AU peacekeeper killed in Central African Republic

December 24, 2013

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — An African Union peacekeeper from the Republic of Congo was killed over the weekend in Central African Republic by a Christian militia, underscoring the growing peril that international forces are facing in the troubled nation.

The Congolese soldier was stationed in the remote town of Bossangoa, which has been at the epicenter of the fighting between the country's Muslim minority, whose members grabbed power in a coup nine months ago, and the nation's Christian majority. He was killed by the anti-balaka, a Christian militia, the official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak on the matter.

"His body was brought back to Brazzaville an hour ago," said the official, who accompanied the soldier's remains to the capital of the Republic of Congo late Monday. "He was killed last night in Bossangoa by the anti-balaka, with an unprecedented level of barbarity. They lacerated him, and hacked his head."

French and African forces deployed to Central African Republic earlier this month to try to bring order to a nation described by some as being on the verge of genocide. Initially, the foreign forces were cheered by the population, hundreds of whom lined the streets to welcome arriving brigades.

But within weeks, the mood has changed and the international forces are now being seen as having taken sides in the conflict. French troops have come under attack from the Seleka rebels, the Muslim fighters who overthrew the country's Christian president in March. That's because the French are seen as being against the Muslim interim president, Michel Djotodia.

Similarly, the African peacekeepers have come under attack from Christian fighters. They see the Chadian contingent, which is part of the African Union-led force, as allied with the country's Muslims.

The AU-led force, known as MISCA, was created under a U.N, Security Council mandate. Also on Monday in Central African Republic's capital, a Muslim man and his son were lynched by an angry Christian mob near the airport.

Tony Ferrera, who is among the 40,000 refugees seeking shelter at the international airport, said Christians there had organized a march to demand the departure of the Muslim president. Ferrera said that as the Christian crowd was marching, a Muslim family came from the opposite direction. When the man brandished a gun and began shooting in the air, the mob pounced on him, accusing him of being a Seleka rebel. Both the man and his son were lynched.

His wife was able to run away, Ferrera said. In Paris, French military spokesman Col. Gilles Jaron told The Associated Press, that French forces had come under attack in recent days. "We are seeing a very clear rise in tension," he said. "We are acting since we did in the beginning — in total Impartiality."

In New York, Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who had just returned from Central African Republic, urged the world to pay attention to the country, where "terrible atrocities are occurring."

She recalled meeting a woman whose husband was stabbed in front of her and then doused in flames. "Part of what those who have survived violence of this nature are crying out for is justice," Power said. "And one of the worries that we came away from the Central African Republic with was that those who are not seeing justice done are increasingly tempted to take matters into their own hands, and that you're seeing a cycle of retribution and violence which is very, very long."

__ Louis Okamba contributed to this report from Brazzaville, Central African Republic. Associated Press writers Angela Charlton in Paris, Rukmini Callimachi in Dakar, Senegal, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations also contributed to this report.

Official: Israel plans new settlement construction

December 25, 2013

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel likely will announce new plans for construction in Jewish settlements next week, an official said Wednesday, a move that is likely to trigger an international uproar and threaten peace talks with the Palestinians.

The timing of the announcement would coincide with the expected release of a group of Palestinian prisoners. The government has announced new settlement construction plans during previous prisoner releases to blunt domestic criticism.

The Israeli official said he "expects" an announcement on new construction next week, but declined to elaborate. He spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement. Israel's Channel 2 TV said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu planned to announce "massive construction" next week. Channel 10 TV spoke of 1,000 to 2,000 new homes. Both reports cited anonymous officials close to the prime minister.

Wasil Abu Yousif, a Palestinian official, said the expected announcement is evidence that Israel is "not serious" about pursuing peace. "It's clear to everyone now that the Israeli government is killing the peace process." While stopping short of threatening to withdraw from the current round of peace negotiations, he said Israel's policy would force the Palestinians to seek "more substantial alternatives."

Israeli construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, captured territories claimed by the Palestinians as parts of a future state, have been a major source of tension in Mideast peace efforts. More than 550,000 Israelis live among 2.5 million Palestinians in these areas, raising fears that the growing numbers will soon reach a point of no return that will make it impossible to partition the land.

For years, the Palestinians refused to negotiate with Israel while settlement construction continued, saying it was a sign of bad faith. But under heavy U.S. pressure, the Palestinians reluctantly agreed to resume talks with Israel last summer.

Under a U.S.-brokered package, Israel agreed to release 104 long-serving Palestinian prisoners. The releases, taking place in four stages, have caused an uproar in Israel because the prisoners have been convicted in deadly attacks on Israelis. Next week's release would be the third stage.

While Israel did not agree to halt settlement construction, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has urged restraint. During one visit to Israel, he questioned Israel's commitment to peace in light of the ongoing construction. Because of the Christmas holiday, there was no immediate American reaction Wednesday.

The international community considers Israeli settlements to be illegal or illegitimate. The European Union said last week it had asked Israel not to announce new construction in connection with the prisoner release, warning Israel would be held responsible for a resulting failure in peace talks.

The Israeli official said Israel is "strictly abiding by understandings reached in the framework of this round of negotiations." The talks are scheduled to last for nine months, until late April, with the goal of reaching a "framework" agreement.

Rocks, tear gas fly as Thai protests heat up

December 26, 2013

BANGKOK (AP) — Protesters trying to halt preparations for elections fought running battles with police in the Thai capital on Thursday, as the country's festering political crisis again flared into violence.

Officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets toward protesters trying to force their way into a sports stadium where candidates were gathering to draw lots for their position on polling papers, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

The demonstrators, some armed with sling shots, threw rocks and attempted to break through police lines. Inside the stadium, candidates for at least 27 parties took part in the lot-drawing process, which apparently went on unaffected despite the turmoil outside the gates.

Three officers were injured, said police Col. Anucha Romyanan. He urged the demonstrators to assemble peacefully and said "attempts are being made to escalate the political situation by causing violence."

It was unclear how many protesters were hurt in the clashes, which were contained to the area around the stadium. It was the first violent incident in nearly two weeks of daily protests on the streets of Bangkok.

The protesters have been demanding that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down since mid-October, and street unrest has occasionally broken out. They oppose the polls scheduled for Feb. 2 because Yingluck is seen as sure to win them.

Police have largely shown restraint and have made no move to arrest the ringleader, Suthep Thaugsuban, who is demanding the country be led by an unelected council until reforms can be implemented. Thailand has been wracked by political conflict since Yingluck's brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was toppled by a 2006 military coup. The protesters accuse Yingluck of being a proxy for Thaksin, who lives in self-imposed exile to avoid jail time for a corruption conviction but still wields influence in the country.

Thaksin or his allies have won every election since 2001 thanks to strong support in the north and northeast of the country. His supporters say he is disliked by Bangkok's elite because he has shifted power away from the traditional ruling class, which have strong links to the royal family.

On Wednesday, Yingluck announced a proposal for a national reform council to come up with a compromise to the crisis, but it was rejected by the protesters. They now plan more civil disobedience and street protests in a bid to provoke such chaos that Yingluck will be forced to resign as caretaker.

The country's main opposition party, which is allied with the protesters, is boycotting the elections, which Yingluck called early in hopes of giving her a fresh mandate and defusing the crisis. Yingluck led the country for two years relatively smoothly. But in October, her government tried to introduce an amnesty law that would have allowed Thaksin to return to the country as a free man, sparking the latest round of unrest.

Thai protesters try to block election sign-up

December 23, 2013

BANGKOK (AP) — Anti-government protesters determined to unseat Thailand's prime minister surrounded a Bangkok sports stadium in an unsuccessful attempt to physically block political parties from registering for a February election.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who is popular among the rural majority but disliked by the urban middle class and educated elite, called the Feb. 2 elections to diffuse tension after several weeks of sometimes violent demonstrations in the Thai capital.

The attempted blockade comes after the main opposition Democrat Party said over the weekend it will boycott the vote, which Yingluck's ruling party would likely win. Officials from her party and eight others managed to sign up for the election by slipping into the stadium in the middle of the night, despite the presence of some protesters who had camped out overnight, the Election Commission said.

"We were aware that protesters would be blocking all entrances, so we went into the stadium at 4:00 a.m. while they were sleeping," said Prompong Nopparit, spokesman of the ruling Pheu Thai Party. "Despite all this, the elections will continue as planned on Feb. 2."

More than two dozen other parties were able to register at a nearby police station, where they filed complaints saying they were unable to access the main venue because of the blockade, the commission said.

Hundreds of protesters tried to seal off the police station, too, and then tried to block representatives of several political parties from leaving. The mostly city-dwelling demonstrators say Yingluck's removal is necessary to purge the country of corruption and money politics. They view Yingluck as a puppet of her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and is living in self-imposed exile overseas after being convicted for corruption.

The protesters want an appointed interim government to oversee political and electoral reforms before any new polls are held. But the Shinawatras have the support of Thailand's rural poor, largely because of Thaksin's policies to bring virtually free health care, cheap loans and other benefits to the long-neglected countryside. Yingluck has spent the past several days in Thailand's north and northeast, her party's political strongholds, surrounded by crowds of enthusiastic supporters.

Her government says the opposition's boycott shows it's afraid of losing. Thaksin and his allies have won every national election since 2001. Charismatic protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban has mobilized huge crowds in Bangkok in the past few weeks, including more than 100,000 people on Sunday in a march that blocked traffic and shut down major intersections around the capital.

In a fiery speech Sunday night, he promised to continue mass rallies and blockades until they achieve their goal. "Because Yingluck clings to her prime minister's seat, we must come out to chase her," Suthep told supporters. "We will keep chasing her until she is dead or until she leaves."

He declared that if the election still goes ahead on Feb. 2, "We will shut down the entire country and no one will vote." Yingluck insists the polls will take place. Her party signaled its confidence in a victory by placing her at the top of its party list Monday, indicating she remains their top choice for prime minister after elections.

Mars Express heading towards daring flyby of Phobos

Paris (ESA)
Dec 25, 2013

Late this month, ESA's Mars Express will make the closest flyby yet of the Red Planet's largest moon Phobos, skimming past at only 45 km above its surface.

The flyby on 29 December will be so close and fast that Mars Express will not be able to take any images, but instead it will yield the most accurate details yet of the moon's gravitational field and, in turn, provide new details of its internal structure.

As the spacecraft passes close to Phobos, it will be pulled slightly off course by the moon's gravity, changing the spacecraft's velocity by no more than a few centimeters per second. These small deviations will be reflected in the spacecraft's radio signals as they are beamed back to Earth, and scientists can then translate them into measurements of the mass and density structure inside the moon.

Earlier flybys, including the previous closest approach of 67 km in March 2010, have already suggested that the moon could be between a quarter and a third empty space - essentially a rubble pile with large spaces between the rocky blocks that make up the moon's interior.

Knowing the structure of the roughly 27 x 22 x 18 km Phobos will help to solve a big mystery concerning its origin and that of its more distant sibling, Deimos, which orbits Mars at approximately three times greater distance.

The leading theories propose that the duo are either asteroids captured by Mars, or that they were born from debris thrown up from giant impacts on Mars.

"By making close flybys of Phobos with Mars Express in this way, we can help to put constraints on the origin of these mysterious moons," says Olivier Witasse, ESA's Mars Express project scientist.

In addition to probing the gravitational field of Phobos during its close approach, Mars Express will be making measurements of how the solar wind influences the moon's surface.

"At just 45 km from the surface, our spacecraft is passing almost within touching distance of Phobos," says Michel Denis, Mars Express Operations Manager.

"We've been carrying out maneuvers every few months to put the spacecraft on track and, together with the ground stations that will be monitoring it on its close approach, we are ready to make some extremely accurate measurements at Phobos."

Both the position of the spacecraft and the moon must be known to high precision in order to make the most accurate calculations of the moon's internal characteristics. To improve the positional data, the spacecraft's high-resolution stereo camera has been capturing images of Phobos set against the background star field in the weeks leading up to closest approach and will continue to do so afterwards.

Furthermore, ground stations around the world will track the spacecraft for a total of 35 hours in the lead up to, during, and after the flyby to ensure that the position of Mars Express is precisely known.

"Mars Express entered orbit around the Red Planet exactly ten years ago this week - this close flyby of Phobos is certainly an exciting way to celebrate!" adds Olivier.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Mars_Express_heading_towards_daring_flyby_of_Phobos_999.html.

China's moon rover continues lunar survey after photographing lander

Beijing (XNA)
Dec 23, 2013

China's first moon rover, Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, continued patrol explorations on the lunar surface after taking photos of the lander for the fifth and final time early on Sunday.

According to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND), images transmitted to the ground after the latest photos were captured showed for the first time the national flags on both Yutu and the lander.

Pictures of the lander's five-star red flag could not be taken during previous photo-shooting operations because the flag's position was not facing the camera.

The latest photo operations will be the last in which the lander and rover take photos of each other.

Yutu separated from the lander on Dec. 15, several hours after China's lunar probe Chang'e-3 soft-landed on the moon on Dec. 14.

The moon rover and the lander took photos of each other for the first time on the night of December 15. Color images transmitted live during the first photo operation only showed the Chinese national flag on Yutu.

The rover began to circle the lander after the two took their first photos of each other, with a four-day break that lasted from Dec. 16 to Dec. 20, during which the six-wheeled rover shut down its subsystems, according to SASTIND.

Yutu will survey the moon's geological structure and surface substances and look for natural resources for three months, while the lander will conduct in situ exploration at the landing site for one year.

The Chang'e-3 mission makes China the third country, after the Soviet Union and the United States, to soft-land a spacecraft on lunar soil.

The mission also marks the full completion of the second phase of China's lunar program, which includes orbiting, landing and returning to Earth.

After the mission, China's lunar program will enter a new stage of unmanned automatic sampling and return, which will include Chang'e-5 and 6 missions.

China plans to launch lunar probe Chang'e-5 in 2017, according to SASTIND.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Chinas_moon_rover_continues_lunar_survey_after_photographing_lander_999.html.

Argentina successfully launches research rocket

Moscow (Voice of Russia)
Dec 23, 2013

Argentina has successfully launched a research rocket as part of its space program, the Defense Ministry said on Friday.

The launch took place on Wednesday in the city of Chamical, in La Rioja province, 880 km northwest of the capital.

The rocket was "launched through the joint efforts of the Air Force, the state-owned military manufacturing company, universities and companies related to the field," Defense Minister Agustin Rossi said.

"This launch is another step toward the recovery of scientific-technological capabilities for defense," Rossi said.

Describing the launch as "a milestone," the minister said, "We have recovered a capability that is of the utmost importance to us."

Argentina's Air Force said the rocket is expected to reach a maximum speed of 3,978 km per hour "until it runs out of fuel," then continue its non-propelled flight, and will later separate from its payload when it reaches an altitude of 49,000 meters.

Argentina has launched three rockets in five years after a 30-year suspension of research and development, according to Rossi.

The first one was launched in 2009 from Serrezuela, province of Cordoba, and the second one was launched in 2011, also in Chamical.

Argentina is expected to launch a Gradicom III rocket in 2014.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Argentina_successfully_launches_research_rocket_999.html.