Ukraine opposition wants constitutional change

February 03, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Leaders of the anti-government protests that have gripped Ukraine's capital for more than two months say they will seek constitutional changes that will weaken the president's powers.

The changes are expected to be discussed in a Tuesday parliament session that comes as Ukraine's political crisis wades through a stalemate. Protesters are refusing to leave their encampment in downtown Kiev or vacate buildings they occupy, but radicals who clashed violently with police last month are holding to an uneasy truce.

Opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk on Monday said constitutional change would "cancel the dictatorial powers of the president and transfer the right of governing the country to the Ukrainian people."

Justice minister Olena Lukash said last week that officials were preparing measures for constitutional change, but did not give details.

French try to stop looting in C. African Republic

February 03, 2014

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — French troops in Central African Republic are struggling to control the looting of Muslim homes and businesses in the volatile capital.

Hundreds of French and African peacekeepers fanned out through the Miskine neighborhood of Bangui on Monday. They fired tear gas and warning shots in a seemingly futile bid to quell the violence. The neighborhood mosque already had been thoroughly trashed by angry mobs.

The violence against Bangui's Muslim minority comes after months of brutal rule by a mostly Muslim rebel coalition that overthrew the government last March. Resentment toward the rebels' abuses spawned an armed Christian militia. Christian civilians, though, are now targeting anyone who is Muslim.

Victims have been slain and mutilated on the streets and homes and mosques have been looted and destroyed.

Iran unveils new home-made communication satellites

Tehran (AFP)
Feb 03, 2014

Iran on Monday unveiled two domestically-made communication satellites, one to bolster its wireless connections and the other capable of taking high-resolution pictures, media reported.

Iran's space program has prompted concern among Western governments, which fear Tehran is trying to master the technology required to deliver a nuclear warhead.

The Islamic republic insists that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and denies its space program is linked in any way to its disputed nuclear ambitions.

The state-run IRNA news agency named the two satellites as Khalije Fars (Persian Gulf) and Tadbir (wisdom) and said they were built by scientists at local universities.

"Khalije Fars, designed and manufactured by researchers at Malek Ashtar University, is a small satellite which provides secure satellite wireless connections at national or regional scope," IRNA said.

"Tadbir was built by Tehran's University of Science and Industry and is capable of conducting photographic assignments with a resolution of 100 meters (yards)," the agency added.

The deputy head of Iran's space agency, Hamid Fazeli, meanwhile told Fars news agency that the Islamic republic will launch a satellite into orbit by the end of the Iranian year, which ends on March 21.

Fazeli said that Tadbir is among a number of satellites that are ready to be launched into space. He did not give further details.

In December, Iran said that it had safely returned a monkey to Earth after blasting it into space in the second such launch.

An earlier attempt had failed in September 2011.

Iran has already launched three satellites into space since 2009 and plans to send a human into orbit by 2020.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_unveils_new_home-made_communication_satellites_999.html.