New US ambassador 'to help change Syrian attitude in the region'

Damascus - The new US ambassador to Syria "will help change Syria's attitude in the region in order to ensure stability and security," an official in the US embassy in Damascus said Saturday. "Washington hopes that Syria will play an essential role in eliminating US concerns regarding its attitude in the region," the US official told the German Press Agency dpa.

The official refused to reveal the name of the new ambassador. International media reports speculated that President Barack Obama has put forward Robert Ford to be the new US ambassador in Damascus.

Ford is the deputy US ambassador to Iraq. He also served as the US ambassador to Algeria from 2006 to 2008.

US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell passed along a secret request naming the new ambassador during his meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus last week, the source added.

The US withdrew its ambassador to Syria in 2005, following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Washington blamed Syria for the killing. Damascus denied any role.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/306720,new-us-ambassador-to-help-change-syrian-attitude-in-the-region.html.

Nigeria beat Algeria 1-0 in third place playoff of African Nations Cup

January 31, 2010

Nigeria beat Algeria 1-0 to clinch the third place at the African Nations Cup thanks to the lone goal from striker Obinna Nsofor at the second half goal in Benguela of Angola on Saturday.

It is the fourth time in the last five Cup editions that Nigeria have been the bronze medalists.

Nsofor broke through the Algeria defense in the 55th minute to score the only goal with a deft left-foot finish.

Both sides made several changes after their semi-final defeats on Thursday.

Algeria were missing three players through suspension while Nigeria gave a rare start to seasoned striker Nwankwo Kanu, who managed the best shot of the first half with a left-foot effort in the 32nd minute.

Both teams head to the World Cup in South Africa later this year but Nigeria coach Shaibu Amodu's position is under threat after an unimpressive showing in Angola by the Super Eagles.

Algeria started the tournament with a shock defeat by Malawi but recovered to post an unexpected 3-2 win over the heavily fancied Cote d'Ivoire in the quarter-finals last weekend.

They reached the semi-finals for the first time since 1990.

Holders Egypt meet Ghana in Sunday's final in Luanda.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90779/90871/6883492.html.

Egypt's veil wearers see it as barrier to harassment

CAIRO (AFP) - Female students at Cairo University are defying religious and state efforts to ban the controversial niqab from schools and colleges, saying that wearing the controversial face veil is a religious obligation that also protects against sexual harassment.

"I wear the niqab essentially to avoid harassment on the street and on public transport," said law student Marwa Mohammed, 19, her eyes visible only through the slits in the black veil that covers her entire face.

But if conditions changed and she was not subjected to harassment would she take it off?

She would not, because "the veil gives me respect, and people look at me differently." She implied that sexual harassment would exist as long as young men looking for work and housing remained frustrated in their efforts.

"What will change? The cost of living? Unemployment? Or the excessively high cost of housing?" Marwa asked, her kohl-stained eyes giving away a hidden smile.

"As long as young people don't have the means to get married, harassment will continue," she added.

The hijab, the Islamic head scarf that covers the hair and neck, is worn by most Muslim women in conservative Egypt, and religious authorities say that wearing it is an obligation of the faith.

But the niqab, which has been gaining in popularity, has been driving a wedge between women such as Marwa and Egypt's highest religious authorities.

In October, Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, Grand Imam of the prestigious Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, ignited a heated debate when he said the niqab was merely a tradition not linked to religion, and that women would be banned from wearing it in schools and universities.

But on Wednesday, an Egyptian court caved in to opposition to the religious ruling and placed a stay on the ban.

Now, religious authorities who oppose the niqab and women who favor it are polarized over the issue.

The niqab-wearing students at Cairo University say they are adhering to a precept and repeat what seems to have become their mantra: "Of course the niqab is an obligation."

It is an Islamic duty, "particularly in the times we live in, where sexual harassment is so common," explained 18-year-old Aya, who studies Arabic literature and has been wearing the niqab for three months.

Sexual harassment is common in Egypt. According to a 2008 study by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights, 83 percent of the country's women had experienced sexual harassment.

There is growing concern by the government and Al-Azhar authorities over the niqab, which is associated in Egypt with the ultra-conservative Salafi school of thought that is practiced mostly in Saudi Arabia and parts of Yemen.

Authorities say the niqab is also linked to security, allowing anyone to hide behind the veil. In schools, they say, anyone can pose as a student and sit for an exam in the place of another.

Some university officials have even cited instances in which male students have tried to enter female dormitories by wearing the niqab as a disguise.

One female student at Cairo University charged that the authorities are trying to ban the niqab to paint Egypt's conservative society in a different light -- one more acceptable to the West.

"The government wants to ban the niqab to copy Americans and foreigners, to say that Egypt is a modern, developed country," said student Fatma Nasser.

One killed, 11 injured in 5.0-magnitude quake in SW China

One person was killed, eleven were injured and more than 100 houses collapsed in an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter Scale in southwest China's Sichuan Province early Sunday.

The casualties were reported in three villages of Moxi town, Suining City in eastern Sichuan after the quake jolted the area at 5:36 a.m. (Beijing time), according to the Sichuan Provincial Earthquake Administration.

More than 30 local seismologists and officials, led by Lu Yipei, deputy director of the administration, have reached the quake-hit area to carry out further investigation, the administration said.

China's national seismological network said the epicenter was at the juncture part between Suining and Tongnan County of Chongqing Municipality (30.3 degrees north latitude and 105.7 degrees east longitude), with a depth of about 10 kilometers.

Suining, a city with a population of 3.8 million, is 140 kilometers east to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan.

The seismologists saw a slim possibility of more strong quakes in the area, where there were only three minor quakes measuring 2.0 on the Richter Scale in the past 20 years, the administration said.

Currently they were still not sure if the quake on Sunday was an aftershock of the 8.0-magnitude quake in Sichuan on May 12, 2008, which left about 87,000 people dead or missing.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6883513.html.

Snowboarding competition kicks off in NW China's Xinjiang

The inaugural "White Cloud Cup" snowboarding competition kicked off in White Cloud ski area of Urumqi, provincial capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, attracting a lot of amateur snowboarders from different parts of the region.

The competition is the first of its kind held in Xinjiang. About 60 amateur snowboarders will participate in the competition which consists of two parts, parallel slalom and jumps.

There will also be a carnival performance at the end where all participants can showcase their tricks.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90882/6883412.html.

Chinese UN staffers donate food, tents to Haiti orphanage

Chinese staffers with the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti on Saturday donated two large tents, some food and drinking water to a local orphanage whose building sustained cracks in the Jan. 12 earthquake.

The Chinese police force working with the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) decided to make the donation after learning that the orphanage with 40 children aged between 4 months and 14 years old had to settle its minors in two small tents on the lawn of its yard and had the older children sleep with its staffers in the open air during the night for fear of lethal aftershocks.

The two large tents given by the Chinese donators are big enough to house all the 40 children.

Madam Rachel, daughter of the founder of the Orphelinat Solidarite et Fraternite in the Tabarre quarter of Port-au-Prince, said the Chinese donation was the first assistance her orphanage had got after the temblor.

The Chinese police force even brought to the orphanage what they had saved from their daily rations of biscuits and fruits. They also gave the orphans some stationeries, hoping they could soon resume classes.

Founded in 2005 by Madam Devastey, the orphanage was lucky not to lose a single kid in the deadly earthquake that has reportedly claimed more than 170,000 lives.

Hu Yunwang, deputy chief of the Chinese police force with the MINUSTAH, said that his team would closely follow the situation in the orphanage and would offer further necessary assistance.

Madam Rachel and the kids expressed their gratitude to the Chinese police representatives.

Before the Jan. 12 devastating quake, there were nearly 100,000 orphans in Haiti. UNICEF has said that the quake made lots of Haitian children lose contact with their families and international institutions have been identifying these children before confirming a definite number of earthquake-orphaned children in the Caribbean island country.

Source: People's Daily.
Link: http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/6883512.html.

Mossad may be behind Hamas assassination: Dubai

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas accused Israel on Friday of assassinating one of its top military commanders in a Dubai hotel, and the Dubai police chief said he could not rule out the involvement of Mossad.

Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, an Israeli target since masterminding the capture of Israeli soldiers in the 1980s during a Palestinian uprising, was killed on Jan. 20, a Hamas official said in the Syrian capital Damascus.

“I cannot rule out the possibility of Mossad involvement in the assassination of Mabhouh,” Dubai police chief Dhahi Khalfan Tamim told al Jazeera television, referring to the Israeli intelligence agency.

He said he could not announce the nationalities of those involved.

Dubai police had earlier said that a “criminal gang” had been following the victim’s movements before his arrival in the United Arab Emirates.

An official statement said most of the suspects had European passports and left the country after the killing.

The United Arab Emirates does not have a peace treaty with Israel but has hosted Israeli officials and does business with Israeli companies.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal made an impassioned speech to thousands of mourners at Mabhouh’s funeral on Friday at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk outside Damascus. A green Hamas flag covered the body as it was lowered into the grave.

Source: Taipei Times.
Link: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2010/01/31/2003464813.