Al-Darb Diya

Ron Paul as an Anti-communist Cold Warrior

2012-01-30T18:38:00.003+02:00

by Christian Gomez
Monday, 22 August 2011

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul is most distinguishable, on the debate stage alongside fellow GOP contenders, for his opposition to the U.S. wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Libya. The Texas Congressman advocates the withdraw of U.S. troops from not only Afghanistan and Iraq, but also elsewhere in the world, such as Germany, Japan, and South Korea.

Rep. Paul has also distinguished himself from other candidates in his consistent statements and beliefs. Unlike most other candidates, he has not flip-flopped — saying now what he has been saying for decades.

Once considered as one of 12 potential leaders of the conservative movement after the age of Reagan, according to the March 1983 issue of Conservative Digest magazine, Ron Paul is now regarded as the Godfather of the Tea Party movement. Still, despite his popularity on the right, and among libertarians, independents, as well as disenfranchised Democrats, Paul is attacked by many due to his foreign policy stance.

The attacks come not from the Left, but rather from fellow Republicans. The insinuation is that he is weak on defense because he supposedly supports Iran’s quest to build a nuclear weapon. Congressman Alan West (R-Fla.) recently came out against Paul, saying:

Let me be very honest. When I was listening to the debate Thursday night and a certain candidate for president stood there and said he didn’t see any problem with Iran getting a nuclear device because everybody else has one — I have to tell you, that’s not the kind of guy you need to be sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Websites from RedState.com to TrevorLoudon.com create an image that Paul is “Al Qaeda’s Favorite Member of Congress” or that he is the pro-Russia/Communist candidate. When he is not being ignored by the media his detractors take potshots at him, attempting to create a distorted image of Paul as a supporter of totalitarianism and Communism.

More recently a small series of articles have been posted online insinuating that Ron Paul is being backed by Russia and that his election is what Russia and the communists want. Those reading such articles might well come to the same conclusions if they have not dug deeper into Paul's record.

First elected to Congress in 1976, serving a partial term until 1977, and again from 1979 to 1985, Ron Paul represented the then-22nd Congressional District of Texas. At the time, the United States was faced by the Cold War threat of Communism and the Soviet Union — a totalitarian state that represented the complete opposite of Paul's libertarian beliefs. Paul was no friend of communism or the USSR — and his record during his tenure in office at the time vindicates his credentials as an anti-communist.

Before Ron Paul’s days as a Cold Warrior are examined, it is first necessary to define and distinguish the ideology of communism versus the ideology of liberty, as advocated by Paul.

What is Communism?
Communism is an inherently collectivist ideology which centers on the breakdown of capitalism and the breakup of society into two main collective classes of people — described as the working class and the capitalist class (i.e. the proletariat and bourgeoisie).

Ignoring human nature’s desire to better oneself and aspire for a better standard and wage of living, communism calls for the creation of a “classless” or “equal” society by which the natural human condition is suppressed by the state as it controls the total means of production (i.e. farms and factories). The state ownership of the means of production is also commonly referred to as socialism.

Although some communists claim their aim is the eventual "withering away of the state," as Karl Marx wrote in his Communist Manifesto (1848), its application first requires that the state be used as the primary tool to control all aspects of human interaction (i.e., life and economics) in order to remove any remnants of “social injustice” or inequality — essentially eradicating those things that distinguish individuals from one another and make people unique. This is to be done by force, resulting in a compulsory state of apparent equality.

Once total or absolute equality, or “social justice,” is achieved, the state can then begin to deconstruct itself and cease to be, theoretically leaving behind a society of equal people living In a “people’s paradise” or “utopia.”

The major fallacy of this belief is that it relies on the state changing human nature, which in reality and in historical application can only be attempted by coercion, repression, and tyranny.

Tyrants, once in absolute power, never cede away their power (this too is human nature). In communism’s state of “transition” from capitalism to anarchy, when the state accumulates total power, there still exist two classes — the masses and the ruling elites (i.e. the ruling Communist Party Politburo). No mechanism exists to check or coerce the equality of this new ruling oligarchy. This is why, no matter how well intentioned the agitators of communist revolution maybe (and in most cases, the "well-intentioned" communists are in the lower ranks, dominated by an elite clique of malintentioned conspirators), their system of government has always led to, continues to lead to, and will always lead to total tyranny by the state – i.e. statism. Hence, actually communism is statism – the total control by the state.

Ron Paul’s Ideology
Communism is the antithesis of individual liberty, the latter of which Ron Paul has championed his entire career in public office. In his book The Revolution: A Manifesto (2008), he elaborates his belief on personal freedom:

Freedom means not only that our economic activity ought to be free and voluntary, but that government should stay out of personal affairs as well. In fact, freedom means that we understand liberty as an indivisible whole. Economic freedom and personal liberty are not divisible.

Whereas modern "liberals" advocate government intervention in the market, modern "conservatives" advocate government intervention in social matters, and communists advocate government intervention in or control of both. Ron Paul, on the other hand, advocates that there be no government intervention in either the economy or personal affairs.

Paul is by no means an anarchist; he is rather a constitutionalist — believing in the basic rule of law where government exists primarily to protect one’s rights, which are inherent and derived from our Creator. He believes that we are entitled only to that which we are born with — our life, liberty, and the pursuit to happiness.

Government’s role is not to grant rights or to collect from one to disperse to another, but rather to protect one’s God-given rights to his or her own personhood and property. Government does this by creating laws that protect one’s life and private property from other violators.

These laws are administrated by elected federal and state representatives (i.e., a republic) and enforced by local law enforcement, closest to the people, and also a national military to protect the land from foreign aggression. This is why Article I Section 8 of the Constitution, which delegates specific powers to the Congress, pertains mostly to military or national defense affairs.

Governments are not instructed to protect people from themselves but rather from others that would violate their individual personhood or property. This is the ideology of Ron Paul. By the very nature of these Lockean beliefs, Paul is an ideological anti-statist, anti-collectivist, and henceforth anti-communist candidate, rare qualities among GOP presidential candidates.

Ron Paul on Communism
In regard to communism, Ron Paul stated the following in his book Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom (2011):

Communism was based on the belief that only the party established the truth, and it was not rigid; it changed according to political priorities. Without a belief that truth exists apart from what government says it is, peace, prosperity, and progress are impossible.

Considering these anti-collectivist/ anti-communist tendencies and considering also that Ron Paul served in Congress from 1976-77 and 1979 to 1985, it is worth exploring how he handled the menace of the Soviet Union and international communism during the Cold War. We can begin by examining Paul’s position on foreign aid to the Soviet Union.

Ron Paul on Foreign Aid to the Soviet Union
Ron Paul has always maintained a consistent opposition to all foreign aid, but especially to the communist states such as the Soviet Union. At a time when the American people were told by the government that the Soviet Union and Communism represented the greatest threat to the world and free people, that same government (the U.S. government) was propping up that very same threat of communism via the Export-Import Bank.

In a 1980 issue of “The Ron Paul Report,” Congressman Paul gives the example of the “largest truck plant in world, on the Kama River in the U.S.S.R.,” which, as he stated, “produced many of the trucks and armored vehicles used in the [Soviet] invasion of Afghanistan…”

Paul went on to explain that the plant was “built at the expense of the American people.” According to Paul, “The Nixon Administration ruled the project to be in our national interest, and the government’s Export Import Bank loaned the Soviets $154 million at an average interest rate of 6.5%, with the first payment not due for 10 years.”

“The rest of the $342 million financing, loaned at market rates by a syndicate headed by the Chase Manhattan Bank,” Paul elaborated, “was insured by the taxpayer through another government agency, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation.”

This Paul opposed, as it benefited the Soviets at the expense of the American taxpayer. “The Export-Import Bank’s funds come from the U.S. Treasury, and the outlays cause our taxes and inflation rates to go up,” Paul said, adding, “The Soviets get the goods. The big banks and companies get the profits. And the taxpayer gets the bill.”

Paul summed up this policy as “simply a transfer payment from the average American to the well-to-do, with a bonus for our enemies.”

Ron Paul on SALT II (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty)
In addition to criticizing the policies of President Nixon, Paul also censured the administration of President Jimmy Carter for its support of the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, also known as SALT II.

In the October 1979 issue of his “Freedom Report,” Paul criticized U.S. arms reduction agreements with the Soviets:

Over the past twelve years — years of almost constant disarmament negotiations — the Soviet Union has outspent us on military offense and defense by 35% to 40%. This, the greatest military build-up in the history of the world, has led to rough equivalency between the USSR and the USA at best, and, at worst, clear inferiority for America.

Paul condemned the SALT II agreement, saying of it that “this would probably lead to permanent US weakness and the make the Soviet Union the undisputed military superpower in the world.” He continued, “It would be profoundly destabilizing; and far from promoting peace, it would endanger it.”

Paul’s report explained that “President Carter said we would agree to build no heavy ICBMs if the Soviets would only construct 150. The Soviets said no, they wanted 308 to our zero. We 'compromised' at 308, under the leadership of Paul Warnke, head SALT negotiator and George McGovern’s 1972 defense advisor.”

These 308 heavy ICMBs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) were referred to the Soviets as SS-18 missiles, each of which, according to Paul, “is six to seven times as powerful as our best missile.”

Paul also outlined the danger of SALT II and why he opposed it in Congress:

Under SALT, our missiles are allowed three Multiple Independently Targeted Re-Entry Vehicles (MIRVs). This means each missile can carry three nuclear warheads capable of hitting separate targets. SALT gives the Soviets permission to have 10 MIRVs on each SS-18. (SS-18s have been tested with 14 warheads, and many of our military experts believe they are capable of carrying 16.) Under the terms of the treaty, this one aspect of the Soviet warmaking machine can deliver 3,080 giant nuclear warheads, each with the destructive power of one million tons of TNT. These MIRVs equal 181,000 Hiroshima-size bombs.

Unlike many on the Left, and those both sympathetic and apologetic to the aggressions committed by the Soviet Union and international Communism, Ron Paul was a clear opponent of arms reduction agreements that benefited the Soviet Union and the communist world. He challenged the establishment, whether it was the President of his own party, Richard Nixon, or President Jimmy Carter of the Democratic Party, every time they sought to make treaties to bolster the Soviet war-machine and industry at the expense of American taxpayer dollars and national security.

Ron Paul on Nuclear Freeze and the Soviet Union
In addition to standing against SALT, Ron Paul was equally opposed to the nuclear freeze initiative.

During the height of the Cold War socialist radicals, anarchists, and other leftist extremists heavily promoted the idea that the United States and its Western allies should adopt a nuclear freeze initiative that would have placed a halt on the production and deployment of U.S. strategic nuclear forces.

In a reply letter, dated June 20, 1983, to a Mrs. Elizabeth Hey, a constituent of his 22nd Congressional District, Paul stated: “I voted against the nuclear freeze resolution when it was approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, May 4 [1983].”

Paul went on to briefly outline his opposition to the nuclear freeze bill, stating: “The resolution calls for an immediate, mutual, and verifiable freeze. The Soviets, however, have not stated their willingness to freeze nuclear stockpiles.” He continued,

My primary objection to a nuclear freeze treaty with the Soviet Union is that I am unwilling to trust the freedom and independence of the United States to the promises of the Soviet ruling elite. The Soviets have broken almost every treaty they have ever signed, once it was no longer to their advantage to abide by its terms.

Paul also made public his opposition to the freeze two months before, in the April 1983 issue of his “Freedom Report,” in which he stated:

The argument for a nuclear freeze is based on a misconception about the Soviet Union. This view holds that the leaders of the Soviet Union are motivated by the same values as we — the desire for peace. … In reality, the Soviet Union is a totalitarian country ruled by a ruthless elite. The value of individual human life is nothing to the Soviet leaders.

“The American people want peace and freedom; the Soviets desire world conquest,” Paul stated as he went on to further criticize the Soviet Union for its numerous treaty violations:

The Soviet rulers are willing to sign treaties only when they advance their plans for conquest. The Soviets have violated SALT I and other treaties at least 27 times. The use of chemical weapons in Afghanistan is only the latest in the long series of treaty violations. I am unwilling to trust the security of the U.S. to the promises of the Soviet Union. [Emphasis added.]

Although Paul has never been an advocate of increasing the U.S. nuclear stockpile, he did rightfully oppose attempts, such as the “nuclear freeze” initiative,” to formally sign an agreement with the Soviet Union that would have legally bound and prohibited the United States from building such weapons if the need should arise.

Committed then to a sound fiscal policy in the defense budget, as he still advocates today, Paul finished by making a call for less needless weaponry but rather shifting the focus of defense spending to what is, or was, actually needed to defend the U.S. homeland.

“The time has come to stop building more tanks and more nuclear bombs, to stop insisting that our reluctant allies take them, and to start building a defense against a missile attack,” Paul concluded.

Ron Paul on Missile Defense
Recognizing the nuclear missile threat posed by the Soviet Union, Ron Paul, as did also his friend and fellow anti-Communist colleague Rep. Larry McDonald (D-Ga.), supported President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or “star wars” missile defense.

The purpose of SDI, as Reagan stated in his famous televised speech from the Oval Office on March 23, 1983, was “rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.”

In an article entitled “Space Warfare” in the December 1, 1983 issue of Congressman Ron Paul Reports, Paul addressed those opposed to SDI; Paul wrote:

Earlier this year, when President Reagan announced plans to develop a space defense system, critics said he was opening a new horrifying era in the arms race: the militarization of space. Such a system, they said, would be “provocative,” forcing the Soviets to build their own “Star Wars” weaponry.

Paul went on to state that, “Nothing could be more misleading,” noting the hypocrisy of the Soviet Union:

Despite the barrage of propaganda from the Kremlin — propaganda that has been scandalously effective at influencing public opinion in the West — space has already been “militarized.” And it is the Soviets that have been the “militarizers.”

Paul concluded his article by paraphrasing and giving the last word to General Daniel O. Graham, “father of the High Frontier space defense concept and former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency….” Paul wrote:

In the event of a nuclear attack by the Soviets, General Graham reminds his critics, you’d better believe there will be weapons in space. They’ll be flying right at us. And it is this that those who seek a real defense capability are trying to prevent.

Ron Paul continued to maintain his support for SDI as far late as 1988, when during a televised interview, while running as the Libertarian Party presidential candidate, he was asked, “What about Star Wars/SDI?” Paul replied:

I think that it’s worth doing research on SDI, but I would take the money out of the money we spend overseas. Seventy percent of our military money is spent overseas subsidizing rich allies that should be spent on the defense of this country, such as SDI.

Ron Paul observed that a space-based missile defense such as SDI likely would be a far more effective way of deterring a Soviet missile attack than having to be the policeman of the world with U.S. troops and bases in over 150 countries.

Rather than having to maintain an empire overseas, the United States could still protect and even deter the possibility of Soviet nuclear aggression by the development and deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in space — and this was the position held by Ron Paul.

The Soviet Union was not the only world power seeking to impose Communism on the rest of the world. In addition to the Soviet menace, Ron Paul stood his ground against other communist states such as those in East Asia.

Ron Paul on Communist China
In 1982, Paul strongly condemned the Reagan administration when it decided to extend credit to the People’s Republic of China, via the Export-Import Bank, estimated at $68,425,000. “It is outrageous that the American taxpayers are being forced to subsidize Communist China while domestic programs like Social Security are in jeopardy,” stated Paul at the time.

The following year, in a letter from the Paul's congressional office dated March 11, 1983, he expressed his strong opposition to one of the Reagan administration’s foreign aid bills — S.637, introduced by Senator Charles H. Percy (R-Ill.) — which would have amended the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Paul quoted the following provision of S.637, which stated:

The FAA is amended to remove the People’s Republic of China and Tibet (which is administered as part of China) from the category of countries to which assistance is prohibited. As a result of this amendment, the People’s Republic of China would not be considered a "communist-bloc" country…

Paul blasted this proposal in the letter: “The contention that the People’s Republic of China is no longer Communist is ludicrous. There has been no fundamental change in the government in Communist China. It is still a totalitarian, repressive, and collectivist regime.”

“The determination that the People’s Republic of China is non-communist should be an affront to freedom-loving Americans,” Paul added.

Consistent with his free-market principles and opposition to foreign aid, Paul criticized the Reagan administration’s State Department for its aid to Communist China:

Communist China has already received over $125 million in loans and credit since 1981. This includes a $68 million credit through the Export-Import Bank to be used to buy steel making equipment. The Administration claimed that this credit was “in the national interest.” It was certainly in someone’s national interest, but I doubt that it was ours. It is indefensible to be pouring $68 million into the Chinese steel industry when the U.S. steel industry is in such terrible economic straits.

Paul went on to asses the threat of Communist China, identifying China’s ties with the Soviet Union and its territorial ambitions for conquering Taiwan. Paul concluded the letter with the following statement:

There is a saying among Communists that goes something like this: If the Communists were going to hang capitalists, the capitalists would sell them the rope. This is only a half-truth. Nowadays, we’d just give them the rope, “in the national interest.”

Ron Paul and Barry Goldwater on Korea
In a 1980 issue of The Ron Paul Report, Paul quotes Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.), who said of South Korea that we should “reassess our military presence” there. Paul continued:

If North Korea decided to take advantage of the domestic turmoil [in South Korea], and invaded, said Senator Goldwater, our 41,000 troops would take the brunt of the attack. Our men are well-armed and well-trained, said the Senator, but they would not be able to stand off a probable North Korean-Red Chinese human flood.

Paul went on to criticize foreign aid, believing in the sovereignty of the South Korean people and military to deal with any threat to their security:

… South Korea’s 620,000-man army, and well-equipped air force and navy, ought to be able to defend the country. We have sent them many billions in military and economic aid.

Ron Paul’s reassessment and eventual call for withdraw of U.S. forces from South Korea was consistent with the views of Senator Goldwater, whose anti-Communist credentials were well known at the time. Paul, like Goldwater, recognized the risk and danger to U.S. national defense by maintaining a permanent presence in South Korea.

Even today, when South Korea is a wealthier and freer country than it was in 1980 — maintaining one of the world’s most advanced military forces, more than capable of taking on the outdated Soviet-era military arsenal of North Korea — it still does not require a U.S. military presence there, which is why Paul continues to advocate the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the peninsula.

Conclusion
Despite the distortions and false imagery presented in certain web outlets, the record of Ron Paul is clear as to where he stood on Communism and the Soviet menace of the Cold War. Assertions to the contrary represent inaccurate history and distort the record of the Texas Congressman, who has always unwaveringly championed the cause of individual liberty — since his early days in office as both defender of the Constitution and cold warrior.

Source: The New American.
Link: http://www.thenewamerican.com/history/american/8677-ron-paul-as-an-anti-communist-cold-warrior.

شغب في المفرق لليوم الثالث على التوالي

2012-01-30T18:38:00.000+02:00

2011-08-21

خبرني - اسلام الحوامده
اندلعت أعمال شغب مجددا في مدينة المفرق شمالي شرق المفرق ليلة الأحد الاثنين لليوم الثالث على التوالي احتجاجا على عدم القبض على فارضي الخاوات في المدينة.
وأقدمت مجموعة من عشائر المدينة على إشعال النيران في المحلات التجارية ومبنى المحافظة، وسط حضور أمني كثيف اضطر فيه الأمن لاستخدام العنف والغاز المدمع لتفريق المتظاهرين.
ميدانيا، تشهد المدينة توترا شديدا اعتبر الأعلى في المدينة خلال الليالي الثلاث الأخيرة، فيما لم يتم يتسن لـ "خبرني" تحديد عدد المصابين نظراً لمحاصرة قوات الأمن لمستشفى المفرق الحكومي، لكن دوي عيارات نارية سمع في سماء المدينة.
وتحاصر قوات الأمن والدرك منزل محافظ المفرق سليم الرواحنة خشية وصول المتظاهرين إليه.
إلى ذلك، تشهد المدينة اعتداءات من المتظاهرين على عدد من منازل تعود لمواطنين يؤكدون أنهم ليسوا أطرافاً في المشاجرات التي أدت إلى أعمال الشغب.

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60473.

إسلاميو الاردن يدعون الطغاة للاعتبار من سقوط القذافي

2012-01-30T18:37:00.002+02:00

2011-08-22

خبرني- هنأ المراقب العام لجماعة الإخوان المسلمين الدكتور همام سعيد "الأمة العربية والإسلامية بسقوط طاغية ليبيا معمر القذافي "،لافتاً الى ان "الشعوب ستنتصر مهما طال الزمن".

وقال في تصريح له الاثنين :"تهنئ جماعة الإخوان المسلمين الشعب الليبي العظيم والامة العربية والاسلامية بهذا النصر المؤزر الذي وافق ليلية الثاني والعشرين من شهر رمضان المبارك ليضاف الى قائمة الفتوحات العظيمة التي أظلها الشهر الكريم ،وينضم بذلك ان شاء الله الى معركة بدر وفتح مكة".

واشار المراقب العام الى ان "هذا النصر جاء بعد عشرات الألوف من الشهداء والجرحى وكانت تكاليفه كبيرة مما يعطيه طعماً خاصاً ويجعله انجازاً شارك فيه جميع أبناء ليبيا رجالا ونساءً شيباً وشباناً وقد خرج الشعب الليبي اصلب عودا واشد شكيمة وهو يأخذ اليوم مكانه في طليعة الأمة".

ودعا بشار الاسد وعلي عبدالله صالح الى "الاعتبار من هذا النموذج الصارخ في الطغيان"،لافتاً الى اختلاف تجارب الشعب التونسي مع الطاغية بن علي ،والمصري مع الطاغية مبارك ،والليبي مع القذافي ،واتفاقها في النتيجة .وتابع:" هذه التجارب ضمن فئة الطغاة الذين يستخدمون القوة العسكرية مع شعوبهم وفي ذلك عبرة ".

ونبه سعيد بالقول:"لا اظن ان طاغية كان بشدة هذا ودمويته،وبالرغم من ذلك فقد شاء الله تعالى ان يقلعه من جذوره وان يخرج كأن لم يكن له اي حضور على الساحة الليبية واصبح عبرة لجميع الطغاة".

ولفت سعيد الى ان "مثل هذه التجربة الجهادية لا بد ان تؤدي دورها الكبير في قضايا الامة كقضية فلسطين والوحدة والتحرر من جميع انواع الاستبداد والاستعمار والتبعية"،وتابع:"الحمد لله حمدا كثيرا طيبا على نعمة النصر ورحم الله شهداء ليبيا وشافي جرحاهم ونفع الامة بهلاك الظالمين وجمع الكلمة على الخير والهدى ".

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60488.

أردني ينجح بتصميم شبكة إنذار منزلي عبر الموبايل

2012-01-30T18:36:00.002+02:00

2011-08-22

خبرني- اثبت البروفسور الاردني الدكتور خالد عايد بقاعين قدرته على الابداع والانجاز بتسجيله براءة اختراع جهاز انذار عن طريق الهاتف النقال ( الموبايل ) يقوم بتأمين الحماية الامنية في المنازل والمكاتب .

ويجعل هذا الاختراع جهاز الخلوي وفقا لما يقوله بقاعين للصحفية سهير جرادات في وكالة الانباء الاردنية (بترا ) اكثر من هاتف اذ يمكن ربطه بنظام الامن في المنزل او المكتب عن طريق تصميم نظام حماية يتم تحميله في الجهاز الخاص بالشخص ويقوم بالتنبيه عن أي شخص غير مرغوب به يدخل الى المنزل ، اما عبر مكالمة هاتفية صوتية او صورية.

ويضيف ان هذا النظام يحتاج الى تركيب كاميرا في المكان المراد حمايته ، ولا يحتاج الى جهاز حاسوب أو انترنت ، مشيرا الى انه تم تطوير النظام في جامعة ( جلامورجن ) في مقاطعة ويلز البريطانية بعد تسجيله دوليا .

ويلفت الى انه نجح بتصميم النظام وتصنيعه عبر تأسيس شركة منبثقة عن الجامعة تقوم بتسويقه في مختلف دول العالم حيث بدأ الان في بريطانيا ومن ثم سينتقل الى الهند وبعدها الى الاردن ليكون متاحا امام المواطنين واصحاب الشركات .

ويقول انه يمكن من خلال جهاز الموبايل ان تراقب الام صغارها الذين تتركهم في المنزل عند العاملات ، ومتابعة امورهم عن بعد .

ويأمل بقاعين ان ينتشر هذا النظام ليصل الى الاطباء بحيث يمكنهم من متابعة المرضى في منازلهم وخاصة مرضى الضغط والقلب والسكري ليعطي مؤشرا على ارتفاع الضغط ومتابعة الاشخاص الذين يعيشون لوحدهم .

وكانت رحلة البقاعين بدأت من جامعة مؤته عندما كان رئيسا لقسم الحاسوب ، وحاول فيها ان يثبت قدرته على العمل لتكون اول جامعة اردنية يتم ربطها في شبكة الانترنت في العام 1993 بالتعاون مع مركز المعلومات الوطني الا ان مشروعه لم يتم بسبب الروتين وتوقف لينجح فيما بعد بتأسيس مركز التميز للتطبيقات التكنولوجية في مقاطعة ويلز في بريطانيا .

ويسعى الدكتور بقاعين الى تصميم نظام يساعد المصابين في ضعف البصر لتعريفهم على الطرقات واي اماكن يرتادونها عن طريق ربطهم بجهاز هاتف مع الاقمار الصناعية ليتعرفوا على الاتجاهات في الطرق ومعرفة اوقات انطلاق الحافلات، ويكشف عن نيته تصميم نظام يمكن الشخص عن طريق الموبايل من معرفة مواقع ومواعيد انطلاق الباصات خلال السنوات الخمس المقبلة .

ويعكف على انشاء مركز تميز اردني لتطبيقات الحاسوب في المملكة يرعى الإبداع والمبدعين يكون مشابها لمركز التميز الذي يرأسه حاليا في ويلز ويعد من اكبر مراكز الأبحاث في أوروبا في مجال تطبيقات وخدمات الانظمه الخلوية الذكية . ويوضح ان المركز الاردني سيسهم في توسيع نطاق الأبحاث المتميزة وتقديم خدمات الاستشارات وتطوير الانظمة والبرمجيات الخلوية إلى الشركات المحلية والدولية الأمر الذي سيزيد من القدرة التنافسية لهذه الشركات في عالم يتوقع أن يزيد فيه الانفاق على التطبيقات الذكية عن خمسين بليون دولار في عام 2015.

ويبين انه يعمل حالياً على بناء شبكة من العلاقات والإتصالات كمحاولة لنقل بعض من هذه النشاطات العلمية من بحثية أو تطويرية إلى المملكة مشيرا الى انه نظم مؤتمراً دولياً في عمان بالتعاون مع مركز المعلومات الوطني في الجمعية العلمية الملكية في شهر تموز الماضي. يشار الى ان مركز التميز في ويلز تصل موازنته الى 5 ملايين جنيه إسترليني جاءت في أغلبها من تمويل اوروبي ومن الحكومة المحلية في ويلز بالاضأفة إلى مساهمة العديد من الشركات الكبرى في مجال الاتصالات والتطبيقات الخلوية.

يذكر ان الدكتور البقاعين بالإضافة إلى منصبه كبروفسور في الجامعة ومديراً لمركز الأبحاث والتطوير فيها فإنه يشغل العديد من المناصب الدولية كونه رئيساً للاتحاد الأوروبي لجمعيات المحاكاة وتمثيل الأنظمة ورئيساً لما يزيد عن خمسة عشر مؤتمراً دولياً في مجال الإتصالات والتطبيقات الخلوية الى جانب الاشراف على العديد من رسائل الدكتوراه لطلبة اردنيين ً.

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60496.

Gator in your tank: Alligator fat as a new source of biodiesel fuel

2012-01-30T18:35:00.002+02:00

Washington DC (SPX)
Aug 22, 2011

Amid growing concern that using soybeans and other food crops to produce biodiesel fuel will raise the price of food, scientists have identified a new and unlikely raw material for the fuel: Alligator fat.

Their report documenting gator fat's suitability for biofuel production appears in ACS' journal Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research.

Rakesh Bajpai and colleagues note that most of the 700 million gallons of biodiesel produced in the United States (2008 data) came from soybean oil.

The search for non-food sources of biodiesel already has identified a number of unlikely candidates, including spent oil from deep fryers in fast-food restaurants and sewage.

The scientists realized that alligator fat could join that list. Each year, the alligator meat industry disposes of about 15 million pounds of alligator fat in landfills.

They showed in laboratory experiments that extracted oil from alligator fat can easily be converted into biodiesel. The oil actually was more suitable for biodiesel production than oil from some other animal fats.

The gator biodiesel was similar in composition to biodiesel from soybeans, and met nearly all of the official standards for high quality biodiesel.

Source: Bio-fuel Daily.
Link: http://www.biofueldaily.com/reports/Gator_in_your_tank_Alligator_fat_as_a_new_source_of_biodiesel_fuel_999.html.

Jordan urges "peaceful" transition of power in Libya

2012-01-30T18:34:00.000+02:00

Aug 22, 2011

Amman - The Jordanian government on Monday called for a 'peaceful and speedy' transition of power in Libya after the downfall of Moamer Gaddafi's regime.

'Jordan is closely watching the rapid developments in Libya and hopes the country will see a speedy and peaceful transition of power,' Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said in a statement carried by the official Petra news agency.

Judeh also urged 'a compromise among all political and social forces on a roadmap that permits the setting up of a democratic system of government which enables Libya to play its due role in the Arab world and preserves the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.'

He said that the Transitional National Council has an 'important' role to play in the process of the transition of power.

Jordan was one of the first Arab countries to recognize the opposition council and establish diplomatic ties with the Libyan rebels.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood movement, Jordan's main opposition group, congratulated the Libyan people for toppling Gaddafi and his regime.

'We congratulate the great people of Libya and both the Arab and Islamic nations for this brilliant victory,' the Brotherhood's leader Hammam Saeed said in a statement.

Saeed in particular advised Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh 'to take a lesson from this outstanding example of despotism.'

Thousands of people have taken part in anti-government protests in Syria and Yemen this year.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1658361.php/Jordan-urges-peaceful-transition-of-power-in-Libya.

Reforestation and Lions in Greece

2012-01-30T18:33:00.002+02:00

London, UK (SPX)
Aug 22, 2011

As the Greek economy maintains its slide towards default and the global climate continues to change for the worse, one organization, writing in Biotropica, has come up with some novel answers to both problems.

Reforest the country to offset historic deforestation and reintroduce long extinct animals such as lions, boosting the economy through eco-tourism.

The Coalition of Financially Challenged Countries With Lots of Trees (CoFCCLoT) also count the introduction of wild gorillas to Spain and the return of forests in G8 nations back to pre-industrial levels, among its suggestions for global sustainability.

CoFCCLoT of course does not exist. However, argue Erik Meijaard and Douglas Sheil, from the University of Queensland and the Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation respectively, this fictitious organization's demands are an example of the effective use of satire to bridge seemingly impassable gaps in the understanding of politically contentious issues.

"Mockery is seldom part of the scientific approach, but it is effective when it comes to sustainability and the environment," said Meijaard.

"Scientists tend to approach problems using objective logic and data, ignoring the emotional content and subjective values. Conservation science is especially vulnerable as it is about values as much as facts."

The use of satire to cut to the heart of a crisis has a noble history stretching back to 1729 and Jonathan Swifts Modest Proposal to consider cannibalism as an answer to the economic plight of the improvised Irish community.

It is this tradition, Meijaard and Sheil argue, which should be embraced by climate and conservation communicators today.

In their Biotropica paper Meijaard and Sheil consider a range of issues to compare the demands 'the West' makes of the developing world and how this contrasts hypocritically with how western consumers and politicians view their own actions.

For example it's perceived that 'the West' lambasts developing economies for focusing on cash crops, while remaining firmly attached to the resulting morning cup of coffee.

"An effective use of satire and humor can clarify the social, political or ethical obstacles to which conservation science is often blind," concluded Sheil.

"These obstacles play a major role in the political impasse to combating problems such as climate change. Using satire to force a reader to consider an issue from a surprising new angle, even if that angle is ridiculous, can help bridge the gap in perspectives."

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Reforestation_and_Lions_in_Greece_999.html.

Wildlife responds increasingly rapidly to climate change

2012-01-30T18:32:00.002+02:00

York UK (SPX)
Aug 22, 2011

New research by scientists in the Department of Biology at the University of York shows that species have responded to climate change up to three times faster than previously appreciated. These results are published in the latest issue of the leading scientific journal Science.

Faster distribution changes. Species have moved towards the poles (further north in the northern hemisphere, to locations where conditions are cooler) at three times the rate previously accepted in the scientific literature, and they have moved to cooler, higher altitudes at twice the rate previously realized.

Analyzing data for over 2000 responses by animal and plant species, the research team estimated that, on average, species have moved to higher elevations at 12.2 meters per decade and, more dramatically, to higher latitudes at 17.6 kilometers per decade.

Project leader Chris Thomas, Professor of Conservation Biology at York, said: "These changes are equivalent to animals and plants shifting away from the Equator at around 20 cm per hour, for every hour of the day, for every day of the year. This has been going on for the last 40 years and is set to continue for at least the rest of this century. "

This study for the first time showed that species have moved furthest in regions where the climate has warmed the most, unambiguously linking the changes in where species survive to climate warming over the last 40 years.

First author Dr I-Ching Chen, previously a PhD student at York and now a researcher at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan, said: "This research shows that it is global warming that is causing species to move towards the poles and to higher elevations.

"We have for the first time shown that the amount by which the distributions of species have changed is correlated with the amount the climate has changed in that region."

Co-author Dr Ralf Ohlemuller, from Durham University, said: "We were able to calculate how far species might have been expected to move so that the temperatures they experience today are the same as the ones they used to experience, before global warming kicked in. Remarkably, species have on average moved towards the poles as rapidly as expected."

A diversity of changes. These conclusions hold for the average responses of species, but individual species showed much greater variation. Some species have moved much more slowly than expected, others have not moved, and some have even retreated where they are expected to expand.

In contrast, other species have raced ahead, perhaps because they are sensitive to a particular component of climate change (rather than to average warming), or because other changes to the environment have also been driving their responses.

Co-author Dr David Roy, from the Center for Ecology and Hydrology, illustrates this variation among species: "In Britain, the high brown fritillary butterfly might have been expected to expand northwards into Scotland if climate warming was the only thing affecting it, but it has in fact declined because its habitats have been lost. Meanwhile, the comma butterfly has moved 220 kilometers northwards from central England to Edinburgh, in only two decades."

Similar variation has taken place in other animal groups. Cetti's warbler, a small brown bird with a loud voice, moved northwards in Britain by 150 kilometers during the same period when the Cirl bunting retreated southward by 120 kilometers, the latter experiencing a major decline associated with the intensification of agriculture.

How they did the research. The researchers brought together all of the known studies of how species have changed their distributions, and analyzed them together in a "meta-analysis".

The changes that were studied include species retreating where conditions are getting too hot (at low altitudes and latitudes), species expanding where conditions are no longer too cold (at high altitude and latitudes), and species staying where they are but with numbers declining in hotter parts and increasing in cooler parts of the range.

They considered studies of latitudinal and elevational range shifts from throughout the world, but most of the available data were from Europe and North America.

Birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, spiders, other invertebrates, and plants featured in the evidence. For example, I-Ching Chen and her colleagues discovered that moths had on average moved 67 meters uphill on Mount Kinabalu in Borneo.

Co-author Jane Hill, Professor of Ecology at York, said: "We have taken the published literature and analyzed it to detect what the overall pattern of change is, something that is not possible from an individual study. It's a summary of the state of world knowledge about how the ranges of species are responding to climate change. Our analysis shows that rates of response to climate change are two or three times faster than previously realized."

Implications. The current research does not explicitly consider the risks posed to species from climate change, but previous studies suggest that climate change represents a serious extinction risk to at least 10 per cent of the world's species.

Professor Thomas says: "Realization of how fast species are moving because of climate change indicates that many species may indeed be heading rapidly towards extinction, where climatic conditions are deteriorating. On the other hand, other species are moving to new areas where the climate has become suitable; so there will be some winners as well as many losers."

Source: Terra Daily.
Link: http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Wildlife_responds_increasingly_rapidly_to_climate_change_999.html.

Eldest Gaddafi son Muhammad gives in

2012-01-30T18:07:00.005+02:00

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Libyan opposition forces say the country's dictator Muammar Gaddafi's eldest son Muhammad has surrendered himself to the fighters.

He gave himself up to the revolutionaries in the early hours of Monday after they seized control of Tajura, an eastern suburb of the capital, Tripoli, the Doha-based news channel of Al-Jazeera reported on the Tweeter.

Muhammad Gaddafi was in charge of the main internet provider service for Libya and cut the country loose from the cyber world immediately after the beginning of a revolution against Gaddafi's regime in February.

There are also reports that the dictator's security guards have joined the forces.

Libya has been the scene of intense fighting between government troops and opposition forces since a revolution seeking to topple Gaddafi began in mid-February.

Libya's former Prime Minister Abdessalam Jalloud, who defected from Gaddafi's regime on Friday, has said that it was too late for the authoritarian ruler to strike a deal to quit power and that he would probably be killed.

"I think it would be difficult for Gaddafi to give himself up...I don't think the evolution of the situation in Tripoli will allow him to survive," he said.

The regime would fall in less than 10 days, said the former official, who was among the officers, who helped Gaddafi wrest power in a coup in 1969, but fell out of favor with the ruler in the nineties.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195095.html.

US preparing for unrest, martial law: Ron Paul

2012-01-30T18:07:00.002+02:00

Sun Aug 21, 2011

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul says that the federal government is preparing for civil unrest and martial law in the United States.

Ron Paul has recently said that H.R. 645 (The National Emergency Centers Establishment Act) could lead to Americans being incarcerated in detention camps during a time of martial law, Infowars reported on August 20.

“Yeah, that's their goal, they're setting up the stage for violence in this country, no doubt about it,” responded Paul.

The National Emergency Centers Act or HR 645, first introduced in January 2009, mandates the establishment of “national emergency centers” to be located on military installations for the purpose of providing “temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster,” according to the bill.

The legislation also states that the camps will be used to “provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations.”

The bill also states that the camps can be used to “meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,” an open ended mandate which many fear could mean the forced detention of American citizens in the event of widespread rioting after a national emergency or total economic collapse.

The legislation was referred to committee and did not proceed any further, but it was not rejected in a vote and can be re-introduced at any time in a new session of Congress.

In the aftermath of the UK riots, police departments in the United States are being trained to deal with rioting and civil unrest.

Back in 2008, U.S. troops returning from Iraq were earmarked for “homeland patrols” with one of their roles including helping with “civil unrest and crowd control.”

In December 2008, the Washington Post reported on plans to station 20,000 more U.S. troops inside America for purposes of “domestic security” from September 2011 onwards, an expansion of the militarization of the country in preparation for potential civil unrest following a total economic collapse or a mass terror attack.

The United States has continuity of government plans in place should martial law be declared by the President. However, the details of those plans have been so tightly guarded that even Congressman and Homeland Security Committee member Peter DeFazio (D - OR), who has the necessary security clearance, was denied access to view the material when he requested to do so back in July 2007.

“I just can't believe they're going to deny a member of Congress the right of reviewing how they plan to conduct the government of the United States after a significant terrorist attack,” DeFazio told the Oregonian at the time, adding, “Maybe the people who think there's a conspiracy out there are right.”

Congressman Paul has warned about preparations for martial law before, telling the Alex Jones Show, “They're putting their back up against the wall and saying, if need be we're going to have martial law.” Infowars.com.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/195046.html.

Spain encourages Palestinian state

2012-01-30T18:06:00.002+02:00

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Spain's Minister of Foreign Affairs hopes that the European Union foreign ministers meeting in early September will bring progress along the road toward the recognition of a Palestinian state.

"There's the feeling that now is the time to do something, to give the Palestinians the hope that a state could become [a] reality," Trinidad Jimenez said, Reuters reported.

"We have to give them some signal, because if we don't it could generate great frustration for the Palestinian people," she added.

The meeting of EU foreign ministers in Sopot, Poland comes ahead of a United Nations General Assembly meeting later in September.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will attend a United Nations General Assembly meeting to upgrade the Palestinian status and gain full UN membership for his country.

Washington and Tel Aviv remain opposed to the move.

Palestinians have been campaigning to win UN recognition for a state that encompasses the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and illegally annexed East al-Quds (Jerusalem) -- the territories Israel captured in the Six-Day War of 1967.

Over 100 countries have endorsed the Palestinian 1988 declaration of independent statehood.

UN membership requires a recommendation from the Security Council and approval by two-thirds of the General Assembly, or 128 countries.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195075.html.

Turkey prepares to impose 'Plan B' against 'Israel'

2012-01-30T18:02:00.002+02:00

20 August 2011

On August 23 will be released an UN report about the attack by the Zionist forces on the humanitarian ship Mavi Marmara, which killed Turkish citizens.

According to TV channel HaberTurk, Turkey wants "Israel" before or after the report to apologize, pay compensation to the victims of Jewish terror attack and remove the blockade of Gaza.

However, recent statements by «Israeli» side reduce the likelihood of this. If the requirements are not met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the coming days will reveal the "Plan B". Turkish media circulated details of "Plan B":

1) Temporary diplomatic mission will be withdrawn called off. Diplomatic relations will be cut

After closing its embassy Turkey has in "Israel" in Tel Aviv a temporary diplomatic mission of Turkey. There is a question of calling off a representative Tolga Uncu. If "Israel" does not apologize Uncu will be called off and no one will be appointed to replace him. Diplomatic relations will be reduced to zero.

2) "Israeli" ambassador will not be granted a visa to Turkey

In September expires term of office of "Israel" ambassador in Turkey Gabby Levin. Turkey will not issue to the new ambassador of "Israel" a visa.

3) Erdogan will visit Gaza

If there is no apology comes, Erdogan will visit the Gaza Strip in September.

4) Support will be granted those who are going to sue "Israel"

Victims of Mavi Marmara will sue the Zionist regime. Turkish Foreign Ministry will legally support this step. "Israel" will be weakened financially and morally.

5) Palestine will be given full support

Turkey will lobby membership of Palestine in the UN. And "Israel" will remain isolated at all international platforms.

6) Military cooperation will end

Turkey annually invited "Israel" to military exercises. After that Turkey will not invite "Israel" to any doctrines, military cooperation will end. Joint projects in the defense industry will not be carried out.

7) Trade sanctions

Turkey will limit economic relations with "Israel", reduce investment in "Israel." Cultural and social ties would be kept to a minimum.

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/08/20/15001.shtml.

Labor union members protest in Tunis

2012-01-30T18:01:00.003+02:00

2011-08-21

The General Confederation of Tunisian Labor (CGTT) on Saturday (August 20th) organized a protest in front of the Ministry of Social Affairs to denounce its exclusion from social negotiations, TAP reported. Protestors also demanded trade union pluralism in Tunisia and proportional representation in all national structures.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/21/newsbrief-06.

Tunisia recognizes TNC; Libyan refuges celebrate in Tunis

2012-01-30T18:01:00.000+02:00

2011-08-21

Tunisia on Saturday (August 20th) changed its official position of neutrality on Libya and recognized the Transitional National Council (TNC) as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people, AFP reported. On Saturday night, Libyan refugees gathered outside the Libyan embassy in Tunis to celebrate the rebels' advance on Tripoli, unfurling a huge rebel flag across the facade of the building.

In other news Saturday, Major Abdessalam Jalloud, a former member of Libya's Revolutionary Command Council, flew from Djerba airport to Italy, TAP reported. The former Kadhafi deputy fled to Tunisia on Friday.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/21/newsbrief-02.

12 militants killed after clashes in Indian-administered Kashmir

2012-01-30T18:00:00.000+02:00

SRINAGAR, KASHMIR (BNO NEWS) — The Indian Army on Saturday foiled a major infiltration bid in the Kashmir valley, killing 12 intruders as they were trying to cross over from Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, the local daily the Hindustan Times reported.

According to Defense spokesman Lieutenant Colonel J. S. Brar, the clashes occurred on Saturday morning at around 1 a.m. local time when Indian troops deployed on the Line of Control near Baktoor village in Gurez Sector of Bandipora district in north Kashmir intercepted a group of militants trying to cross the Kishanganga River in a pneumatic boat.

“This [use of boats] is certainly a new development. The terrorists were also carrying an inflatable dinghy,” the spokesman told the newspaper. In the ensuing gun battle between the parts, 12 militants and an Indian army officer were killed. Two Indian soldiers were injured.

The deceased Army officer was identified as Lieutenant Navdeep Singh who was commissioned in March into the Army Ordnance Corps and was serving in the 15th Battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry.

According to the Defense spokesman, five AK rifles, one pistol, two boats, 50 assorted grenades, two radio sets, two compasses and one Global Positioning System (GPS) besides a large quantity of war-like stores were seized during the operation.

“This is the eighth infiltration attempt this month and the biggest so far this year,” Brar added.

In May, General Officer Commanding 15 Corps Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain expressed his fears that infiltration attempts would increase in the coming months from across the Line of Control in Kashmir after the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

“After the killing of al-Qaeda chief there are fears that Pakistan might try to infiltrate more militants. There are a large number of militants waiting to infiltrate from across the border,” General Hasnain said, as quoted by The Times of India newspaper.

A guerrilla war has been going on between militants and the Indian troops stationed in Muslim-majority Kashmir, which is divided into parts administered by India and Pakistan. Militant groups are usually blamed for attacks, while soldiers have been accused of rights abuses.

The government says more than 45,000 people – including civilians, militants and troops – have died in the region over the past two decades.

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19592/12-militants-killed-after-clashes-in-indian-administered-kashmir/.

Iran sentences American citizens to 8 years in prison for espionage, illegal entry

2012-01-30T17:59:00.002+02:00

TEHRAN (BNO NEWS) — Iran has sentenced two American citizens to eight years in prison after they were convicted of espionage and illegal entry, prosecutors said on Sunday.

Several non-official Iranian media outlets had already reported on Saturday that the two American citizens were sentenced to prison, but the news was not confirmed until Sunday by Tehran Prosecutor-General Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi.

Dolatabadi said Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal were sentenced to eight years in prison after being found guilty, but added that they still have 20 days to appeal the verdict. The news shattered earlier hopes in the United States that Iran would release the two as sentencing took place during the Holy month of Ramadan, which is also a time of forgiveness.

Bauer and Fattal were arrested in July 2009 along with Sarah Shourd when they crossed the border in Iraq’s Kurdistan region into Iran. Iranian prosecutors charged them with entering the country illegally and having links to U.S. intelligence, a claim which the defendants and their families have repeatedly denied.

According to the detained Americans, they were hiking in Iraq when they unknowingly crossed the unmarked border into Iran where they were arrested by border guards. Iranian prosecutors have rejected those claims, saying there is ‘compelling evidence’ that they are spies.

Shourd was released on September 14, 2010, after 14 months of imprisonment. She was released on a $500,000 bail on ‘medical concerns,’ although no details were provided. Shourd has since returned home to the United States and does not plan to return to Iran to face trial.

In response to Sunday’s news, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States is “deeply disappointed” by the sentencing. “We continue to call and work for their immediate release – it is time for them to return home and be reunited with their families,” she said.

It was not immediately clear if Bauer and Fattal would receive credit for time already served.

Sunday, August 21st, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19597/iran-sentences-american-citizens-to-8-years-in-prison-for-espionage-illegal-entry/.

Police Arrest Activists Heading to Biden's University Speech

2012-01-30T17:58:00.002+02:00

By Helena Zhu
August 21, 2011

When U.S. Vice President Joe Biden stood at the podium and spoke about human rights at one of China’s best universities on Sunday, he probably had no idea how relevant and timely his remarks were.

The American Embassy in China had told the Chinese public that everyone was welcome to “get up close” with Biden—but Chinese police arrested and disappeared residents in Chengdu with different political views who were trying to attend, and erected a phalanx of restrictions to stop everybody else.

Li Zhaoxiu, for example, came under the authorities’ watch when she complained about a government-forced eviction. She wanted to make a short trip with a few friends from nearby Shuangliu County to Sichuan University on Friday, where Biden was speaking, but was blocked on the way by a dozen regime personnel, and then stuffed into a police car and driven away, according to a friend interviewed by Sound of Hope Radio Network.

It was a bitter example of what Biden told an audience of around 400, including about 100 Peace Corps volunteers: that “the “biggest difference” between the United States and China is “what we refer to as human rights.”

Other human rights activists in Chengdu, including Wang Binru, Liu Qiong, and Ren Hengquan, were also planning to attend Biden’s speech, but were arrested at a tea house on Friday. They were slapped with the creative charge of “collective gambling” and will spend two weeks in detention.

Huang Qi, who runs the Tianwang Human Rights Center from his Chengdu home, said in a typed interview on Skype with The Epoch Times that he and his staff members have been receiving hundreds of calls a day recently, most of them regarding Biden’s Chengdu visit.

“It was quite a disaster for rights activists and petitioners who merely wanted to go to Sichuan University to listen to Mr. Biden and Mr. Xi Jinping discuss human rights, democracy, and legal issues,” said Huang, who himself is not long out of jail on political charges.

“But instead of learning democracy, they learned the opposite, which is tyrannical autocracy. Petitioners were imprisoned, relocated, or just disappeared. As for the ordinary residents, they had to deal with a lot of hassle. Many residents couldn’t stay in town, walk in the streets as usual, even the traffic was quite a problem,” he said.

An elderly woman surnamed Feng, who graduated from Sichuan University and has lived there in a residence hall for more than five decades, said that even though Biden was just speaking in a nearby lecture hall, she did not even bother to go.

“Even if I went, I wouldn’t be able to get in,” Feng said in a phone interview. “There were many regulations over who could attend and who couldn’t. The security was very tight.”

In a speech on China-U.S. relations that lasted nearly an hour, Biden told his Chinese hosts, including the next anointed leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, that they should ease trade restrictions, continue to invest in U.S. Treasury bonds, and respect human rights.

“In the long run, greater openness is a source of stability and a sign of strength, that prosperity peaks when governments foster both free enterprise and free exchange of ideas, that liberty unlocks a people’s full potential, and in its absence, unrest festers,” Biden said.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/china-news/police-arrest-activists-heading-to-bidens-university-speech-60620.html.

Another World Under the Microscope

2012-01-30T17:57:00.002+02:00

By Christy Su
August 20, 2011

Envision a tiny grain of sand, so small one would dismiss it without a second thought. Saying that there is another depth of beauty in something so small is unheard of before. However, Dr. Gary Greenberg of the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy dares to explore the unimaginable.

Combining science and art into one, Greenberg unveils never-seen microscopic views of objects like grains of sand, flowers, and food. Dedicated to his work, not only does he invent 3D microscopes and produce photos, but he also holds lectures, writes books, and opens exhibits for viewers to indulge in his wonderful passion. We were able to get an on-line interview with Greenberg and learn more about his work.

The Epoch Times: How did you first decide to incorporate art and science?

Greenberg: At the age of 13, my dad brought me a beautiful stereo microscope, and at the same time, my grandfather bought me a two-volume copy of the complete notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Those two events changed my life, and it was clear to me that art and science should be combined because both are ways to explore nature and human condition.

The Epoch Times: What is your current project right now?

Greenberg: I am currently building a new generation of 3D digital microscopes. These microscopes will be available for sale in 2012 under the trademark Edge-3D. My current research is to study moon sand in 3D from all the Apollo Mission landings.

The Epoch Times: What are the reactions of audiences when they see your work?

Greenberg : Almost everyone who sees my work is taken by the beauty of the natural world. I am able to show them things they would never be able to even imagine. People tell me that seeing images makes them more aware of the hidden aspects of life. The secrets of life are everywhere, but they are hidden until they are discovered. I am happy I am able to help people discover the magnificence of our world.

The Epoch Times: Where does your project inspiration come from?

Greenberg: For me, Nature is endlessly praiseworthy. I am continually inspired by the desire to discover new things and show them to others.

The Epoch Times: What is the highest magnification you have used? And which art piece did you use it on?

Greenberg: The magnification limit of my microscopes is about 1,500 times actual size; however, most of my images of sand, flowers, and food range from 100 times to 300 times. However, when I investigate cells from the body, such are brains cells or cells of the immune system, then I use magnifications of 400 times to 1,000 times.

The Epoch Times: Which art piece do you value the most and why?

Greenberg: That is too difficult a decision to make.

The Epoch Times: Can you describe the process and work involved in creating one piece of art?

I invented and built the 3D microscopes that I use. My company, Edge-3D, has been developing and building high-definition 3D microscopes since 1990. There are many factors that go into making a compelling photograph through the microscope. The quality of the lens, the lighting, the camera, and the type of microscope all make a big difference. Microscopic photographs of three-dimensional objects are difficult to produce because light microscopes have very shallow depth of focus. In other words, the camera can only see a thin section of the object in-focus, with the foreground and background being out-of-focus. I overcome this limitation by photographing a series of images taken at different focus levels.

To produce a fully-focused image, a computer program analyzes each image in the series, selecting the in-focus portions, and discarding the out-of-focus portions of each image in the series. All of the in-focus portions are then seamlessly combined into a single image that is sharply focused from foreground to background. The result of all this technology is a dramatic, more three-dimensional representation of the object

The Epoch Times: What magnification do you use to see the sand particles?

Greenberg: Most of my images of sand are about 150 times actual size. If you go closer than that, then you lose the feeling that it is a grain of sand that you are looking at.

The Epoch Times: So after viewing these different items at higher magnification and seeing them at smaller sizes, do you think there is a limit to how small you can see? Take a grain of sand for example. If you break the sand particle smaller and smaller while increasing the magnification, do you think there is a limit to the different forms of it you can see if technology was not a limit?

Greenberg: Modern microscopes are so powerful, they can zoom into a single atom. These types of microscopes can magnify objects about a hundred million times actual size. As you might imagine, a single grain of sand could look very different, depending on the magnification and the type of microscope used to see it.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/science/another-world-under-the-microscope-60587-all.html.

Norway Holds National Memorial for Victims

2012-01-30T17:56:00.003+02:00

By Alex Johnston
August 21, 2011

Norway on Sunday held a national memorial for the 77 victims who died in the double terrorist attack last month, ending a month-long period of mourning.

Nearly 7,000 people including the Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, King Harald, and the presidents of Finland and Iceland as well as other political luminaries, attended the memorial at the Spektrum concert hall in Oslo, according to media reports.

Stoltenberg called on Norwegians to support the families of victims killed during the shooting on Utoya Island and the bombing in Oslo’s government district, which were allegedly carried out by Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, a right-wing extremist.

“We must invite in those who have gone astray. We must oppose those who want to use violence," Stoltenberg said, according to a translation of his speech posted on the government’s website. “We must meet them with all the arms of democracy.”

Stoltenberg was widely praised for his handling of the aftermath of the incident, which is considered the worst non-wartime attacks in the country’s history. In his speech, the prime minister said that Norway needs to be alert to signs of extremism and create a culture of safety and kindness to prevent it.

Norway will “make an unbreakable chain of solidarity, democracy, safety and security,” he concluded. “That is our protection against violence.”

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/norway-holds-national-memorial-for-victims-60614.html.

Clashes near Gadhafi compound in Libyan capital

2012-01-30T17:56:00.000+02:00

By BEN HUBBARD - Associated Press | AP
Mon, Aug 22, 2011

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Tanks opened fire at rebels trying to storm Moammar Gadhafi's main compound in Tripoli on Monday, although the whereabouts of the longtime Libyan leader remained unknown a day after a lightning advance by opposition fighters who poured into Tripoli capital with surprising ease.

The international community meanwhile called on the longtime leader to step down as euphoric residents celebrated in the Green Square, the symbolic heart of the Gadhafi regime. NATO promised to continue airstrikes until all pro-Gadhafi forces surrender or return to barracks.

Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdel-Rahman, who was in Tripoli, cautioned that pockets of resistance remained and that as long as Gadhafi remains on the run the "danger is still there."

The clashes broke out early Monday at Gadhafi's longtime command center known as Bab al-Aziziya early Monday when government tanks emerged from the complex and opened fire at rebels trying to get in, according to Abdel-Rahman and a neighbor. An AP reporter at the nearby Rixos Hotel where foreign journalists stay could hear gunfire and loud explosions from the direction of the complex.

Tripoli resident Moammar al-Warfali, whose family home is next to the compound, said there appeared to be only a few tanks belonging to the remaining Gadhafi forces that have not fled or surrendered.

"When I climb the stairs and look at it from the roof, I see nothing at Bab al-Aziziya," he said. "NATO has demolished it all and nothing remains."

The Rixos also remained under the control of Gadhafi forces, with two trucks loaded with anti-aircraft machine guns and pro-regime fighters and snipers posted behind trees. Rebels and Tripoli residents set up checkpoints elsewhere in the city.

The rebels' top diplomat in London, Mahmud Nacua, said clashes were continuing in Tripoli, but opposition forces controlled 95 percent of the city. He vowed Gadhafi would be found, saying "the fighters will turn over every stone to find him" and make sure he faced justice.

State TV broadcast bitter audio pleas by Gadhafi for Libyans to defend his regime. Opposition fighters captured his son and one-time heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, who along with his father faces charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands. Another son was under house arrest.

"It's over, frizz-head," chanted hundreds of jubilant men and women massed in Green Square late Sunday, using a mocking nickname of the curly-haired Gadhafi. The revelers fired shots in the air, clapped and waved the rebels' tricolor flag. Some set fire to the green flag of Gadhafi's regime and shot holes in a poster with the leader's image.

But Gadhafi's defiance in a series of angry audio messages raised the possibility of a last-ditch fight over the capital, home to 2 million people. Gadhafi, who was not shown in the messages, called on his supporters to march in the streets of the capital and "purify it" of "the rats."

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim also claimed the regime has "thousands and thousands of fighters" and vowed: "We will fight. We have whole cities on our sides. They are coming en masse to protect Tripoli to join the fight."

Gadhafi's former right-hand man, who defected last week to Italy, said the longtime leader would not go easily.

"I think it's impossible that he'll surrender," Abdel-Salam Jalloud said in an interview broadcast on Italian RAI state radio, adding that "He doesn't have the courage, like Hitler, to kill himself."

Jalloud, who was Gadhafi's closest aide for decades before falling out with the leader in the 1990s, fled Tripoli on Friday, according to rebels.

The startling rebel breakthrough, after a long deadlock in Libya's 6-month-old civil war, was the culmination of a closely coordinated plan by rebels, NATO and anti-Gadhafi residents inside Tripoli, rebel leaders said. Rebel fighters from the west swept over 20 miles (30 kilometers) in a matter of hours Sunday, taking town after town and overwhelming a major military base as residents poured out to cheer them. At the same time, Tripoli residents secretly armed by rebels rose up.

When rebels reached the gates of Tripoli, the special battalion entrusted by Gadhafi with guarding the capital promptly surrendered. The reason: Its commander, whose brother had been executed by Gadhafi years ago, was secretly loyal to the rebellion, a senior rebel official, Fathi al-Baja, told The Associated Press.

President Barack Obama said Libya is "slipping from the grasp of a tyrant" and urged Gadhafi to relinquish power to prevent more bloodshed.

"The future of Libya is now in the hands of the Libyan people," Obama said in a statement from Martha's Vineyard, where he's vacationing. He promised to work closely with rebels.

South Africa, which led failed African Union efforts to mediate between the rebels and Gadhafi, refused to offer support to the rebels on Monday, saying it wants to see a unity government put in place as a transitional authority. But speaking to reporters, Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said she did not envision a role for Gadhafi on such a transitional body, saying he had told AU mediators four months ago he was ready to give up leadership.

Nkoana-Mashabane also said repeatedly that South Africa has sent no planes to Libya to evacuate Gadhafi, has received no request from him for asylum and is involved in no efforts to extricate him.

Nkoana-Mashabane also said, "We don't know his (Gadhafi's) whereabouts. We assume he is still in Libya."

The uprising against Gadhafi broke out in mid-February, inspired by successful revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. A brutal regime crackdown quickly transformed the protests into an armed rebellion. Rebels seized Libya's east, setting up an internationally recognized transitional government there, and two pockets in the west, the port city of Misrata and the Nafusa mountain range.

Gadhafi clung to the remaining territory, and for months neither side had been able to break the other.

In early August, however, rebels launched an offensive from the Nafusa Mountains, then fought their way down to the Mediterranean coastal plain, backed by NATO airstrikes, and captured the strategic city of Zawiya.

The rebels' leadership council, based in the eastern city of Benghazi, sent out mobile text messages to Tripoli residents, proclaiming, "Long live Free Libya" and urging them to protect public property. Internet service returned to the capital for the first time in six months.

Gadhafi is the Arab world's longest-ruling, most erratic, most grimly fascinating leader — presiding over this North African desert nation with vast oil reserves and just 6 million people. For years, he was an international pariah blamed for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. After years of denial, Gadhafi's Libya acknowledged responsibility, agreed to pay up to $10 million to relatives of each victim, and the Libyan ruler declared he would dismantle his weapons of mass destruction program. That eased him back into the international community.

Aden supports National Council

2012-01-28T18:45:00.002+02:00

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Yemenis have poured into the streets of the port city of Aden in a show of support for the country's newly formed National Council.

On Saturday, the demonstrators chanted slogans against Saudi Arabia and condemned what they called Riyadh's meddling in Yemen's internal affairs, a Press TV correspondent reported.

They also expressed strong opposition to the return of Ali Abdullah Saleh from Saudi Arabia.

Yemen's National Council was unveiled on Wednesday, a day after Saleh said he would return to Yemen soon.

Saleh is currently receiving treatment in Saudi Arabia for injuries he sustained during an attack on his palace in early June.

Popular protests against Saleh broke out earlier this year, encouraged by uprisings that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt in January and February.

Hundreds of protesters have been killed and many more injured in the regime's crackdown on Yemen's popular uprising.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194932.html.

Muslim Turks rap Quran courses age ban

2012-01-28T18:44:00.005+02:00

Sun Aug 21, 2011

A group of Turkish Muslims have demonstrated in the capital city of Ankara in protest over the age restriction that prevents children under 12 from attending Qur'an courses.

The protesters gathered in Kocatepe Mosque on Saturday, calling for an end to the age restriction law, IRNA reported.

Chanting slogans in support of Quran courses for children, the demonstrators urged Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to live up to his commitments.

A spokesman for the protesters said the restriction on teaching Islam's holy book to children was against civil liberties and a violation of human rights.

Turkey's Freedom Association (Ozgur Der), which organized the Saturday protest, has announced plans to hold similar rallies in 20 more provinces across the country.

In July, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said, “We will do what is necessary for Turkey to get rid of such a shame that prevents children learning the book of their own religion. We will change this sloppy law this legislative term and solve the problem.”

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194986.html.

Jordanians urge Israel envoy expulsion

2012-01-28T18:44:00.002+02:00

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Hundreds of Jordanians have rallied near Israel's embassy in the capital city of Amman, demanding the expulsion of Tel Aviv's ambassador to Jordan.

Late on Saturday, the protesters condemned Israel's airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, calling for the closure of the Israeli embassy.

Raising the flags of Jordan, Egypt and Palestine, the demonstrators also demanded the abrogation of Amman's 1994 peace treaty with Tel Aviv, DPA reported.

Israel claims it launched its latest attacks on the Gaza Strip on Thursday in response to assaults that targeted two buses and a military vehicle near Eilat in southern Israel, in which eight Israelis were killed.

The Israeli offensive claimed the lives of at least 16 Palestinians and injured more than 45 others, including children.

Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak quickly accused resistance groups in Gaza for the attacks and vowed a “full response.”

The democratically elected government of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Gaza, however, strongly dismissed the allegations and warned against any act of aggression on the enclave.

Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza since the Hamas government took control of the territory in 2007.

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished territory.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194953.html.

Pakistan to send more troops to Bahrain

2012-01-28T18:43:00.002+02:00

Sun Aug 21, 2011

Pakistan has agreed to dispatch more mercenaries to Bahrain to help Al Khalifa regime's crackdown on anti-government protesters in the Persian Gulf state.

The agreement was reached when Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari met King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa during his one-day visit to Bahrain on Wednesday, IRNA reported Saturday.

Manama has been recruiting former soldiers and policemen from Pakistan at a steady rate to strengthen the government's forces.

In many demonstrations Bahraini protesters shouted slogans against Pakistani security forces in Urdu.

Pakistani and Saudi forces have played a major rule in suppressing anti-government protests in Bahrain since the beginning of unrest in the Persian Gulf country.

President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) Nabeel Rajab said Friday that the Pakistani recruits have behaved with a heavy hand toward demonstrators.

"They're told they are going to go to a holy war in Bahrain to kill some non-Muslims or kafir [infidel] or Shias. They are paid well, maybe," Rajab noted.

Tens of thousands of Bahraini protesters have been holding peaceful anti-government rallies throughout the Middle Eastern country since February, demanding an end to the rule of the Al Khalifa family.

Scores of people have been killed and many more arrested and tortured in prisons in a government-sanctioned crackdown on protests since the beginning of the demonstrations.

According to the BCHR, there are currently over 1,000 political detainees inside the country.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194995.html.

Jordan-GCC talks in Sept

2012-01-28T18:42:00.002+02:00

Sunday 21/8/2011

The first round of talks for Jordan’s admission to the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) will be held between September 10 and 15, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said yesterday.

Judeh is to meet his GCC counterparts in Saudi Arabia to outline a road map for Jordan’s admission to the bloc, he told a private sector panel set up to follow the issue.

In May, GCC leaders decided at a meeting in Riyadh to accept Jordan as a new member. The council comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman.

Both Jordan and the GCC countries “stand to benefit” from Amman’s admission to the group, Judeh said.

Source: Gulf Times.
Link: http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=453936&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17.

A Marine Discovers Islam in Iraq

2012-01-28T18:41:00.002+02:00

8/19/11
Eliana Lopez

Before Ibrahim Abdel-Wahed Mohamed left Sea Cliff for a tour of duty with the Marines in Iraq, he was Anthony Grant Vance, the son of American and Panamanian parents who had raised him as a Catholic.

Despite his Christian upbringing, though, he had been curious about Islam since his childhood in Kansas, where he had two Afghani friends. He thought about pursuing anthropology studies to further learn about religion and different cultures, but instead ended up joining the military.

Mohamed felt the pull toward the faith strengthen in Iraq -- "the heart of the Islamic world," as he says -- and he reached out to the Muslim contractors on his base and started learning about the precepts of the Quran.

Convinced that he was being called to Islam, he officially became a Muslim while still serving in Iraq. There he underwent Shahada, a profession of faith where a person testifies in front of others that "there is no god but God and Mohammad is the messenger of God," as the Sunni declaration reads.

His transformation may seem dramatic, but it's not entirely unique. The number of Latinos in the U.S. converting to Islam is growing, and Long Island is no exception.

In 1997, the American Muslim Council counted approximately 40,000 Hispanic Muslims nationwide, but that number could nowadays be closer to 75,000, according to Latino American Dawah Association (LADO), an organization committed to promoting Islam among the Latino community within the United States.

Juan Galvan, a member of LADO, affirms that Latino converts to Islam are increasing. "Many Muslim organizations have stated that the Latino Muslim community tripled or quadrupled after 9/11," he says.

He explains that after the attacks, people wanted to know more about the religion. "Many people came to learn about Islam for the first time. Some people came to hate Islam, and some people came to love Islam."

Mohamed firmly stands with the latter, as one of a small percentage of soldiers who fought in Iraq and returned with a new faith.

In some ways, his roots may have predisposed him to theological experimentation.

Born in Panama to an American Marine father and Panamanian mother, he was baptized and raised as a Catholic. His parents divorced when he was an adolescent, and his father became a Jehovah's Witness. The conversion led his father to retire from the military after 13 years of service, telling Mohamed that once you decide to follow God, "you don't pledge allegiance to a country, but you pledge allegiance to God."

Still, Mohamed followed in his father's footsteps and joined the Marine Corps after he finished high school. As a Marine, traveled around the country, living in California, Virginia, North Carolina and New York, where he finally settled down.

It was working at the military base in Garden City when Mohamed first saw the Islamic Center of Long Island in Westbury, a place that always intrigued him. "We passed by the mosque a couple times and I had the curiosity" he recalls. After several years on Long Island, he was sent to Iraq in 2008.

Two years have passed since Mohamed converted to Islam. Now he lives in Westbury, attends the Islamic Center of Long Island and is pursuing a major in education at CW Post.

He still maintains an open mind when it comes to other religions.

"I'm not here to put anyone else down for their beliefs," he says. "I still believe that there are many lessons to be learned from other faiths."

Source: Huffington Post.
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eliana-lopez/a-marine-discovers-islam-_b_929468.html.

Libyan rebels say they are attacking Tripoli

2012-01-28T18:40:00.002+02:00

By DARIO LOPEZ - Associated Press AP
Sun, Aug 21, 2011

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libyan rebels said they launched their first attack on Tripoli in coordination with NATO late Saturday, and Associated Press reporters heard unusually heavy gunfire and explosions in the capital. The fighting erupted just hours after opposition fighters captured the key city of Zawiya nearby.

Gunbattles and mortar rounds were heard clearly at the hotel where foreign correspondents stay in Tripoli. NATO aircraft made heavy bombing runs after nightfall, with loud explosions booming across the city.

"We planned this operation with NATO, our Arab associates and our rebel fighters in Tripoli with commanders in Benghazi," Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, the head of the rebel leadership council, told the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera. Benghazi, hundreds of miles east of Tripoli, is the rebels' de facto capital.

Abdel-Jalil they said chose to start the attack on Tripoli on the 20th day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which fell on Saturday. The date marks the ancient Islamic Battle of Badr, when Muslims first fought for the holy city of Mecca in A.D. 624.

A couple hours after the rebels said they had attacked Tripoli, state television ran what appeared to be a live audio message by Gadhafi. He did not appear on television but sounded like he was calling the message in on a poor phone line which crackled at times. He announced the time and date twice to prove that he was speaking live.

Gadhafi condemned the rebels as traitors and "vermin" who are tearing Libya apart and said they were being chased from city to city — a mirror image of reality.

"Libyans wanted to enjoy a peaceful Ramadan," he said. "Instead they have been made into refugees. What are we? Palestinians?"

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim appeared on Libyan television to deny there was an uprising in Tripoli. But he acknowledged that there was some kind of unusual activity.

"Sure there were some armed militants who escaped into some neighborhoods and there were some scuffles, but we dealt with it within a half hour and it is now calm," he said.

The claims from both sides could not immediately be independently verified.

If the rebel did indeed attack Tripoli, it would be the first time in the 6-month-old uprising. The rebels made early gains in the revolt, capturing most of the east of the country and rising up in a few other major cities such as Zawiya and Misrata. But Gadhafi's forces fought back and until a week ago, the civil war had been mired in a stalemate.

Last weekend, rebels from the western mountains near the border with Tunisia made a dramatic advance into Zawiya, just 30 miles west of Tripoli, and captured parts of the city.

Gadhafi appeared increasingly isolated as the fighters advanced closer to Tripoli, a metropolis of 2 million people, from the west, south and east and gained control of major supply roads into the capital.

After hard-fought battles for a week in Zawiya, the rebels finally wrested the city's oil refinery, central square and hospital from Gadhafi's forces and drove them out in a major victory on Saturday that clearly swung momentum in their favor.

Hours later, the attack on Tripoli was claimed.

Col. Fadlallah Haroun, a military commander in Benghazi, said the battles marked the beginning of Operation Mermaid — a nickname for Tripoli. He also said the assault was coordinated with NATO. Haroun told the AP that weapons were assembled and sent by tugboats to Tripoli on Friday night.

"The fighters in Tripoli are rising up in two places at the moment — some are in the Tajoura neighborhood and the other is near the Matiga (international) airport," he told the Arabic satellite channel Al-Jazeera. Tajoura has been known since the beginning of the uprising in February as the Tripoli neighborhood most strongly opposed to Gadhafi's regime.

Earlier Saturday, the government organized a trip for reporters to the airport to show them it was still in government hands.

A representative for Tripoli on the rebel leadership council told the AP that rebels were surrounding almost every neighborhood in the capital, and there was especially heavy fighting in Fashloum, Tajoura and Souq al-Jomaa.

Those three neighborhoods have been bubbling with discontent ever since the beginning of the Libya uprising. They paid the highest price in deaths when protesters took the streets in anti-Gadhafi protests, only to be met with live ammunition by government militiamen.

"We don't have exact numbers yet, but we are hearing that many fighters have fallen — very likely over 100," said Mohammed al-Harizi.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman visited Benghazi on Saturday.

"Gadhafi's days are numbered," he said. "The best case scenario is for Gadhafi to step down now ... that's the best protection for civilians."

In Benghazi, there were thousands celebrating in the main city square, shooting fireworks and guns into the air, and waving the rebel tricolor flag.

They got support from Abdel-Salam Jalloud, a close Gadhafi associate who defected Friday. Speaking on Al-Jazeera TV from Italy, he told the people of Tripoli, "You must rise up all together, at once," and called on Gadhafi's forces to joint the opposition. "The decisive moment is approaching," he said. "You are protecting a clinically dead regime."

The taking of Zawiya, a city of 200,000, cleared the last major hurdle to a rebel march on Tripoli from the west. Rebels said Gadhafi's troops put up little resistance before fleeing their posts in Zawiya's hospital and multistory buildings around the main square — another sign suggesting that the Libyan dictator's 42-year-old regime is crumbling.

Trucks and cars packed with rebels as well as civilians drove around Zawiya's central square, honking horns, flashing V-for-victory signs and yelling "Allahu akbar" or "God is great!" An ambulance crew posed for photos on the sidewalk while a rebel called through a loudspeaker on his truck, "Zawiya is liberated!"

Still, regime troops kept firing rockets and mortars at the city from positions in the east even after rebels said they drove them out, and thunderous booms echoed across the city. The central hospital was hit by mortar rounds early Saturday, several hours after it was taken by rebels. The attack badly damaged the operating rooms, punching a hole into one of the outer walls. Metal slats from the ceiling were strewn across the floor, and soot-covered the operating tables.

Rebels also claimed that they captured the city of Zlitan, 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, after more than two months of fighting.

"Zlitan is now completely liberated after a severe fight, and for the first time I can say we have control over it," Bani told reporters Saturday.

In Zawiya, fighters were bogged down around the central square for much of the week, held back by mortar, rocket and anti-aircraft fire from Gadhafi's troops. However, on Friday afternoon, rebel reinforcements arrived and pushed toward the square and the hospital, driving out regime forces before nightfall, said 21-year-old rebel fighter Mohammed Abu Daya.

The rebels said Saturday that they were now driving Gadhafi's forces even farther east, toward the village of Jedaim on the outskirts of Zawiya.

Gadhafi's forces fired rockets and mortars at the city, killing a doctor his wife and their 9-month-old baby when a mortar hit their home, medics said.

Zawiya's main square was covered with traces of the recent fighting. Nearly every window in the surrounding hotel, banks and government office buildings was shattered, and bullet and shrapnel holes marred every wall. Shelling had collapsed two floors of one of the five buildings near the square that had been used as Gadhafi sniper positions.

The dead bodies of two government fighters lay in the square's central plaza, covered by blankets. Rebels held their breath as they passed the bodies, which some said had been there for days.

Zawiya native Faiz Ibrahim, 42, took great pleasure in walking safely through his hometown's central square. Ibrahim, trained as an engineer, had taken up arms to defend the city early in the uprising, but went underground when Gadhafi's forces retook the town. He came out of hiding as soon as rebels from the south entered the city.

"We praise God that we can come here now that we have liberated the square," he said, his Kalashnikov rifle over his shoulder. "We have to see all the destruction that it took to get them out."

___

Associated Press writers Rami al-Shaheibi in Benghazi and Hadeel Al-Shalchi in Cairo contributed to this report

In Morocco, students see more than money in summer jobs

2012-01-28T17:10:00.005+02:00

Summer jobs enable many young people to find fulfillment while also helping them make ends meet.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 19/08/11

While groups of young unemployed graduates continue their protests demanding jobs in the public service, there are many still in school who work during the summer holidays.

Taking jobs during breaks from school in Morocco has long been thought of as something working class students did. Now, middle class students and their parents are coming to see the social value of working for your money.

Working during breaks is an opportunity for students to earn income, but also to train for the future by building character traits that lead to success in the job market. For some, it is a deliberate choice. For others, working is necessary to make ends meet during the school year.

Samira Kassimi, a sociologist, explained that summer jobs for young people are nothing new in Morocco for the working class, but are rarely taken by members of the middle class. She said middle class parents who are anxious to build character in their children are beginning to send them to work on their breaks.

Samira Z. is barely 17 but has been working during the holidays for more than five years to buy school supplies for herself and her two younger brothers. When people sympathize with her situation, she simply explains that her work experience will only help her achieve her goal of becoming an investigative journalist.

"Ambition is what sustains you in life," 21-year-old Zakaria Merouane told Magharebia. "I know lots of young people who have plenty of family around them but don't have the experience you need to get by in life." After he gains a degree in business management next year, he plans to take out a young entrepreneur loan and start up his own business.

Summer jobs help young people to boost their confidence by making them feel useful, according to psychologist Selma Chennaoui. "This has positive effects, because they learn about themselves and overcome their fear of the job market and any preconceptions they may have. This makes them more able to thrive," she explained.

"I was shy and I didn't know the value of money. When I worked for just one month, my personality changed," Ahmed Bachiri, 20, said. When Bachiri was 15 years old, his father, who is an engineer, encouraged him to work for a month during the summer holidays. He said he did not understand his father's intentions at first, but is now immensely grateful.

"My friends don't understand. They think it's shameful for a student to work during the holidays. This culture has to change," he added.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/19/feature-04.

Morocco sets legislative elections date

2012-01-28T17:10:00.002+02:00

The long-awaited announcement of the early vote date has generated vivid debates in Morocco.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 19/08/11

After weeks-long talks with political parties, Morocco has finalized early parliamentary elections date. Voters will head to polls on November 25th, Interior Minister Taieb Cherkaoui announced on Tuesday (August 16th).

Consultations with parties will continue to examine all aspects of the preparations for the elections, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The kingdom was kept in suspense for some time after the July 1st constitutional referendum, with rumors circulating about possible election dates.

The election date coincides with the arrival of winter weather, which can prove very harsh in rural areas, particularly in mountainous regions, Justice and Development Party Secretary-General Lahcen Daoudi pointed out. This could have a negative impact, he said, on voter turnout among rural citizens who usually turn out in large numbers.

Others feel that the much-anticipated announcement could solve the wait-and-see attitude among political parties. The Moroccan political scene has been marked by instability and vagueness, according to Mohamed Ansari, who chairs the Istiqlal Party group in the Chamber of Councillors.

"The announcement has breathed new life into political actors, who had been rather unsettled," he told Magharebia.

Parties, human rights groups and the civil society need to work to encourage citizens to vote, since reform can only take place after the elections, Ansari argued.

Abdellatif Oummou, of the Party for Progress and Socialism (PPS), stressed the need to build confidence. Following the results of the referendum, it is clear that the process of reconciliation between the Moroccan people and politics has started, he said, but it will take time to work through. Will this trend continue?

For some politicians, there is not much reason for optimism. The turnout in 2007 was low and will be even lower in the next vote in light of the February 20th Movement protests, predicted Unified Socialist Party (PSU) Secretary-General Mohamed Moujahid.

He called for a genuine dialogue about real problems to prevent political activities from being pushed to the margins of society.

Opinions are divided on the street. While some youths call on people to have faith in the government's desire for change, others are openly skeptical.

"We mustn’t rush things," said Oussama El Mouerd, a 25-year-old trader. "I hope a new elite will emerge out of the forthcoming elections who can respond to the expectations of young people in particular, whether political or social, and deal especially with the issues of unemployment and freedom."

Mehdi Chihabi, a 29-year-old trader who took part in all youth protests, struck a different chord. The elections will not bring the long-awaited answers to a number of questions, including the fight against corruption and deprivation, he said.

"You’re allowed to be hopeful, even if there isn’t much evidence to inspire confidence," he added.

Sociologist Ali Chaâbani argued that despite young people’s lack of trust, "hope is still there". "They have already expressed their aspirations through the February 20th Movement, preaching liberty, equality, improved living standards and the building of a better future," he told Magharebia. "Of course, the constitution has brought something new. But the changes they want cannot be made overnight."

Holding early elections is the first response to the young people's political aspirations, said political analyst Nadir El Moumni. A number of factors will be decisive, he warned, particularly the opportunities offered to them through electoral list quotas.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/19/feature-02.

UN-backed trust fund launched to protect African elephants

2012-01-28T17:09:00.002+02:00

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) — A United Nations backed meeting on wildlife conservation and international trade has decided on the launching of a trust fund to ensure the long-term survival of the African elephant population, among other measures to protect various endangered species, the UN reported on Friday.

The 61st meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) concluded on Friday with important decisions to ensure the survival of a number of endangered species, including elephants, rhinoceros and snakes.

The meeting was attended by some 300 participants from all over the world, including observers from the CITES member countries, intergovernmental bodies, business community and non-governmental organizations specialized in wildlife conservation and international trade.

Several countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and France have already contributed to the multi-donor technical trust for the implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan, and more were encouraged to do so during the meeting.

“We expect that donors will hear the urgent needs of Africa and support the implementation of the African Elephant Action Plan,” said John E. Scanlon, Secretary-General of CITES, whose secretariat is administered by the UN Environment Program (UNEP).

“The target is to raise $100 million over the next three years to enhance law enforcement capacity and secure the long-term survival of African elephant populations,” Scanlon added.

The committee based its conclusions considering alarming reports on elephant and rhino poaching in several parts of Asia and Africa, including illegal trade in rhino horns and elephant ivory.

Elephant conservation and new financial mechanisms were among several issues on the agenda of the CITES meeting, in addition to measures to reduce current levels of poaching of rhinos, tigers and other big cats, illegal trade in mahogany and other timber species, the fate of sturgeon and caviar trade, and the sourcing of reptile skins used in the leather industry.

CITES is an international agreement between governments which entered into force in July 1975 and aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants do not threaten their survival. So far, 175 States have joined the conservation agreement.

Friday, August 19th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19568/un-backed-trust-fund-launched-to-protect-african-elephants/.

Plan set to evacuate thousands of migrants in Tripoli

2012-01-28T17:08:00.002+02:00

TRIPOLI (BNO NEWS) — The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Friday said it is working to evacuate thousands of migrants who are in need of help in the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

The Organization has said that thousands of Egyptian migrants, living in Tripoli and in western Libya, have now registered with their Embassy and are ready for evacuation.

In addition, a large number of other foreign nationals are still present in the Libyan capital and they have requested to leave as their situation becomes increasingly vulnerable. The exact number of the total migrant population in the capital area is unknown.

The IOM has already assisted thousands of migrants elsewhere in Libya but the evacuation from Tripoli poses major obstacles.

Earlier, the Organization evacuated more than 10,000 migrants by road from Tripoli to the Tunisian border point at Ras Adjir. However, that evacuation route had to be abandoned due to increased fighting between rebel and government forces.

As the Organization prepares its Tripoli evacuation plan, taking into account the logistical, political and security challenges, it will soon be in need of significant new funds to carry out the operation.

“A rapid response on this is critical to ensuring that in the small window of opportunity we have to get people out of Tripoli, we are not constrained by funding issues,” said Pasquale Lupoli, IOM Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

On Friday, an IOM-chartered ship left the eastern Libyan town of Benghazi for Misrata on the 15th mission to evacuate migrants, mainly from northern Africa.

More than 8,300 migrants and wounded civilians have so far been assisted by IOM on its Misrata operations with funding from the European Commission’s Humanitarian and Civil Aid department (ECHO) and the Australian, British, German, Irish, Japanese and U.S. governments.

Libya has been engulfed in fighting since a pro-democracy movement opposed to the regime of Muammar Gaddafi emerged in February following similar protests in Tunisia, Egypt and other countries across North Africa and the Middle East.

United Nations officials have repeatedly stated that a ceasefire tied to transitional arrangements which address the aspirations of the Libyan people is the only sustainable political solution to the crisis. However, the parties remain divided on how to reach a political solution to the conflict, which has caused an estimated 630,000 people to flee Libya since February and displaced another 200,000 within the country.

Friday, August 19th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19572/plan-set-to-evacuate-thousands-of-migrants-in-tripoli/.

Famine worries linger in Horn of Africa

2012-01-28T17:07:00.002+02:00

NEW YORK, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- With more than 3 million people on the verge of starvation in Somalia, the United Nations said more help is needed to stem the humanitarian crisis.

A drought plaguing much of the Horn of Africa is creating widespread famine. U.N. humanitarian officials said 3.2 million people in Somalia are at risk of starvation while another 12.4 million in the region are facing a humanitarian emergency brought on by the drought.

Valerie Amos, U.N. under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said following a visit to the region that aid groups on the ground were making progress.

"But we're faced with a still spreading famine in Somalia and with such a scale of suffering that every effort needs to be made and sustained in the months ahead," she said.

Around 500,000 people in the region were getting clean water and vaccinations campaigns were under way, however, the famine in Somalia has killed tens of thousands of people and the crisis is spreading.

"We need to get more food and nutritional supplies, water, sanitation and hygiene equipment and medical care to those who are in desperate need," Amos said.

The regional drought is expected to last for the rest of the year.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/18/Famine-worries-linger-in-Horn-of-Africa/UPI-72651313670447/.

Group calls for mass Egyptian protests

2012-01-28T15:09:00.002+02:00

CAIRO, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- A pro-revolution group in Egypt called for mass protests Sept. 9 to express frustration with the lack of political reform in the country.

A group calling itself the Second Anger Revolution Youth, in a statement posted on the group's listing on Facebook, accused the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of "hindering the revolution," Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reports.

Criticism against the ruling military council is mounting as frustration grows over the slow pace of reform in post-revolution Egypt. Some of the elections promised by the military council were postponed to 2012 while trials for former regime officials, including deposed President Hosni Mubarak, are barely under way.

The revolutionary group said it was frustrated that the military council was still holding civilians on trial. They claim this violates pledges "that military trials are only for thugs and not for the revolutionary youth."

Thousands of protesters flocked to Cairo's central square earlier this year, forcing regime change through peaceful means. Mubarak and members of his inner circle are charged with murder in connection to the deaths of unarmed protesters.

The revolution group said the time for military rule in Egypt has ended.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/19/Group-calls-for-mass-Egyptian-protests/UPI-33031313764832/.

Algeria sends aid to Horn of Africa

2012-01-28T15:08:00.003+02:00

2011-08-18

Algeria on Wednesday (August 17th) dispatched its first planeload of emergency humanitarian aid to Horn of Africa countries hit by famine, APS reported. The flight from Blida carried 54 tonnes of food, drugs and tents and medication to Somalia.

In what the foreign ministry called an "expression of solidarity", Algeria has pledged $10 million in assistance to drought victims in Somalia, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya and Eritrea.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/18/newsbrief-06.

US army to develop next-generation combat vehicle

2012-01-28T15:08:00.000+02:00

Washington (AFP)
Aug 18, 2011

The US Army said Thursday it had awarded nearly $900 million in contracts to British arms manufacturer BAE Systems and US firm General Dynamics to develop its next-generation ground combat vehicle.

The Pentagon said it had given $450 million to BAE and $440 million to General Dynamics to develop "competitive, affordable and executable designs for a new Army Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV)" over the next two years.

The vehicle, which is expected to be able to transport nine infantrymen, is due to be operational by 2018, replacing the aging Bradleys and Strykers, it said in a statement.

The Pentagon, whose budget has doubled since the September 11, 2001 attacks, is bracing for drastic cuts in the coming years as the United States attempts to rein in the spiraling deficit.

The launch of the Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) program before the severity of the cuts is known allows the Army to ensure it will not die on the chopping block.

"Given the economic environment the nation currently faces, the Army recognizes that it is imperative to continually address requirements as we build a versatile, yet affordable, next-generation infantry fighting vehicle," Secretary of the Army John McHugh said, according to the statement.

"This is an important milestone in our Army's modernization program," said Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey.

"GCV is the first combat vehicle designed from inception for an IED (improvised explosive device) environment. It will provide armor protection and the capability to maneuver cross-country with the nine-man infantry squad."

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_army_to_develop_next-generation_combat_vehicle_999.html.

'Bullet-Proof Skin', Made With Spider Silk And Goat's Milk, Created By Scientists

2012-01-28T15:07:00.002+02:00

8/18/11
Amanda Chan

Imagine having a gun fired at you, the bullet whizzing toward you at a super-fast speed. But instead of the bullet piercing your skin and traveling deep inside your body, what if it instead repelled off your skin?

What sounds like a scenario straight out of a superhero movie or a sci-fi novel could eventually become reality. Scientists have created a skin made with goat's milk packed with spider-silk proteins, according to news reports. Their hope is that they can eventually replace the keratin in human skin -- which makes it tough -- with the spider-silk proteins.

To make the bullet-proof material, Dutch scientists first engineered goats to produce milk that contains proteins from extra-strong spider silk. Then, using the milk from the goats, they spun a bullet-proof material; a layer of real human skin is then grown around that skin, a process that takes five weeks, the Daily Mail reported.

"Science-fiction? Maybe, but we can get a feeling of what this transhumanistic idea would be like by letting a bulletproof matrix of spidersilk merge with an in vitro human skin," researcher Jalila Essaidi told the Daily Mail.

Does it work? Well, the skin is only able to stop bullets fired at reduced speeds, TechNewsDaily reported. It was not able to stop a bullet from a .22 caliber rifle shot at a normal speed, which is the required standard for today's bulletproof vests.

The skin is currently on display at the National Natural History Museum Naturalis in Leiden, Netherlands, until Jan. 8, 2012, TechNewsDaily reported.

More research must be done before this bullet-proof "super skin" can actually be possible to engineer into humans.

Source: Huffington Post.
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/18/bullet-proof-skin-spider-silk_n_930389.html.

Former Ivorian President Gbagbo charged with economic crimes

2012-01-28T15:06:00.000+02:00

ABIDJAN, IVORY COAST (BNO NEWS) — Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and his wife Simone Gbagbo have been charged with economic crimes including looting, armed robbery and embezzlement, the BBC reported on Thursday.

Gbagbo and his wife have been under house arrest in separate locations in the north of the country since they were arrested in April. Public prosecutor Simplice Kouadio Koffi said Simone Gbagbo was charged on Tuesday and taken into custody, while her husband was charged on Thursday.

According to the BBC correspondent in Abidjan, John James, the charges against the former president relate to the post-election period when Gbagbo used state funds, including hundreds of millions of dollars from the central bank, in his attempt to stay in power.

The BBC correspondent also said that by charging the couple only with economic crimes, the prosecutor is leaving the way open for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to start an investigation into the post-election violence.

The Ivorian government has requested the ICC’s involvement, saying it is not competent to judge the more serious allegations of violent crimes.

All key figures arrested along with Gbagbo in April had already been charged, except for the former president himself and his wife Simone. Human rights groups had criticized the Ivorian government for holding the pair for four months without charge.

An armed rebellion in 2002 split the country into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-held north. The UN certified election won by Alassane Ouattara in 2010 reunited the country again.

However, before Ouattara could be sworn in as legitimate president, violent tensions shook the country for five months as former president Gbagbo refused to step down. The fighting killed as many as 3,000 people and left up to 1 million Ivoirians displaced.

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19543/former-ivorian-president-gbagbo-charged-with-economic-crimes/.

Police clashes with anti-Pope protesters in Madrid

2012-01-28T15:05:00.002+02:00

MADRID (BNO NEWS) — More than 150 people protesting against the financial cost of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Spanish capital of Madrid were again removed by police on Thursday night, police said on Friday morning.

Thursday’s protest followed a similar protest on Wednesday evening when eight people were arrested and eleven were injured after police attempted to break up the demonstration.

Police said they initially did not plan to break up the protest but decided to do so to avoid a violent encounter between protesters and Catholic pilgrims. Opponents are protesting against the financial cost of the pontiff’s stay amid one of Spain’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in the Spanish capital on Thursday for a four-day visit to celebrate World Youth Day. At least a million pilgrims from across the world have come for the Catholic youth festival which started on Tuesday.

Earlier this week, Spanish police arrested a Mexican chemistry student for allegedly plotting to gas the anti-Pope rallies. A Spanish Judge has since released him under probation.

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19548/police-clashes-with-anti-pope-protesters-in-madrid/.

Why Africa is leaving Europe behind

2012-01-28T15:04:00.003+02:00

August 18, 2011

By William Wallis

Africans are relishing something of a reversal in roles. The former colonial powers in Europe are wrestling with debt crises, austerity budgets, rising unemployment and social turmoil. By contrast much of sub-Saharan Africa can point to robust growth, better balanced books and rising capital inflows. There is an opportunity in this novel scenario: for Africa to assert itself on the global stage, and for European countries to take advantage of their historic footprint in Africa by stimulating commercial expansion to their south. But it is far from clear either side will grasp it.

The problems faced by western governments are all too familiar to African countries. They too found their public services hollowed out in the 1980s and 1990s under the strict conditions of World Bank and International Monetary Fund bail-outs. In the worst instances, state authority was fatally weakened as discontent boiled over on the streets.

Today, by contrast they can point to improved economic figures, a reviving middle class and arguably, in places, more effective social control. Even Lagos – much rougher, larger, poorer and unequal than London – has never witnessed looting on the scale that took place in the former capital of empire last week, although inhabitants of the Nigerian mega-city have certainly competed when it comes to arson.

Africa has been enjoying this reversal of roles. As rioting spread from London to other cities, South Africa’s foreign ministry took the unusual step of issuing a travel advisory warning its citizens against visiting the UK. There was also retaliation for past jibes about their country’s capacity to organize the 2010 football World Cup, by questioning whether London can be trusted to host a safe Olympics.

The response from Westminster’s politicians also failed to serve as much of a model. As one veteran Nigerian diplomat wryly put it to me, Prime Minister David Cameron seemed to echo Libya’s Colonel Gaddafi – who blames “terrorists” for the insurgency on his doorstep – when he blamed the worst violence on the UK mainland in generations simplistically to “criminals.”

If British society is sick, and the European project is flailing, there are of course patients in Africa in far worse shape. It only took the improbable appearance this week of Andrew Mitchell, Britain’s development secretary, in Mogadishu – a city no UK minister has visited since 1992 – to serve a reminder.

Mr Mitchell’s visit would have been bolder if it had taken place last year, when the seeds of the current famine were already sown and the absence of a functioning state was blighting the region with piracy and Islamist extremism. But it did serve as a contrast to the abnegation of responsibility in the crisis in the Horn of Africa by regional leaders.

It is Western governments and charities, along with the UN, that have stepped into the African breach, providing the finances and expertise to manage a crisis has already claimed thousands of lives and may have repercussions in the region for years to come. For all Africa’s failures, however, the west must not draw the wrong conclusions. It is tempting to see only a familiar picture of African weakness. But in some ways the famine is a chapter that ill befits the times.

In the decade and more since China began sketching out the terms of its new engagement with Africa, the continent has undergone a transformational shift in its relations with the outside world. A stage once dominated by cautious western donors and jaded former colonial powers now hosts Brazilians, Indians, Russians, Turks and others queuing up to seize the opportunities of African resources and markets. The relative decline of western influence and commercial dominance forms part of the same narrative.

The contours of this new order are still being defined. Yet neither European nor African governments appear to have seized the opportunity presented: for African governments to stake out a more independent role and greater say in world affairs, and for Europeans to unshackle themselves from the unhealthy paternalism of the past and compete on more equitable terms for the business opportunities provided by rapid economic expansion to their south.

Mr Cameron appeared to have at least half understood this on his recent trip to South Africa and Nigeria. He dropped the habitually hectoring tone in favor of an upbeat assessment of Africa’s trading potential. But in comparison with the relentless pursuit of African attentions by Chinese and other emerging power officials, his visit was a barely perceptible blip in between domestic crises.

Many of his western peers still appear unaware of how grating it is for Africans to be lectured on poverty reduction, corruption and financial probity in the light of recent governance failures on their own turf. Africans can, after all, legitimately ask what if not a failure of governance caused the global financial crisis in 2008, among the many other problems that best western governments.

Europe has surrendered moral high ground as well as commercial dominance in Africa. But it is not too late to reverse that. On the former, at least, Europeans and Americans have remained by far the biggest donors during the famine, where African and emerging nation voices have been absent. On the latter, Africa’s economic recovery has only just begun.

Source: Financial Times.
Link: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3de29606-c834-11e0-9852-00144feabdc0.html.

Protests in Madrid ahead of papal visit

2012-01-28T15:04:00.000+02:00

August 18, 2011

By Victor Mallet and Pascale Davies in Madrid

Seven people were arrested and 11 injured in overnight clashes between Spanish police and thousands of demonstrators protesting in Madrid against the visit on Thursday of Pope Benedict XVI, according to police and emergency services.

An estimated 20,000 protesters demanding a fully secular Spanish state and an end to privileges for the Roman Catholic church marched into Sol, the square in the center of the capital. There they confronted thousands of young pilgrims who have come to Spain to see the Pope and celebrate World Youth Day, held every three years in a different city.

The stand-off between the two sides – despite faint echoes of the hatred between Francoist Catholics and anti-religious republicans during the 1936-39 Spanish civil war - were mostly peaceful and verbal. Police later broke up the anti-Pope demonstration and made the arrests.

“Abortion yes, pederasty no!” was a favorite cry of the anti-papal marchers, recalling the church’s opposition to abortion and several scandals in which priests have molested children in their charge.

They also chanted, “Less religion, more education!” and “Not with my taxes!”, a reference to complaints that the pope’s visit will cost Spain money, despite denials form the organizers, and to the fact that citizens can opt on their income tax forms to give 0.7 per cent of the tax to the church.

Groups of pilgrims, waving national flags from around the world, responded with cries of “More religion and more education!” and in some cases by praying on the pavement. One elderly Spanish man on the anti-Pope march, seeing a prayer group, shouted: “Not for me! I don’t believe in anything.”

The Catholic church expects more than 1m people, many from as far afield as the Philippines and Brazil, to welcome the Pope during his visit to Spain.

Among Spaniards, 71.7 per cent describe themselves as Catholics, about 10 percentage points lower than a decade ago, according to a survey published this month by the Sociological Research Center. Of these, some 13 per cent go to mass on most Sundays of the year, down from 19 per cent.

The proportion of atheists and non-believers has risen to 24.3 per cent of Spaniards from 14.6 per cent in 2001.

But the anti-papal demonstrators hold a wide range of views. Some are atheists, some are liberal Catholics who support a secular state, and many are drawn from the ranks of the “indignados” (the indignant ones) who staged the anti-establishment protests across Spain that began in May.

Source: Financial Times.
Link: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a2f7c152-c97d-11e0-9eb8-00144feabdc0.html.

U.S., Egypt scrap joint military drills

2012-01-28T15:03:00.002+02:00

WASHINGTON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The United States and Egypt agreed to scrap military exercises planned for the region because of the political events in Egypt, the U.S. State Department said.

The U.S. Central Command takes part in the biennial, multilateral military Exercise Bright Star. The drills involve forces from the United States, Egypt and European and Arab allies.

The State Department announced that both sides decided to scrap the 2011 drills and focus on planning for 2013 joint military exercises.

"The Egyptian government and the United States mutually agreed to postpone the 2011 exercise in light of ongoing transition events," the State Department said.

Egyptian military leaders who have been leading the country after the revolution are facing public criticism they're moving too slowly on political reforms.

Ousted President Hosni Mubarak, meanwhile, is on trial, along with his sons and former interior minister, for the deaths of unarmed demonstrators during the country's revolution.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that anti-American sentiment in post-revolution Egypt was at a high. The report points to a cover of a July edition of a state-run news magazine depicting U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson lighting dynamite with a burning wad of U.S. dollar bills. The title of the edition reads in Arabic "Ambassador From Hell Is Setting Tahrir on Fire."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/18/US-Egypt-scrap-joint-military-drills/UPI-29471313684191/.

AP Interview: Filipino rebel forms splinter group

2012-01-28T15:02:00.002+02:00

August 19, 2011 — MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A radical guerrilla commander said he has split from the Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group and formed his own with hundreds of fighters to wage a war for a separate homeland.

Ameril Umbra Kato told The Associated Press in a cellphone interview Thursday from his jungle hide-out in southern Maguindanao province that he would not return to the mainstream Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has opened peace talks with the government and threatened to expel him after he led a mutiny in December.

Kato denied allegations by Philippine security officials that he has links with al-Qaida-affiliated militants in the country's volatile south and was involved in deadly bombings and terrorist attacks.

He said his new group would be known as the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Front. Its guerrilla wing, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, was organized in January, a month after he broke off from the main Muslim guerrilla force over differences with insurgent leaders.

"This is the true jihad, the true revolution," Kato said. Kato, who has about 200 to 300 fighters according to his former comrades, did not give details about his combat force or say what steps he would take next.

Kato, who is in his late 60s, said he left because his former group chose to "waste time" by deciding to negotiate with the government for expanded autonomy instead of waging a battle for an independent Muslim homeland that would liberate minority Muslims from crushing poverty and neglect.

"We've been going around and around wasting money and look where the peace talks have brought us," Kato said. "The roots of the conflict have not been solved." Rebel spokesman Von Al Haq from the main Moro group expressed relief that Kato finally has clearly indicated he wants to lead his own organization but warned "he will be accountable for his actions, which will no longer have any bearing on the MILF."

"It's a process of elimination," Al Haq said. "At the end of the day, all those who couldn't hold firm on our basic principles fall on the wayside." The infighting within the main 11,000-strong rebel force underscores the complexity of the Muslim unrest that has claimed more than 120,000 lives and stunted growth in the impoverished but resource-rich south of the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines.

The main guerrilla force currently led by Murad Ebrahim split in 1978 from the Moro National Liberation Front, which dropped its secessionist bid for autonomy and signed a landmark peace accord with Manila in 1996. Murad's group dropped its bid for independence last year but demanded a more powerful type of autonomy with greater control over wider territory.

Murad's group said Kato, who used to head one of its largest and most battle-tested commands, resigned in December, citing his age and poor health. But Kato then formed a breakaway group and accused Murad's group of betraying the Muslim cause by seeking autonomy instead of independence.

"They did that without consulting the Muslims. They cheated," Kato said. Philippine officials have expressed concern over the infighting, which they say casts doubts about the main rebel group's ability to enforce any future accord in peace talks brokered by Malaysia.

Security officials have accused Kato in the past of providing refuge to members of the Southeast Asian militant network Jemaah Islamiyah, the small but brutal Abu Sayyaf group and Filipino militants. They include Usman Basit, who has been sought by U.S. and Philippine authorities in connection with deadly bomb attacks.

Kato said he and his men lead honorable lives and were ready to die for their convictions if they come under attack. He condemned groups like the Abu Sayyaf, which he described as bandits "who exist for money and engage in forbidden business."

"They have stained my names with all these allegations of bombing malls and bus terminals," Kato said. "These are all big sins and un-Islamic. I have no contact with al-Qaida." "Who are the real terrorists?" he asked. "They are government troops who drop bombs anywhere even if there are civilians."

Abbas hoists Palestinian flag in Beirut

2012-01-24T17:34:00.002+02:00

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hoisted the Palestinian flag atop the new Palestinian embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, officials said.

"In these days it delights us as Palestinians to see the Palestinian flag flying in the heart of Lebanon, in the heart of the Lebanese people, and in the heart of every Lebanese who loves Palestine," the Lebanese Web site Naharnet.com quoted Abbas saying at Wednesday's ceremony.

The inauguration of the embassy came after the Lebanese cabinet officially recognized the state of Palestine and raised the level of diplomatic ties, the Web site said.

Abbas, accompanied by Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati unveiled a plaque at the entrance to the building.

"We will go with Lebanon to the United Nations to seek a full membership for the state of Palestine at this international forum," Abbas said adding he hoped "to see the day when the Lebanese flag will be hoisted in Jerusalem."

"The Lebanese government will exert utmost efforts within its available resources to improve the living conditions of our Palestinian brothers residing in Lebanon," Miqati said.

Abbas, on a two-day visit to Beirut to garner Lebanon's support ahead of the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations in September, said so far, 122 of the 193 member countries support the Palestinians.

Lebanon takes over temporary presidency of the U.N. Security Council in September.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/08/18/Abbas-hoists-Palestinian-flag-in-Beirut/UPI-25591313671963/.

Dagestan: Martyrdom of Emir Daud confirmed

2012-01-24T17:33:00.003+02:00

15 August 2011

The news about the martyrdom of Emir Daud, one of the most experienced commanders of the Mujahideen of the Caucasus, has been confirmed, reports Dagestani news website Guraba.

Since the first war, his dream was to fight hand in hand with his brothers against the Russian invaders and to become a martyr in Allah's path. Since 1999, he was doing Jihad for Allah, and was close to many of Emirs of the Mujahideen of the Caucasus.

In his long struggle, Daud received numerous injuries, but he never left the land of Jihad. Every time he was treated, rose again and continued his Jihad. Daud was hard against the enemies of Islam and gentle with his brothers.

Infidels and apostates greatly feared him since because of him, they repeatedly suffered heavy losses, especially in the battles in the plains of Dagestan and Ichkeria and therefore they made attempts on him on several occasions. But by the will of Allah, Daud survived each time, rose to his feet and continued to fight. Insha'Allah, Allah strengthens the Islamic Ummah by such personalities, in these difficult times.

In order to kill Daud, the infidels and their apostates henchmen created a special "commission", and detained and tortured many brothers and sisters whom they suspected could be associated with him.

By the will of Allah, the infidels were able to assassinate Mujahideen, and Allah in His mercy, has granted Martyrdom (Insha'Allah) to 6 Mujahideen, among whom there is Emir Daud. What the believer feels when someone from the people he knew or heard about, departs by the death of Allah's soldiers?

Yes, there is the bitterness of loss. But is this accompanied by sadness? [No] It's tears of joy for the brethren. They, Insha'Allah, have achieved everything that could be taken from this life. And this worldly life they squeezed with fist, as if they rejected and despised it. [...] They purified their hearts of all that can possibly detract them from attaining the eternal life. And Allah the Almighty fulfilled his promise to anyone who is ready to sell his worldly life for eternal life.

Between us, the veil of worldly life - they easily got rid of it, while we have not yet. They went to settle in the hearts of paradise birds. And while we can not break free from the fetter of this dunya, their souls are probably already flying under the throne of Allah.

The brothers, who only yesterday trampled down this worldly life in forest puddles and in cold tents, stepped into eternity, and disappeared from us. Gaping wreckage of homes, where they fought their last battle against the infidels, they are no longer in this worldly life cursed by Allah. But the curse of Allah will not touch the remembrance and glorification of Him, and that is precisely what the brothers took with them.

Brothers depart and hearts brim with unavoidable sorrow. And tears run of happiness for them and of pure envy for their lot.

May Allah accept their Martyrdom and welcome them into the Gardens of Jannah!

"That was not a difficult loss for us, this entire Jihad, this entire struggle, continues only because Allah strengthens and sustains us, no more and no less... Even if we become Martyrs, Allah will bring better people, better people than we are, to liberate these lands from disbelief so that the law of Allah will triumph in this territory."
(Sayeed Abu Saad on the Martyrdom of the Emir of Province of Ghalghaycho, Abd al-Aziz)

In the end, we want to say to the enemies that since the beginning of Jihad in the Caucasus, the Mujahideen lost great sons... And the infidels screamed every time that the Mujahideen were 'finished'.

On television, they slander the Mujahideen, trying in every way to weaken the morale of the Mujahideen and the people. But during all this time they have failed Alhamdulillah! Yes, there are losses in Jihad and every time we grieve over the loss of Mujahideen but this Jihad is not for any Emirs and commanders, this Jihad is for the sake of the Word of Allah.

Insha'Allah, Allah will give the Jihad in the Caucasus new Mujahideen, similar to the heroic Emir Daud, who will rush to the aid of their brothers. Living heroes never die. Their names are inscribed in blood, into the history of the revival of Jihad in the Caucasus Emirate.

Abu Sayfullah

***

Department of Monitoring
Kavkaz Center

Source: Kavkaz Center.
Link: http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2011/08/15/14974.shtml.

Thousands Fast in India to Fight Corruption

2012-01-24T17:33:00.000+02:00

By Shannon Liao
August 17, 2011

Government accuses movement of being undemocratic.

Thousands of protesters in major Indian cities began a fast on Wednesday evening, not sated by the Indian prime minister’s explanation of why leading anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare had been arrested the day before.

Hazare, 74, and six of his followers had been arrested on Tuesday, on the basis that their plan to maintain a hunger strike until a key piece of anti-corruption legislation passed Parliament was illegal. They were released on Wednesday after the government reached a compromise with Hazare.

The original plan of “fast unto death” was deemed illegal by the police because Hazare’s team had refused six preconditions, including one that limited the fast to three days, explained Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a speech to Parliament.

“Delhi Police came to the conclusion that Shri Anna Hazare and his supporters would commit a cognizable offense and there [could be] a breach of peace,” said the prime minister.

In a negotiated concession, the new fast started Wednesday night and will last 15 days.

The drastic protest is over the so-called Jan Lokpal Bill that is designed to stop corruption, arbitrate grievances, and protect whistle-blowers. Different versions of the bill have appeared before Parliament since 1968, but none have passed. Corruption is rife in India in all levels of government and society.

Anti-corruption watchdog organization Transparency International (TI) said that the Indian government has not been able to stop rising corruption and is instead trying to silence those who speak out against the problem, according to a statement by TI India’s Executive Director Anupama Jha.

While Hazare has proven himself a charismatic leader, the protest is not for his personality, said Partha Turaga, a representative in New Jersey of the India Against Corruption movement that is organizing the protests.

“It’s not just out of emotion. We trust him emotionally, but we also read all the drafts. We’ve seen and understood what this is all about,” said Turaga.

In his speech, Singh blamed Hazare for not approaching things in a democratic manner. “There will be opportunities for Shri Anna Hazare and others to present their views,” said the prime minister, adding that Hazare’s current path “is totally misconceived and fraught with grave consequences for our Parliamentary democracy.”

Singh acknowledged the issue of government corruption, and both the government and the protesters share a desire to see the bill passed quickly.

But they differ on the content of the bill. The version of the bill supported by protesters was drafted with input from civil society and has stronger punitive measures. The government amended that draft into another version.

One of key differences between the two is the independence of the judiciary body. In the protesters’ bill, a new anti-corruption body, called Lokpal, would monitor the judiciary. In the government’s version, the judiciary would be accountable under the Judicial Accountability Bill.

Turaga said that the protesters didn’t concern themselves with whether success was in sight but focused on whether they could make even the slightest impact.

“You’ve got to try your best; you’ve got to do the best you can, and that applies to all of us,” Turaga added.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/thousands-fast-in-india-to-fight-corruption-60503.html.

Railway strike halts train transportation in Egypt's Delta

2012-01-24T17:32:00.000+02:00

Wednesday 17 Aug 2011

Railway workers block the railroads, halting train movement in Cairo, Ismailiya, Assiut, Sohag and Aswan to demand for better bonuses.

A strike by train employees has brought all train movement in Egypt's delta region to a grinding halt since early this morning.

According to the head of the National Railways Authority, Hany Hegab, employees of the Cairo, Alexandria, Zaqaziq and Tanta stations have been sitting on the train tracks, blocking all movement since 10 am Wednesday.

The employees demand better incentives and, according to Hegab, the authority is now in negotiations with the workers to end the strike.

Tuesday railway workers in the governorate of Tanta also held a two-hour protest on the train tracks, demanding better incentives. The protest was dispersed after the railway authority agreed to consider their demands.

Strikes by railway workers are not new to Egypt, with various strikes and protests being held by train conductors and maintenance crews in recent months.

On 23 July train conductors stood on the rail tracks in the Ramses Station in central Cairo after one of their colleagues died when his train crashed into a truck. The drivers also called for an increase in their bonuses.

On 15 June railway employees blocked the tracks in Cairo, Ismailiya, Assiut, Sohag and Aswan because they were not happy with their bonuses.

It’s not always railway employees who block the trains, with protesters in the town of Bani Kora in Assiut, blocking the tracks last April over a spat concerning the delivery of subsidized bread to the town. Also last April, protesters in Qena blocked the governorate’s railway crossing after Prime Minister Essam Sharaf appointed a governor they didn't approve of.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/19105.aspx.

Tribes in South Sinai cut road after two members killed

2012-01-24T17:31:00.002+02:00

Wednesday 17 Aug 2011

Two young men were shot dead by a security official after failing to stop their car when asked.

South Sinai tribes have cut the road between Cairo and the city of Abu Dreis in South Sinai because two members of the El Sawalha tribe died, after being shot with live ammunition as they headed home.

Moussa Hussein Saleh Abu Gaber, 18 and Salem Saleh Hussein, 22, members of the tribe in Abu Dreis, were heading home in their private car when a security official shot them.

The official had signaled to them to stop the car, but when they did not respond, he fired shots at them, leading to their immediate death.

Only minutes after the shooting, families from the El Sawalha tribe, and others in South Sinai headed to the site of the incident, and cut the road between Abu Dreis and Cairo.

This led to heavy traffic congestion, as cars attempting to leave and enter South Sinai were unable to move.

The families threaten that they will not unblock the roads until the security official that murdered Abu Gaber and Hussein is brought to justice.

The families stress that the two murdered young men were not criminals, were not suspected of any crime and did not have any illegal items in the car.

The families argue that that the two young men probably did not stop the car because they did not hear the calls of the security official asking them to halt.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/19073.aspx.

Egypt Military council cancels poll for presidential candidates after reported rigging

2012-01-24T17:30:00.002+02:00

Wednesday 17 Aug 2011

The SCAF Facebook poll, running since 19 June, has been removed due to rumors surrounding its legitimacy.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has removed the online poll for presidential candidates, being conducted on its Facebook page, in the wake of reports claiming that it had been rigged by anonymous people.

Mohamed ElBaradei, former director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), topped the list for a while by quite a margin.

Recently, however, Omar Suleiman, the ex-intelligence chief who served as vice president in the last days of Mubarak’s regime, took the lead even though he was only fifth on the list nearly two months ago.

According to El-Masry El-Youm, electronic militias paid a host of Facebook users to vote for Suleiman, who had previously announced that he would not run for presidency.

The poll was launched on 19 June and included 15 presidential hopefuls. Among them were: Mohamed Selim El-Awa, Ahmed Shafiq, Kamal El-Ganzouri, Hamdeen Sabahi and Hesham El-Bastawisi.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/19109.aspx.

Egypt's Islamic and liberal powers agree on general principles for the constitution

2012-01-24T17:29:00.002+02:00

Wednesday 17 Aug 2011

The statement, containing five principles, is considered by many to end the debate about the upcoming constitution.

Representatives of liberal and Islamist parties reached an agreement on a statement of general principles for the upcoming constitution, after a meeting on Tuesday night at the Al-Wasat Party.

Abul Ela Mady, chairman of the Al-Wasat Party, told Ahram Online on Wednesday that the different parties' representatives have primarily agreed on the proposed statement and that they still need time to discuss it with their parties. Mady added that there would be another meeting early next month.

The statement contains five principles, all of which are related to the identity of the country and citizenship rights and liberties.

According to Mady, all who signed the agreement see the principles as obligatory. Mady claims that the statement was made to calm those who are concerned with the leadership of the upcoming parliament, and the provisional committee who will implement the constitution. The statement according to Mady is consistent with the results of the referendum.

The parties and groups that participated in the meeting were: the April 6 Youth Movement, El-Asala Salafist Party, the Civilization Party, Al-Jamaat Al-Islamiya and the Salafist Front.

Al-Wasat Party hopes to attract more political parties to sign the statement.

Egypt’s Minister of Health, Amr Helmy, attended the meeting as well.

The meeting, organized by Al-Wasat Party is considered by other political parties and institutions such as Al-Azhar, to end the debate about the upcoming constitution.

Source: Ahram.
Link: http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/19107.aspx.

Gaza students prevented from leaving for studies abroad

2012-01-24T17:28:00.000+02:00

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Aug 18, 2011

JERUSALEM: A Palestinian human rights group is condemning Gaza’s Hamas rulers for preventing teenage students with scholarships to study in the US from leaving the territory.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said in a statement Wednesday that Hamas is refusing to allow eight students leave Gaza. It said the students were granted AMIDEAST scholarships, a program that educates talented teenagers from the Middle East and North Africa for a year in the US

The ban comes a day after rights groups criticized orders by Hamas forcing aid workers and employees of nongovernment organizations to register with them before they travel.

Hamas also recently began auditing aid group accounts.

Hamas overran Gaza from the secular Palestinian Fatah party in bloody street battles in 2007.

Source: Arab News.
Link: http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article490043.ece.

Eastern Mediterranean olive oil producers seek markets in Far East

2012-01-24T17:27:00.002+02:00

August 17, 2011

There’s a revolution taking place in the eastern Mediterranean and it’s all about oil… olive oil.

A decade after planting tens of millions of trees, Turkey expects next year to become the world’s second largest producer of olive oil, surpassing Italy, Greece, Tunisia and Syria, and cater to the growing market in the Far East.

“We have increased the number of trees in past 10 years from 90 million to about double that and so we are expecting an increase in production and in the very near future to be the number one producer of table olives and number two producer of olive oil in the world,” Metin Olken, deputy chairman of the Turkish Olive and Olive Oil Publicity Committee, told The Media Line.

According to Olken, Turkey produced 160,000 tons of olive oil in 2010 and expects a crop of 200,000 tons this year. Within two years it expects to surpass the half-million mark and by 2015, 700,000 tons. While becoming the prince of olive production, Turkey still falls well behind the king – Spain -- which makes 1.2 million tons, or over half of the world’s olive oil.

“We will take over from Greece, Italy, Tunisia and Syria,” Olken said.

According to the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), Italy produced 480,000 tons, Greece 336,000, Syria 193,000 and Tunisia 120,000 last year. About 95 percent of the world’s olive trees are in the Mediterranean region. Olive oil is so well liked here that according to the UNCTAD, Mediterranean basin countries also account for 77 percent of the world’s consumption.

Italy and Spain have long ago branded themselves as supreme olive oil producers and have virtually cornered the market in North America and Europe. Olken told The Media Line that Italy and Spain supplement their brand by repackaging oil from Turkey, Greece and Tunisia.

Olive oil consumption has dramatically risen over the past decade – largely due to the popularity of the “Mediterranean diet.” World olive oil consumption will reach 2.98 million tons, with a 3.65 percent increase from 2009. New markets have also opened up as the world became aware of the health benefits of the one of nature’s oldest commodities.

Turkey made the strategic move into higher olive oil production during the height of negotiations to enter the European Union as a way to gain European Union agriculture subsidies. Those talks have floundered, but the trees have matured, needing at least seven years to begin producing marketable quantities of fruit. Olken said the government helped boost production of olives by offering financial incentives and subsidies to help cover the cost of planting and cultivation in initial years. Hundreds of thousands of people earn their livelihood from the olive oil industry.

EU members such as Spain, Italy and Greece have a virtual monopoly in the lucrative European market since they not only subsidize their farmers, but also impose heavy duties on imports.

“In the United States or Canada we would have to try and take a share from the Italians and Spanish, but if we go to China and India, these countries are only now starting to know what olive oil is and we don’t have strong competition from the Italians or Spanish yet,” Olken said.

This is one of the main reasons that Jordan, the world’s eighth largest olive oil producer, has decided to reach out to the Far East as well. They are pushing for quality branding over quantity.

“There is no way we can compete with the Italian and Spanish oils. Even the Turks have huge tracts of land and much water. The olive oil production in Jordan is very expensive due to the high cost of water. But our oil is very good,” Ruba Dagmish, the director of the Jordan Olive Products Exporters Association (JOPEA), told The Media Line.

Dagmish said they saw opportunities in Japan because they are willing to pay higher prices for quality olive oil and Indonesia because as a Muslim country they are able to get Hallal certification (religious approval of foods deemed “fit” by Islamic law).

Jordan produced some 24,000 tons of olive oil last year. Only about 30 percent of its olive oil is exported, with the bulk kept for local consumption. Despite the lack of water, olive trees cover around 75 percent of agricultural land in the kingdom.

“We are packaging it in fancy bottles and going for branding Jordanian oil as high quality extra virgin oil. We also export to the Gulf countries,” Dagmish said. “|But it is hard to compete in the Arab countries because they are bringing in cheaper Italian and Spanish oils.”

Source: All Headline News (AHN).
Link: http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/90057399.

Palestinian factions reconsider relations with Assad

2012-01-24T17:26:00.000+02:00

By DAVID E. MILLER / THE MEDIA LINE
08/18/2011

Leadership must decide loyalties as Syrian attacks on refugees lead to turning point in once circumspect policy.

A fierce attack by the Syrians on a Palestinian refugee camp has led Palestinian factions, both Islamist and staunchly secular, to relook at their traditionally close ties with Damascus.

Headquartered in the Syrian capital as the Bashar Assad regime falters, Palestinians were cautious not to badmouth the Syrian president personally as they condemned Sunday’s naval bombardment of the Raml Palestinian refugee camp.

Navy gunships struck at the camp located in the port city of Latakia, killing an unknown number of residents and sparking 10,000 refugees to flee. Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official Yasser Abed Rabbo condemned the attack as "a crime against humanity," while the United Nation's Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) demanded access to the camp, to survey the scope of damage.

Before the attack on Raml, the Palestinian leadership had been circumspect in speaking out against Assad's regime, which has fiercely oppressed a domestic mass protest movement since March. But the most recent surge of violence, directed for the first time against the country's Palestinian population, may be a turning point in Palestinian policy.

"The PLO does not intervene in the internal politics of countries," Taisir Khaled, head of expatriate department of the PLO, told The Media Line. "But the safety of Palestinians in refugee camps must be safeguarded; regardless of the country they live in."

Khaled is a senior member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), a Marxist-Leninist Palestinian party, whose leader Nayef Hawatmeh sits in Damascus. He was careful not to blame Assad personally.

"We want political reform in Syria," Khaled added. "It should be a democratic civil state which grants freedom to all its citizens. We hope that a political solution prevails over any other."

The political leadership of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas is also situated in Damascus, explaining perhaps its minimal media coverage of the Syrian attack on Latakia.

In April, the London-based Arab daily Al-Hayat reported that Hamas' political leadership was ordered to leave Syria following its neutral stance towards the country's popular unrest. According to the report, Qatar agreed to host political bureau chief Khaled Mashal, who has operated in Damascus since 1999. At the time, Hamas denied the report, and its leadership remained in the country.

A Hamas spokesman refused the Media Line's request on Wednesday to comment on matters concerning Syria. But Basem Ezbidi, a political scientist at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah, said Hamas was facing the greatest dilemma of all Palestinian groups.

"On the one hand, Hamas does not want the Syrian regime to disappear," Ezbidi told The Media Line. "But on the other hand, how can it justify its strategic alliance with a state that kills Palestinians? Hamas has always regarded itself as a resistance movement which represents the Palestinian people, and that's the bottom line." He said Hamas will find it extremely difficult to reconcile the two conflicting interests.

Ezbidi added, however, that some Palestinian factions will never criticize the Syrian regime, as they are fully funded and protected by it.

"Smaller groups, like Ahmad Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command (PFLP-GC) will forever remain loyal to Syria, which supports it financially, logistically and politically," he said. "Other movements will certainly reexamine their ties with Syria, because what it has done is inexcusable."

Ayman Shaheen, a political scientist at Gaza's Al-Azhar University, said that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization, also led from Damascus, maintained stronger links with Iran than with Syria, making it relatively independent of Al-Assad's regime. However, Hamas, he said, likely would show flexibility in adapting to the new political reality in the region.

"Hamas is wise. It will create a new set of alliances to replace the Teheran-Damascus-Gaza axis," Shaheen told The Media Line. "Qatar is always open to Hamas and there is rapprochement with Egypt as well."

But Taisir Khaled of DFLP said most Syria-based Palestinian movements, including his own, were not considering relocation.

"We will remain in Syria as long as Palestinians reside there," he told The Media Line, noting that between 350-400,000 Palestinians currently live in Syria. "We are not there because of the regime but because of our ties with the Syrian people."

Source: The Jerusalem Post.
Link: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=234254.

Yemen opposition forms national council

2012-01-24T17:25:00.002+02:00

Wed Aug 17, 2011

The Yemeni opposition has formed a broad coalition tasked with leading the country's popular revolution towards the removal of Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime from power.

The 800 representatives of different opposition groups elected the 143-member National Council for the Forces of the Peaceful Revolution on Wednesday, AFP reported.

The move marked a notable blow to the unpopular 33-year-old government, which has been facing countrywide protests since January.

The development comes only one day after Saleh vowed to return to Yemen soon. He is currently being treated for injuries he received in a June 3 RPG attack on the presidential palace in Saudi Arabia.

"The National Council will lead the forces of the revolution, determined to stand strong until Ali Abdullah Saleh's departure," said a key opposition leader, Sultan al-Atwani.

The council includes members of the parliamentary opposition umbrella of the Common Forum, the young protesters, and the north-based Shia minority, which has for long been repressed by the government and Saudi Arabia.

The members will now vote for a 20-member executive committee.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/194379.html.

'US, Israel plan civil war in Lebanon'

2012-01-24T17:24:00.002+02:00

Wed Aug 17, 2011

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah says the US and Israel are trying to cause a civil war in Lebanon by destroying people's coexistence.

In his speech on Wednesday, Nasrallah said Washington and Tel Aviv are laying the foundation for sectarian strife in a bid to ruin the social fabric in Lebanon.

The Hezbollah leader also rejected the US-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, saying its indictments lack credibility.

The former Lebanese premier and over 20 other people were killed on February 14, 2005 in massive explosions in downtown Beirut.

The STL, which was authorized by a US-sponsored Security Council resolution in 2007, was set up to look into the deadly incident.

The tribunal issued indictments and arrest warrants in June 2011 for four men identified by Lebanese officials as Hezbollah members.

Nasrallah said on Wednesday that the tribunal has refused to consider other scenarios such as Israel's involvement in the murder.

He also accused media outlets and figures associated with the March 14th movement of jumping to conclusions, adding that they make accusations against Hezbollah without any basis.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/194411.html.

'Protesters attacked in Saudi Arabia'

2012-01-24T17:23:00.000+02:00

Thu Aug 18, 2011

Government forces have attacked Saudi Arabian peaceful demonstrators in the east of the oil-rich kingdom.

Protesters took to the streets of Awamiyah town in the Eastern Province late on Wednesday, witnesses said.

During the protest, people demanded respect for human rights and the release of political prisoners in the country.

At least two demonstrators were arrested after breaking up the rally, according to reports.

The Eastern Province has been the scene of anti-government protests in recent months.

Saudi Arabia, a key US ally in the Middle East, is an absolute monarchy that does not tolerate any form of dissent.

Protest rallies and any public displays of dissent are considered illegal.

The government has become increasingly nervous about the protests that have taken the Arab world by storm, toppling the Egyptian and Tunisian leaders, and which reached Bahrain, Yemen and Libya.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/194431.html.

Ramadan Curbs Follow Violence

2012-01-24T17:22:00.002+02:00

2011-08-04

China curtails religious practices in Xinjiang during a Muslim holy month.

China is placing restrictions on its Muslim Uyghur population during the fasting month of Ramadan, following a string of violent attacks in its northwestern region of Xinjiang.

Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, said Ramadan, which runs roughly from Aug. 1-30 this year, has brought a fresh clampdown on Muslims in the wake of violent attacks in the Silk Road cities of Kashgar and Hotan.

The group has said that more than 100 Uyghurs were detained in the wake of an attack on a market in Kashgar last weekend. Most of those detained as suspects were committed Muslims who attended mosque and whose wives wore veils, residents say.

Raxit said the chief restriction lies in a ban on mosques from advertising Ramadan-linked events or in encouraging people to observe the month-long fast.

"If any religious figure discusses Ramadan during the course of religious activities, or encourages people to take part, then they will lose their license to practice," Raxit said.

"The more serious cases will result in arrests for incitement to engage in illegal religious activity," he said.

Ramadan restrictions

During Ramadan, Muslims who are able should take no food, water, or cigarettes during daylight hours. Restaurants in Muslim countries close during the day, re-opening to break the fast after sunset.

However, government campaigns in previous years have forced restaurants to stay open, and required Uyghur government cadres throughout Xinjiang to sign “letters of responsibility” promising to avoid fasting, evening prayers, or other religious activities.

Officials have also targeted Muslim schoolchildren, providing them with free lunches during the fasting period.

Raxit said similar restrictions were in place for government cadres, who risk losing pensions and other benefits. Private companies are offering lunches to Uyghur Muslims, and any who refuse to eat could lose their annual bonus, or even their job, he added.

According to the Beijing-based Uyghur Online website, the government of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has announced a ban on any religious activities during the Muslim holy month.

The restrictions were being imposed "to preserve social stability," the website reported.

An employee who answered the phone at a local government neighborhood committee office in the regional capital Urumqi, which saw deadly ethnic rioting in July 2009, confirmed the restrictions.

"Fasting during Ramadan is a traditional ethnic custom, and they are allowed to do that," she said. "But they aren't allowed to hold any religious activities during Ramadan."

And she added: "Party members are not allowed to fast for Ramadan, and neither are civil servants."

Mosque guidelines

An employee who answered the phone at a mosque in Urumqi said people from out of town are banned from attending mosques in Urumqi for prayers during August.

Everyone attending prayers has to register with their national identity card, he added.

"They have to register," he said. "[After prayers] they aren't allowed to [congregate and] talk to each other."

Foreigners have been barred from entering mosques in the region, mosque officials said.

A Uyghur resident of Beijing said students under 18 are forbidden from fasting during Ramadan.

And an employee who answered the phone at a Muslim restaurant in Urumqi said it would remain open all month.

Kashgar prefecture Communist Party chief Cheng Zhenshan vowed to fight "separatists," "religious extremists," and "terrorists" with "iron fists," following the weekend violence in the Silk Road city that left at least 14 people dead and 40 others injured.

The attacks in Kashgar and those in the nearby city of Hotan two weeks ago in which 20 people were killed are the bloodiest violence in a year in Xinjiang, where Muslim Uyghurs chafe under Chinese rule.

Deadly riots in Xinjiang's regional capital of Urumqi left at least 200 dead in July 2009 following clashes between Han Chinese and Uyghurs.

Chinese commentators say the slew of recent attacks in Xinjiang show that Beijing's policy on ethnic minorities has gone badly wrong.

Source: Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/ramadan-08042011113617.html.

Checkpoints Circle Urumqi

2012-01-24T17:21:00.002+02:00

2011-08-16

Chinese security forces increase patrols in Xinjiang's capital following a series of deadly attacks.

Authorities in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang have announced a fresh "strike hard" campaign targeting "terrorism" and "Islamic extremism" following a wave of violent attacks.

Security forces will set up a total of 39 checkpoints encircling the regional capital Urumqi, where nearly 200 people died in ethnic clashes between Muslim Uyghurs and Han Chinese in 2009, according to a statement on the Xinjiang government website.

A resident of Urumqi surnamed Li said there had been an increase in police patrols on the city's streets in the wake of three deadly attacks in Hotan and Kashgar in recent weeks.

"There were patrols before but they are closer together now, and there are more people than before," Li said.

"They don't really stop cars for checks so much in the daytime. They mostly do it at night."

The campaign, announced on the regional government website on Tuesday, will run from Aug. 11 to Oct. 15, and will increase police focus on potential trouble spots.

It would also include spot checks of identity and searches of people and vehicles, the statement said.

More police manpower would be directed to investigations, and the courts would speed up trials to process the larger number of suspects.

Penalties from theft to endangering state security would be harsher during the campaign, it said.

Kashgar targeted

Residents of Kashgar said they had also seen an increased security presence in recent days.

“All of Kashgar city is experiencing a stepped-up investigation into suspicious activities," said one woman from Kashgar.

"Public security units at all level across the city have been strengthened and security forces are patrolling around the clock in the main Uyghur residential area," she said.

The woman said that police had established checkpoints to check the IDs of residents in the streets.

"Police are conducting searches of the people and their vehicles. They are detaining people without IDs. It's creating fear. Government security personnel have forced women to remove their veils while out walking. If they don’t comply, they will be detained.”

A student in Kashgar told RFA that local authorities had increased ideological education on campuses, instructed students not to gather in groups anywhere in the city, and to carry their IDs at all times.

He added that many of the restrictions were meant to prevent the mostly-Muslim Uyghurs from observing the holy month of Ramadan, which runs from Aug. 1-30 this year.

"People aged 18 and under are not allowed to go to the mosque to pray ... School authorities have been distributing snacks to students to make sure they aren't fasting and preventing students from leaving campus until Friday’s prayers are over,” he said.

Underlying problems

However, an exile Uyghur group said the "strike hard" campaigns have not addressed the root cause of recent violence, which left three dozen people dead across the region.

Dilxat Raxit, spokesman for the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress, said the real aim of the campaigns is gradually to strip Uyghurs of their legitimate rights and demands, as part of a system-wide oppression of the Uyghur people.

"Striking hard will only lead to an even stronger backlash," Raxit said of the latest campaign. "I think that the Chinese are provoking and inciting local people."

"If they don't change [their policies], and desist from the 'strike hard' approach, then there will be a fresh wave of unrest in the region," he warned.

Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China's ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier.

Some Chinese commentators say the slew of recent attacks in Xinjiang show that Beijing's policy on ethnic minorities has gone badly wrong.

This year's Ramadan has brought a fresh clampdown on Muslims in the wake of a July 31 attack in the Silk Road city of Kashgar that left at least 14 people dead and 40 others injured.

The attacks in Kashgar and in the nearby city of Hotan two weeks earlier, in which 20 people were killed, mark the bloodiest violence in a year in Xinjiang, where Muslim Uyghurs chafe under Chinese rule.

Riots in Xinjiang's regional capital of Urumqi left at least 200 dead in July 2009 following clashes between Han Chinese and Uyghurs.

Source: Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/urumqi-08162011120352.html.

Farmers Sent to Reeducation Camp

2012-01-24T17:07:00.002+02:00

2011-08-15

Uyghurs who protested farm policies were detained in Beijing.

Seven Uyghurs from China’s restive Xinjiang province who went missing after petitioning the central government last year over what they called unfair farm policies have been sent to reeducation camps, according to relatives of the men.

The seven were part of a larger group of 25 who had traveled to Beijing in November last year by train from Guma county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region’s Hoten prefecture.

They were detained after they attempted to hold a demonstration in Tiananmen Square, demanding a meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao to complain about a policy that required them to sell their produce to the local government in Xinjiang for below-market prices.

The father of one of the detainees, 46-year-old Sirajidin Eziz, said that since that time, the whereabouts of the seven men had been unknown.

It wasn’t until April that he and the other relatives received a notice from the Department of Reeducation of the 14th Division Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC), which governs their village of Karataghiz, that the men were being held in a detention center in Sachengzi in Xinjiang’s western Aksu prefecture.

“We only came to know his whereabouts exactly five months after he was taken by police,” Eziz’s father said.

Reeducation camp

The notice, which was read to RFA by Eziz’s son, said that the seven had been detained in the camp since Dec. 4 and were undergoing reeducation through labor because they had created "public disorder" by gathering illegally.

The group had been sentenced to terms of 16-24 months, the notice said, and included Nurabla Nurmemet, 43, Abla Ablikim, 34, Sirajidin Eziz, 45, Eli Hapiz, 43, Ahmet Osman, 51, Ablet Abdurehim, 41, and Omer Salih, 50.

“I’m 94 years old now. I don’t know whether or not I will see him again because he was given two years of reeducation through labor,” Eziz’s father said.

Eziz’s father said the men had never received a court hearing.

“I don’t understand how it can be crime when all you are trying to do is to meet with your prime minister to address your problem,” he said.

Local politics

Ablet Kasim, a Uyghur from Guma county, said that farmers have been losing money for years and are willing to risk punishment to reverse the policy that forces them to sell their produce to state-owned buyers at prices 50-70 percent lower than those on the open market.

They had been forced to sell at a discount for produce such as red dates and cotton.

A brother of one of the detainees said that the local police chief, angered that the farmers had sought assistance from the central government, might have pushed to have the seven sent to the labor camp.

He said that the police chief had warned the 25 Uyghurs when they boarded the train to Beijing last year that they would be punished upon their return.

“’You can go if you want,’ the police chief told them, ‘but you had better know that when you finally come back, I will send you to jail in the first week of your return,’” the brother said.

“Well, he finally did what he said—he showed us his power … I’m surprised he hid this information from us for so long. Maybe he wanted to force us to beg him or he was trying to punish the families.”

Repeated petitions

The farmers originally numbered more than 100 when they first took their complaints to higher authorities in July 2010.

Up until their visit to Beijing, the group filed protests four times to division officials and three times to provincial officials in the Xinjiang capital Urumqi.

In an interview from Beijing last November, Abla Ablikim, one of the seven Uyghurs in the labor camp, said police from Karataghiz village had tried to block the group from boarding the train to the capital at the Urumqi train station in addition to threatening them with imprisonment upon their return.

Eventually, Abla Abilkim said, Uyghur merchants at the station protected the farmers from the police and allowed them to board the train.

Abla Abilikim said authorities at both the local and provincial levels told him they could do nothing to help the farmers because the XPCC has the right to implement a planned economy instead of a market economy.

“Some of them said, ‘The state is building roads, schools, and hospitals for you, so you must support the state companies,’” he said.

Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness despite China's ambitious plans to develop its vast northwestern frontier.

Source: Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/farmers-08152011181847.html.

Pakistan Deports Uyghurs

2012-01-24T17:06:00.003+02:00

2011-08-10

Five Uyghurs have been sent back to China, where they face punishment.

Pakistani authorities have deported five ethnic Uyghurs to China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region where they may face persecution on their return, according to the head of a Uyghur exile group.

“According to the information we received, all five were Uyghurs,” said Omer Khan, the founder of the Omer Uyghur Foundation in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.

They were believed to have been forcibly repatriated this week to Xinjiang, where Uyghurs say they have long suffered ethnic discrimination, oppressive religious controls, and continued poverty and joblessness.

“The deportation of Uyghurs is happening a lot these days [in Pakistan], but this is one of the rare cases which has been exposed to the media,” Omer Khan said.

On Tuesday, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported that five “Chinese citizens” had been arrested in different parts of the country and deported on Monday.

The report claimed that the group, which included two children and a woman, was brought to Benazir Bhutto International Airport where they boarded flight CZ6008 operated by China’s Southern Airline to Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang.

Dawn quoted an unnamed source who said that another “Chinese national,” Abduxur Ablmit, was to accompany “his compatriots,” but was offloaded because the flight captain refused to accept him for “unspecified reasons.”

“Ablmit, blindfolded and handcuffed like the other five, had been allotted a seat on the flight,” the newspaper reported.

Dawn also identified one of the five as Manzokra Mamad, who it said was accompanied by a young girl and boy.

The report said that the reason for the deportation was unclear, but noted that Pakistani security agencies had extradited “Xinjiang separatists” before on at least three occasions—14 in 1997, seven in 2002, and nine in 2009.

Pakistani authorities could not be reached for comment on the deportation or the identities of those involved.

“We have been able to confirm the names of two people—Abdushukur Ablimit and Menzire Memet,” Omer Khan said.

Exile reaction

The Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC) issued a statement Wednesday condemning “in the strongest possible terms” Pakistan’s decision to extradite the five Uyghurs, saying the group “will face harsh punishment.”

“Uyghurs who have been extradited to China in the past, were detained, imprisoned, sentenced, tortured, executed, or disappeared after their return to China,” the exile group said.

The WUC said that following a series of violent attacks by Uyghurs on Chinese security personnel in Xinjiang over the last month, Pakistan immediately affirmed that it would extend its full support to China over the Uyghur issue.

“The WUC believes Pakistani authorities acted on request of the Chinese government in order to underline the positive relations between the two countries,” the group said.

It said that by extraditing the Uyghurs to China, Pakistan violated the U.N. Convention Against Torture (CAT) which prohibits parties from returning anyone to a state "where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture."

Group detained

Omer Uyghur said that he believed the five deportees may have been part of a larger group of 12 Uyghurs who were captured by police in western Pakistan last year as they made their way to Turkey to seek asylum. He said he was unsure what had become of the remaining seven.

He added that another Uyghur, named Omer Muhter, 33, has been missing from Rawalpindi in Pakistan since last January and may have been deported to China as well.

The group of 12 came from various parts of Xinjiang and had been living in Central Asian countries working as traders since the beginning of 2000, but after participating in activities sponsored by local Uyghur exiles, found themselves placed on a wanted list by police back home.

They gathered in Pakistan and decided to make their way through Iran to Turkey where they would apply for asylum, but were detained by authorities in the restive Pakistani province of Balochistan because they lacked the requisite travel documents. The next day, they were transferred to a jail in Islamabad.

While in detention in the capital, they met a Turkish citizen named Mujahid Elwerdi and asked him to pass on information about their case to the outside world.

Elwerdi mentioned the situation of the Uyghurs in a phone call to his father, Saleh Elwerdi, who then passed the information on to the East Turkestan Foundation in Turkey.

“The situation of these 12 Uyghurs is severe,” Mujahid Elwerdi told his father. “Their passports are fake and they have no money and one of their kids is sick. If they are deported back to China, they could face execution. You need to inform relevant groups of what is happening to them.”

In a telephone conversation last year in August, a staff member of the Turkish embassy in Islamabad named Ali Beg, confirmed that the group of Uyghurs were being held by Pakistani authorities.

However, Beg said that because the Uyghurs were not Turkish citizens, the embassy could not help them.

Threat of deportation

China has used its economic influence in the region to detain and repatriate a number of Uyghurs who have fled the country after being accused of carrying out “separatist” activities against the state.

Another Uyghur, Nur Muhemmed, was arrested by Thai authorities Saturday for illegally entering the country, and exile groups have expressed concern that he could be deported to China and face punishment.

Cambodia deported the majority of 22 Uyghurs who sought refuge status through the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Phnom Penh shortly after they fled China in the aftermath of deadly ethnic violence that gripped Urumqi in July 2009.

China also used its influence in May to convince Kazakh authorities to deport another Uyghur, Ershidin Israil, a former geography teacher, who was initially given refugee status by the UNHCR and accepted for resettlement by Sweden.

Source: Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/pakistan-08102011175506.html.

Uyghur Held in Thailand

2012-01-24T17:06:00.000+02:00

2011-08-08

Thailand arrests a Uyghur for illegally entering the country.

Authorities in Thailand have arrested a Uyghur fleeing China’s restive northwestern Xinjiang region, according to reports Monday as Uyghur exile groups expressed concern he could be deported home and be severely punished like many of his compatriots.

Nur Muhemmed was arrested by Thai authorities Saturday for illegally entering the country, Japanese newspapers reported over the weekend, quoting Thai sources.

The reports said he may have had fled Urumqi after Chinese authorities accused him of involvement in deadly ethnic unrest in the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in July 2009.

He was allegedly part of a group of Uyghurs that took flight from China in the aftermath of the violence and sought refuge with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Cambodia after traveling through Vietnam, according to the reports.

Twenty-two members of that group eventually made it to Cambodia, though most were deported to China and prosecuted.

Muhemmed was believed to have escaped from Cambodia, and moved to Burma and then entered Thailand illegally via the border town of Mae Sai nearly two years ago, according to Thai officials quoted in the reports.

The Thai Foreign Ministry and the Chinese embassy in Bangkok could not be reached for comment.

Concern for fate

Uyghur groups disputed the circumstances under which Muhemmed landed in Thailand, but expressed concern about his fate as they feared that Bangkok would also repatriate him.

Dolkun Isa, general secretary of the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress (WUC), said Thailand should not bow to pressure from the Chinese to repatriate Muhemmed, where Isa said he could face torture and even death upon his return.

“No matter who he is or how he got there, the reality is that Uyghurs inside and outside of China face various tragedies because of China’s long and strong reach,” he said, calling on members of the international community to prod Thailand to respect Muhemmed’s right as a refugee.

Thailand has repatriated a number of ethnic minorities in the past several years, including the Hmong to Laos and the Rohingya to Burma, where they may face persecution and mistreatment.

“It is no secret how dangerous the current situation in East Turkestan [Xinjiang] is after the Hotan and Kashgar incidents,” Isa said, referring to deadly attacks in the two Silk Road cities by Uyghur groups against Chinese security personnel over the past month.

“It is easy to imagine what the fate of a Uyghur refugee might be in the case of a deportation at this time,” he said.

Isa said Muhemmed may have been one of two men who fled China in March and went missing.

“In March of this year, two Uyghur men seeking help called us from Yunnan province as they prepared to cross the China-Burma border.

They asked for information related to the refugee process in Southeast Asian countries,” Isa said.

“Just two days after the call, when we tried to reach them, we failed. Since then they have been silent and I’m assuming that maybe the person who is facing deportation in Thailand now was one of them.”

Missing in Vietnam

Ilshat Hasan, vice president of the exile group the Uyghur American Association, believed Muhemmed was among two Uyghurs who may have tried to enter Cambodia while fleeing China but ended up in Vietnam.

“It is possible that he was one of the two Uyghurs missing in Vietnam in October 2009,” Hasan said.

Those men later tried to cross into Cambodia on their own, but ended up in Laos where one was apprehended. The whereabouts of the other man were unknown.

“I guess that the one who failed to escape has already been returned to China or is in jail in Vietnam,” Hasan said.

“The other one who escaped probably had hidden in Thailand. Maybe disaster has finally caught up with him this time.”

In addition to the repatriation of the group of Uyghurs from Cambodia, China also used its influence in May to convince Kazakh authorities to deport another Uyghur, Ershidin Israil, a former geography teacher, who was initially given refugee status by the UNHCR and accepted for resettlement by Sweden.

Source: Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Link: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/uyghur/deportation-08082011175204.html.

Russia's stealth fighter performs first demonstration flight

2012-01-24T17:00:00.003+02:00

MOSCOW (BNO NEWS) — Russia’s Sukhoi T-50 5th generation fighter performed its first demonstration flight at the 10th International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS 2011 on Wednesday, Russian agencies reported.

The flight was observed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other dignitaries who attended the MAKS show to address the participants and guests as well as to get familiarized with the exposition of Russian and foreign aerospace equipment, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

However, the pilots did not perform any aerobatic stunts aboard the new T-50 stealth fighter because the plane is still going through a series of test flights.

The T-50 aircraft, developed under the program Future Aviation System for Tactical Air Force (PAK-FA) at the Sukhoi OKB, is Russia’s first new major combat aircraft designed since the fall of the Soviet Union. Since the 1980s, the Russian Air Force has relied on aircraft which are now obsolete.

An operational fighter based on the T-50 will be put into service possibly as soon as 2015, becoming the Russian Air Force’s first stealth fighter which features low-observable technology that makes it almost impossible to detect with radar.

Like its U.S. counterpart, the F-22 Raptor, the T-50 will be able to cruise at supersonic speeds and be capable of pulling high-G maneuvers that older aircraft cannot match thanks to thrust-vectoring exhaust nozzles and a hi-tech flight control system.

The T-50 made its first flight at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur factory airfield in Siberia in January, and since then two prototypes have been undergoing flight tests at the Zhukovsky flight test center near Moscow.

MAKS is an international air show held since 1992 on Zhukovskiy Lll air field near the Russian capital of Moscow. It is one of the world’s largest air forums which its main goal is to demonstrate the latest achievement of Russian and world aviation industry.

Although it started as an entertainment event, MAKS is also important for establishing business contacts and development of industrial cooperation between Russia and foreign aerospace manufacturers.

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19524/russias-stealth-fighter-performs-first-demonstration-flight/.

Nigeria successfully launches two satellites

2012-01-24T17:00:00.000+02:00

ABUJA, NIGERIA (BNO NEWS) — Nigeria on Wednesday successfully launched two satellites into orbit on a Russian rocket, Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) said.

The two satellites – the NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X – were launched on a Russian Dnepr rocket from Yasny, which is located in southern Russia. The spacecrafts were built at SSTL in Guildford, United Kingdom, but under the Nigerian National Space Research Development Agency (NASRDA). 26 Nigerian engineers worked at the SSTL, assembling NigeriaSat-X, which weighs around 100 kilograms (220 pounds).

SSTL stated that the satellites would provide Nigeria with the ability to enhance food security through monthly crop monitoring, assist with burgeoning urban planning demands and, through the development of engineering skills, would advance the growth of new technologies in Nigeria.

Director of the National Center for Remote Sensing (NCRS) Gajere Nduke noted that the high resolution of the satellites would not only allow further development for Nigeria, but for the West African Sub-region and all of Africa. He said the NCRS would create a 1:25,000 scale map of Nigeria with the use of the satellites.

In addition, Director-General of the NASRDA, Dr. Seidu Mohammed, said key data will be made available through the satellites, supporting different sectors such as national food security as well as environmental monitoring and evaluation by making data available to the Disaster Monitoring Constellation. NASRDA engineers will control both satellites from their ground station in Abuja.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan congratulated the successful launching of the two satellites, stating that the event was a milestone which could solve different national issues through space technology.

“We will continue to emphasize investment in science and technology as a tool to drive the transformation agenda of this administration,” Jonathan stated, congratulating the “resourceful Nigerians who made this history possible.”

In 2003, Nigeria launched NigeriaSat-1, and while it has surpassed its five-year lifespan, the two new satellites are expected to replace NigeriaSat-1 to ensure data continuity.

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19525/nigeria-successfully-launches-two-satellites/.

President Chavez plans to nationalize Venezuela's gold industry

2012-01-24T16:59:00.002+02:00

CARACAS (BNO NEWS) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez announced on Wednesday that he will approve a new law to nationalize the country’s gold industry, the El Nacional newspaper reported.

“Soon I will propose a law to start taking the gold zone and I count with you, because there’s anarchy, mafia and smuggling in that zone,” Chavez said.

Chavez further stated that he has the laws which allow him to nationalize the gold industry in Venezuela, which includes exploration and exploitation of the metal as well as other related activities.

The president urged the minister of Planning and Finance, Jorge Giordani, and the president of the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV), Nelson Merentes, to speed up the process of transferring the Venezuelan gold reserves.

Giordani explained that the government’s decision to nationalize the gold reserves seeks to diversify the resources and enable them for the national economy’s development. “We are going to nationalize the gold and we are going to turn it into an international reserve, because its value keeps increasing,” he said.

Venezuela has around $12 billion in gold reserves, Chavez said. “We cannot allow them to keep taking it away.”

Chavez returned to Venezuela on Saturday after having completed a second round of chemotherapy in the Cuban capital of Havana. The left wing president has been in office since 1999 and plans to run for re-election in late 2012 despite his disease.

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19527/president-chavez-plans-to-nationalize-venezuelas-gold-industry/.

Pressure rises in Morocco after self-immolation

2012-01-24T16:52:00.005+02:00

Suicide as a form of protest has grabbed the attention of citizens and officials alike.

By Siham Ali for Magharebia in Rabat – 17/08/11

The suicide of a young Moroccan bread vendor is raising fresh concerns about freedom and reform ahead of the November 25th parliamentary elections.

Hamid Kanouni, 27, set himself on fire outside a police station in Berkane on Sunday (August 7th), stirring up a fresh debate in Morocco and evoking memories of how the suicide of another young man, Tunisia's Mohamed Bouazizi, launched the Arab Spring.

"Hamid wouldn't have set fire to himself if he didn't have good reasons for doing such a thing. It's a real sign that the supposed change hasn't happened," February 20th Movement member Zohra Meliani said. She added that people's grievances have yet to receive a practical answer, and that nothing has been done about scorn and corruption and respect for personal liberties.

But according to student Fadoua Gertouli, young people must not let their despair push them to the point of suicide.

"I can understand the fact that Hamid, after being so badly treated, felt that no-one could vindicate him, given the way that people are going unpunished. But we have to campaign and be patient in the midst of our troubles," she said.

Hmida Taji, a teacher of Islamic education, said that the suicide was a reprehensible act banned by Islam. He called on young people to be aware of this reality and not to believe that anyone using self-immolation as a form of protest can be a martyr.

The February 20th Movement is helping to transport the body from Casablanca to Fez and organize a number of protest marches, particularly in Berkane, where the incident took place. Young people are calling for people to rise up against hogra (scorn).

There were different accounts of the incident given by police and onlookers. According to eyewitnesses, the police beat and insulted the victim, seizing his bread cart following a complaint from the owner of the bakery outside which he was selling his goods.

On Tuesday (August 9th) police denied the accusations of abuse in the Hamid Kanouni incident.

The police claimed that that the man had been overwhelmed when, on leaving the police station, he discovered that his merchandise had been destroyed by an unknown party. This drove him to douse his clothes with petrol and set fire to them.

The government has not yet issued a reaction to the event. Government spokesman Khalid Naciri avoided answering questions about Kanouni at a press briefing on August 10th. Instead, he simply indicated that justice would take its course.

Self-immolation is becoming increasingly commonplace amongst marginalized youth and unemployed graduates, according to Sociologist Samira Kassimi.

"It's a form of political protest against injustice. These young people prefer to draw attention to themselves rather than remain in the shadows," she said.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/17/feature-01.

Moon younger than previously thought

2012-01-24T16:52:00.002+02:00

Copenhagen, Denmark (SPX)
Aug 18, 2011

Analysis of a piece of lunar rock brought back to Earth by the Apollo 16 mission in 1972 has shown that the Moon may be much younger than previously believed.

This is concluded in new research conducted by an international team of scientists that includes James Connelly from the Center for Star and Planet Formation, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen. Their work has just been published in Nature.

The prevailing theory of our Moon's origin is that it was created by a giant impact between a large planet-like object and the proto-Earth very early in the evolution of our solar system. The energy of this impact was sufficiently high that the Moon formed from melted material that began with a deep liquid magma ocean.

As the Moon cooled, this magma ocean solidified into different mineral components, the lightest of which floated upwards to form the oldest crust. Analysis of a lunar rock sample of this presumed ancient crust has given scientists new insights into the formation of the Moon.

Luna rock from Apollo 16
"We have analyzed a piece of lunar rock that was brought back to Earth by the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. Although the samples have been carefully stored at NASA Johnson Space Center since their return to Earth, we had to extensively pre-clean the samples using a new method to remove terrestrial lead contamination.

Once we removed the contamination, we found that this sample is almost 100 million years younger than we expected," says researcher James Connelly of the Center for Star and Planet Formation.

According to the existing theory for lunar formation, a rock type called ferroan anorthosite, also known as FAN, is the oldest of the Moon's crustal rocks, but scientists have had difficulty dating samples of this crust.

Newly-refined techniques help determine age of sample
The research team, which includes scientists from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Carnegie Institute's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism and Universite Blaise Pascal, used newly-refined techniques to determine the age of the sample of a FAN that was returned by the Apollo 16 mission and has been stored at the lunar rock collection at the NASA Johnson Space Center.

The team analyzed the isotopes of the elements lead and neodymium to place the age of a sample of a FAN at 4.36 billion years. This figure is significantly younger than earlier estimates of the Moon's age that range to nearly as old as the age of the solar system itself at 4.567 billion years.

The new, younger age obtained for the oldest lunar crust is similar to ages obtained for the oldest terrestrial minerals - zircons from Western Australia - suggesting that the oldest crust on both Earth and the Moon formed at approximately the same time.

This study is the first in which a single sample of FAN yielded consistent ages from multiple isotope dating techniques. This result strongly suggests that these ages pinpoint the time at which this sample crystallized.

The extraordinarily young age of this lunar sample either means that the Moon solidified significantly later than previous estimates - and therefore the moon itself is much younger than previously believed - or that this sample does not represent a crystallization product of the original magma ocean. Either scenario requires major revision to previous models for the formation of the Moon.

Source: Moon Daily.
Link: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Moon_younger_than_previously_thought_999.html.

What caused a giant arrow-shaped cloud on Saturn's moon Titan?

2012-01-24T16:51:00.000+02:00

Los Angeles CA (SPX)
Aug 18, 2011

Why does Titan, Saturn's largest moon, have what looks like an enormous white arrow about the size of Texas on its surface?

A research group led by Jonathan L. Mitchell, UCLA assistant professor of earth and space sciences and of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, has answered this question by using a global circulation model of Titan to demonstrate how planetary-scale atmospheric waves affect the moon's weather patterns, leading to a "stenciling" effect that results in sharp and sometimes surprising cloud shapes.

"These atmospheric waves are somewhat like the natural, resonant vibration of a wine glass," Mitchell said. "Individual clouds might 'ring the bell,' so to speak, and once the ringing starts, the clouds have to respond to that vibration."

The fascinating clouds, including arrow-shaped ones, that result from the atmospheric waves can cause intense precipitation - sometimes more than 20 times Titan's average seasonal rainfall - and could be essential in shaping Titan's surface by erosion.

The research was published Aug. 14 in the online edition of the journal Nature Geoscience and will be published in an upcoming print edition.

Mitchell and a colleague have described Titan's climate as "all-tropics" - the entire planet experiences the types of weather phenomena that on Earth are confined to the equatorial region.

"Our new results demonstrate the power of this analogy, not only for general features of Titan's climate but also for individual storms," Mitchell said. "In future work, we plan to extend our analysis to other Titan observations and make predictions of what clouds might be observed during the upcoming season.

"Titan's all-tropics climate gives us the opportunity to study tropical weather in a simpler setting than on Earth," he added. "Our hope is that this may help us understand Earth's weather in a changing climate."

NASA's Cassini Spacecraft has been in orbit around Saturn since late 2004 and has revolutionized our understanding of Titan, which is larger in volume than the planet Mercury and the second largest moon in the solar system after Jupiter's Ganymede. Titan has a thick nitrogen atmosphere and experiences rain made of natural methane gas.

"Titan is like Earth's strange sibling - the only other rocky body in the solar system that currently experiences rain," Mitchell said.

Titan is an alien world, but strangely not so different from Earth. Like Earth, the main component of its atmosphere is molecular nitrogen. Water, too, is abundant on Titan, although it is all frozen in the crust at very low temperatures.

Methane is thermodynamically active in the lower atmosphere, and much like water vapor on Earth, Titan's methane forms clouds, precipitates and is resupplied from surface sources, Mitchell said. The runoff then weathers the cold surface of Titan, creating what appears to be river patterns.

Scientists think that Earth, shortly after it formed an atmosphere, had large amounts of methane and very little oxygen. Methane provided an important greenhouse warming that probably prevented Earth from staying perpetually in a completely frozen state that otherwise would have resulted from the weaker sunlight from the very young sun, Mitchell said.

"Therefore, by studying Titan's modern climate, we may gain new insights about the way the early Earth's climate was," Mitchell said.

He and his research group have developed an atmospheric model to study the climate and cloud patterns of Titan.

Source: Saturn Daily.
Link: http://www.saturndaily.com/reports/What_caused_a_giant_arrow_shaped_cloud_on_Saturn_moon_Titan_999.html.

PLO accuses Syrian forces of 'crime against humanity'

2012-01-24T16:47:00.000+02:00

August 16, 2011

DAMASCUS/RAMALLAH: An assault by Syrian security forces on a Palestinian refugee camp in the coastal city of Latakia amounts to a crime against humanity, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization said.

Syria came under sharp Arab and international condemnation after rights activists said gunboats pounded Latakia port, forcing thousands of Palestinians to flee a refugee camp Monday.

As activists reported new deaths at the camp, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency reported that more than 5,000 refugees had fled the Ramel camp in southern Latakia under fire Monday.

"The shelling is taking place using gunships and tanks on houses built from tin, on people who have no place to run to or even a shelter to hide in," Yasser Abed Rabbo, the PLO secretary general, told Reuters. "This is a crime against humanity."

Residents of Latakia say Syrian security forces have been targeting areas where demonstrators have been protesting against President Bashar Assad’s rule.

UNRWA, the U.N. agency that cares for Palestinian refugees, Tuesday said its latest reports indicated that Ramel camp, home to 10,000 refugees, was now almost completely deserted.

UNRWA reported Monday, that four refugees had been killed and 17 wounded in the violence. "Our fear is that without access, the figures are higher, but we simply don’t know," Chris Gunness, UNRWA spokesman in Jerusalem, said.

"It’s obviously been the scene of a security or military operation. We remain extremely concerned. UNRWA needs to get in there. We need urgent humanitarian access," he said.

"Things get more and more grim and worrying by the minute. A forgotten population has now become a disappeared population," he said.

Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported Monday Palestinian factions condemned UNRWA’s statements, labeling the allegations "baseless" and a "provocation."

It said the Palestinian powers’ Alliance Factions condemned allegations of shelling at the Ramel camp, "calling for not involving the Palestinians in the latest events in Syria."

"The Palestinian factions deny what has been included in the UNRWA leadership about shelling the refugees camp in Lattakia, considering this provocation as part of attempts to harm the Syrian and Palestinian stances," official spokesman of the Palestinian Alliance said in a press statement, published by SANA.

It said Ali Mustafa, director of the Arab Palestinian Refugees General Committee called on UNRWA Commissioner General Filippo Grandi to "correct" reports claiming that the Syrian Security forces launch heavy fires inside the camp in Lattakia.

"We would like to bring your attention that what has been included in the UNRWA statement was baseless and untrue … the issue that is being tackled by the Syrian competent authorities takes place in the camp’s neighboring area," SANA reported Mustafa said in a message sent to Grandi.

The United States said it was unable to confirm reports of the Syrian navy shelling Latakia Monday, in what would amount to a dramatic escalation in its bid to crush pro-democracy protests.

"We have been unable to confirm actually the use of naval assets," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters, adding the "jury is still out" on whether or not Syrian warships opened fire.

She added there were "some inconsistencies" in the reporting on the alleged incident but did not elaborate.

"However, we are able to confirm that there is armor in the city and that there is firing on innocents again, in the pattern of carnage that you have seen in other places," she said.

Many residents were allowed to flee Latakia at dawn, but soldiers opened fire at a checkpoint, killing a man and a woman as they tried to leave Ramel, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=8&p=80561&s2=18.

Why Pakistani Military Demands a Veto on Drone Strikes

2012-01-24T16:46:00.002+02:00

By Gareth Porter

ISLAMABAD, Aug 16, 2011 (IPS) - Pakistani civilian and military leaders are insisting on an effective veto over which targets U.S. drone strikes hit, according to well-informed Pakistani military sources here.

The sources, who met with IPS on condition that they not be identified, said that such veto power over the conduct of the drone war is a central element in a new Pakistani demand for a formal government-to-government agreement on the terms under which the United States and Pakistan will cooperate against insurgents in Pakistan.

The basic government-to-government agreement now being demanded would be followed, the sources said, by more detailed agreements between U.S. and Pakistani military leaders and intelligence agencies.

The new Pakistani demand for equal say over drone strikes marks the culmination of a long evolution in the Pakistani military's attitude toward the drone war. Initially supportive of strikes that were targeting Al-Qaeda leaders, senior Pakistani military leaders soon came to realize that the drone war carried serious risks for Pakistan's war against the Pakistani Taliban.

A key turning point in the attitude of the military was the unilateral U.S. decision to focus the drone war on those Pakistani insurgents who had already decided to make peace with the Pakistani government and who opposed the war being waged by Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban against the Pakistani military.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was allowed to run the drone war almost completely unilaterally for years, according to former Pakistani military leaders and diplomats, and the Pakistani military has only mustered the political will to challenge the U.S. power to carry out drone strikes unilaterally in recent months.

Gen. Pervez Musharraf allowed the drone strikes from 2004 to 2007 in order to ensure political support from the George W. Bush administration, something Musharraf had been denied during the Bill Clinton administration, Shamshad Ahmad, who was Pakistan's foreign secretary and then ambassador to the United Nations from 1997 to 2002, told IPS.

"Those were the days when we felt that we had to work with the Americans on Al-Qaeda," recalled Gen. Asad Durrani, a former director general of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence agency (ISI), in an interview with IPS.

The choice of targets "usually was done by the U.S. unilaterally", said Durrani. Two Pakistani generals confirmed that point in a separate interview with IPS.

The Musharraf regime even went so far as to provide cover for the drone strikes, repeatedly asserting after strikes that the explosions had been caused by the victims themselves making home-made bombs.

But that effort at transparent deception by the U.S. and Musharraf quickly fell apart when drone strikes were based on faulty intelligence and killed large numbers of civilians rather than Al- Qaeda leaders.

The worst such strike was an Oct. 30, 2006 drone attack on a madrassa in Chenagai village in Bajauer agency, which killed 82 people. Musharraf, who was primarily concerned with avoiding the charge of complicity in U.S. attacks on Pakistani targets, ordered the Pakistani military to take complete responsibility for the incident.

The spokesman for the Pakistani military claimed "confirmed intelligence reports that 70 to 80 militants were hiding in a madrassa used as a terrorist training facility" and said the Pakistani military had fired missiles at the madrassa.

But eyewitnesses in the village identified U.S. drones as the source of the attack and said all the victims were simply local students of the madrassa. Local people compiled a complete list of the names and ages of all 80 victims, showing that 25 of the dead had been aged seven to 15, which was published in the Lahore daily The News International.

Senior military officers believed the CIA had other reasons for launching the strike in Bajaur. The day before the drone attack, tribal elders in Bajaur had held a public meeting to pledge their willingness to abide by a peace accord with the government, and the government had released nine tribesmen, including some militants.

Former ISI chief Durrani recalled that the strike "effectively sabotaged the chances for an agreement" in Bejaur. That was "a very clear message" from the CIA not to enter into any more such peace agreements, Durrani told IPS.

The Bejaur madrassa strike was a turning point for many officers. "So many of us went in and said this is stupid," Durrani recalled.

When Musharraf was pressured to step down as Army chief of staff, and was replaced by Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in November 2007, the unilateral character of the CIA's drone war "pretty much continued", according to Gen. Jehanger Karamat, who was ambassador to the United States from 2004 to 2006 after having retired as Army chief of staff in 1998.

The CIA's drone war became more contentious in 2008, as the Bush administration concentrated the strikes on those who had made peace with the Pakistani government. Two-thirds of the drone strikes that year were on targets associated with Jalaluddin Haqqani and Mullah Nazeer, both of whom were involved in supporting Taliban forces in Afghanistan, but who opposed attacks on the Pakistani government.

Targeting the Haqqani network and his allies posed serious risks for Pakistan. When the Pakistani Army was fighting in South Waziristan, it had its logistic base in an area that was controlled by the Haqqani group, and it had been able to count on the security of that base.

Meanwhile, ISI had given the CIA accurate information on anti- Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud's location on four occasions, but the U.S. had failed to target him, according to a May 2009 column by retired Pakistani Gen. Shaukat Qadir.

In 2009, more of the drone strikes - almost 40 percent of the total - focused on the Taliban under Mehsud, and Mehsud himself was killed, which tended to mollify the Pakistani military.

But that effect did not last long. In 2010, only three strikes were aimed at Mehsud's anti-Pakistan Taliban organization, while well over half the strikes were against Hafiz Gul Bahadur, an ally of Haqqani who had signed an agreement with the Pakistani government in September 2006 that he would not shelter any anti-Pakistani militants.

The Barack Obama administration had made a deliberate decision around mid-2010 that it didn't care if targeting the Haqqani network and other pro-Pakistani Taliban groups upset the Pakistanis, as the Wall Street Journal reported Oct. 23, 2010.

But two events caused Pakistani army chief Kayani to demand a fundamental change in U.S. policy toward the drone war.

The first was the arrest of CIA operative Raymond Davis on the charge of killing two Pakistanis in cold blood in January, which was followed by intense U.S. pressure for his release.

The second was a drone strike on Mar. 17, just one day after Davis was released, which was initially reported to have been an attack on a gathering of Haqqani network officials.

It turned out that the drone attack had killed dozens of tribal and sub-tribal elders who had gathered from all over North Waziristan to discuss an economic issue.

A former U.S. official admitted that the strike was carried out because the CIA was "angry" over the fact that Davis had been kept in prison for seven weeks. "It was retaliation for Davis," the official said, according to an Aug. 2 Associated Press story.

That strike helped galvanize the Pakistani military leadership. ISI chief Shuja Pasha took it as a slap in the face, because he had personally intervened to get Davis out of jail. Kayani shocked the Americans by issuing the first denunciation of drone strikes by an Army chief.

When Pasha went to Washington in April, he took with him the first official Pakistani demand for an equal say in drone strike decisions.

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=8&p=80557&s2=18.

HRW asks what's different post-Mubarak

2012-01-24T16:45:00.002+02:00

NEW YORK, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Prosecutors operating in Egypt under military authority aren't much better at permitting dissenting voices than the previous regime, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch said there were a large number of civilians on trial in military courts for what it said were nothing more than "major" attacks on free expression.

Human Rights Watch said military authorities prosecuted youth leader Asamaa Mahfouz for insulting the military.

"The military is using her to silence potential critics, sending the message that criticizing the current military government will land them in jail," Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

Human Rights Watch said military authorities last week questioned Mahfouz about statements posted on her Twitter account in July complaining the military wasn't doing enough to protect civilians.

As many as 43 cases similar to Mahfouz's are ongoing in military courts, the rights group said.

At least 10,000 civilians were sentenced this year in what Human Rights Watch said were unfair proceedings. All of them should be retried, the group added.

"Egypt needs to urgently review the legal framework which (deposed President Hosni) Mubarak used for years to silence his critics," concluded Stork.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/17/HRW-asks-whats-different-post-Mubarak/UPI-27011313593303/.

Two Young Chechens Saved the Lives of 23 Teenagers in the Norway Massacre

2012-01-24T15:16:00.003+02:00

Aug 18 2011

Two Chechens Movsar Jamaev and Rustam Daudov first met on Wednesday July 19, this year on the island Utøya. They quickly became good friends, and were going to dinner, when the first shots were fired on Friday, July 22 – says on its pages the well-known Norwegian newspaper “Dagbladet”.

With the prior permission of their parents, they told the reporters of this newspaper about the terrible hours spent on the island of Utoya.

“We heard the first shots and saw a group of teenagers standing near an armed man who was shooting them at a point-blank. Three of them were shot in front of us”, – said the young Chechens. “From there the two young men ran towards the woods, pulling a group of terrified Norwegian youth, who did not know how to save themselves.” 16-year-old Norwegian said he was so frightened that he could not move. “Therefore, Movsar took my arm and dragged me into the forest” – he said. From there Movsar called his father, who gave him instructions, how to behave in a similar situation.

“I have witnessed how people were shot earlier in my country by the Russian occupiers, when I was a kid. After talking with my father, I was able to pull myself together. My dad told me that I must possess myself and that I should think not only about themselves, but also about the other children on the island. He told me that I should tried to save as many as possible. “Attack on the offender should be done properly” said dad”- says Movsar.

“The murderer, dressed in the form of a police officer, shouted to us to come to him. At first I thought to do it, until I realized that he was going to kill us. Soon, he began to shoot the children who came to him, believing that he is a policeman. He did calmly and cooldbloodedly kill defenseless children.”- said Movsar. According to his friend, Rustam, they were armed with stones, decided to stop the offender. Rustam states, that both of them with stones in their hands began to move towards Anders Breivik.

“We were maybe a meter away from him and were going to throw stones at him, but he shot one of our friends. Then we threw stones at him and ran to save our lives and the lives of other children who were still alive – said Rustam. Movsar has no doubt that he got the murderer with a stone. He says that after this killer howled and shouted at him “f***ing nigger”.

After that, the young men decided to seek and rescue the remaining children. They found a cave in the rock, where they hid terrified children (a total of 23 people), among whom was even an eight-year boy. Movsar says that he carried him on his shoulders for nearly an hour.

Then they stood on duty at the cave entrance hoping to protect children. From there, they saw several young people drowning in the water. “I could not let them drown, and swam to help them. Three times I did it, but I was totally exhausted due to the cold water. I did not have the strength to save the boy, who was only ten feet from me. He drowned “. – Movsar said.

Source: The Ugly Truth.
Link: http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2011/08/18/two-young-chechens-saved-the-lives-of-23-teenagers-in-the-norway-massacre/.

Lebanon adopts law regulating smoking

2012-01-24T15:16:00.000+02:00

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Lebanon's new no-smoking law bans some tobacco advertising and requires a pictorial warning about smoking hazards on cigarette packs, officials said.

The Parliament Wednesday backed a law putting an end to smoking in all enclosed public places, including bars, restaurants, offices and airplanes, The Daily Star in Beirut reported.

The law bans tobacco advertising on billboards and in magazines, and prohibits tobacco companies from sponsoring events and music concerts. It also requires tobacco companies to print a pictorial warning covering 40 percent of the area on each pack of cigarettes.

Hotels will be allowed to set aside up to 20 percent of their rooms for smokers.

Parliament said businesses will have a set period of time to prepare for the law, although no time frame was mentioned in the report.

Officials said Lebanon was obligated to pass legislation controlling tobacco products since it signed onto the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2005.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/08/18/Lebanon-adopts-law-regulating-smoking/UPI-70311313671313/.

حراك الكرك مهاجما بيان '43': النواب جزء من الفساد

2012-01-24T15:15:00.002+02:00

2011-08-18

خبرني- هاجم الحراك الشبابي والشعبي في محافظة الكرك البيان الصادر عن 43 نائباً يصفون فيه مطلقي الهتافات خلال بعض المسيرات والاعتصامات بالخيانة وإثارة الفتنة وزعزعة الأمن والاستقرار.
وقال الحراك في بيان صادر عنه الخميس" طالعتنا الصحافة المكتوبة والمرئية والإلكترونية ببيان موقع من بعض نواب الـ (111) يعتبرون الآلاف التي اعتصمت أمام محافظة الكرك بالقلة التي لا تعبر عن إرادة الشعب وتهدف إلى زعزعة الأمن والاستقرار ".
ووصف البيان النواب بـ "جزء من متوالية الفساد والمحسوبية وأنهم نتاج سيء لقانون الصوت الواحد والدائرة الوهمية والتزوير المبرمج" .
وأكد الحراك على مطالبته بإصلاح النظام واحترام إرادة الشعب ومحاسبة الفاسدين بالقضاء المستقل كوسيلة لمنع زعزعة الأمن والاستقرار، وتابع "الاستقرار لن يكون بالعصا الغليظة ولا بالجزرة ، وإنما بإعطاء الناس حقوقهم الدستورية والسياسية ومشاركتهم بصنع القرار السياسي ورفع الوصاية عنهم كون الشعب دوماً مصدر السلطات".
ووجه الحراك تساؤلات للنواب للإجابة عليها، وهي :- هل تبرئة أصحاب الكازينو تعبيراً عن إرادة الشعب ؟
- هل تبرئة الوزراء المعروفين لشعبنا تعبيراً عن إرادتنا ؟- هل ثقة الــ (111) دامت أكثر من أربعين يوماً ؟
- هل تم فتح ملفات الفوسفات ، البوتاس ، الإتصالات ، الكهرباء، المطار … ومجموعة الكابيتال وغيرها وغيرها من اختصاص غيركم ؟؟!!!
وختم الحراك بيانه" نطمئنكم أيها النواب ان التغيير قادم لا محالة".

المصدر: خبرني.
الرابط: http://www.khaberni.com/more.php?newsid=60276.

Sadrists condemn U.S. military action

2012-01-24T15:14:00.002+02:00

KARBALA, Iraq, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Alleged movement of U.S. forces into Karbala last week was an act of terrorism that violates bilateral security arrangements, an Iraqi official said.

A lawmaker in the Sadrist political party, loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr, said U.S. forces entered parts of Karbala last week. Tariq al-Khekany told the Voices of Iraq news agency that U.S. forces spent about six hours in a Sadrist stronghold in the city.

"We condemn the said 'terrorist' operation, which stood counter to the (2008) security agreement, signed between Iraq and the United States," he was quoted as saying.

U.S. combat forces withdrew to their military bases in Iraq in June 2009 under the terms of a bilateral Status of Forces Agreement with Baghdad. That agreement left Iraqi security forces in the lead of major operations.

A series of attacks and bombings Monday killed at least 89 people. Iraqi officials blamed national security forces in part for the attacks.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during comments Tuesday said that although no group had claimed responsibility for Monday's attacks, it was likely a sign that al-Qaida in Iraq was "trying to assert itself."

Iraqis are considering whether some U.S. forces would stay beyond a Dec. 31 deadline to withdraw. Sadrists blame the U.S. military presence for many of the country's problems.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/17/Sadrists-condemn-US-military-action/UPI-79211313590570/.

Belarus may get gas discount from Russia

2012-01-24T15:13:00.002+02:00

MOSCOW, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Belarus could get a discount on natural gas prices for 2012, though Gazprom stressed market conditions were tough.

Inflation in Belarus is in the double digits and the country's president in June threatened to close the borders if there were a fiscal emergency. Minsk blamed rising prices of natural gas from Russia for some of its economic woes.

A gas discount from Russia would expire this year, after which natural gas prices will be pegged to market conditions.

Putin said Minsk would start to get a better gas price formula starting next year, noting the matter was tied to Gazprom taking on the remaining 50 percent stake in Belorussian gas transportation company Beltransgaz, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports.

Alexei Miller, the chief executive officer at Gazprom, said negotiations could begin as early as September and new contracts could be signed by the end of the year.

"Hydrocarbon market conditions are hard for consumers," he stressed. "Gas prices are high and it is tough for former USSR republics, including Belarus."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/16/Belarus-may-get-gas-discount-from-Russia/UPI-19541313497896/.

Iran, Kurds to work to combat PJAK

2012-01-24T15:10:00.000+02:00

TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Iran and Kurdish officials in Iraq have plans to set up a joint committee to fight Kurdish rebels along their border, an Iranian official said.

Hassan Danaifar, the Iranian envoy to Baghdad, said delegates from Tehran discussed forming an action plan with authorities in the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq to combat the guerrilla campaign of the Party for Free Life of Kurdistan, or PJAK, Iran's state-funded broadcaster Press TV reports.

Danaifar added that high-ranking military officials from both sides would work to establish the committee.

Iranian officials have acknowledged sending troops to the border region and moving across the Iraqi border allegedly in pursuit of PJAK gunmen. Baghdad expressed frustration over Iranian action against PJAK, though Kurdish leaders told Iranian media recently that PJAK militancy presents a serious security concern in the region.

PJAK is considered a close affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which was blamed for killing Turkish soldiers near the border with Iraq in July.

Reports from Turkish news agency Today's Zaman say Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech marking the 10th anniversary of his Justice and Development Party that Ankara's patience with the PKK was wearing thin.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/08/16/Iran-Kurds-to-work-to-combat-PJAK/UPI-39591313515829/.

Allowing cats to hide may help relax them

2012-01-22T17:58:00.003+02:00

BRISBANE, Australia, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Allowing cats to hide may play an important role in having them relax, a University of Queensland researcher suggests.

Honors student Mark Owens' project focuses on the behavior and welfare of domestic cats in shelters.

Working in the Centre of Animal Welfare and Ethics, Owens studied 37 cats over seven days for their behaviors and emotions, which indicate if they are feeling stressed, anxious, frustrated or content.

"Welfare is a major issue in many countries for animals that are kept in cages, shelters and captive environments like zoos," Owens says in a statement.

Half of the cats Owens is observing are provided with a hiding box, and the remaining cats are in open view.

"A big part of my research is whether hiding provides a certain type of enrichment for cats in stressful situations," Owens says. "Unfortunately I am not sitting in a room playing and watching cats, I have prerecorded the cats for 24 hours over seven days, and have just finished coding their behaviors on the videos."

A cat's position in the cage, its posture and certain escape behaviors are all observations that contribute to identifying its emotions, stress levels and ability to adapt to their environment, Owens says.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/08/17/Allowing-cats-to-hide-may-help-relax-them/UPI-76901313560531/.

Chinese turbine maker enters Irish project

2012-01-22T17:58:00.000+02:00

DUBLIN, Ireland, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Chinese wind turbine maker XEMC Group has forged a strategic partnership with Irish renewables firm Gaelectric Holdings, the companies announced this week.

Under the deal, Gaelectric will work with XEMC to develop three onshore wind farms in Ireland totaling 13.6 megawatts, worth a combined $26 million, Gaelectric Chief Executive Brendan McGrath told reporters at a Monday signing ceremony in Dublin.

"With the backing of XEMC's industrial strength and technological capacity and their track record and commitment to long term relationships, we are confident that Gaelectric's portfolio of wind farm sites will be realized to the highest commercial and technical standards," he said.

The deal marks the European debut of turbines made by the state owned XEMC Group of Hunan, China, which says it has 820 of its XE series direct-drive, permanent magnet generator, or PMG, wind turbines installed in China.

Another key element of the deal, McGrath said, is that XEMC will co-develop Gaelectric's remaining wind energy projects in Ireland and the United States.

Initially, the agreement covers three onshore farms at Roosky in County Roscommon, Leabeg in County Offaly and Crowinstown in Westmeath, Ireland, the companies said.

McGrath said his March visit to China satisfied him that XEMC had a sufficient commitment to research and development, which "combines Dutch engineering design and pedigree with Chinese industrial power."

Together, he said, the companies "share a vision for the significant opportunities from offshore wind energy generation on which we are already working closely together."

"Gaelectric's pipeline of wind farm projects in key locations in Ireland and the U.S., combined with our shared focus on innovation in renewable energy technologies, makes us ideal allies in co-developing Gaelectric's portfolio of renewable power projects," XEMC Group Chairman Zhou Jianxiong told reporters.

The Irish Industrial Development Agency called the XEMC-Gaelectric partnership an important development in the history of Chinese-Irish business cooperation, the Irish technology news Web site SiliconRepublic.com reported.

It said XEMC is putting its research and development emphasis on its PMG technology -- a prototype of its new 5-megawatt turbine has been installed at a test center in the Netherlands.

Gaelectric, established in 2004, has assets and projects under development in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and North America, including up to 3,000 megawatts of wind power projects in the U.S. state of Montana. The company says the first of its farms there, a 430-megawatt effort, is to be commissioned in 2014 or 2015.

Gaelectric announced in March it had secured planning approval for 42-megwatt wind farm at Dunbeg in Northern Ireland's County Derry, which it built for $98 million.

It called Dunbeg "one of the most significant wind farm developments on the island of Ireland," generating enough renewable power to meet the electricity demand of 24,000 homes.

The big wind farm will consist of 14 wind turbines with a maximum hub height of 260 feet and a maximum blade diameter of 295 feet, the company said.

The project had initially been quashed by the Northern Ireland Planning Service because Dunbeg, between Coleraine and Limavady, Northern Ireland, was designated as a scenic preserve, The Irish Times reported.

But an appellate commission subsequently overruled the planning shouldn't stand in the way of green energy projects, the newspaper said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/08/17/Chinese-turbine-maker-enters-Irish-project/UPI-25531313576520/.

Top Israeli singer suspected of mob ties

2012-01-22T17:57:00.002+02:00

TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Popular Israeli singer Margalit Tzanani was arrested by police for alleged ties to a local mobster and extorting a music agent over a debt, police said.

The Rishon Lezion Magistrates court Wednesday extended Tzanani's remand for an additional nine days, Israel Radio reported.

On Tuesday, Tzanani, 58, and several members of the alleged crime organization headed by mob kingpin Amir Mulner were arrested.

Police said Tzanani, who also plays a judge on the Israeli TV series "Star is Born," accused her agent, Assaf Atadegi, of failing to pay a debt and allegedly turned to members of Mulner's organization to help resolve the dispute, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israel Radio said police suspect Tzanani approached other underworld figures.

Police suspect Tzanani believed Atadegi also owed her royalties from a young singer they represent who appeared on the talent show series, Ynetnews.com reported.

Tzanani allegedly admitted she hired an arbitrator to settle the disagreement, but said it was done in full agreement with Atadegi, Ynetnews.com said.

The Web site said Tzanani denied the charges and told police she did not hire criminals and is not familiar with the underworld.

Tuesday's arrest culminated a two-month undercover investigation by the National Economic Crimes Unit and Lahav 433, which allegedly had members of Mulner's organization and Tzanani under surveillance, the Post said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Music/2011/08/17/Top-Israeli-singer-suspected-of-mob-ties/UPI-41281313582685/.

India's Anti-Corruption Figurehead Arrested

2012-01-22T17:56:00.002+02:00

By Shannon Liao
August 16, 2011

New Delhi police detained the figurehead of India’s anti-corruption movement on Tuesday, the day he was to start a hunger strike unto death or until the Indian government agreed to pass strong anti-corruption legislation.

The arrest of Gandhian social activist, Anna Hazare, 73, sent thousands of supporters into the streets to protest. India Against Corruption (IAC), the organization behind the protests, reported that 10,000 people joined demonstrations in 20 locations across India resulting in 2,500 arrests. Hours after the arrests, the roughly 1,100 detained protesters in Mumbai were released, reported the Hindustan Times.

Hazare and IAC are demanding that the government adopt the Jan Lokpal Bill—an anti-corruption bill drafted by ministers, legal experts, and civil society designed to stop corruption, resolve grievances, and protect whistle-blowers.

The bill calls for a central government institution called Lokpal whose members would be appointed by judges and would be supervised by the Cabinet secretary and the Election Commission. Under the bill, corruption whistle-blowers would receive protection for their efforts.

The Indian government drafted its own version of the bill, which activists consider too weak to be effective. The activists’ version gives Lokpal more authority and extends the maximum punishment for corruption from seven years to a life sentence.

Chairman of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International India, P.S. Bawa, said in a statement on the organization’s website that the government shouldn’t ignore activists’ complaints about the bill because they have a lot of validity.

Hazare declared that he would start fasting on Aug. 16 until the Jan Lokpal Bill passed, according to a letter he wrote to the Indian prime minister on Aug. 14. He had also told the PM that fellow activists would join him.

“I and my team are ready to give our lives away,” wrote Hazare. According to his letter, the plan was to practice civil disobedience until the bill is passed, even if they are arrested for illegal protests and have to protest from jail cells.

On June 5, Swami Ramdev, a renowned yoga guru, was arrested, a day after he began an indefinite fast in support of the Lokpal Bill.

“The country is today ridden by corruption,” states the Lokpal Bill Public Consultation website. “What we need is an effective and independent institutional mechanism for tackling the malaise of corruption in this country. That institution is the Jan Lokpal.”

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/indias-anti-corruption-figurehead-arrested-60463.html.

Haiti: Little Rain But Troubles Remain

2012-01-22T17:55:00.002+02:00

By Giordano Cossu & Elodie Vialle
August 16, 2011

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—In early August, several western media turned to storm Emily and its threatening arrival to Haiti. Eventually it lost power and did not cause the expected damage. As a result, Haiti disappeared once again from the headings, pushed away by other news.

Yet living conditions are still deplorable in the country: living under tarps surrounded by rubble since the earthquake, no access to proper health care, employment or education, and plagued by insecurity. Whether the storm came or not, Haiti is devastated and far from any acceptable level of reconstruction.

A Haitian joke says that when a storm approaches Haiti, it looks at the country from the sky. Seeing its terrible conditions it says, “Ah, I must have already been here,” and it steers away. This is what storm Emily may have thought when it reached the coasts of Haiti last week: in Port-au-Prince, only a light rain was recorded.

"The international opinion only turns its eyes to Haiti when a disaster is looming over us," says Maryse, a woman living in Pacot, to the east of Port-au-Prince, adding that several Haitians grin ironically at this attention as their day-to-day struggles are forgotten.

Cholera

The authorities and international organizations also fear a surge in cholera cases as a consequence of rising water levels and the lack of drinkable water for over 600,000 people who are still living in makeshift camps, 18 months after the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake. Cholera has already resulted in nearly 6,000 victims in Haiti since its arrival last October.

Gabriel Thimothé, general director of the Health Ministry, insisted on the priorities to be tackled in partnership with the World Health Organization: providing free drinkable water to the population; and preventing water contamination as well as the overflow of latrines. This might ease the further spread of the disease in a country where hygienic conditions are appalling, and waste treatment is virtually nonexistent.

Security

Just as the latest news about storm Emily was announced at the National Center of Emergency Operations to Haitian and international organizations and the media, repeated gunshots were heard a few meters from the compound. The emergency center is located near Parc Jean Marie Vincent, one of the largest tent camps in Port-au-Prince with tens of thousands of disaster victims living there. The number has gradually decreased over time from the original 48,000, specifically because of security issues.

In June 2010, the camp had been subject to a clean-up mission by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) and Haitian police evicted criminal gangs who used it as their base. Yet in spite of those efforts, violent incidents remain frequent, as larger and smaller gangs use the camp as a base for criminal activities. In a survey taken last December, 68 percent of people said that they did not feel safe in the camp.

At the sound of the gunshots, some 20 inhabitants of the area quickly found refuge inside the compound while other passersby scattered in all directions. “It’s only sporadic, roughly three days per week,” explained the police guard at the gate, without stress.

“Some gangs shoot around to intimidate the people. Wait 10 minutes before leaving, and then drive as fast as you can, without stopping” he advises the journalists who came here for the press conference on storm Emily. Bullets are part of the day on this side of Port-au-Prince.

Among those who have found refuge in the compound, Augustine, a young mother carrying her infant in her arms, looked scared as she did not want to go back to her tent for fear of the thugs who spread terror within the population. The risk of rain and flooding, for them, is clearly their last worry now.

Unemployment

Even in quieter areas, those living in camps find it difficult to meet their basic needs. Most have no job and struggle to feed their families. The world thinks that plastic sheets and tarps were donated to those in need, but in fact the great majority of those in the camps had to buy them. Second-hand of course, often already ripped apart and offering only minimal shelter from sun, wind, and rain.

Joseph, 49 years old, living in the camp at Canapé Vert, paid 500 gourdes (US$12) for each of the five sheets that give shelter to him and his family. He makes flower arrangements for funerals, but he sells very little since the earthquake. He spent the whole day in Carrefour (about one hour from Port-au-Prince) unsuccessfully looking for clients.

“No way I can be ready for the storm. I have no means. We just tightened the ropes around the tent,” he says, adding complaints about “the absence of the authorities who left us alone.”

Political deadlock

Haitian President Michel Martelly did send warnings to the homeless in the camps. He encouraged people living in the lower-ground of the city to move up to the hills. Martelly was recently inaugurated as president but is still struggling to form a new government due to harsh contrasts with the Inite opposition party who has majority in the Senate. This political deadlock contributes to creating tensions amid the feeling that the state is not in control, hence no strong actions or reforms are being employed despite election promises.

Lack of Resources

All those living in the camps would certainly like to move out to a safer area; where to go is their dilemma.

“We don’t know where to go, and we are afraid that we will not find our tents and things again when we come back,” confides 27-year-old Anouza, mother of two girls aged 13 and 11 and a young boy aged 4, pointing to the small tent, ripped on the side, where they all live. The school year re-opens in September, but she has no money to send her two girls to school, just like the majority of families in the camps. In a country in desperate need for the younger generations to take the lead for a better future, the lack of free education accessible to the poor represents a handicap for decades to come.

If Emily closely missed Haiti, what if the next hurricane does take a toll on the country? According to OCHA, the U.N. humanitarian agency, between 200 and 300 emergency sites (for 30,000 to 50,000 people) were available to host earthquake victims if a forced evacuation by the Haitian Civil Protection became necessary. However, the list is still not consolidated as inspections at these sites are still ongoing, which raises concerns about the effectiveness of emergency evacuation procedures.

When compared with the 600,000 still living under tents and tarps, these figures appear largely insufficient. The Haitian population can still pray “Bondye” (the Good Lord) that the next hurricane, too, will take compassion on them and stay away from their country. Because nobody else seems to have the will and strength to seriously address the structural issues of post-earthquake Haiti.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/haiti-little-rain-but-troubles-remain-60442-all.html.

Algerian harragas caught off Annaba coast

2012-01-22T17:54:00.000+02:00

2011-08-16

Annaba coast guard (GTCC) officers on Monday (August 15th) intercepted a boat carrying 23 Algerian harragas, El Watan reported. Two women and three children, including an 18-month-old baby, were among the illegal immigrants from Annaba, Algiers, El Tarf and Batna. They were headed to Sardinia when they were stopped several miles off El Tarf's Chatt Beach.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/16/newsbrief-07.

Police disperse Tunis protests

2012-01-22T17:53:00.003+02:00

2011-08-16

Tunisian security forces on Monday (August 15th) used tear gas to disperse protests in Tunis, TAP reported. The Tunisian General Labor Union (UGTT) organized a large rally to demand that the interim government respect the principles of the revolution and undertake judicial and legislative reforms. When lawyers protesting separately outside the Justice Ministry attempted to join the UGTT march on Mohamed V Avenue, police intervened. According to TAP, protestors were prevented from filming the clashes with their mobile phones.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/newsbriefs/general/2011/08/16/newsbrief-05.

Difficult Ramadan for Libyan refugees in Tunisia

2012-01-22T17:53:00.000+02:00

Forced from their homeland by Kadhafi's battalions, Libyan refugees in Tunisia are struggling to find peace during the holy month.

By Monia Ghanmi for Magharebia in Tunis – 16/08/11

Libyans in Tunisia have little to celebrate this Ramadan. Thousands of stranded refugees are being forced to spend the holy month away from home, as the war enters into its seventh month.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that it planned to distribute free Ramadan meals to more than 55,000 Libyan refugees, including 11,000 families, in the Tunisian wilayas of Medenine, Tataouine, Kebili and Sfax.

The food consists of basic items such as cooking oil, milk, eggs, cheese, and dough-based products along with vegetables or dates, according to UNHCR representative Maness Ghanem. He explained that the aid organization would provide support to Tunisian families hosting Libyan refugees, helping them deal with the costs of electricity and water. The UN official added that some 800 families from Tataouine wilaya have already benefited from assistance.

Despite efforts to aid the displaced families, some Libyans in Tunisia have criticized the level of assistance. Libyans interviewed by Magharebia said that the food provided could not restore the Ramadan atmosphere from Libya before the revolution.

"I only obtained several kilograms of dates, a few liters of oil and a little rice and macaroni," Younis Abd Allah Assayar said, adding that it was not enough for his three-member family.

He said that he felt bitterness and anguish when he saw his iftar table missing fruit, milk, honey and Libyan sweets associated with Ramadan. He said he has not received his pension in four months and must rely on aid organizations to provide for his family's needs.

Libyan Jannet Mediane, who fled the village of Al Majabira, said that despite her new friendships in Tunisia, she was struggling to create a Ramadan air similar to that in her homeland.

She added that what she missed most about her home was "the dish bazin, the foremost popular food in Libya and the main meal in the month of Ramadan, which the iftar table cannot be without for Libyans".

"I discovered that the customs of Tunisian society are no different from what exists in Libya, but in truth, I found it difficult to cope with some of the meals provided to us, yet we thank God," she said.

Normally, the Libyan Ramadan table is filled of many types of dishes, including bazin, couscous and boric. But this year, refugees are forced to mark the holy month not at home but in temporary shelters or with host families across southern Tunisia.

"It is true that Ramadan this year is very different from others and we are suffering, but we must be patient and call for victory for the rebels during this holy month until we get rid of the tyrant and return to our homes safe and sound," said Abid Arifi.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/08/16/feature-03.

Iran's Green Movement Lie

2012-01-22T17:51:00.002+02:00

February 20, 2011

Shirin Sadeghi
Host, New America Now. Former producer, the BBC and Al Jazeera.

The Iranian people have been in the streets for decades. The big moments are crystallized in media memory -- 1979, 1999, 2009, and now. There are people in the streets in Iran this week, as they were last week. They do not want an Islamic Republic of Iran. They want Iran.

In 2009, it was declared all across the international media that these people -- young, old, men, women -- are part of an organized movement called the Green Movement. "Iran's Green Revolution" flashed across cable news networks and front pages worldwide.

Immediately, in the moments, then days, weeks, and now years of the discontent surrounding the election dispute, this green thing -- the scarves, the flags, the color, the word -- suddenly appeared in the protests and from the mouths of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi and other figures who ultimately did not secure a win in the presidential election against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

And then the phrase "where is my vote?" appeared. In English. On placards and posters, and t-shirts, and buttons.

You haven't seen any of this behavior in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen -- anywhere where similar anti-government protests have taken place in the last month. It is not how people protest -- they don't get together and name their revolution, then color it, and choose a catchphrase for it, then pour into the streets to let everyone know.

It didn't happen in Iran either.

The millions -- and there were millions -- who were in the streets in 2009 could care less about the Green Movement -- in 2009 or today. They want rid of the Islamic regime -- whether it is Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, or the old guard of Mousavi, Karroubi and the "Greens" who were and still are, so powerful in the Islamic establishment.

The Green leadership is a morally-compromised faction of the establishment -- as any other element of the establishment -- that wants power in an Islamic Republic of Iran, but cannot seem to get it or regain it because old friends have become new enemies in the regime.

As their individual histories and powerful political records have clearly reflected, they are not secular, they are not democratic, and they do not care about the inherent rights of the Iranian people, let alone see them as a priority.

For most Iranians, the Green Movement is what the international media is calling the massive mobilization to dismantle the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Even outside of Iran, if you attend rallies claiming to be of the Green Movement, many of them are actually rallies against the Islamic regime. Some of the speakers openly address the fact that the Iranians do not want more figures from that regime, they do not want the Green Movement's leaders, they want the whole regime to be replaced with a government that is elected by the people.

And yet, the irony is that while so many Iranians say this, they know, and so does the US State Department and the UK Foreign Office and the other governments who support the Green leaders, that the Iranian people are so miserable, so trapped in a nation overtaken by Islamists and their massively powerful military and security complex, that they will accept the Greens.

Iranians will accept them -- there is no other option anymore. The hope is that change -- any change -- will finally open the door to serious reform. In a poverty so deep as that which the Iranian soul has experienced in the last 32 years, hope is the only chance for survival.

But Iranians are not nearly as politically and internationally naïve as they were in 1979 and 1999. After the current Green Leader, former President Mohammad Khatami, crushed the student protests of 1999, refusing to support the students, many of whom died or suffered in the violent prisons of the Islamic Republic, everyone in Iran realized that the Islamic Republic's establishment -- a boy's club of unshorn Islamists, many of whom are actually clerics -- has not produced individuals who care about changing Iran into a government that represents the people.

In the last 32 years, any individual who displayed any loyalty to the people of Iran above the Islamic Republic has been eliminated. Anyone who could have been a sincere leader of the people -- a person who valued inherent rights, a person whose religion did not supersede the people's needs -- that person was not allowed to live. So there remains no one powerful but those from the regime. The Green Leaders know this very well.

But what they don't know -- and the reason they shuffled into the background when they didn't get the power they wanted -- is that in this Internet age, in this age when Iranians are some of the most educated and knowledgeable people in the world, they do not need a leader to change their country. They are doing it themselves in the streets.

Listen to them this year as compared with 2009 -- they are no longer merely denouncing Ahmadinejad -- they are denouncing the system itself.

They have been shouting "down with the system", "down with the velayat-e faqih." Iranians have for millennia been of different tribes, religions and ethnicities but they have always survived as a nation. They do not want this 'velayat-e faqih' system -- rulership of the supreme Islamic cleric, to put it simply -- which is the foundation of power of the Islamic Republic establishment and the Green Leaders.

So as you watch the new protests -- these demonstrations that were inspired by recent Arab revolts which were in turn inspired by Iran's earlier demonstrations -- remember this: the Iranian people do not want the Islamic Republic, whatever shade it comes in.

They want a government of the people, for the people, and by the people. When the Green Leaders win the power they have sought for years -- and they will eventually win -- they will not be off the hook, because the people want real change, not another game of musical chairs.

Source: Huffington Post.
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shirin-sadeghi/irans-green-movement-lie_b_825737.html.

Dangerous Voyage To Site of Israeli Attack on USS Liberty

2012-01-22T17:50:00.002+02:00

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

by Ann Wright

At the site, Toenjes will be holding a memorial service honoring those killed on the USS Liberty by the Israeli military.

Larry Toenjes, 74, from Clear Lake Shores, Texas, is sailing his 39-foot sailboat, the s/v Liberty, to the coordinates of the June 8, 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty that killed 34 sailors and wounded another 173. 207 were killed or wounded out of the 294 on board the USS Liberty in the 90 minute attack by strafing attack planes and torpedoes. At the site, Toenjes will be holding a memorial service honoring those killed on the USS Liberty by the Israeli military.

Toenjes is a 5 year Coast Guard veteran with a PhD in economics. He worked for years in the Bureau of Budget in the state government of Illinois and upon moving to Texas in 1983, taught at the University of Texas in Austin and was a research professor at the University of Texas.

Toenjes and Joe and Sherrie Wagner, his 2 person crew also from Texas, set sail from Texas in July. They have sailed over 7,000 miles and are currently in Malta. According to Joe Meadors, the President of the USS Liberty Veterans Association (www.usslibertyveterans.org), Toenjes has Egyptian government permission to travel in Egyptian territorial waters to the site of the attack.

A Call for Congress to Listen to the Survivors of the Israeli Attack on the USS Liberty

Toenjes said: “I do not intend to go near Gaza. All I intend to do is exercise my right as an American citizen to proceed to a point in international waters where a grave injustice was perpetrated against US sailors and express my dismay that that injustice is being extended by the failure of Congress to have the “courage” to listen to what these men have to say. Members of Congress never seem to miss an opportunity to say to a service man or woman, “We thank you for your service!” It seems, however, that their service is not to be acknowledged if it would have the effect of embarrassing the State of Israel and the pro-Israel Lobby here in the US.”

Meadors said Toenjes told him he is considering mooring at the coordinates of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty for a few weeks. Toenjes will be staying well clear of the coordinates of the Israeli blockade of Gaza as published in the Israeli Notices to Mariners, but Meadors said contact with the Naval Attaché’s office in the US Embassy, Tel Aviv had not produced written assurances from the Israeli government that Toenjes will not be harassed or attacked by the Israeli military, even though Toenjes will be in Egyptian waters.

US Embassy Refuses to Send a Delegation to the Ceremony

Meadors has been assisting Toenjes in getting the US Embassy in Tel Aviv to be concerned about the safety of Toenjes. He said the US Embassy in Tel Aviv has been invited to attend the ceremony but that representatives have refused to send an official delegation to rendezvous with the s/v Liberty and attend the memorial service because “they cannot find a single vessel in all of Israel that is capable of making the trip.”

Meadors added, “You know as well as we do that the last thing the US government wants to do is to send an official to attend a memorial service honoring the 34 of our shipmates who were killed in action during the attack on the USS Liberty (because of the U.S. Government cover-up of the Israeli attack). We want the Naval Attaché to convey to American Embassy officials in Israel that their refusal to attend the memorial service for Americans who were killed on the USS Liberty is unacceptable and not in keeping with the way America treats its honored dead.”

Meadors said that he also has invited the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to send an official representative to attend the memorial service.

Letter of Concern for Toenjes’ Safety from President of the USS Liberty Veterans

On August 10, 2011, Meadors wrote an extensive letter to Assistant Naval Attaché Lieutenant Commander Jason K. Edgington at the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel giving details of the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty 44 years ago and his concern for the safety of Larry Toenjes.

Given our history with the US Navy, the US government and the Israeli government I’m sure you will understand when I tell you that your reassurances do nothing to quell our concerns for Larry’s safety and the sanctity of the memorial service for our fallen shipmates.

If you will recall your US Navy history you will remember that our skipper, Capt. McGonagle, recognized the potential danger involved in working at the station to which we were sailing. He asked the Sixth Fleet for a destroyer escort but that request was denied because we were “a clearly identified US Navy ship.”

Further, the Israeli government did not issue any NOTMARS to inform ships sailing in the area of any danger.

When we were attacked, two flights of Sixth Fleet aircraft that had been launched to come to our assistance were both recalled while we were still under attack and calling for help which allowed the Israelis to continue their attack for over an hour more unhampered by the threat of Sixth Fleet intervention. To this day the US government has refused to conduct an investigation of the attack on our ship despite accounts of USS Liberty survivors telling them that we were attacked by unmarked aircraft, that our radios were jammed on both US Navy tactical and international maritime distress frequencies, that our life rafts were deliberately machine gunned in the water and that the torpedo boats slowly circled our burning and torpedoed ship while firing from close range at Liberty crewmen who ventured topside to help our wounded shipmates. More information about the attack on our ship is available at usslibertyveterans.org files/Docs.pdf. I would like to specifically direct you to the War Crimes Report we filed with the Department of Defense (DOD). To date they refuse to investigate the allegations contained in that report and they refuse to send a spokesperson to USS Liberty reunions to explain their actions vis-à-vis our War Crimes Report.

Move to May, 2010 and the Freedom Flotilla. The Israelis issued no NOTMARS closing any areas near where the Freedom Flotilla was sailing. Regardless, the Israelis intercepted the Freedom Flotilla some 60 miles from shore, attacked the Flotilla and killed 9 passengers – one an American citizen. This elicited not a single word of concern from the US government despite the fact that one of the vessels was of American registry.

Just this year the Israelis intercepted, boarded and impounded the French ship Dignite as it participated in Freedom Flotilla 2. That was done in international waters well clear of the coordinates provided by the Israelis for their blockade of Gaza and very near to the coordinates of the attack on the USS Liberty. They did this without issuing any NOTMARS closing the area.

That said, I am sure you will understand that your reassurances to the contrary we do not have any confidence whatsoever that Larry will be allowed to proceed to the coordinates and conduct the memorial service absent any harassment from the Israeli government. Despite his being well outside the area defined by the Israeli government as the boundaries of their blockade of Gaza and despite the s/v Liberty being a US flagged and registered vessel he will be harassed by the Israeli Navy to the extent that his vessel will be boarded and impounded by the Israeli Navy and the US government will do absolutely nothing either to prevent it or to assist Larry in getting the Liberty released from Israeli custody.

In closing, let me respectfully submit that the reason I believe the US government will not provide an official to represent them during the memorial service is not because they cannot find a single vessel in all of Israel capable of making the trip as they claim but because they know the s/v Liberty will be intercepted, boarded and impounded by the Israeli Navy (even in Egyptian waters).

Warmest regards,

Joe
Joseph L. Meadors
USS Liberty Survivor
President
USS Liberty Veterans Association

Israeli Military Attacks on Vessels in International Waters

The Israeli military’s history of attacking ships in international waters extends from 1967 to the present. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, a vessel carrying a Nobel Peace Laureate and a US Congresswoman was rammed and seriously damaged. Six ships in the 2010 Gaza flotilla were attacked with eight Turkish citizens and one American citizen executed by Israeli commandos and over 50 wounded. A seventh ship in June, 2010 was attacked, as well as another boat in September, 2010. In April, 2011, a cargo ship came under a barrage of bullets from the IDF, but, with the help of the Egyptian navy returned into Egyptian waters. In June, 2011, one ship out of ten in the Gaza flotilla escaped the Israeli diplomatic offensive that resulted in a Greek government ban on ships sailing from Greece to Gaza. It was forcefully boarded by the IDF and taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod...

Source: Veterans Today.
Link: http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/08/16/texas-man-making-dangerous-voyage-to-site-of-1967-israeli-attack-on-the-uss-liberty/.

China successfully launches maritime satellite

2012-01-22T17:49:00.002+02:00

Taiyuan, China (XNA)
Aug 17, 2011

China successfully launched a maritime satellite at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China at 6:57 a.m. Tuesday Beijing Time.

The orbiter, Haiyang-2, was boosted by a Long March-4B carrier rocket from the launch center in the city of Taiyuan in Shanxi Province.

The satellite is for the supervision and survey of the maritime environment, an important measure for prevention and reduction of maritime disasters.

China launches Haiyang-2 maritime satellite

Beijing (RIA Novosti) China launched a rocket carrying a Haiyang-2 (Ocean-2) maritime satellite early on Tuesday, the Xinhua agency said.

The Long March-4B rocket carrying orbiter Haiyang-2 lifted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province.

The satellite was developed by the Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST).

"The Haiyang-2 satellite is for the supervision and survey of maritime environment, an important measure for prevention and reduction of maritime disasters," Xinhua said.

Using the space remote-sensing technology to monitor China's 3 million square kilometers of sea area is very important and necessary for safeguarding the ocean rights and interests of China, CAST said.

This was the 144th launch of Chinese Long March rockets.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/China_successfully_launches_maritime_satellite_999.html.

NASA Plans to Visit a Near-Earth Asteroid

2012-01-22T17:48:00.002+02:00

by Dauna Coulter for NASA Science News
Huntsville AL (SPX)
Aug 17, 2011

In a few years a NASA spacecraft will seek the building blocks of life in a shovelful of asteroid dirt. The OSIRIS-REx1 spacecraft, targeted for launch in September 2016, will intercept asteroid 1999 RQ36, orbit it for a year, and then reach out a robotic arm to touch its surface.

"We call it 'touch and go,'" explains principal investigator Michael Drake of the University of Arizona. "OSIRIS-REx will approach the surface at 0.1 m/sec (only 0.2 mph, less than a tenth of walking pace) and, without landing, stretch out its arm equipped with a sample collector. We'll simply agitate the asteroid's surface with ultra-pure nitrogen to stir up material for capture."

Asteroids appear to be as lifeless as Yorick's skull, yet material captured from 1999 RQ36 could hold clues to life's origin on Earth.

Some scientists believe Earth's surface was sterilized2 soon after the planet was formed some 4.5 billion years ago. Planetoids and other debris left over from the genesis of planets pummeled Earth, turning it into a cratered wasteland. The tremendous kinetic energy from the collisions heated Earth to the boiling point.

"Earth at 'time zero' had a steam atmosphere that was wrung out to make a boiling hot ocean," says Drake. "Imagine standing on a lava lake in Hawaii, but it's a planet-wide, 600 mile deep lake. You and everything else, including any organics and any one-celled organisms, would be converted to carbon dioxide and water. Gone."

In this scenario, an infusion of organics from elsewhere might be required to ignite life here. The building blocks for life on our planet may have come, at least in part, from asteroids.

"Observations by ground-based telescopes suggest that asteroid 1999 RQ36 has a wealth of carbon-based compounds, but we don't know exactly what is there. Are there amino acids? To find out, we need to bring a sample home where we have sophisticated, exquisitely precise instruments, plus the ability to react to new discoveries."

Obtaining that sample is a key part of OSIRIS-REx's mission.

Upon reaching 1999 RQ36 in 2019, the spacecraft's suite of cameras and instruments will spend a year photographing the asteroid and measuring its surface topography, composition, and thermal emissions while its radio provides mass and gravity field maps. This information will increase our understanding of asteroids as well as help the mission team select the most promising sample site.

Like the ancient Egyptian god Osiris, the OSIRIS-REx mission is associated with death as well as life, with both our destiny and our origin. That's because 1999 RQ36 is the Near Earth Object "Most Likely to Succeed" - in affecting our destiny, that is. It has a 1/1800 chance of hitting Earth by the 22nd century.

Evidence suggests that a 6-mile wide asteroid smashed into Earth about 65 million years ago, wiping out the dinosaurs and altering the history of life. Instead of dinosaurs prevailing, mammals flourished, evolving into humans.

"We're the first species that can mitigate asteroid extinction," notes Drake. "With enough information, we can project the orbit of a threatening asteroid."

If researchers can track an NEO's precise path, they can devise a way to nudge the object out of a collision course with Earth. OSIRIS-REx wil help NASA learn to navigate near an asteroid, laying the groundwork for landing on one. That could be pretty tricky, considering asteroids like 1999 RQ36 have so little gravity.

"If you simply pushed your finger into the surface, you'd fly off into space, disappear, and never come back!"

OSIRIS-REx, however, will hang close, and its cameras will give us window seats to watch its delicate sampling maneuvers. The mission team plans near-live coverage of the operations. But the real action starts, says Drake, when the sample is returned to Earth in 2023...

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_Plans_to_Visit_a_Near_Earth_Asteroid_999.html.

SpaceX plans November test flight to space station

2012-01-22T17:47:00.003+02:00

Washington (AFP)
Aug 15, 2011

California-based rocket maker SpaceX said Monday that it will make a test flight in late November to the International Space Station, now that NASA has retired its space shuttle program.

"SpaceX has been hard at work preparing for our next flight -- a mission designed to demonstrate that a privately-developed space transportation system can deliver cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS)," the company, also called Space Exploration Technologies, said in a statement.

The mission is the second to be carried out by SpaceX, one of a handful of firms competing to make a spaceship to replace the now-defunct US shuttle, which had been used to carry supplies and equipment to the orbiting outpost.

"NASA has given us a November 30, 2011 launch date, which should be followed nine days later by Dragon berthing at the ISS," the company said.

It said the arrival of the vessel at the space station would herald "the beginning of a new era in space travel."

"Together, government and the private sector can simultaneously increase the reliability, safety and frequency of space travel, while greatly reducing the costs," SpaceX said.

The company won $75 million in new seed money earlier this year, after it became the first to successfully send its own space capsule, the gumdrop-shaped Dragon, into orbit and back in December 2010.

The shuttle Atlantis completed its final journey to the ISS and back last month, ending the 30-year-old US space shuttle program.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/SpaceX_plans_November_test_flight_to_space_station_999.html.

Egyptian groups condemn military trials for civilians

2012-01-22T17:47:00.000+02:00

CAIRO (BNO NEWS) — Several political groups and public figures on Tuesday condemned Egypt’s military trials of civilians after a prominent activist was arrested and referred to a military court on charges of insulting the Armed Forces, the Al-Ahram state-owned newspaper reported.

Egyptian military prosecution officers on Sunday detained and interrogated activist Asmaa Mahfouz, who is accused of inciting violence against the military and insulting members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. She was summoned by the military prosecution on Tuesday after being released on a 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,355) bail on Sunday.

The military’s action against Mahfouz has angered many, reviving support for the campaign against the military trials of civilians. According to the No to Military Trials Campaign, more than 10,000 civilians have received prison sentences through military prosecution in the past six months.

Mahfouz is not the first activist to be tried in a military court, however. Activists arrested during demonstrations and sit-ins were tried by the military and some received prison sentences, varying between six months and five years in length.

The case prompted previously silent groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, to speak out. The Deputy Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mahmoud Ezzat, argued that the military trials are unconstitutional and violate the United Nation’s declaration of human rights, the newspaper reported.

According to the organization’s official website, Ezzat said that the Brotherhood have been harmed in the past by the military trials of civilians and that hundreds of its members have been put in prison as a result. He added that after the revolution, such trials should no longer exist.

Presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei also condemned the trials and warned that the path to democracy is being hampered. He wrote on his twitter account: “Military trials for young activists, while Mubarak & Co. stand before civilian courts, is a legal farce. Don’t abort the revolution.”

Several of those arrested during clashes at Cairo’s Tahrir Square in late June were also being interrogated by the military prosecution on Sunday. In addition, clashes erupted between families of those killed during the January 25 Revolution and Central Security Forces between June 28 and 29.

According to Amnesty International, at least 840 people were killed and over 6,000 people were injured in the violent repression that took place during the January uprising. Activists and protesters have been asking for the prosecution of those implicated in the killings of protesters.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19493/egyptian-groups-condemn-military-trials-for-civilians/.

Thousands protest against carbon tax in Australia

2012-01-22T17:45:00.002+02:00

CANBERRA (BNO NEWS) — Thousands of Australians protested in front of Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday to protest against the Prime Minister’s plan to introduce a carbon tax, local media reported.

An estimated 4,000 protesters called on Prime Minister Julia Gilliard to abandon her carbon tax plan and allow an immediate election after she had ruled out a carbon tax during her re-election campaign.

“I don’t rule out the possibility of legislating a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, a market-based mechanism [during the next parliament]. I rule out a carbon tax,” Gilliard told The Australian newspaper during last year’s re-election campaign, after which she won a second term as prime minister.

However, in February, Gilliard announced a plan to implement a fixed price to be imposed on carbon pollution from July 2012. The carbon tax would be placed for three to five years before a complete trading scheme on carbon emissions is implemented and some key issues are further discussed and negotiated.

Tuesday’s rally was organized by the Consumers and Taxpayers Association to mark the first anniversary of Gilliard’s pledge that she would not introduce a carbon tax. The government has meanwhile blamed Tony Abbot, the leader of the Opposition in the Australian House of Representatives, for calling for a “people’s revolt” against the carbon tax.

Abbot was very careful to tell the protesters that, while he supported their opposition to the carbon tax and their call for a fresh election, he did not agree with every sign he saw or all of their opinions. This comes after some signs were considered disrespectful for insulting PM Gilliard in a similar demonstration earlier this year.

Other Members of Parliament also attended the rally and encouraged the protesters to keep up the fight, local media reported. But despite Tuesday’s protest, the carbon tax looks set to pass Parliament in September with the support of the Australian Greens and the three lower house independents.

Next week, truck drivers from all over the country will converge on the capital in an attempt to close down roads around Parliament, in protest against the controversial carbon tax.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19496/thousands-protest-against-carbon-tax-in-australia/.

UN: Somali death rates at Ethiopian refugee camp 'alarming'

2012-01-22T17:44:00.003+02:00

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) — Death rates of Somalia refugees have reached “alarming levels” at a camp in Ethiopia where an average of 10 children under the age of five die every day, the United Nations reported on Tuesday.

The United Nations refugee agency said that while malnutrition is the greatest concern, a suspected outbreak of measles is responsible for many deaths. Adrian Edwards, spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva that a measles vaccination campaign in the Kobe camp, which hosts 250,000 refugees, was completed on Monday.

“An assessment of the mortality rate in one of four refugee camps at the Dollo Ado complex in southern Ethiopia found that since the Kobe camp opened in June, an average of 10 children under the age of five have died every day,” the UNHCR said.

Elsewhere in Ethiopia, some 17,500 refugees from Somalia have crossed into the Gode and Afder areas over the past six weeks. The new arrivals are mainly women and children who are “in very poor nutritional and health states,” according to the UN.

The United Nations recently declared famine in five areas of Somalia where acute malnutrition and starvation has already claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. Before the current crisis, the Somali capital hosted some 370,000 internally displaced persons, who have now been joined by an additional 100,000 who flocked into the capital in June and July from the famine-hit southern areas in search of food, water, shelter and medical assistance.

The hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa has also affected large areas of Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti and has left an estimated 12.4 million people in need of assistance. According to the UN, the drought is expected to continue until early 2012, and the number of people in acute livelihood crisis is expected to increase from 8.8 million in the coming months.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19499/un-somali-death-rates-at-ethiopian-refugee-camp-alarming/.

Malawian rights groups postpone anti-government protests after court action

2012-01-22T17:44:00.000+02:00

LILONGWE (BNO NEWS) – Malawian rights groups announced on Tuesday they have postponed a nationwide anti-government demonstration scheduled for Wednesday after a court injunction was issued to stop it, local newspaper The Maravi Post reported.

“We have postponed the vigils to allow the court process and dialogue to move on but the issues still stand until the government responds to them,” activist Rogers Newa, one of the main organizers, told a news conference in the country’s capital of Lilongwe.

The organizers decided to postpone the protest after loyalists of President Bingu Wa Mutharika filed an application to a Malawi high court to revive an injunction which stops demonstrations against or in support of the government.

Newa said that by suspending the rally, the civil society was also giving a chance to a dialogue process long due since President Mutharika announced last month that he had established a presidential committee on dialogue.

The society groups announced the protests, to be held across the country, after Mutharika’s government failed to immediately address their concerns over the economy and governance issues.

Last month, 19 people were killed and several others were injured when police opened fire on those taking part in anti-government protests which lasted for two days. Around 500 people, including human rights defenders, were arrested.

The protests in July brought together students, human rights activists and religious groups over a range of issues including repressive legislation, poor governance and fuel shortages.

According to an Amnesty International report released on Tuesday, over the recent months, the Malawian government has intensified its harassment and intimidation of critics and dissidents, many journalists and human rights activists among them.

The rights group has also urged the Malawian authorities to start an investigation into the lethal use of force during last month’s protests and to respect the citizen’s right to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

“If Malawians want to exercise their right to peaceful demonstration, they should be allowed to do so in safety,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International’s Deputy Program Director.

Earlier this week, President Mutharika accused the European governments of seeking to overthrow his government by funding the demonstrations. He also claimed that the economic problems besetting the country were not unique of Malawi as there is economic turmoil elsewhere.

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Source: WireUpdate.
Link: http://wireupdate.com/wires/19502/malawian-rights-groups-postpone-anti-government-protests-after-court-action/.