Police clamp down on satellite TV users ahead of election

Feb 18, 2012

Tehran - Police in Iran on Saturday forcefully removed satellite television dishes in northern Tehran, as part of what is seen as an ongoing clampdown on illegal broadcasters ahead of elections.

'Police came, broke the door to the roof and removed all satellite dishes and all other relevant equipments,' said a housekeeper in the district of Shemiran said.

The main target of the clampdown appears to be Persian news programs from abroad which authorities accuse of broadcasting 'anti-revolutionary programs.'

Iran is to hold parliamentary elections on March 2.

Parliament banned the use of satellite equipment some 16 years ago. However, many Iranians still subscribe and camouflage satellite dishes as air conditioners on rooftops.

Police in Tehran have repeatedly warned that reception of satellite programs was a 'clear legal offense' and advised the capital's residents to dismantle equipment.

Critics of the ban say the forceful effort to block access to information and entertainment is futile.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1691762.php/Police-clamp-down-on-satellite-TV-users-ahead-of-election.

Syrian forces fire on funeral, killing at least two people

Feb 18, 2012

Beirut - At least two people were killed when Syrian government forces fired on a crowd during a funeral procession in the capital Damascus on Saturday, opposition activists said.

'The funeral was being held in the Mezzeh area (in Damascus) for three people who had been killed the day before in a crackdown on anti-regime protests,' the Syrian activist Munzer Abdullah told dpa.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1691769.php/Syrian-forces-fire-on-funeral-killing-at-least-two-people.

Palestinians rally to support hunger striker in Israeli jail

Sat Feb 18, 2012

Thousands of Palestinians have held demonstrations in Gaza and the West Bank to express solidarity with a Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike for more than two months.

Members of all Palestinian movements attended the demonstration which began at the Al-Omari Mosque in Gaza City after Friday Prayers and ended at the headquarters of the Red Cross.

Demonstrators chanted slogans such as "We are all Khader Adnan" to express their support for the hunger striker.

"The Palestinian people, with all its components and its factions, will never abandon the hero prisoners, especially those who lead this hunger strike struggle," said Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who participated in the demonstration in Gaza.

"In his hunger strike, Khader Adnan is not fighting for a personal cause, but for the defense of thousands of prisoners," said Nafez Azzam, a Gaza leader of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinians also demonstrated in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, while Palestinian officials said many other prisoners in Israeli jails had started hunger strikes in support of Adnan.

Thirty-three-year-old Khader Adnan is being held without charge or trial in what Israel calls “administrative detention.”

The prisoner started the open-ended hunger strike a day after his arrest 64 days ago to protest against his detention as a violation of his basic rights and to highlight abuse and humiliating treatment during his arrest and interrogation.

According to a medical report issued on Thursday, he is "in immediate danger of death.”

Last week, an Israeli military court rejected an appeal against the detention, stating that Adnan had to remain in jail until May 8, 2012.

He was reportedly beaten by Israeli forces and sustained injuries when they raided his home outside the city of Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank.

According to Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and prisoner advocacy groups, there are currently over 6,000 Palestinian prisoners, including legislators, in Israeli jails, many of whom have been rounded up without charge or trial. Independent sources put the number of the inmates at 11,000.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/227279.html.

Jordanian protesters call for reforms, ouster of prime minister

Sat Feb 18, 2012

Jordanian people have staged protest rallies across the country, calling for political and economic reforms, constitutional amendment and resignation of Prime Minister Awn Al-Khasawneh.

Protesters took to streets in several cities including Karak, Tafileh, Salt, Ma’an and Irbid after Friday prayers.

Citizens of Tafileh demanded the implementation of reforms promised by the government.

In Karak, hundreds of demonstrators urged the government to end the mounting “security pressures” on Jordanian people and protesters.

Chanting anti-government slogans, protesters in Tafileh announced their support for a nationwide strike by Jordanian teachers who demand better pay and full annual bonuses.

Most of the country's 1.4 million public schoolchildren are staying at home as a majority of the nearly 120,000 teachers have kept away from the kingdom's 3,370 public schools since early February.

Jordanians have been holding street protests since January 2011, demanding political reforms, including the election of the prime minister by popular vote and an end to corruption.

Since the beginning of protest rallies, Jordanian ruler King Abdullah II has sacked two prime ministers in a bid to avoid more protests. Khasawneh, a judge at International Court of Justice, became Jordan's third premier this year.

The king has also amended 42 articles in the 60-year-old constitution, giving parliament a stronger role in decision-making but the changes have failed to convince people.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail/227280.html.

Occupy Wall Street a Super PAC Now

By Alex Johnston
February 16, 2012

The Occupy Wall Street movement now has a super political action committee (PAC), which is an organization that campaigns for or against candidates, initiatives, or legislation.

John Paul Thornton of Decatur, Ala., made the filing to the Federal Election Commission, which accepted his bid, which is called “Occupy PAC,” according to the filed papers. The mailing address for the PAC is “none and everywhere” and in the city registration section, it says, “all of them.”

Thornton told CBS Atlanta that he was “watching [‘The Colbert Report’] and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t be nice if Occupy had a PAC,’ and … like a light bulb it came to me!”

“This PAC is for everyone and if they want to contribute they are more than welcome,” Thornton said. “This is going to be uber-transparent down to the cent.”

Thornton said the filing is “utterly serious,” according to The Atlantic Wire.

Source: The Epoch Times.
Link: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/occupy-wall-street-a-super-pac-now-192156.html.

China to do first manned space docking

BEIJING, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- The three astronauts on Beijing's next space mission will carry out China's first manned docking to a prototype space station, China's space agency said Friday.

The Shenzhou 9 spacecraft -- part of the Shenzhou manned spaceflight initiative that put China's first citizen in orbit in October 2003 -- will lift off for the Tiangong-1 experimental space station between June and August, the China National Space Administration said.

After docking, the astronauts will live and work in the space lab, conducting science experiments, said the agency, cited by the state Xinhua News Agency.

The Tiangong-1 lab was launched Sept. 29, 2011, followed by China's first unmanned space docking by the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft Nov. 3, 2011.

Tiangong-1 is expected to be "deorbited" next year, replaced by larger Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3 modules, the space agency said.

China plans to build and launch a habitable space station made entirely in China around 2020, the space agency said.

The Chinese space station is planned as independent of the larger International Space Station. China is not an ISS partner, and no Chinese nationals have been aboard.

Source: United Press International (UPI).
Link: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/02/17/China-to-do-first-manned-space-docking/UPI-93641329505059/.

Sudanese head of Arab mission to Syria resigns

February 12, 2012 — CAIRO (AP) — An Arab League official says the Sudanese head of the League's observer mission to Syria has resigned.

The official said Gen. Mohammed Ahmed Al-Dabi stepped down on Sunday. Al-Dabi's resignation comes on the same day that foreign ministers from the 22-member group are to consider a proposal to send a new mission to Syria with Arab League and U.N. observers.

The official said League chief Nabil Elaraby will nominate former Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Illah al-Khatib as the new envoy to Syria. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

The League suspended its observer mission last month amid a surge in violence as President Bashar Assad's regime battles an uprising that began 11 months ago. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.


CAIRO (AP) — The Arab League was to consider a proposal Sunday to revive its suspended observer mission in Syria by expanding it to include monitors from non-Arab, Muslim nations and the United Nations, officials from the 22-member group said.

The proposal was to be discussed in a meeting in Cairo by a "Syria Group" made up of seven member states led by Qatar, according to the officials. The group would make recommendations to an Arab League foreign ministers' meeting scheduled for later Sunday in the Egyptian capital.

Last month, the League pulled out its observer mission to Syria after it came under heavy criticism for failing to stop the bloodshed engulfing the country. The Syrians would be unlikely to accept a new observer team.

President Bashar Assad's regime has pursued a harsh crackdown against the uprising since it began 11 months ago. The U.N. estimates that 5,400 people have been killed since March, but that figure is from January, when the world body stopped counting because the chaos in Syria has made it all but impossible to check the figures. Hundreds are reported to have been killed since.

The League officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the proposals had not yet been adopted, said the Syria Group would also call on Syrian opposition groups to close ranks and unite under one umbrella, a move that they said would place more pressure on the Assad regime.

The Syria Group meeting would be preceded by talks in Cairo by the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional grouping that brings together Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain. The six nations, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been campaigning for a tougher stand against Assad's regime and may in their Cairo meeting offer formal recognition of Syria's National Syrian Council, the largest of Syria's opposition groups.

Syria's turmoil began with peaceful protests against Assad's rule, sparking the fierce regime crackdown. But the revolt has grown increasingly militarized as army defectors and armed protesters have taken up arms against the government.

Russia and China last weekend vetoed a Western and Arab resolution at the U.N. that would have pressured Assad to step down. The draft resolution demands that Assad halt the crackdown and implement an Arab League peace plan that calls for him to hand over power to his vice president and allow creation of a unity government to clear the way for elections.

The veto prompted Western and Arab countries to consider forming a coalition to help Syria's opposition, though so far there is no sign they intend to give direct aid to the Free Syrian Army. Damascus allowed in Arab League observers in December, but the mission was halted amid the accelerating bloodshed. The Syrians would be unlikely to accept a new observer team.