Watches Libyan tribal support for Gaddafi unclear due to media spin

Libyan tribal support for Gaddafi unclear due to media spin




Media outlets from around the world provided inconsistent characterizations of Friday’s National Conference for Libyan Tribes – some saying the tribes support Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi while others claim the tribes called for Gaddafi to cede power. Common among the news reports was the assertion that the tribes wanted the civil war to end and amnesty for those who fought in it.

French news outlet Agence France-Presse reported that the tribes called the rebels "traitors" and pledged not to "abandon" or "forsake" Gaddafi in a statement issued by the conference. The statement also supposedly called for marches to "liberate" rebel-held towns:

"The conference also calls all Libyan tribes neighbouring the towns and cities hijacked by armed groups to move peacefully in popular marches to liberate those highjacked towns, disarming the armed rebels.”

Italy’s Agenzia Giornalistica Italia claimed that “The National Conference for Libyan tribes organized by the regime said they were clearly for Muammar Gaddafi”.

A Euronews article stated that the tribes “…called for national unity, urged the rebels to disarm and demanded NATO end its bombing campaign.” Pakistan’s International News quoted Mahmud Mohammed Ali, the representative for the southern tribes as saying during his speech:



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Enjoy Italy 'offers to arm rebels' as Gaddafi forces destroy oil tanks

We are saw now enjoy Italy 'offers to arm rebels' as Gaddafi forces destroy oil tanks



Anti-Gaddafi rebels say Italy has offered to arm them with "whatever they need to liberate Libya". A rebel spokesman in the eastern city of Benghazi, declined to specify what kind of weapons would be provided, and last night the Italian foreign ministry denied the claim.

The confusing reports came after Libyan government forces attacked a Misrata oil depot, causing a huge fire. Fuel tanks were still engulfed in flames hours after the early morning attack. The depot contains vital stores of fuel for cars, trucks, ships and generators powering hospitals and other key sites.

Rebel spokesman Ahmed Hassan said: "Four fuel tanks were totally destroyed and a huge fire erupted which spread to the other four. We cannot extinguish it because we do not have the right tools. Now the city will face a major problem. Those were the only sources of fuel for the city. These tanks could have kept the city for three months with enough fuel."

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Mr Hassan said government forces used small planes normally used to spray pesticides for the overnight attack in the Qasr Ahmed neighbourhood. He later told Al-Jazeera television that three helicopters bearing Red Crescent insignia conducted the attack.

Another rebel spokesman, who gave his name as Abdelsalam, said a government helicopter conducted a reconnaissance mission over the port and two hours later at around midnight local time government forces fired rockets that hit three fuel tanks belonging to the Brega Oil Company.

Footage of the incident posted on YouTube by Libyan students in Misrata showed firefighters turning water hoses on a raging fire in a vain attempt to extinguish it.

Rebels notified Nato about the planes before the attack but there was no response, Mr Hassan said. Government forces flew at least one helicopter reconnaissance mission over Misrata last month, according to rebels. The loss of the oil is likely to be a significant development in the battle for control of Misrata, the only city in western Libya still in rebel
Coppied by http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/italy-offers-to-arm-rebels-as-gaddafi-forces-destroy-oil-tanks-2280818.html

watch It Used to Be Called Bitterness

we are see the It Used to Be Called Bitterness



"The anger of a moment, the thousand pictures, that's us. This land, this red land, is us; and the flood years and the dust years and the drought years are us. We can't start again. The bitterness we sold to the junk man-he got it all right, but we have it still. And when the owner men told us to go, that's us; and when the tractor hit the house, that's us until we're dead. To California or any place-every one a drum major leading a parade of hurts, marching with our bitterness. And some day-the armies of bitterness will all be going the same way. And they'll walk together, and there'll be a dead terror from it."(1) -John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (1939)

Not long ago, then-Senator Barack Obama, when he was campaigning for the presidency, said, "You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, a lot of them-like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they've gone through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, and they cling to guns, or religion, or antipathy toward people who aren't like them, or anti-immigration sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Unlike John Steinbeck, who observed the brutal and forced relocation of millions of tenant farmers during the Dust Bowl, President Obama has forgotten the causes of bitterness. And unlike Steinbeck, who understood human nature and how hard-working, independent, and fully human people can be dehumanized and stripped of their self-worth and dignity by unjust economic and political institutions, Obama appears to be incapable of comprehending what triggers episodic bouts of bitter retaliation. But Steinbeck knew how corrupt governmental policies can cause mental anguish and moral dilemmas, and how fraudulent institutions can cause material scarcity and the poverty of the soul.

When talking to Arabs and Muslim in the Middle East, neither will Secretary of State Hillary Clinton use the word "bitterness." Once in power, and as a member of the Owner Class, it is soothing to forget a husband's bitter betrayal. It is easy to dismiss a mean-spirited Republican Congress that belittled health care reforms and demeaned a person's character. Instead, those who resist U.S. occupation forces are extremists. Those who fight back against murderous drone attacks and repressive regimes-backed and supported by American military power and corporate elites-are always terrorists. Both Obama and Clinton talk about reforms and encourage people to believe in a better future.

But what are words and promises without concrete actions and results? Do repeated political injustices, ongoing economic injuries, and never ending pre-emptive wars, only fill a future with bitterness and hostility?

Rulers and Owners always forget this, just like they forget the Tenant People, who have to repeatedly sift through their belongings and possessions deciding on what to keep and to sell. The plow is of no more use, as is other junk, like household goods and other trivial material possessions. The Rulers and Owners, though, are buying more than junk. They are purchasing bitterness, a plow to plow their children under, buying the arms and spirits that might have saved them. The Owners and powerful political leaders of the world, with their wars and military machines and with their corporate takeovers and foreclosures, are buying bitterness.(2)

One can't start again. There's a premium that goes with these piles of junk, with stripping the human spirit of liberty and dignity. These packets of bitterness will continue to grow and flower someday. The Tenant People and working classes could have saved the Rulers and Owners. But they have cut down the Tenant People and the poor with their wars and with their continued neglect and their destructive values. Someday, there will be none to save them. The past has spoiled the present. It will more than likely ruin the future. When shoes and clothes and food, when even hope is gone, there is still the rifle. When the forefathers came-they had pepper and salt and a rifle. Nothing else.(3)

What is left behind must be burned. Leave it-or burn it up. What caused this injustice must somehow be confronted. Otherwise, how can you live with yourself? How will you know it's you without your past? No. Leave it. Burn it. Some sit among the doomed things, turning them over and looking past them and back, perhaps a photo, a letter, a picture of an angel, or a book like Pilgrim's Progress. Others look at their junk and economic injuries which are burned into their memories. How'll it be not to know what land's outside the door? How if you wake up in the night and knows-and knows the willow tree's not there? Can you live without the willow tree? Well, no, one can't. The land, house is you. That dreadful pain and bitterness is you.(4)
coppied by http://article.wn.com/view/2011/01/23/It_Used_to_Be_Called_Bitterness/?section=TopStoriesWorldwide&template=worldnews/index.txt

Watches Jailed China Nobel winner asks wife to collect prize

Jailed China Nobel winner asks wife to collect prize


Protesters drink champagne as they celebrate jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo winning the Nobel Peace Prize during a demonstration outside the China liaison office in Hong Kong October 8, 2010. (REUTERS/Bobby Yip)
BEIJING (Reuters) - Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has asked his wife to travel to Norway to pick up his Nobel Peace Prize, she told Reuters on Tuesday.

"Xiaobo told me he hopes I can go to Norway to receive the prize for him," Liu Xia said by telephone from her house where she is under virtual house arrest.


Protesters drink champagne as they celebrate jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo winning the Nobel Peace Prize during a demonstration outside the China liaison office in Hong Kong October 8, 2010. (REUTERS/Bobby Yip)
"I think it will be very difficult," she added, when asked if she thought the government would allow her to go.

Liu Xia said the government had not yet explicitly told her she would not be allowed to go to Norway. The prize will be formally bestowed on Dec. 10 in Oslo.

China said on Tuesday that giving the Nobel Peace Prize to a jailed dissident showed a lack of respect for its legal system, in further criticism of an award that has stirred tensions over human rights.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Lincoln Fast)
coppied by http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/10/12/worldupdates/2010-10-12T140903Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-521331-2&sec=Worldupdates

Watch From Labor Strikes to Logo Strikes

From Labor Strikes to Logo Strikes

Article by WorldNews.com Correspondent Dallas Darling.
"The strike is the weapon of the oppressed, of men capable of appreciating justice and having the courage to resist wrong and contend for principle." -Eugene Debs speaking to striking engineers and firemen during the Pullman Railroad Strike of 1887

"Ugh! Hideous and cheap looking. I will never shop there again." -Just one of tens of thousands of online comments when Gap revealed their new logo

When thousands of people went online protesting GAP's new logo claiming they would go on strike and boycott the clothing chain, it parodied an earlier era regarding America's Labor Movement. In 1911, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City killed 146 garment workers, many of whom were young Jewish women. They were unable to escape due to the factory doors that had been locked, either to hold workers at their machines or to prevent government inspectors from entering. As the fire raged, the young women leaped to their deaths from the eighth- and ninth-story windows. What followed was the Uprising of the Twenty Thousand, a massive general strike in New York City by shirtwaist workers.(1)

Clara Lemlich, a "wisp of a girl, still in her teens," offered the resolution that turned the walkouts from several shirtwaist factories into a general strike. She remarked, "I am a working girl, one of those who are on strike against intolerable conditions. I am tired of listening to speakers who talk in general terms."(2) Most of the young strikers, between the ages of 16 and 25, battled physical and sexual harassment while marching, along with beatings and mass arrests. Yet, after three months the Uprising of the Twenty Thousand led to the basis for better working conditions, new building codes like fire escapes, and a greater interest in unionization and labor activism.

Another labor strike at a shipping port led by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) centered around the right of workers to assemble and to practice free-speech. When authorities in Everett, Washington arrested 400 striking and picketing dock workers, a national call for assistance did not go unheard. James Rowan from Seattle was sent to organize a solidarity campaign. When he stood up to speak in public, Rowan was arrested. A free-speech fight ensued.(3) As more workers arrived by ferryboat to build-up the free-speech forces, they were immediately surrounded, arrested and imprisoned. In one battle, private security forces shot striking workers killing 5 and wounding 27.(4)

Even though the labor leaders of the IWW were put on trial for murder-which was typical for those who supported the American Labor Movement, and which the victims of State and corporate security forces were treated as the instigators-the attempt to suppress and extinguish the freedom of assembly and speech backfired. In a highly publicized trial, the IWW's achieved acquittals or dismissals of charges. This in turn, fueled the determination for other workers to seek long-sought basic reforms and rights. In the years that followed, the Everett Massacre, as it was called, produced numerous gains for the freedoms to strike and picket and for the right to publicly speak about workplace abuses and injustices.(5)
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Watch UK set to open 7/7 bombings inquest

UK set to open 7/7 bombings inquest
nquiry to examine whether police and intelligence services could have prevented attacks on London transportation opens.


nquests into the deaths of 52 people killed in a series of bombings on London's transport network in on July 7, 2005 are set to open in the United Kingdom.

The inquiry, which begins on Monday, will examine whether the police or the MI5 domestic intelligence service could have stopped the bombers, two of whom had been monitored the previous year.

Families of victims and survivors have failed in their calls for a full public inquiry into the near-simultaneous attacks on three metro trains and a bus. But the inquests will provide the first chance to challenge official accounts, which the families have labelled as insufficient, inaccurate and misleading.

"It is disgraceful that there has never been a public, judicial examination of all the facts which is truly independent of the government, the police and the security service," Clifford Tibber, a lawyer whose firm represents families of six of the victims, said.

"These inquests represent the first opportunity for a public examination of the facts and to consider, if there were failings, what lessons have been learned."

Bombers monitored

In the immediate aftermath of the bombings, officials stated that the four men - Mohammad Sidique Khan, Shehzad Tanweer, Hasib Hussain, and Germaine Lindsay - who detonated their devices on the trains and bus during rush hour, were unknown to authorities.

But in the years since the attacks, it was revealed that two of the bombers had been on the radar of the security services, but were not deemed significant threats.

THE 7/7 ATTACKS


08:50am Shehzad Tanweer kills seven and injures 171 on train between Liverpool Street and Aldgate East
08:50am Mohammed Siddique Khan kills six and injures 163 on train at Edgeware Road
08:50am Germaine Lindsay kills 26 and injures 340 on train between King's Cross and Russell Square
09:47am Hasib Hussain kills 13 and injures 110 on a bus in Tavistock Square
Evidence at a number of court cases has shown that Tanweer and Khan, the organisers of the attacks, were photographed, recorded and followed by intelligence operatives several times in early 2004 in the company of plotters later jailed for planning other attacks using fertiliser-based bombs.

"I want the inquests to look at whether any mistakes were made or flawed systems were in place," said Ros Morley, whose husband Colin, died in one of the metro bombings.

"Innocent citizens in the UK and worldwide need to know that they are protected now and in the future."
Coppied by http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/10/2010101142746938333.html

Watches Vahid Salemi From Ramadan to Lebanon

Vahid Salemi From Ramadan to Lebanon

"It was like shooting sparrows with a cannon" were the words of a U.N. peace-keeping officer, that was swept aside when Israeli attacked and invaded Lebanon in 1982.(1) And while refugees roamed the wreckage of Beirut in clouds of flies, mothers-eyes filled with terror and distraught-howled..orphans sobbed, and the stench of artillery smoke mixed with rotting corpses filled the air. Asked why Palestinian refugee camps were blasted to ruins, including houses containing women and children, an Israeli army officer explained "...they are all terrorists."(2)

Meanwhile, the U.S. (with its weapons and military advisors) gave its blessings to the armed invasion. Again, a Security Council resolution-with the exception of the U.S.-condemned Israel. While the New York Times trumpeted Israel's "purity of arms" and saluted the "liberation" of Lebanon by Israeli troops, one hundred thousand people were without shelter and food, scavenging through piles of wreckage, surrounded by tanks, gunshots, and hysteria.(3) Blindfolded men were tortured, humiliated, and murdered. Phalangist patrols and Haddad forces torched homes and beat people indiscriminately.(4)

Therefore, and almost thirty-years later, it was significant when Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that he would visit Lebanon after Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Arab Islamic calendar when Muslims fast. Before the establishment of Islam, it was a holy Arab tradition, a month of truce and tribal peace.(5) For most Muslims, the holy month of Ramadan is a blessed time in the year when God's grace seems more closer and more easily accessible.(6) It reveals the principle of mans limitation and dependence on God, along with discerning his will and purposes.

The month of Ramadan and spiritual fasting is also a period when Muslims recognize the unity of the whole Muslim world, emphasized by an inward struggle for spiritual victory. It constitutes purification and a kind of sacrifice leading to renewal and fresh strength.(7) In the realms of politics and economics, Ramadan brings about a direct understanding of, and an empathetic feeling for, those who suffer and hunger and have been wronged.(8) Since it is occasioned by an intensive reading and appreciation of the Qur'an, public justice and mercy is sought after, including civil rights and the opportunities to secure essential food, clothing, shelter, health care, education and employment for others.

As the world awaits for President Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon, it is obvious he has taken on a triple mantle. The first one being empowering the poor of his own nation. The second mantle is drawing attention to the plight of Palestinians and correcting past (and current) injustices. Even now as Israel and the U.S. pressure the Lebanese government to try and prevent his visit on October 13, President Ahmadinejad remains undeterred. In the face of punitive sanctions and threats of either an armed invasion or aerial bombardment, President Ahmadinejad remains true to his calling by inquiring into the origin of Israel's existence (not its right to exist) and its Zionist regime.
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We are see watches Sudan says it is committed to independence vote

Sudan says it is committed to independence vote


KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Sudan's foreign minister assured the U.N. Security Council Saturday that the government is committed to holding a referendum on southern independence on time - a vote that is widely expected to split the country in two.

Addressing Security Council members wrapping up a fact-finding trip to Sudan and Uganda, Ali Karti said the government's sole condition was no outside interference in the referendum.

"We are fully committed to holding the referendum on time," Karti told the visiting members of the Council, the U.N.'s most powerful arm. "We want it on time, but it must be arranged properly. ... We do not want any interference in the referendum, this is the only condition."

The referendum is required by a 2005 peace agreement that ended the 21-year civil war between Sudan's predominantly Arab and Muslim north and rebels in the largely Christian-animist south.

Preparations for the Jan. 9 vote have proceeded haltingly amid political and logistical obstacles, and the southerners have accused the northerners of stalling, warning of violence if the referendum is delayed.

Underlining the tensions surrounding the vote, clashes erupted between southern pro-secession demonstrators and pro-unity northerners staging a rally in Khartoum.

Some 70 southerners were arrested, and at least five people were wounded, according to the witnesses.

Police armed with sticks quickly dispersed the protesters, some of whom were toting posters reading, "No No Unity."

The vote on secession is open to all southerners whether they live in the north or the south, but determining who is eligible to vote and citizenship after the referendum have fueled tensions.

North Sudan officials are wary of losing the oil-rich south, while southerners say the Islamist-controlled government in Khartoum is not living up to its commitments of sharing wealth and respecting freedom of expression and religion.
coppied by http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/10/10/apworld/20101010074301&sec=apworld

Watches this Chileans hope to begin rescue of miners Wednesday

Chileans hope to begin rescue of miners Wednesday
SAN JOSE MINE, Chile – After more than two months trapped deep in a Chilean mine, 33 miners are enjoying Sunday tantalizingly close to rescue.

Drillers have completed an escape shaft, and Chile's mining minister says a video inspection shows the hole's walls are firm enough to allow the men to be hoisted out as early as Wednesday.
Officials said late Saturday that workers first must reinforce the top few hundred feet (almost 100 meters) of the tunnel and had begun welding steel pipes for that purpose.
The completion of the 28-inch(71-centimeter)-diameter escape shaft Saturday morning caused bedlam in the tent city known as "Camp Hope," where the miners' relatives had held vigil for an agonizing 66 days since a cave-in sealed off the gold and copper mine Aug. 5.
Miners videotaped the piston-powered hammer drill's breakthrough at 2,041 feet (622 meters) underground and could be seen cheering and embracing, the drillers said.
On the surface, the rescuers chanted, danced and sprayed champagne so excitedly that some of their hardhats tumbled off.
Later, a video inspection of the shaft gave rescuers enough confidence in the tunnel's stability that they decided they will encase only its first 315 feet (96 meters).
The plan is to insert 16 sections of half-inch(1.27 centimeter)-thick steel pipe into the top of the hole, which curves like a waterfall at first before becoming nearly vertical for most of its descent into a chamber deep in the mine. That work would begin immediately, Mining Minister Laurence Golborne said.

AP – A relative of a trapped miner gestures after the announcement that a drill reached the trapped miners
Then an escape capsule built by Chilean naval engineers, its spring-loaded wheels pressing against the hole's walls, can be lowered into it via a winch and the trapped miners brought up one by one.
"All rescues have their risks," Golborne said. "You can never say that an accident couldn't happen."
Golborne and other government officials had insisted that determining whether to encase the whole shaft, only part of it or none of it would be a technical decision, based on the evidence and the expertise of a team of eight geologists and mining engineers.
Encasing the full shaft would have added another week or so before the rescue could begin — if it could actually be done.
While the possibility of an accident can never be ruled out, the hole "is in very good condition, and doesn't need to be cased completely," Golborne said.
The political consequences were inescapable. Chile's success story would evaporate if a miner should get stuck on the way up for reasons that might have been avoided.
Some miners' families wanted the entire shaft lined with pipe, but some engineers involved said the risk of the capsule getting jammed in the unreinforced hole was less than the risk of the pipes getting jammed and ruining their hard-won exit route.
Many experts doubted whether encasing the entire shaft was even possible.
"Based on my experiences it cannot be done. Nor does it need to be done," Brandon Fisher, president of the U.S. company that built the drill that broke through, told The Associated Press on Saturday.
"The rock is very confident down there," he added.
Health Minister Jaime Manalich said the miners' anxiety is growing about starting their rescue, an operation that should take about a day and a half to complete as they are pulled out one by one in a specially built capsule.
Manalich also confirmed that a list has been drawn up suggesting the order in which the 33 miners should be rescued. The final order will be determined by a Navy special forces paramedic who will be lowered into the mine to prepare the men for their journey.
The completion of the escape shaft thrilled Chileans, who have come to see the rescue drama as a test of the nation's character and pride.
Coppied by http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101010/ap_on_bi_ge/lt_chile_mine_collapse

Watches Chile miners to be evacuated soon

Chile miners to be evacuated soon


Euphoria prevailed among relatives of 33 miners trapped for more than two months in northern Chile, after authorities said their evacuation will start on Tuesday at the earliest.

Health Minister Jaime Manalich set the date of the rescue for Tuesday, though another government official, Mining Minister Laurence Golborne, struck a more cautious tone, saying only that the drill closest to the men trapped some 700 metres underground would reach them within 24 hours.

The drill, the T-130, was 585 metres from the miners' underground shelter early Friday.
"We hope to break through (to the shelter) within the next 24 hours. The speed will depend on how fast the hammer drill can be changed and the drilling velocity; we have to reach the breakthrough point with less velocity," Golborne said.

"We think it will happen tonight or Saturday morning, but we don't have the exact time," he said, adding that after contact is made the tunnel will be analysed to determine if it needs to be lined.

"If not, the timeframe for starting the rescue would be three days, but it could extend to eight days if they decide to (add metal casing to the tunnel). We have a team of geologists to analyse this issue," Golborne said.

But the health minister's prediction had already sparked joy and renewed hope among the relatives.

"It's a very good news, since we were all expecting them to break through first and then give us a date (for bringing the men to the surface)," Lilianet Ramirez, wife of miner Mario Gomez, said.

"I'm very happy ... Supposedly after the breakthrough it was going to take another eight days to get them out, but if that's been moved up I'm happy," Jessica Yanez, wife of Esteban Rojas, said.

The 33 miners were trapped Aug 5 when a landslide caused a tunnel at the San Jose copper and gold mine in northern Chile to collapse above them, but they managed to survive by taking refuge in a large underground shelter.

Rescuers made contact Aug 22 with the trapped miners, who have been receiving food, water, medical supplies and extra oxygen via small bore holes.
coppied by http://www.deccanherald.com/content/103468/chile-miners-evacuated-soon.html

watches Paul the Octopus' picks World Cup 2010 winner:Twitter, Internet gives props to Spain -PHOTOS

Paul the Octopus' picks World Cup 2010 winner:Twitter, Internet gives props to Spain -PHOTOS


July 11, 2010 - The World Cup Winner was picked by 'Paul the Octopus'. With a perfect record of choices, the octopus has more than 8 legs by some he has psychic powers. The octopus has been making choices for the FIFA games since the World Cup started and today, the world gets a chance to see the octopus was able to pick the actual winner of the final game.

When the World Cup was announced, one of the first things that happened online was the Internet and Twitter started going crazy about Paul. The Octopus has been so highly watched that many even wagered using the octopus decision as the sole reason.

Some of the tweets on Twitter brought an emotional interest to the simple sea creatures

'OMG Paul was right - Spain gets the Cup!'

'Paul vs Holland - they didn't have a chance against 8 legs.'

Spain wins - Cup goes to them - Thx Paul the Octopus.'

This closely watched octopus had many looking at the World Cup in a different way and even online people seem to be engaged about the unique predicting tool that has an underwater presence.
Coppied by http://www.examiner.com/celebrity-headlines-in-national/paul-the-octopus-picks-world-cup-2010-winner-twitter-internet-gives-props-to-spain-photos

Watched Toxic sludge no longer poses threat to Danube, says Hungary

Toxic sludge no longer poses threat to Danube, says Hungary


DANIEL McLAUGHLIN

SLUDGE RELEASED by a deadly industrial accident is no longer a danger to the river Danube, according to Hungary.

However, environmental groups have challenged that claim and questioned whether the disaster could have been prevented.

Some 700,000 cubic metres of toxic mud burst from a waste pool at an alumina plant in southwest Hungary on Monday, devastating nearby villages and about 40sq km and killing all life in the river Marcal, which flows into the Danube.

One of about 120 people injured by the wave of caustic filth died yesterday and two bodies were found, bringing the death toll to seven. One person is still missing.

Workers poured tonnes of neutralising agents into the Marcal to reduce the acidity before it reached Europe’s second longest river. Although dead fish were spotted in the Danube on Thursday, officials said yesterday that the emergency was easing.

“The good news is that we have succeeded in bringing it under control and very probably waters threatening the environment will not enter the Danube, even on Hungarian territory,” said prime minister Viktor Orban.

The government said drinking water supplies had not been affected and that the acidity level of the Danube near the site of the spill was almost neutral.
Coppied by http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2010/1009/1224280699449.html

Exited things Hungary: Two bodies found -- red sludge death toll rises to seven

Hungary: Two bodies found -- red sludge death toll rises to seven


BUDAPEST - Emergency workers found the bodies of two more victims of the toxic red sludge near the village of Devecser on Friday afternoon, bringing the death toll of the spill to seven.

One person remains missing.

Tibor Dobson, spokesman for the disaster mitigation staff reported finding the two bodies, but gave no details. Two women and one man are believed to have been missing.

An 81-year-old man hospitalized on Monday died of his injuries on Friday. Other victims were an elderly woman, a 35-year-old man drowned in his car, and two children, aged 3 and 1.

The Hungarian Aluminum Manufacturing and Trading Company, owner of the containment reservoir that released the caustic sludge which inundated three villages and wiped out all living matter in the Torna creek and Marcal river, issued a statement on Friday, arguing that it had not violated any rules. The company's measurements of the chemistry in the reservoir, CEO Zoltan Bakonyi said, yielded normal values, and a Monday morning inspection of the retaining wall found nothing of concern.

He said that seepage, reported by staff weeks ago, was normal in a facility of that size and the sludge leaks had been collected and returned to the reservoir.

State Secretary for the Environment Zoltan Illes said on Friday that while the magnesium and calcium nitrates introduced into the Raba and Marcal waterways at their confluence had sufficiently reduced the pH level of the red sludge to save the Danube ecology, most of the mud had been trapped in the Marcal, where all life was destroyed.

The sludge, Illes said, covered an area of 800 to 1,000 hectares, where the contaminated topsoil will have to be removed.

Meanwhile Jozsef Varga, CEO of uranium ore company Mecsekerc and a chemical engineer by profession, told local wire service MTI that it would take months or even years to restore the natural environment. He called it folly to expect people to be able to return to their contaminated homes within a short time, adding that the next major job would be to collect the red dust covering the soil and in the atmosphere. If inhaled it will be caustic, he warned.
coppied by http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=358628

Financial Japan stimulus to inject $60bn into flagging economy

Japan stimulus to inject $60bn into flagging economy
The Japanese cabinet has approved a plan to pump more than $60bn (£38bn) into the country's struggling economy.

The Japanese prime minister faces seemingly unsolvable economic problems
The aim of the plan - which still needs approval from parliament - is to boost growth, jobs and spending.

The Japanese economy is suffering from deflation and a strong currency; prices keep falling, but consumers hold off spending in hope of lower prices.

Analysts said the key problem is that the yen is at a 15-year high, making exports more expensive.

Earlier this week, the Bank of Japan set interest rates at just above zero.

Japan's Nikkei newspaper said the plan could boost GDP growth by up to 0.6% and help to save jobs.

Yen dollar doldrums
An extra budget is needed from parliament to fund the stimulus plan. This is expected to be submitted to parliament for debate later this month.

A previous stimulus package, announced last month, was intended to create about 200,000 jobs and shift GDP into positive territory, but was criticised as not going far enough.

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JAPANESE YEN V US DOLLAR
LAST UPDATED AT 08 OCT 2010, 12:36 GMT

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At the heart of Japan's woes is the strong yen, which has gained almost 50% in value against the dollar since mid-2007.

Japan has been stuck for the last 20 years in what economists call a "liquidity trap" - falling prices, interest rates stuck at zero, but savings rates remaining stubbornly high.

Much of the recent yen strength is actually to do with dollar weakness - the US has also cut rates virtually to zero and faces the risk of sinking into a liquidity trap just like Japan.

Despite the additional spending measures in the supplementary budget, Mr Kan has made clear that Japan must cut its budget deficit in the medium term.

Japanese government debt has risen to about twice the size of its economy during the last two decades of poor growth.
Coppied by http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11498607

Watches UN Urges Cooperation To Fight Human Trafficking read more Scoop

UN Urges Cooperation To Fight Human Trafficking
read more Scoop
UN Gathering Urges Global Cooperation To Fight Human Trafficking

With human trafficking knowing no borders, anti-trafficking experts from regional and sub-regional organizations have met for the first time in a United Nations-backed forum to discuss how to join forces to counter the scourge.

“Effective coordination of the various anti-trafficking initiatives and enhanced cooperation among all actors involved in combating trafficking is essential to maximize available resources, minimize duplication and address States’ fatigue vis-à-vis the number of demands they are required to attend to,” "http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=10420&LangID=E"said Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.







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She led the two-day gathering in Dakar, Senegal, which wrapped up on Tuesday and drew experts from around the world to confer on how to prevent trafficking, protect victims, and frameworks set up to address the problem in all regions.

“Assistance to and protection of victims must be non-conditional, responsive to the needs, and respectful of the human rights of trafficked victims,” the Rapporteur stressed, calling for regional and sub-regional groups to ensure that their policies are appropriate to victims’ ages and sensitive to gender aspects.

She highlighted the unique position that regional mechanisms are in to combat what she called a “modern day slavery, growing in scale and in terms of human rights repercussions” due to their expertise and knowledge of local realities.

Presenting her annual
coppied by http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1010/S00139/un-urges-cooperation-to-fight-human-trafficking.htm

Watches MGM studio sends out ballots to creditors for prepackaged bankruptcy

MGM studio sends out ballots to creditors for prepackaged bankruptcy


LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. said Thursday that it has begun seeking its creditors' approval on a prepackaged bankruptcy plan in which they will exchange more than US$4 billion in debt for equity in a new company that has rights to the James Bond franchise and the upcoming two-part movie series "The Hobbit."
Privately held production company Spyglass Entertainment, a co- financier of such recent films as "Star Trek" and "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra," will contribute some assets and merge two subsidiaries into MGM for a 4.69 per cent stake in the company, according to the plan.

Creditors would hold 95.3 per cent of the company after it exits from bankruptcy.

Only approved holders of secured debt as of Oct. 4 will be allowed to vote. The company declined to provide the list of creditors that can participate, but major creditors include Anchorage Advisors LLC, Highland Capital Management LP and billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

Voting continues until Oct. 22, when the company plans to file for bankruptcy and exit the court process in about 30 days.

After exiting bankruptcy, Spyglass co-founders Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum will serve as co-chairmen and CEOs.

The move signals the end is near for a process that began late last year as the company struggled to right itself from a dearth of hit movies, the decline of DVD sales and an overwhelming debt burden brought on by its $5 billion purchase in 2005 by a group led by Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp. and Comcast Corp.

It also clears the way for production to begin on "The Hobbit," the two-part movie based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel, which MGM is set to make with Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. The release of the first installment had been slated for December 2012 but the movie still hasn't gotten the official "green light" to begin shooting.

MGM also owns rights to the James Bond movie franchise and has a library of 4,000 movie and TV-show titles including such titles as "Rocky" and "Dances With Wolves."

By choosing bankruptcy over another sale, MGM is rejecting a $2- billion all-cash offer made last month by Indian conglomerate Sahara India Pariwar. MGM also walked away from an offer from Time Warner for $1.5 billion in cash.

Because MGM's creditors had given it a waiver on debt and interest payments since last October, the company has been able to preserve some cash. But it is unclear if it has enough to help pay for the big- budget "Hobbit" movies, or if it will need to clear the bankruptcy process first before raising new funds.

Coppied by http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=cp_i8llnq6kq40&show_article=1

Watches Afghan leaders, Taliban reportedly in high-level talks to end war

Afghan leaders, Taliban reportedly in high-level talks to end war


WASHINGTON — Taliban representatives and the government of President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, according to Afghan and Arab sources.


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The talks follow inconclusive meetings, hosted by Saudi Arabia, that ended more than a year ago. While emphasizing the preliminary nature of the current discussions, the sources said that for the first time they believe that Taliban representatives are fully authorized to speak for the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban organization based in Pakistan, and its leader, Mohammad Omar.

“They are very, very serious about finding a way out,’’ one source close to the talks said of the Taliban.

Although Omar’s representatives have long publicly insisted that negotiations were impossible until all foreign troops withdraw, a position seemingly buoyed by the Taliban’s resilience on the battlefield, sources said the Quetta Shura has begun to talk about a comprehensive agreement that would include participation of some Taliban figures in the government and the withdrawal of US and NATO troops on an agreed timeline.

The leadership knows “that they are going to be sidelined,’’ the source said. “They know that more radical elements are being promoted within their rank and file outside their control. . . . All these things are making them absolutely sure that, regardless of [their success in] the war, they are not in a winning position.’’

A half-dozen sources directly involved in or on the margins of the talks agreed to discuss them on the condition of anonymity. All emphasized the preliminary nature of the talks.

The United States’ European partners in Afghanistan, with different histories and under far stronger domestic pressure to withdraw their troops, have always been more amenable to a negotiated settlement.

“What it really boils down to is the Americans both supporting and in some cases maybe even participating in talking with the enemy,’’ a European official said.

“If you strip everything away, that’s the deal here. For so long, politically, it’s been a deal breaker in the United States, and with some people it still is.’
Coppied by http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/10/06/afghan_leaders_taliban_reportedly_in_high_level_talks_to_end_war/

Watches Boston Red Sox owner to buy Liverpool Football Club

Boston Red Sox owner to buy Liverpool Football Club


London, England (CNN) -- Liverpool Football Club, one of England's most prestigious teams, announced Wednesday that its board has agreed to sell the team to New England Sports Ventures, the company that owns baseball's Boston Red Sox.
The sale is conditional on approval from the Premier League, to which Liverpool belongs; resolution of a dispute about board membership; and other matters, Liverpool said.
The offer from NESV was one of two the club said Tuesday it had received to repay its long-term debt. It had called a board meeting Tuesday to review the bids and approve a sale.
The amount of the sale wasn't immediately disclosed, but the size of the debt is reported to be between 250 million and 280 million pounds ($397 million and $445 million).
What does the sale mean for Liverpool?
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Liverpool, which has a huge fan base around the world, is currently owned by two Americans, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. They took out loans in the club's name to buy it in February 2007.
But as Liverpool's position in the English Premier League has slipped, the owners have become targets for angry fans. Liverpool failed to qualify for this season's lucrative European Champions' League and the team is currently 18th out of 20 in the English league after seven matches -- the worst start to a season for decades.
Liverpool Chairman Martin Broughton said the board had met with NESV representatives over the past several weeks in Boston, London and Liverpool. He praised the company's vision for the English team.
What do you think of the sale? Sound off with CNN iReport
"NESV's philosophy is all about winning and they have fully demonstrated that at Red Sox," Broughton said.
He revealed problems the board has had with Hicks and Gillett, saying the pair tried "everything" to prevent the sale.
Coppied by http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SPORT/10/06/liverpool.football.boston/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Watch Hungary: toxic sludge will take one year to clean up

Hungary: toxic sludge will take one year to clean up
The wave of toxic sludge that has poured into seven villages in Hungary could take up to 12 months and tens of millions of dollars to clean up, officials have warned

Zoltan Illes, the environment minister, told the BBC the clean-up of the country's worst chemical accident would take at least one year and probably require technical and financial assistance from the European Union.
The red tide, which inundated streets and homes after the walls of residue reservoir at an aluminium plant collapsed, has so far killed four people and injured 120, but the death toll is expected to rise.

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Six people are missing and another eight are in critical condition in hospital, suffering from chemical burns. The sludge is a mixture of water and mining waste containing heavy metals and is considered highly dangerous.
In some places the torrent, which swept cars off roads and damaged bridges, was eight feet deep.
It is estimated that 38.8 million cubic feet (the equivalent of 440 Olympic-size swimming pools) of red, poisonous sludge has affected some 15 square miles.
Hundreds of residents have been evacuated and a state of emergency has been declared in three western counties.
As the clean-up operation began fears mounted that the highly poisonous sludge could have reached the River Danube.
Coppied by http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/hungary/8045257/Hungary-toxic-sludge-will-take-one-year-to-clean-up.html

Watch Drone attacks 'linked' to suspected Europe terror plot

Drone attacks 'linked' to suspected Europe terror plot



Officials have linked a recent increase in US drone missile attacks in Pakistan to efforts to disrupt a suspected al-Qaeda plot to attack European targets.

The strikes include one on Monday which killed eight militants, among them five German nationals, Pakistan's ambassador to the US told the BBC.

The strikes have targeted Pakistan's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

A British man killed in a strike last month was to head an al-Qaeda faction in the UK, BBC's Newsnight has learnt.

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"The activity we see in North Waziristan, in terms of strikes and terms of measures to try to get people from al-Qaeda and associated groups, is connected to the terrorist warnings that we have heard about potential strikes in Europe," Pakistan's ambassador to the US, Hussein Haqqani, told the BBC.

Mr Haqqani said Pakistan was working with European and US intelligence agencies to prevent the suspected plans to attack Europe and that people should not panic.

Security sources say a German man detained in Afghanistan in July had provided the first information about plans to launch commando-style attacks on targets in Britain, France and Germany.

As well as Paris and London, Berlin was cited in a US warning at the weekend as a possible target for a suspected al-Qaeda plot.

Several countries have issued travel warnings to their citizens, saying they should be vigilant while travelling in Europe.

Hamburg link
The US has carried out 26 drone strikes on Pakistan in the past month - the highest monthly total for the past six years.

US drone attacks have increased in the past month
dentification of the victims is being made more difficult because Taliban militants sealed off the area after the missile strike, taking away the remains for burial.

There have been concerns about the presence of German nationals in Pakistan's tribal areas.

According to German media, several Islamist militants disappeared from their homes in Hamburg in 2009 and were thought to have headed for North Waziristan.

On Monday, the German interior ministry revealed that 70 Germans had been given paramilitary training in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and a third of them had returned home.

In August, German police shut down a mosque in Hamburg which had been used by the 9/11 attackers and which the authorities believed was again becoming a focus for extremists.
Coppied by http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11481733