Monday, May 16, 2011

Israeli Troops Clash with Protesters Along Borders

Israeli Troops Clash with Protesters Along Borders


Israeli Troops Clash with Protesters Along Borders

Posted: 16 May 2011 01:38 AM PDT

Israeli troops shot at Palestinian protesters along the border of Syria, Lebanon and Gaza Sunday killing at least 15 people as demonstrators marked the anniversary of Israel's creation.

Witnesses and Lebanese officials say Israeli troops killed 10 Palestinians and wounded more than 50 others when the troops fired on protesters to prevent them from crossing into Israel from Lebanon.

Demonstrators in Syria also tried to break through a border fence in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.  A Syrian official and witnesses say Israeli troops opened fire, killing four and wounding at least 45.

Elsewhere, Palestinian medics and officials say clashes at protests along the border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip killed at least one person and wounded at least 60.

While outside Jerusalem, medical sources say more than 100 were injured when soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a group of demonstrators throwing stones.

Also in Egypt, troops fired tear gas at several hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators outside of the Israeli embassy.

The Palestinian protests are marking what they call the "Naqba," or the "catastrophe."  It describes the uprooting of Palestinian families at the time of Israel's creation in 1948.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised address Sunday that Israel is determined to defend its borders.

The country heightened security in anticipation of unrest leading up to Sunday's protests.

U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said he deplored the loss of life.  He called the violence one of the most serious incidents on the border between Israel and Lebanon since 2006.

Valerie Amos, who is U.N. Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief, visited the West Bank and East Jerusalem Sunday. She met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah, where she reaffirmed the U.N.'s commitment to the Palestinian people's right to statehood and freedom from occupation.

More than 700,000 Palestinians are estimated to have fled or have been forced to leave their homes during the war that followed Israel's declaration of statehood in 1948.

Israel, which uses the Hebrew calendar, celebrated its 63rd anniversary last Tuesday.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

 

Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter
and discuss them on our Facebook page.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Japan Promises to Shut Down Fukushima Reactors By Year's End

Posted: 16 May 2011 02:07 AM PDT

Japan says it will shut down reactors at the Fukushima-1 power plant by the end of the year. The announcement comes despite revelations that a natural disaster in March damaged the nuclear facility worse than earlier believed.

Serious troubles continue to beleaguer the operators of the Japanese nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture that was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami. But Prime Minister Naoto Kan told parliament Monday the damaged reactors will be shut down sometime this year.

Kan says the timeline for bringing the four damaged reactors into a state of cold shutdown will not be changed. He insists that will happen in six to nine months.

That timetable is consistent with a plan Tokyo Electric Power Company announced one month ago. But since then it has become apparent that the reactors suffered worse damage than earlier thought. The number one reactor, it is now acknowledged, suffered a meltdown soon after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan.

Japanese experts say the fuel rods inside the reactor were fully exposed to the air and melted. However, the fuel apparently dropped to the bottom of the containment vessel, preventing it from going into a full meltdown stage.

Recent attempts to keep the reactor cool by filling the containment chamber with water have run into difficulty. The power company, known as TEPCO, says thousands of tons of highly radioactive contaminated water have leaked through holes created by melted fuel into the reactor basement.

TEPCO is scheduled to release a review of its shutdown plan on Tuesday.

On Sunday, the utility acknowledged that the fuel cores of two additional reactors at Fukushima-1 had also been substantially damaged and cooling water is leaking.

High radiation levels near the units are hampering critical repairs as workers can spend only a limited amount of time there to avoid overexposure.

The world's worst nuclear accident in a quarter of a century was triggered by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and huge tsunami that devastated Japan's northeastern Pacific coast. Police say 25,000 people were killed or are still missing.

Concerns about radiation emanating from the plant forced the evacuation of numerous communities.

On Sunday, thousands more residents beyond the previously established 20-kilometer evacuation zone left their homes. Authorities say atmospheric conditions have raised long-term safety concerns about radiation levels in their towns and villages.

About 80,000 people were initially forced out of their homes within the original no-go zone. They have yet to be informed when they might be able to reside there again.

Analysts say the nuclear crisis alone could cost Japan between $50 billion and $100 billion. Beyond that, the country, which has been in the economic doldrums for years, needs to figure out how to pay for the equally significant cost of rebuilding hundreds of coastal communities that were washed away by tsunami and other cities that suffered substantial quake damage. Some economists predict that will cost an additional $200 billion.

Syrian Crackdown in Border Town Enters Second Day

Posted: 15 May 2011 12:05 PM PDT

Syrian government militia forces continued their siege of the town of Talkalakh on the Lebanese border for a second day Sunday, firing tank shells and rocket-propelled grenades into the besieged city. Hundreds of residents of the town fled into Lebanon Saturday and a number of casualties were reported.

Shelling in Syria

On the Lebanese border with Syria, gunfire and shelling could be heard inside Syrian territory, as witnesses described a second straight day of a government crackdown on the town of Talkalakh.

<!--IMAGE-->

One man told al-Arabiya TV that bullets were "pouring down on the city like rain," and that government snipers had blown out water tanks to make residents suffer.

The Syrian government says it is "trying to restore order" after alleged "Islamic fundamentalists" and "terrorists" attempted to set up an Islamic emirate in Talkalakh.  Syrian opposition sources said at least three people were killed in Talkalakh and one dead and one wounded soldier were taken to Lebanon.

Palestinian protests

Syrian government TV, meanwhile, broadcast live video of pro-Palestinian protesters gathering along Israel's borders with the Golan Heights and Lebanon Sunday, and announced that the Syrian Foreign Ministry was "condemning" Israel for what it called its "criminal behavior" for firing on protesters.

President Bashar al Assad's cousin Rami Makhlouf warned Israel in a New York Times interview several days ago that it would have "no security" along the Golan Heights, so long as Syria was not secure. Both the EU and the US recently slapped sanctions on Makhlouf and 12 other prominent Syrians for the bitter crackdown on a number of Syrian towns and cities.

Scores of protesters waving candles and chanting slogans against the government marched in the streets of the Syrian town of Telbissa overnight, according to a video on Facebook. It was not possible to confirm the event, since foreign correspondents are not being allowed into Syria.

Tunisia

Meanwhile, Tunisia's official news agency reports that the Tunisian army pushed back 200 Libyan soldiers that had crossed the border in the region of Tetouan in southern Tunisia. The agency claimed the Libyans were hoping to retake a border crossing farther north that was recently seized by Libyan rebels.

In the rebel-held western Libyan port city of Misrata, witnesses claim that fighting with loyalists of Moammar Gadhafi has ended and that the rebels now control all of the city.  Close to 1,000 people reportedly died during several months of a bitter and brutal siege of the city by Gadhafi forces.

In Britain, armed forces head General David Richards told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that NATO should increase the scope of its bombing raids inside Libya to end Colonel Gadhafi's attacks on the opposition. He added that "more intense military action was needed" to prevent the nearly three-month old conflict from ending in a stalemate.

Yemen

In Yemen, hundreds of women protesters demonstrated on the island of Socotra, demanding that President Ali Abdallah Saleh resign. The women also vowed to take their protest to the presidential palace. Several students were also wounded in a protest in Mansoura, near the southern port city of Aden.

The head of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Abdullatif Zayani, met with President Ali Abdallah Saleh in the capital Sanaa Sunday, in a bid to jumpstart a GCC plan to resolve the current crisis. President Saleh initially said that he had accepted the plan, which calls for him to step down, before changing his mind.

Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter
and discuss them on our Facebook page.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Libya Offers Truce to UN in Return for NATO Cease-fire

Posted: 15 May 2011 07:28 PM PDT

Libya's prime minister has offered a truce to a visiting United Nations envoy in return for an immediate NATO cease-fire.

Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi made the comments in Tripoli Sunday following a meeting with U.N. special envoy Abdul Ilah Khatib. Soon after Khatib arrived, Libya's state television reported that a new NATO airstrike hit the western city of Zuwara, near the Tunisian border.

The head of Britain's armed forces, General David Richards, told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper there is a risk the conflict could result in Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi clinging to power if NATO does not "up the ante." He said NATO is not attacking infrastructure targets in Libya, but needs to consider intensifying its military action.

Restrictions imposed by NATO members allow its forces to attack only targets that pose a direct threat to Libyan civilians. Libyan officials have accused NATO of violating that mandate by launching attacks aimed at killing Mr. Gadhafi.

Also Sunday, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said his investigation into crimes against humanity by senior members of the Libyan government is "almost ready for trial." Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he will file a 74-page document outlining allegations that Libyan forces have systematically attacked civilians since launching a brutal crackdown on anti-government rebels in February.

Western media reports say Moreno-Ocampo is expected to announce Monday that he is seeking warrants for the killing of civilian protesters, with Mr. Gadhafi and two of his sons as likely indictees. Judges will study the evidence presented before deciding whether to issue arrest warrants for the suspects, a process likely to take weeks.

Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim dismissed the ICC's efforts, calling them "questionable."

Earlier Sunday, Libyan rebels said they have taken full control of the western port city of Misrata. But opposition spokesmen said the rebels are braced for renewed attacks by forces loyal to Mr. Gadhafi.

In neighboring Tunisia, security forces arrested two suspected al-Qaida members near the Libyan border. Tunisian officials said the two were carrying an explosives belt, several bombs and led authorities to a weapons stash in the southern mountains. The men are thought to be members of al-Qaida's North African branch.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb grew out of an Islamist insurgency movement in Algeria, merging with al-Qaida in 2006 and spreading through the Sahara and the Sahel region. It has been responsible for a series of kidnappings and attacks across northern Africa in recent years.

The group is one al-Qaida's largest regional branches.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Kerry Says US Relations With Pakistan at Critical Moment

Posted: 15 May 2011 10:04 AM PDT

With relations between Pakistan and the United States in a deep rift following the raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden, U.S. Senator John Kerry traveled to Islamabad for talks with Pakistani authorities.  

Senator Kerry expanded his originally scheduled trip to Afghanistan this week to include a visit to Pakistan as U.S.-Pakistani relations continue to slide in the aftermath of the May 2nd U.S. Special Forces Raid to kill Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Speaking with Afghan President Hamid Karzai before leaving for Pakistan, Senator Kerry said this is a vital moment in the long-standing relationship between the two countries. "This is a critical moment in terms of the relationship with Pakistan.  It is fair say that some of my colleagues in the House and Senate have deep reservations about whether or not Pakistan is committed with the same goals or prepared to be a full partner in pursuing those goals, and there are calls in some quarters in Congress for a shift in the aid program unless there is an improvement in the current situation," he said.

Senator Kerry is the co-author of a bill authorizing The United States to grant $1.5 billion in non-military aid annually to Pakistan.

The United States gives an estimated $3 billion to Pakistan each year.

Because Bin Laden was found hiding in Pakistan in the middle of a town filled with Pakistani military facilities, there is widespread criticism that Pakistan is either not aggressive enough in hunting down terrorists or that Pakistani authorities are complicit in providing extremists safe haven.  Pakistan's leadership has denied the claim.

In Pakistan there has been significant outrage in government, the military and the public over what is seen as a breech in the nation's sovereignty by the raid.

A recent statement from the Pakistani parliament demanded U.S. military action in Pakistan halt, especially unmanned drone strikes in the frontier territories.  It warned that Pakistan could deny supply routes to international forces fighting in Afghanistan if the drones are not stopped.

Many U.S. officials say that any end to the war in Afghanistan in the near future will only be possible with the participation of Pakistan.  

Also in Pakistan, thousands gathered Sunday to express anger at America and called for the Islamabad government to break with Washington.  But Pakistan's reliance on international aid, especially American, is vital to the economically troubled nation's ability to function.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

NYC Police Charge IMF Chief With Attempted Rape

Posted: 15 May 2011 09:20 AM PDT

The head of the International Monetary Fund is awaiting arraignment Sunday in New York City after his arrest on sexual assault charges.

Police said early Sunday that Dominique Strauss-Kahn has been charged with criminal sexual assault, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment following a complaint by a hotel maid.

An attorney for Strauss-Kahn says he will plead not guilty to the charges.

The International Monetary Fund says the IMF remains fully functioning and operational. It says it has no comment on the arrest.

Strauss-Kahn was considered a leading contender to run as the Socialist party's candidate against President Nicolas Sarkozy in France's 2012 election.

The head of the Socialist party, Martine Aubry, appealed for party unity Sunday and said that the news "struck like a thunderbolt."

Police say Strauss-Kahn was taken into custody late Saturday afternoon when he was pulled from his first-class seat on an airplane that was just minutes away from taking off for Paris.

Police say a 32-year-old chambermaid at the Sofitel Hotel says she entered Strauss-Kahn's hotel room to clean it Saturday afternoon. The maid told police Strauss-Kahn came out of the bathroom completely naked and attempted to force her into performing sex acts. The maid says she broke free, fled the room and told other hotel personnel, who called police.  

Police say when they arrived at the hotel, Strauss-Kahn had already left for the airport, leaving behind his mobile phone and other personal items.

New York Police spokesman Paul Browne said early Sunday the maid was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and released.

Strauss-Kahn is married to a prominent French television reporter, but has weathered previous sex scandals. In 2008, he apologized for what he termed "an error in judgement" for an affair with one of his subordinates.

The deputy director of the IFOP polling institute, Jerome Fourquet, told French radio that if the charges prove true, it will be extremely hard for Strauss-Kahn to resume a political career.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

France Reacts Strongly to IMF Chief Arrest on Sex Assault Charges

Posted: 15 May 2011 07:47 AM PDT

There is strong reaction in France over the sexual assault charges against International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Considered a leading French presidential contender, Strauss-Kahn was arrested by New York City police late Saturday.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest has dominated the discussion on Sunday talks shows in France. New York City police apprehended the 62-year-old IMF chief aboard an Air France plane Saturday in New York, just minutes before its departure for Paris.

Strauss-Kahn, a popular French Socialist politician and former finance minister, faces charges in the United States of criminal sexual assault, attempted rape and unlawful imprisonment. A maid at a New York hotel claims he sexually assaulted her in his suite.

If the charges prove true, they may likely end any prospects of him running against French President Nicolas Sarkozy next year. Strauss-Kahn has not yet declared if he will be a candidate for the 2012 polls, but he was considered a likely and strong contender.

The deputy director of the IFOP polling institute, Jerome Fourquet, told French radio that if the charges proved true it would be extremely hard for Strauss-Kahn to rally back as a politician.

Top Socialist Party politicians have offered a low-key response to the allegations.  Interviewed on Europe 1 radio, Segolene Royal, the Socialist contender against Sarkozy in the 2007 race, said the news came as a shock.

Reading from prepared remarks, Royal said the allegations were distressing, but still needed to be verified. She says Strauss-Kahn deserves to be presumed innocent, like anybody else, until found guilty.

Strauss-Kahn, who is married, previously admitted to an affair with a Hungarian economist at the IMF. But his supporters say he is not the kind of man to carry out a sexual assault.

Opposition politicians have offered harsher reactions.

A French parliament deputy and member of Sarkozy's ruling UMP Party, Bernard Debre, told French radio the allegations against Strauss-Kahn were a humiliation for all of France.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen also offered a reaction.

In broadcast remarks, Le Pen said if the allegations proved true, Strauss-Kahn would be discredited.

Observers speculate the charges may boost Le Pen's candidacy for the 2012 presidential elections, as well as that of Sarkozy, who is battling historically low popularity ratings.


This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

UN: North Korea, Iran Share Ballistic Missile Technology

Posted: 15 May 2011 09:24 AM PDT

A classified United Nations report says North Korea and Iran have routinely shared ballistic missile technology in violation of U.N. sanctions, and diplomats say China has sought to block release of the report.

The document, seen by Western journalists, says the illicit technology transfers passed through a neighboring third country, which diplomats identify as China, North Korea's closest ally. Beijing has not commented on the report, which also includes accusations the technology was transferred aboard regular air flights of Air Koryo and Iran Air - North Korea's and Iran's national airlines.

The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions against North Korea after two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Iran is also under international sanctions because of its uranium enrichment activities, which the United States and its allies suspect are weapons-related. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

The U.N. report, authored by a panel of experts, was submitted Friday to all 15 members of the Security Council. But the document can only be released to the public by unanimous consent of the Council.

The New York Times newspaper said the Chinese expert on the panel refused to sign off on the new report, under pressure from Beijing.

The panel's findings were first reported by Reuters news agency, which quotes the document as saying further evidence of the transfers was seen at a North Korean military parade last October. The report said the warhead for the North's Nodong missile paraded through Pyongyang had a "strong design similarity with the Iranian Shahab-3 triconic warhead."

China has in the past attempted to block reports critical of North Korea, and Russia took similar steps last week to block an expert panel report on Iran. Both Moscow and Beijing have argued that the United Nations should not impinge on the sovereignty of member countries.  

Some information for this report was provided by AFP.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Japan: Partial Fuel Meltdown Occurred Within Hours of Disaster

Posted: 15 May 2011 12:13 PM PDT

The operator of a severely damaged nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan says new evidence shows that a partial nuclear fuel meltdown occurred within hours of a massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the region two months ago.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company, which manages the crippled Fukushima-Daiichi plant, says fuel in reactor number 1 was in a critical state just 16 hours after disaster struck March 11.  A TEPCO spokesman said most of the reactor's fuel rods had melted and fallen to the bottom of the reactor's pressure vessel - a cylindrical steel container that holds nuclear fuel - by March 12.

Despite the discovery, which is based on new data collected last week, authorities say they plan to stick to a timetable for stabilizing the plant and bringing all six of its reactors to a state of "cold shutdown" by January.

Meanwhile, Japanese authorities on Sunday began evacuating thousands of residents from two villages outside a government safety zone set up to protect locals from high levels of radiation leaking from the crippled power plant.

Residents in the communities outside the 20-kilometer safety radius from the Fukushima plant began phased relocations to a designated safe area because of health risks from wind-borne radiation seeping from the plant. Television footage showed the first batch of evacuees consisted mainly of families with small children and pregnant women, who are considered most vulnerable to long-term radiation effects.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Australia and Thailand Pressure Burma on Rights Record

Posted: 15 May 2011 10:38 AM PDT

Australia and Thailand have called for Burma to raise its human rights record, including the release of all political prisoners, before taking up the chair of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations in 2014.

Earlier this month, Laos was reported to have agreed to "swap" with Burma the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014. Laos will chair in 2012.

The call came during weekend talks between Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya in the Thai capital, Bangkok.

Burma had foregone its right to chair ASEAN in 2005 amid international pressure over its human rights record. Burma now points to political reforms since then, including general elections last year and the formation of a new parliament together with the release of opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest last year.

But human rights groups argue the parliament is largely controlled by the military and military backed parties, while more than 2,000 political prisoners remain in jails throughout the country and attacks on ethnic communities continue.

The move by Burma to host ASEAN in 2014 is opening divisions within the organization.

Australia's Rudd says Burma needs to make more progress before considering the ASEAN chairmanship.

"Our view as Australia is that we would want to see continued and sustained improvements in human rights and democracy in Burma. We in the past have welcomed the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, we have deep concerns about the continued detention of some 2,000 political prisoners."

Rudd also pointed to issues such as the 110,000 Burmese living in refugee camps in western Thailand with 'thousands' more internally displaced in Burma due to fighting between ethnic groups and Burma's army.

Indonesia Foreign Minister Marty Natelagawa, the current chairman of ASEAN, is due to visit Burma to assess its readiness to host the ASEAN meeting in 2014.

Thai Foreign Minister Kasit says an assessment has to include progress by Burma, also known as Myanmar, since the elections and Burma's obligation under the ASEAN charter which includes recognition of human rights. Kasit says there remain outstanding issues.

"Especially the release of all the remaining political prisoners, the general overall freedom or liberalization of the whole political process as well as the long awaited dialogue between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on behalf of the opposition with the newly installed government of Myanmar as part of the whole national reconciliation process and national building."

Human rights groups welcomed the calls by Australia and Thailand for political reforms in Burma. Debbie Stothard is spokeswoman for the rights group Alternative ASEAN Network.

"Burma should not be allowed to chair ASEAN until it has engaged in genuine reform and that means release of all political prisoners and a cessation of war against all ethnic nationality communities."

Stothard says if Burma took up the chair of ASEAN in 2014 without further reforms, key dialogue partner countries, that include Australia, Canada, the European Union and Japan as well as the United States, may boycott the meetings.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Ethiopia, UN Mount Joint Search Operation for Kidnapped Aid Workers

Posted: 15 May 2011 10:07 AM PDT

Ethiopia and U.N. security agencies have launched a search for two aid workers apparently kidnapped in an ambush in the insurgency-wracked Ogaden region. One other worker was killed in the incident and a fourth was wounded.

Details of the incident are sketchy. Officials of the U.N. World Food Program say two of their vehicles were ambushed by unknown gunmen Friday in the remote Somali region of Eastern Ethiopia, also known as the Ogaden.

The region is home to a violent separatist group known as the Ogaden National Liberation Front, which is fighting for independence from Ethiopia.

Officials say four local WFP employees were aboard the two Land Cruisers when they were attacked along the road between the main town of Jijiga and the Fiq zone, an area of heavy rebel activity about 175 kilometers to the south.

The incident occurred while the men were on a mission to monitor food aid distribution in the drought-stricken region.

WFP spokesman Judith Schuler says the attackers killed one driver, identified as Farhan Hamsa, and wounded the other driver. They apparently then took the two aid monitors hostage before setting their vehicles on fire.

"Two vehicles were burned down, said Schuler. "One staff member was killed by bullets, and the other one got rescued, but we do not have information how that happened."

Schuler says a joint operation is underway by Ethiopian and UN security agencies to locate the two missing aid workers.

"The local authorities together with WFP and the U.N. system in Ethiopia are doing their utmost to find them as soon as possible, but we do not know how fast these searches are going to progress," added Schuler.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Ethiopia's government spokesman Shimelis Kemal Sunday said he was still awaiting word from the region about details of the incident.  

The Ogaden rebels, meanwhile, issued a statement condemning what they called the "cowardly and cold-blooded attack". The ONLF statement sent to journalists by email says the ambush was the work of Ethiopian security forces attempting to make it look like a rebel terrorist attack. Ethiopian officials have in the past scoffed at such allegations.

The dead driver, Farhan Hamsa, is the second WFP employee to be killed in East Africa in less than a month. A senior program assistant was killed in a similar incident April 22nd in Southern Sudan when a vehicle he was travelling in was attacked.

Ethiopia's largely pastoralist Ogaden, along its eastern border with Somalia, is currently in the grip of a severe drought threatening the lives of livestock and people. The government last month increased its estimate of the number of people needing emergency assistance in the Somali region to 1.3 million, or more than 25 percent of the population.

Ethiopia, caught off guard by the sudden onset of the current drought, this month was forced to reduce the size of emergency rations to many of the country's 3.2 million food aid recipients. But the Somali region was exempted from the cutbacks due to the severity of the drought there.

Ethiopia sharply restricts journalists and humanitarian aid workers access to the Ogaden conflict zone, where a counterinsurgency operation is in progress. Human-rights and aid groups have accused both the ONLF and pro-government forces with numerous rights violations, charges both sides have denied.

Last month, Ethiopia refused permission to the International Committee of the Red Cross to resume operations in the Ogaden. ICRC workers were expelled from the region nearly four years ago for allegedly aiding the rebels, a charge the ICRC denies.


NASA Readies Endeavour for Monday Launch

Posted: 15 May 2011 07:35 AM PDT

The U.S. space agency NASA is preparing the space shuttle Endeavour for a Monday launch, its final voyage before retiring and the next-to-last launch for the 30-year space shuttle program.

The Endeavour mission was originally supposed to begin in late April, but electrical problems forced repeated delays.

The flight to the International Space Station is commanded by astronaut Mark Kelley, who is the husband of  U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded during a shooting rampage in the state of Arizona in January.

Giffords is expected to attend Monday's launch (0856 EDT, 1256 UTC) at the Kennedy Space Center with an expected 500,000 other spectators. Weather forecasters say there is a 70 percent chance of good weather for the launch.

Kelly and the rest of the five member Endeavour crew will conduct space walks, deliver parts and physics equipment and do some maintenance on the space station during the 16-day flight.

NASA finishes its shuttle program for good with the scheduled launch of Atlantis in July. A third shuttle, the Discovery, returned from its final flight in March.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Pope Calls For End of Violence in Libya, Syria

Posted: 15 May 2011 07:55 AM PDT

Pope Benedict is denouncing violence in Libya and Syria and calling for peaceful resolutions to both countries' conflicts.

Following weekly prayers at the Vatican Sunday, the pope said he is following the conflict in Libya with grave concern. He said the violence there has caused a large number of victims, especially in the civilian population.

The pope appealed for negotiations to end the fighting.

Pope Benedict also said his thoughts are with Syria, where he said it is urgent to restore harmony. He called on Syrian authorities to respect what he called people's legitimate aspirations for peace and stability.

Hundreds of people have been killed in both Libya and Syria as authorities in those countries have used troops to crack down on anti-government protests.  

Libya is effectively in a state of civil war between the government of Moammar Gadhafi and eastern-based rebels.

 

Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter
and discuss them on our Facebook page.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Violence Spreads Along Israel's Borders As Palestinians Coordinate Protest

Posted: 15 May 2011 05:53 AM PDT

Israeli troops have fired at protesters along Israel's borders with Lebanon and Syria.  At least 10 people have been killed as thousands of Palestinians mobilized to mark the anniversary of the uprooting of Palestinians that resulted from the creation of the state of Israel.  

It was supposed to be a series of nonviolent protests, the first coordinated move by Palestinians to try to overwhelm Israeli checkpoints along the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and along Israel's boundaries with Syria and Lebanon.

At the Qalandia checkpoint between the West Bank town of Ramallah and Jerusalem, hundreds of Palestinians - mainly young people - clashed with Israeli soldiers.  Some demonstrators threw rocks at soldiers who fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets.

This 16-year-old Palestinian says he was hit by a rubber bullet.  He says he came to protest and vent what he feels about the Palestinians' situation.  He says he came to express his belief that the Palestinians will one day take back Jerusalem from the Israelis, including its Muslim holy places.

As he was talking, demonstrators ran when Israeli soldiers moved in to disperse the crowd.

In the north, Israeli soldiers fired on Palestinians who breached a fence separating the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and Syria.  Israel Defense Forces spokesman Captain Barak Raz said soldiers fired when the demonstrators cut through the fence. "We were met with thousands of violent rioters on the Syrian side of the border who at first attempted to and then successfully breached and infiltrated into Israel, making it into the center of the village of Majdal Shams.  We are talking about violent rioters who were hurling rocks," he said.

Witnesses in Majdal Shams say the Palestinians described themselves as refugees living in Syria who said they were trying to return to their former homes.

Along the border with Lebanon, several Palestinians were shot to death while trying to cross the Israeli boundary.

To the south, in Gaza, demonstrators tried to reach the Erez checkpoint separating the Gaza Strip from Israel.  Witnesses say Israeli forces fired at the demonstrators, wounding a number of them.

At another point along Gaza separation barrier, Israeli forces say they shot one person.  Palestinian officials say the person died.

Organizers have been planning the demonstrations for months.  They call it the first coordinated effort by Palestinian refugees or their descendents to enter Israel.  

The effort comes after the main Palestinian rival factions signed a reconciliation agreement last month.  

Palestinian activist Dr. Moustafa Barghouti, a vocal proponent of the agreement, took part in the demonstrations at Qalandia. "This reconciliation agreement brought unity to Palestinians and what you see today, Palestinians are unified, demanding ending the occupation, demanding ending apartheid, demanding their rights.  It is an uprising for freedom and this is one of the outcomes of the reconciliation agreement," he said.

Palestinians each year mark the anniversary of what they describe as the Naqba, the event in 1948 in which hundreds of thousands fled or were forced from their homes at the creation of the State of Israel.

Follow our Middle East reports on Twitter
and discuss them on our Facebook page.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Roadblocks to US Budget Deal Persist

Posted: 15 May 2011 11:01 AM PDT

The Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, John Boehner, says he stands ready to cut a budget deal with President Barack Obama - so long as no taxes are raised, leaving deep spending cuts as the sole vehicle to trim America's massive $1.5-trillion federal deficit. Meanwhile, budget negotiations continue as the nation nears a congressionally-imposed limit on federal borrowing and the specter of default on a $14-trillion national debt looms.

Boehner says he is eager to reach a budget agreement with Democrats and the White House immediately.

"I am ready to cut the deal today.  We do not have to wait until the eleventh hour."

But, appearing on CBS' Face the Nation program, Boehner held firm to a bedrock Republican principle: the path to fiscal health lies in federal spending cuts, not tax hikes.

"Everything should be on the table except raising taxes, because raising taxes will hurt our economy and hurt our ability to create jobs in our country."

And so the partisan budget standoff continues. Democrats agree on the need to rein in spending, but insist that a combination of budget cuts and higher taxes on top earners would provide the greatest deficit reduction without decimating federal programs that benefit the poor and vulnerable.

Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois spoke on Fox News Sunday.

"I think we do have to cut spending. But we also have to take a look at revenue and the entitlement programs."

So-called entitlement programs provide access to health care and income for retirees, and are seen as the main culprit for America's long-term fiscal imbalance.  

Republicans have proposed ending a direct federal role in some of those programs, transferring responsibility to individual states with reduced federal backing. Democrats have agreed to entitlement reform in principle, but have yet to put forward a detailed plan for doing so.

Meanwhile, the United States will soon bump up against a limit on federal borrowing.  Unless Congress agrees to raise the debt ceiling, America could default on its mammoth national debt, much of which is owed to foreign governments.

Appearing at a CBS-News-sponsored town-hall meeting last week, President Barack Obama explained what is at stake.

"The way the federal government finances itself is we sell debt to investors, other countries, et cetera, through Treasury bills. And if at any point somebody thought, if investors around the world thought the full faith and credit of the United States was not being backed up, if they thought we might renege on our IOUs (Treasury bills), it could unravel the financial system. We could have a worse recession than we already had, a worse financial crisis than we already had."

The president wants the debt ceiling raised regardless of how budget negotiations proceed. Republicans, as Boener pointed out, are insisting on major spending cuts as a condition of voting to increase the borrowing limit.

"Our obligation is to raise the debt ceiling, but to raise the debt ceiling without dealing with the underlying [fiscal] problems is totally irresponsible."

Congress has never failed to raise the debt ceiling in the past, usually after weeks of partisan rhetoric and finger-pointing.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

British Defense Chief: NATO Needs to 'Up Ante' in Libya

Posted: 15 May 2011 07:07 AM PDT

The head of Britain's armed forces is urging NATO to broaden its range of bombing targets in Libya amid fears the conflict might end in a stalemate.

General David Richards told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper that there is a risk the conflict could result in Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi clinging to power if NATO does not "up the ante."  

He said NATO is currently not attacking infrastructure targets in Libya but needs to consider increasing the range of its targets and intensifying its military action.

Restrictions imposed by members of NATO allow its forces to only attack targets that pose a direct threat to Libyan civilians.

Libyan officials have accused NATO of violating that mandate by launching attacks aimed at killing Colonel Gadhafi.

Libyan rebels began their uprising against Gadhafi in February. NATO began supporting them with airstrikes in March.

On Saturday, mourners buried 11 people who were reportedly killed in a NATO airstrike the day before. The mourners fired guns and yelled angry chants at the funeral.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the airstrike killed 11 imams in the eastern city of Brega. The alliance responded by saying it is very careful in its selection of targets and had attacked a military command and control site in Brega.

NATO later said it could not confirm or deny civilian casualties.

Also Saturday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with visiting Libyan opposition leaders seeking support for their cause.

The opposition Transitional National Council delegation met with U.S. national security adviser Tom Donilon and other officials in Washington on Friday.  After the meeting, the White House released a statement calling the TNC a "legitimate and credible" voice for the Libyan people, but stopped short of a full diplomatic recognition.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Tunisia Arrests Two Suspected of al-Qaida Links

Posted: 15 May 2011 05:09 AM PDT

<!--IMAGE-->

Tunisian state television says two people suspected of having links to al-Qaida's North African branch have been arrested in the country's south.

Reports say the men were carrying bombs when they were arrested in an area near the border with Libya.

No further details were released.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb grew out of an Islamist insurgency movement in Algeria, merging with al-Qaida in 2006 and spreading through the Sahara and the Sahel region. It has been responsible for a series of kidnappings and attacks across northern Africa in recent years.

Clashes in Egypt Between Christians, Muslims Injure 50

Posted: 15 May 2011 03:48 AM PDT

Egyptian security officials say clashes between Muslim and Christian protesters have injured more than 50 people in Cairo.

The violence erupted when a mob attacked a group of Coptic Christians staging a sit-in outside the state television building in central Cairo. The Saturday brawl continued into early Sunday.

Witnesses say people threw rocks and set vehicles on fire.  Police and army troops fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd.

The latest sectarian violence comes about a week after Muslim mobs attacked Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, burning two churches and leaving 15 people dead in Cairo's slum of Imbaba.

Christians make up about a tenth of Egypt's 80-million people.  They joined forces with Muslims during the protests that ousted long-time president Hosni Mubarak earlier this year, but sectarian strife has since intensified.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

US Terror Suspects Due in Court Monday

Posted: 15 May 2011 05:49 AM PDT

Three men charged with helping to support and finance the Pakistani Taliban, a group Washington considers a terrorist organization, are due in U.S. federal court Monday.

The U.S. Justice Department said Saturday the suspects are residents of the southeastern state of Florida, all naturalized American citizens of Pakistani descent.

Three other suspects remain at large in Pakistan.

U.S. authorities allege that the six used an elaborate system of bank accounts and wire transfers to funnel $50,000 to Pakistan to support militants and their families, and to buy weapons.

In addition, the U.S. said that one of the suspects, Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan, 76, an imam at the Flagler Mosque in Miami, Florida, operated a madrassa, or Islamic school in Swat, Pakistan that housed militants and taught children how to kill Americans in Afghanistan.

All six suspects have been accused of conspiring to murder, maim and kidnap people overseas and provide financial assistance to the Pakistani Taliban, a group that opposes the Pakistani government and has claimed responsibility for attacks against U.S. interests.

The Pakistani Taliban said it was behind Friday's suicide bombings that killed at least 80 people at a Pakistani military training facility. The group said the attack was revenge for the U.S. killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden early this month at his Pakistan hideout.

Aside from Khan, the U.S. filed charges against two of his sons, Izhar Khan, an imam at another Florida mosque, and Irfan Khan, all of whom live in the United States.

The three accused who reside in Pakistan include the elder Khan's daughter, Amina Khan, and her son, Alam Zeb. Ali Rehman is the third Pakistani named in the indictment.

If convicted, all six face up to 15 years in prison.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

No comments:

Post a Comment