News, Prophecy and other

[Shammu]

Hamas Wants Off Terror List

By ALBERT AJI, Associated Press Writer Thu Feb 16, 9:04 AM ET

DAMASCUS, Syria - A senior Hamas official called on the United States Thursday to remove the militant Islamic group from Washington's list of terrorist organizations and to open a dialogue without preconditions.

Moussa Abu Marzook, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, told The Associated Press the U.S. should deal with Hamas "as it is, and later there could be a dialogue...but there should be no preconditions."

"Hamas is not the only side that wants peace. ...All the Palestinians want peace because they are the only people whose rights have been encroached upon and who have been expelled from their lands," Abu Marzouk said.

Abu Marzouk described as "absolutely unacceptable" Israel's call for Hamas to start an unconditional dialogue with the Jewish state, saying "Hamas...was chosen by the Palestinian people...this is democracy."

Hamas won a landslide victory in last month's Palestinian legislative elections and has dispatched delegations to Arab and other foreign capitals to win support the group's efforts to form a new government.

Hamas, which has previously carried out a wave of suicide bombings that killed or wounded hundreds of Israeli's, has not claimed involvement in any suicide attacks since February 2005.

The radical organization has hinted at a readiness for a long-term truce or some other accommodation with the Jewish state, short of recognition.

But the U.S. and the European Union have threatened to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority if Hamas forms a government without first recognizing Israel and renouncing violence.

Abu Marzouk, who has been in Egypt, Sudan and Qatar, said Hamas found "all-out support" in the three countries, which back "the choice of the Palestinian people and the budget of the Palestinian Authority as it was in the past." He did not elaborate.

Hamas Wants Off Terror List

[Shammu]

Commercial photos show Chinese nuke buildup

By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
February 16, 2006

Commercial satellite photos made public recently provide a new look at China's nuclear forces and bases -- images that include the first view of a secret underwater submarine tunnel.
    A Pentagon official said the photograph of the tunnel entrance reveals for the first time a key element of China's hidden military buildup. Similar but more detailed intelligence photos of the entrance are highly classified within the U.S. government, the official said.
    "The Chinese have a whole network of secret facilities that the U.S. government understands but cannot make public," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "This is the first public revelation of China's secret buildup."
    The photographs, taken from 2000 to 2004, show China's Xia-class ballistic missile submarine docked at the Jianggezhuang base, located on the Yellow Sea in Shandong province.
    Nuclear warheads for the submarine's 12 JL-1 missiles are thought to be stored inside an underwater tunnel that was photographed about 450 meters to the northwest of the submarine. The high-resolution satellite photo shows a waterway leading to a ground-covered facility.
    Other photographs show additional underground military facilities, including the Feidong air base in Anhui province with a runway built into a nearby hill.
    The photographs were obtained by the nonprofit groups Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Federation of American Scientists. The photos first appeared Friday in the winter edition of the quarterly newsletter Imaging Notes.
    The photographs are sharp enough to identify objects on the ground about 3 feet in size. Such digital images were once the exclusive domain of U.S. technical intelligence agencies, but in recent years, commercial companies have deployed equally capable space-based cameras.
    Disclosure of the underground bases supports analyses of Pentagon and intelligence officials who say China is engaged in a secret military buildup that threatens U.S. interests, while stating publicly that its forces pose no threat.
    Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said during a trip to China in October that Beijing was sending "mixed signals" by building up forces in secret and without explaining their purpose.
    Adm. Gary Roughead, commander of the Navy's Pacific Fleet, said he did not consider China "a threat." But he also said in a speech Tuesday that China's purpose behind its rapid military buildup is not fully known. "That's a little unclear," he said, noting that "increased transparency" is needed from China.
    The photographs included several shots of Chinese H-6 strategic bombers and related aerial refueling tankers at Dangyang airfield in Hubei province. Also, 70 nuclear-capable Qian-5 aircraft were photographed parked at an airfield in Jianqiao, Zhejiang province, on the East China Sea coast.

Commercial photos show Chinese nuke buildup

[Soldier4Christ]

Hamas Wants Off Terror List

Duh .... then they need to stop being terrorists and that might happen, simple.

[Soldier4Christ]

West Bank withdrawal 'within days'
Acting PM orders Israeli forces to remove Jewish enclave near Hebron
Posted: February 17, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein


JERUSALEM – Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has directed Israeli forces to evacuate within days a small Jewish enclave alongside the biblical city of Hebron in the West Bank and to use all force necessary during the evictions, security officials told WorldNetDaily.

The order follows Olmert's announcement this week his administration will seek to withdraw from most of the West Bank, which borders major Israeli cities and the country's international airport. Olmert's directions fueled speculation by critics the Israeli official is carrying out isolated evictions of settlers as a tactic to win leftist votes ahead of next month's elections.

"Olmert knows he will not have the right wing votes. He already has the center. Now he has to flex his muscles against the settlers before the elections to show leftists and extreme leftists he can carry out the Kadima platform of an Israeli withdrawal," charged Israeli nationalist lawmaker Benny Elon.

Israeli Defense Force officials said they have been ordered to demolish Chazon David, a small Jewish section outside Hebron consisting of a synagogue and a few mobile homes.

Jews have lived in nearby Hebron – home to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, believed to be the resting place of biblical patriarchs and matriarchs – almost continuously for over 2,500 years. It is considered the oldest Jewish community in the world.

Hebron spokesman David Wilder told WND, "Olmert needs these evictions. He needs to show he has the strength of [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon, that he can stand up to the so-called settlers and carry out a withdrawal."

Wilder pointed out while Olmert is enforcing the removal of a small Jewish outpost, over 3,000 illegal Arab settlements in the area remain intact.

The IDF sources told WND they have been cleared to use "all necessary force" to remove Chazon David residents.

Olmert sparked fury here last month when he ordered the IDF to use force against protesters during the demolition of nine homes in the West Bank community of Amona. More than 1,500 soldiers and police officers were called up to destroy the homes after the court system ruled they were constructed without a permit. Aside from the homes, the rest of the Amona community was allowed to remain standing.

During the demolitions, horse-mounted police, water cannons and specially trained riot officers faced off against hundreds of protesters who massed in Amona in hopes of halting the efforts.

Israeli television broadcast live footage of demonstrators, including women and children, being dragged and beaten by soldiers. Teenagers with bloody noses and head wounds were seen being removed from the scene. Police were videotaped using batons and gas canisters to clear the area of demonstrators.

More than 300 protesters were treated in makeshift first aid tents. At least 70 were evacuated to Jerusalem hospitals with moderate-to-serious injuries. Three Israeli nationalist lawmakers, including Elon, were wounded in the clashes.

As WND reported, over 100,000 Israelis protested in Jerusalem earlier this month to demand a commission of inquiry into the violence at Amona. Olmert at first refused to establish an investigative committee, but last week he relented.

Olmert this week told the Knesset if his Kadima Party wins next month's elections, Parliament members will be asked to vote on whether to "change Israel's borders" by withdrawing from most of the West Bank, including strategic areas military strategists say are needed to defend Israel from a ground invasion.

According to most polls, Kadima is poised to win overwhelmingly.

Olmert justified his plan to vacate the West Bank, which is within rocket firing range of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, by claiming Arabs will soon outnumber Jews and threaten the country's Jewish character.

But recent studies indicate Olmert is relying on faulty demographic information and that Jews likely will outnumber Arabs by more than double in 20 years.

One study, titled "Forecast for Israel and the West Bank 2025," found Palestinians have inflated their population figures by as much as 1.5 million. It also said Jewish birthrates are on the rise while Palestinian rates are falling, and that Israel's own statistics fail to account for even low levels of Jewish immigration when calculating national demographic trends.

Americans Bennet Zimmerman, Roberta Seid and Michael Wise put the current Palestinin-Arab population of the West Bank at 1.4 million and Gaza 1.1 million, for a total of 2.4 million, instead of the 3.8 million reported by the Palestinian Authority Central Bureau of Statistics.

They found faults in the methods used by the Palestinian Authority to determine its population, including counting the 230,000 Arab residents of Jerusalem twice and retroactively raising growth and birth rates while the rates actually have been declining.

The allegedly inflated PA population numbers have been accepted by Israel and were used in formulating future demographic statistics, including those reportedly used by Olmert in formulating a West Bank withdrawal.

"It is ironic that just as we now find Israel is in the best position ever with regard to population, Olmert announces a plan to run away and give up the West Bank, claiming Israel's Jewish character is threatened," said Zimmerman.

The West Bank is considered landlocked territory not officially recognized as part of any country. Israel calls the land "disputed," while the United Nations says the West Bank is "occupied" by Israel. The Jewish state maintains overall control of most of the area while the Palestinian Authority has jurisdiction in about 40 percent.

The territory remained under Jordanian rule from 1948 until Israel captured it in 1967 after Jordan's King Hussein ignored Israeli pleas for his country to stay out of the Six Day War. Most countries rejected Jordan's initial claim on the area, which it formally renounced in 1988.

Terrorist groups have warned if Israel withdraws, they will launch rockets from the West Bank into Israeli cities.

Many villages in the West Bank, which Israelis commonly refer to as the "biblical heartland," are mentioned throughout the Torah.

The book of Genesis says Abraham entered Israel at Shechem (Nablus) and received God's promise of land for his offspring. He later was buried in Hebron.

The nearby town of Beit El, anciently called Bethel meaning "house of God," is where Scripture says the patriarch Jacob slept on a stone pillow and dreamed of angels ascending and descending a stairway to heaven. In that dream, God spoke directly to Jacob and reaffirmed the promise of territory.

And in Exodus, the holy tabernacle rested in Shiloh, believed to be the first area the ancient Israelites settled after fleeing Egypt.

[Bronzesnake]

PROBE FINDS TERRORISTS IN U.S. 'TRAINING FOR WAR'

February 17, 2006

WorldNetDaily.com reports: “The Pakistani terrorist group Jamaat ul Fuqra is using Islamic schools in the United States as training facilities, confirms a joint investigative report by an intelligence think tank and an independent reporter.

A covert visit to an encampment in the Catskill Mountains near Hancock, N.Y., called ‘Islamberg’ found neighboring residents deeply concerned about military-style training taking place there but frustrated by the lack of attention from federal authorities, said the report by the Northeast Intelligence Network, which worked with an Internet blogger, ‘CP,’ to publish an interim report.

The neighbors interviewed said they feared retaliation if they were to make a report to law enforcement officials.

‘We see children – small children run around over there when they should be in school,’ one neighbor said. ‘We hear bursts of gunfire all of the time, and we know that there is military-like training going on there. Those people are armed and dangerous.’

The resident said his household gets ‘nothing but menacing looks from the people who go in and out of the camp, and sometimes they yell at us to mind our own business when we are just driving by.’

‘We don't even dare to slow down when we drive by,’ the resident said. ‘They own this mountain and they know it, and there is nothing we can do about it but move, and we can't even do that. Who wants to buy property next to that?’

Jamaat ul-Fuqra, or ‘community of the impoverished,’ was formed by Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani in New York in 1980. Gilani, who refers to himself as ‘the sixth Sultan Ul Faqr,’ has stated his objective is to ‘purify’ Islam through violence.

Gilani also is the founder of a village in South Carolina called ‘Holy Islamville.’

The encampment in Hancock, N.Y., is run by a front for Jamaat ul-Fuqra called Muslims of the Americas Inc., which operates a school known as the International Quranic Open University Inc.

The facility is on 70 acres of remote land on the western edge of the Catskill Mountains, about 40 miles southeast of Binghamton, N.Y. A sign at the entrance identifies the place as ‘Islamberg.’ The other side of the sign says ‘International Quranic Open University’ and ‘Muslims of the Americas Inc.’

Every one of the neighboring residents interviewed expressed disappointment and additional concern that federal law enforcement is not investigating the activities, the report said.

‘These people need to be investigated,’ a resident said. ‘They are training for war, either for war here in this country or against our troops. Who in the h--- is allowing this stuff to happen right here in our own backyard, and why?’…”

[Bronzesnake]

U.S. NEEDS 100 BOMBERS TO DESTROY IRAN NUKES

February 17, 2006

The Middle East Newsline reports: “The United States requires 100 bombers to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons facilities.

A report by the London-based Oxford Research Group said a U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would require more than 100 B-2 and B-1B strategic bombers. The report said the U.S. strike, which would require up to five days, must destroy about 20 key nuclear and military targets.

‘An attack on Iranian nuclear infrastructure would signal the start of a protracted military confrontation that would probably grow to involve Iraq, Israel and Lebanon, as well as the USA and Iran,’ the report, released in February 2006, said.

The report said the U.S. attack must take place before 2007 and include the Bushehr nuclear reactor. Bushehr was scheduled to begin full-scale operations over the next few months…”

[Shammu]

U.S. asks Palestinians to return $50 million in aid
By Shmuel Rosner, Aluf Benn and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents and Reuters

WASHINGTON - The United States has asked the Palestinian Authority to return $50 million in U.S. aid because Washington does not want a Hamas-led government to have the funds, the State Department said on Friday.

The money is being demanded as part of a review of all U.S. aid for the Palestinians which began soon after the militant group Hamas' surprise win in elections last month. The State Department expects to finish the review in the next few weeks.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the caretaker government of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had agreed to return the $50 million, which was given to the PA last year for infrastructure projects after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

"In the interests of seeing that these funds not potentially make their way into the coffers of a future Palestinian government (made up of Hamas) ... we have asked for it to be returned and the Palestinian Authority has agreed," McCormack told reporters.

Over the past decade, the United States has given about $1.5 billion in aid to the Palestinians. Most of that was channeled via non-governmental organizations.

If passed, new legislation introduced to Congress a number of weeks ago will enforce a halt of all U.S. funding to organizations and institutions related to the PA.

Israel blocking Hamas members from PLC swearing-in
Israel decided on Friday to block Hamas members of the Palestinian parliament from traveling from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank city of Ramallah for Saturday's swearing-in ceremony, Israel Radio reported. The ceremony will instead be conducted via video conference.

The decision was made during Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Friday meeting with senior figures from the defense establishment, the Foreign Ministry, the National Security Agency and the intelligence community.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told the European Union on Friday that Hamas is making a serious effort to get funding from Iran and is asking Tehran for guidance on how to run the Palestinian Authority, Israel Radio reported.

In a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Solana in Jerusalem, Mofaz emphasized the importance of international support of Israel's positions on Hamas and said there should be no negotiations with Hamas unless it recognizes Israel and puts a halt to terrorism.

Olmert approved on Friday the defense establishment's advice to begin taking punitive steps against the PA as of Sunday, the day after the Hamas-led Palestinian parliament takes office. The suggested measures include freezing further transfers of the tax revenues that Israel collects on behalf of the PA and banning the entry of workers from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

The government will decide whether to approve the plan on Sunday.

In Gaza, Hamas' choice for prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, accused Israel of inflicting collective punishment and said that "our people will not ... kneel before such Israeli measures."

Mofaz: Israel will provide humanitarian assistance
Mofaz told Solana on Friday that Israel would provide the Palestinians with humanitarian assistance, but Israel has rejected Solana's request to hold off on freezing the tax revenues.

Solana asked Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday to continue transferring tax monies to the Palestinians and refrain from freezing the funds at least until the new Palestinian government is formed. However, Livni said that once the new Hamas-led parliament is sworn in, the PA will essentially have become "a terrorist entity" even if the new government has not yet been formed.

Other steps the defense establishment advocates include banning the movement of Palestinians between Gaza and the West Bank; preventing transfers of military equipment to the PA from foreign countries, such as donations of armored personnel carriers and communications gear; and freezing plans to upgrade the crossing points between the territories and Israel as well as plans to build a port and airport in Gaza.

MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz-Yahad) objected to the restrictive measures Friday, calling them "collective punishment."

According to the plan, Palestinian merchants would continue to be allowed into Israel, and the Erez and Karni crossings between Israel and Gaza would remain open. However, the defense establishment would begin preparations for turning these crossings into full-fledged borders, and removing Gaza from its joint customs envelope with Israel.

In addition, the defense establishment plans to present proposals for further reductions in ties every week. However, Mofaz said that none of these steps should interfere with humanitarian activity by international organizations or with the supply of water, electricity or medical equipment.

A team headed by the prime minister's special adviser, Dov Weissglas, also presented its recommendations on how Israel should respond to Hamas' electoral victory at Thursday's meeting called by Mofaz. Weissglas proposed that Israel issue an ultimatum to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, demanding that he fulfill his promise to disarm the terrorist organizations and that the new PA government abjure violence, recognize Israel, and accept the road map peace plan and all signed Israeli-Palestinian agreements. The ultimatum would expire either after 60 days or upon occurrence of a "Hamas event," such as the establishment of a Hamas-led government that did not accept the three conditions posed by Israel and the international community. Upon expiry of the ultimatum, Israel's measures to cut ties with the PA would become more stringent.

Major General Yosef Mishlav, the coordinator of government activities in the territories, told the meeting that Abbas has the power to insist that whoever he appoints to form the next PA government include these three conditions in the government guidelines.

The heads of the intelligence agencies warned at the meeting of a "honey trap" in which Hamas would present a moderate front to lull the international community, while building up its forces for a violent confrontation with Israel. The defense establishment also warned that the defeated Fatah party was liable to take out its anger in the form of terror attacks against Israelis.

All of these proposals and assessments, as well as an alternative proposal prepared by National Security Council Chairman Giora Eiland, were presented to Olmert at Friday's meeting.

U.S. asks Palestinians to return $50 million in aid

[Shammu]

Russia to sell Palestinians arms if Israel agrees
Fri Feb 17, 2006 8:59 AM ET163

 By Oleg Shchedrov

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Friday Moscow would supply military hardware to the Palestinian Authority only if Israel agreed.

Plans to sell the Palestinian Authority 50 armored personnel carriers (APCs) were put on hold since last September.

But Russian Armed Forces chief-of-staff General Yuri Baluyevsky said on Thursday that the plan could be revived if a visit by leaders of the Islamist Hamas group to Moscow planned for early March went well.

"Supplies of military hardware to Palestine can only be carried out with Israel's consent and through its territory," Ivanov said in televised comments.

Last year the Palestinian Authority sought to buy Russian hardware, but no definite deal was reached. Diplomats said Russia had since shelved the idea after Middle East peace brokers told Moscow it could harm efforts to stabilize the area.

On Monday, Interfax news agency quoted a "well-informed source" in Moscow as saying that APCs sales were still on hold after Hamas won the January 25 Palestinian elections. But the source did not mention the helicopters, which are destined for use by the Palestinian presidency.

"It would be short-sighted to say the least to make decisions on supplying APCs to Palestine after the Hamas victory and amid the current situation in the Middle East," the source said. "We are taking a break on the issue for now."

Israel supported the Russian decision.

"We welcome the Russian statement that they are re-evaluating and they expect to continue any such future cooperation also in coordination with us," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said.

Ivanov's remarks were clearly meant to downplay Baluyevsky's suggestions. "The consideration of the issue is at a preliminary stage," the defense minister said.

Russian officials have said the invitation to Hamas leaders was aimed at encouraging the group, branded a terrorist organization by the West, to stick to peace commitments made by the previous Palestinian administration. 

They have said Moscow would convey to Hamas the demands of the quartet of Middle East mediators, which also includes the United States, European Union and the United Nations, to recognize Israel and stop armed attacks against Israelis.

"We are now in the process of agreeing delegations, which will take part in Moscow talks," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference.

But Russia's envoy in the Middle east was quoted as saying on Friday that Moscow would not press Hamas in any way.

"We are not going to demand anything at the meeting," Interfax quoted Alexander Kalugin as saying. "It's up to them to decide what answers the interests of the Palestinian people, what helps solve problems in Israeli-Palestinian relations."
Russia to sell Palestinians arms if Israel agrees

My note; You know Israel will not agree, you also know Russia will allow the Palestinians to have the weapons.

[Shammu]

Ancient Tree Possibly Found in Indiana

1 hour, 25 minutes ago

EDINBURGH, Ind. - A large oak tree dug up last summer in a gravel pit could be 6,000 years old or more and might have been entombed by a glacier during the last ice age, scientists say.

Researchers at three universities, including Hillsdale College in Michigan, are awaiting radiocarbon test results to pinpoint the age of the tree, which a southern Indiana dredge operator found under 40 feet of sand and gravel. (Which has been proven unrealible.... DW)

But there's more than scientific knowledge at stake.

The owner of a lumber mill now treating some of the chocolate-colored wood with chemicals said it could command top dollar for fine furniture or plaques if it can be properly preserved.

Amos-Hill Associates mill President Richard Wertz said the tree inspires awe. When it was found at Lee's Ready Mix County Materials gravel pit near Brownstown, 60 miles south of Indianapolis, its root crown and much of the bark was still intact.

"You wonder what kinds of animals walked by this tree when it was standing and if it was ever seen by a human," Wertz said Thursday.

Researchers, foresters, lumbermen and gawkers watched with interest as saws ripped through the densely grained wood at Wertz's mill in Edinburgh Thursday, releasing a rich, musky scent.

Scientists at Hillsdale, Purdue University and Hanover College are studying pieces cut from the logs last month.

Anthony Swinehart, an associate professor of biology at Hillsdale, said the tree's age won't be known until the results of a radiocarbon dating test are available in a couple of weeks.

Based on how deep the tree was buried, he and others estimate its age at 6,000 years. But it could be much older — perhaps up to 30,000 years.

Swinehart said the tree, apparently about 300 years old when it was felled, was probably uprooted and deposited in its final resting place by a glacier during the last ice age.

To the untrained eye, the two 12-foot-long logs cut from the tree don't look much different than the recently felled trees waiting to be turned into veneer at Wertz's mill.

Work is under way to determine if the well-preserved wood — which had been sealed off from air and light for centuries — has any commercial value.

Some the wood will spend weeks in a kiln at Pike Lumber Co. in Akron that will slowly dry it out. Others will be soaked in a 180-degree vat of liquid at Amos-Hill, then shaved into veneer.

If the wood holds up, Wertz said it could be prove valuable for specialty uses showcasing its age. And the old tree isn't the only one buried in the Jackson County gravel pit.

"There's more down there, but you never really know what's there 'til you pull it up," said dredge operator Eugene Meeks, who found the tree.

Ancient Tree Possibly Found in Indiana

[Shammu]

Girl's prosthetic legs stolen for second time

By Aarthi Sivaraman Fri Feb 17, 10:03 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - For the second time in three months, a 16-year-old California girl who lost a leg in an accident has had her artificial limbs stolen.

Melissa Huff, an Arcadia High School student who uses a $16,000 prosthetic limb to play softball for the school team and another one, valued at $12,000, for everyday use, said both were taken from her bedroom Tuesday.

"I was picking up my little brother from school when my mom called me and asked where I left the two prosthetic legs," Huff, who lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Temple City, told Reuters in an interview.

"I knew right then that it had happened again."

Lisa Huff, her mother, said she came home around midday on Tuesday and found the room shared by Melissa and her older sister a mess. Only the prosthetic limbs were missing.

Police say they were talking to the girl's friends, neighbors and relatives for information about the missing legs.

In November, thieves broke into the Huff residence and took just her prosthetic limb. After that incident, Melissa's prosthetist and a local real estate company donated about $16,000 for a new limb.

The stolen limb was discovered in the teenager's backyard about a month ago, apparently thrown there by the thieves.

Melissa lost her real leg two years ago when a driver accidentally ran into her as she stood in front of her middle school.

She said she intends to get back on the field this week and just practice throwing until she gets another prosthetic limb.

Girl's prosthetic legs stolen for second time

[Shammu]

Nine Killed in Libyan Cartoon Protest

By KHALED EL-DEEB, Associated Press Writer 28 minutes ago

TRIPOLI, Libya - Libyans protesting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad set fire to the Italian consulate in Benghazi on Friday and clashed with police in a riot that killed at least nine people, an Italian diplomat said.

Libyan state television showed a part of the consulate on fire, and firefighters trying to extinguish it as ambulances took casualties away in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, about 400 miles east of the capital Tripoli.

Libyan security officials said police fired bullets and tear gas to contain more than 1,000 demonstrators hurling rocks and bottles during the five-hour riot.

Antonio Simoes-Concalves, an Italian consular official, said nine protesters were killed and several more had been wounded. He told The Associated Press in Rome that the Libyan police were not able to control the crowd, even though they were firing bullets and tear gas.

"They are still continually firing," he said Friday night, speaking by phone from inside the consulate where he was holed up. "They haven't managed to block them."

The Libyan officials said 11 people were killed or wounded. The casualties included police officers, but the officials declined to say how many people had died. No Italians were injured during the riot, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.

There was no indication why the Italian consulate was targeted in this North African country, which was once an Italian colony. The Italian Foreign Ministry said the consulate was the only Western diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

However in Rome, Italian politicians blamed Cabinet Minister Roberto Calderoli, who recently said he would wear a T-shirt printed with the prophet cartoons, and Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi asked for his resignation Friday.

The Italian ambassador, Francesco Trupiano, however, told SkyTG 24 that the rioters' main protest was against the original publication in the European media of the caricatures.

With the nine dead in Benghazi, at least 28 people have been killed in protests over the drawings in the past several weeks, most of them earlier in
Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Beirut, angry demonstrators torched the building housing the Danish mission on Feb. 6.

Libyan television showed two cars burning and another two gutted by fire, and a police vehicle with its rear window smashed. Wounded men were shown being carried to ambulances.

Police fired shots to try to disperse the crowd, security officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the press.

The Italian ambassador to Tripoli met late Friday with the Libyan interior minister "who expressed the condemnation of his government for the acts of violence occurring in Benghazi," the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Nine Killed in Libyan Cartoon Protest

[Shammu]

Calif. Plan Spurs Debate on Doctors, Death

By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 41 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO - California's decision to hire an anesthesiologist to monitor an execution next week has rekindled a fierce nationwide debate over medical ethics.

For the first time, California plans to have an anesthesiologist at an execution to ensure the prisoner is unconscious when a paralyzing agent and heart-stopping drugs are administered during lethal injection. The decision was made in response to a federal judge's ruling.

Defenders of the procedure say a doctor's presence ensures the execution is carried out as humanely as possible.

But several influential medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the California Medical Association, have condemned physician involvement in executions as unethical and unprofessional.

"The use of a physician's clinical skill and judgment for purposes other than promoting an individual's health and welfare undermines a basic ethical foundation of medicine — first, do no harm," said Dr. Priscilla Ray, who chairs an AMA ethics committee.

Michael Morales, 46, is scheduled to be executed Tuesday for the murder of a 17-year-old girl 25 years ago. Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to grant clemency Friday.

The issue of doctors participating in executions has been debated since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977. It has intensified now that lethal injection is used in all but one of the 38 states that execute prisoners.

Despite the ethical objections, no doctor has ever been formally reprimanded for participating in an execution. The AMA and the other professional organizations issue advisory guidelines only.

A California appellate court in 1998 tossed out a lawsuit challenging the legality of physicians attending executions.

The state board that oversees doctors in Kentucky last year dismissed a grievance filed against Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who is a doctor, alleging he violated medical ethics by signing a death warrant. The board concluded Fletcher was acting as governor and not a doctor when he allowed the execution to happen.

Dr. Arthur Zitrin, a New York University psychiatry professor and death penalty foe, filed a formal complaint in Georgia against Dr. Hothur Sanjeeva Rao. Rao stepped in to insert a catheter into a condemned prisoner's arm after medical technicians failed to do so. In December 2004, the Georgia board dismissed the complaint and an appeal was denied. Rao could not be reached for comment.

"All existing standards internationally and nationally held by professional health societies bars doctors from participating," Zitrin said. "I regret that there are colleagues who, for whatever reason, find it compelling, do participate."

A lawsuit Zitrin filed to compel the Georgia medical board to punish participating doctors is pending in a Georgia court, but a bill advancing in the Legislature would shield doctors from punishment for attending executions.

Calif. Plan Spurs Debate on Doctors, Death

[Shammu]

Porn Stars, Sex Toys Part of Yale Program

By MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 26 minutes ago

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - In a lecture hall on Yale's storied Old Campus, not long after an afternoon astronomy class has cleared out, a middle-aged sex toy saleswoman demonstrates her technique and hands out free products to an eager crowd.

"I want you to close your eyes," Patty Brisben playfully instructs a young man as she rubs scented lotion into his forearm and, to raucous laughter, reaches for an electric toy and a glove. "Fantasize about having an all-over body massage."

Welcome to Sex Week at Yale, a biennial celebration that has become one of the most provocative campus events in the country.

Organizers say Sex Week gets students talking about sex in a way that's more relevant than middle-school film strips, more honest than movies and television, and more fun than requisite college health lectures.

"To get people's attention, we do have to do things a little risque and a little different than other sex education programs," said junior Dain Lewis, who was inspired to direct Sex Week 2006 after attending the 2004 event.

Yale's event, which ends Saturday, includes lectures from dating specialists, a sex therapist and a discussion of homosexuality with a former Roman Catholic priest. More provocative sessions include a panel of porn stars and stripping lessons from a Playboy Channel hostess.

Critics say Sex Week is just the latest act of debauchery at colleges in recent years: Students started sex columns. Vassar and others created erotica journals. Harvard launched H-Bomb, a magazine featuring suggestive pictures of undergraduates. Washington University in St. Louis offered a sex-themed week with gotcha12 seminars and condom telegrams. (How right they are, when education should always come first..... DW)

"I don't see how bringing a Playboy stripper to campus is helping anything," said Travis Kavulla, editor of the Harvard Salient, which joined other conservative newspapers in giving Sex Week the Collegiate Network 2004 Outrage Award. "How are universities trying to educate students in sponsoring activities like this?"

Sex Week is a recognized student organization but Brisben's company, PureRomance.com, sponsors the events, not Yale. Advertising helps pay for marketing and for Sex Week at Yale, the Magazine.

The magazine contains sex advice for men, help for selecting the right condom and suggestions for women trying to satisfy themselves.

Editors say they're promoting sexual awareness, not sex. The magazine includes an article encouraging abstinence until marriage, a guide to healthy relationships and an essay on unrequited love.

The interview with the porn star, organizers said, was just for fun.

"It would seem like we were trying to intellectualize sex if we didn't have something on the other end of the spectrum," said Whitney Seibel, a senior psychology major who posed for the cover wearing only red panties and a strategically placed arm.

About 25,000 copies were distributed at Yale and on other campuses nationwide. The editors are considering a second printing.

While Yale may be giving off a flirty vibe this week, Brisben said she was surprised at how reserved the students were at her seminar. And for all their good grades, Brisben said Yale students seemed less clued in about sex than students elsewhere.

"I have a lot of inhibitions and fears that I'm not sure where they come from. And I don't know how common," said Kaja Wilmanska, a 20-year-old sophomore from Poland. "It opens up the ground to talk about issues people aren't comfortable talking about otherwise. Basically, I want to see what other people are saying."

Students complain that the dating scene is notoriously complicated at Yale, where every grade matters, every extracurricular is essential and everyone is in competition. Last year, author Natalie Krinsky made that awkward scene the star of her novel "Chloe Does Yale."

That's why Lewis says lectures such as Dating 101 are valuable. Lewis wants Yale to help other schools host their own versions.

"In planning it, I'm saying, 'Could I justify the educational value of this to my mom?' If we can, we're in good shape," Lewis said.

Porn Stars, Sex Toys Part of Yale Program

[Shammu]

Iran Demands British Troops Quit Basra

By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer Fri Feb 17, 4:28 PM ET

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iran's foreign minister demanded the immediate withdrawal of British forces from Basra on Friday, saying their presence had destabilized Iraq's second-largest city.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair rejected the demand and accused Iran of trying to divert attention from other issues, presumably its nuclear program. A Basra city spokesman said the departure of foreign troops "is not in Iraq's interest now" because of the security situation.

"We believe that the presence of British forces in Basra has destabilized security in this city and has had some negative effects in the form of threats against southern Iran recently," Foreign Minister Manushehr Mottaki said during a visit to Beirut, Lebanon.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran demands an immediate withdrawal of British forces from Basra," he added. Basra, where most of Britain's more than 8,000 troops in Iraq are based, is located about 20 miles west of the Iranian border.

Mottaki's call followed recent publicity surrounding last week's release of video images showing British soldiers beating Iraqi youths during a deadly January 2004 riot in Amarah, about 100 miles north of Basra.

On Tuesday, protesters marched on the British Consulate in Basra, shouted anti-British slogans and burned a British flag. Mottaki said the British forces had behaved in an "inhuman and immoral manner that constituted a flagrant violation of human rights" against Iraqi youths.

During a visit to Germany, Blair said British troops were in Iraq under a U.N. mandate and with the consent of the Iraqi government and would remain as long as "the Iraqi government wishes us to stay."

"What I would say to Iranians that there is no point in trying to divert attention from the issues to do with Iran by calling into question the British presence in Iraq which is there, as I say, with a United Nations mandate and Iraqi support," Blair said after talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

Relations between British forces and local authorities in Basra have been strained for weeks after British attempts to crack down on Shiite militias, some of which have links to Shiite-dominated Iran and to major Shiite political parties in Iraq.

Last month, British soldiers arrested several police officers, accusing them of ties to Shiite militias and criminal gangs. After the Amarah video surfaced, the Basra provincial council, dominated by the hard-line Fadhila party, severed ties with British authorities.

However, Nadim al-Jabiri, a spokesman for the Basra city council, said British forces were necessary to maintain security in the area.

"The withdrawal of foreign troops is not in Iraq's interest right now," al-Jabiri told The Associated Press. "Although we don't want them to stay indefinitely, we need them now. Their presence is important until Iraqi troops are strong enough to counter violence and terrorist acts."

Despite religious ties between Iran and Iraqi Shiites, suspicion runs deep because of bitterness left over from the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988.

U.S. and British officials believe groups in Iraq opposed to the U.S.-led coalition have received explosives and bomb-making technology from Iran. However, officials insist there is no evidence that the Tehran government is directly involved.

In Baghdad on Friday, police and U.S. troops found a total of six bodies of men, bound and shot in the head. Their identities were unknown, but they appeared to be victims of sectarian reprisal killings that have sharpened tensions between Sunnis and Shiites.

Sunni Arab politicians claim death squads linked to the Shiite-led Interior Ministry have been kidnapping and killing Sunni civilians for months. The ministry denies the charge but announced an investigation Thursday after U.S. officials reported that 22 Iraqi policemen were arrested last month before they were able to kill a Sunni Arab man north of Baghdad.

"You never like to hear about any reports of this nature," White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy said. "The Iraqi police need to uphold the highest human rights standards that is expected by the international community. That's what the United States is committed to. The Iraqi training is ongoing and that will continue to be one of the highest priorities."

At least nine people died in scattered violence around Iraq, including two civilians killed by a roadside bomb in northern Baghdad and three found hanged from a bridge in Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

Insurgents also blew up the main pipeline feeding crude oil from the northern fields of Kirkuk to a refinery near Baghdad, police Lt. Mohammed Qassim said. It was unclear how long it would take to repair the pipeline, which provides oil for use in the generation of electricity in the capital.

Insurgents routinely target Iraq's oil infrastructure as part of a campaign to derail the country's U.S.-backed reconstruction.

Iran Demands British Troops Quit Basra

My note; Seems Iran is doing alot of demanding now a days.

[Shammu]

EU to make new nukes appeal to Iran as rift deepens
Sun Feb 19, 2006 7:23 AM ET16

By Mark John

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European officials will make a fresh appeal to Iran on Monday to halt sensitive nuclear activities, warning its foreign minister on a rare trip to Brussels that the West is fast running out of patience.

The visit by Manouchehr Mottaki comes after Tehran last week resumed uranium enrichment in defiance of possible sanctions in the U.N. Security Council, and despite talks due next week on a Russian offer to enrich uranium on Iran's behalf.

Tensions have been fueled by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent verbal onslaughts on Israel and Western suspicions that Iran has deliberately stoked up Muslim anger over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad published in European newspapers.

"It is very important we repeat to Mr Mottaki the position of the EU on a range of issues -- nuclear, the Middle East peace process, democracy and human rights," said a spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who will meet Mottaki.

"We want a suspension of enrichment, adherence to the Additional Protocol (allowing snap U.N. inspections of nuclear sites) and a change in tone," said Geoffrey van Orden, a senior member of the European Parliament foreign affairs committee.

"What we can't allow is that they think they can drive a wedge between Europe and the United States," said British conservative van Orden, whose committee will receive Mottaki for a potentially abrasive question-and-answer session.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog voted this month to report Iran to the Security Council over fears -- denied by Tehran -- that it is trying to build an atomic bomb, after 2-1/2 years of European diplomacy with Tehran reached a dead end.

Mottaki will also hold talks during the one-day trip with EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and with Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht.

EU officials see the timing of the visit as no coincidence given the new depths which Iran's relations with the West have plumbed in recent weeks, and regard it as an effort by Tehran to defend its policy before a wide European audience.

With Mottaki not seen as a key player on the nuclear case, Solana and other EU officials will use the visit to urge Iran to cease alleged contacts with Islamic groups listed by the EU as terrorist organisations and raise concerns over human rights.

The EU in December accused Iran of a catalog of abuses ranging from media censorship through to child executions and has been angered by Tehran's failure to stop attacks by protesters on European missions in Iran.

"It is unacceptable that leaders do not do the absolute maximum to halt the violence," said Solana's spokeswoman.

EU to make new nukes appeal to Iran as rift deepens