the vanguard of protests. Those movements are behind protest marches planned Saturday in more than 20 Portuguese cities that are expected to draw big crowds.

They are trying to persuade the government to reverse course by jettisoning austerity policies and switching focus to state-fueled economic growth and job creation. Even so, while the protests have earned headline media coverage, the government shows no sign of budging.

The new wellspring of protests and the novel style of the dissent are another sign of social and cultural changes that have accompanied the financial crisis. The downbeat period has stripped away long-standing entitlements and modified the habits of many Europeans.

The Portuguese aren't short of reasons to grumble. The country is forecast to weather a third straight year of recession in 2013. Unemployment has ballooned to a record 16.9 percent. And an avalanche of tax increases and welfare cuts shows no sign of letting up as the government looks for another €4 billion to cut.

The recent mischief is needling politicians who are viewed as deaf to appeals for less hardship. "It helps achieve an aim, which is to grind down the government," said Costa Pinto, the political scientist.

Among the many makeshift movements that have sprung up in recent times the most vociferous and talked-about is one called "Screw the troika - We want our lives back." Mostly young people fill its ranks. They are the ones with plenty to complain about: the jobless rate among Portuguese under-25s rate stands at 40 percent.

The group, which stresses it has peaceful aims, has dogged officials with its full-throated public renditions of "Grandola, Vila Morena" (Grandola, Dusky Town). A radio broadcast of that folk song was the night-time signal in 1974 for mutinous troops to rise up against Portugal's four-decade dictatorship. The Carnation Revolution brought democracy and set Portugal on the path to European Union membership.

The song was recorded by Portuguese musician Zeca Afonso in 1971. It is a slow-tempo ballad, with stirring lyrics and a catchy refrain. The lyrics seem dated — they speak of a "land of fraternity" and, slightly ominously, caution that "The people have the final word" — but feel suited to the current times.

Protesters recently sang it from the public gallery when the prime minister was addressing Parliament, forcing him to stop and wait for them to finish. A half-dozen other members of the Cabinet have also had to listen to it at public engagements.

Government officials have acted bemused, but their discomfort is evident. The same protest group has also inspired a resurgence of irreverent political graffiti along Lisbon streets, where huge colorful murals have appeared. Last weekend, dozens of people — ranging from children to pensioners — joined in the painting of a 13-meter (42-feet) by 13-meter mural calling people to Saturday's protests.

"It was really moving," said 41-year-old filmmaker Alexandre Azinheira, who designed the mural. With his retired parents unable to meet mortgage payments on their home due to pension cuts, he said he was spurred to act because the government had "betrayed" the Portuguese.

Another group, the White Revolution Movement, came up with the idea of putting officials' names on store receipts after the government threatened to punish anyone who didn't ask for a receipt for financial transactions. It was part of a crackdown on tax evasion by businesses.

The prime minister's personal tax number went around by email and cellphone text message and can now be seen on photographs of receipts posted on the group's Facebook page. Media reports claim receipts worth millions of euros now feature the tax number of government ministers — even though providing a fake receipt name carries a risk of up to three years in prison.

The Finance Ministry did not reply to a request for comment. "We never thought it'd take off like this," the movement's leader Paulo Romeira said. "People leapt on board to show their disgust with the political class that has led us to where we stand today."

Passos Coelho, the prime minister, insists the protesters are an unrepresentative minority. "We shouldn't mistake a tree for a forest," he told reporters last week. The response on Facebook didn't take long: a poster advertising Saturday's marches announced, "We are the forest."

Officials: France in Mali until July or later

February 28, 2013

PARIS (AP) — French troops will stay in the West African country of Mali at least until July, amid tougher-than-expected resistance from Islamic fighters, officials have told The Associated Press, despite earlier government promises to begin a quick pullout within weeks.

France's leadership has painted the intervention against al-Qaida-backed radicals in Mali, which began in January, as a swift and limited one, and said that France could start withdrawing its 4,000 troops in Mali in March and hand over security duties to an African force.

But the combat in rugged Sahara Desert mountains is growing harder, and there's a rising threat that the militants will turn to suicide bombings, hostage-taking and other guerrilla tactics. One French diplomat acknowledged this week that a French military presence is expected to remain for at least six months. Two other French officials told The Associated Press that the French will remain at least until July, when France is hoping that Mali can hold elections.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the military campaign. Any French pullout in March is likely to be small and symbolic, leaving behind a robust force to try to keep the peace in a poor and troubled country, the officials say. Mali was largely peaceful until a coup last year led to a political vacuum that allowed militants inspired by an extreme form of Islam to grab control of the country's north.

France, which is winding down its 11-year presence in Afghanistan, has now spent more than €100 million ($131million) on fighting in Mali over the past six weeks, and is facing the prospect of another protracted and costly intervention against far-away jihadists.

France's defense minister seems to be seeking wiggle room on the timetable for a pullout. And one French diplomat acknowledged: "Nobody believes the French presence will be over in six months." Some analysts say even that's optimistic.

In the latest fighting, military spokesman Col. Thierry Burkhard said Thursday that about 1,200 French, 800 Chadian and an unspecified number of Malian troops are closing in on an unspecified number of extremist fighters in a roughly 25-square kilometer (15-mile) zone in the Adrar des Ifoghas range near the Algerian border in northeastern Mali.

The oval-shaped area south of the town of Tessalit is the "center of gravity" of a new French operation involving helicopter gunships, fighter jets, mobile artillery pieces and armored vehicles, Burkhard said. He declined to provide details because the operation was ongoing, but indicated that French fighters had killed about 40 insurgents over the last week or so.

Burkhard said he believes al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb was active in the area. AQIM is one of three militant groups that controlled northern Mali for 10 months before France's Jan. 11 invasion sent them scurrying into rural areas. And he left little doubt that the armed extremists are digging in for a long fight.

"They are sustained in a region they know very well. ... They have established defensive, underground positions, positions that their different members can change between, and logistically — with pre-positioned weapons and food depots," he said. "They want to hold this area in a durable way."

French politicians, wary that public support for the war could quickly sink, are increasingly seeking to play down expectations and gird for a long-term commitment. "The hardest part is yet to come. ... It's more complicated because we have to be on the ground, with a fine-toothed comb, slowly, meter after meter practically, on a territory that's still rather vast but where the terrorists have been reduced," Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told RTL radio on Tuesday. "We'll take this to the end."

France's government has said it plans a gradual drawdown starting in March. As the diplomat put it: "That doesn't mean we're going to pull out 1,000 all at once, but even if we pull out 100, that will be considered by the French public as the start of a withdrawal."

After France's longtime participation in NATO's Afghan mission, and its major role in helping topple Moammar Gadhafi in Libya, French officials are wary about getting bogged down in yet another war — and setting timetables about withdrawal is both uncomfortable and uncertain.

Pressed on the time frame in an interview with France-2 TV last week, Le Drian said: "We are not there for a long time. We have no intention to stay." From the get-go of their military campaign on Jan. 11, the French have summed up their military strategy as stopping the advance of jihadists from unruly northern Mali toward Bamako, the capital, and freeing the northern cities the radicals had controlled for 10 months, imposing harsh Islamic rule. Those two goals have largely been achieved through French air power and long-distance artillery strikes.

The third pillar of the French campaign is proving the hardest: rooting out rebel holdouts in the Ifoghas range near Algeria's border, and rallying African troops to take over stabilization and peacekeeping efforts once the French leave.

That plan was dealt a blow last week when about two dozen reputedly crack troops from Chad, another former French colony with familiarity operating in desert terrain like northern Mali's, were killed in a gunfight in the Ifoghas.

Lining up African military support, which has already been sputtering, could run into greater hurdles if their troops are getting killed. Since the operation began, French officials estimate that hundreds of insurgents have been killed; two French soldiers have died.

One reason the French are likely to stay for a while is that they are the only Western power with the wherewithal to act militarily in West Africa. "Generally when an army says it's going to pull out its troops, it never does withdraw them all. In other words, you can imagine special forces, logistics teams are going to stay there, and maybe in support of the African armies that are supposed to take over," said Laurence Aida Ammour, a security and defense expert focusing on West and northern Africa at the Institute of Political Science in Bordeaux.

Much of the international community has given moral and political support to France, but limited its payouts. European trainers for Malian soldiers are expected to help, and several Western allies have helped with logistics support including transport planes.

The United States is helping with intelligence-gathering, notably with unarmed drones flying out of neighboring Niger. Under U.S. law, the American government — which had been training Malian forces before the military coup last year — cannot provide aid to countries run by or with a major component of control of unelected juntas.

National elections in July are supposed to give Mali's wobbly government more legitimacy, notably so that countries like the United States could offer their blessing and support.

Sylvie Corbet and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

With no pope, Catholic Church leaderless for now

March 01, 2013

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Catholic Church has awoken with no leader following Benedict XVI's resignation, in which he pledged obedience to his successor and described himself as "simply a pilgrim" starting the final part of his life.

Now begins a period known as the "sede vacante" or "vacant see" — the transition between the end of one papacy and the election of a new pope. During these few days — no more than 20 — a few key players take charge running the Holy See, guiding the College of Cardinals in their deliberations and organizing the conclave to elect Benedict's successor.

In one of his first official acts as dean, Cardinal Angelo Sodano on Friday officially summons cardinals to Rome to participate in the conclave, a formality given that most are already here. And in one of his first official acts as camerlengo, or the chamberlain who actually runs the Holy See in the transition, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone sealed Benedict's apartment in the Apostolic Palace on Thursday night. It will not be reopened until a new pope is elected.

With the 8 p.m. Thursday end of Benedict's papacy, every department head in the Vatican lost his job — except for those whose offices are crucial for the smooth running of the transition period itself.

Cardinals on Monday will begin formal meetings to set the date for the conclave and discuss problems facing the church; major topics of discussion are expected to be the report Benedict commissioned into the leaks of sensitive Vatican documents and the dysfunction currently reigning in the Vatican bureaucracy.

"What we talk about ... will be certainly the governance of the church and in that context there may be questions to people who did the report," said Chicago Cardinal Francis George. "I think we will find out a lot from a lot of sources to figure out what is necessary now to govern the church well here in Rome itself."

Japan ex-minister warns of Okinawa unrest, secession

Tokyo (AFP)
Jan 31, 2013

A former Japanese minister has warned domestic terrorists could strike Tokyo if the government fails to address anger in Okinawa over a heavy US military presence there.

Shozaburo Jimi, minister in charge of financial services and postal reform, under the last government, suggested Wednesday that residents of the sub-tropical island chain may also push for secession from Japan.

"Okinawa has long had a history of independence movements and movements for self-governance. I hope those things will not blaze up," he told local media.

"There's a possibility that (Okinawa) will say it will become an independent state," Jimi said, according to Kyodo News.

"Domestic guerrilla (struggles) could occur as a result of separatist movements," and "terrorist bombings could occur in Tokyo, depending on how the state handles" the issue, said Jimi.

The comments came as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who swept to power in a December election, reiterated his policy of strengthening the Japan-US military alliance and said he was pushing ahead with an unpopular plan to move a large US air base within the prefecture.

Jimi's statements, which come ahead of Abe's weekend visit to Okinawa, were seen as an attempt to press the government to ease the burden on the southern Japanese prefecture, reluctant host to more than half of the 47,000 US military personnel in Japan.

Despite calls from local Okinawan politicians, the central government has stood firm on its plan to move the Futenma Air Station from a residential district of Okinawa to a sparsely populated shoreline area.

Domestic terror attacks hit Japan in the 1960s and 1970s during huge social upheaval and as part of a radicalist and student movement, but the country has since largely escaped the blight of organised political violence.

Jimi is head of the small People's New Party, which was part of the ruling bloc until a December election saw it routed, including in Okinawa.

The often-fractious relationship between the US military and the communities that host them has been further irritated in recent months by a series of crimes committed by drunken servicemen, including the gang rape of a local woman.

Opponents have also seized on the deployment to Okinawa of tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft, which they say have a questionable safety record and put people living nearby at unnecessary risk.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Japan_ex-minister_warns_of_Okinawa_unrest_secession_999.html.

Ridges on Mars suggest ancient flowing water

Providence RI (SPX)
Jan 31, 2013

Networks of narrow ridges found in impact craters on Mars appear to be the fossilized remnants of underground cracks through which water once flowed, according to a new analysis by researchers from Brown University.

The study, in press in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, bolsters the idea that the subsurface environment on Mars once had an active hydrology and could be a good place to search for evidence of past life. The research was conducted by Lee Saper, a recent Brown graduate, with Jack Mustard, professor of geological sciences.

The ridges, many of them hundreds of meters in length and a few meters wide, had been noted in previous research, but how they had formed was not known. Saper and Mustard thought they might once have been faults and fractures that formed underground when impact events rattled the planet's crust. Water, if present in the subsurface, would have circulated through the cracks, slowly filling them in with mineral deposits, which would have been harder than the surrounding rocks. As those surrounding rocks eroded away over millions of years, the seams of mineral-hardened material would remain in place, forming the ridges seen today.

To test their hypothesis, Saper and Mustard mapped over 4,000 ridges in two crater-pocked regions on Mars, Nili Fossae and Nilosyrtis. Using high-resolution images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the researchers noted the orientations of the ridges and composition of the surrounding rocks.

The orientation data is consistent with the idea that the ridges started out as fractures formed by impact events. A competing hypothesis suggests that these structures may have been sheets of volcanic magma intruding into the surrounding rock, but that doesn't appear to be the case. At Nili Fossae, the orientations are similar to the alignments of large faults related to a mega-scale impact.

At Nilosyrtis, where the impact events were smaller in scale, the ridge orientations are associated with each of the small craters in which they were found. "This suggests that fracture formation resulted from the energy of localized impact events and are not associated with regional-scale volcanism," Saper said.

Importantly, Saper and Mustard also found that the ridges exist exclusively in areas where the surrounding rock is rich in iron-magnesium clay, a mineral considered to be a telltale sign that water had once been present in the rocks.

"The association with these hydrated materials suggests there was a water source available," Saper said. "That water would have flowed along the path of least resistance, which in this case would have been these fracture conduits."

As that water flowed, dissolved minerals would have been slowly deposited in the conduits, in much the same way mineral deposits can build up and eventually clog drain pipes. That mineralized material would have been more resistant to erosion than the surrounding rock. And indeed, Saper and Mustard found that these ridges were only found in areas that were heavily eroded, consistent with the notion that these are ancient structures revealed as the weaker surrounding rocks were slowly peeled away by wind.

Taken together, the results suggest the ancient Martian subsurface had flowing water and may have been a habitable environment.

"This gives us a point of observation to say there was enough fracturing and fluid flow in the crust to sustain at least a regionally viable subsurface hydrology," Saper said. "The overarching theme of NASA's planetary exploration has been to follow the water. So if in fact these fractures that turned into these ridges were flowing with hydrothermal fluid, they could have been a viable biosphere."

Saper hopes that the Curiosity rover, currently making its way across its Gale Crater landing site, might be able to shed more light on these types of structures.

"In the site at Gale Crater, there are thought to be mineralized fractures that the rover will go up and touch," Saper said. "These are very small and may not be exactly the same kind of feature we studied, but we'll have the opportunity to crush them up and do chemical analysis on them. That could either bolster our hypothesis or tell us we need to explore other possibilities."

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Ridges_on_Mars_suggest_ancient_flowing_water_999.html.

Mercury's crust likely made of magnesium-rich basalt

Washington DC (SPX)
Jan 31, 2013

With both x-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers, the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging probe (MESSENGER), which entered orbit around Mercury in 2011, is well equipped for carrying out a detailed compositional analysis of Mercury's crust, the understanding of which could help determine the nature of the planet's formation, and of its volcanic past.

Using spectrometric measurements and laboratory analyzes of Mercury surface-analogue samples, Stockstill-Cahill et al. determine that the upper layers of Mercury's crust most closely resemble magnesian basalt terrestrial rocks, though with lower iron concentrations.

To make their determination, the authors used a software package known as MELTS to simulate the cooling and crystallization of potential Mercurian lavas with different chemical compositions, estimating the temperatures at which minerals would crystallize out of the molten lava and the abundances of different mineral species.

Similarly, the authors simulated the cooling of magnesium-rich terrestrial rocks and of meteoritic samples.

Based on their chemical compositional analysis, the authors infer a number of properties for an early lava on Mercury. They suggest that the lava would have had a very low viscosity, streaming across the surface in widespread but thin layers.

Further, they calculate that the temperatures required to produce the magnesium-rich lava would have been much higher than for terrestrial rocks not enriched in magnesium.

The authors say that the low-viscosity lava would leave telltale marks on the planet's surface that could be identified through further MESSENGER observations.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Mercurys_crust_likely_made_of_magnesium_rich_basalt_999.html.

Iran Takes First Step to Send Man to Space

Tehran (FNA)
Jan 31, 2013

Sending a biocapsule to the space and retrieving it successfully was Iran's first step on the path to sending a human to the space, Iran's Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said after his agency announced on Monday that it had sent a monkey to the orbit, brought it back to the Earth and retrieved the animal and the relevant data successfully.

"Sending Explorer and retrieving it was the first step for sending human to the space in later stages," Vahidi said, adding that he would soon announce some good news in the same regard.

He further pointed to the mission of the Explorer, and said, "Explorer Pioneer fulfilled its mission at 360,000 feet (120km) altitude well."

Vahidi, whose ministry's space organization was in charge of the project, said the biocapsule which contained a living creature (a monkey) came back to Earth safe and sound and at the planned speed and velocity.

He said Iran will soon inaugurate a space observation base.

The Defense Ministry's Aerospace Industries Organization announced that it has sent a monkey into the space on the back of Pishgam (Pioneer) explorer rocket, and that it has brought back and recovered the living cargo.

The Aerospace Industries Organization said it had sent the living creature into space aboard an indigenous biocapsule as a prelude to sending humans into space.

The Aerospace Industries Organization said the capsule was sent to an orbit beyond 120km in altitude and carried out telemetry of the environmental data records.

The explorer rocket was launched by the Aerospace Industries Organization and it returned to the Earth after reaching the desired speed and altitude, and the living creature (monkey) was retrieved and found alive.

In mid-March 2011, Iran's Space Agency (ISA) announced the launch of the Kavoshgar-4 rocket carrying a test capsule designed to house the monkey.

The capsule had been unveiled in February 2011 by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with four new prototypes of home-built satellites.

At the time, Director of Iran Space Agency (ISA) Hamid Fazeli called the launch of a large animal into space as the first step towards sending a man into space, which Tehran says is scheduled for 2020.

Iran has already sent small animals into space - a rat, turtles and worms - aboard a capsule carried by its Kavoshgar-3 rocket in 2010.

The Islamic republic, which first put a satellite into orbit in 2009, has outlined an ambitious space program and has, thus far, made giant progress in the field despite western sanctions and pressures against its advancement.

Iran has taken wide strides in aerospace. The country sent the first biocapsule of living creatures into space in February 2011, using its home-made Kavoshgar-3 (Explorer-3) carrier.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced in 2010 that Iran plans to send astronauts into space in 2024. But, later he said that the issue had gone under a second study at a cabinet meeting and that the cabinet had decided to implement the plan in 2019, five years earlier than the date envisaged in the original plan.

Omid (hope) was Iran's first research satellite that was designed for gathering information and testing equipment. After orbiting for three months, Omid successfully completed its mission without any problem. It completed more than 700 orbits over seven weeks and reentered the Earth's atmosphere on April 25, 2009.

After launching Omid, Tehran unveiled three new satellites called Tolou, Mesbah II and Navid, respectively. Iran has also unveiled its latest achievements in designing and producing satellite carriers.

A new generation of home-made satellites and a new satellite carrier called Simorgh (Phoenix) were among the latest achievements unveiled by Iran's aerospace industries.

The milk-bottle shaped rocket is equipped to carry a 60-kilogram (132-pound) satellite 500 kilometers (310 miles) into orbit.

The 27-meter (90 foot) tall multi-stage rocket weighs 85 tons and its liquid fuel propulsion system has a thrust of up to 143 tons.

Iran is one of the 24 founding members of the United Nations' Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS), which was set up in 1959.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Iran_Takes_First_Step_to_Send_Man_to_Space_999.html.

The fate of Baikonur: Will Russia's space gates Open?

by Olga Zakutnyaya
Moscow (Voice of Russia)
Jan 31, 2013

The current uncertainty surrounding space activities at Baikonur in 2013 may be eliminated on Wednesday when Kazakh prime minister, Kairat Kelimbetov, visits Russia to discuss several issues, including the famous cosmodrome. Meanwhile, officials are already working hard to assure the media that the situation is still a long way from being a crisis. The apparent scandal around the spaceport had been exaggerated, said Russian officials on Friday.

The fate of Baikonur, which is, without question, uncertain, may in fact, according to Russia's foreign affairs minister, Sergey Lavrov, be far from the disaster that many think.

Last week a new controversy around Russia's main cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, hit the headlines. The Izvestia newspaper published a note from the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry announcing the Kazakh Government's decision to cut the number of Proton launches in 2013 to 12 instead of the 17 requested by Russia. It went on to suggest that the move might threaten other joint Russian-Kazakh projects, such as the Baiterek and Dnepr programs.

Anyone eagerly watching the situation for further developments may now feel a sense of disappointment, as tensions over the issue began to ease towards the end of last week.

Both Russian officials, and their Kazakh counterparts, were quick to point out that the Baikonur controversy would not affect relations the two states. There is also a further Kazakh visit coming up on January 30 which should bring even more clarity to the situation, this time by the vice minister who also co-chairs the Baikonur committee.

This is not the first, and almost certainly not the last, time that Baikonur has been at the heart of apparent, or even actual, disputes between the two Nations.

Previously both sides have always successfully resolved disagreements to their mutual satisfaction; there can be little doubt that this occasion will be any different, because of the underlying truth that Baikonur is essential to both.

On the other hand the status quo cannot be maintained indefinitely. With the construction of Russia's new Vostochny cosmodrome underway, Baikonur will inevitably lose its long held status as the centre of Russia's space program, if indeed it keeps a role at all.

With annual rent for the site topping the $100 million mark, the Kazakh space base represents a significant burden on the state budget, essentially double the future cost of the new cosmodrome.

However forecasts of Baaikonur's demise may be a little premature as no launches from Vostochny have yet been scheduled, and the primary rocket launcher it is intended to host, namely Angara, has yet even to make its maiden flight.

Then there is Proton, the heaviest Russian launcher available, which, despite its toxic components, can only blast off from Baikonur, which is also the primary facility delivering cosmonauts and cargo to the International Space Station. Hence, the Baikonur launch pads remain vital to the majority of Russian activities in space.

An imperfect equation with many unknown quantities, the Baikonur problem is unlikely to be solved by simple solutions. Several coming events will affect it greatly, such as, for example, the South Korean launch scheduled on January 30. That lift-off will essentially be driven by the first stage of Angara, so it will also make an important contribution to Russian space developments.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/The_fate_of_Baikonur_Will_Russias_space_gates_Open_999.html.

Morocco: Protests as 24 Sahrawis tried

2013-02-01

Rabat - Rival protests were held on Friday outside a military tribunal in the Moroccan capital where 24 Sahrawis accused of killing members of the security forces in the Western Sahara in 2010 are being tried.

The politically charged trial, which is being attended by a number of independent foreign observers, has been repeatedly delayed, with the defendants held in custody for more than two years.

The authorities say 11 people died in the clashes, among them members of the security forces, which broke out as the army moved to dismantle the Gdim Izik camp where thousands of local Sahrawis were living in November 2010.

The Sahrawis arrested during the unrest are accused of violence against the security forces, of pre-meditated killing and of mutilating the victims' bodies.

Some 100 people demonstrated outside the court in Rabat on Friday, among them families of the victims, pro-Saharwi activists and relatives of the accused, many of whom were allowed to attend the trial, an AFP journalist said.

Some relatives of the victims remained outside the tribunal, waving banners that read: "We know who the killers are, so where is justice?"

Ahead of the trial, observers and rights groups expressed concern over allegations the defendants were tortured in custody, about the case being tried by a military court, and about the possible death penalty facing the accused, if convicted.

At dawn on 8 November 2010, Moroccan security forces moved to dismantle the Western Sahara camp, near the territory's main city of Laayoune, which thousands of Sahrawis had set up in protest over their living conditions.

The intervention sparked clashes that spread to nearby Laayoune, where businesses and public buildings were looted and torched.

The authorities said 11 were killed in the unrest, while the Algeria-based Polisario Front separatists said dozens of people lost their lives.

Morocco annexed the former Spanish colony in 1975, in a move never recognized by the international community.

The Polisario Front launched its struggle for independence even before the annexation, with the resulting war lasting until 1991 when the UN brokered a ceasefire, but a settlement of the conflict still remains elusive.

- AFP

Source: News24.
Link: http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Morocco-Protests-as-24-Sahrawis-tried-20130201.