Spanish king to visit Lebanon next week

Beirut - Juan Carlos, the Spanish king, will visit Lebanon later this month to hold talks with officials and inspect his country's peacekeepers - who now head the UN command in southern Lebanon, a Lebanese foreign ministry source said Friday. The king is due to arrive for his two-day visit on February 8 and will be accompanied by a large Spanish delegation.

The trip by King Juan Carlos comes after the UN Spanish battalion took command of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), from the Italians last month.

UNIFIL currently has 13,000 troops from 29 countries. Italy has the largest contingent with 2,500 soldiers, while Spain contributes 1,100 soldiers.

In June 2007, a UN patrol belonging to the Spanish battalion was targeted by a car bomb blast, killing six Spanish peacekeepers.

The number of UN peacekeepers was increased in 2006, following 33- days of war between Israel and Hezbollah. The main task of the peacekeepers is to monitor a fragile ceasefire at the Lebanese-Israel border.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307743,spanish-king-to-visit-lebanon-next-week.html.

New Dubai oilfield could start production in 2011

Dubai - Dubai's newly discovered oilfield could begin production next year, the debt-laden Gulf city-state said on Friday. The oilfield is expected to help boost Dubai's electric output to 10,000 megawatts in 2012, from the current 7,500 megawatts, according to an official statement.

The new field, which was called al-Jalila after a daughter of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed al-Maktoum, is expected to "increase the production of crude in Dubai significantly."

The emirate's current oil reserves are about 4 billion barrels.

Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the UAE vice president and prime minister, said that new the field will help push all sectors of the economy forward and provide a new source of income that enhances the overall development of Dubai.

The field is located east of the Rashid oilfield.

Dubai's economy boomed in recent years on non-oil sectors, especially real estate, until the sector was heavily affected by the global financial crisis.

Around 90 per cent of the United Arab Emirate's oil is found in the capital Abu Dhabi.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307746,new-dubai-oilfield-could-start-production-in-2011.html.

'I stand ready to govern,' says Hungary's opposition leader

Budapest - The leader of Hungary's center-right Fidesz opposition party said the time had come to "restore order" in the country, putting himself forward as possible prime minister during an annual "state of the nation address. "I stand ready to assume the personally the task of governing Hungary, and my party stands ready for strong, responsible and active government," Viktor Orban said.

However, there was disappointment at the lack of detailed, concrete policies in the speech should Fidesz - as expected - win the forthcoming April general election.

The prime ministerial candidate of the governing Socialist Party, Attila Mesterhazy, had called on Orban to deliver a "frank" speech.

In a YouTube video earlier in the week, Mesterhazy challenged Orban to reveal his position on the extreme right and say whether he intends to allow Hungary's budget deficit to increase.

The opposition leader said "all forms of extremism are dangerous," but as an example he spoke of elected leaders placing themselves above the law - a reference to several recent corruption scandals.

What Orban delivered in his hour-long speech were more general calls for "strong government" and a restoration of order, faith and pride in the country.

"Such a deep need for change was last seen perhaps 20 years ago," Orban said, referring to the end of the communist regime.

"But then we were proud. Now we are seen as weak, and weak government is obviously the reason for this," Orban said.

Fidesz has held a commanding lead in opinion polls since shortly after it lost the elections to a socialist-liberal coalition in 2006.

The party's popularity is largely due to the widely-despised former socialist prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, who was heard in a recording leaked just months after the election acknowledging that his party had repeatedly lied to the electorate.

He held on through months of sometimes violent demonstration, but it was the economic crisis that finally put paid to Gyurcsany last March.

A new technocrat government led by Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai was installed with socialist backing and has since done the unpopular work of implementing drastic spending cuts to rein in the budget deficit.

Meanwhile, with the Socialist party also beset by a seemingly endless series of corruption scandals, Fidesz's victory is taken for granted by many Hungarians.

Nevertheless, a potential challenge for votes on the right comes from the nationalist party Jobbik, which won 15 per cent of the vote in the European Parliament elections last June.

Jobbik dismissed Orban's speech as a "campaign speech lacking any concrete details" about policy in a statement issued shortly afterward.

"Dare we speak the truth about multinational capital, the European Union, the International Monetary Fund, Israeli expansionism, or gypsy crime?" the nationalist party said.

The Socialist candidate Mesterhazy dismissed Orban's speech as lacking substance.

"It was as if Viktor Orban was afraid he would be taken off the party's electoral list if he revealed too many specifics of its program," Mesterhazy said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307757,i-stand-ready-to-govern-says-hungarys-opposition-leader.html.

Ban uncertain about credibility of Gaza probes - Summary

New York/Jerusalem/Gaza - Secretary General Ban-ki Moon said Friday there was still not enough evidence to indicate whether the Israelis and Palestinians were complying with United Nation demands to investigate last year's Gaza conflict. "No determination can be made on the implementation of the resolution by the parties concerned," Ban said in a report to the UN General Assembly.

Israel argued Friday that the military probes it was conducting into the conflict were credible, but a Gaza-based rights group charged they did "not in any way" meet the UN's demands for an independent inquiry.

The conflicting reactions came after a three-month deadline set by the General Assembly, for Israel and the radical Islamist Hamas movement to investigate allegations that they committed war crimes in the war, ended Friday.

"The secretary-general remains personally moved by the plight of all civilians harmed during the Gaza conflict," a UN spokesperson said in New York. "He was at the forefront of the efforts to stop the fighting in Gaza ... He has consistently called for credible domestic investigations, and did so again in this report."

The content of the secretary-general's report would only be made public after it has been distributed to UN member states.

The establishment of independent, credible probes into the allegations is one of the recommendations made in the UN Human Rights Council report by South African judge Richard Goldstone.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel was "satisfied" with Ban's report, which he said "reflects in a truthful manner" the Israeli document handed to him last week.

"This Israeli document fully expresses Israel's commitment to conduct independent and credible investigations that live up to the standards of international law," said Palmor.

He insisted that Israel, during its three-week offensive, had respected international norms "despite the difficult fighting conditions" opposite Hamas militants. Israel's first duty was "to protect the well-being and security of its citizens," he said.

Israel has so far only had its own Army investigate the allegations made against it. It has not set up a government-appointed commission of inquiry, independent of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as demanded by the Goldstone report.

Israel would now be looking at how Ban's evaluation would be received by UN member states, before making its final decision on whether it would establish such an independent commission of inquiry.

It has rejected the Goldstone report as "biased" and "prejudged."

But the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) charged the probes by the Israeli military prosecutor were "inappropriate and legally inadequate."

It said that of 450 incidents of violations reported by it alone, the Israeli military was investigating "only" 150. Of those, it said, only 36 were criminal investigations, seven of which had already been closed for "lack of evidence."

So far, only two officers and one soldier was found to have made mistakes, it said, adding that in general, the finding of all probes held so far was that Israel acted "in accordance with the law."

The group said it was "surprised" at Ban's reported evaluation that it was too early to judge the Israeli probes, and "shocked and appalled" at "this lack of responsibility."

As UN Secretary-General, Ban had the duty to ensure accountability for perpetrators of war crimes, it said.

Hamas, for its part, is said to have submitted its report to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, but it was unclear how that report would be considered, because the international body deals only with the Palestinian Authority.

Israel launched its three-week offensive last year in response to rocket and mortar attacks from Hamas-ruled Gaza at its south.

Some 1,400 Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed in its massive shelling from the air, sea and ground of Hamas targets in the densely-populated strip.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307771,ban-uncertain-about-credibility-of-gaza-probes--summary.html.

Offices, schools close as Eastern US braces for blizzard

Washington - Government offices and schools closed several hours ahead of schedule in Washington Friday to enable people to head home before a major snowstorm hit. The snowfall in the national capital was already lowering visibility by late afternoon and threatening to bring all public services to a standstill.

A "monster" blizzard was blowing across the mid-west and towards the mid-Atlantic coastal region, where it is expected dump 30 to 60 centimeters of snow over 24 hours from Friday to Saturday.

The huge storm system has been heading up from the south all week, where it dropped rain and lesser amounts of snow.

Winter storm warnings were in place from southern Indiana eastwards to New York City and south to North Carolina, with blizzard warnings for Delaware and the New Jersey coast, according to the National Weather Service.

Delta Airlines canceled all flights to and from the Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia on Saturday, but hoped to revert to normal schedules by Sunday.

Amtrak canceled most of its train services from Washington headed south.

The Metro system in Washington plans to close above-ground stations when the snow reaches 20 centimeters.

Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty declared a snow emergency that went into effect at Friday morning, which prevents people from parking on certain streets so snow plows can get through.

Strong winds and plunging temperatures are expected to make for extremely hazardous travel, the National Weather Service said.

Weather forecaster AccuWeather advised people to plan on "no travel" from Friday night into Saturday night in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, southern Pennsylvania and much of New Jersey.

The Washington region received a good icing in December, when 40 centimeters fell. The record snowfall for the capital region was 70 centimeters in January 1922.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/307773,offices-schools-close-as-eastern-us-braces-for-blizzard.html.

Danish navy storms ship, frees 25 from Somali pirates - Summary

Nairobi/Copenhagen (Earth Times) - Danish special forces have stormed a ship captured by Somali pirates and freed 25 crew members with no casualties, a European Union naval spokesman and the Danish navy said Friday. The Antigua and Barbuda-flagged, Slovenian-owned Ariella sent a distress call in the early hours of the morning when it was boarded by pirates in the Gulf of Aden.

An Indian warship picked up the distress signal, then Danish warship Absalon, operating under NATO command, responded to the call once a French helicopter had established that pirates were on deck.

"The crew had locked themselves in a secure room ... once the special forces knew they were secure, they stormed the ship and the pirates fled," John Harbour, spokesman for the European Union's anti- piracy mission off Somalia (EU NAVFOR) told the German Press Agency dpa.

The crew - 15 Filipinos, seven Ukrainians, one Slovak, one Indian and one Bulgarian - were all safely rescued.

Harbour said the special forces were in control of the ship, and that the pirates fled in advance of the attack.

"They (the pirates) could still be on the ship or may have gone overboard in a skiff," he said.

EU NAVFOR said in a statement that Russian Navy ship Neustrashimyy, operating nearby, boarded and detained a second pirate skiff.

Piracy is rife off the Horn of Africa nation, which has not had an functioning central government since 1991.

Young men take to the seas in search of multimillion-dollar ransoms despite the presence of over a dozen international warships, which were dispatched to the Gulf of Aden in 2008 to combat a rise in piracy.

The pirates have expanded their operations further out into the Indian Ocean to avoid the patrols.

Harbour said the rescue was possible because the ship was registered with the naval force and was traveling in a convoy along an agreed transit corridor, allowing a fast response.

The Absalon has already played a significant role in fighting piracy in the region.

A year ago the crew of the Absalon arrested five Somali pirates who seized a Dutch ship and last weekend, after arriving for a new tour of duty, helped the crew of an Indian vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

According to the International Maritime Bureau, Somalis were largely responsible for a global increase in pirate attacks in 2009.

There were 406 attacks in 2009, compared to 293 the previous year, and over half of them were off the coast of Somalia, the IMB said.

Somali pirates in January scooped their biggest payday, when a Greek supertanker carrying millions of barrels of crude oil from Saudi Arabia to the United States was released for a ransom rumored to have been as high as 7 million dollars.

Cinema/TV: boycotted in Algeria, Egypt turned to Israel

After all what has endured the Algerian national football team last November 14, and the stoning of the players’ bus in Cairo and serious injuries to our players, in addition to aggression against Algerian supporters in Cairo and Sudan.

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After the verbal attacks from bottom floors of the pseudo-Egyptian artists such as Yousra, Adel Imam, Zina, Tamer Hosny, Ihab Toufik and many other, all this led the Algerians refuse anything and everything Egyptian which comes from Egypt.
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All Algerians have oriented their TVs to other channels and watch movies and series from Syria and Turkey. After having been idols for young Algerians, Tamer Hosni and the other no longer concern our young people after the events in Cairo and Khartoum, and especially after all the insults poured all days and nights long, by the Egyptian TVs . All albums of Tamer and his brothers and sisters were thrown in the trash.

Egyptian series and films banned in Algerian homes
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The Algerians, in their overwhelming majority, have boycotted the film and TV series and programs from Egypt.
Ghania, teacher, says she can not bear to hear the spoken Egyptian (cairo language). "They have exceeded all limits, I no longer watch their movies or listen to their singers. Before, I liked the actress Yousra, but the nasty old girl said ugly things about Algeria, so that I can not stand. They pretend to be well educated and civilized, but they seek only their personal interests. The son of their president has bought them with some pennies to behave such a way. These are just hypocrites.
Khaled said he was as happy as his wife abandons the Egyptian channels, for him, he does not love the mat all.

Yousra, Tamer Hosni and Ilhem chahine hate Algerian artists
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After being some time the idol of many Algerians who follow his films and series, the actress Yousra has been grilled in Algeria immediately after having shown her real face on the program "El Beit Beitek" (the home is yours) by insulting the Algerian and returning back the price she had been awarded at the festival of Oran in 2009. Yousra is the most hated artist in Algeria. She is even forbidden to enter this country. The Algerian public was more than surprised by her behavior and her words, she was received with open arms like a princess at the point of being herself surprised.
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The ugly singer Tamer Hosni, also received like a prince during his first visit to Algeria in 2008 and suddenly became the most hated singer. His albums have been squarely put to the puzzle and posters that adorn the rooms of thousands of fans were replaced by those of Algerian footballers. As for Ilhem Chahine, who visited Algeria more than once and each time was received like a queen, she has also turned against this country who gave her so much.

Egyptian producers sell their films in Israel

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After the failure of marketing of all films produced recently in Egypt because of refusal of service in the Arab world, Egyptian producers have turned to erotic productions in order to attract viewers by sex, but such film has met much criticism within Egypt itself, like the director Mohamed Kamel el kaliouby who announced the sale of Egyptian films in Israel. He added that Israelian parties were interested in this kind of production in order to study the Egyptian society.

The Egyptians were surprised recently by a number of very erotic films such as "Ahassiss (feelings)," Speak to me, thanks" and "natural colors". According to the actor Mahmoud Abdul Aziz, these films do not reflect the reality of Egyptian cinema. For his part, the cinema critic Walid Seif said "this genre has long disappeared from Egypt, it returned back in order to attract the younger audience and is not destined to families."

Ennahar / Zahida Tabet

Source: Ennahar Online.
Link: http://www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/3073.html.