Riot police move in against Kiev protest camp

February 19, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Amid cries of "Glory to Ukraine!" and with flaming tires lighting up the night sky, thousands of riot police armed with stun grenades and water cannons attacked the sprawling protest camp in the center of Kiev on Tuesday, following a day of street battles that left 18 people dead and hundreds injured.

The violence was the deadliest in nearly three months of anti-government protests that have paralyzed Ukraine's capital in a struggle over the nation's identity, and the worst in the country's post-Soviet history

With the boom of exploding stun grenades and fireworks nearly drowning out his words at times, opposition leader Vitali Klitschko urged the 20,000 protesters to defend the camp on Independence Square that has been the heart of the protests.

"We will not go anywhere from here," Klitschko told the crowd, speaking from a stage in the square as tents and tires burned around him, releasing huge plumes of smoke. "This is an island of freedom and we will defend it," he said.

Many heeded his call. "This looks like a war against one's own people," said Dmytro Shulko, 35, who was heading toward the camp armed with a fire bomb. "But we will defend ourselves." As police dismantled some of the barricades on the perimeter of the square and tried to push away the protesters, they fought back with rocks, bats and fire bombs. Against the backdrop of a soaring monument to Ukraine's independence, protesters fed the burning flames with tires, creating walls of fire to prevent police from advancing. A large building the protesters had used as a headquarters caught fire and many struggled to get out. Many of the protesters were bleeding.

Speaking over loudspeakers, police urged women and children to leave the square because an "anti-terrorist" operation was underway. The protesters appeared to sense that Ukraine's political standoff was reaching a critical turning point. Waving Ukrainian and opposition party flags, they shouted "Glory to Ukraine!" and sang the Ukrainian national anthem.

Shortly before midnight, Klitschko headed to President Viktor Yanukovych's office to try to resolve the crisis, his spokeswoman said. An hour later, he was still waiting to be received. Earlier in the day, protesters attacked police lines and set fires outside parliament, accusing Yanukovych of once again ignoring their demands and dragging his feet on a constitutional reform to limit presidential powers.

Tensions had soared after Russia said Monday that it was ready to resume providing the loans that Yanukovych's government needs to keep Ukraine's ailing economy afloat. This raised fears among the opposition that Yanukovych had made a deal with Moscow to stand firm against the protesters and would choose a Russian-leaning loyalist to be his new prime minister.

The protests began in late November after Yanukovych turned away from a long-anticipated deal with the European Union in exchange for a $15 billion bailout from Russia. The political maneuvering continued, however, with both Moscow and the West eager to gain influence over this former Soviet republic.

Until Monday, the government and the opposition had appeared to be making some progress toward resolving the political crisis peacefully. In exchange for the release of scores of jailed activists, protesters on Sunday vacated a government building that they had occupied since Dec. 1.

Russia also may have wanted to see Kiev remain calm through the Winter Olympics in Sochi, so as not to distract from President Vladimir Putin's games. But after the outburst of violence against riot police, Yanukovych's government may have felt it had no choice but to try to restore order.

While Kiev and western Ukraine have risen up against Yanukovych, he remains popular in the Russian-speaking eastern and southern regions, where economic and cultural ties with Russia are strong. As darkness fell, law enforcement agencies vowed to bring order to the streets and they shut down subway stations in the center of the capital. In Independence Square, Orthodox priests prayed for peace.

"We see that this regime again has begun shooting people; they want to sink Ukraine in blood. We will not give in to a single provocation," opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the protesters. "We will not take one step back from this square. We have nowhere to retreat to. Ukraine is behind us, Ukraine's future is behind us."

Tuesday's clashes were the first to lead to deaths since Jan. 22, when two protesters were hit with live ammunition and a third died after a fall. As angry protesters outside parliament hurled stones at police and set trucks blocking their way on fire, riot police retaliated with stun grenades and fired what appeared to be small metal balls, as smoke from burning tires and vehicles billowed over Kiev.

Early Wednesday morning, government agencies said 18 people died in the violence, including seven policemen who died from gunshot wounds. Eleven civilians also died, including three who were shot. A police spokeswoman said 159 police were wounded, including 39 who were shot.

The coordinator for the opposition's medical response team, Oleh Musiy, said more than 400 protesters were injured. He also claimed that about 20 had died, but this could not independently be confirmed.

One of the civilians was found dead after protesters stormed the office of the president's Party of Regions. Police pushed them away, but when firefighters arrived to put out a fire, they discovered the body of an office employee, Kiev's emergency services said.

Justice Minister Olena Lukash, a close Yanukovych aide, accused the opposition of violating earlier agreements with the government and blamed protest leaders for the violence. In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden expressed his "grave concern" in telephone call to Yanukovych, urging him to pull back government forces and exercise maximum restraint. The White House said Biden also called on Ukraine's government to address the protesters' "legitimate grievances" and put forward proposals for political reform.

Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged both sides to end the violence, halt their ultimatums and hold high-level talks. U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Payatt also threatened both sides with sanctions. "We believe Ukraine's crisis can still be solved via dialogue, but those on both sides who fuel violence will open themselves to sanctions," Payatt said on Twitter.

Germany has refused to back Washington's calls for sanctions against Ukraine's government to pressure it into accepting opposition demands for reforms. But when central Kiev exploded in violence Tuesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Ukrainian security forces have a "particular responsibility" to de-escalate the situation, adding that the EU might resort to unspecified sanctions against individuals. "Whoever is responsible for decisions that lead to bloodshed in the center of Kiev or elsewhere in Ukraine will need to consider that Europe's previous reluctance for personal sanctions must be rethought," he said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry blamed the West for the escalation of the violence and called on the opposition to work with the government to find a way out of the crisis. "What is happening is a direct result of the conniving politics of Western politicians and European bodies," the ministry said in a statement.

Associated Press writers Yuras Karmanau in Kiev, Lynn Berry and Laura Mills in Moscow and David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.

Clashes in Ukraine leave 4 dead; deadline looms

February 18, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's festering political crisis took a deadly turn Tuesday, as thousands of anti-government protesters clashed with police outside Ukraine's parliament. Three protesters were killed in the melee, the opposition reported, and emergency workers found another person dead after a fire at the ruling party's office in Kiev.

Law enforcement agencies gave the demonstrators a deadline of 6 p.m. (1600GMT) to stop the confrontations and vowed to restore order. Dozens of protesters and police were injured in the clashes Tuesday, which broke out after opposition leaders accused pro-government factions in parliament of dragging their feet on a constitutional reform that would limit presidential powers — a key opposition demand.

The clashes dimmed hopes for an imminent solution to the political crisis. Tensions also soared following new steps by Russia and the European Union to gain influence over this former Soviet republic.

The protests began in November after President Viktor Yanukovych froze ties with the EU in exchange for a $15 billion bailout from Russia, but the political maneuvering continued and Moscow later suspended its payments. On Monday, however, while opposition leaders were meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russia offered a fresh infusion of the billions of dollars that Ukraine needs to keep its ailing economy afloat.

As parliament delayed Tuesday's session to take up the issue, thousands marched toward the parliament building to put pressure on lawmakers. Shouting "Shame!" the demonstrators hurled stones at police and set trucks blocking their way on fire.

Riot police retaliated with stun grenades and fired what appeared to be small metal balls, as smoke from burning tires and vehicles billowed over Kiev, the capital. Three protesters died in the clashes, Oleh Musiy, a top medic for the protesters, told The Associated Press. Opposition lawmaker Lesya Orobets made the same statement on Twitter.

About 150 protesters were injured, the protesters' medical unit said, while the Interior Ministry said about 40 officers had been hurt. Justice Minister Olena Lukash, a close Yanukovych aide, accused the opposition of violating earlier agreements with the government and blamed protest leaders for the violence.

Earlier in the day, protesters stormed the office of the president's Party of Regions, but police pushed them away. When firefighters arrived to put out a fire, they discovered the body of an office employee, Kiev's emergency services said in a statement.

Tuesday's confrontations came two days after the government and the opposition reached a shaky compromise, with protesters vacating a government building in Kiev they had been occupying since Dec. 1 after the government released of scores of jailed activists.

But tensions rose after Russia's finance minister offered to resume financial aid to Ukraine on Monday, just as Yanukovych was expected to nominate a new prime minister, prompting fears among the opposition that he would tap a Russian-leaning loyalist.

"After weekend progress in Kyiv, sorry to see renewed violence," U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey R. Pyatt said in a Twitter post. "Politics needs to happen in the Rada (parliament), not on the street." Opposition leader Vitali Klitschko called on Yanukovych to agree to the reforms and to call an early election or face a serious escalation of the crisis.

"We are talking minutes, not hours," Klitschko told reporters. Yanukovych still remains popular in the Russian-speaking eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, where economic and cultural ties with Russia are strong. But western Ukraine is keen to pursue closer ties to the 28-nation EU and move away from Russia's orbit.

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Yanukovych $15 billion in loans in December, but after purchasing Ukrainian bonds worth $3 billion Russia put the payments on hold. The Russian finance minister said Monday that $2 billion more would be purchased this week.

Associated Press writer Laura Mills in Moscow contributed reporting.

Ukrainian protesters end occupation of City Hall

February 16, 2014

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Anti-government demonstrators in Ukraine's capital ended their nearly three-month occupation of Kiev City Hall on Sunday as promised in exchange for the release of all jailed protesters. But tensions remained high as hundreds stayed outside the building, vowing to retake it if the government fails to drop all criminal charges against the protesters.

Prospects for an easing of the standoff between the opposition and President Viktor Yanukovych dimmed further when a top opposition leader, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, again turned down an offer to become prime minister in a coalition government.

Yanukovych is expected to nominate a new prime minister in the near future, and Western officials have been advocating for a coalition government drawn from the ruling party and the opposition. However Yatsenyuk said he would not agree to take the post, which Yanukovych offered to him last month, unless the president makes further concessions, including a constitutional reform that reduces presidential powers.

"I cannot be bought with posts, Mr. President. Go ahead and buy your henchmen," Yatsenyuk told the tens of thousands of protesters who turned out for the traditional Sunday demonstration. Earlier Sunday, protesters handed control over City Hall to international mediators from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who were then supposed to hand it back to city authorities. The compromise was reached after the last of 234 jailed protesters were released in the past week under an amnesty that also called for opposition activists to vacate government buildings in Kiev and elsewhere.

But hundreds of angry protesters, clad in protective gear, amassed outside the building, saying they would seize it again if charges were not dropped. Demonstrators had seized Kiev City Hall on Dec. 1, about a week after mass street protests broke out in response to Yanukovych's decision to abandon a long-anticipated political and economic treaty with the European Union. The president, whose support base is in the Russian-speaking east and south of the country, turned to Russia instead for loans to keep Ukraine's economy afloat.

Renzi may be asked Monday to form new Italy gov't

February 16, 2014

ROME (AP) — Matteo Renzi has been summoned to the presidential palace, where the 39-year-old mayor of Florence is expected to be asked on Monday to form a new government and become Italy's youngest-ever premier.

The Democratic Party leader's first challenge would be to form a coalition that is dynamic and harmonious enough in Italy's squabbling landscape to kick-start the economy, create jobs and prod Parliament to enact electoral reforms designed to make the nation more governable.

President Giorgio Napolitano's office announced Sunday that he will meet with Renzi the following day. Through internal maneuvering in the Democratic Party, Renzi engineered the collapse last week of Premier Enrico Letta's government. That 10-month-old broad coalition of bitter rivals was cobbled together after last year's election yielded political gridlock.

Only days before Democratic Party leaders used a no-confidence vote to force Letta to resign Friday, the ambitious Renzi had assured the premier that he had nothing to worry about — promising that he would only seek the premiership through the ballot box.

If he becomes premier now, Renzi would be the youngest one in the dozens of governments that Italy has had since the republic was formed after World War II. Detractors who have criticized Renzi as too ambitious and power hungry have pointed out that Benito Mussolini also was 39 when Italy's monarch asked the Fascist leader to form a government in 1922.

If tapped by Napolitano as expected on Monday, Renzi will have to try to forge a solid coalition government with center-right and centrist parties, since his own Democrats cannot command a reliable majority in both chambers. Then Renzi must win mandatory confidence votes in Parliament, convincing lawmakers he is the man of the hour needed to be the premier of the economically-struggling country.

One hurdle emerged on Sunday. Angelino Alfano, the leader of a center-right force in Letta's coalition, told his party's base that he will demand promises from Renzi before joining the new government. Alfano, the interior minister in the outgoing government, pressed Renzi to identify his goals.

Alfano's small party broke away from longtime conservative leader Silvio Berlusconi, who is now the main opposition leader. Renzi has alienated some in his own party by reneging on pledges to become premier only through a general election. And Renzi's abrupt betrayal of Letta left many wondering why.

Italy's economy has just shown its first signs of positive growth after several years of shrinking or being stagnant. The much-watched "spread" between interest rates on Italian state bonds and benchmark German ones has narrowed since the turmoil in world financial markets forced Berlusconi to resign in 2011.

Asked on Sky TG24 TV what was behind Renzi's power move, Economy Minister Fabrizio Saccomanni cited "increasing impatience" with Italy's economic morass. The heads of Italy's industrialists lobby and the chief of the nation's largest labor confederation recently stepped up their grumbling about the slow pace of progress by the Letta government.

Greece: Protests as state clinics close for month

February 18, 2014

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Several thousand protesters have joined a demonstration in central Athens after the Health Ministry ordered the closure of the country's entire state-run outpatient clinic network for one month to reorganize the health system.

The protest organized by a Communist labor union ended peacefully Tuesday outside the ministry. The health care overhaul is part a massive cost-cutting campaign promised by the government as part of agreements for international bailouts that started in 2010.

The clinic closures started Monday and do not affect operations at state hospitals. Some 8,500 medical and administrative clinic staff have been suspended on reduced pay during the closure.

Montenegro police clash with anti-gov't protesters

February 15, 2014

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Police in Montenegro fired tear gas and stun grenades Saturday to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing protesters who were blaming the government for high unemployment, economic mismanagement and alleged corruption, and demanding its resignation.

The protests were called by an informal Facebook group that asked Montenegrins to voice solidarity with Bosnian anti-government demonstrators who earlier this month stormed into the country's presidency and other government buildings in Sarajevo and torched them over similar demands.

In Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, at least nine riot policemen were injured in the clashes with the demonstrators, many of them wearing masks to conceal their identities. At least 20 demonstrators were detained during the violence, which erupted when some 300 protesters tried to march toward the downtown government headquarters.

"Bosnia has taken to the streets. What are we waiting for?" the organizers said on their Facebook page. "Tens of thousands of unemployed, hungry and robbed people should take justice into their own hands!"

"We can't pay our 500 euros electricity bills with 100 euros (monthly) salaries," protest organizer Ljubo Varagic said. Montenegro, a tiny Adriatic Sea state of 600,000 people, and neighboring Bosnia were part of the former six-republic Yugoslavia that broke up during civil wars in the 1990s. Montenegro has been run for the past 25 years by Milo Djukanovic, now the prime minister, who has shifted several times from premier to president and back again.

"I think that the corrupt elite, led by Djukanovic, should end up in jail," said Marko Milacic, one of the demonstrators. "The mother of all demands is that Djukanovic leaves power after 25 years." Montenegro's economy, heavily hit by the Yugoslav wars and wartime U.N. sanctions, is mostly based on tourism. It is in the in process of transition as the country seeks European Union membership.

Djukanovic, his family and ministers have often been accused of corruption.

AP Balkan Correspondent Dusan Stojanovic contributed from Belgrade, Serbia.

Bulgarian nationalists stage rally

February 15, 2014

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Hundreds of Bulgarians have marched through their capital to honor a World War II general known for his anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi activities.

Sofia's mayor had banned Saturday's rally, organized by the far-right Bulgarian National Union. But police did not intervene after the participants changed its planned route at the last minute. Chanting "Wake up, Bulgarians!" the marchers praised Gen. Hristo Lukov, who had supported Germany during the Second World War and was killed by an anti-fascist resistance movement on Feb. 13, 1943.

Human rights groups criticized the march organizers for promoting racism, xenophobia and anti-Semitism. Authorities have accused nationalists of stirring ethnic strife in Bulgaria, including an attack on a mosque in Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second-largest city, on Friday that left several people injured and 120 arrested.

Fears of more protest clashes high in Venezuela

February 18, 2014

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Fears of more clashes between pro- and anti-government supporters ratcheted up in Venezuela as both sides prepared to march in the capital Tuesday and opposition leader Leonardo Lopez dared authorities to arrest him when he reappears in public.

The competing demonstrations loomed one day after President Nicolas Maduro's government gave three U.S. Embassy officials 48 hours to leave the country, claiming they were supporting what he says are opposition plots to topple his socialist administration. The U.S. denied that.

Supporters of Lopez, who is Maduro's most vociferous foe and the target of an arrest order, rerouted their protest march away from the central plaza in Caracas where pro-government oil workers planned their own demonstration.

Still, security forces on Tuesday morning blocked access to the plaza in eastern Caracas where opponents of Maduro were scheduled to gather. A contingent of police four row deeps, led by women in the first row, closed off the main access to the plaza. Nearby subway stations were also closed.

The Venezuelan government accuses the Obama administration of siding with student protesters it has blamed for violence that led to three deaths last week. Maduro claims the U.S. is trying to stir up unrest to regain dominance of South America's largest oil producer.

In Washington, the State Department said allegations that the U.S. is helping to organize protests are "baseless and false" and called on Venezuela's government to engage the opposition in "meaningful dialogue."

Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said Monday that the three senior U.S. consular officers are being expelled because they tried to infiltrate Venezuelan universities under the cover of doing visa outreach. Maduro has expelled American diplomats twice before.

The State Department said Monday it hadn't received any formal notification of the expulsions of the three senior officials, who Jaua said were all second secretaries. Hundreds of students have spent the past week in the streets of Caracas alternating between peaceful protests by day and pitched battles with police at night in unrest fed by hardships that include rampant crime, 56 percent inflation and shortages of basic goods.

Three people were killed in clashes Wednesday — two students and a pro-government demonstrator. News videos and photographs taken at the time indicate at least one of the students was killed when pro-government militia members fired directly into a crowd of protesters.

On Monday they marched to Venezuela's telecommunications regulator to demand it lift all restrictions on the news media's coverage of the unfolding political crisis. Police repelled the activists with tear gas and rubber bullets, but there were no reports of serious injuries.

Later Monday, a crowd of anti-government activists wrested a handcuffed opposition politician away from security forces following a raid on the headquarters of Lopez's Popular Will party. Surrounded by journalists and party activists in a shopping mall where the arrest was made, national guardsmen hustled a handcuffed Dario Ramirez frantically looking for an escape route. Once outside, dozens of activists banging pots and pans in protest swarmed over the squad, pulling the city councilman to freedom and speeding him away on a motorcycle.

Lopez also was being sought by authorities on an arrest order stemming from last week's violence, listing charges from homicide to vandalism of public property. Maduro accuses Lopez of being behind the violence and leading a "fascist" plot to overthrow him.

Lopez said Sunday that he didn't fear going to jail to defend his beliefs and called on supporters to march with him on Tuesday to the Interior Ministry, where he planned to deliver a petition demanding protection for protesting citizens.

"I haven't committed any crime," Lopez said in a video. "If there is a decision to legally throw me in jail I'll submit myself to this persecution."

Associated Press writers Fabiola Sanchez and Andrew Rosati contributed to this report.

Venezuelan opposition leader's arrest sought

February 16, 2014

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Saturday that a police manhunt was underway for Leopoldo Lopez, the hard-line opposition leader behind anti-government demonstrations that ended with three deaths.

The socialist president's announcement came amid dueling pro-government and student-led opposition demonstrations held in different parts of the capital, Caracas. Lopez "ordered all these violent kids, which he trained, to destroy the prosecutor's office and half of Caracas and then goes into hiding," Maduro told thousands of supporters at a rally to denounce what he called a U.S.-backed, "fascist" plot to oust him from power. "Turn yourself in coward."

U.S. officials have denied plotting to oust Maduro, and on Saturday Secretary of State John Kerry expressed concern over the rising tensions and violence surrounding the protests. "We are particularly alarmed by reports that the Venezuelan government has arrested or detained scores of anti-government protesters and issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez," Kerry said in a statement. "These actions have a chilling effect on citizens' rights to express their grievances peacefully."

Maduro said security forces acting on a Feb. 12 arrest order are now looking for Lopez, who hasn't been seen since a Wednesday night press conference in which he vowed that anti-government street protests would continue.

Venezuela's president didn't mention Lopez by name, referring to him only by a frequently-used disparaging nickname, The Throne, to denote what he considers the Harvard-trained politician's haughty political ambitions.

Still, his comments seemed to confirm a report Thursday by local newspaper El Universal, which published what it said was a leaked copy of an arrest order for Lopez on charges ranging from vandalism of public property to terrorism.

While Cabinet officials and Maduro have blasted Lopez all week as the mastermind of Wednesday's student-led protests that ended in clashes with police and pro-government militias, no official had until now confirmed authorities were looking to arrest him.

Aides to Lopez denied he's ducking arrest and say he remains in the country. His lawyers, who've been unable to gain access to the alleged arrest order, have urged him to refrain from making public statements until one materializes.

Lopez, a former mayor, is the most prominent of a group of hard-liners that have challenged two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles for leadership of anti-Maduro forces. In an apparent bid to dampen anti-government demonstrations, which have been held off-and-on since Wednesday, Maduro said he had ordered the suspension of metro and bus service in the Chacao area of the capital where the protests are centered.

"We can't have a moment of weakness because we are trying to defeat a fascist movement that wants to end the country we have," said Maduro, the hand-picked successor to the late Hugo Chavez whose government has been struggling with shortages and high inflation.

In Chacao, meanwhile, Venezuelan security forces used tear gas to disperse hundreds of university students who were gathering to demand justice for two students killed during Wednesday's demonstration.

For the past three days student protesters had occupied the main highway through Caracas for several hours, blocking traffic to press their demands. Ramon Muchacho, the mayor of Chacao, said that on Saturday the students were walking "peacefully toward the highway ... when they were repelled by tear gas."

The students responded by throwing rocks at police and regrouping nearby. Muchacho later tweeted that 10 people had been injured, none with bullet wounds. "We are not going to give in or kneel. We are going to continue in the streets, fighting for Venezuelans and the youths who want a democratic country, with free media that aren't censored or self-censored, with justice and equity," said Juan Requesen, a student leader at the Universidad Central de Venezuela.

Former US congressman arrested in Zimbabwe

February 18, 2014

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Melvin Jay Reynolds has been arrested in Zimbabwe on suspicion of possessing pornography and an immigration offence.

Reynolds is being held in custody and is expected to appear in court soon, immigration official Ario Mabika told The Associated Press. Reynolds, 62, was arrested Monday by police detectives and immigration officials at a Harare hotel, according to the state-controlled newspaper, The Herald.

He brought several Zimbabwean models and other women to his hotel room where he took photographs and videos, the newspaper reported. As Reynolds was being escorted to a government vehicle he demanded that officials give him his mobile phone and laptop computer, according to The Herald, whose reporter arrived at the hotel as the arrest was taking place.

Reynolds complained that he was not expecting such treatment when he had brought investors to the country, according to the newspaper. He said he had been to Zimbabwe 17 times and had called for U.S. sanctions to be dropped against President Robert Mugabe and his top associates.

This is the latest of several legal problems for Reynolds, an Illinois Democrat, who once was a Rhodes scholar. Reynolds resigned from his congressional seat in 1995 after he was convicted of 12 counts of statutory rape, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography. While in prison he was also convicted of bank and campaign fraud. He was in jail until his sentence was commuted by President Bill Clinton in Jan. 2001.

Regarding Reynolds' new arrest in Zimbabwe, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy, Karen Kelley, said the embassy could not comment as it was a private matter and the embassy did not have a privacy waiver.

Reynolds also has accumulated hotel bills worth $24,500 which he has not yet paid, reported The Herald. Reynolds could face up to two years' imprisonment or a hefty fine if found guilty of possessing pornographic material and deportation for breaching Zimbabwean immigration laws. It is illegal in Zimbabwe to possess any material of a sexual nature.

Before his arrest, Reynolds had gained prominence in Zimbabwe for being involved in attracting investment for the $145 million construction of a Hilton Hotel and office complex in Harare, reported The Herald. Construction is expected to begin in April and be finished in last 2016, said the newspaper.

"He toured the construction site back then in the company of government ministers Walter Mzembi, Webster Shamu and Ignatius Chombo, and businessman Mr Farai Jere," according to the paper. At one time Reynolds was considered a rising star in the Democratic party.

A Harvard graduate, Reynolds unseated U.S. Rep. Gus Savage in 1992, two years after a House ethics committee determined that during an official trip to Africa Savage had made improper sexual advances to a female Peace Corps volunteer.

But then Reynolds was convicted in his own sex case and sent to prison in 1995. Later, while still behind bars, he was convicted of fraud for concealing debts to obtain bank loans and diverting money intended for voter registration drives into his election campaign. In 2001, President Bill Clinton commuted the sentence for bank fraud and Reynolds served his remaining time in a halfway house.

Reynolds's arrest comes a little more than 14 months after he tried to resurrect his political career, running for the congressional seat vacated by Jesse Jackson Jr., who resigned from office and pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds on personal items. Jackson is now serving a 2 1/2 year prison term.

Reynolds was never really considered a serious candidate and that run ended in defeat, as did a 2004 run when in the Democratic primary he received just 6 percent of the vote. Announcing his run in late 2012 Reynolds, who said he had his own consulting firm and some business in Africa, campaigned with posters that proclaimed "Redemption."

AP writer Don Babwin contributed to this report from Chicago.

Congo military says it killed 208 rebels

Fri Feb 14, 2014

The Congolese government says the military has killed 208 rebels in a month of clashes with a Uganda-based group in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Government spokesman Lambert Mende said on Friday that the country’s armed forces also lost 22 soldiers during the offensive against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

Mende added that the military had destroyed the group's headquarters during the onslaught.

ADF rebels were blamed for massacring some 21 people in December 2013 in eastern Congo.

Meanwhile, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, said in a statement issued on Thursday that at least 70 men and women had been executed in the resource-rich province of North Kivu.

"The reports received by MONUSCO suggest that the summary executions were allegedly committed mainly by armed groups to spread terror among the population. The majority of the victims were killed with machete," MONUSCO said.

A spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping force said the killings were carried out in late January and early February in the Nyamaboko villages I and II.

MONUSCO said it was in the process of verifying the reports about the mass executions in the area, vowing to “spare no efforts to neutralize all the armed groups responsible for such acts.”

The UN special envoy to the Congo, Martin Kobler, also expressed "serious concern over the allegations of the gross human rights violations.”

Several armed groups, including the powerful March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group, are active in the east of the DRC and fighting for control of the country’s vast mineral resources, such as gold, the main tin ore cassiterite, and coltan (columbite-tantalite), which is used to make many electronic devices, including cell phones.

In November 2013, the Congolese government claimed "total victory" over the M23 after capturing the group’s remaining hilltop positions north of the eastern city of Goma with the assistance of MONUSCO.

In January 2014, the UN Special Representative in Congo told the UN Security Council that there are "credible reports that the military recruitment of the M23 did not cease" after a peace agreement between the M23 and the Congolese government, which was signed in Kenya in December 2013.

Congo has faced numerous problems over the past few decades, such as grinding poverty, crumbling infrastructure, and a war in the east of the country that has dragged on for over a decade and left over 5.5 million people dead.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/350738.html.

French troops will stay in CAR 'longer'

Sat Feb 15, 2014

The French Defense Ministry says the country’s intervention in the Central African Republic (CAR) could take “longer than planned.”

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made the remarks on Saturday, saying, a military operation "cannot run like clockwork."

"It has to be adapted, situations have to be taken into account and security needs met depending on events," Le Drian said, adding, "I think it will be longer than planned because the degree of hatred and violence is worse than we imagined."

In early December, French President Francois Hollande said the country’s military presence in CAR would be brief.

France invaded its former colony on December 5 after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution giving the African Union and France the go-ahead to send troops to the country.

Paris claims the aim of the mission is to create stability in the country in order to allow humanitarian aid to reach violence-hit areas but many believe that the French troops, known as Sangaris, target Muslims and turn a blind eye on Christian militia.

France, which already has 1,600 soldiers CAR, is about to dispatch 400 more soldiers to the violence-ridden country.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday that Berlin was also interested in military presence in CAR and Mali.

On Tuesday, Le Drian called on the deployed forces to stop attacks by militias in CAR "by force if needed."

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/350869.html.

Peacekeepers disarm CAR militants

Sat Feb 15, 2014

International peacekeepers in the capital of the Central African Republic have started to disarm Christian militants accused of committing atrocities against the country's Muslims.

On Saturday, some 250 peacekeepers and policemen went door-to-door to seize weapons from the militants in Bangui's Boy Rabe neighborhood, the base of the militias whose violent attacks have driven most of the Muslims from the city.

Automatic weapons, grenades and a large amount of munitions were captured and at least a dozen men were arrested, according to Ghislain Gresenguet, the attorney general.

"All people who were found to have weapons in their homes have been identified and will be handed over to the police," said a peacekeeper from the African Union mission, officially known for its French acronym MISCA -- Mission internationale de soutien à la Centrafrique sous conduite africaine.

The massive search operation follows warnings of a growing campaign of ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority by Christian militias.

The escalation in the militias’ brutal attacks has forced many Muslims to flee the country.

The United Nations refugee agency says a colossal human tragedy is taking place in the African Republic.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said in a statement on Thursday that he had witnessed "a humanitarian catastrophe of unspeakable proportions" during his recent visit to the African country.

"Massive ethno-religious cleansing is continuing. Shocking barbarity, brutality and inhumanity have characterized this violence," Guterres added.

He went on to say that the new government in Bangui is not fully capable of protecting its citizens against "massive ethno-religious cleansing."

Last week, Human Rights Watch called for immediate action to stop the pogrom of Muslims in the CAR, saying the killings have imperiled their future in the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/350883.html.

Occupation forces violently disperse protesters against settlements

Saturday, 15 February 2014

The Israeli authorities' response on Thursday to competing rallies on the outskirts of East Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank highlights the deep injustices of Israeli occupation and apartheid. While Israeli security forces forcibly prevented Palestinians from gathering to non-violently protest against the colonization and ethnic cleansing of their lands, they allowed illegal settlers to assemble to celebrate their occupation of Palestine.

According to an Anadolu Agency news correspondent, Israeli occupation forces violently dispersed on Thursday a Palestinian protest against the confiscation of Palestinian land in the occupied territories known as E1, adjacent to East Jerusalem.

Israeli forces reportedly arrested one activist.

The protest was organized by the Popular Initiative for Resisting the Barrier and Settlements in Al-Ayzariya village, which is near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the occupied West Bank. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.

Although the Israeli authorities refused to grant Palestinians their right to assemble on their own land, the authorities allowed those settlers illegally occupying their land to gather later that same day to declare their unwillingness to cease their criminal activities.

According to the Jerusalem Post newspaper, the pro-settlement event, "which drew over 5,000 participants from across the country, mostly teenagers, began in the afternoon in [the] Maale Adumim [settlement]. Activists then marched 4 km from the built up area of the settlement down to and across Route 1, and then up to the E1 hilltops."

Israeli Transportation and Road Safety Minister Israel Kat, Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel and coalition leader in the Israeli Knesset Yariv Levin all attended the settler protest.

The newspaper reports that the settlers chanted against US efforts to broker peace and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to authorize building more settlements and to reject US pressure to give up land in the West Bank, particularly in and around occupied East Jerusalem. One sign read "Kerry = persona non grata," referring to US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to broker an agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis.

MK Levin told the media that he personally told US Ambassador Dan Shapiro, "a true friend of Israel… that there was no mandate, no government and no majority of citizens that could relinquish the rights of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel."

Israeli settlement construction in E1 would divide the occupied West Bank into two territories and thus make the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state virtually impossible. In late 2012, the Israeli authorities announced plans to build hundreds of settler homes in E1 after Palestine was granted non-member observer state status at the United Nations. After international pressure the plans were frozen, but never completely shelved.

Despite the Palestinians being denied the same rights as those illegally occupying their lands, Salah Khawaja, the deputy secretary-general of the anti-settlements group, vowed to Anadolu Agency that: "We will continue our struggle against the Israeli occupation."

Source: Middle East Monitor.
Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/9766-occupation-forces-violently-disperse-protesters-against-settlements.

Israeli court discusses anti-boycott law

February 16, 2014

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli rights groups asked the Supreme Court Sunday to overturn a law that bans Israelis from calling for a boycott of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The court is expected to deliver its ruling in the coming months.

The 2011 law does not make a boycott call a criminal offense, but rather a civil issue that could trigger lawsuits demanding compensation. There is no precedent of this happening yet. The collection of rights groups said the law infringes on the right to free speech while defenders of the law say it prohibits discrimination based on geography.

The appeal comes against a backdrop of an international boycott campaign against Israel's settlement policies in captured territories claimed by the Palestinians. Israel officials have derided the campaign as anti-Semitic since it holds Israel to a double standard.

In recent years, settlement opponents in Israel have joined broader boycotts of products made there. The Palestinians and most of the international community say settlements are illegal because they are built on war-won land that the Palestinians want for their future state.

Haggai El-Ad, head of the Association of Civil Rights in Israel, said that a boycott is a legitimate form of protest and that the Israeli law was politically motivated since it only applied to those targeting the settlements.

Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin, who initiated the bill, said the aim was to prevent discrimination against people based on where they lived. He said Israel has to defend itself against those aiming to harm it.

The issue of settlements, and the boycott threat against them, has figured prominently in the recently restarted U.S.-mediated peace talks. More than 550,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, contiguous areas captured in the 1967 war, among roughly 2.5 million Palestinians. Some Israelis see a big security risk in giving up the West Bank, which commands the highland over central Israel. Many religious Jews see it as their biblical heartland.

Thai police clash with protesters, leaving 4 dead

February 18, 2014

BANGKOK (AP) — Hundreds of riot police attempted to clear out anti-government protest sites around Thailand's capital on Tuesday, triggering clashes that left four people dead and 64 others injured.

Multiple gunshots were heard near the prime minister's offices, where riot police had started to remove protesters and dismantle a makeshift stage. Witnesses said shots were fired by both sides. Police later withdrew.

In another blow for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the state anti-corruption agency accused her on Tuesday of improperly handling an expensive rice subsidy scheme, putting her in jeopardy of being impeached.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission said Yingluck's government proceeded with the scheme despite advice from experts that it was potentially wasteful and prone to corruption. The government has been months late in making payments to farmers for the rice they pledged to sell at above-market prices.

The commission said Yingluck has been called to formally hear the charges on Feb. 27. If it decides to submit the case to the Senate for possible impeachment, Yingluck will immediately be suspended from performing her official duties pending a Senate trial.

Yingluck's elected government has been attempting to avoid violence to keep the powerful military from stepping in. Thailand has been wracked by political unrest since 2006, when Yingluck's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by a military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power. Since then, his supporters and opponents have vied for power, sometimes violently.

Erawan emergency medical services said three civilians and a police officer died and 64 others were injured in Tuesday's clashes, including a journalist working for Hong Kong's Phoenix TV. Department of Special Investigation chief Tharit Pengdit told a news conference that the protesters had launched grenades at the police.

The violence erupted after police moved into several locations around the city to detain and remove protesters who have been camped out for weeks to press for Yingluck's resignation. They want the formation of an unelected people's council to implement reforms to end corruption and keep the Shinawatra family out of politics.

They have blocked access to government offices since late last year and occupied key intersections around Bangkok for about a month. Until now, the police had refrained from dispersing them for fear of unleashing violence.

But on Monday, the government's special security command center announced it would reclaim five protest sites around the city for public use, a move made possible under a state of emergency declared in January. Thousands of police officers, including armed anti-riot squads, were deployed across the city Tuesday in an operation the government called "Peace for Bangkok."

Earlier Tuesday, 144 protesters near the Energy Ministry in the northern part of the city were peacefully detained and herded onto police trucks to be taken away for questioning, Tharit said. Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt told The Associated Press the protesters hijacked two of the city's public buses and used them to block a rally site at the Interior Ministry near the Grand Palace.

The operations came a day before the Civil Court is to rule on the government's invocation of the emergency decree, which allows authorities to exercise wide powers to detain protesters and hold them in custody for 30 days without charges.

If the decree is struck down by the court, the government will be forced to dismantle the special security command center it had set up to enforce the emergency measures. The ongoing rice scandal has created tumult in state banks, from which the government is seeking loans to pay off money owed to farmers. A deal to have the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives borrow as much as 20 billion baht ($625 million) from the Government Savings Bank was scuttled after a run on the savings bank by depositors sympathetic to the anti-government cause.

The savings bank requested the return of 5 billion baht ($156 million) already loaned, and its president resigned Tuesday to take responsibility for the situation. Since the protests began in November, at least 15 people have been killed and hundreds injured.

Associated Press photographer Wally Santana and television journalist Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul contributed to this report.

Thai police clash with protesters, leaving 3 dead

February 18, 2014

BANGKOK (AP) — Clashes between police and anti-government demonstrators in Bangkok left three people dead and 57 others injured Tuesday as riot police attempted to clear out protest camps around the Thai capital.

Multiple gunshots were heard midday at a spot near the prime minister's office where riot police had started to remove protesters and dismantle a makeshift stage, but it wasn't clear who was firing. Erawan emergency medical services said a 52-year-old male civilian was killed by a head wound and a police officer died from a chest wound. It also said another man died, but didn't have further details. Nearly 60 others were injured in the incident.

Department of Special Investigation chief Tharit Pengdit said at a televised press conference that the protesters had launched grenades at the police. The violence erupted after police moved into several locations around the city to detain and remove protesters who have been camped out for weeks to press for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's resignation. They have blocked access to government offices since late last year and occupied key intersections around Bangkok for about a month. Until now, the police had refrained from dispersing them for fear of unleashing violence.

But on Monday, the government's special security command center announced it would reclaim five protest sites around the city for public use, a move made possible under a state of emergency declared in January. Thousands of police officers, including armed anti-riot squads, were deployed across the city Tuesday in an operation the government called "Peace for Bangkok."

Earlier Tuesday, 144 protesters gathered near the Energy Ministry in the northern part of the city were peacefully detained and herded onto police trucks to be taken away for questioning, Tharit said.

The operations came a day before the Civil Court hands down a ruling on the caretaker government's invocation of the emergency decree, which allows authorities to exercise wide powers to detain protesters and hold them in custody for 30 days without charges.

If the decree is struck down by the court, the government will be force to dismantle the special security command center it had set up to enforce the emergency measures. The protesters want Yingluck to step aside for an unelected people's council to implement reforms they say are needed to end corruption.

Since the protests began in November, at least 12 people have been killed and scores injured. Caretaker Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt told The Associated Press the protesters hijacked two of the city's public buses and used them to block a rally site at the Interior Ministry near the Grand Palace.

Thailand has been wracked by political unrest since 2006 when Yingluck's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by a military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power. Since then, his supporters and opponents have vied for power, sometimes violently.

Associated Press photographer Wally Santana and television journalist Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul contributed to this report.

Thai police push out street protesters, briefly

February 15, 2014

BANGKOK (AP) — Riot police managed to clear anti-government protesters from a major boulevard in the Thai capital in a small but brief victory as authorities try to reclaim areas that have been closed during a three-month push to unseat Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Hundreds of helmeted police with riot shields met no resistance Friday as they dismantled a sprawling protest camp in Bangkok's historic quarter near the prime minister's office compound, known as Government House. The office has been closed since December by protesters camped nearby.

Faced with the prospect of clashing with militant protesters coming from other sites to reclaim the area, police later withdrew, allowing demonstrators to occupy the street again. By evening, tents were re-erected in the area. Police also retreated from another protest venue after hundreds of demonstrators refused to leave.

Still, the police action was the first major pushback against the demonstrators in three months and was accomplished without violence, a key to holding the high moral ground. In past clashes with police, protesters highlighted injuries in their ranks for propaganda purposes, even though both sides have used force.

Police moved in as the total number of full-time protesters dwindled sharply to about 5,000 from more than 150,000 late last year, according to police estimates. "The prime minister asked us to deal with the protesters gently," said Chalerm Yubumrung, the head of the government's special command center to oversee security. He called Friday's operation "an example" of what authorities plan to do at other protest sites.

"We are telling the protesters to go home. If they do not listen, we will push more," he told reporters at a news conference held inside Government House for the first time since December. 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. They have battled police on several occasions, and have been targeted in several attacks for which no one has been apprehended.

At least 10 people have been killed and scores injured during Thailand's biggest anti-government street rallies in years. The only injury Friday morning was a local newspaper photographer whose leg was hurt by a small firecracker device. It wasn't known who threw the object, but the protesters have used so-called "pingpong" bombs filled with explosives in previous confrontations.

The U.S. State Department renewed its travel alert for Thailand, particularly Bangkok, warning Americans of the potential risks and regular incidents of violence during political demonstrations. As police entered the protest zone near Government House, they called for cooperation through a megaphone: "It is necessary for the police to clear this area. ... For your own safety please strictly follow police instructions."

There was no resistance from protesters, who had abandoned the site and regrouped elsewhere before police arrived. The riot squads tore down a sandbagged barrier that had closed a major boulevard to traffic. They dismantled tents where the protests had camped out overnight and searched for weapons. Authorities said they confiscated slingshots, firecrackers and a variety of materials they said could be used for explosives, including a small bag of urea, metal objects and other items.

A more tense encounter occurred in a northern suburb of Bangkok, where protesters have set up a stage that blocks the entrance to a complex of government buildings, which has forced many offices to relocate. Hundreds of police faced off with protesters who refused to budge, and police then retreated.

Demonstrators afterward gathered outside the gate of the city police headquarters to protest the action. Until now, police have avoided dispersing demonstrators for fear of unleashing greater violence.

Thailand has been wracked by political unrest since 2006 when Yingluck's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by a military coup after being accused of corruption and abuse of power. Since then, his supporters and opponents have vied for power, sometimes violently.

The conflict pits the Bangkok-based middle- and upper-class and southerners who disdain Yingluck against the poor, rural majority who support her and have benefited from populist policies including virtually free health care.

In a bid to defuse the crisis, Yingluck dissolved Parliament in December and became the caretaker prime minister until a new premier is named. Elections earlier this month were boycotted by the main opposition Democrat Party, which backs the protesters. The Democrats have since petitioned a court to annul the elections, launching a legal challenge bound to prolong the country's political paralysis.

Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker contributed to this report.

First Transiting Planets in a Star Cluster Discovered

Cambridge MA (SPX)
Jun 27, 2013

All stars begin their lives in groups. Most stars, including our Sun, are born in small, benign groups that quickly fall apart. Others form in huge, dense swarms that survive for billions of years as stellar clusters.

Within such rich and dense clusters, stars jostle for room with thousands of neighbors while strong radiation and harsh stellar winds scour interstellar space, stripping planet-forming materials from nearby stars.

It would thus seem an unlikely place to find alien worlds. Yet 3,000 light-years from Earth, in the star cluster NGC 6811, astronomers have found two planets smaller than Neptune orbiting Sun-like stars.

The discovery, published in the journal Nature, shows that planets can develop even in crowded clusters jam-packed with stars.

"Old clusters represent a stellar environment much different than the birthplace of the Sun and other planet-hosting field stars," says lead author Soren Meibom of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA).

"And we thought maybe planets couldn't easily form and survive in the stressful environments of dense clusters, in part because for a long time we couldn't find them."

The two new alien worlds appeared in data from NASA's Kepler spacecraft. Kepler hunts for planets that transit, or cross in front of, their host stars.

During a transit, the star dims by an amount that depends on the size of the planet, allowing the size to be determined. Kepler-66b and Kepler-67b are both less than three times the size of Earth, or about three-fourths the size of Neptune (mini-Neptunes).

Of the more than 850 known planets beyond our solar system, only four - all similar to or greater than Jupiter in mass - were found in clusters. Kepler-66b and -67b are the smallest planets to be found in a star cluster, and the first cluster planets seen to transit their host stars, which enables the measurement of their sizes.

Meibom and his colleagues have measured the age of NGC 6811 to be one billion years. Kepler-66b and Kepler-67b therefore join a small group of planets with precisely determined ages, distances, and sizes.

Considering the number of stars observed by Kepler in NGC 6811, the detection of two such planets implies that the frequency and properties of planets in open clusters are consistent with those of planets around field stars (stars not within a cluster or association) in the Milky Way galaxy.

"These planets are cosmic extremophiles," says Meibom. "Finding them shows that small planets can form and survive for at least a billion years, even in a chaotic and hostile environment."

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/First_Transiting_Planets_in_a_Star_Cluster_Discovered_999.html.

Three planets in habitable zone of nearby star

Munich, Germany (SPX)
Jun 27, 2013

Gliese 667C is a very well-studied star. Just over one third of the mass of the Sun, it is part of a triple star system known as Gliese 667 (also referred to as GJ 667), 22 light-years away in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion). This is quite close to us - within the Sun's neighborhood - and much closer than the star systems investigated using telescopes such as the planet-hunting Kepler space telescope.

Previous studies of Gliese 667C had found that the star hosts three planets (eso0939) with one of them in the habitable zone. Now, a team of astronomers led by Guillem Anglada-Escude of the University of Gottingen, Germany and Mikko Tuomi of the University of Hertfordshire, UK, has reexamined the system.

They have added new HARPS observations, along with data from ESO's Very Large Telescope, the W.M. Keck Observatory and the Magellan Telescopes, to the already existing picture. The team has found evidence for up to seven planets around the star.

These planets orbit the third fainter star of a triple star system. Viewed from one of these newly found planets the two other suns would look like a pair of very bright stars visible in the daytime and at night they would provide as much illumination as the full Moon.

The new planets completely fill up the habitable zone of Gliese 667C, as there are no more stable orbits in which a planet could exist at the right distance to it.

"We knew that the star had three planets from previous studies, so we wanted to see whether there were any more," says Tuomi. "By adding some new observations and revisiting existing data we were able to confirm these three and confidently reveal several more. Finding three low-mass planets in the star's habitable zone is very exciting!"

Three of these planets are confirmed to be super-Earths - planets more massive than Earth, but less massive than planets like Uranus or Neptune - that are within their star's habitable zone, a thin shell around a star in which water may be present in liquid form if conditions are right. This is the first time that three such planets have been spotted orbiting in this zone in the same system.

"The number of potentially habitable planets in our galaxy is much greater if we can expect to find several of them around each low-mass star - instead of looking at ten stars to look for a single potentially habitable planet, we now know we can look at just one star and find several of them," adds co-author Rory Barnes (University of Washington, USA).

Compact systems around Sun-like stars have been found to be abundant in the Milky Way. Around such stars, planets orbiting close to the parent star are very hot and are unlikely to be habitable.

But this is not true for cooler and dimmer stars such as Gliese 667C. In this case the habitable zone lies entirely within an orbit the size of Mercury's, much closer in than for our Sun. The Gliese 667C system is the first example of a system where such a low-mass star is seen to host several potentially rocky planets in the habitable zone.

The ESO scientist responsible for HARPS, Gaspare Lo Curto, remarks: "This exciting result was largely made possible by the power of HARPS and its associated software and it also underlines the value of the ESO archive. It is very good to also see several independent research groups exploiting this unique instrument and achieving the ultimate precision."

And Anglada-Escude concludes: "These new results highlight how valuable it can be to re-analyse data in this way and combine results from different teams on different telescopes."

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Three_planets_in_habitable_zone_of_nearby_star_999.html.

China plans to launch Tiangong-2 space lab around 2015

Beijing (XNA)
Jun 27, 2013

China will continue to carry out development and construction of space lab and plans to launch Tiangong-2 space lab around 2015, an aerospace official said Wednesday.

This is in line with China's overall outline and plan for the country's manned space program, Wang Zhaoyao, director of China's manned space program office, told a press conference after the reentry module of the Shenzhou-10 spacecraft landed after a 15-day mission.

Wang said the engineering work of a manned space station is carried out simultaneously according to the plan, and China plans to put in orbit an experimental core module of space station around 2018.

By 2020, China's manned space station would be built, he added.

Prior to that, China will launch a series of cargo and manned spacecraft to deliver material supplies and transport astronauts to the future space lab and space station, Wang said.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/China_plans_to_launch_Tiangong_2_space_lab_around_2015_999.html.

Home of space dreams

Beijing (XNA)
Jun 26, 2013

Shenzhou X manned spacecraft blasted off on June 12 from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, which is also home to scientists, soldiers and their families. Zou Hong unveils daily life at the center in Gansu province.

The "Cape Canaveral of China" - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, also known as Dongfeng Space Center - is located at the depth of Badain Jaran Desert, 210 kilometers from the northeast of Jiuquan city, Gansu province.

Built in 1958, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is the earliest and largest satellite launch center in China. Since its establishment, it has achieved many firsts for the development of the space industry of China, including the launch of China's very first satellite in 1970.

It is also the breeding ground and launching pad of many vital space projects, including Shenzhou X manned spacecraft that blasted off on June 12, bringing the nation one step closer to setting up its own space station in 2020.

While the city is the cradle for space dreams, people in the city live a simple life, with no bars and night clubs. Most of the residents are scientists, members of the military and their family members, who dedicate their time to realizing the nation's space mission.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Home_of_space_dreams_999.html.

Shenzhou 10 Returns Safely To Earth

by Dr Morris Jones
Sydney, Australia (SPX)
Jun 26, 2013

The safe return of the Shenzhou 10 spacecraft has resolved more questions about China's latest astronaut mission. Clearly, Shenzhou 10's expedition to the Tiangong 1 space laboratory has been successful. However, some mysteries remain about the events on this flight, and the overall direction for China's space program.

The most outstanding mystery surrounding Shenzhou 10 began long before the spacecraft was rolled out to the Launchpad. This is the strange media and public relations strategy that was apparent to analysts weeks before the mission began. China is notorious for its tight management of media access to its space program, and we did not expect a high level of openness for this mission.

However, it is obvious that there has been a major step backwards in terms of media access. The reportage on Shenzhou 10 stands in high contrast to the very good coverage provided for the Shenzhou 9 mission just a year earlier. Live television coverage of key events was either curtailed or entirely deleted. Why was this done? At face value, it seems that China lost more than it gained (if it gained anything at all) from the policy shift.

There was also a strange modus of identifying the crew. In an unusual pattern of disclosure, China confirmed that female astronaut Wang Yaping would be on the flight weeks before the countdown began. This was surprising, as crews for missions are normally kept officially secret until just before launch. At the same time, the identities of the two astronauts who would join her were not disclosed, and they were not officially named until less than a day before liftoff.

Although we were pleased to see Wang named for the flight and celebrated the publicity for her achievements, the uneven pattern of reportage was perplexing. Was there an internal political agenda at work? It's possible that naming Wang in public at an early stage would make it difficult to remove her from the mission later on. If this was an issue, does this suggest that there was still some uncertainty over the crew for the mission, with disputes over who would be aboard? This is a plausible theory.

We also have only a basic understanding of the tasks performed by the crew aboard the Tiangong module. The astronauts were docked there for roughly twelve days. The most visible activity performed on Tiangong was a science lesson for Chinese students performed by Wang Yaping. China has spoken in vague terms of medical and engineering experiments but supplied no real details. In this regard, the work on the Shenzhou 10 mission has been reported in the same way as for Shenzhou 9, which was also covered without specifics on the experiments. These mysteries have been compounded by the overall lack of media coverage of the mission.

We can speculate that most of the medical experiments performed by the Shenzhou 10 crew were tests on the health of the astronauts themselves. We can also speculate on why China was so tight-lipped with its media coverage.

This analyst contrasts the relatively good coverage of the Shenzhou 9 mission, launched just last year, with the near-blackout strategy this time. In this analyst's view, the change is probably connected to the rise of Xi Jinping as the President of China, and the reshuffle of other senior positions in China's leadership.

Mr Xi is a new leader who is still probably consolidating his credibility within the government and the public. As such, he could feel more vulnerable to bad news than his predecessor. The restricted coverage of Shenzhou 10 could be a defensive strategy to help downplay any mishaps that could reflect badly on Mr Xi. It would be unwise and unfair to blame any problems with the Shenzhou mission on Mr Xi, but as the leader of the nation, he is seen to be connected to any major state event.

This analyst hopes that the success of the Shenzhou 10 mission will inspire China to loosen its media policies for subsequent space missions, including the upcoming landing of a robot rover on the Moon. In time, the space program will probably prove its worth as an asset instead of a liability. And Mr Xi himself will probably grow more comfortable in his leadership.

As with most missions in China's fairly closed space program, some mysteries will take years to disclose, and some interesting stories will probably never leak out. There will hopefully be more disclosure when the International Astronautical Congress takes place in Beijing later this year. Mysteries may be frustrating, but they provide plenty of fodder for an international community of space analysts and fans.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Shenzhou_10_Returns_Safely_To_Earth_999.html.

Australia concedes spying on Indonesia

Sun Feb 16, 2014

The Australian government concedes spying on Indonesian firms, saying the operation meant to ensure the interests of Canberra’s allies.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the Canberra government has conducted surveillance operations to ensure the interests of the country's allies.

"We never comment on operational intelligence matters, that has been the long-standing practice of all Australian governments of both political persuasions," Abbott told reporters on Sunday, adding, "We use it for the benefit of our friends. We use it to uphold our values."

"We use it to protect our citizens and the citizens of other countries, and we certainly don't use it for commercial purposes."

Abbott’s remarks followed fresh revelations that Canberra has spied on Indonesia.

Based on a top secret document leaked by American whistleblower Edward Snowden, the US National Security Agency (NSA) and its Australian counterpart have spied on an American law firm that was representing Indonesia in trade disputes with Washington.

The relations between Jakarta and Canberra plunged last November after reports emerged that Australia had tried to tap the phones of Indonesian officials in 2009.

The reports also showed that the Australian diplomatic missions have helped the US to monitor phone calls and other communications in the Asia-Pacific region. The intelligence activities took place in several Australian Embassies located in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand.

The NSA scandal took even broader dimensions when Snowden revealed information about NSA espionage activities targeting friendly countries.

Snowden, a former CIA employee, leaked two top secret US government spying programs under which the NSA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are eavesdropping on millions of American and European phone records and the Internet data from major Internet companies such as Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Apple, and Microsoft.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/350962.html.