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Exclusive Interview of Brahumdagh Bugti (Saach tv)
Baloch leader Nawab Brahumdagh Bugti has warned people of Pashtun and Punjab ethnicities to immediately leave Balochistan.Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lttuI7C0bc
He issued the warning in an exclusive interview with Arsalan Bilal of saach.tv.
“Baloch are dying; why Punjabi's coming to establish their businesses in Balochistan?” Nawab Brahumdagh Bugti asked in exasperation.
When asked of ramifications if people of Baloch ethnicity are treated in a similar manner in Punjab, Nawab Brahumdagh said that Punjabi's have committed atrocities in Balochistan.
There has never been a military operation in Punjab, he added.
Nawab Brahumdagh’s warning comes at a time when soaring incidents of ethnic and sectarian violence have marred Balochistan.
In another startling revelation, Brahumdagh said that ICRC’s representative Doctor Khalil Rasjad was abducted and later killed by a group of three Pashtuns.
“You should go and ask Pakistan army who killed him (Doctor Rasjad); ICRC knows who was behind the act” Nawab remarked.
The Baloch leader said that he stands united with notorious insurgent leader Doctor Allah Nazar Baloch. He said his party and Doctor Allah Nazar shared a common objective, but different tactics.
Nawab Brahumdagh further dispelled perceptions of any differences between himself and Doctor Allah Nazar Baloch.
September 20, 2012
Anti-Islam Film adds fuel to the fire between US and Middle East
The shot heard ‘round the world. The straw that broke the camel’s back. Whatever you chose to call it, there is no doubt that the film Innocence of Muslims has been the spark behind many recent anti-American protests in the Middle East.
The video that sparked all this controversy and conflict is a 14-minute clip of Innocence of Muslims that was uploaded to YouTube on July 1 by a user who calls himself Sam Bacile. An Arabic version of the clip was uploaded in early September and almost immediately removed by the same user.
It is somewhat mindboggling that this film would be taken seriously. Every scene is off balance and appears to have been shot in front of a green screen, and audio tracks have been added over actors’ dialogue in an obvious way. The film belongs in a showcase with all of those Herman Cain and Twilight bad lip reading videos everyone secretly loves that have absolutely no entertainment or informative value. It’s no surprise that the only viewing of the full-length film had fewer than 10 attendees in California.
In addition to being a terrible-quality video, information regarding Innocence of Muslims has been nothing but lies and half-truths. First of all, the man who posted, wrote and produced the film told the cast and crew of the film, as well as reporters in early September, that his name was Sam Bacile and he was either a 52- or 56-year-old Jewish real estate developer from Israel. He also stated to the same people that he had spent $5 million to make the film and that he received the money from wealthy Jewish friends.
According to ABC News, authorities have since determined that Sam Bacile is an alias of Nakoula Bassley Nakoula, a 55-year-old Egyptian-American Coptic Christian drug manufacturer and scam artist in Cerritos, Calif. Nakoula admitted to writing the script while he was in federal prison for fraud and that he and his son, Abanob Bassley, secured the $50,000 to $60,000 to produce the movie from his wife’s family in Egypt.
Actors from the film have come out and said that they had no idea that the film they worked on would turn out to be an anti-Islam film, since the script they worked from was for a film titled Desert Warrior and made no mention of Muhammad, a fact that is obvious, thanks to the awful lip-syncing.
This film does accomplish one thing: insulting the second-largest religion in the world and all of its more than 1 billion followers. Nakoula’s film depicts the prophet Muhammad as a homosexual, a drunk, a child molester and an idiot. Mocking the sacred prophet of a region that is already unstable is akin to throwing a lit match into a powder keg.
In an interview with KERO-TV in Bakersfield, Calif., Cindy Lee Garcia, the actress who played the mother of a 12-year-old girl who is to marry Muhammad in the film, said that she called the director after the film caused such a stir and asked him why he would create such trouble. Nakoula’s response was “… Because I’m tired of the radical Muslims running around killing everyone.”
Innocence of Muslims hasn’t eased the tensions in the Middle East and it’s hardly believable that anyone was ever under the assumption that it would. This is an area that has recently endured months of protests and riots known as the Arab Spring and has seen many national governments overthrown by the people. Middle Eastern countries are not the only ones upset by clips. The posting of an Arabic-language version of the clip in early September caused an international uproar as riots and protests broke out in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, Canada, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia.
At least 28 people have died as a result of these riots, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. Russia is discussing limiting access to YouTube because of this film. Google, parent company of YouTube, has banned the film from being viewed in Egypt and Libya and limited access in India and Indonesia in order to comply with local laws. The Chief of Pakistan’s Mutahidda Qaumi Movement Altaf Hussain has condemned the film along with many other leaders. The movement has also demanded via telegram that President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon ban the film.
Innocence of Muslims hasn’t served any constructive purpose. It has only added more fuel to an intense fire in an unstable area and added to the already growing tensions between the United States and the rest of the world.
The video that sparked all this controversy and conflict is a 14-minute clip of Innocence of Muslims that was uploaded to YouTube on July 1 by a user who calls himself Sam Bacile. An Arabic version of the clip was uploaded in early September and almost immediately removed by the same user.
It is somewhat mindboggling that this film would be taken seriously. Every scene is off balance and appears to have been shot in front of a green screen, and audio tracks have been added over actors’ dialogue in an obvious way. The film belongs in a showcase with all of those Herman Cain and Twilight bad lip reading videos everyone secretly loves that have absolutely no entertainment or informative value. It’s no surprise that the only viewing of the full-length film had fewer than 10 attendees in California.
In addition to being a terrible-quality video, information regarding Innocence of Muslims has been nothing but lies and half-truths. First of all, the man who posted, wrote and produced the film told the cast and crew of the film, as well as reporters in early September, that his name was Sam Bacile and he was either a 52- or 56-year-old Jewish real estate developer from Israel. He also stated to the same people that he had spent $5 million to make the film and that he received the money from wealthy Jewish friends.
According to ABC News, authorities have since determined that Sam Bacile is an alias of Nakoula Bassley Nakoula, a 55-year-old Egyptian-American Coptic Christian drug manufacturer and scam artist in Cerritos, Calif. Nakoula admitted to writing the script while he was in federal prison for fraud and that he and his son, Abanob Bassley, secured the $50,000 to $60,000 to produce the movie from his wife’s family in Egypt.
Actors from the film have come out and said that they had no idea that the film they worked on would turn out to be an anti-Islam film, since the script they worked from was for a film titled Desert Warrior and made no mention of Muhammad, a fact that is obvious, thanks to the awful lip-syncing.
This film does accomplish one thing: insulting the second-largest religion in the world and all of its more than 1 billion followers. Nakoula’s film depicts the prophet Muhammad as a homosexual, a drunk, a child molester and an idiot. Mocking the sacred prophet of a region that is already unstable is akin to throwing a lit match into a powder keg.
In an interview with KERO-TV in Bakersfield, Calif., Cindy Lee Garcia, the actress who played the mother of a 12-year-old girl who is to marry Muhammad in the film, said that she called the director after the film caused such a stir and asked him why he would create such trouble. Nakoula’s response was “… Because I’m tired of the radical Muslims running around killing everyone.”
Innocence of Muslims hasn’t eased the tensions in the Middle East and it’s hardly believable that anyone was ever under the assumption that it would. This is an area that has recently endured months of protests and riots known as the Arab Spring and has seen many national governments overthrown by the people. Middle Eastern countries are not the only ones upset by clips. The posting of an Arabic-language version of the clip in early September caused an international uproar as riots and protests broke out in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, Canada, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Australia.
At least 28 people have died as a result of these riots, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens. Russia is discussing limiting access to YouTube because of this film. Google, parent company of YouTube, has banned the film from being viewed in Egypt and Libya and limited access in India and Indonesia in order to comply with local laws. The Chief of Pakistan’s Mutahidda Qaumi Movement Altaf Hussain has condemned the film along with many other leaders. The movement has also demanded via telegram that President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon ban the film.
Innocence of Muslims hasn’t served any constructive purpose. It has only added more fuel to an intense fire in an unstable area and added to the already growing tensions between the United States and the rest of the world.
YouTube under threat in Russia over film
Access to YouTube across Russia could be blocked under a new law that takes effect on November 1 if the site does not remove a video mocking the Prophet Muhammad, the country's communications minister said on Tuesday.
The video, which sparked violent protests in many Muslim countries, has been deemed extremist by Russian prosecutors who have now asked the court to ban it.
Under new legislation, internet sites carrying content banned in Russia would be included on a special register, after which internet providers would have one day to block access.
"Because of this video, YouTube could be blocked throughout the territory of Russia," Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov, one of the opponents of the new law, wrote on Twitter. "If a law is passed it should be enforced."
Google, the owner of YouTube, rejected a request by the White House to remove the video but decided to block it in a number of Muslim countries including Egypt and Libya where US embassies have been stormed by protesters. Russia is home to 20 million Muslims.
The court now has five days to make a ruling on whether the film is extremist but legal practice shows that on such matters Russian courts usually side with the prosecutors.
"If they abide by the court decision [and remove the video] no one will [need to] close them [YouTube] down," said parliament member Ruslan Gattarov from pro-Kremlin United Russia who first raised the issue with the prosecutors. "Do we have to wait until violence comes here?"
Google's Moscow office confirmed they received the prosecutors' warning but said that such matters are handled at the company's headquarters. Previously Russia has never blocked access to Google services.
Some influential Russian politicians, including former deputy prime minister Igor Sechin, blamed social networks and popular internet services for helping to stir dissent in developing countries including Russia.
Last year Russia's domestic security service called for access to encrypted communication providers such as Gmail, Hotmail and Skype, saying the uncontrolled use of such services could threaten national security.
Anti-Kremlin opposition groups, which staged the biggest protests during President Vladimir Putin's 12-year rule over the past several months, has extensively used internet services to organise mass rallies and spread their message.
The Kremlin responded by rushing a string of restrictive laws through parliament, which opposition described as a crackdown on dissent.
Sudan blocks Youtube over anti-Islam film
Sudan has ordered the blocking of access to the Youtube website to prevent people watching a film that insults Prophet Mohammad, a senior government official said on Wednesday. Youtube owner Google Inc. has already blocked access to the film in Egypt, Libya, India and Indonesia after deadly protests in several countries, but it has rejected a request by the White House to pull it from the site altogether.
Actress in anti-Muslim movie to ask LA judge to order YouTube to take down clip
An actress who appears in the anti-Muslim film trailer that has been blamed for causing riots in the Middle East wants a judge to order YouTube to take down the clip.
Attorneys for Cindy Lee Garcia plan to seek the injunction Thursday against the 14-minute YouTube trailer for "Innocence of Muslims" in a Los Angeles court.
On Wednesday Garcia filed a lawsuit against the filmmaker for fraud and slander, claiming she was duped by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the man behind "Innocence of Muslims" who has gone into hiding since the trailer rose to prominence last week.
She said she was unaware of the film's anti-Muslim content and the pages of the script she received had no mention of the prophet Muhammad, religion or sexual content, according to her complaint.
YouTube has refused Garcia's requests to remove the film, according to the lawsuit. The complaint contends that keeping it online violates her right of publicity, invades her privacy rights and the post-filming dialogue changes cast her in a false light. "(Garcia) had a legally protected interest in her privacy and the right to be free from having hateful words put in her mouth or being depicted as a bigot," the lawsuit states.
YouTube said it is reviewing the complaint and its lawyers will be in court on Thursday. The site is owned by search giant Google and has blocked users in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt from viewing the "Innocence of Muslims" trailer. It has also blocked the video from being viewed in Indonesia and India because it violates laws in those countries.
The lawsuit states Garcia responded to an ad and thought she was appearing in an ancient Egyptian adventure film called "Desert Warriors." Dialogue in the amateurish film was later dubbed to include anti-Islamic messages and to portray Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester, and it was also translated into Arabic.
"The film is vile and reprehensible," Garcia's attorney, M. Cris Armenta, wrote in the document. Her client has received death threats since the film's trailer began drawing attention, and she is no longer able to care for her grandchildren, the lawsuit states.
"This lawsuit is not an attack on the First Amendment nor on the right of Americans to say what they think, but does request that the offending content be removed from the Internet," the complaint states.
Garcia, who lives in Bakersfield, Calif., claims her association with the film has harmed her reputation and caused "shame, mortification, and hurt feelings" and will impact her ability to get future acting roles, according to the lawsuit.
A man who answered the phone at the law offices of Steven Seiden, who represents Nakoula on any criminal repercussions he may face, declined comment. He said Seiden does not represent Nakoula, who is on probation for a bank fraud case in which he opened 600 fraudulent credit accounts, in civil matters.
According to the terms of his probation, Nakoula was allowed to only access websites with the permission of probation officials and for work purposes. It is unclear who uploaded the film to the site.
The lawsuit also names Sam Bacile, an alias that Nakoula gave to The Associated Press after the trailer was linked to protests that have since killed at least 30 people in seven countries, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya.
Apple IPhone 5 Gets Glowing Reviews
Apple Inc.’s iPhone 5 drew accolades from technology-gadget critics, who praised the smartphone’s lightweight body design, bigger screen and swifter data-download speeds even as some faulted its mapping tools.
The iPhone 5, which is scheduled to reach stores Sept. 21, is the best smartphone on the market, map-software flaws aside, according to Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal. Ed Baig of USA Today said the device keeps Apple ahead of rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), and Rich Jaroslovsky of Bloomberg called it the “handsomest phone you can buy.”
The mostly positive reviews stand to fuel what’s already turning out to be robust demand for Apple’s best-selling product. The company said on Sept. 17 that it received more than 2 million orders in 24 hours, more than double the record set when the company introduced the iPhone 4S last year.
“Nearly every feature has been upgraded, with a focus on what counts: screen, sound, camera, speed,” David Pogue wrote in the New York Times.
According to Mossberg and Jaroslovsky, one of the iPhone’s biggest drawbacks is the mapping software created by Apple to replace the Google Inc. maps application that had come pre- installed on the iPhone since 2007.
For instance, Apple’s version doesn’t have public-transit routing, Mossberg said. Jaroslovsky said the software was easily confused giving directions, especially in urban areas.
Both praised the device more generally.
“Apple has taken an already great product and made it better,” Mossberg wrote.
Eye Jab
The iPhone will be available Sept. 21 in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the U.K. With a new wireless contract, the device costs $199, $299 and $399, depending on the amount of memory.
Pogue criticized Apple’s change to a new dock connector, saying the move hampered the device’s compatibility with cars, clocks and speakers. The adapters being sold by Apple, which cost $30 or $40, don’t work for all accessories, he said. With the change, Apple gave away a competitive advantage of having a network of accessories available to use, Pogue said.
“That’s not just a slap in the face to loyal customers -- it’s a jab in the eye,” Pogue said.
One of the biggest improvements for the iPhone is its speed, said Baig of USA Today. The iPhone 5 connects to new high-speed wireless networks known as LTE, or long-term evolution, that are being introduced by companies such as AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Wireless, letting users more seamlessly watch video or toggle between Web pages or applications.
‘A Gem’
“People have always had lofty expectations for the iPhone 5, especially as the competition stiffens,” Baig wrote. “In delivering a fast, attractive, LTE-capable and larger-screen handset, Apple has met those expectations with a gem.”
Bloomberg’s Jaroslovsky praised the device’s battery life, which for other smartphones drains more quickly when working on an LTE network.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, may sell 6 million to 10 million iPhones during the opening weekend, according to Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos. (PJC)With the iPhone 5 going on sale in 22 more countries on Sept. 28, Apple may sell another 49 million from October to December, according to Munster.
The iPhone accounts for about two-thirds of Apple’s profit, helping make it the world’s most valuable company. Shares rose less than 1 percent to a record $701.91 yesterday.
Because Apple only releases one new model a year, a successful debut is critical for the company’s continued growth. That compares with the several smartphones released each year by Samsung, Apple’s main competitor in a global smartphone market that surged 62 percent to $219.1 billion last year, according data compiled by Bloomberg Industries.
Samsung, which makes smartphones with bigger screens than the new iPhone 5, has sold more than 20 million units of its Galaxy S III smartphone.
“The iPhone 5 is by no means perfect, and we’re lucky there are a lot of really good smartphones on the market,” Jaroslovsky said. “But only one great one.”
The iPhone 5, which is scheduled to reach stores Sept. 21, is the best smartphone on the market, map-software flaws aside, according to Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal. Ed Baig of USA Today said the device keeps Apple ahead of rivals such as Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), and Rich Jaroslovsky of Bloomberg called it the “handsomest phone you can buy.”
The mostly positive reviews stand to fuel what’s already turning out to be robust demand for Apple’s best-selling product. The company said on Sept. 17 that it received more than 2 million orders in 24 hours, more than double the record set when the company introduced the iPhone 4S last year.
“Nearly every feature has been upgraded, with a focus on what counts: screen, sound, camera, speed,” David Pogue wrote in the New York Times.
According to Mossberg and Jaroslovsky, one of the iPhone’s biggest drawbacks is the mapping software created by Apple to replace the Google Inc. maps application that had come pre- installed on the iPhone since 2007.
For instance, Apple’s version doesn’t have public-transit routing, Mossberg said. Jaroslovsky said the software was easily confused giving directions, especially in urban areas.
Both praised the device more generally.
“Apple has taken an already great product and made it better,” Mossberg wrote.
Eye Jab
The iPhone will be available Sept. 21 in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the U.K. With a new wireless contract, the device costs $199, $299 and $399, depending on the amount of memory.
Pogue criticized Apple’s change to a new dock connector, saying the move hampered the device’s compatibility with cars, clocks and speakers. The adapters being sold by Apple, which cost $30 or $40, don’t work for all accessories, he said. With the change, Apple gave away a competitive advantage of having a network of accessories available to use, Pogue said.
“That’s not just a slap in the face to loyal customers -- it’s a jab in the eye,” Pogue said.
One of the biggest improvements for the iPhone is its speed, said Baig of USA Today. The iPhone 5 connects to new high-speed wireless networks known as LTE, or long-term evolution, that are being introduced by companies such as AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Wireless, letting users more seamlessly watch video or toggle between Web pages or applications.
‘A Gem’
“People have always had lofty expectations for the iPhone 5, especially as the competition stiffens,” Baig wrote. “In delivering a fast, attractive, LTE-capable and larger-screen handset, Apple has met those expectations with a gem.”
Bloomberg’s Jaroslovsky praised the device’s battery life, which for other smartphones drains more quickly when working on an LTE network.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, may sell 6 million to 10 million iPhones during the opening weekend, according to Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos. (PJC)With the iPhone 5 going on sale in 22 more countries on Sept. 28, Apple may sell another 49 million from October to December, according to Munster.
The iPhone accounts for about two-thirds of Apple’s profit, helping make it the world’s most valuable company. Shares rose less than 1 percent to a record $701.91 yesterday.
Because Apple only releases one new model a year, a successful debut is critical for the company’s continued growth. That compares with the several smartphones released each year by Samsung, Apple’s main competitor in a global smartphone market that surged 62 percent to $219.1 billion last year, according data compiled by Bloomberg Industries.
Samsung, which makes smartphones with bigger screens than the new iPhone 5, has sold more than 20 million units of its Galaxy S III smartphone.
“The iPhone 5 is by no means perfect, and we’re lucky there are a lot of really good smartphones on the market,” Jaroslovsky said. “But only one great one.”
I would love to work in a Bollywood film: Brad Pitt
"Indian cinema seems to be growing very well at its own pace. I would love to work in a Bollywood film as there is so much drama and colour in the films there," Pitt told us in an email interview.
"The filmmaking, I hear, has evolved a lot in India and of late we have witnessed some good films making a presence at the Oscars and the world stage," added the actor.
The presence of Indian films and their artists has witnessed a boost in the western world in recent times. International premieres, opportunities for actors like Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan, as well as A R Rahman's Oscar-winning feat for 'Slumdog Millionaire' have drawn international interest in India's cinematic offerings.
"That tells you a lot about the quality of the actors and the films. You never know when I might decide to work in a Bollywood film and do one of those dance numbers with the whole crew in the backdrop," quipped Pitt, who shot in the country for 2007 movie 'A Mighty Heart'.
The 48-year-old actor, who has been named among the sexiest men in the world multiple times, is especially fond of former Miss World Aishwarya. He says he is open to work with her.
"Given a chance, I would like to work with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan because she's a versatile actor. She has worked brilliantly in films like 'The Mistress of Spices', 'The Last Legion', 'The Pink Panther 2' and 'Provoked' to name a few," said Pitt.
"She is one of the most popular actresses of Bollywood, who has achieved huge acclaim in the west for her style, beauty and acting skills. I think we missed an opportunity to be cast together for the movie 'Troy'," he added.
Aishwarya was reportedly offered to essay the historical part of Briseis, but she turned down the offer by director Wolfgang Petersen. 'Troy', released in 2007, continues to be one of Pitt's best performances till date.
Meanwhile, Pitt has finally decided to enter wedlock with his lady love Angelina Jolie, with whom he makes up the popular 'Brangelina' brand. The couple have six children. Though his wedding date is yet to be fixed, the actor has wished India's 'Saifeena' - Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor - all the best for their D-day next month.
"To be honest, I really think Saif and Kareena can be called Bollywood's sexiest couple so far. I am glad to know they are getting married soon. I wish them all the success for a happy married life," he said.
Pitt is currently eager for the release of gangster movie 'Killing Them Softly', set to hit the screens on October 5.
" 'Killing Them Softly' has a political agenda - one that it isn't too keen on hiding. It is an adaptation of a George V. Higgins novel about two lowlifes who make the unwise decision to rob a mob-funded card game and the hitman tasked with taking them down," he said of the movie.
Man killed girlfriend, then shot self, coroner says
The man found dead in his Colonial Heights home last week appears to have fatally shot his girlfriend before turning the gun on himself, according to the Sacramento County Coroner's Office.
Eugene K. Stevenson, 43, died of a single gunshot wound to the chest that authorities believe was self-inflicted, said Supervising Deputy Coroner Kim Gin.
His girlfriend, Kassandra Atterberry, 41, died of gunshot wounds, Gin said.
Last week, Sacramento police described the incident as a murder-suicide but did not disclose the manner of death or who they believed was the assailant.
Stevenson and Atterberry were discovered in Stevenson's 15th Avenue home by a relative who had come to check on them after not hearing from them in a few days.
Atterberry's mother told The Bee last week that the theory that it was a murder-suicide seemed unbelievable to her family, who never saw the couple fight.
– Kim Minugh
Eugene K. Stevenson, 43, died of a single gunshot wound to the chest that authorities believe was self-inflicted, said Supervising Deputy Coroner Kim Gin.
His girlfriend, Kassandra Atterberry, 41, died of gunshot wounds, Gin said.
Last week, Sacramento police described the incident as a murder-suicide but did not disclose the manner of death or who they believed was the assailant.
Stevenson and Atterberry were discovered in Stevenson's 15th Avenue home by a relative who had come to check on them after not hearing from them in a few days.
Atterberry's mother told The Bee last week that the theory that it was a murder-suicide seemed unbelievable to her family, who never saw the couple fight.
– Kim Minugh
Afghanistan: 10 new governors appointed
KABUL : New governors were appointed for 10 provinces of the country according to a decree from President Hamid Karzai, the administrative affairs’ department said on Thursday.
Former Takhar governor, Abdul Jabar Taqwa, was appointed as Kabul governor, Gen. Mohammad Naeem Baloch as Helmand governor, former Faryab governor, Maj. Gen. Ahmad Faisal Begzad as Takhar governor, the head of administrative affairs, Rafi Firzos, addressed a press conference.
Meanwhile, Sultan Mohammad Ebadi was appointed as Baghlan governor, former MP from Nangarhar, Abdul Majid, as Maidan Wardak governor, Mohammad Sarwar Saboot as Nimroz governor and former MP from Logar, Fazlullah Mujaddadi as Laghman governor, he said.
Laghman governor, Iqbal Azizi, was appointed as Logar governor while the Logar governor, Mohammad Tahir Sabari, was transferred to Badghis province, a statement from the department said.
The presidential decree said that advisory board should process the appointing of the governors within two months, he said.
Former Baghlan governor, Abdul Majeed, was appointed as advisor to president in social affairs, added.
Hamas: Israeli airstrike killed 2 border troops
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza's Hamas rulers say an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in the southern Gaza Strip has killed two security personnel.
Israel claimed Thursday that it had targeted two militants — one suspected of planning an attack on Israeli civilians and another accused of selling weapons. The conflicting accounts could not immediately be reconciled.
Gaza's Interior Ministry later said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press that the two killed were members of its border security unit operating along the Gaza-Egypt boundary, which abounds in smuggling tunnels. The ministry says a third man wounded in the late Wednesday airstrike belongs to the same unit.
The ministry says that "targeting on-duty security personnel is evidence that the occupation does not want the state of stability in the Gaza Strip to continue."
U.S soldier killed in fighting
The U.S. Department of Defense on Wednesday confirmed that a Greenville soldier was killed in fighting last weekend in Afghanistan.
Spc. Joshua Nelson was among of four American servicemen who died Sunday, according to the government. Earlier information that his death occurred Saturday was inaccurate.
Nelson was killed in the Zabul province when his position was attacked with small arms fire, a Defense Department news release said.
Spc. Joshua Nelson was among of four American servicemen who died Sunday, according to the government. Earlier information that his death occurred Saturday was inaccurate.
Nelson was killed in the Zabul province when his position was attacked with small arms fire, a Defense Department news release said.
26 Killed in Mexico Pipeline Fire Near U.S. Border
A big fire erupted at a natural gas pipeline distribution center near Mexico’s border with the United States on Tuesday, and 26 people were reported killed.
Mexico’s state-owned oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, initially reported 10 deaths at the facility near the city of Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas. Later, the death toll was raised to 26, according to the company’s Twitter account.
Pemex said in a statement that the fire had been extinguished and the pipeline shut off. The pipeline carries natural gas from wells in the Burgos basin.
The company said through its Twitter account that four of those killed were Pemex employees and the rest were employed by contractors. It said officials were still investigating to determine the cause of the fire.
Pipelines carrying gasoline and diesel fuel in Mexico are frequently tapped by thieves looking to steal oil products.
Several oil spills and explosions have been blamed on illegal taps. But thieves seldom target gas pipelines.
Official Versions Diverge Over U.S. Consulate Attack
The attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya last week has led to dueling versions of what unfolded that night in Benghazi.
To hear the Obama administration tell it, the attack that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans was spontaneous — and staged by local extremists who saw an opportunity to hijack peaceful demonstrations against an offensive film.
The Libyans have a different view. They say it was a premeditated strike, launched by foreign fighters with ties to al-Qaida.
The divergence in accounts was at the center of a hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. For the first time, a high-ranking intelligence official described the Benghazi attack as "terrorism" and provided an on-the-record account of what the U.S. knows and doesn't know about what took place over a number of hours on Sept. 11. Also, he allowed that al-Qaida might have had some hand in what happened. This is the first official U.S. confirmation of the group's possible role.
Was It Planned?
Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, for his part, got right to the point.
"Do we have reason to believe at this point that that terrorist attack was preplanned for Sept. 11 or did the terrorists seize the moment?" he asked Matthew Olsen, the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, .
"That's a more complicated question, and one we are spending a great deal of time looking at as we speak," Olsen said. "What we don't have, at this point, is specific intelligence that there was a significant advanced planning or coordination for this attack.
"Again, we're still developing facts and still looking for any indications of substantial advanced planning. ... We just haven't seen that at this point."
Ranking member Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, was skeptical.
"I have come to the opposite conclusion and agree with the president of Libya that this was a premeditated, planned attack that was associated with the anniversary of 9/11," she said, adding that classified briefings she had seen supported her conclusion. "I just don't think that people come to protests equipped with RPG and other heavy weapons. I think the report from the president of Libya is more likely the correct one."
Lieberman quickly sided with her, saying, "My own inclination is to agree with Sen. Collins, as I usually do, but I will await the investigation."
The Implications Of Premeditation
Whether the assault on the consulate was planned in advance is just the first of many points of contention in a tragic episode still in search of a coherent narrative.
If the plot were premeditated, the implication is stark: It means the U.S. should or could have stopped it. It would also imply that U.S. intelligence on the ground had missed something. Olsen clearly chose his words carefully when he said there weren't any indications of substantial advanced planning.
What Olsen didn't say was that a plan to attack the U.S. consulate in Benghazi wouldn't need much time for planning. There was already of climate of violence in the city. Heavily armed militias already patrolled the streets and many Islamist militias, like Ansar al-Sharia, the chief suspect in the case, were calling for Libya to impose Shariah law.
What's more, there had been at least four attacks on Western targets in Benghazi, including the U.S. consulate, since June. So it was well-known that the city was dangerous.
Olsen's answer left room for the possibility that attacking the U.S. mission could have been something that groups had in mind in a general way, but the U.S. intelligence community hasn't uncovered a definitive plan — indicating both an inclination and timing — to do so. That could explain the difference between the Libyan and U.S. narrative about that night.
Possible Al-Qaida Connections
Olsen also jumped into the debate over who might have been responsible.
"The picture that is emerging is one where a number of different individuals were involved, so it is not necessarily an 'either or' proposition," he said.
When asked if al-Qaida had a hand in the attack, Olsen said it was something he would rather discuss in a closed session.
U.S. officials have confirmed that there have been communications intercepts that suggest that al-Qaida's North Africa affiliate, known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, may have had a gossamer connection to the attack that night.
Officials say AQIM placed calls to several key leaders of Ansar al-Sharia on Sept. 11. While the group has said it had nothing to do with the attack, it has not ruled out that some of its members may have been at the consulate that night as part of the protests.
Officials are trying to determine exactly when on Sept. 11 AQIM spoke with Ansar members: Was it before the consulate attack that began around 10 p.m., or after that?
The question of timing is important because there were two separate attacks on U.S. targets in Benghazi that night — a fact has been lost in the reports over the past week. The first attack was on the consulate. But there was another strike, more than a mile away, on a safe house where American consulate employees were hiding while they awaited evacuation from the city.
The second attack occurred at 2 a.m. U.S. officials say that attack, in which the two Navy Seals died, was much more sophisticated. It also came long enough after the first incident that it could have been quickly planned.
What isn't clear is if that second attack was a result of the AQIM phone call, goading Ansar members to action, or if the militias took it upon themselves to attack because the assault earlier that evening was so deadly. Ansar says it had nothing to do with the attack.
When asked if al-Qaida had a hand in the attack, Olsen said it was something he would rather discuss in a closed session though he mentioned that investigators were following up on leads involving AQIM.
September 18, 2012
September 17, 2012
U.N. panel spotlights disappearances in Balochistan
- Article
Women and children hold images of their missing relatives during a demonstration in Quetta September 15, 2012. For years, human rights groups had hoped that Western governments might lead an international outcry over a little-known epidemic of abductions, torture and murder in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan. They were disappointed. Instead, relatives of the missing are placing their faith in a visiting U.N. team to highlight allegations that security forces are waging a campaign of mass disappearanc For years, human rights groups had hoped that Western governments might lead an international outcry over a little-known epidemic of abductions, torture and murder in the Pakistani province of Baluchistan. They were disappointed.
Instead, relatives of the missing are placing their faith in a visiting U.N. team to highlight allegations that security forces are waging a campaign of mass disappearances aimed at silencing calls for Baluch independence.
"How many will they kill?" said Yusuf Baluch, who found the mutilated body of his son, Asif, last year, several months after he was taken away in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital.
"I'm not going to accept Pakistan as my country. I'll keep longing for an independent Baluchistan."
Overshadowed by a U.S.-funded campaign against Taliban militants on the northwestern frontier with Afghanistan, the conflict between separatists and the state in Baluchistan receives scant outside attention, even within Pakistan itself.
The military has repeatedly denied committing abuses, blaming the killings on an array of militant groups active in the resource-rich province that borders both Afghanistan and Iran.
But human rights groups have gathered extensive evidence from relatives of the disappeared that raises serious questions over the conduct of a security establishment that has received billions of dollars in U.S. military aid since 2001.
The arrival of the U.N. delegation last week kindled hopes in the province that the disappearances will finally start to gain global attention, but stirred controversy in Islamabad, where outside discussion of the province is considered taboo.
"If the U.N. has taken the pains to send a team to Pakistan, it means the world now knows what's going on," said Asif Baluch, a former student activist. "At least the news is out."
The delegation was sent by a panel on enforced disappearances set up by the Geneva-based United Nations Commission on Human Rights and arrived in Pakistan last week.
Led by a French law professor, the team's mission is primarily to gather information on cases of disappearances and serve as a conduit between relatives and the government.
Nevertheless, families of the missing gathered ahead of its arrival in Baluchistan's provincial capital, Quetta, on Saturday to urge the U.N. to take action to bring their loved ones home.
Even as the delegation began its tour of Pakistan, news of more disappearances reached Quetta.
On Wednesday, two days after the U.N. mission arrived in Islamabad, residents in southern Baluchistan said security forces had taken away two more men in vehicles.
Baluch National Voice, a monitoring group, said another 14 men were detained at a military checkpoint on Friday. The bodies of six of them, all bearing gunshot wounds, have since been discovered, the group said. It added that the dead men had been blindfolded and their hands tied behinds their backs.
"KILL-AND-DUMP"
Parents and siblings of the missing have accused intelligence agencies of abducting people in many parts of Pakistan, but nowhere is the phenomenon more acute than in vast, sparsely populated Baluchistan.
More than 300 bodies have been found discarded by roadsides or abandoned on waste-ground in the province since early 2011, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. Many of the remains bear cigarette burns, broken limbs or other evidence of torture.
The grim discoveries have generated little public comment from Pakistan's Western allies, who are preoccupied with strategic goals related to the country's role in Afghanistan, counter-terrorism and the security of its nuclear warheads.
But Baluch activists say the grisly trail is evidence of a state-backed "kill-and-dump" policy designed to intimidate separatist guerrillas and their sympathizers.
The activists say several thousand people are still missing, though provincial authorities put the figure at several dozen.
Security forces deny committing abuses and say insurgents sometimes don military uniform before kidnapping people.
"Criminals must be acted against and brought before the law," Major-General Obaidullah Khan, head of the Frontier Corps, the main security agency in Baluchistan, said in a recent interview in Quetta.
Army officers say the separatists have killed hundreds of what are termed "settlers" from other parts of Pakistan, in particular Punjab, the country's most populous province and the home of many of the military's generals.
"VOLCANO READY TO EXPLODE"
In Islamabad, the U.N. mission has sparked suspicion among the political and military elite, who are supremely sensitive to any suggestion of interference in Baluchistan.
A region of bone-dry desert and barren hills endowed with reserves of copper, gold and natural gas, Baluchistan has witnessed waves of revolt by nationalists since it was incorporated into Pakistan in 1948.
The government's unease over outside discussion of the province is partly explained by the humiliating loss of East Pakistan, which broke away to form Bangladesh in 1971.
While the Baluch separatists' goal of independence seems a remote prospect, Baluchistan nevertheless exhibits a litany of state failure, alienation, corruption and missed economic opportunities that present a microcosm of Pakistan's wider woes.
Concern among lawmakers that the U.N. visit may threaten Pakistan's sovereignty prompted Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to assure the National Assembly last week that the team had been invited by the government and had no investigative powers.
Even Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who has launched a rare move by the judiciary to hold the military to account over disappearances in Baluchistan, declined to meet the U.N. team.
He warned this month that the province was a "volcano ready to explode" and said it was dangerous for outsiders to review Pakistan's internal affairs.
The United Nations has declined to comment ahead of a news conference the panel is due to give before leaving Pakistan on Thursday.
Some separatists fear the U.N. mission may allow Pakistan to claim it is addressing the disappearances while failing to put real pressure on the military.
"The U.N. should take very strong action against this state tyranny," Allah Nazar Baloch, leader of the Baluchistan Liberation Front, one of the main separatist armed groups, told Reuters. "The U.N. should impose sanctions on Pakistan."
Others fear that security forces may stage more disappearances to register their anger with the U.N.
"If I know Pakistan, they will send more bodies to send us a message that no one in the world can help us," said a former Baluch student organizer who declined to be identified as he feared for his safety.
Instead, relatives of the missing are placing their faith in a visiting U.N. team to highlight allegations that security forces are waging a campaign of mass disappearances aimed at silencing calls for Baluch independence.
"How many will they kill?" said Yusuf Baluch, who found the mutilated body of his son, Asif, last year, several months after he was taken away in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital.
"I'm not going to accept Pakistan as my country. I'll keep longing for an independent Baluchistan."
Overshadowed by a U.S.-funded campaign against Taliban militants on the northwestern frontier with Afghanistan, the conflict between separatists and the state in Baluchistan receives scant outside attention, even within Pakistan itself.
The military has repeatedly denied committing abuses, blaming the killings on an array of militant groups active in the resource-rich province that borders both Afghanistan and Iran.
But human rights groups have gathered extensive evidence from relatives of the disappeared that raises serious questions over the conduct of a security establishment that has received billions of dollars in U.S. military aid since 2001.
The arrival of the U.N. delegation last week kindled hopes in the province that the disappearances will finally start to gain global attention, but stirred controversy in Islamabad, where outside discussion of the province is considered taboo.
"If the U.N. has taken the pains to send a team to Pakistan, it means the world now knows what's going on," said Asif Baluch, a former student activist. "At least the news is out."
The delegation was sent by a panel on enforced disappearances set up by the Geneva-based United Nations Commission on Human Rights and arrived in Pakistan last week.
Led by a French law professor, the team's mission is primarily to gather information on cases of disappearances and serve as a conduit between relatives and the government.
Nevertheless, families of the missing gathered ahead of its arrival in Baluchistan's provincial capital, Quetta, on Saturday to urge the U.N. to take action to bring their loved ones home.
Even as the delegation began its tour of Pakistan, news of more disappearances reached Quetta.
On Wednesday, two days after the U.N. mission arrived in Islamabad, residents in southern Baluchistan said security forces had taken away two more men in vehicles.
Baluch National Voice, a monitoring group, said another 14 men were detained at a military checkpoint on Friday. The bodies of six of them, all bearing gunshot wounds, have since been discovered, the group said. It added that the dead men had been blindfolded and their hands tied behinds their backs.
"KILL-AND-DUMP"
Parents and siblings of the missing have accused intelligence agencies of abducting people in many parts of Pakistan, but nowhere is the phenomenon more acute than in vast, sparsely populated Baluchistan.
More than 300 bodies have been found discarded by roadsides or abandoned on waste-ground in the province since early 2011, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. Many of the remains bear cigarette burns, broken limbs or other evidence of torture.
The grim discoveries have generated little public comment from Pakistan's Western allies, who are preoccupied with strategic goals related to the country's role in Afghanistan, counter-terrorism and the security of its nuclear warheads.
But Baluch activists say the grisly trail is evidence of a state-backed "kill-and-dump" policy designed to intimidate separatist guerrillas and their sympathizers.
The activists say several thousand people are still missing, though provincial authorities put the figure at several dozen.
Security forces deny committing abuses and say insurgents sometimes don military uniform before kidnapping people.
"Criminals must be acted against and brought before the law," Major-General Obaidullah Khan, head of the Frontier Corps, the main security agency in Baluchistan, said in a recent interview in Quetta.
Army officers say the separatists have killed hundreds of what are termed "settlers" from other parts of Pakistan, in particular Punjab, the country's most populous province and the home of many of the military's generals.
"VOLCANO READY TO EXPLODE"
In Islamabad, the U.N. mission has sparked suspicion among the political and military elite, who are supremely sensitive to any suggestion of interference in Baluchistan.
A region of bone-dry desert and barren hills endowed with reserves of copper, gold and natural gas, Baluchistan has witnessed waves of revolt by nationalists since it was incorporated into Pakistan in 1948.
The government's unease over outside discussion of the province is partly explained by the humiliating loss of East Pakistan, which broke away to form Bangladesh in 1971.
While the Baluch separatists' goal of independence seems a remote prospect, Baluchistan nevertheless exhibits a litany of state failure, alienation, corruption and missed economic opportunities that present a microcosm of Pakistan's wider woes.
Concern among lawmakers that the U.N. visit may threaten Pakistan's sovereignty prompted Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar to assure the National Assembly last week that the team had been invited by the government and had no investigative powers.
Even Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who has launched a rare move by the judiciary to hold the military to account over disappearances in Baluchistan, declined to meet the U.N. team.
He warned this month that the province was a "volcano ready to explode" and said it was dangerous for outsiders to review Pakistan's internal affairs.
The United Nations has declined to comment ahead of a news conference the panel is due to give before leaving Pakistan on Thursday.
Some separatists fear the U.N. mission may allow Pakistan to claim it is addressing the disappearances while failing to put real pressure on the military.
"The U.N. should take very strong action against this state tyranny," Allah Nazar Baloch, leader of the Baluchistan Liberation Front, one of the main separatist armed groups, told Reuters. "The U.N. should impose sanctions on Pakistan."
Others fear that security forces may stage more disappearances to register their anger with the U.N.
"If I know Pakistan, they will send more bodies to send us a message that no one in the world can help us," said a former Baluch student organizer who declined to be identified as he feared for his safety.
(Editing by Robert Birsel)
Talal Akbar Bugti presents list of 650 missing persons to UN team
QUETTA: Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) President Nawabzada Talal Akbar Bugti has said he has informed the United Nation Working Group on Enforced Disappearances about the situation in Balochistan and presented a list of 650 missing persons to the visiting team.
Talking to the media after a meeting with the UN group here on Sunday, Talal Bugti said he explained his viewpoint about missing persons to the team but did not expect much from the United Nations because it had its own interests.
Talal Bugti claimed that a total of 13,000 people went missing in Balochistan, but JWP did not have access to most areas and thus could not gain complete data about the missing. He said he had date about 650 missing persons which he gave to the UN group. Talal said he informed the group about the concerns of the people of Balochistan and was of the view that the group was now fully aware of the situation in the province.
United Nation Team meets Talal Akbar Bugti
UN group meets Talal Bugti
Quetta—JWP chief Talal Bugti has urges United Nations to send its peace force to Balochistan.Dismemberment of Pakistan would not be in the interest of the world, he said.
Talal Bugti said this while talking to media after his meeting with the United Nations Working Group in Quetta.
He said he had informed the UN group about the missing persons and recovery of mutilated bodies in Blaochistan.
Talal said law and order situation in Balochistan was deteriorating day by day and there was uncertainty everywhere.
Peace in Balochistan cannot be restored without United Nations intervention, he said adding he had handed over a list of 550 missing persons to the UN group.
September 15, 2012
September 14, 2012
Dasht killings conspiracy against Baloch: Talal Bugti
QUETTA: Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) President Nawabzada Talal Bugti on Friday condemned the Dasht killings as a conspiracy against the Baloch and said that Baloch enemies were involved in the murder of innocent labourers. Addressing a press conference at the Bugti House, he said the missing persons’ case had deteriorated. “It is hoped that the UN working group would act as a bridge in this regard and present a positive report in the general council, which would result in hampering the killings and lawlessness in Balochistan,” Bugti said. He further said that if the working group of the UN could not succeed in presenting the ground realities before the world, JWP would consider the UN giving consent for killing Baloch. He demanded the UN working group not to compile its report while sitting in five-star hotels but instead reach out and meet the relatives of the missing persons so that the facts could be ascertained authentically. Bugti said the law and order situation had worsened throughout the country but was specifically visible in Balochistan. He warned the rulers to mend their ways before the situation slipped out of control. He said the army’s role was laudable, however, General (r) Pervez Musharraf, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) former DG Nadeem Taj and FC IG had tarnished its reputation. He demanded the army chief to depose Balochistan FC IG and court-martial him, saying he had a hand in the deterioration of law and order in Balochistan after Musharraf left. He alleged that the FC IG had gone to Naseerabad and Dera Bugti not to provide assistance to the flood victims but rather to kill them. He demanded that a genuine leadership be given a chance in the next general elections.
Google decides to leave video on YouTube
Google will leave a controversial video clip about the Islamic prophet Muhammad on YouTube despite a White House request that the company review it under its own policies, the company said Friday.The White House confirmed Friday that it asked Google to review whether the clip violated its policies and should be taken down. Google decided that the video does not violate its policies.
“We work hard to create a community everyone can enjoy and which also enables people to express different opinions,” a YouTube spokeswoman said in a statement. “This can be a challenge because what's OK in one country can be offensive elsewhere. This video — which is widely available on the Web — is clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube.”
“However, we've restricted access to it in countries where it is illegal such as India and Indonesia, as well as in Libya and Egypt given the very sensitive situations in these two countries,” the spokeswoman said.
The video, deemed offensive by many Muslims, is believed to have spurred violence in Libya this week where four Americans were killed.
The White House confirmed Friday that it had asked Google’s YouTube to review the video.
"The White House asked YouTube to review the video to see if it was in compliance with their terms of use," White House press secretary Jay Carney told POLITICO in an email. The White House said it reached out to YouTube on Tuesday.
Humans talking with working robots could be the future
Systems that would allow humans and robots to talk to each other, are being developed at a university in Scotland.
Scientists and computer programmers at the University of Aberdeen are working on the plan.
The idea is to enable robots to explain what they plan to do, so humans would understand and could advise them to make sure they don't make mistakes.
It could even mean that humans could have business meetings with robots in the future.
At the moment robots carry out tasks in lots of different businesses and industries, from building cars to looking after railway lines.
Scientists and computer programmers at the University of Aberdeen are working on the plan.
The idea is to enable robots to explain what they plan to do, so humans would understand and could advise them to make sure they don't make mistakes.
It could even mean that humans could have business meetings with robots in the future.
At the moment robots carry out tasks in lots of different businesses and industries, from building cars to looking after railway lines.
Guatemala volcano eruption winding down, turning from menace to tourist attraction
ANTIGUA, Guatemala — A terrifying eruption of one of the world’s most active volcanoes tapered off Friday into a draw for delighted tourists, who snapped photos from a neighboring colonial city and made plans to take night hikes to see glowing rivers of lava.
Villagers were returning to their homes on the flanks of the Volcano of Fire as it wound down its largest eruption in nearly four decades, spewing smaller amounts of ash and lava. Guatemalan authorities reduced the alert level from the highest, red, to orange around the Volcan del Fuego, or Volcano of Fire, and said Thursday’s ferocious lava flow was now two smaller, 3,000-foot streams.Tourists walking the cobblestone streets of the colonial city of Antigua, about six miles from the volcano, said they were making plans to take guided trips to the mountain to see the lava, and guide companies said they were getting dozens of calls for tours.
Celina Huang, a 25-year-old Spanish student, was taking photos of the volcano, which looms over the Baroque churches and brightly colored arches of Antigua.
“This fire and red light is something I’ve never seen before,” she said. “In my country, Taiwan, there are volcanoes but they’re dormant. This is the first time I’ve seen an eruption.”
Nilton Dasilva, a church group leader from Northfield, Illinois, said he decided to take a detour during a group trip to a nearby coffee plantation and try to get as close as safely possible to the volcano.
“Now that we know it erupted, we’re going to try to stop on the way and maybe take some pictures,” Dasilva said.
Emergency workers reported that many villagers living around the slopes of the volcano had begun returning home. The Red Cross of Guatemala was winding down operations, coordinator Sergio de Leon said.
Guatemalan authorities ordered the evacuation of more than 33,000 of the 62,000 people living immediately around the volcano, many in isolated indigenous villages. De Leon said many people had moved to the homes of friends or relatives a little farther away from the volcano. Local media reported about 5,000 had evacuated, while emergency officials said the figure may have been much lower.
Gustavo Chicna, a volcanologist with the national weather, earthquake and volcanology institute, said the Volcano of Fire, Guatemala’s most active, appeared to be in the final stages of its biggest eruption since 1974, when the event was five times more powerful than this week’s.
The tapering-off occurred around 4 a.m., more or less when the institute had predicted.
Chicna said that while predicting volcanic activity was difficult before an eruption actually started, estimating the duration of the activity is easier. Vulcanologists measure the seismic activity around the volcano and estimate how long the eruption will continue based on when the seismic activity peaks and begins decreasing.
“There have been dozens of calls from people interested in going to the Volcano of Fire,” said Irma Celada, a 31-year-old tour operator in Antigua. “People want to go at night because they want to see the lava. We’re getting ready to leave when the sun goes down.”
Villagers were returning to their homes on the flanks of the Volcano of Fire as it wound down its largest eruption in nearly four decades, spewing smaller amounts of ash and lava. Guatemalan authorities reduced the alert level from the highest, red, to orange around the Volcan del Fuego, or Volcano of Fire, and said Thursday’s ferocious lava flow was now two smaller, 3,000-foot streams.Tourists walking the cobblestone streets of the colonial city of Antigua, about six miles from the volcano, said they were making plans to take guided trips to the mountain to see the lava, and guide companies said they were getting dozens of calls for tours.
Celina Huang, a 25-year-old Spanish student, was taking photos of the volcano, which looms over the Baroque churches and brightly colored arches of Antigua.
“This fire and red light is something I’ve never seen before,” she said. “In my country, Taiwan, there are volcanoes but they’re dormant. This is the first time I’ve seen an eruption.”
Nilton Dasilva, a church group leader from Northfield, Illinois, said he decided to take a detour during a group trip to a nearby coffee plantation and try to get as close as safely possible to the volcano.
“Now that we know it erupted, we’re going to try to stop on the way and maybe take some pictures,” Dasilva said.
Emergency workers reported that many villagers living around the slopes of the volcano had begun returning home. The Red Cross of Guatemala was winding down operations, coordinator Sergio de Leon said.
Guatemalan authorities ordered the evacuation of more than 33,000 of the 62,000 people living immediately around the volcano, many in isolated indigenous villages. De Leon said many people had moved to the homes of friends or relatives a little farther away from the volcano. Local media reported about 5,000 had evacuated, while emergency officials said the figure may have been much lower.
Gustavo Chicna, a volcanologist with the national weather, earthquake and volcanology institute, said the Volcano of Fire, Guatemala’s most active, appeared to be in the final stages of its biggest eruption since 1974, when the event was five times more powerful than this week’s.
The tapering-off occurred around 4 a.m., more or less when the institute had predicted.
Chicna said that while predicting volcanic activity was difficult before an eruption actually started, estimating the duration of the activity is easier. Vulcanologists measure the seismic activity around the volcano and estimate how long the eruption will continue based on when the seismic activity peaks and begins decreasing.
“There have been dozens of calls from people interested in going to the Volcano of Fire,” said Irma Celada, a 31-year-old tour operator in Antigua. “People want to go at night because they want to see the lava. We’re getting ready to leave when the sun goes down.”
Zardari terms energy shortage ‘mother of all ills’
LAHORE: Describing energy shortage as mother of all ills, President Asif Ali Zardari has stressed that the government is taking all possible measures to overcome the scarcity and the business community should assist it in achieving economic goals as well as progress and prosperity.
“Pakistan Peoples Party government is taking long-, medium- and short-term measures to bring the economy back on the rails. The continuous support and cooperation extended by the business community has significantly improved revenues, which gives me immense satisfaction,” he said.
He was speaking at the 8th Achievement Awards, organised by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), at the Governor House here on Friday. He also gave away awards to leading businessmen on the occasion.
Zardari said Pakistan had become a profitable land to do business in, thanks to well-tailored and well-consulted policies, and it had won preferential access to the European market, which would go a long way in strengthening the economy.
Highlighting the contribution of industrialists, the president pointed out that entrepreneurs helped make the state economically viable as the country had inherited a negligible industrial base at the time of independence. Accelerated growth had been achieved with the cooperation of the business community, he said.
Zardari said the government was getting the assistance of private sector in the form of public-private ventures and the impact of improving economic indicators would soon reach the people, which would ultimately reduce the gap between haves and have-nots.
“Our businessmen are writing new success stories with their sheer commitment and dedication despite all odds,” he remarked and expressed the optimism that the entire business community would work hard to cope with new challenges.
Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Irfan Qaiser Sheikh underscored the need for consistency in policies for the economic well-being of the country.
He boasted that the business community had a remarkable capacity to succeed –partly due to their initiatives and efforts and partly due to the country being blessed in many respects.
He expressed the hope that the new phase of trade liberalisation with India would potentially open an array of business opportunities for Pakistan’s businessmen. “However, we need to ensure that the sectors and companies exposed to tough competition from across the border get the level playing field.”
He said though Pakistan had vast natural resources, it should act smartly and responsibly in exploiting the resources to achieve high long-term growth and improve
living standards.
living standards.
Two 'hot Jupiters' found in star cluster: NASA
WASHINGTON — US scientists have for the first time found proof that planets can form and survive around sun-like stars within dense star clusters, NASA said Friday.
Astronomers have spotted two Jupiter-like orbs in the Beehive Cluster, a collection of around 1,000 stars that appear to be swarming around a common center.
"This has been a big puzzle for planet hunters," said Sam Quinn, a graduate student in astronomy at Georgia State University in Atlanta and the lead author of the paper describing the results.
"We know that most stars form in clustered environments like the Orion Nebula, so unless this dense environment inhibits planet formation, at least some sun-like stars in open clusters should have planets.
"Now, we finally know they are indeed there," he added in a statement.
Unlike Jupiter, these gas giants are boiling hot, because they are orbiting close to their parent stars.
The finding left astronomers puzzled as they theorize that gaseous planets can't form too close to a star because they would evaporate away.
The leading explanation so far is that the planets form further out and then migrate inwards toward the star.
Given the relatively young age of Beehive stars, the newly discovered planets could help scientists flesh out the theory.
If the stars are young, that means the planets must be as well, which "sets a constraint on how quickly giant planets migrate inward," said Russel White, the principal investigator on the NASA Origins of Solar Systems grant that funded the study.
"Knowing how quickly they migrate is the first step to figuring out how they migrate."
The team discovered the planets, Pr0201b and Pr0211b, by using the 1.5-meter (five-foot) Tillinghast telescope at an Arizona observatory to measure the slight gravitational wobble the orbiting planets induce upon their host stars.
Scientists had previously spotted two planets around massive stars, but had not yet found any around stars like the sun at the center of our solar system.
2 more West Nile virus cases confirmed in Camden County
A 64-year-old Camden man and a 50-year-old Collingswood woman have been confirmed as the second and third cases of the mosquito-borne West Nile virus in Camden County this year, health officials reported Friday.
The county's first case - involving a 42-year-old Voorhees man - was confirmed Sept. 7 to the Camden County Department of Health and Human Services.
The three are among at least 22 with West Nile virus in New Jersey; one of the victims, a Burlington County man, died last week.
In Pennsylvania, 20 residents have tested positive for the virus. One, an elderly Luzerne County man, died, officials said.
The deaths and rising number of cases have prompted state and local agencies to increase efforts to monitor and combat the virus, through surveillance, testing, and spraying of pesticide.
Across the nation, 2,636 cases of the virus - the highest number ever recorded by the second week of September - have been reported this year to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One hundred and eighteen people have died.
The Camden resident affected by the virus was treated at a hospital and released, The Collingswood resident was not hospitalized. Both believe they were exposed to mosquitoes were in their own yards, officials said.
The Voorhees resident, who also was not hospitalized, has recovered from the mosquito bite that he believes he received in Cape May County, according to officials.
As of Sept. 11, 48 states have reported West Nile virus infections in people, birds, or mosquitoes, the CDC said.
Two-thirds of the cases have been reported from six states - Texas, Louisiana, South Dakota, Mississippi, Michigan, and Oklahoma - and 40 percent of all cases have been recorded in Texas.
In the Philadelphia area, two cases have been reported in the city; three in Delaware County; one in Montgomery; one in Bucks; and one in Chester. In South Jersey, besides the three cases in Camden County and one in Burlington County, one case each has been reported from Atlantic, Gloucester, Cape May, and Salem Counties.
All three Camden County victims were exposed to the virus in early to mid-August, officials said. Their initial laboratory specimens tested positive for West Nile virus.
Those specimens were sent to the Public Health Environmental Laboratories in Trenton for further identification. To be considered a "confirmed" case, the specimen must be verified by PHEL.
The Camden County Mosquito Commission regularly checks several thousand suspected mosquito breeding sites across the county and sprays when needed.
"Our county mosquito commission works with the Public Health Environmental Laboratories in Trenton to verify the presence of West Nile virus in their samples," said Freeholder Jeffrey Nash, liaison to the Camden County Mosquito Commission.
"When a pool tests positive for West Nile virus, the Mosquito Commission returns within 24 hours to spray the area," he said.
Being horny makes everything seem less disgusting
Feelings of Disgust and Disgust-Induced Avoidance Weaken following Induced Sexual Arousal in Women“Sex and disgust are basic, evolutionary relevant functions that are often construed as paradoxical. In general the stimuli involved in sexual encounters are, at least out of context strongly perceived to hold high disgust qualities. Saliva, sweat, semen and body odours are among the strongest disgust elicitors. This results in the intriguing question of how people succeed in having pleasurable sex at all. One possible explanation could be that sexual engagement temporarily reduces the disgust eliciting properties of particular stimuli or that sexual engagement might weaken the hesitation to actually approach these stimuli.
Methodology
Participants were healthy women (n = 90) randomly allocated to one of three groups: the sexual arousal, the non-sexual positive arousal, or the neutral control group. Film clips were used to elicit the relevant mood state. Participants engaged in 16 behavioural tasks, involving sex related (e.g., lubricate the vibrator) and non-sex related (e.g., take a sip of juice with a large insect in the cup) stimuli, to measure the impact of sexual arousal on feelings of disgust and actual avoidance behaviour.
Principal Findings
The sexual arousal group rated the sex related stimuli as less disgusting compared to the other groups. A similar tendency was evident for the non-sex disgusting stimuli. For both the sex and non-sex related behavioural tasks the sexual arousal group showed less avoidance behaviour (i.e., they conducted the highest percentage of tasks compared to the other groups).
Participants were healthy women (n = 90) randomly allocated to one of three groups: the sexual arousal, the non-sexual positive arousal, or the neutral control group. Film clips were used to elicit the relevant mood state. Participants engaged in 16 behavioural tasks, involving sex related (e.g., lubricate the vibrator) and non-sex related (e.g., take a sip of juice with a large insect in the cup) stimuli, to measure the impact of sexual arousal on feelings of disgust and actual avoidance behaviour.
Principal Findings
The sexual arousal group rated the sex related stimuli as less disgusting compared to the other groups. A similar tendency was evident for the non-sex disgusting stimuli. For both the sex and non-sex related behavioural tasks the sexual arousal group showed less avoidance behaviour (i.e., they conducted the highest percentage of tasks compared to the other groups).
Significance
This study has investigated how sexual arousal interplays with disgust and disgust eliciting properties in women, and has demonstrated that this relationship goes beyond subjective report by affecting the actual approach to disgusting stimuli. Hence, this could explain how we still manage to engage in pleasurable sexual activity. Moreover, these findings suggest that low sexual arousal might be a key feature in the maintenance of particular sexual dysfunctions.”
This study has investigated how sexual arousal interplays with disgust and disgust eliciting properties in women, and has demonstrated that this relationship goes beyond subjective report by affecting the actual approach to disgusting stimuli. Hence, this could explain how we still manage to engage in pleasurable sexual activity. Moreover, these findings suggest that low sexual arousal might be a key feature in the maintenance of particular sexual dysfunctions.”
Solar power: With right policy vision, it's possible to tap the 'power of sun'
In the domain of public policy, the most promising development currently must surely be the increasingly attractive economics of solar power.
Jaideep Mishra
In the domain of public policy, the most promising development currently must surely be the increasingly attractive economics of solar power.
The prices of photovoltaic modules, for example, have reportedly dropped some 40% in about 18 months, and the easier trend seems very likely to continue in the medium term and beyond.
With the right policy vision, it should be possible to leverage the path-breaking improvements in tapping the power of the sun to vastly improve our public finances, greatly boost mobility across the board and purposefully bring down soot, smoke and indoor pollution as well.
Already, the expert view is that the cost of power using solar energy has dropped significantly in recent months, and is now almost comparable to that produced from conventional fossil fuels, which, in any case, is loaded with externalities like pollution.
In a couple of years, solar power is slated to be no dearer than that from the regular electricity grid. The policy process needs to anticipate the 'grid parity' on the cards, and chalk out innovative schemes that simply eliminate the need for runaway subsidies on key petroleum products like diesel and kerosene.
Consider, for instance, diesel, by far the most used petroproduct. The process of price-setting in diesel remains opaque, with retail price revision decided by fiat , never mind pricier crude oil that is mostly imported.
But the very process of policy dithering on revising the administered prices sends thoroughly wrong price signals and hugely misallocates resources, both budgetary and otherwise.
Now, the purported reason for populism in diesel is that the fuel operates a very large number of agricultural pumps, and what is averred is that it would be politically unacceptable to raise such input costs in the primary sector.
Hence the need for a national, focused programme to widely diffuse solar-powered pumpsets in the farm sector, to end the reliance on diesel. There is anyway the vital need to provide reliable rural power - for pumpsets, lights, factories et al - from the grid, complete with parallel phasing and metering for farm supply.
Given the higher initial costs for the paradigm shift required for solar-powered pumpsets, it would make sense to put in place a financing scheme using targeted subventions and multilateral funding, if required. The point is to move upfront on solar pumps and, in tandem, decontrol diesel prices.
We do need to put paid to open-ended consumption subsidies on oil products. Or, take kerosene, for example. As umpteen surveys indicate, kerosene is supposed to be mostly used for lighting, although much of it is diverted to adulterate automotive fuel.
What's required is a workable plan to diffuse solar lanterns, in lieu of subsidised kerosene. Such lanterns and solar pumps could lead to massive saving in budgetary subsidies, amounting to about 1% of gross economic output, or nearly a tenth of the Centre's total budget outlays.
Further, solar-powered rickshaws (and bicycles) would ease mobility in a hot country like ours. In urban areas, solar rickshaws could even power a suitably-positioned 'live' screen for advertising myriad products and services.
In the domain of public policy, the most promising development currently must surely be the increasingly attractive economics of solar power.
The prices of photovoltaic modules, for example, have reportedly dropped some 40% in about 18 months, and the easier trend seems very likely to continue in the medium term and beyond.
With the right policy vision, it should be possible to leverage the path-breaking improvements in tapping the power of the sun to vastly improve our public finances, greatly boost mobility across the board and purposefully bring down soot, smoke and indoor pollution as well.
Already, the expert view is that the cost of power using solar energy has dropped significantly in recent months, and is now almost comparable to that produced from conventional fossil fuels, which, in any case, is loaded with externalities like pollution.
In a couple of years, solar power is slated to be no dearer than that from the regular electricity grid. The policy process needs to anticipate the 'grid parity' on the cards, and chalk out innovative schemes that simply eliminate the need for runaway subsidies on key petroleum products like diesel and kerosene.
Consider, for instance, diesel, by far the most used petroproduct. The process of price-setting in diesel remains opaque, with retail price revision decided by fiat , never mind pricier crude oil that is mostly imported.
But the very process of policy dithering on revising the administered prices sends thoroughly wrong price signals and hugely misallocates resources, both budgetary and otherwise.
Now, the purported reason for populism in diesel is that the fuel operates a very large number of agricultural pumps, and what is averred is that it would be politically unacceptable to raise such input costs in the primary sector.
Hence the need for a national, focused programme to widely diffuse solar-powered pumpsets in the farm sector, to end the reliance on diesel. There is anyway the vital need to provide reliable rural power - for pumpsets, lights, factories et al - from the grid, complete with parallel phasing and metering for farm supply.
Given the higher initial costs for the paradigm shift required for solar-powered pumpsets, it would make sense to put in place a financing scheme using targeted subventions and multilateral funding, if required. The point is to move upfront on solar pumps and, in tandem, decontrol diesel prices.
We do need to put paid to open-ended consumption subsidies on oil products. Or, take kerosene, for example. As umpteen surveys indicate, kerosene is supposed to be mostly used for lighting, although much of it is diverted to adulterate automotive fuel.
What's required is a workable plan to diffuse solar lanterns, in lieu of subsidised kerosene. Such lanterns and solar pumps could lead to massive saving in budgetary subsidies, amounting to about 1% of gross economic output, or nearly a tenth of the Centre's total budget outlays.
Further, solar-powered rickshaws (and bicycles) would ease mobility in a hot country like ours. In urban areas, solar rickshaws could even power a suitably-positioned 'live' screen for advertising myriad products and services.
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