Irene floods: Supplies airlifted to Vermont towns

Soldiers have begun airlifting storm-relief supplies to Vermont towns which are still cut off after the trail of destruction left by Irene.



More than 200 roads are blocked or washed away in Vermont, hampering rescue efforts to 13 towns.



Irene killed 44 people in 13 US states, according to the Associated Press, and caused billions of dollars' damage.



President Barack Obama pledged storm-stricken areas would have "the support they need so that folks can recover".



"A lot of our fellow citizens are still reeling from Hurricane Irene and its aftermath," he told a military veterans event in Minneapolis.

'Irene whacked us'



President Obama's remarks came a day after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) warned of shortfalls in a disaster relief fund.The agency's director, Craig Fugate, toured Vermont by helicopter on Tuesday, after warning that some projects to rebuild areas of the Midwest struck by tornados earlier in the year could be postponed.



Vermont National Guard troops were bringing food, water and other emergency supplies via air and road to the rural and mountainous state.



"We've got a long slog ahead," Governor Peter Shumlin told MSNBC television. "Irene really whacked us hard."



During a trip to storm-stricken North Carolina, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she was unaware of anything federal authorities should have done differently in Vermont.



She added that Fema would continue to work closely with agencies in the state.



Vermont is reeling from its worst floods since 1927, and officials warned some rivers and creeks there had yet to crest.



Irene passed into Canada on Sunday, after causing havoc along the US east coast from North Carolina to Vermont.

Missing men



In eastern Canada, crews continue to clean up debris and work to restore electricity to thousands who lost power. An 81-year-old man who left his cabin in Quebec during the storm was found dead just over a mile away, the CBC reported.



Police are still searching for another man who was swept away in Yamaska, north-east of Montreal, as two cars plunged into a chasm created when a road was washed away in a river.



Most of the 44 storm-related deaths recorded so far in the US were caused by falling trees, ocean waves, downed power lines and raging floods.



Driving rains and flood tides damaged homes and cut power to more than three million people in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York alone.



Meanwhile, nearly 100 people remained stranded in mountain towns in New York State due to washed out roads and bridges. The storm dumped 13in (33cm) of rain on the state.



New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said dozens of bridges and roadways would need repairing and that some of the state's rivers had yet to crest from flooding.



Insurance claims could top $7bn (£4.3bn), the Consumer Federation of America estimated.



Claims for wind damage are expected to be one sixth of the total sum from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and claims for flood damage one tenth, the CFA estimated.

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Libya's interim leadership has rejected the idea of deploying any kind of international military force, the UN envoy to the country has said. Ian Ma

Libya's interim leadership has rejected the idea of deploying any kind of international military force, the UN envoy to the country has said.



Ian Martin said the UN had considered the deployment of military observers.



Earlier, the chairman of the National Transitional Council (NTC) said the country did not need outside help to maintain security.



The news came as fighters loyal to the council approached the pro-Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte from east and west.



The city's defenders have been given until Saturday to surrender.



However, fugitive leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim rejected the ultimatum.



"No dignified honourable nation would accept an ultimatum from armed gangs," he said in a telephone call to AP news agency on Tuesday night.



Mr Ibrahim reiterated Col Gaddafi's offer to send his son Saadi to negotiate with rebels and form a transitional government, the agency said.



'Special case'



Libya's deputy representative to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, told the BBC that the situation in Libya was unique. "[The UN] put the possibility of deploying peacekeepers on the ground but in fact the Libyan crisis is a special case.



"It is not a civil war, it is not a conflict between two parties, it is the people who are defending themselves against the dictatorship."



However, Mr Martin said the UN did expect to be asked to help establish a police force.



"We don't now expect military observers to be requested," he said after a meeting of the UN Security Council.



"It's very clear that the Libyans want to avoid any kind of military deployment of the UN or others."



Mr Martin added that one of the greatest challenges for the UN would be helping the country prepare for democratic elections.



"Let's remember... there's essentially no living memory of elections, there's no electoral machinery, there's no electoral commission, no history of political parties, no independent civil society, independent media are only beginning to emerge in the east in recent times.



"That's going to be quite a challenge, sort of organisationally, and it's clear that the NTC wish the UN to play a major role in that process."



UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that growing humanitarian shortages in Libya demand urgent action and appealed to the security council to be "responsive" to requests from the transitional authority for funding.



Though stockpiles of medical supplies and food stashed away by the government were found over the weekend, water supplies are short.



"An estimated 60% of Tripoli's population is without water and sanitation," he said. The EU's humanitarian office says that pro-Gaddafi forces are responsible for cutting supplies.



The EU says it is close to finalising the lifting of sanctions against 28 organisations - including six port authorities and some oil firms.



Officials said the move could come into force within days, and would make it easier for the transitional government to restart trading.



Family flees



On Tuesday, the UN Security Council allowed the UK to release 1.86bn dinars ($1.55bn; £950m) in frozen assets to buy aid for Libya, but an attempt by France and Germany to release an additional £5.3bn remains blocked.Diplomats said that Russia was holding up Germany's request to release about £900m in seized assets and France's move to unfreeze about £4bn to buy humanitarian aid, AFP news agency reports.



As anti-Gaddafi fighters converge on his birthplace of Sirte, interim leaders gave the city's defenders an ultimatum, telling them that they had until Saturday to surrender or face military force.



It has also emerged that Col Gaddafi's wife and three of his adult children fled to neighbouring Algeria in the early hours of Monday morning.



Col Gaddafi's whereabouts remain unknown, with suggestions he may be in Sabha, Sirte or Bani Walid. However, the deputy head of the NTC, Ali Tarhouni, said they had a good idea of where he was and were confident that they would catch him.



On Monday, several of his family members - including his daughter Aisha and two of her brothers - fled to neighbouring Algeria. The rebels say they want to extradite them to face trial.

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Bolivia: Senior officials jailed over 2003 protests

Bolivia's Supreme Court has convicted five senior military officers in connection with the killings of 64 people during protests in 2003.



Four former generals and an admiral were sentenced to between 10 and 15 years in prison.



Two former ministers were jailed for three years each for complicity in what was described as a "genocide".



The protesters in El Alto had demanded an end to the export of natural gas to the US using Chilean ports.



It is the first time that high-ranking military men have been convicted by a civilian court in Bolivia for human rights abuses, reports the BBC's Mattia Cabitza from the court in the Bolivian city of Sucre.



The former generals, Roberto Claros Flores, Juan Veliz Herrera, Jose Ovaldo Quiroga and Gonzalo Alberto Rocabado, and Adm Luis Alberto Aranda Granados were jailed over what has become known as the "Black October case".

'Landmark' case



More than 400 people were injured as soldiers opened fire during protests in the city of El Alto, near La Paz, the seat of the government, over the export of Bolivian natural gas.



Bolivia's Attorney-General Mario Uribe said justice had been done - and he hoped other former government officials could be tried soon.



Families of the victims cheered outside the court when the verdict was read, after having waited almost eight years in what is being considered a landmark case for Bolivia's human rights record.



The Bolivian government has been seeking the extradition of at least eight former officials - the then President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, and seven former ministers. They are living abroad or have gone into exile in the US, Peru and Spain.



President Sanchez de Lozada left the country before the end of his second term in office after the killings. He has been living in the US ever since.

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Tests show fastest way to board passenger planes

The most common way of boarding passenger planes is among the least efficient, tests have shown.



The best method has been the subject of study for years but now various approaches have been put to the test.



Boarding those in window seats first followed by middle and aisle seats results in a 40% gain in efficiency.



However, an approach called the Steffen method, alternating rows in the window-middle-aisle strategy, nearly doubles boarding speed.



The approach is named after Jason Steffen, an astrophysicist at Fermi National Laboratory in Illinois, US. Dr Steffen first considered the thorny problem of plane boarding in 2008, when he found himself in a long boarding queue.



He carried out a number of computer simulations to determine a better method than the typical "rear of the plane forwards" approach, publishing the results in the Journal of Air Transport Management.



Several authors had already proposed an order in which those seated in window seats boarded first, followed by middle seats and then aisle seats - dubbed the Wilma method. But Dr Steffen's best results suggested a variant of this.



He suggested boarding in alternate rows, window seats first, progressing from the rear forward: seats 12A, for example, followed by 10A, 8A and so on, then returning for 9A, 7A, 5A and so on, and then filling the middle and aisle seats in the same way.



The approach avoids a situation in which passengers are struggling to use the same physical space at the same time.

graphic



Only now, though, has the idea been put to the test. Jon Hotchkiss, a television producer making a show called This v That, began to consider the same problem of boarding efficiency and came across Dr Steffen's work.



Mr Hotchkiss contacted Dr Steffen, offering to test the idea using a mock-up of a 757 aeroplane in Hollywood and 72 luggage-toting volunteers.



The pair tested five different scenarios: "block" boarding in groups of rows from back to front, one by one from back to front, the "Wilma method", the Steffen method, and completely random boarding.



In all cases, parent-child pairs were permitted to board first - reflecting the fact that regardless of the efficiency of any boarding method, families will likely want to stay together.



The block approach fared worst, with the strict back-to-front approach not much better.



Interestingly, a completely random boarding - as practised by several low-cost airlines that have unallocated seating - fared much better, presumably because it randomly avoids space conflicts.

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China jails two more Tibetan monks over fire death

A Chinese court has sentenced two Tibetan monks to prison over the death of a fellow monk who set himself on fire in an apparent protest.



Chinese authorities say the man, Rigzin Phuntsog of the Kirti monastery, immolated himself on 16 March.



Tsering Tenzin and Tenchum will be jailed for 13 and 10 years respectively for "intentional homicide", Xinhua news agency said.



On Monday, the court jailed another monk for 11 years over the death.



Drongdru, Phuntsog's uncle, is accused of hiding him after he set himself on fire and depriving him of medical attention for 11 hours. The exact circumstances surrounding the monk's death remain unclear.



The latest verdicts come as the US questioned whether China had followed its own legal standards in the case.



"We urge Chinese leaders to address policies in Tibetan areas that have created tension and to protect Tibetans' unique linguistic, cultural and religious identity," a state department statement said.



Crackdown



The incident happened in March in Sichuan province's Aba county, where there is a large ethnic Tibetan community.



There is disagreement about how the monk died.

China map



At the time, Tibetan rights groups reported that witnesses saw police put out the flames, then begin beating the monk, at which point monks and local people took him to the monastery before taking him to hospital some hours later.



After Phuntsog's death protests were then reported in the area around the monastery, followed by a heavy security presence.



Rights groups accused the government of shutting the monks in the monastery and forcing them to take part in compulsory "patriotic education".



In March 2008, Tibet witnessed a wave of violent anti-China protests - its worst unrest in 20 years.



China responded to the unrest with a military crackdown, including in areas like Aba which are outside Tibet but have a large ethnic Tibetan population. Many Tibetans have complained about the growing domination of China's majority Han population in Tibet and accuse the government of trying to dilute their culture.



But China says it has invested heavily in Tibet and has generated significant improvements in people's living standards.



There have been a number of incidents of monks setting themselves on fire to protest against Beijing's rule.



Earlier this month, a 29-year-old Tibetan monk burned himself to death in another town Sichuan.



Activists said the monk, whom they named as Tsewang Norbu, had shouted slogans including "We Tibetan people want freedom" and "Long live the Dalai Lama" before setting himself alight.

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Golden Globe audience up, Gervais' hosting panned

LOS ANGELES: Host Ricky Gervais may have turned off the audience members and critics at Sunday night's Golden Globe Awards, but viewers seemed turned on, watching the show in larger numbers than one year ago.



The Golden Globes, an annual film and TV awards show in Hollywood, drew just under 17 million total viewers to network NBC, which was up slightly from 2010 when British comedian Gervais, who is known for his acerbic sense of humor, hosted for the first time, according to audience figures released on Monday.



Last year's ceremony was up 14 percent from 2009's roughly 15 million viewers, and the upward trend shows the telecast is recovering somewhat from the 2008 Hollywood writers strike which reduced the Globes to a news conference.



Still, this year's viewership of 16.99 million show is down from 2007, when some 20 million viewers tuned in to watch Hollywood's A-list stars parade up the red carpet in their finest gowns and tuxedos and, for the lucky few, accept awards for movies, TV shows, performances and music.



Gervais' hosting duties on Sunday night brought some often harsh criticism from reviewers. During the show, the comedian took shots at Charlie Sheen's drinking and partying, Robert Downey, Jr.'s years-ago issues with drugs and alcohol, the critically panned movie "The Tourist" that was nominated for best comedy, and even the organizers of the show.



His sense of humor on the ceremony's center stage was so caustic that Downey, Jr., remarked on stage that Sunday's ceremony was "unusually mean-spirited."



Many critics seemed to agree. Los Angeles Times TV critic Mary McNamara wrote on Monday that "it quickly became clear that his material wasn't just falling flat, it was making many audience members and presenters uncomfortable and even angry."



Washington Post reviewer Hank Stuever wrote, "Somehow Gervais has lost some of his ability to be funny about being true."

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Sex and the city 3

Sex and the city 3

Sarah Jessica Parker has told MTV News there might be a third Sex And The City movie! SHe said:



"I think there is perhaps one more small, important story to tell. Whether or not we choose to do that and when we choose to do that remains, obviously, the unknown, but it's nice to ponder."



Sarah has previously commented on bringing the ladies back to the big screen, saying she'd love to work on another 'SATC' project -- just not right now.



"I'd definitely tell that third story, and I know Michael [Patrick King, the director] would do it right. But maybe not now. Maybe in five years, you know?" she said earlier this year.



Bring it on! I would LOVE a Sex And The City 3 movie!

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New Zealand Press Association closes after 131 years

The New Zealand Press Association is closing, ending 131 years of supplying news to the country's print media.



The company struggled in recent years as media ownership and distribution in New Zealand changed.



Forty journalists will lose their jobs with the closure of offices in Wellington, Auckland and Sydney.



Deputy Editor Greg Tourelle said it was a sad day, but New Zealand media remained a competitive industry.



NZPA was set up in 1879 and was New Zealand's only independent news agency. It was owned by New Zealand's daily newspaper publishers and supplied the 26 daily newspapers with a 24-hour national and international news service and news images.



All the newspapers paid a subscription, based on their circulation, to share news, and it meant that even a small regional paper with few staff could carry news of national interest if it happened at the other end of the country.



But NZPA's future became uncertain when Australian media company Fairfax decided not to continue subscriptions.



Australian media companies Fairfax and APN now own all but five of New Zealand's daily newspapers.



Fairfax owns the capital's Dominion Post, The Press in Christchurch and The Sunday Star-Times among other titles, while APN owns the country's largest daily, the New Zealand Herald, and a handful of regional daily publications.



Both are increasing their staffing to provide national news for their own publications, which had previously relied on NZPA. APN will also join with the five independent papers to provide an internal newswire.



Greg Tourelle, who worked for NZPA for 15 years, told the BBC: "NZPA was owned by rival Australian companies - which has sometimes been difficult for us, but the main owners are setting up their own agencies so we're going to have a very competitive landscape."

'Sad atmosphere'



AAP, the Australian news agency, is also increasing its staffing from one to nine in New Zealand to continue to provide New Zealand news for the Australian market.



Mr Tourelle said about eight staff members had yet to find new jobs. Like many of his ex-colleagues, he has found employment with the companies who played a role in the demise of NZPA, becoming content editor for Fairfax.



"When the announcement was made three months ago, it was greeted with a mixture of shock and sadness. We had been under a cloud for a long time, and we usually bounced back, but this time we haven't," he said.



"There will still be sadness when the last story is transmitted at 6pm NZ time (0700BST) on Wednesday, but we intend to farewell the agency with traditional journalistic gusto, as you'd expect for a news organisation that has given 131 years' service."



In its heyday, NZPA had offices in London, Sydney, Hong Kong, and Christchurch. It sent staff on major sporting tours with national teams, had a permanent team of journalists at parliament and a dedicated business desk, as well as supplying information as diverse as stock exchange data and horse racing results.



"It's sad that the country is losing it's only independent print agency," Mr Tourelle said.



Executive editor of Fairfax Paul Thompson told AP: "NZPA was a key part of the industry for decades and a fantastic servant. But the situation changed."

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August was 'deadliest month' for US in Afghan war

August 2011 has become the deadliest month for US troops in the nearly 10-year war in Afghanistan, according to an unofficial tally.



The Associated Press counted 66 US deaths in the month, including 30 killed when their helicopter was shot down by Taliban insurgents.



But across the year, casualties are down slightly from 2010.



President Barack Obama plans to withdraw 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by next summer.



"As our mission transitions from combat to support, Afghans will take responsibility for their own security, and the longest war in American history will come to a responsible end," President Obama told a veterans event on Tuesday.



Last month, the newly installed Nato commander in Afghanistan, Gen John Allen, warned of "tough days ahead" as insurgents step up attacks on coalition forces.



The 30 US troops - mostly Navy Seal special forces - died when their Chinook helicopter was shot down by a Taliban insurgents on 6 August, marking the single largest loss of US life in the war.



In the first eight months of this year, 306 US troops died in Afghanistan, according to a tally by iCasualties.org.



That is down about 5% from the first eight months of 2010, when 321 US troops were killed.



This year 10,000 troops are to be withdrawn from Afghanistan, with another 23,000 pulled out in 2012. The move will leave about 68,000 US troops there.



Foreign troops are expected to end combat operations in Afghanistan by 2014.

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Minister snapped leaving No 10 with Afghan memo

A senior minister has accidentally revealed a UK government briefing document "welcoming" the departure of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.



International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell was photographed clutching the note as he left No 10.



It said the UK should "publicly and privately" approve Mr Karzai's decision not to seek a third term in 2014.



In response, Foreign Secretary William Hague said the memo was "pretty low level", adding "these things happen".



Mr Mitchell was photographed leaving Downing Street following a meeting of the National Security Council - in which ministers discussed Libya, Afghanistan and a range of other issues.



The BBC's Political Correspondent Robin Brant said Mr Mitchell immediately realised he had mistakenly displayed confidential briefing papers and told an aide "it is nothing top secret".

'Routine'



The document says: "Note that Karzai has publicly stated his intention to step down at the end of his second term as per the constitution. This is very important. It improves Afghanistan's political prospects very significantly. We should welcome Karzai's announcement in private and in public."It goes on to say: "Afghan perceptions of violence are very important for their confidence in their future, and for their readiness to work for the Afghan government.



"Have we got the strategic communications on levels of violence right?"



The document also discusses reforms to Afghanistan's banking sector and a planned IMF visit to the country.



The Department for International Development said the papers were "of a routine nature".



"They would have had a national security level marking of 'restricted' or 'confidential' if they contained anything of significant sensitivity," a spokesman said.



Mr Karzai was controversially re-elected to a second five-year term in 2009 after an election which was marred by allegations of fraud and vote-rigging.

Troubled relationship



Under the terms of the Afghan constitution, Mr Karzai is not allowed to stand for a third term - which means he will stand down in 2014.



There had been speculation he would try to continue in office beyond that date but he has confirmed he will not be seeking a third term.



Asked about Mr Mitchell's disclosure, Mr Hague said the memo was a "pretty low level briefing document within one department" and President Karzai had already made his intentions clear.



He added: "Of course we always look to presidents of a country, of all countries, to respect the constitution of their countries. It is as simple as that."



Mr Karzai was controversially re-elected to a second five-year term in 2009 after an election which was marred by allegations of fraud and vote-rigging.



The Afghan leader's relationship with the UK and US has often been fraught, with critics urging him to do more to tackle corruption within his government.



But Nato forces in Afghanistan have said significant progress is being made in building up the capacity of the Afghan army and police as they take over greater responsibility for security.



The UK plans to withdraw the majority of its 9,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, when its combat mission will come to an end.



Mr Mitchell is not the first person to be caught unawares by photographers outside No 10.



Former senior Metropolitan Police officer Bob Quick was mistakenly revealed a secret terrorism document as he arrived at Downing Street in 2009.



He subsequently resigned, saying his position was "untenable".



In other similar cases, Treasury minister Danny Alexander was pictured last year holding a memo detailing the forecast scale of public sector job cuts while, in 2009, the then Labour Cabinet minister Caroline Flint inadvertently displayed a document which talked of a "property crisis".

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Irene floods: Supplies airlifted to Vermont towns

Soldiers have begun airlifting storm-relief supplies to Vermont towns which are still cut off after the trail of destruction left by Irene.



More than 200 roads are blocked or washed away in Vermont, hampering rescue efforts to 13 towns.



Irene killed 44 people in 13 US states, according to the Associated Press, and caused billions of dollars' damage.



President Barack Obama pledged storm-stricken areas would have "the support they need so that folks can recover".



"A lot of our fellow citizens are still reeling from Hurricane Irene and its aftermath," he told a military veterans event in Minneapolis.

'Irene whacked us'



President Obama's remarks came a day after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) warned of shortfalls in a disaster relief fund.The agency's director, Craig Fugate, toured Vermont by helicopter on Tuesday, after warning that some projects to rebuild areas of the Midwest struck by tornados earlier in the year could be postponed.



Vermont National Guard troops were bringing food, water and other emergency supplies via air and road to the rural and mountainous state.



"We've got a long slog ahead," Governor Peter Shumlin told MSNBC television. "Irene really whacked us hard."



During a trip to storm-stricken North Carolina, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she was unaware of anything federal authorities should have done differently in Vermont.



She added that Fema would continue to work closely with agencies in the state.



Vermont is reeling from its worst floods since 1927, and officials warned some rivers and creeks there had yet to crest.



Irene passed into Canada on Sunday, after causing havoc along the US east coast from North Carolina to Vermont.

Missing men



In eastern Canada, crews continue to clean up debris and work to restore electricity to thousands who lost power. An 81-year-old man who left his cabin in Quebec during the storm was found dead just over a mile away, the CBC reported.



Police are still searching for another man who was swept away in Yamaska, north-east of Montreal, as two cars plunged into a chasm created when a road was washed away in a river.



Most of the 44 storm-related deaths recorded so far in the US were caused by falling trees, ocean waves, downed power lines and raging floods.



Driving rains and flood tides damaged homes and cut power to more than three million people in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York alone.



Meanwhile, nearly 100 people remained stranded in mountain towns in New York State due to washed out roads and bridges. The storm dumped 13in (33cm) of rain on the state.



New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said dozens of bridges and roadways would need repairing and that some of the state's rivers had yet to crest from flooding.



Insurance claims could top $7bn (£4.3bn), the Consumer Federation of America estimated.



Claims for wind damage are expected to be one sixth of the total sum from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and claims for flood damage one tenth, the CFA estimated.

Read more »

Syrian troops 'fire on Eid demonstrators

Seven people have been shot dead by security forces during anti-government protests in Syria at the start of the festival of Eid al-Fitr, activists say.



Thousands took to the streets demanding the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad after morning prayers marking the end of the Islamic month of Ramadan.



Activists said six were killed in the southern province of Deraa, including three in the town of al-Harra.



Several protesters were also reportedly injured in the suburbs of Damascus.



State television, meanwhile, broadcast pictures of the president attending prayers in one of the capital's mosques and taking coffee and cakes with fellow worshippers, reports the BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut.

Cemeteries

There were impromptu demonstrations against Mr Assad nationwide on Tuesday as people spilled out of mosques after morning prayers.But much of the focus was on cemeteries, where it is customary on the first day of Eid to visit the graves of relatives, says our correspondent.



In the southern city of Deraa, activists said a "huge" protest formed as worshippers emerged from the al-Omari mosque - scene of a crackdown at the start of the uprising - and marched to the cemetery. The crowd was confronted by hundreds of security personnel and militiamen.



"They can shoot and kill as much as they want, we will not stop calling for regime change," one activist told the Associated Press by telephone.



At least three people were reported to have been killed in al-Harra, including a 13-year-old boy, when security forces opened fire to disperse a demonstration in the town, which is located to the north of Deraa.



The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist group that documents and organises protests, said there were also large protests in many other towns and villages in Deraa province.



Two people were killed in Inkhil, while in Nawa, soldiers opened fire on worshippers who had gathered in the street, the group added.



In the Damascus suburb of Qaboun, a crowd marching towards a cemetery was surrounded by security forces, who opened fire. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five people were critically injured.Troops were also reported to have shot at protesters in the eastern city of Deir al-Zour, scene of a major assault by security forces at the beginning of Ramadan, when the government crackdown escalated.



"Instead of celebrating Eid, we were just out protesting. We will continue our revolution until it achieves the target - we don't want the regime anymore, we want to get rid of it," one Damascus resident told the BBC.



"We have been going out for five months, we always face the live ammunition with our bare chests, and some people are saying: 'For how long are we going to keep this up?'



"I think the international community should take its full responsibility against the Syrian regime, to take all practical measures to stop it and to protect the civilians," he added.



On Tuesday, EU foreign police chief Catherine Ashton expressed her "continued deep concern about the violence perpetrated by the Syrian regime against peaceful demonstrators, human rights activists, and the Syrian people at large".



"She renews her unequivocal condemnation of the brutal repression," said a spokesman, a day after EU states agreed to ban oil imports from Syria, a measure that is expected to be formally adopted this week.



Later, the US announced it had frozen the assets of Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, Bouthaina Shaaban, Mr Assad's adviser and spokeswoman and the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul Karim Ali.



"We are bringing additional pressure to bear today directly on three senior Assad regime officials who are principal defenders of the regime's activities," said David Cohen, the treasury department's under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.



The UN has said more than 2,200 people have been killed since pro-democracy demonstrations began in mid-March. Syria's government has blamed "armed criminal gangs" for much of the unrest.



Access to Syria has been severely restricted for international journalists and it is rarely possible to verify accounts by witnesses and activists.

Read more »

Bolivia: Senior officials jailed over 2003 protests

Bolivia's Supreme Court has convicted five senior military officers in connection with the killings of 64 people during protests in 2003.



Four former generals and an admiral were sentenced to between 10 and 15 years in prison.



Two former ministers were jailed for three years each for complicity in what was described as a "genocide".



The protesters in El Alto had demanded an end to the export of natural gas to the US using Chilean ports.



It is the first time that high-ranking military men have been convicted by a civilian court in Bolivia for human rights abuses, reports the BBC's Mattia Cabitza from the court in the Bolivian city of Sucre.



The former generals, Roberto Claros Flores, Juan Veliz Herrera, Jose Ovaldo Quiroga and Gonzalo Alberto Rocabado, and Adm Luis Alberto Aranda Granados were jailed over what has become known as the "Black October case".

'Landmark' case



More than 400 people were injured as soldiers opened fire during protests in the city of El Alto, near La Paz, the seat of the government, over the export of Bolivian natural gas.



Bolivia's Attorney-General Mario Uribe said justice had been done - and he hoped other former government officials could be tried soon.



Families of the victims cheered outside the court when the verdict was read, after having waited almost eight years in what is being considered a landmark case for Bolivia's human rights record.



The Bolivian government has been seeking the extradition of at least eight former officials - the then President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, and seven former ministers. They are living abroad or have gone into exile in the US, Peru and Spain.



President Sanchez de Lozada left the country before the end of his second term in office after the killings. He has been living in the US ever since.

Read more »

Australia condemns 'irresponsible' Wikileaks cable leak

An Australian official has described as "incredibly irresponsible" Wikileaks' release of a US cable that appears to name Australian terror suspects.



The cable was among more than 130,000 confidential US cables released by the whistle-blowing group, many of which did not remove the names of sources.



Such information has previously been redacted in Wikileaks releases.



The group has denied that any sources were exposed or that there were any mistakes in the data release.



In a statement on its website, Wikleaks said its latest release contained 133,887 cables sent from US embassies around the world to the state department - more than half its whole cache.



"For the first time, the diplomatic cables are available from every country that has US diplomatic representation," it said.



It said the release marked nine months of the "Cablegate" project and that such a large volume was needed because the mainstream media had stopped covering Wikileaks updates in recent months.



"The decision to publish 133,877 cables was taken in accordance with WikiLeaks' commitment to maximising impact, and making information available to all," said the group.'Incredibly irresponsible'



Wikileaks has steadily been releasing secret US diplomatic cables to the media and on its website since 2010. The names and places of low-level contacts and sources have usually been redacted in order to protect those involved.



But Australia's Attorney General Robert McClelland said this had not occurred in a cable dating from January 2010, meaning the names of 23 Australians believed to have linked to terror groups in Yemen were listed.



"The publication of any information that could compromise Australia's national security - or inhibit the ability of intelligence agencies to monitor potential threats - is incredibly irresponsible," he said.



The New York Times - which has been a Wikileaks partner and has had access to their cache - said that other named individuals included a UN official in West Africa and a human rights activists in Cambodia - both of whom had spoken on condition of anonymity.



The US Department of State has not commented specifically on the release.



But a spokesman said the US "strongly condemns any illegal disclosure of classified information" which put individuals' security at risk, damaged US interests and undermined diplomatic efforts.



However, Wikileaks said it was "totally false that any WikiLeaks sources have been exposed or will be exposed" and described the New York Times as "drooling, senile and evil".



The group also denied through its Twitter account that it had been at fault, but said there had been "a grossly negligent mainstream media error, to put it generously".



Another tweet also denied there had been a leak, saying only: "The issue relates to a mainstream media partner and a malicious individual," without giving further details.



German newspaper Der Spiegel said internal fighting and lax security meant an unencrypted version of the cable file had been released onto the internet, but Wikileaks said this report was "significantly incorrect".



Among the notable disclosures in the cables are:



The US embassy in Sweden in 2006 reported on allegations that 120 Chinese unaccompanied children had disappeared from Swedish immigration centres since 2004

US diplomats' in Canberra expressed concern that moderate Australian Muslims could be harbouring extremist views

the US and Australia discussed ways of blocking Mohamed el-Baradei's re-election as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency

concern from US officials in Mongolia in 2008 that alcoholism was affecting the country's growth

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Libya rebel leaders give ultimatum to Gaddafi fighters

Libya's interim leaders have given pro-Gaddafi forces until Saturday to surrender or face military force.



Mustafa Abdul Jalil, who leads the National Transitional Council (NTC), said the ultimatum applied to loyalists of Col Muammar Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte and in other towns.



The announcement came after Col Gaddafi's wife and three of his adult children fled to neighbouring Algeria.



Algeria has defended the move, which rebels called an "act of aggression".



Col Gaddafi's own whereabouts are unknown - rumours have variously placed him in Sirte, in regime-controlled Bani Walid south-east of Tripoli, and in the capital itself.



The rebels are trying to overcome pockets of resistance by Gaddafi loyalists, and preparing to advance on Sirte.



Speaking at a news conference in Benghazi, Mr Jalil said that if there was no "peaceful indication" by Saturday that Gaddafi-loyalists intended to surrender, "we will decide this manner militarily".



"We do not wish to do so but we cannot wait longer," he said.



The rebels' military chief, Col Ahmed Omar Bani, said: "Zero hour is quickly approaching... So far we have been given no indication of a peaceful surrender."



Mr Jalil said he had spoken to Nato officials and that the NTC had decided no foreign troops were needed in Libya to maintain security.



"We are betting on our youths and we are certain our bet will pay off," he said.



But Mr Jalil warned that Col Gaddafi was "not finished yet".



"The danger that is threatening the revolution and the Libyan people still exists. Gaddafi has support and partisans" inside and outside Libya, he said.

Nato 'committed'



The rebels made an attempt to reach Sirte last week but were fought back by loyalist troops. On Monday, fighters coming from Benghazi in the east captured the small town of Nofilia, on the road to Sirte.

Map



The BBC's Jon Leyne in Benghazi says the rebels have mainly been negotiating with tribal leaders both in Sirte and the other two main remaining Gaddafi strongholds of Bani Walid and Sabha, deep in the Sahara desert region.



While they have had some success with the tribal leaders there has been little response from regime loyalists, says our correspondent, and there are fears that a military assault on Sirte could be a lengthy and bloody battle.



In a news briefing on Tuesday, Nato spokesman Col Roland Lavoie said Col Gaddafi's regime was "rapidly losing control on multiple fronts" and that the Tripoli region was "essentially freed".



However, he said Col Gaddafi was "displaying a capability to exercise some level of command and control" and that Nato was still "very much involved" in military action.



"We remain fully committed to our mission and to keeping the pressure on the remnants of the Gaddafi regime until we can confidently say that the civilian population of Libya is no longer threatened," he said.

'Hospitality'



Algeria said Col Gaddafi's wife Safia, daughter Aisha and sons Muhammad and Hannibal crossed the border between Libya and Algeria at 0845 local time (0745 GMT) on Monday.



The Algerian government later said Aisha Gaddafi had given birth to a daughter shortly after arriving in the country.

(L-R) Hannibal, Muhammad and Aisha Gaddafi (L-R) Hannibal, Muhammad and Aisha Gaddafi have crossed into Algeria



The NTC has condemned Algeria, which has not yet officially recognised the council, for offering shelter to the family, calling it "an act of aggression against the Libyan people and against the wishes of the Libyan people".



Our correspondent says Mr Jalil softened the tone on Tuesday, saying he believed Algeria would not host the family for long before they left for a third country.



"We ask the Algerian government [to ensure] that the presence of those people does not pose a threat to Libya and we hope they will be handed over when they are sought by justice."



Algeria's ambassador to the UN, Mourad Benmehidi, told the BBC earlier that in the desert regions there was a "holy rule of hospitality" and his country had accepted the family on humanitarian grounds.



Meanwhile, more details have emerged about recent mass killings in Libya.



According to the NTC's Justice Minister Mohammed al-Alagi, four mass graves have been discovered across the country - including one at Ain Zara in south-east Tripoli, behind the barracks of the so-called Khamis Brigade, whose commander was Col Gaddafi's son, Khamis.



Some rebel sources have said Khamis was killed on Saturday. However, the rebels have claimed his death before and on Tuesday, Col Lavoie said Nato had no word of Khamis's fate.



Meanwhile Zimbabwe, whose President Robert Mugabe is a strong ally of Col Gaddafi, expelled the Libyan ambassador and his staff on Tuesday after they recognised the interim National Transitional Council.

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New body 'liquefaction' unit unveiled in Florida funeral home

A Glasgow-based company has installed its first commercial "alkaline hydrolysis" unit at a Florida funeral home.



The unit by Resomation Ltd is billed as a green alternative to cremation and works by dissolving the body in heated alkaline water.



The facility has been installed at the Anderson-McQueen funeral home in St Petersburg, and will be used for the first time in the coming weeks. It is hoped other units will follow in the US, Canada and Europe.



The makers claim the process produces a third less greenhouse gas than cremation, uses a seventh of the energy, and allows for the complete separation of dental amalgam for safe disposal.



Mercury from amalgam vaporised in crematoria is blamed for up to 16% of UK airborne mercury emissions, and many UK crematoria are currently fitting mercury filtration systems to meet reduced emission targets.



"Resomation was developed in response to the public's increasing environmental concerns," company founder Sandy Sullivan told BBC News. "It gives them that working third choice, which allows them to express those concerns in a very positive and I think personal way."The installation was only made possible after the state legislature in Florida approved the use of the technology, one of seven US states in which the process has now been legalised.



The system works by submerging the body in a solution of water and potassium hydroxide which is pressurised to 10 atmospheres and heated to 180C for between two-and-a-half and three hours.



Body tissue is dissolved and the liquid poured into the municipal water system. Mr Sullivan, a biochemist by training, says tests have proven the effluent is sterile and contains no DNA, and poses no environmental risk.



The bones are then removed from the unit and processed in a "cremulator", the same machine that is used to crush bone fragments following cremation into ash. Metals including mercury and artificial joints and implants are safely recovered.



The machine is patented in Europe with patents pending in other countries.

Legislative hurdle



Alkaline hydrolysis has been used in the past to dispose of medical cadavers and farm animals.



Last year, Aquamation Industries of Australia disposed of several bodies in Queensland using a rival alkaline hydrolysis machine. The same design was also used in Ohio earlier this year to dispose of 19 bodies until a state court shut it down, ruling that the process was not compliant with state law.



Mr Sullivan, whose company is now majority owned by Co-operative Funeralcare, claims his machine will provide a more efficient and quicker process. He also believes the equipment can rival cremation for cost, particularly given the expense of fitting mercury abatement systems.



He is now pressing for legislative changes in the UK to make alkaline hydrolysis a reality in Britain.



"The installations in the US will assist in that process because many of the leaders in the funeral industry are coming to see this unit functioning in the next couple of months once it's running," said Mr Sullivan.



"Once they see the unit running, see the process and how dignified, respectful, quiet and quick it is, they will help to push through legislative change in the UK."

Freeze drying



Another "green" alternative to cremation is in the pipeline. Susanne Wiigh-Masak, a Swedish biologist, has for a decade proposed a technology she calls Promession.



The process involves a fully automated and patented machine. Coffins are fed in one end, and the body removed from the coffin within the unit and then treated with liquid nitrogen.



The body is then vibrated until the body fragments, after which the remains are dried and refined further, and then passed through filters to remove metals, including dental amalgam. The remains are then poured into a square biodegradable coffin, again automatically, for shallow burial.Swedish biologist Susanne Wiigh-Masak explains how "promession" works, and how the idea evolved



For Ms Wiigh-Masak, it is all about preparing the body for this shallow burial, a process which says is akin to composting. It was in her garden on the island of Lyr on Sweden's west coast, that the idea came to her.



"It only takes two to three weeks before the kitchen and garden waste is soil so this is what inspired me to really see if not only the kitchen and garden waste but also everything organic, including us, could be treated this way to really become soil," she told BBC News.



So far, the technology has only been tested on pigs, with one pig even being fitted with a hip replacement prior to death, to test the efficacy with which the metal joint could be removed during the process.



Ms Wiigh-Masak is now confident commercial operations will begin soon, after the Swedish government promised to introduce new legislation that would allow individuals to use a "burial tax" paid by all Swedes not just for cremation and burial, but also for Promession.



Designs are complete, manufacturers appointed, and four potential sites in Sweden have been earmarked for facilities.



She says 60 countries around the world have expressed an interest in the technology, including councils in England such as Crewe and Nantwich Council and aCambridge City Council (who have also held discussions with Resomation Ltd).



Many individuals have already signed up for the process. The bodies of about a dozen people - including Ms Wiigh-Masak's late parents - are being held in cold storage because, prior to their deaths, they signalled their desire to undergo the process.



How long they may have to wait remains unclear.

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Crew survive as Nato jets collide over Lithuania

French and Lithuanian jets have collided during a Nato exercise in the Baltic state but all three crew members involved escaped serious injury.



The two pilots aboard the Lithuanian L-39 trainer ejected, after which their jet crashed in a rural area without causing any civilian damage, Nato said.



The pilot of the lightly damaged French Mirage fighter landed it safely.



Nato jets based at Lithuania's Zokniai air base patrol the airspace of the Baltic states.



Nato said in a statement that the planes had collided at 09:30 (06:30 GMT) while taking part in a training flight based out of Zokniai.



Local media reports say the Lithuanian pilots landed in Rekyva lake in the Siauliai region.



Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius told journalists an investigation had started.



"We can only state with relief that casualties were avoided," he said. "Unfortunately, incidents like this sometimes happen."

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Rajiv Gandhi murder: Court stays hanging of plotters

A court in southern India has stayed the executions of three men convicted of plotting the 1991 assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.



The men were to have been hanged at a jail in Tamil Nadu on 9 September but that has now been put back eight weeks.



India's president rejected a plea for mercy this month. Lawyers for the men say the time taken to decide the plea - 11 years - was unconstitutional.



The killing of Rajiv Gandhi by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber shocked India.



The three men - Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan - were all members of the separatist rebels, who were defeated by Sri Lankan troops in 2009. The first two are from Sri Lanka, the third is an Indian Tamil.



Gandhi's killing was widely seen as retaliation for his having sent Indian peacekeepers to Sri Lanka in 1987 when he was prime minister.



For years the rebels denied killing Mr Gandhi but expressed "regret" for his murder in 2006.



Nalini Sriharan, an Indian Tamil married to Murugan, was also convicted in connection with the assassination but her death sentence was commuted to life in jail in 1999.

Appeals



The execution order has sent ripples of unrest through Tamil Nadu, correspondents say.



After further appeals on Tuesday, the Madras High Court said it had "stayed the execution of the capital punishment by eight weeks".



The court has asked the federal government to respond to the petition from the condemned men's lawyers within that time.



Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu state assembly has unanimously backed a resolution calling for the death sentences to be commuted to life imprisonment.



Chief Minister J Jayalalitha said the resolution "took into consideration the overwhelming sentiment of the people of Tamil Nadu" who wanted the men's lives spared.



On Monday, Ms Jayalalitha appealed to the public "not to act on impulse" after a woman killed herself by setting herself on fire demanding that the three men be saved.



The leader of the state's opposition DMK party, M Karunanidhi, also appealed to the federal and state governments to spare the men's lives.



The death penalty is rare in India. The last execution was in 2004 when a 41-year-old former security guard was hanged for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

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MEP criticises European politicians who ignore markets

European politicians must not ignore markets, according to Sharon Bowles, chair of the European Parliament's economic and monetary committee.



Ms Bowles chaired the session on Monday about the eurozone debt crisis.



"Jean-Charles Juncker, the president of the Eurogroup... said, 'We shouldn't believe the markets,' and he got big applause," she told BBC News.



She added that the big problem was that politicians thought the markets would do nothing while they went on holiday.



"It was a little bit of playing to the crowd, but that is the attitude amongst many who who think politics is above the markets and politics has to dictate," she said.



A second bailout for Greece was agreed on 21 July, but will not be implemented by eurozone parliaments until mid-September.



"We had the rather awkward situation that the political world expected the markets to sit on their hands for a few weeks while everybody was on holiday," Ms Bowles said.



There have been hefty falls on global stock markets during August.



At Monday's session, European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said, "The full and timely implementation of the July 21 agreement between heads of state or government is of the essence."



His comments mirrored those of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who called for quick implementation in early August, despite European parliaments being on summer breaks.



"The problem with the latest package is that some of it has to be approved by national parliaments and we had the situation that everybody was on holiday, and in particular it has to be approved by the German parliament and they won't be doing that until sometime in September," said Ms Bowles, who is the Liberal Democrat member of the European parliament for the South East of England.

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What Is It With American Politicians And 'Corndogs'?

There seems to be some unwritten rule that American politicians must be photographed eating a corndog. To a non-American, I have to wonder what this ritual is all about.

Perhaps it is a combination of two separate 'American' political messages:

1) The 'hotdog' is truly an American cultural icon
2) The American rural Midwest and South is all about 'corn' as an agricultural product - highly subsidized.

Put the two together and you have the definitive American political-culinary expression .. a corndog. Bon appetite.

-National Corndog Day! ... love the logo!

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Harper Turns Blind Eye To Gazebogate - That Says More About Harper Than It Does About Tony Clement

Ethical Conservatives? .... simply a myth.

"On the Clement case, team Harper’s strategy appears to be to simply ride out the criticism. Stonewall the media and the opposition until fatigue with the issue has set in and everyone moves on. It has worked in the past. It will likely work now.

The ethical course for the Conservatives is to discipline the minister. If they don’t, they are sending a different signal entirely, one that shows no respect for the taxpayers who put up the $50-million."
G & M

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Anime star Doraemon To Have Own Museum

TOKYO — Doraemon, the magical robot cat who has been a staple of Japanese manga, animated television shows and movies since 1969, is to be the star of a new museum.

The iconic blue beast is the best-loved of all the creations of manga artist Fujiko F. Fujio, who died in 1996, and will serve as the face of the museum, which opens to the public on September 3.

The museum is in the city of Kawasaki, just to the south of Tokyo, and was where he lived from 1961. Fujiko F. Fujio was the pen name of Hiroshi Fujimoto, who who collaborated with Moto Abiko — known as Fujiko Fujio (A) — for 36 years from 1951.

Doraemon will not be the only inhabitant of the museum, however, as Fujio was a prolific storyteller over the course of his career.

The other characters that will be represented include Perman, Mojacko, Ume-boshi Denka and Esper Mami.

More than 50,000 original drawing by the artist will be on display, as well as a wide selection of his cameras, plastic models and books. Part of the museum, which will be spread over 3,700 square meters on three floors, will be an exact reproduction of Fujio’s studio.

“I am happy to be able to compile my husband’s original drawings in one place without separating them,” Fujiko’s wife, Masako Fujimoto, said in a speech at the recent press preview. “I would like fans who have supported him for a long time to receive our deep gratitude.”

Another feature that the developers were keen to retain from the Doraemon tales was the “usual vacant lot,” recreated on the roof, while the menu at the neighboring restaurant will draw heavily on Fujio’s narratives.

The Doraemon tales have won numerous awards over the years, including the first Osamu Tezuka Culture Award in 1997, and the blue cat has been adopted by the Japanese Foreign Ministry to act as the nation’s first “anime ambassador.”

Access to the museum is by prior reservation only. Entry is at a set time, four times a day. For further information, visit http://fujiko-museum.com/english/. — afprelaxnews.com

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Don’t Use Diesel, Petrol To Fuel Oil Lamps

KUALA LUMPUR – The Federation of Malaysian Consumers’ Associations (Fomca) has warned the public against using diesel and petrol to fuel oil lamps.

Fomca advisor Prof Datuk Mohd Hamdan Adnan said the use of diesel and petrol instead of kerosene was dangerous because they are highly flammable.

“I see that the use of these fuels is becoming rampant during the festive season due to the difficulty in getting kerosene,” he told Bernama.

Mohd Hamdan also called on parents to monitor their children.

He said children would normally play with fireworks, exposing them to risks should they come close to the oil lamps.

“Hari Raya is a day of joy. We don’t anything to happen because of negligence on the part of parents,” he said. – BERNAMA

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It Is Going To Be A Wet Aidilfitri

KUALA LUMPUR – It is going to be a wet Aidilfitri, according to the weatherman.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department has forecast rain in most parts of the country tomorrow and on Wednesday. Aidilfitri is expected to fall tomorrow.

A spokesman told Bernama rain was expected in the northern and east coast states of peninsular Malaysia as well as Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan and southern Johor.

“In other areas, the weather is expected to be cloudy,” he said.

The weather in Sabah and Sarawak was expected to be fair in the morning tomorrow and on Wednesday, according to a report on the department’s website, www.met.gov.my.

In the afternoon, isolated showers were expected in the Sabah west coast, interior, Tawau, Kudat and Sandakan divisions and isolated thunderstorms in the Kuching, Samarahan and Kapit divisions in Sarawak.

The Sandakan division was expected to experience isolated rain at night tomorrow and on Wednesday. – BERNAMA

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Libya conflict: Gaddafi family 'flee to Algeria'

The wife and three children of fugitive Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have entered Algeria, the Algerian foreign ministry says.



Algeria's APS news agency quoted the foreign ministry as saying that Col Gaddafi's wife Safia, daughter Ayesha and sons Muhammad and Hannibal had crossed into Algeria early on Monday.



The report came as rebels in Libya were trying to overcome the pockets of resistance by Gaddafi loyalists.



Col Gaddafi's whereabouts are unknown.



The arrival of Col Gaddafi's wife and three children in Algeria had been reported to the UN and to Libyan rebel authorities, the Algerian foreign ministry said.



It said they had crossed the border between Libya and Algeria at 08:45 local time (07:45 GMT) on Monday.



The BBC's Jon Leyne in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi said first word of such a move had already come from Libyan rebel headquarters two days ago, and that at the time, Algerian authorities denied that a convoy of six heavily armoured vehicles had crossed the border.



Algeria is an obvious refuge for the Gaddafi family as the two countries have a long border and the Algerian government has still not recognised the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC), our correspondent says.



Muhammed and Hannibal are two of the sons with the least involvement in politics.



There is still no reliable word of the whereabouts of the other sons, although some opposition officials have suggested they may be in or close to the Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte.



The rebels say they think Col Gaddafi himself may still be in the Tripoli area, our correspondent says.

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Obama nominates Alan Krueger as his new chief economist

US President Barack Obama has nominated Alan Krueger, a Princeton University expert on unemployment, as his new chief economist.



The decision comes as the president prepares to unveil a new jobs package in a speech planned for shortly after the Labor Day holiday on 5 September.



High unemployment remains one of the main concerns about the US economy, with the rate standing at 9.1%.



Mr Krueger was previously a Treasury Department economist from 2009-2010.



If confirmed by the Senate, he will become the Obama administration's third chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in as many years.



Christina Romer served in the post from 2009-2010 and was followed by Austan Goolsbee. Both resigned after a year in the job to return to academia.



President Obama said: "As one of this country's leading economists, Alan has been a key voice on a vast array of economic issues for more than two decades.



"Alan understands the difficult challenges our country faces, and I have confidence that he will help us meet those challenges as one of the leaders on my economic team."

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South Africa: Hearing for ANC youth chief Julius Malema

The youth leader of South Africa's ruling African National Congress faces disciplinary action on Tuesday, charged with "sowing divisions" in the party.



Julius Malema, 30, also faces charges of bringing the ANC into disrepute by calling for the government of Botswana to be overthrown.



Once a key ally of President Jacob Zuma, Mr Malema has become a critic.



Mr Malema, under separate investigation for alleged fraud and corruption, says he will accept the committee's ruling.



"We are taking responsibility for our actions and we are prepared for anything. We have always maintained that the ANC is our future, if that future is expulsion so be it," he said.



Mr Malema, who is charged along with five other top youth league officials, could be expelled from the ANC at the closed-door hearing.



He was put on probation by the disciplinary committee last year after being found guilty of criticising Mr Zuma.



The youth league leader's calls to nationalise the mining sector and seize farm land have jarred with the party's leadership but have proven popular among his political base in impoverished black communities.

'Political survivor'



The BBC's Karen Allen described Mr Malema as a "kingmaker and political survivor", whose youth group brings the ANC a 350,000-strong block vote and influence over senior ANC leaders seeking promotion.



His disciplinary hearing sets the scene for next year's leadership battle, when Mr Zuma is trying to secure a second term. As one of those trying to unseat him, Mr Malema's fate will be key, adds our correspondent.



The youth leader has long been a controversial figure.



In May 2010, he was made to apologise publicly following a controversial trip to Zimbabwe where he declared the ANC's support for President Robert Mugabe at a time when Mr Zuma was mediating between the country's coalition members.



Mr Malema was also chastised by the ANC for expelling a BBC journalist from a press conference and defying party orders not to sing a racially divisive apartheid-era song.

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Yoshihiko Noda wins Japan leadership race

Japan's governing Democratic Party (DPJ) has chosen Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda as its leader, lining him up to become the country's sixth prime minister in five years.



Mr Noda secured victory in a run-off against Trade Minister Banri Kaieda, after a first-round vote in which no candidate won a clear majority.



Prime Minister Naoto Kan later formally resigned with his entire cabinet.



He has been criticised for his handling of the quake aftermath.



Mr Noda, 54, is expected to be confirmed by parliament as prime minister on Tuesday.



He secured 215 votes in the ballot against Mr Kaieda's 177 votes.



Supporters of public favourite Seiji Maehara - the former foreign minister who was eliminated in first-round voting - threw their support behind Mr Noda in the second ballot.



Mr Kaieda was backed by scandal-hit party heavyweight Ichiro Ozawa, who controls the DPJ's biggest faction.

Divided party



Correspondents say the new prime minister will face a daunting agenda, including trying to unify a divided party.Large parts of Japan need to be rebuilt after March's earthquake and tsunami, and the crisis at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant still needs to be resolved.



Added to that, Mr Noda, a fiscal conservative, will need to address Japan's stagnant economy.



He has said in the past that he favours raising funds through increased taxation - including a doubling of Japan's sales tax, which currently stands at 5% - to cut debt and meet social security commitments.



Unlike Mr Kan, he wants Japan's halted nuclear reactors to be restarted and has not backed his call for a nuclear-free Japan.



"Let us sweat together for the sake of the people," he said after the vote. "This is my heartfelt wish."The DPJ won power in a general election in 2008, ending half a century of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party.



But it lost control of the upper house in polls in 2010 and has struggled to pass key legislation through parliament.



It has also been hit by in-fighting, with the leadership race turning into a bitter factional battle between supporters and enemies of tainted king-maker Ichiro Ozawa.



Mr Ozawa - who is known as the Shadow Shogun - commands the loyalty of around 130 lawmakers, despite awaiting trial on charges of misreporting political donations. He is currently suspended from the DPJ.



The public's favourite candidate, Mr Maehara, would have become Japan's youngest leader since World War II if elected.



Farm Minister Michihiko Kano and former Transport Minister Sumio Mabuchi were also in the leadership contest.

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US blues musician David 'Honey-Boy' Edwards dies

US blues musician David "Honey-Boy" Edwards has died at his home in Chicago at the age of 96, his manager has said.



Music historians say he was the last direct link to a unique generation of blues musicians and the last of the great pre-war bluesmen.



Known for his far-ranging travels, Edwards was still playing about 70 shows a year in his 90s.



He won a 2008 Grammy for traditional blues and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award in 2010.



Among his most famous songs were Just Like Jesse James, Long Tall Woman Blues and Gamblin' Man.



Legendary story-teller



The BBC's Peter Bowes, in Los Angeles, says Edwards' guitar-playing style was gritty and edgy.



Born in 1915 in Shaw, Mississippi, Edwards learned to play as a child and left home at the age of 14 to travel with some of the great Delta Blues musicians of the 1930s and 40s, including Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter. He started playing professionally, at age 17, in Memphis.



His manager said he had a photographic memory of every detail of his life and told legendary stories. Edwards, he has recounted, described witnessing the moment when bluesman Robert Johnson drank the glass of poisoned whisky that killed him at the age of 27.



"Blues ain't never going anywhere," Edwards told AP in 2008.



"It can get slow, but it ain't going nowhere. You play a lowdown dirty shame slow and lonesome, my mama dead, my papa across the sea I ain't dead but I'm just supposed to be blues.



"You can take that same blues, make it uptempo, a shuffle blues, that's what rock 'n roll did with it. So blues ain't going nowhere."



Edwards earned his nickname "Honey-Boy" from his sister, who told his mother to "look at honey boy" when he stumbled as he learned to walk as a toddler.

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Irene: Death toll nears 40 as recovery begins

Tropical Storm Irene has killed 38 people, and authorities warn that flooding could continue for up to three days in northern US states.



More than five million people remain without power, while Vermont is reeling from its worst floods in many decades.



Insurance claims could top $7bn (£4.3bn), the Consumer Federation of America estimated.



The brunt of Irene's impact was felt by towns and suburbs from North Carolina to Vermont.



Driving rains and flood tides damaged homes and cut power to more than three million people in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York alone.

Further damage predicted



The storm passed over the east coast at the weekend and has now moved over the border into Canada's north-eastern provinces. US authorities have warned the impact of the storm will be felt for some time and that certain rivers had yet to crest, with further flooding expected over the next two to three days.



In New York, which escaped the worst of Irene's fury, transport resumed on Monday.



But Governor Andrew Cuomo said dozens of bridges and roadways would need to be repaired and that some of the state's rivers had yet to crest from flooding.



"You're going see more damage before it starts to get better," he told reporters.



The states south of New York, where Irene struck at hurricane-strength on Saturday and Sunday have begun the arduous task of cleaning up, assessing the damage and counting the dead.

Vermont lashed



In the rural state of Vermont, the last hit before Irene passed into Canada, the storm washed away bridges and swamped the town of Brattleboro.Touring the town, Governor Peter Shumlin criticised media coverage for focusing on New York, saying: "We're not Manhattan, but we have human lives here in Vermont, too."



Authorities asked people to avoid travelling in the state, and warned of significant flooding, damaged roads and downed power lines.



The storm caused a section of a ski lodge to collapse in the town of Killington, where as many as 300 people were stranded on Monday.



Connecticut Governor Daniel Malloy said on Monday that in his state more homes were without power as a result of the storm than at any other time in the state's modern history.



In many areas electricity will not be restored for the rest of the week, Mr Malloy added.



A tally by the Associated Press news agency found 38 people had been killed in 11 states, mostly because of falling trees, ocean waves, downed power lines and raging floods caused by the storm.



Claims for wind damage are expected to be one sixth of the total sum from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and claims for flood damage one tenth, the Consumer Federation of America estimated.



As it moved north-east, Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm and then a post-tropical cyclone.



The National Hurricane Center in Miami said an increase in speed was expected over the next couple of days, with the centre of the storm moving over eastern Canada on Monday.



A tropical storm warning for Canada was likely to be lifted on Monday, it added.

Back to work



The storm, downgraded from a hurricane, passed New York on Sunday. More than 300,000 people evacuated from low-lying areas in New York City are now able to return home.



New Yorkers were back to work on Monday, with the city's subway network and its three main airports all reopened.



More than half the commuter rail lines running into the city were suspended or delayed amid lingering flooding and mudslides.



The US air transport network began slowly clearing a backlog after cancellations at the weekend. More than 1,400 flights were cancelled on Monday, according to Flightaware.com, compared with 7,804 on Sunday.



Airports in New York were worst hit by cancellations, but Philadelphia and Boston airports were also affected.



In Philadelphia, officials lifted the city's first state of emergency since 1986. Several buildings were destroyed by the storm, but there were no deaths or injuries.



Further south in North Carolina, Governor Beverly Perdue said some areas of the state were still unreachable. TV footage showed fallen trees and power lines.



Officials in Virginia have begun the clear-up, but say the damage was not as bad as feared

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Miners rescued from flooded illegal Chinese pit

Twenty-two coal miners have been rescued after being trapped underground for a week in north-eastern China, officials have said.



The miners became trapped in the small, illegal mine in Heilongjiang province after accidentally drilling through into a neighbouring pit.



One miner died in the accident, and three others are still missing.



Xinhua reports that the mine, near the city of Qitaihe, had been ordered to close in 2007 but re-opened illegally.



Hopes that the miners were still alive were revived on Sunday when noises were detected through a 920-ft (280m) pipe that was drilled to allow fresh air into the mine.



Television images on the state broadcaster showed the men being brought slowly to the surface, all apparently in good health.



China's mining industry is the most dangerous in the world, with more than 2,600 miners killed in accidents in 2009 alone.



In April 2010, 115 miners were pulled from a flooded mine in the northern province of Shanxi after more than a week underground. In October, a blast at a pit in Yuzhou, in the central Henan province, killed 26 miners and left another 11 trapped underground.



Last year, the government shut down more than 1,000 illegal pits as part of efforts to improve safety standards.



China is heavily reliant on its mining industry, with coal supplying some 70% of its energy needs. Many of those employed in mines are migrant workers with limited training

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A Very Sad Day For One Newfoundland Family - Missing Daughter's Body Found In Saskatchewan UPDATED

This is a very sad day for one Newfoundland family and for the entire province of Saskatchewan. Local RCMP have now confirmed that human remains found in a farmers field are indeed those of a missing Nfld woman, Carol King.

For the last few weeks, Sask residents in the hundreds have been combing the area in an effort to find clues on her disappearance. Her vehicle was found (empty) submerged in a farmers pond here.

As it turns out, this young woman was on the way to an appointment with the RCMP at the time of her disappearance. She had complained of harassing behavior at her home recently.

Out here in Saskatchewan, we have no way to let the family and friends know that they are in our prayers at this time.

-The Regina Leader-Post ....

-CBC Saskatchewan report ....

-CBC: Sister of missing Newfoundland woman wants more info from the RCMP ...

Update:
Coverage from Newfoundland media ... The Telegram

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Michele Bachmann Says God Sent Earthquake And Hurricane Because He Doesn't Like Gov't Spending

“I don’t know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We’ve had an earthquake; we’ve had a hurricane. He said, ‘Are you going to start listening to me here?’ Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we’ve got to rein in the spending.”

Shortly thereafter, her very panicked press secretary tried to explan that she was just joking ... ahhh sure.

The Star


(Photo courtesy The Business Insider .... )

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More rallies against rubber

Police threaten villagers from Kampong Speu province during a protest outside the provincial court in March of 2010. Over 2,000 families were affected by a land concession granted to CPP senator Ly Yong Phat in Omlaing commune, in Kampong Speu province’s Thpong district. (Photo by: Will Baxter)

Monday, 29 August 2011

Khouth Sophakchakrya

The Phnom Penh Post

More than 300 villagers from Kampong Cham province’s Chamkar Leu, Memot, and Stung Trang districts gathered in Phnom Penh on Friday to protest against a plan to relocate them from their land in order to make way for rubber plantations.

The villagers contend they have lived on the land in question since 1979.

They urged Prime Minister Hun Sen to intervene on their behalf against three companies allegedly behind the plan.

One of the companies has been identified as tycoon An Marady’s Chamkar Leu Rubber Plantation. The other two are said to be tycoon Long Sreng’s Memot and Stung Trang rubber plantations.

Friday was the second consecutive day that villagers from Chamkar Leu district’s Bos Khnor and Ta Ong communes protested against the Chamkar Leu Rubber Plantation.

One hundred and fifty villagers gathered in Freedom Park the day before to voice opposition to the palns.

Staff from Chamkar Leu Rubber Plantation had asked families in three villages in Bos Khnor and Ta Ong communes to accept new 10 by 20 metre plots and US$600 in compensation for relocating to a new site, protester Srun Touch, 52, said. However, the new sites lacked necessary infrastructure, including roads and a school.

Meanwhile, staff from Memot Rubber Plantation had asked families in Tramoung commune to accept new 4 by 11 metre plots of land and US$600 in exchange for relocating, commune chief Vinh Ny said.

While these plots were smaller than those offered by Chamkar Leu Rubber plantation, Vinh Ny said the company was nearly finished building the necessary infrastructure for the new village, including

roads, a school, and a market.

Vinh Ny said that so far, about 60 to 70 percent of the villagers had accepted the company’s offer. “Some villagers have volunteered to leave in accordance with the company’s policy,” he said.

Those that have not accepted the offer say they just want to remain on their land.

“We do not want anything from the companies. All we want is to live in our current village,” said Un Si Cheng, 52, from Memot district’s Tramoung commune.

According to documents received by the Post, in March 2008 the government gave 9,121 hectares in Memot district to Memot Rubber Plantation. However, this did not include the protesting villagers’ land. Instead, the land granted to Memot Rubber Plantation went around those villages.

A cabinet official visited Freedom Park and told the villagers to return to their homes, promising to inform them of Hun Sen’s decision.

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