Haniyeh hails Palestinian 'persistence' in face of Israeli occupation

Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has attributed Gaza's survival during the two massive Israeli wars of aggression and the strict Israeli siege to the "wise governing management, legendary persistence of the people and the creativity of the Palestinian residents in Gaza".

During a public speech delivered before a military parade on Monday, Haniyeh asserted that: "Our power is not targeting any Palestinian or neighbor, despite our major differences."

He continued: "We are not in a battle with anyone except the Israeli occupation. [The Palestinian parties] may have varying political views, but [Hamas] proposes only those projects that protect the Palestinian principles."

Hailing the security services in Gaza, Haniyeh said: "This power was built by our accumulated efforts and the blood sacrificed throughout the years. All factions together contributed to it."

In addition, he noted that: "This power was nurtured on resistance and sticking to the principles of the Palestinian people and their cause. We are sustained by the support of the deprived people, detainees and families of the martyrs."

Meanwhile, Haniyeh also congratulated the Palestinians and Muslims on the occasion of the birthday of the Prophet Mohamed PBUH, which occurred on Monday.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/9226-haniyeh-hails-palestinian-persistence-in-face-of-israeli-occupation.

Japan vows defense as China ships near disputed isles

Tokyo (AFP)
Jan 12, 2014

Japan's defense minister vowed Sunday to defend the country's territory as three Chinese government ships entered disputed waters off Tokyo-controlled islands in the East China Sea, the first such incident this year.

The Chinese coastguard vessels sailed into the 12-nautical-mile territorial waters at about 8:30 am (2330 GMT Saturday) off one of the Senkaku islands, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyus, Japan's coastguard said. They left less than two hours later.

"We can never overlook repeated incursions into territorial waters," Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters.

"We need to make diplomatic efforts on one hand. We also want to firmly defend our country's territorial sea and land with the Self-Defense Forces cooperating with the Coast Guard," he added.

Chinese state-owned ships and aircraft have approached the Senkakus on and off to demonstrate Beijing's territorial claims, especially after Japan nationalized some of the islands in September 2012.

It was the first time Chinese ships had been spotted since December 29 when three coastguard ships entered the zone and stayed for around three hours, the Japan Coast Guard said.

Japanese coastguard patrol boats have tried to chase Chinese vessels away, fuelling tensions which some fear could spiral out of control into an armed clash.

Japan's conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed no compromise on the sovereignty of the islands and recently announced a boost in military spending to beef-up the nation's defense.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Japan_vows_defence_as_China_ships_near_disputed_isles_999.html.

China tested hypersonic missile vehicle: US officials

Washington (AFP)
Jan 15, 2014

China for the first time has tested a hypersonic missile vehicle designed to travel several times the speed of sound, the Pentagon said on Wednesday.

The test makes China the second country after the United States to conduct experimental flights with hypersonic vehicles, a technology that could allow armies to rapidly strike distant targets anywhere on the globe.

"We're aware of the test of the hypersonic vehicle but we are not commenting on it," said Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Pool, a Pentagon spokesman.

The flight was conducted on January 9 and the Chinese vehicle, dubbed the WU-14, is supposed to travel at Mach 10, or 10 times the speed of sound, according to a report in the Washington Free Beacon, an online publication.

In its annual report on the Chinese military, the Pentagon made no mention of hypersonic test flights but did say the Chinese had built a hypersonic wind tunnel for experiments.

China's surging economic power has been matched by increasing military might, including investments in an aircraft carrier, anti-ship ballistic missiles, satellites and other hardware.

Three Republican lawmakers, including the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Howard "Buck" McKeon, expressed concern over the test of what they called a "Chinese hypersonic cruise missile" and said the US military was falling behind.

"While round after round of defense cuts have knocked America's technological advantage on its back, the Chinese and other competitor nations push towards military parity with the United States; in some cases, as in this one, they appear to be leaping ahead of us," said McKeon, and representatives Randy Forbes and Mike Rogers.

"This situation does nothing to support peaceful coexistence in the Pacific," it said.

The United States has placed a high priority on hypersonic projects, spending $200 million in fiscal year 2013 on three programs while conducting a number of test flights with hypersonic vehicles.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/China_tested_hypersonic_missile_vehicle_US_officials_999.html.

Pope names 19 new cardinals, focusing on the poor

January 12, 2014

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis named his first batch of cardinals on Sunday, choosing 19 men from Asia, Africa, Latin America and elsewhere, including the developing nations of Haiti and Burkina Faso, in line with his belief that the church must pay more attention to the poor.

Francis made the announcement as he spoke from his studio window to a crowd in St. Peter's Square. Sixteen of the appointees are younger than 80, meaning they are currently eligible to elect the next pope, which is a cardinal's most important task. The ceremony to formally install them as cardinals will be held Feb. 22 at the Vatican.

Since his election in March as the first pontiff from Latin America, the pope has broken tradition after tradition in terms of protocol and style at the Vatican. But in Sunday's list Francis stuck to the church's rule of having no more than 120 cardinals eligible to elect the next pontiff.

The College of Cardinals is currently 13 shy of that 120-mark among eligible-to-vote members. In addition, three cardinals will turn 80 by May. That means Francis chose the exact number of new cardinals needed to bring the voting ranks up to 120 during the next few months.

Some appointments were expected, including that of his new secretary of state, the Italian archbishop Pietro Parolin, and the German head of the Vatican's watchdog office for doctrinal orthodoxy, Gerhard Ludwig Mueller. Two others named Sunday also come from the curia, as the Holy See's Rome-based bureaucracy is known.

But some names were surprising. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the pope's selection of churchmen from Haiti and Burkina Faso reflects Francis' attention to the destitute as a core part of the church's mission.

Also chosen to become a "prince of the church," as the cardinals are known, was Mario Aurelio Poli, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, a post Francis left when he was elected as the first Latin American pope in March. Poli had impressed Francis by earning a degree in social work from the public university of Buenos Aires.

In the case of the archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, the selection of Orani Joao Tempesta was widely hoped for back home as a kind of reward for Monsignor Orani Joao Tempesta's work in organizing Francis' wildly popular visit to that city in July.

Whether one continent or country has a large contingent of cardinals is heavily watched when it comes time to pick the next pope because churchmen could vote as a geographic bloc in hope of furthering the interests of their flock back home.

Not counting the four picks from the curia, who no longer represent the church in their homelands, the others new voting cardinals include two from Europe, three from North and Central America, three from South America, and two apiece from Africa and Asia.

Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, in Britain, called his appointment a "humbling moment" of service to the church. The youngest new cardinal chosen by Francis is the 55-year-old Monsignor Chibly Langlois from Haiti.

In reading out the names, Francis said the new cardinals, coming from "every part of the world represent the deep church ecclesial relationship between the church of Rome and the other churches scattered throughout the world."

Francis has stressed that the church hierarchy must not view itself as an elite aloof from its flock but instead serve its flock, especially for the poor, others on the edges of society and disillusioned faithful.

Once again on Sunday, a pope has passed over a prominent churchman in predominantly Catholic Ireland as a potential cardinal: Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. He has irritated some in the Vatican by strongly criticizing how the hierarchy handled the worldwide clerical sex abuse scandal.

In a sentimental touch in Sunday's selections, the three men chosen as cardinals who are too old to vote for the next pope include 98-year-old Monsignor Loris Francesco Capovilla, who had served as personal secretary to Pope John XXIII. That late pontiff will be made a saint along with John Paul II in a ceremony at the Vatican in April.

Marco Sibaja contributed to this report from Brazil.

Another Golden Dawn lawmaker ordered jailed

January 12, 2014

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek judicial authorities have ordered the jailing of a lawmaker with the extreme right Golden Dawn party on charges of being a prominent member of a criminal organization.

The decision to jail Efstathios Boukouras comes on the heels of a similar Saturday decision for lawmakers Giorgos Yermenis and Panayiotis Iliopoulos. All three are being held at police headquarters and are expected to be transferred to an Athens prison Monday morning. There, they will join Golden Dawn legislators Nikolaos Michaloliakos, the Golden Dawn leader, deputy leader Christos Pappas and Yiannis Lagos, jailed since late September, days after a left-wing rapper was murdered by a Golden Dawn member.

A third of Golden Dawn's parliamentary group is now behind bars, awaiting trial and several more could face charges.

German minister pledges family-friendly military

January 12, 2014

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's new defense minister is pledging to make the country's military more attractive for people with young families as the all-professional force seeks recruits.

Ursula von der Leyen, a mother of seven, became Germany's first female defense minister last month — inheriting an ongoing military overhaul after Germany abandoned conscription in 2011. Von der Leyen said in an interview with Sunday's Bild am Sonntag newspaper that "reconciling service and family" is the key issue in efforts to make the Bundeswehr an attractive employer. She said she will review its practice of regularly moving servicepeople, suggested it could explore part-time options and added the military needs "a flexible childcare system."

Opposition lawmaker Inge Hoeger, whose Left Party opposes deployments abroad, said "there are no part-time wars and no family-friendly military deployments."

C. African Republic leader says chaos 'over'

January 13, 2014

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — The interim leader of Central African Republic vowed Monday that the era of anarchy in the tumultuous country was now over, a bold declaration made only days after the man who had seized power in a coup last year stepped down under international pressure.

Alexandre Ferdinand Nguendet heads the national council that will now select a new interim president for the country by the end of next week. The council is due to convene on Tuesday to begin the work of replacing Michel Djotodia, the rebel leader who resigned on Friday.

Djotodia came under mounting international criticism after his government failed to stem unprecedented levels of violence between the country's Christian and Muslim communities. More than 1,000 people were killed in December alone, and the fighting prompted nearly 1 million people to flee their homes.

"The pillaging and the chaos are over," Nguendet told police officers on Monday, while encouraging them to retake their posts. "I'm calling for your help in re-establishing security across all of Central African Republic."

Babacar Gaye, the U.N. special representative to the Central African Republic, told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York by videoconference from Bangui that the country is "at a critical stage."

"Today ... hope is within grasp, but not yet within our hands," he said. Gaye said that hope lies in the reinforcement of the African force that is waiting for a contingent from Rwanda, in the continued operation of French forces, and on the election of a new president.

He said the U.N. is "confident" that a new head of state will be elected within 15 days as required, and possibly earlier. "And my hope is that the nomination of the prime minister and of the government will reinforce this hope," he said.

Gaye, a Senegalese general, said there are fewer killings in Bangui now than in the aftermath of the Dec. 5 attacks when 1,000 people were killed. "But today people in Bangui can die because of their religious belief, because of their clothing style, or just because of their physical appearance," he said.

Last year's coup plunged the deeply impoverished country into a state of near-anarchy where the top rebel leaders who took over the government exerted little control over their fighters in the streets. Many of the security forces loyal to ousted President Francois Bozize fled, leaving the rebels in charge of Bangui.

A rapid intervention team made up of 400 officers was put in place Monday and will work alongside the French troops and African peacekeepers, he said. However, the forces face an enormous task in securing a city where more than 500,000 people have fled their homes in fear, including 100,000 living in and around the airport guarded by French troops. While Djotodia's departure was met with jubilation in the streets, retaliatory violence continues.

Antoine Mbao-Bogo, president of the local Red Cross, said late Monday his organization had recorded 39 deaths and 27 injuries in Bangui since Friday, noting that most of the victims were civilians. Central African Republic's woes began as a political crisis, but the conflict turned sectarian as resentment grew toward Djotodia's mostly Muslim fighters in this predominantly Christian country. As Djotodia's rule crumbled, Christian militias began hunting down and killing those they accused of collaborating with the Muslim fighters who had killed, raped and robbed civilians.

The country's national transitional council had rubber-stamped Djotodia's leadership last year after he seized power and now faces the task of choosing someone who can guide the country toward elections that are scheduled to be held before the end of the year.

Already, though, there are doubts about how that can take place, given that voter rolls and administrative buildings across the country were looted and destroyed during the rebellion.

Associated Press writers Krista Larson and Robbie Corey-Boulet in Dakar, Senegal, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Israel loses 'last friend' in Europe

Monday, 13 January 2014

Israel's friendship with Germany has been damaged because of settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, Israeli newspaper Maariv said on Sunday. Describing Germany as Israel's "last friend" in Europe, Maariv said that the government in Berlin is withdrawing its historical support from the country. From now on the relationship will be based solely on "interests", it is claimed.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is in Israel to discuss the "eroded" relations between Tel Aviv and Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, is working on ways to put an end to apparently endless references to Germany's responsibility for the Nazi Holocaust.

Berlin, claimed Maariv, has been looking forward to stopping its "absolute" support for Israel as public opinion against Israel and its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories grows across Europe. Israel's ambassadors in Europe, it is said, have already discussed the claim that Israel has lost its last supporter in Europe. They said that Israeli is suffering from "complete seclusion now" and "Benjamin Netanyahu is no longer credible in Berlin."

According to Maariv, one diplomat said: "Despite Germany's candid announcement about supporting Israel, German politicians are persuaded that Germany will no longer maintain normal relations with Israel. This is because it makes a connection between peace negotiations and settlements."

Foreign Minister Steinmeier arrived in Israel on Sunday ahead of a visit by Merkel at the end of this month. Media reports said that such visits are aimed at encouraging the peace negotiations.

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/europe/9201-israel-loses-qlast-friendq-in-europe.

Israel says its final farewell to Ariel Sharon

January 13, 2014

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said its last farewell to the late Ariel Sharon on Monday with a state ceremony outside the parliament building before his flag-draped coffin was taken on a cross-country procession to its final resting place at his family home in the country's south.

With a high-powered crowd of VIPs and international dignitaries on hand, Sharon was eulogized as a fearless warrior and bold leader who devoted his life to protecting Israel's security. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair headed the long list of visitors.

In a heartfelt address, Biden talked about a decades-long friendship with Sharon, saying the death felt "like a death in the family." When the two discussed Israel's security, Biden said he understood how Sharon earned the nickname "The Bulldozer," explaining how Sharon would pull out maps and repeatedly make the same points to drive them home.

"He was indomitable," Biden said. "But like all historic leaders, all real leaders, he had a north star that guided him. A north star from which he never, in my observation, never deviated. His north star was the survival of the state of Israel and the Jewish people wherever they resided," Biden said.

Sharon died on Saturday, eight years after a devastating stroke left him in a coma from which he never recovered. He was 85. One of Israel's greatest and most divisive figures, Sharon rose through the ranks of the military, moving into politics and overcoming scandal and controversy to become prime minister at the time of his stroke.

He spent most of his life battling Arab enemies and promoting Jewish settlement on war-won lands. But in a surprising about-face, he led a historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, uprooting all soldiers and settlers from the territory after a 38-year presence in a move he said was necessary to ensure Israel's security.

His backers called him a war hero. His detractors, first and foremost the Palestinians, considered him a war criminal and held him responsible for years of bloodshed. The speakers at Monday's ceremony outside parliament largely glossed over the controversy, and instead focused on his leadership and personality.

"Arik was a man of the land," President Shimon Peres, a longtime friend and sometimes rival, said in his eulogy. "He defended this land like a lion and he taught its children to swing a scythe. He was a military legend in his lifetime and then turned his gaze to the day Israel would dwell in safety, when our children would return to our borders and peace would grace the Promised Land."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who resigned from Sharon's Cabinet to protest the Gaza withdrawal, said that he and Sharon didn't always agree with each other. Nonetheless, he called Sharon "one of the big warriors" for the nation of Israel.

"Arik was a man of actions, pragmatic, and his pragmatism was rooted in deep emotion, deep emotion for the country and deep emotion for the Jewish people," Netanyahu said. Nearly 10 years on, the withdrawal from Gaza remains hotly debated in Israeli society. Supporters say Israel is better off not being bogged down in the crowded territory, which is now home to 1.7 million Palestinians.

Critics say the pullout has only brought more violence. Two years after the withdrawal, Hamas militants seized control of Gaza and stepped up rocket fire on Israel. In a reminder of the precarious security situation, Palestinian militants on Monday fired two rockets from the Gaza Strip. Sharon's ranch in southern Israel, where his body was being laid to rest, is within range of such projectiles, though but Monday's missiles did not hit Israel. No injuries or damage were reported.

Biden praised Sharon's determination in carrying out the Gaza pullout, which bitterly divided the nation. "The political courage it took, whether you agreed with him or not, when he told 10,000 Israelis to leave their homes in Gaza, in order from his perspective to strengthen Israel ... I can't think of a more difficult and controversial decision he made. But he believed it and he did it. The security of his people was always Arik's unwavering mission."

Blair, who is now an international envoy to the Middle East, said Sharon's "strategic objective" never changed. "The same iron determination he took to the field of war he took to the chamber of diplomacy. Bold. Unorthodox. Unyielding," he said.

Sharon's coffin lay in state at the Knesset's outdoor plaza where Israelis from all walks of life paid respects throughout Sunday. In addition to Biden and Blair, the prime minister of the Czech Republic, and foreign ministers of Australia and Germany were among those in attendance at Monday's ceremony. Even Egypt, the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, sent a low-level diplomat, its embassy said.

After the ceremony ended, the closed coffin, draped in a blue and white Israeli flag, was placed in a military vehicle and driven in a police-escorted convoy toward Sharon's ranch in southern Israel. Crowds stood along the roadside and on bridges, snapping pictures and getting a final glimpse of the coffin as the procession of vehicles left Jerusalem and snaked down the highway outside the city's picturesque hills.

The convoy made a brief stop at Latrun, the site of a bloody battle where Sharon was wounded during Israel's war of independence in 1948, for a brief military ceremony before continuing south. His coffin was lowered into the ground in a military funeral at the family farm in southern Israel.

At Sharon's graveside, his son Gilad remembered his father for overcoming the odds, whether it was battling a Palestinian uprising after becoming prime minister in 2001 or clinging to life in his final days even after his kidneys had stopped functioning.

"Again and again you turned the impossible to reality. That's how legends are made. That's how an ethos of a nation is created," he said. Sharon's life will be remembered for its three distinct stages: First, was his eventful and contentious time in uniform, including leading a deadly raid in the West Bank that killed 69 Arabs, as well as his heroics in the 1973 Mideast war.

Then came his years as a vociferous political operator who helped create Israel's settlement movement and masterminded the divisive Lebanon invasion in 1982. He was branded as indirectly responsible for the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians at the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps outside Beirut when his troops allowed allied Lebanese militias into the camps. An uproar over the massacre cost him his job.

Yet ultimately he transformed himself into a prime minister and statesman, capped by the dramatic Gaza withdrawal. Sharon appeared to be cruising toward re-election when he suffered the second, devastating stroke in January 2006.

Body of Israel's Ariel Sharon lies in state

January 12, 2014

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hundreds of Israelis lined up outside Israel's parliament building on Sunday to pay their last respects to Ariel Sharon, the hard-charging former prime minister and general who died over the weekend.

Sharon's coffin was displayed in a plaza in front of the Knesset, where a stream of visitors passed by to snap photos and say farewell. A funeral service to be attended by dignitaries from around the world, including U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, is scheduled for Monday.

The 85-year-old Sharon, one of Israel's most iconic and controversial figures, died Saturday, eight years after suffering a stroke that left him in a coma. "My heart is broken. Israel lost the King of David. There is no other word to describe this man, they don't make people like this anymore," said Uri Rottman, a mourner who said he once served in the military with Sharon.

"I feel committed to share the very last moment before they're going to bury him," said Eliav Aviram, another former army comrade. Sharon was a farmer-turned-soldier, a soldier-turned-politician, a politician-turned-statesman — a leader known for his exploits on the battlefield, masterminding Israel's invasion of Lebanon, building Jewish settlements on war-won land and then, late in life, destroying some that he deemed no longer useful. To his supporters, he was a war hero. To his critics, he was a war criminal.

Israeli authorities closed off streets around the parliament in anticipation of huge crowds Sunday. Visitors were asked to park at lots in and around the city and were brought to the site by special buses.

President Shimon Peres and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who succeeded Sharon after the 2006 stroke, was among the visitors. Olmert crossed past a roped-off area to stand silently next to the flag-draped coffin.

A state memorial is planned Monday at the parliament building. In addition to Biden, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Czech Prime Minister Jiri Rusnok, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and others were expected.

Afterward Sharon's body will be taken by military convey for burial at his ranch in southern Israel. News of Sharon dominated Israeli newspapers and broadcast reports, and Israel's three main TV stations all broadcast live from the memorial. Radio stations were filled with interviews with former officials and military men who shared stories of Sharon's exploits.

Sharon's career stretched across much of Israel's 65-year existence, and his life was closely intertwined with the country's history. Throughout his life, he was at the center of the most contentious episodes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, starting as a young soldier fighting in the 1948 war over Israel's creation.

In the 1950s, he led a commando unit that carried out reprisals for Arab attacks. In 1953, after the slaying of an Israeli woman and her two children, Sharon's troops blew up more than 40 houses in Qibya, a West Bank village then ruled by Jordan, killing 69 Arabs, most or all of them civilians.

Residents in Qibya on Sunday remembered the village's darkest hour. Qibya resident Hamed Ghethan was just 4 years old when the raid took place. He said he could remember older residents placing their hands over the children's mouths so they wouldn't make a sound.

"Sharon's name reminds me of... martyrs from my village," said Ghethan, 65, as he surveyed the ruins of buildings destroyed in the military action. As one of Israel's most famous generals, he was known for bold tactics and an occasional refusal to obey orders.

Historians credit him with helping turn the tide of the 1973 Mideast war when Arab armies launched a surprise attack on Israel on the solemn fasting day of Yom Kippur, causing heavy Israeli casualties.

Sharon became a minister in Menachem Begin's government in the late 1970s, and voted against the historic 1979 peace treaty with Egypt. But when it fell to Sharon to remove Jewish settlements from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, he obediently ordered protesting settlers to be dragged away and their homes bulldozed to rubble.

As defense minister in 1982, Sharon launched the invasion of Lebanon, where he became complicit in one of bloodiest incidents of the Lebanese war, when Israeli-allied forces systematically slaughtered hundreds of Palestinians in the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps in September 1982. An Israeli judicial inquiry found Sharon indirectly responsible for the killings, and he was forced to step down as defense minister.

Yet over the years, he gradually rehabilitated himself by holding a number of Cabinet posts. As opposition leader in September 2000, Sharon demonstratively visited a contested Jewish-Muslim holy site in Jerusalem, setting off Palestinian protests that quickly lurched into an armed uprising that ultimately killed hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis.

Several months later, he was elected prime minister. While Sharon ordered a tough crackdown on the Palestinian uprising, he made a dramatic about-face in 2003 when he announced his plans for a unilateral withdrawal from occupied lands.

In 2005, he directed a unilateral pullout of Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip, ending a 38-year occupation. He later bolted from his hard-line Likud Party and established the centrist Kadima Party, with a platform promoting further territorial concessions and support for a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

It seemed he was on his way to an easy re-election when he suffered the stroke in January 2006.

Thai protesters march on new government targets

January 16, 2014

BANGKOK (AP) — Throngs of whistle-blowing protesters surrounded several new government agencies in Thailand's capital on Thursday to keep up pressure on the prime minister to resign and call off next month's election.

The marches to the Revenue Department, Health Ministry and other offices appeared to be a way to maintain momentum amid a decline in the number of protesters who have blocked key intersections in Bangkok for four days in an attempt to shut down the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Their numbers could swell again this weekend.

Yingluck's opponents, largely from the south and urban middle and upper classes, say she is carrying on the practices of her billionaire brother by using the family fortune and state funds to influence voters and cement her grip on power.

But she has widespread support among Thailand's poor majority in the countryside because of the populist policies carried out by her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid being imprisoned on a corruption conviction.

The protests this week have been mostly peaceful, although there have been several acts of violence including gunshots in the middle of the night at protest venues and small fireworks-type explosives hurled at the homes of protest leaders, according to police.

Since the latest wave protests started in November, at least eight people have been killed and more than 450 have been injured. Despite pressure from the protesters, Yingluck has said repeatedly that the Feb. 2 parliamentary election will go ahead. She dissolved Parliament and called the early vote to defuse tension that has been building over the past three months.

Her opponents don't want an election because they know that her rural supporters would almost certainly give her victory. Instead, they are calling for an unelected "people's council" to replace the government and amend laws to fight corruption in politics.

The protesters are hoping that pressure from the powerful military — and particularly Army Commander Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha — could help push Yingluck out. Thailand has had about a dozen successful military coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932.

"General Prayuth Chan-ocha, our brothers and sisters are waiting for you to come out and announce that you are on the side of the protesters. This will be immediately over and the government will without a doubt be finished," protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban said in a speech to followers Thursday.

Yingluck's government also faces threats on the legal front. The National Anti-Corruption Commission announced Thursday that it found grounds to investigate allegations that she was criminally negligent in her handling of what the government has described as a deal to export surplus rice to China. The commission has already determined that there are grounds to press charges against her former commerce minister and more than a dozen other officials.

While the road blockages created traffic disruptions, life continued normally in most of Bangkok, a bustling city of 12 million. Thailand has been wracked by repeated bouts of unrest since the military ousted Thaksin in 2006 amid charges of corruption and alleged disrespect for the monarchy. The crisis boiled over again late last year after a failed ruling party bid to push through an amnesty bill that would have allowed Thaksin to return from exile.

Associated Press writers Papitchaya Boonngok and Jinda Wedel contributed to this report.

Thai protesters block roads in bid to shut capital

January 13, 2014

BANGKOK (AP) — Anti-government protesters aiming to shut down central Bangkok took over key intersections Monday, halting much of the traffic into the Thai capital's main business district as part of a months-long campaign to overthrow the democratically elected prime minister.

The intensified protests, which could last weeks or more, were peaceful and even festive, as people sporting "Shutdown Bangkok" T-shirts blew whistles, waved Thai flags of various sizes and spread out picnic mats to eat on the pavement.

Still, the protests raise the stakes in a long-running crisis that has killed at least eight people in the last two months and fueled fears of more bloodshed to come and a possible army coup. The army commander has said he doesn't want to be drawn into the conflict, which broadly pits the urban middle and upper class opponents of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra against her supporters in the poorer countryside.

Overnight, an unidentified gunman opened fire on protesters camped near a vast government complex, shooting one man in the neck who was admitted to a nearby hospital, according to the city's emergency medical services. The drive-by was the third of its kind since Jan. 6.

In a separate incident early Monday, a gunman fired about 10 shots at the headquarters of the opposition Democrat Party, shattering several windows but causing no casualties, said Police Maj. Nartnarit Rattanaburi.

The protesters are demanding that Yingluck's administration be replaced by a non-elected "people's council" which would implement reforms they say are needed to end corruption and money politics. The main opposition party has boycotted Feb. 2 elections that Yingluck has called in a bid to ease tension — and which she would almost certainly win.

Critics have lashed out at the moves as a power struggle aimed at bringing the Southeast Asian nation's fragile democracy to a halt. Candlelight vigils have been held to counter the shutdown and urge the election be held.

The real target of the protesters' wrath is Yingluck's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid jail time for a corruption conviction but still wields considerable sway over Thai politics. They accuse Yingluck of being Thaksin's puppet, but the rural poor like him for the populist policies he implemented, including virtually free health care.

"I'm here to get rid of Thaksin and his cronies," said Darunee Suredechakul, a 49-year-old Bangkok native and resort owner who is staying in a hotel so that she and her daughter can join the protests. "The government has to go. Reforms must be carried out. This is mainly because we don't want to see the same old corrupted politicians returning to power over and over again."

While she acknowledged the street blockades must be creating some headaches for people, "Bangkok residents must be patient until we move past this point so that our children will have to suffer like we do. Trust me. It's worth it."

In a speech late Sunday, protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban repeated a vow that neither he nor his supporters will negotiate an end to the crisis. "In this fight, defeat is defeat and victory is victory. There is no tie," he said. "The masses from all walks of life have woken up. They're aware that we are the owners of Thailand."

Protesters have said they plan to surround Cabinet ministries to prevent them from functioning, and threatened to cut water and electricity to the private residences of Yingluck and her Cabinet. Most Thai and international schools in Bangkok were closed Monday, as were some major shopping malls. Many residents appeared to stay home, and traffic was light across much of the city.

The protests centered on seven major intersections, where demonstrators cut roads with walls of sandbags or vans and organized lively sit-ins on mats beneath stages equipped with speaker systems. At one crossroads in the heart of the capital's financial district, huge Thai flags hung from an overhead walkway, and protesters wearing bandanas and sunglasses forced drivers to turn their cars around. Police, keen to avert violence, made no effort to stop them.

Enterprising residents set up makeshift booths to sell drinks, skewers of chicken and bowls of noodles, while others hawked whistles, caps and T-shirts. But van operator Wanida Jantawong complained that she was getting only a fourth of her normal business due to the shutdown.

"There's one lane that remained open for our vans to run, but there are no customers," she said. Protest leaders have said they will maintain the shutdown for weeks, or until they obtain their goal. It remains to be seen what kind of impact that would have on the city's economy, tourism and foreign investment.

Since Yingluck assumed the premiership after 2011 elections, she has walked a careful tightrope with the army and her opponents that succeeded in maintaining political calm. The trigger for the latest protests was an ill-advised move late last year by ruling party lawmakers to push through a bill under the guise of a reconciliation measure offering a legal amnesty for political offenders. The last-minute inclusion of Thaksin led to public outrage and the bill was voted down.

Since then, demonstrators have steadily escalated pressure on Yingluck, attacking her office at government house and the city's police headquarters for several days in December with slingshots and homemade rocket launchers.

There are fears the protesters are trying to incite violence to prompt the military to intervene, and Yingluck has dealt softly with demonstrators in a bid to keep the situation calm. The powerful army commander Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha has repeatedly said he wants to stay out of the conflict; but in a sign of apparent impatience late last month, he refused to rule out the possibility of a military takeover.

__ Associated Press writers Grant Peck and Jinda Wedel contributed to this report.

Bangkok braces as Thai protesters set for shutdown

January 12, 2014

BANGKOK (AP) — Anti-government demonstrators were preparing Sunday to occupy major intersections in Thailand's congested capital in what they say is an effort to shut down Bangkok, a plan that has raised fears of violence that could trigger a military coup.

The protesters are trying to force caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to resign and have her government replaced by a non-elected interim administration to implement reforms they say are needed to stop corruption and money politics. They want to scuttle an early general election called by Yingluck for Feb. 2.

Since November, the demonstrators have engaged in street battles with police, cut off water and electricity to national police headquarters, and occupied for a time the compounds of other government agencies. At least eight people, including a policeman, have died in violence associated with the political unrest.

The protest leaders said last week that the demonstrators would occupy seven key intersections Monday in Bangkok, a teeming city known for its debilitating traffic jams. They're also threatening to occupy government office compounds.

Groups of demonstrators started arriving late Sunday at some of the venues, where they said they would erect stages. Earlier on Sunday, some demonstrators blocked a road in Bangkok's northern outskirts, where many government offices are located, said Deputy Police Spokesman Col. Anucha Romyanan. There were no immediate confrontations with the authorities, who have vowed to show restraint in order to avoid violence.

Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said Friday that a combined force of around 12,000 police officers and 8,000 soldiers was being deployed to maintain order in the capital. Protest leaders have said they will maintain their "shutdown" of Bangkok for weeks, or until they obtain their goal. Their recent demonstrations have drawn up to 150,000-200,000 people at their height. Attacks on government installations have been carried out by young men armed with home-made weapons.

The protesters' attempt to destabilize the country has been assisted by the opposition Democrat Party, which is boycotting the February elections. The main protest leader is a former senior Democrat leader, Suthep Thaugsuban, who served at deputy prime minister in the party's 2008-2011 government.

The current crisis dates back to 2006, when mass protests calling for then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — Yingluck's brother — to step down because of alleged corruption and abuse of power led to a military coup. Since then, supporters and opponents of Thaksin have vied for power, sometimes violently.

The protesters claim that billionaire Thaksin continues to manipulate Thai politics though his sister by using his wealth to buy elections. Thaksin, however, commands overwhelming support in Thailand's less well-off rural areas, where voters are grateful for his populist programs, including virtually free health care. He and his allies have won every national election since 2001.

Concern about a coup is high because of the army's history of intervening in politics. Army commander Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha has refused to rule out the possibility of a military takeover. Another deputy prime minister, Pongthep Thepkanjana, said Friday that be believed the army had learned a lesson from the 2006 coup — which ended up polarizing Thailand rather than pacifying it — and that the international community and many Thais would be opposed to a military takeover.

The grass-roots pro-Thaksin Red Shirt movement, closely allied to Yingluck's Pheu Thai Party, has said it will mobilize its supporters to fight any coup. Most Bangkok residents, however, have more practical concerns. The U.S. Embassy on Friday issued a warning that said the demonstrations "can result in significant traffic disruptions and delays."

"We advise you to plan ahead," said the notice, posted on the embassy's website. "It is prudent to ensure you have a week's supply of cash, keep your mobile communications devices charged and stock a two-week supply of essential items, such as food, water and medicine."

Thai authorities have dismissed the advice as overly cautious.

Orbital's cargo ship arrives at space station

Washington (AFP)
Jan 12, 2014

Orbital Sciences Corporation's unmanned Cygnus cargo ship on Sunday arrived at the International Space Station on the company's first regular supply mission to the research outpost.

Cygnus is delivering 2,780 pounds (1,260 kilograms) of supplies to the space station including hardware, food and equipment, which astronauts will use to carry out studies on everything from ant behavior to antibiotic drug resistance.

The capsule officially berthed with the space station at 1305 GMT, nearly two hours after a robotic arm reached out and grabbed the incoming cargo carrier, according to the US space agency NASA's television network.

US astronaut Mike Hopkins and his Japanese colleague Koichi Wakata operated the space lab's 57-foot (17-meter) Canadian-made mechanical arm, known as the Canadarm, which connected with Cygnus at 1108 GMT.

"Basically capturing something that is free-floating in space right next to you going so fast... with so much at stake, that is the tricky part," said astronaut Cady Coleman, who narrated the capture from Earth for NASA TV.

The crew used the robotic arm to guide Cygnus to its berthing port on the Earth-facing side of the Harmony node for the installation process, according to NASA.

The rendezvous -- the term given to the crucial moment when the arm grasps the capsule -- "goes by pretty fast," said Coleman.

"You train and train and you practice and practice, and that's what it comes down to."

The mission is the first official resupply trip for Orbital's cargo ship, coming on the heels of the company's successful demonstration flight and berthing at the ISS in September.

Orbital on Sunday expressed elation over how smoothly the maneuver went.

Its maiden mission under its contract with NASA "was flawlessly executed... from the picture-perfect launch... to the rendezvous, capture and berthing at the space station this morning," company CEO David Thompson said in a statement.

"Our whole team has performed at a very high level for our NASA customer and I am very proud of their extraordinary efforts."

According to NASA, a hatch will be opened later in the day or on Monday to begin unloading the supplies.

The spacecraft will eventually be packed with disposable items. It will remain at the station until mid-February.

After Cygnus detaches, it will burn up on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere and will disintegrate over the Pacific Ocean.

The commercial space company SpaceX is due to send its Dragon capsule to the ISS shortly afterward for another cargo mission.

Both Orbital and SpaceX have contracts with NASA worth more than a billion dollars each to supply the space station over multiple trips, restoring US access to the ISS after the retirement of the space shuttle program in 2011.

California-based SpaceX, owned by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, became the first private company to reach the space station with its Dragon capsule in 2012.

Cygnus's berthing at the ISS marks the fifth mooring of a private vessel at the space station in two years.

NASA has announced that the life of the $100 billion International Space Station will be extended by an additional four years, or until 2024.

The space lab serves a global science collaborative and was launched in 1998. It had been expected to stay in operation until 2020.

Partnering agencies are NASA, the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos, the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Orbitals_cargo_ship_arrives_at_space_station_999.html.

India to launch second mission to moon by 2017

New Delhi (XNA)
Jan 13, 2014

India plans to launch its second mission to moon by 2017 in the wake of the success of its maiden lunar mission.

"Chandrayaan-II is a mission where we essentially need to move on (lunar) surface to conduct experiments. We will launch Chandrayaan-II with an indigenous rover and lander using GSLV by 2016 or 2017," Indian Space Secretary K. Radhakrishnan told the media in the national capital Friday.

"In May 2012, we conducted a feasibility study on development of a lander and this has been completed. We find that we will be able to develop a lander in India. We need two to three years' time," he added.

India had in October 2008 successfully launched its maiden mission to moon, Chandrayaan-I, meant to orbit the Earth's natural satellite at a height of 100 km from the lunar surface for chemical, mineralogical and photo-geologic mapping.

Source: Moon Daily.
Link: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/India_to_launch_second_mission_to_moon_by_2017_999.html.

Moon rover, lander wake after lunar night

Beijing (XNA)
Jan 13, 2014

China's moon rover "Yutu" (Jade Rabbit) and the Chang'e-3 lander have just "woken up" after a period of dormancy that lasted two weeks, or one lunar night, in a move designed to ride out harsh climactic conditions.

Yutu was awakened autonomously at 5:09 a.m. Beijing Time on Saturday and has finished necessary setting procedures and entered a normal working mode following orders from the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC), according to a statement issued by the BACC on Sunday.

It has started its rove around the moon surface and scientific missions.

Chang'e-3 has also been awakened automatically at 8:21 a.m. on Sunday, and is currently in normal condition, the statement said.

One night on the moon lasts about 14 days on Earth, during which the temperature falls below minus 180 celsius and there is no sunlight to provide power to the instruments' solar panels.

"During the lunar night, the lander and the rover were in a power-off condition and the communication with Earth was also cut off," said Zhou Jianliang, chief engineer of the BACC.

"When the night ends, they will be started up with the power provided by sunlight and resume operation and communication according to preset programs," Zhou said.

The awakening of the rover and lander marks the success of Chinese technology in surviving the lunar night, and the center will instruct the two instruments to carry on scheduled exploration missions, the chief engineer added.

Chang'e-3 soft-landed on the moon's Sinus Iridium, or the Bay of Rainbows, on Dec. 14 last year, and Yutu later separated from the lander.

The rover fell asleep on Dec. 26 as the mission's first lunar night arrived.

Source: Moon Daily.
Link: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Moon_rover_lander_wake_after_lunar_night_999.html.

EU poised to suspend some sanctions on Iran

January 17, 2014

BRUSSELS (AP) — Sometime between breakfast and lunchtime Monday, a message will arrive in Belgium's capital that should set in motion an international diplomatic machine, affect billions of dollars blocked in banks and have repercussions from U.S. college campuses to oil tankers on the seas.

In Tehran, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency are expected to certify that day whether Iran is respecting its engagement to rein in its nuclear program, which the Obama administration and U.S. allies fear is directed at producing a bomb.

If the inspectors are satisfied the Iranians are keeping their word, European Union governments, with the White House's blessing, are poised to deliver with surprising swiftness on their end of the deal: a six-month suspension of some of the sanctions that are hobbling Iran's economy.

Foreign ministers of Britain, Germany, France and the rest of the EU member countries will be in Brussels on Monday for one of their periodic meetings. EU officials said Thursday the plan is that within 30 minutes of receiving an email, phone call or other form of communication from IAEA inspectors or their bosses in Vienna, the foreign ministers will unanimously approve the necessary changes in European Union legislation, and transmit their decision to the trade bloc's offices in the neighboring country of Luxembourg.

Within an hour or hour and half, the new regulations should be posted in the EU's official journal, published in Luxembourg, and take effect, a European Union official said. All this should happen between 10 a.m. and noon Monday — "unless something goes wrong," the official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Under the deal with Iran, brokered by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, Tehran will be able to progressively take possession of $3.6 billion it has been paid for oil sold to China, India, Japan, Turkey, Taiwan and South Korea. Those funds are blocked in those countries' banks because of U.S. sanctions.

Once the sixth-month suspension takes effect, Iranian officials could jet to Japan or India and carry "bags of cash" back home, the EU official said. But if the money is cycled through European banks, he said, Iranian authorities have been told that if they use accounts in the Central Bank of Iran or other Iranian financial institutions that are suspected of helping underwrite terrorism or the Iranian nuclear program, the transfers will be blocked.

The sanctions suspension also raises tenfold the ceilings for money transfers to and from Iran, and temporarily lifts a ban on transactions in gold and other precious metals. An additional $600 million in Iranian oil sales proceeds will be freed up to help pay the educational costs of young Iranians, many of whom are enrolled in American colleges and universities.

The temporary lifting of selected sanctions will also allow European Union shipping companies to use their own tankers or charter third country-flagged vessels to transport Iranian crude oil to China, India, Japan, Turkey, Taiwan and South Korea.

Similarly, European insurance companies will again be able to insure shipments of Iranian crude to those nations. For petrochemicals, the possibilities for European business should be even greater: between Monday and July 20, when the six-month suspension would come to an end, they could resume the buying and importing of Iranian petrochemical product to the 28-nation European Union.

That market alone used to be worth in the order of $400 million annually, EU officials estimate. So, there's been great business interest in the opportunities that the easing of the sanctions regime could bring.

Jos Douma, ambassador of the Netherlands to Iran, posted on his Twitter account this week that he had just held a "speeddate session" back home to accommodate Dutch companies interested in Iran. All this is not a done deal yet. For one thing, "the IAEA and what will come from Tehran, (on that) we are a little bit less in control," the EU official said Thursday. "But we need that. That's for sure."

In Washington, President Barack Obama is at odds with lawmakers who want to levy yet more sanctions on Iran to ensure that Tehran keeps its word. Fifty-nine senators back a proposal for additional sanctions, which they say would increase the pressure on Iran to make concessions and fully dismantle — not simply slow — its nuclear program. The U.S. House overwhelmingly supports additional economic pressure on Tehran.

Wendy Sherman, U.S. undersecretary of state, briefed members of Congress on Thursday and the administration provided them with a document outlining the technical aspects of implementing the first step of the deal.

"Our view remains that it is not the right time and it is not useful and it could be very destructive to the process to put legislation in place," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. Several Republicans were unfazed by the administration's repeated argument against new sanctions while the first step is implemented and a final deal is negotiated during the next six months.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he was more disturbed than ever after the briefing. "The end game being contemplated is not even in the ballpark of what I would consider an end game." Graham said. "The highly enriched uranium ... it can be left in Iran."

Graham said he worries that the sanctions that have been put in place against Iran are falling apart. "The number of countries sending delegations to Iran to inquire about business opportunities is growing by the day," Graham said. "Clearly, the sanctions are beginning to fall apart."

Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma said the international community still has no way to know whether Iran might have hundreds of nuclear sites. "Nothing was said to change my mind," said Inhofe, who said he still favors a congressional vote on sanctions.

Associated Press Writers Deb Riechmann, Donna Cassata and Alan Fram in Washington contributed to this report.

Iran to get first $550 mn of blocked funds in February

Washington (AFP)
Jan 12, 2014

Iran will get a first installment around February 1 of $550 million of $4.2 billion being unblocked under a six-month landmark nuclear deal with the West, a US official said Sunday.

"The installment schedule starts on Feb. 1 and the payments are evenly distributed" across 180 days, a senior US administration official told AFP.

"That means the installment payments are every 34 days, except the last payment happens on day 180, which is 33 days after the 5th installment payment," the official said in an email, asking not to be named.

However, as February 1 is a Saturday, the first payment might not be made until February 3.

The money is being unblocked under a landmark deal, set to take effect starting January 20, that curbs parts of Iran's disputed nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Tehran agreed in November to roll back parts of its nuclear work and halt further advances in exchange for the release of $4.2 billion in frozen assets and limited relief from sanctions that have choked its hard-hit economy.

There will be a second installment on March 7 of $550 million, followed by equal installments of $550 million monthly with the last due on July 20, although that again is a Saturday and therefore could take place on July 21.

In addition, a payment of $450 million is planned for March 1 in return for Iran diluting half its stock of 20 percent enriched uranium to no more than 5 percent.

A second similar payment of $450 million will be due on April 15 if Tehran completes the dilution of all its stock of 20 percent enriched uranium.

Under this schedule, Iran will receive two injections of cash in both March and April if, as agreed, it waters down its 20 percent enriched uranium, ensuring it will no longer be weapons-grade material...

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_to_get_first_550_mn_of_blocked_funds_in_February_999.html.