Astronomer Copernicus' remains to be re-buried after 467 years

Warsaw - The remains of Renaissance astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, excavated in 2005 by archeologists in north-eastern Poland, are to be re-buried next year, a church spokesman said Monday. Copernicus's skull and leg bones were discovered during excavations by Polish archeologists four year ago at the Frombork Cathedral, in the town where Copernicus made key observations.

A DNA test confirmed the bones as belonging to the Renaissance polymath in 2008.

The church spokesman of the diocese of Warmia, where Copernicus died, said the astronomer's bones are to be buried under the altar of the Frombork Cathedral on May 22. Work on a two-tonne tombstone of black granite is set to begin in January.

The burial is to coincide with the 750th anniversary of the founding of Frombork, where Copernicus was a member of the church.

Nicolaus Copernicus is most famous for his work On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, first printed in 1543 in Nuremburg, Germany.

In it, he offered a heliocentric view of the cosmos which challenged the geocentric model of Ptolemy - in other words, that the earth went around the sun, rather vice-versa.

The latter had been Church dogma for hundreds of years.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301242,astronomer-copernicuss-remains-to-be-re-buried-after-467-years.html.

German foreign minister admits he felt nervous at the start

Berlin- German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle admitted in an interview placed online Monday that he had felt nervous when he started out in the new job in November and met with world leaders. As he was about to enter the French presidential palace in Paris, the thought crossed his mind, "I hope there isn't any fold in the carpet which you immediately trip over," he told the weekly magazine Stern in an interview.

Explaining why he had been so focussed on not making any embarrassing blunder, he said, "I didn't grow up in a palace, I grew up in a terraced house in the old part of the city of Bonn."

The minister, who is leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), also admitted that he had been upset by the mockery he had encountered in the German media in October over his skills.

The media lampooned him after he declined to answer a question in English at a Berlin news conference, just after his party won enough votes at the September 27 election to enter Chancellor Angela Merkel's government.

"In the first few days, some of them seemed surprised that I even knew how to eat with a knife and fork," he told Stern, but added that he did not perceive this as a sign of latent hostility among Germans towards homosexual men.

"I cannot believe in Germany this has anything to do with the fact that I live with another man," he said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301246,german-foreign-minister-admits-he-felt-nervous-at-the-start.html.

Russia warns of possible halt in oil supplies to Europe

Bratislava - Russia has warned of a possible halt in oil supplies to three European Union members via Ukraine, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico said Monday. Russia had informed the EU that Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia could be affected by disruptions in oil supplies in the New Year, Fico told a news conference in Bratislava.

Unresolved oil transit issues between Russia and Ukraine, including pricing, are behind the looming disruptions.

"It's not about a shortage of oil," Fico said, "but about a bilateral dispute between two countries who are not EU members but who are vitally important for Slovakia and a few other EU nations when it comes to energy supplies."

The three countries affected get their oil from Russia via the Drushba (friendship) pipeline. Slovakia is virtually dependent on Russian oil.

In January 2009, a price dispute with Ukraine prompted Russia to halt gas supplies to Europe for several days, leaving some countries without heating during severe winter weather.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301247,russia-warns-of-possible-halt-in-oil-supplies-to-europe.html.

Uzbekistan president consolidate power in parliamentary elections

Tashkent/Moscow- Political parties close to authoritarian President Islam Karimov consolidated their power in parliamentary elections held in Uzbekistan, the Interfax agency reported Monday. The electoral commission in the capital Tashkent said turnout in Sunday's poll was close to 88 per cent, or 15.1 million voters. All four major parties backed the president in their race for the 135- seat lower house.

Election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) declared that the elections were neither free nor fair.

Karimov allows no opposition parties which do not back his rule, and the country has no free media.

In December, the OSCE complained that Tashkent had rejected reforms and violating human rights.

Karimov, 71, won re-election as president in 2007 for another seven-year term. He has been president since 1989.

Uzbekistan hosts the Termez airbase, used by western powers for operations in Afghanistan.

In 2005 the European Union lifted an arms embargo against the country.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/301248,uzbekistan-president-consolidate-power-in-parliamentary-elections.html.

Somalia: Al-Shabaab Rejects Plans for State in Southern Region

Abdulkadir Khali
28 December 2009

Mogadishu — The authority in Southern Somalia's Juba region that is controlled by al-Shabaab, the Islamist group opposing the Transitional Federal Government has rejected the possibility of pro-government groups forming a semi-autonomous state in Southern Somalia.

Sheikh Hassan Yakoub Ali, the Information Officer of al-Shabaab Administration in Juba region, spoke on the pro-Islamist Radio, Al-Andalus, in Kismayu town, 500 kilometers south of Mogadishu, telling the listeners that no other group can form a state in Southern Somalia.

Sheikh Yakoub was responding to claims by Mr Aden Mohamed Nur alias Saransour, an influential politician in southern Somalia, who announced on Saturday, that a meeting was held on the issue in Dolo town, 370 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu.

Mr Saransour had stated that the objective of the conference was to plan ways of establishing a semi-autonomous state for six regions in Southern Somalia.

The town of Dolo is at the strategic border junction between Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

According to Mr Saransour, 200 delegates participated in the meeting representing the inhabitants of Gedo, Bay, Bakol, Lower Juba, Middle Juba and Lower Shabelle regions, all of them lying southwest of Mogadishu, the capital. "What the 200 delegates discussed is how to liberate the south-western regions from Islamist radical groups opposing the TFG," said Mr Saransour.

Mr Saransour indicated that a technical committee was formed to work on the way forward. He also stated that pro-government officials that participated in the talks included three legislators, namely Barre Aden Shire Hirale, Abdullahi Sheikh Ismael, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, and Mohamud Sayid Aden.

If realized, the proposed state will join other states like Galmudug and Puntland that were respectively formed over the years in the central and north-eastern regions of Somalia. Somaliland in north-western Somalia, however, declared its independence from the rest of Somalia in May 1991, but remains without international recognition.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200912281349.html.

Algeria nat'l team gets surprise visit from Zidane

By Paul Kennedy
Monday December 28, 2009

Algeria, which the U.S. will face in its third and final group game at the World Cup, began training Sunday for the 2010 African Nations Cup. The Desert Foxes had a special guest late Sunday night at their hotel in Castellet, France, when former French star Zinedine Zidane, born to Algerian parents, visited them.

"We're all touched by Zidane's gesture, which was a surprise," said Algeria coach Rabah Saadane.

Saadane is expected to name his 23-player team for the African Cup of Nations in Angola on Wednesday. He has been downplaying expectations about Algeria's chances in Angola.

"This tournament comes at a really bad time for us," he said. "We're tired from World Cup qualifying, so everyone shouldn't expect miracles."

Four players -- Hassan Yebda and Nadir Belhadj of Portsmouth, Hamuer Bouazza of Blackpool and Algerian Player of the Year Madjid Bougherra of Glasgow Rangers -- were given permission to remain with their teams through the busy holiday schedule in Britain.

Abdelmalek Ziaya of ES Setif is the only player in camp who did not take part in World Cup qualifying.

Antar Yahia, whose goal won the playoff game against Egypt, has a leg injury and his status is up in the air. The team doctor at German club Bochum, where he plays, said he would not play, but Yahia said he'd go even if it meant he'd have to play on one leg.

The Fennecs face Malawi, Mali and Angola in group play. They open Jan. 11 against Malawi.

Source: Sports Illustrated.
Link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/12/28/algeria.zidane/.

Somalia: Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama stops vehicle laden with explosive materials

The officials of the moderate Islamists faction of Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama in Gedo region northwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu have announced that they have apprehended a vehicle loaded with explosive equipments.

“On Tuesday night our patrolling security personnel have stopped a vehicle, and ransacked and found explosive equipments which were hidden at the underneath of the vehicle they have also succeeded in catching those figures that were carrying
the explosive materials” said the spokesman of Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama at Dolow district in Gedo region speaking to Somaiweyn Website on Tuesday morning.

The spokesman has also added that they have stopped the vehicle in an area between Bula-Hawo and Dolow district, and according the statement of the spokesman of Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama the vehicle was heading towards Bay region which is a strong hold of Al-Shabab.

It was less than 3 days when the security personnel of Ahlu-Sunnah Waljama have apprehended 4 men carrying explosive things in the same district of Dolow. Somaliweyn English News Desk.

Source: Somaliweyn Media Center.
Link: http://www.somaliweyn.org/pages/news/Dec_09/29Dec12.html.