Syria Concludes Missile Deal With Russia

LONDON [MENL] -- Syria was reported to have agreed to purchase an advanced missile from Russia.

Diplomatic sources said the regime of President Bashar Assad has approved a Russian offer of the Yakhont missile. They said the Yakhont would be deployed on Syria's small navy as part of expanded cooperation with the Kremlin.

New record

It's official. École Campbelltown school held the world's largest game of tag according to the Guinness World Records.

In all, 465 participants in the event set the world record on April 29.

The school received its official certificate from Guinness this week for the four-minute game of freeze tag.

Lauderhill man sells 'world's largest' rubber-band ball to Ripley's

Record-breaking ball loaded onto semitrailer truck for trip to Orlando

LAUDERHILL - The "World's Largest Rubber-Band Ball" rolled away from its Lauderhill birthplace Thursday.

Standing with dozens of spectators, the ball's creator, 28-year-old Joel Waul, looked on as the 9,034-pound behemoth was lifted by a crane and taken by truck to one day be showcased in a museum.

"It feels great to be the only one in the world to do it to this magnitude," Waul said. He spent the past five years wrapping rubber bands into the colorful mass that Guinness World Records last year declared the world's largest. "Not many people get to do this stuff."

Neighbors cheered and snapped pictures as a towing company arrived at Waul's Lauderhill home, lifted the 6-foot-7 ball and placed it on the bed of a semitrailer truck.

"I'm used to seeing it every day," said Darlene Bush, 50, a neighbor who watched with her family as the crane hoisted the ball. "I'm going to be mad tomorrow to walk outside and not see it there."

Waul sold the ball for an undisclosed amount last month to Ripley's Believe It or Not, an Orlando-based company that displays strange oddities in 30 museums in 10 countries.

Waul said he built the ball to break the Guinness record. He said he decided to sell it, partly because the ball was too large to store in his apartment and it was risky to keep outdoors. He often replaced or covered rubber bands that had melted because the ball was sitting in his front yard, under a tarp.

"It'll get out of the sun," Waul said. "It will be in a better place."

Edward Meyer, Ripley's vice president of exhibits and archives, said the "quirky" rubber mass would be a great addition to the company's worldwide collection. The ball will be stored at a Ripley's warehouse in Orlando. As early as next year, it will be sent to a museum, possibly in California or Korea.

But moving it inside a building and setting it up for display can be challenging.

"The current museums cannot hold it," Waul said. "It's too big to go through doors."

Waul said he got the idea for building the ball on April 10, 2004, the day he saw a Ripley's television show that showed another large rubber-band ball being dropped into the desert from a helicopter.

"It was the best thing on TV," he said. "It was something out a cartoon, like Wile E. Coyote."

The five years that Waul spent making the rubber ball included injuries. At 400 pounds, it rolled over his hand and sprained it. Rubber bands that snapped off broke three of his sunglasses and "almost put out my eye," he said.

It's unclear whether the ball would bounce if dropped from great heights. Meyer said pushing the other ball from the helicopter had a lackluster result.

"It didn't bounce. That's what was supposed to happen, but it cratered," Meyer said. "That's part of my inspiration -- that we needed one to replace the one we lost."

Waul is a graduate of Plantation High who works nights at a Gap clothing store. With the ball gone from his home, Waul said he'll focus on achieving another world record: setting himself on fire.

"I'm working on being the Human Torch," he said. "I'm going to stunt school for that."

Yacht couple 'well and being fed'

A British man kidnapped with his wife by armed pirates while they slept aboard their yacht in the Indian Ocean has said they are being treated well.

Paul Chandler, from Tunbridge Wells in Kent, speaking by phone to the BBC's Somali Service, said: "We are well and being looked after okay."

He added they were being fed, and "food is okay at the moment".

Mr Chandler, 59, and his wife, Rachel, 55, were taken hostage by gunmen in the early hours of Friday.

'No ransom demand'

The armed pirates forced the pair to sail towards Somalia after their boat was captured.

Searches for the Chandlers began on Friday after they sent a distress signal.

Their yacht was found during counter-piracy operations after a multi-national search.

Speaking to ITV news earlier, Mr Chandler said: "I was off watch. I was asleep and men with guns came aboard. It was on Friday last week at 0230."

He said the couple were being held hostage on a Singapore-registered container ship called the Kota Wajah.

He was speaking from the captain's cabin at 1100 GMT (1400 local time).

He said their captors had not officially asked for a ransom and that they were currently being held hostage on board a container ship.

"They kept asking for money and took everything of value on the boat," he added.

He said the vessel was then about a mile off the coast of Somalia, and the nearest town was Ubdu. Correspondents say he may have been referring to Hobyo.

Local fishermen reported seeing the Chandlers being taken to a village in Somalia after the telephone call.

One of the fishermen, Dahir Dabadhahan, said two boats arrived in the village of Ceel Huur, near the pirate stronghold Harardheere, and were met by a convoy of about 30 other pirates in six luxury vehicles.

He said: "The pirates opened fire into the air, waving us to move away."

But when asked by the BBC later if they were in Somalia, Mr Chandler replied: "I can't answer that."

He was also asked if negotiations had begun for their release, but said he was not aware they had.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "Hostage taking is never justified.

"Paul and Rachel are blameless tourists and they should be released immediately and unconditionally.

"The families are deeply concerned for the safety of their loved ones.

"Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff are in close contact with them and are offering support."

Whitehall officials said Cobra, the Cabinet Office crisis management team, had met several times over the kidnapping of the Chandlers.

The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner said yacht kidnappings had not always ended well because they were not straightforward commercial transactions.

He said: "There is no big international shipping company that is going to say, 'We are going to get these people out because they are our employees and we will dip into the insurance for this'."

He said the Foreign Office had taken a lead on negotiations and Scotland Yard also had hostage negotiators working on the case, but the pirates also needed to appoint a negotiator.

"The British government does not want to be seen as the people who decide how much is going to be paid because the British government does not pay ransoms," he added.

Earlier, the Ministry of Defense said the couple's empty yacht had been found.

A spokesman said Royal Navy vessels operating with international partners under EU, Nato and combined maritime forces would continue to play a full role in efforts to secure their release.

Relatives of the Chandlers met the Somali premier Omar Sharmarke in London on Wednesday.

He told them he would do anything to "see a peaceful solution".

The Somali Government - which only has nominal authority in large parts of the country - said it was doing everything possible to locate the couple.

Mr and Mrs Chandler had been sailing from the Seychelles to Tanzania.

Indonesia willing to boost assistance in Afghanistan

JAKARTA, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia wanted to step up its roles in assisting the government of Afghanistan, which had been hit by a civil war, in addressing its problems, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said here Wednesday.

The minister said that Indonesia needed to find out what kind of assistance to be given in the country post war, and to harmonize the aids with the international assistance.

Marty made the statement after accompanying Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono meeting with Indonesian ambassador to Afghanistan Erman Hidayat at the State Palace, hearing report of the latest situation in Afghanistan.

"During the meeting it is stressed Indonesia attention on the country (Afghanistan) and it is as part of Indonesia's effort in promoting peace," he told a press conference.

"The international attention on the country is not small, we want to see first what is needed by the government of Afghanistan," said Marty.

The Indonesia government has experienced in addressing conflicts such as with the rebel in Aceh province and Timor-Leste through a reconciliation.

Besides, the minister said that Indonesia had also capability in increasing human resources capacity.

"We want to harmonize our assistance with the international aids, and we also want to adjust it with our capability," said Marty.

Shot after photographing the Gaza sea

Eva Bartlett writing from the occupied Gaza Strip

October 28, 2009

On 4 October, Ashraf Abu Suleiman, a 16-year-old from Gaza's Jabaliya refugee camp, went to the northwest coast town of Sudaniya to visit an ill school friend. The teen then went to the sea, where he rolled up the legs of his pants, waded into the water and enjoyed the late summer morning. He took some photos of the sea and of the area around him, intending to play with the photos later on Photoshop, a hobby he and his father share.

Minutes later, Ashraf was running in blind terror as Israeli soldiers in a gunboat off the coast began shooting at Palestinian fishermen. He was hit by an Israeli soldier's bullet which bore through his neck and grazed his vertebrae, fracturing C-4 and C-5, leaving him bleeding on the ground and unable to stand up.

"They were shooting at Palestinian fishermen in hassakas [small fishing vessels]," he said of the Israeli soldiers in the gunboat. "Some of the bullets were hitting near where I stood. I started to run north. I didn't think about where to run, I just ran."

He estimates he ran for a few minutes, soon approaching the northern border before an Israeli soldier's voice shouted over a megaphone for him to stop. Seeing an Israeli military vehicle in the distance ahead, Ashraf was afraid that the soldiers north of him would start shooting. He kept running, hoping to take cover behind a low hill nearby.

Then he was grounded, one of the bullets hitting him in the neck.

The Ma'an news agency reported, "an Israeli military spokeswoman says soldiers identified a 'suspicious Palestinian man' approaching the border fence, and fired warning shots in the air. After the Palestinian ignored warning shots, the spokeswoman said, the army fired at and lightly injured him."

At least eight Palestinians have been killed and at least 33 injured in the Israeli-imposed "buffer zone" along Gaza's border since the 18 January ceasefire. Three of the killed and 12 of the injured were minors, including many children.

The "buffer zone" was imposed by Israeli authorities about a decade ago, initially at 150 meters and now while Israeli authorities say the no-go zone runs 300 metres from the boundary between Gaza and Israel, it ranges up to two kilometers in some areas. The buffer zone renders off-limits approximately 30 percent of Gaza's most fertile agricultural land, as well as the land adjacent to it. Israeli authorities warn that anyone entering that area is subject to being shot by the Israeli army.

"I don't know how close I was, maybe less than 400 meters from the fence," Ashraf said.

Three Israeli soldiers approached him on foot, Ashraf explained. "An Israeli soldier kicked me in the mouth and told me to stand up. I couldn't, my legs wouldn't move."

According to Ashraf, an Israeli soldier dragged him by his arms over the rough ground. After another kick to the face, he was put on a stretcher and carried across the northern border to a waiting Israeli jeep.

After they checked his identity via computer, Ashraf said that the Israeli soldiers told him: "You're 16 years and one month old. You're a student." Although the soldiers realized that he was harmless, they continued to treat him with contempt.

"They put me in a jeep and we drove for a while, maybe 20 minutes, I don't know exactly. Then they transferred me to an Apache helicopter and flew me to a military base near Erez. I don't know the name but I know it wasn't so far from Erez. There was a small clinic there where they gave me a little first aid," he said, recalling that this treatment was at least 30 minutes after his injury.

"They put some gauze and bandaging on my neck wound," Ashraf said. He then was made to wait as a Palestinian medic negotiated his return to a Gaza hospital.

Hassam Ghrenam, a Palestine Red Crescent Society medic and ambulance driver, had approval to cross into Israel for two medical cases unrelated to Ashraf. While on the Israeli side, Ghrenam saw Ashraf and requested to take him back to Gaza.

Ashraf explained that Ghrenam wanted to bring three other men, to transfer him carefully as medical procedure dictates. The Israeli soldiers refused the request and Ashraf had to wait for more than an hour until the soldiers finally relented.

"There were maybe 30 Israeli soldiers around us. The ambulance driver kept saying, 'he's critical, very critical, take him to Israel,' but the soldiers just pointed their guns at him and did nothing," Ashraf explained.

Ghrenam noted that there was blood and signs that Ashraf was beaten or kicked in the face. According to Ghrenam, "The Israelis only put a bandage on his wound, no neck collar, no proper treatment. I immediately put a neck collar on him. Injuries to the neck and spinal cord can lead to paralysis."

At the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing, Ghrenam passed Ashraf to a waiting Red Crescent ambulance which immediately transferred the youth to Gaza's al-Shifa hospital. He is now in the al-Wafa rehabilitation hospital, and doctors and Ashraf's parents wait to see whether his fractured vertebrae will heal well enough so he can walk again.

Ashraf's father is not optimistic. "Every day we wait I feel like his life is withering. I'm worried about his future."

Iraqi Widows Marry to Feed Kids

By Afif Sarhan

IOL, October 28, 2009

BAGHDAD - Haifa Ahmed Mua’alim, 32, is going to tie the knot in a couple of weeks.

She is marrying a man recommended by her sister-in-law to help feed her two orphan children of a previous marriage.

The young woman lost her husband, the love of her life, two years ago to the violence that has been plaguing her country since the 2003 US invasion.

"When he died I decided never to marry again. We had a stable and lovely relation," she recalled tearfully.

For the past two years Haifa has been struggling to feed her kids, spending every penny they once had.

But without work or help from any one, she is accepting to remarry at the advice of her deceased husband's sister.

"I’m being forced to change my mind in exchange for a better life for my sons."

Haifa only saw the future husband once and never spoke with him, insisting it's a marriage of convenience for both of them.

"My sister-in-law told me that he also lost his wife and he is a good man who carries four children in his baggage," she said.

"Maybe it is too precipitated and latter on, I might regret, however, it is better to take care of six children than see your two sons hungry and unable to go to school," Haifa reasoned.

"I’m glad to find someone willing to take care of them but being happy is another issue that I prefer to keep for my own."

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs estimates there are nearly two million widows and five times kids living without fathers in the country.

"Widows are a serious case in Iraq. Our ministry is trying to help but the lack of proper budget is seriously affecting our work," said a senior officer, requesting anonymity for not being allowed to speak to the press.

"More widows will be added to this group and to help them the parliament should focus on their problem, create enough conditions for them to work and feed their children."

Debate

Haifa represents a new trend in Iraq which is encouraged by religious leaders who have been advising single and widower men to marry widows as a way to help them.

"Those women are victims of the violence in our country," Sheikh Abdul-Kareem Rafel, a religious leader at Sadr City, told IOL.

"The government isn’t offering them enough help to raise their kids alone and advising Iraqis to marry them is a nice way to prevent millions of kids from being raised without a father and prevent women from becoming prostitutes to support them."

Rana Lattif, a local woman activist, opposes such second marriage arrangements.

"Instead of encouraging women to remarry, we have to force the government to help them, offer stable living conditions and open job places as the majority became widows because of the unfair war in the country," she told IOL.

"Of course there are women who prefer to be in such unacceptable situation but they are few and the majority is marrying again because it was the only choice found," she contends.

"If the government takes responsibility towards them, I’m sure this number would decrease impressively."

Sara al-Azza, a member of a charity that has nearly 1,200 widows registered with more than half willing to remarry, disagrees.

"We cannot keep waiting for the government to take an action," she told IOL.

"The women come to us after deciding to remarry and what we do is just look for men who have a good background, true good intentions and are able to support her family," she explains.

"No one is forced to marry but we have made many arrangements with the both sides happy to start a new life together.

"Since we started working on this issue, we never had a complaint from any of the parties. It is a serious matter and we are happy to help."

Rhim Abdel-Rassoul Rabia’a, a 41-yrea-old mother of three who lost her husband three years in a Baghdad bomb attack, is waiting for a second husband.

"After years of looking for a job, I got desperate and that’s why I started looking for a second marriage even though that was the last thing I would like to do," she told IOL.

"I was told that women over 40 take more time to find a husband but this is my only hope. I just want a man to look after me and my kids, even if I marry without love."

Rhim says when she was a young girl she dreamed of a life of happiness, studying and working to become someone important in life.

"I know that none of my dreams can come true but at least I can help my kids become able to support themselves without the need to remarry for that."

Source: Uruknet.
Link: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=59496&s2=29.