Thousands attend funeral of wife of Israeli President Shimon Peres

Fri, 21 Jan 2011

Tel Aviv - Eulogized by her husband, and accompanied on her last journey by thousands of mourners, Sonia Peres, the wife of Israeli President Shimon Peres, was buried near Tel Aviv Friday, a day after she died in her sleep aged 87.

"My love for her will remain in my heart until I die," the president said of his wife of 67 years.

He said that when he first met Sonia 73 years ago at the Ben-Shemen youth village south-east of Tel Aviv, "I knew that it was love at first sight."

"She loved the country. She loved the people. She did most of her work in secret," he said, in remarks broadcast live over the radio. "She went to clean floors at a number of institutions for children with special needs or hospitals."

Although married to one of Israel's leading and longest-serving politicians and statesmen, Sonia's reluctance to share in her husband's limelight was legendary and the couple rarely appeared together at public functions.

She did not move to the president's official residence in Jerusalem when Shimon Peres was elected president in 2007, but instead remained living at the couple's apartment in Oppenheimer street in an upscale Tel Aviv neighborhood.

It was there that her grandson discovered her dead late Thursday morning.

Peres is said to have been shattered by Sonia's death, and according to media reports, has been teary-eyed and uncommunicative since he was told of her passing.

The funeral was attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni, Defense Mister Ehud Barak, and a host of other top Israeli politicians and officials.

It was held, at her request, at Ben-Shemen, and not at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, where Israeli leaders and dignitaries are usually laid to rest.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/363488,israeli-president-shimon-peres.html.

Southern Sudanese vote overwhelmingly for independence - Summary

Fri, 21 Jan 2011

Juba, Sudan - Southern Sudan looks certain to become the world's newest state after partial results published by the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission Friday showed almost 99 per cent of voters had chosen to split from the north.

The week-long referendum was the centerpiece of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war between the mainly Muslim north and the Christian and Animist south.

With 3.2 million ballots tallied, 3.14 million people have voted for an independent state, according to incomplete provisional figures on the commission's website. Around 4 million people were registered to vote.

Just over 83 per cent of ballots cast in Southern Sudan have been counted, while all the votes from southerners living in the north and overseas have already been tallied, the commission said.

Most of the votes for unity came from voters in the north, where almost 43 per cent voted for Sudan to remain one country.

In the south, however, the vote was incredibly one-sided - in Unity State, only 90 people vote against independence - 0.02 percent of the votes cast.

In order for the outcome of the vote to be valid, 60 per cent of registered voters had to cast their ballots. Full preliminary results are due by the end of January.

The referendum process had raised fears of a return to north-south conflict, but these concerns have been calmed by Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and his northern party saying they will accept the result of the vote.

More than 2 million southerners died and 4 million were displaced in Sudan's 1983-2005 north-south civil war, which was essentially a continuation of the 1955-1972 conflict that followed independence from joint British and Egyptian rule.

Many issues remain to be resolved post-referendum, including the final demarcation of the north-south border, which bisects Sudan's oilfields and leaves most of the precious commodity in the south. The status of the restive border region Abyei also has to be decided.

Fighting in Abyei between northern and southern tribes claimed over 70 lives as the referendum got underway. A separate vote on whether the region goes with north or south has been delayed.

Should all go as planned, Southern Sudan is expected to be independent by July.

While southerners are elated at the prospect of becoming a nation state, aid agencies have warned the impoverished region faces huge challenges.

Southern Sudan suffers from clashes between rival communities, has only a few dozens kilometers of paved road in a country the size of France and has appalling development indicators.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/363592,overwhelmingly-independence-summary.html.

South Korean troops rescue ship, kill pirates in Arabian Sea - Summary

Fri, 21 Jan 2011

Seoul - Naval special forces from South Korea on Friday stormed a ship hijacked by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea, freed all 21 crew members aboard and killed eight pirates, South Korea's military said.

The captain of the South Korean-operated chemical tanker Samho Jewelry was shot in the stomach in the operation 1,300 kilometers off north-east Somalia but his injury was not life-threatening, said Colonel Lee Bung Woo, a spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The five other pirates on the vessel were captured, he said.

The crew had been held since January 15 when its 11,500-ton, Norwegian-owned ship was hijacked in waters between Oman and India. It was sailing at the time from Sri Lanka to the United Arab Emirates.

The rescue by South Korean navy SEALs was made three days after the South Korean destroyer Choi Young exchanged fire with the pirates as it was pursuing the hijacked Samho Jewelry and some of the pirates aboard disembarked to try to capture a Mongolian vessel.

Three South Korean soldiers suffered minor injuries in the earlier battle and were treated in a hospital in Oman while several pirates fell into the water and were believed to be dead, Lee said.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak ordered the Choi Young to pursue the pirates early this week. The destroyer, which began patrols in the Gulf of Aden at the end of last year as part of an anti-piracy operation off Somalia, continued to dog the pirates since Tuesday, backed by an Omani navy ship, which helped in Friday's rescue operation.

Eight of the sailors aboard the Maltese-flagged vessel Samho Jewelry are South Korean, 11 were from Myanmar and two from Indonesia, according to the South Korean government.

"This operation demonstrated our government's strong will that we won't tolerate illegal activities by pirates any more," President Lee said.

Seven ships carrying South Koreans have so far been hijacked by Somali pirates. One continued to be held, and the other five were released after ransoms were paid.

News of the operation came as the European Union's anti-piracy force, Atalanta, reported that two other ships had been seized by Somali pirates.

The freighter MV Khaled Muhieddine K was taken Thursday 330 nautical miles, or 610 kilometers, south-east of the port of Salalah, Oman, an Atalanta spokesman said.

The captain reported that the ship with 22 Syrians and three Egyptians aboard had come under fire and was being boarded by pirates shortly before contact with the bulk carrier was lost, Atalanta said.

The Syrian-owned, Togo-flagged, 24,000-ton vessel was on its way from Singapore to Yemen.

The fate of another crew was also unknown Friday. A Vietnamese-owned bulk carrier and its 24 crew members were seized by Somali pirates off Oman, its shipping company said.

Nguyen Bien Cuong, head of the Hoang Son Co's maritime security department, said the last time his firm had heard from the Vietnamese crew of the 22,835-ton, Mongolian-flagged Hoang Son Sun was Tuesday.

The Hoang Son Sun was apparently pirated about 520 nautical miles, or 960 kilometers, south-east of Oman's capital, Muscat, Atalanta said.

The cargo ship was transporting feed for cattle for a Chinese company and was en route from Iran to China, Cuong said.

"We expect Somali pirates to understand that the cargo ship is owned by a Vietnamese company, a poor country, so they will not ask for ransom," Cuong said.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/363507,arabian-sea-summary.html.

Saudi minister says Lebanon statements 'taken out of context'

Fri, 21 Jan 2011

Beirut - Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Friday that his recent remarks about pulling out of Lebanon mediation talks were "taken out of context."

"What has changed is (Saudi Arabia's) position regarding mediation between Lebanon and Syria, but the kingdom will always support Lebanese legitimacy," Lebanese radio stations quoted him as telling the Saudi News Agency.

Lebanon is facing a political crisis after the government collapsed on January 12 when ministers of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and their allies left the cabinet of Premier Saad Hariri.

Faisal reportedly told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya Television on Wednesday that his country has abandoned mediation efforts in Lebanon, where he described the situation as "dangerous."

Saudi Arabia has played a key role in mediating previous political crisis in Lebanon, including the end of the Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990.

The kingdom, which supports the ruling majority in Lebanon, has for months been involved in mediation efforts with Syria, the main- backer of the Hezbollah-led faction in the government.

The mediators were trying to find a solution for the political turmoil, triggered by the the UN-backed tribunal in the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri, Saad Hariri's father.

Hezbollah resigned from the cabinet to protest against Saad Hariri's reluctance to cut ties with the tribunal.

Hezbollah is afraid of being implicated in the assassination by the court's prosecutor, Daniel Bellemare, who this weak filed confidential draft indictments to the tribunal.

Hariri currently heads a caretaker government. Parliamentary consultations on the political situation are scheduled to take place January 24-25.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/363471,lebanon-statements-taken-context.html.

Protesters disrupt French Foreign Minister's visit to Gaza Strip

Fri, 21 Jan 2011

Gaza - French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie arrived in the Gaza Strip on Friday, but dozens of angry relatives of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails tried to stop her convoy.

The relatives were angered over remarks she made Thursday in support of an Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza, without also mentioning the Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Witnesses said that as soon as the minister's convoy entered the strip through the Erez crossing point, the protesters jumped in front of the vehicles and lay down in the road. Some also threw shoes at the cars.

Police dispersed the demonstrators and the convoy, accompanied by United Nations vehicles, was able to proceed toward Gaza City.

The fundamentalist Hamas movement, which administers Gaza, is demanding that Israel free about 1,000 prisoners in exchange for the soldier, Gilad Shalit, who was seized in a cross-border raid in June 2006.

A Hamas statement sent to the media said Alliot-Marie's statements were "biased toward Israel," and criticized her for not mentioning the Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.

While in Gaza, Alliot-Marie is scheduled to hold talks with UN officials, visit the French Cultural center in Gaza City and inspect al-Quds Hospital.

She is not scheduled to meet with any officials from Hamas, which has governed the coastal strip since June 2007, when its operatives routed security personnel loyal to the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas is subject to a Western diplomatic boycott due to its refusal to accept demands to lay down its weapons, honor past Israeli-Palestinian agreements and accept Israel's right to exist.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/363460,ministers-visit-gaza-strip.html.

NASA begins work to add third and final shuttle flight

Thu, 20 Jan 2011

Washington - NASA will begin preparations for an additional shuttle flight it hopes to make in June before retiring the aging fleet, the US space agency said Thursday.

Space shuttle Atlantis would deliver supplies to the International Space Station under a plan to add a third and final shuttle mission to NASA's launch manifest. Two missions currently remain scheduled for the shuttle fleet, but NASA had long hoped to add a third.

Congress approved plans last year for a third flight, allowing NASA to start moving forward, but funding for the flight still remains uncertain and requires separate legislative approval.

Atlantis is now set to be on standby if a rescue mission is needed and could easily be utilized one last time on a full-fledged mission to the International Space Station.

Shuttle flights are currently set for late February and April. The planned February flight of Discovery has been plagued by delays due to problems in its fuel tank.

The Discovery mission also received another bit of unlucky news, when astronaut Tim Kopra suffered a biking accident, prompting NASA to replace him on the crew.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/363413,add-final-shuttle-flight.html.

Lebanese Druze leader to back Hezbollah for premiership - Summary

Fri, 21 Jan 2011

Beirut - The leader of Lebanon's Druze religious community said Friday he would no longer support caretaker premier Saad Hariri and instead side with the Hezbollah-led opposition in next week's consultations to name a new premier.

"I will stand by the resistance (Hezbollah) and Syria," Walid Jumblatt said at a press conference.

By doing so, Jumblatt defied his long-time ally Hariri, who is seeking to reclaim control of the government after it collapsed earlier this month following Hezbollah's withdrawal of support in a dispute over a UN investigation into the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.

Jumblatt's announcement has not deterred Hariri's supporters, however.

"We still believe that we have the upper hand in naming the new premier," Hariri supporter lawmaker Ahmed Fatfat told the German Press Agency dpa.

Another lawmaker, Mustafa Alloush, said that if Hariri were to lose, his allies would not take part "in a Cabinet headed by Hezbollah."

Hezbollah has 57 seats in parliament, while Hariri controls 60.

Hariri is currently heading a caretaker government pending the outcome of consultations, due to be held early next week between Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and parliament.

However, sources close to the president predicted that the upcoming consultations might be postponed to pave way for more talks and mediation efforts by regional countries such Syria, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/363563,hezbollah-premiership-summary.html.