DR Congo calls on UN to withdraw peacekeepers

May 18, 2011

UNITED NATIONS — Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday made a new call for UN peacekeepers to withdraw, despite warnings from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that armed groups remain a significant threat there.

DR Congo's international cooperation minister Raymond Tshibanda told the UN Security Council that his government want an "orderly, progressive withdrawal" of UN troops from the giant central African country, where millions are said to have died in conflict in the past two decades.

The resource-rich country is to hold a key presidential election in November, amid fears of unrest.

Tshibanda told a Security Council debate that DR Congo and UN troops were now tackling "the last pockets of resistance from the remaining armed elements" and these are "in a few isolated zones."

"Add to this the normalization of relations with neighboring countries, we can legitimately say that we are out of the phase of reestablishing and maintaining peace," he said.

The minister said the UN mission in DR Congo, MONUSCO, should now concentrate on consolidating peace and reinforcing democracy.

MONUSCO currently has about 20,000 troops and police in the country making it one of the UN's biggest peacekeeping operations.

"The time has come to broach together a phase of transition which will lead to the restructuring of MONUSCO and its mandate with the view to an orderly, progressive withdrawal, without delays, of its military component," he said.

Tshibanda added that President Joseph Kabila's government wants to do nothing to "undermine" the improved security climate.

"We must now ensure that the mandate is adapted to meet the new needs present on the ground," he told the 15-nation council.

"We only ask that we, as responsible adults, be able to shoulder the prerogatives that are part of our regained sovereignty."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon did not comment on the withdrawal of MONUSCO forces in his speech to the debate.

But he said that despite military efforts, "foreign and Congolese armed groups continue to pose significant threats. The humanitarian situation remains serious with 1.7 million displaced."

He added that "murders, sexual violence and the looting and burning of villages continue to have large-scale humanitarian consequences."

Ban said that the November 28 presidential and legislative elections "must be timely, transparent, credible, peaceful and secure."

"We must do our utmost to ensure that violence does not break out before, during or after the elections. We have invested much and there is much to lose," he told the Security Council.

The Council said in a statement that security has improved in DR Congo but highlighted the threat from armed groups in the eastern provinces of Nord and Sud Kivu.

It reaffirmed "deep concern about the persistent high levels of violence, especially sexual violence and human rights abuses against civilians."

A recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health estimates that there are more than 1,100 rapes each day in DR Congo.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

2012 Olympic Torch relay dates announced

LONDON, May 18 (UPI) -- Olympic organizers in London said the Olympic Torch will arrive in the United Kingdom next May 18 to begin a 70-day relay to the start of the 2012 Games.

Officials said Wednesday the Olympic Torch relay will cover an estimated 8,000 miles around the United Kingdom. They also said the search has begun for "8,000 inspirational people" to participate in the relay.

The relay is to begin at Land's End in Cornwall on May 19, 2012, and conclude at the Summer Olympic opening ceremonies July 27, 2012, in London. The first 74 locations for the relay were announced Wednesday with additional sites to be determined.

"The Olympic Flame will shine a light right across every nation and region of the U.K. and showcase the very best of who we are and where we live," London organizing committee Chairman Sebastian Coe said in a release.

"The first locations on the route confirmed today give a flavor of the reach the Olympic Torch Relay will have around the U.K. and how extensive the opportunity for starting to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games will be."

Organizers said 2,012 torchbearers will be determined through a public nomination program, which they detail on the London 2012 Web site. Also included will be students participating in the Get Set Network program and "role models and outstanding members of the public" as chosen by the organizing committee.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/2011/05/18/2012-Olympic-Torch-relay-dates-announced/UPI-44881305719108/.

Wind power has potential in Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 18 (UPI) -- Michigan utility company Consumers Energy said it was expanding a program for solar energy but noted wind may be the best way forward in the state.

Consumers Energy said it was doubling the amount of solar power it would purchase from its customers under a state plan that requires utility companies to get 10 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2015.

Dan Bishop, a spokesman for the company, told Michigan Public Radio that solar power was making gains in the state but wind energy was more attractive.

"Our analysis is that wind is the most economic way to meet this standard and serve our customers in the best way," he told the broadcaster.

DTE Energy, one of the other state utility companies, announced a decision last month to build three wind farms in Michigan.

The utility company said it acquired easements on 80,000 acres of land in the eastern part of the state for the wind farms and associated infrastructure. It also completed studies examining the wind regime and potential impact on the wildlife at the sites.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2011/05/18/Wind-power-has-potential-in-Michigan/UPI-34921305723644/.

Iran: Bushehr nuclear plant operational

TEHRAN, May 18 (UPI) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has announced the "successful" start-up of the Bushehr nuclear plant, saying it has reached the critical phase.

"As we have previously announced, Bushehr power plant has reached the critical stage. It has been successfully launched," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Salehi saying.

"(The) Bushehr nuclear facility is one of the safest ones in the world. It has entered the critical phase and in other words it has been started up," the Iranian Student News Agency quoted Salehi as saying.

Addressing the Economic Cooperation Organization in Tehran Tuesday, Salehi said the critical stage when the fissile material is self-sustaining should occur "within the next two months," the semi-official Fars news agency reported.

"This stage lasts for two months. We hope the plant will gain some 40 percent of its power within the next one or two months," Press TV quoted him saying.

Olga Tysleva, a spokesperson for the Russian Atomstroyexport company, which built the plant, said Friday the fuel loading of the reactor at the plant is complete and the reactor is functioning at "the minimum controllable level of power," Press TV said.

In September 2010 Iran disclosed a malicious computer virus called Stuxnet had attacked high-value industrial sites but refused to acknowledge it caused delays at the Bushehr nuclear plant.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/05/18/Iran-Bushehr-nuclear-plant-operational/UPI-39011305717766/.

Rodent seen for first time in 113 years

SANTA MARTA, Colombia, May 18 (UPI) -- A mysterious South American rodent, not seen since 1898 despite many searches, appeared at the front door of a nature reserve in Colombia, researchers said.

The red-crested tree rat, Santamartamys rufodorsalis, stayed at the reserve for almost 2 hours while two researchers snapped pictures of a creature scientists thought might never be seen again, a release from the American Bird Conservancy said Wednesday.

The nocturnal rodent revealed itself to the world on May 4 at the El Dorado Nature Reserve in the far north of Colombia.

The animal was rediscovered by Lizzie Noble and Simon McKeown, two volunteer researchers at the reserve monitoring endangered amphibians.

It posed for photographs, including close-ups, before calmly ambling back into the forest, they said.

"He just shuffled up the handrail near where we were sitting and seemed totally unperturbed by all the excitement he was causing," Noble, from Godalming, England, said.

"We are absolutely delighted to have rediscovered such a wonderful creature after just a month of volunteering," she said.

"Clearly the El Dorado Reserve has many more exciting discoveries waiting."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/05/18/Rodent-seen-for-first-time-in-113-years/UPI-73681305691260/.

Baby named after Facebook Like button

JERUSALEM, May 18 (UPI) -- An Israeli couple said they were inspired by the "Like" button on Facebook when they named their daughter Like.

Lior and Vardit Adler told Israeli news site Galgalatz they felt the name was "modern and innovative," PC World reported Tuesday.

"In our opinion, it's the modern equivalent of the name Ahava (Love)," Lior Adler said, "It's just my way of saying to my fantastic daughter, 'love.'"

The couple's previous two daughters are named Pie and Vash, the Hebrew word for "Honey."

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/05/18/Baby-named-after-Facebook-Like-button/UPI-92221305703800/.

Egypt to hang 17-year-old youth

CAIRO, May 18 (UPI) -- A local rights group criticized a decision by Egypt's Supreme Military Council to execute a 17-year-old youth and three others for kidnapping a young woman.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights is pushing for the military to reconsider the sentence handed down to the four convicted of kidnapping and assaulting a young woman, and called for immediate action, Bikya Masr.com reported Wednesday.

"The death sentence issued against the minor (identified only as) A.M.M. ... illustrates the ignorance of the military judiciary in civil and criminal law alike," Adel Ramadan, a legal officer at the organization said.

The Egyptian Child Law, the Code of Military Justice and international law state the death penalty cannot be applied to those under 18, the Web site said.

"The sentence contravenes Article 8 of the Code of Military Justice, which states that no minor may be tried before a military court unless a partner in the crime falls under the jurisdiction of the Code of Military Justice as defined in Article 4 of the same law. This condition does not apply in the current case as all the defendants are civilians," the Web site reported.

"The danger is even greater when the military judiciary, with its susceptibility to errors, begins determining whether a person is deserving of life. This is starkly clear in the case of A.M.M., whose life, dreams and ambitions may be abruptly ended at the age of 17, and thus demands that we reconsider the case," Ramadan said.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2011/05/18/Egypt-to-hang-17-year-old-youth/UPI-14111305720985/.