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Obama vows support for Israel
Barack Obama, the US Democratic presidential candidate, has said he backs Israel's decision not to negotiate with the Palestinian group Hamas.
Speaking in the Israeli town of Sderot, which has been hit by rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza, Obama said the US also supported Israel's right to defend itself "against those who threaten its people".
He also reiterated his position that Jerusalem "will be" the capital of Israel.
However the Illinois senator, currently on the final leg of his Middle East tour, said that he believed the city to be a "final status issue" that must be decided by negotiation and said he remained committed to a two-state solution to the conflict.
The status of Jerusalem remains one of the most contentious parts of any solution to the Middle East conflict.
In June Obama caused anger in the Arab world when he said that Jerusalem should be Israel's undivided capital.
The international community, including the United States, does not recognise Israel's claim that Jerusalem is its undivided capital and Palestinians hope to have occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of any future Palestinian state. Barack Obama, the US Democratic presidential candidate, has said he backs Israel's decision not to negotiate with the Palestinian grou... more -
Obama meets leaders of the Middle East.
This isn't very interesting actually.
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Obama says he'll work for Mideast peace
Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama stepped into the thicket of Mideast politics Wednesday, declaring that neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are strong enough internally to make the bold concessions necessary for peace.
Obama said he would work to bring the two sides together "starting from the minute I'm sworn into office." But he cautioned it is "unrealistic to expect that a U.S. president alone can suddenly snap his fingers and bring about peace in this region."
I had a gut feeling that this guy would be better than better and do this! Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama stepped into the thicket of Mideast politics Wednesday, declaring that neither the Isra... more -
B-52 bomber Crashes in Guam kills at least 2
HONOLULU (AP) — The Air Force says at least two crew members are dead after the crash of a B-52 bomber off Guam.
Rescue teams are searching a vast area of the Pacific Ocean on Monday for the remaining four airmen.
The Coast Guard says six vessels, three helicopters, two F-15 fighter jets and a B-52 bomber are involved in the search.
The military says the B-52 was en route to a flyover in a parade when it crashed about 9:45 a.m. about 30 miles northwest of Apra Harbor. The plane was based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
HONOLULU (AP) — Rescue crews were searching a vast area of floating debris and a sheen of oil Monday for crew members of an Air Force B-52 bomber that crashed off the island of Guam, officials said.
At least two people from the bomber's six-man crew were recovered from the waters, but their condition was not immediately available, the Coast Guard said.
Maj. Stuart Upton, a Pentagon spokesman, said the aircraft was unarmed.
Six vessels, three helicopters, two F-15 fighter jets and a B-52 bomber were involved in the search, which had covered about 70 square miles of ocean, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. Elizabeth Buendia.
"We have an active search that's going to go on throughout the night," she said Monday. The Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and local fire and police departments were involved.
The B-52 bomber based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana was en route to conduct a flyover in a parade when it crashed around 9:45 a.m. Monday about 30 miles northwest of Apra Harbor, the Air Force said.
The Liberation Day parade celebrates the day when the U.S. military arrived on Guam to retake control of the island from Japan.
The Air Force said a board of officers will investigate the accident.
The accident is the second for the Air Force this year on Guam, a U.S. territory 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.
In February, a B-2 crashed at Andersen Air Force Base shortly after takeoff in the first-ever crash of a stealth bomber. Both pilots ejected safely. The military estimated the cost of the loss of the aircraft at $1.4 billion.
The B-52 is a long-range, heavy bomber that can refuel in mid air. Since the 159 foot-long bomber was first placed into service in 1955, it has been used for a wide range of missions from attacks to ocean surveillance. Two B-52s, in two hours, can monitor 140,000 square miles of ocean surface.
According to the Air Force's Web site, the B-52 Stratofortress has been the backbone of the manned strategic bomber force for the United States for more than four decades. It is capable of dropping or launching the widest array of weapons in the U.S. inventory, including cluster bombs and precision guided missiles. HONOLULU (AP) — The Air Force says at least two crew members are dead after the crash of a B-52 bomber off Guam. ... more -
War Video Warning:Graphic
7 years!
I have gathered an exhibition of graphic and bloody videos. 30 in all.
I believe you'll find them sickening and hard to watch.
I encourage you to view as many as possible go gain insight into the issue I'm presenting.
Watch and learn about the reality of war.
Barack Obama and John McCain want this to continue...
How can anyone see the sense or goodness in this.
Please add any links you have.
Let others know your thoughts by commenting below. 7 years! I have gathered an exhibition of graphic and bloody videos. 30 in all. ... more -
Iraqi PM announces diplomatic push
Eager to develop close ties with countries around the world and in its own backyard, Iraq continues to press ahead with diplomatic activity.
The government said on Thursday that Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, is meeting next week with the leaders of Germany and Italy and with the pope.
The government also announced the meeting in Baghdad on Thursday between al-Maliki and Saad Hariri, a top Lebanese lawmaker.
Al-Maliki's European trip will begin on Monday in Germany. He and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss strengthening economic and security ties between their two countries.
The Iraqi prime minister, who will be accompanied by a delegation, will also meet with representatives of German companies that have expressed interest and willingness to enter the Iraqi market.
Al-Maliki is to visit Italy next Thursday to discuss cooperation and investment with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
And he'll meet with Pope Benedict XVI on Friday and brief the pontiff on the steps the Iraqi government is taking to promote equality and national reconciliation.
Iraq has been urging other countries to establish ties with it and has urged the Arab world to name ambassadors and open their embassies in the country.
Sunni Arab countries had been reluctant to restore close ties because of the ongoing warfare, and have been cool to what is a Shiite-dominated government in Iraq.
Iraq, which is majority Shiite, and Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, are developing close ties. They have ambassadors in both countries and al-Maliki and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have made state visits.
Iraq is also making strides in developing ties with other neighbors -- the largely Sunni Arab world -- and other Muslim nations.
Al-Maliki earlier this month visited the United Arab Emirates, which forgave the nearly $7 billion owed to it by Baghdad and agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations with Iraq.
Al-Maliki this year has also visited neighboring Jordan and Jordan's King Abdullah is planning a trip. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iraq's northern neighbor, made a trip to Baghdad last week.
Also, Kuwait's news agency reported that the country, which borders Iraq in the south, is soon is expected to name an ambassador to Baghdad.
As for Hariri, he is the leader of the parliamentary majority in Lebanon -- a diverse country with Sunnis, Shiites and Christians that, like Iraq, has been beset by sectarian warfare.
Hariri said Iraq and Lebanon have "similar internal struggles" and that both countries are facing "interference from countries we all know," regarded as a reference to Syria and Iran.
Hariri said he wanted to show solidarity with Iraq, praised al-Maliki's plans to rebuild the country, called for investment in Iraq, and underscored the importance that democracy succeed in both places. Eager to develop close ties with countries around the world and in its own backyard, Iraq continues to press ahead with diplomatic act... more -
Obama Touches Down in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met Saturday with officials of a region of Afghanistan that has been a hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaida activity, offering his support for reconstruction and security there and throughout the country, an official said.
The Illinois senator, undertaking a campaign-season tour of combat zones and foreign capitals, began his first-ever visit to Afghanistan as part of an official congressional delegation that landed in Kabul.
Obama and other members of Congress visited Bagram Air Field, the main U.S. military base in the country, to meet with top U.S. military leaders and troops, according to a U.S. military statement. KABUL, Afghanistan - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama met Saturday with officials of a region of Afghanistan that has b... more -
Gordon Brown in unannounced Iraq visit
In a surprise visit, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is today in Baghdad, where he held talks with Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki on relations between the two countries. THe government has reported "honest and positive results" from the talks.
The leaders focussed on the importance of "building long-term relations between Iraq and Britain", as well as "economic issues."
Mt Brown will later talk with other senior Iraqi officials and leaders. In a surprise visit, Prime Minister Gordon Brown is today in Baghdad, where he held talks with Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki on relations be... more -
Obama in first Afghanistan visit
Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on saturday, to kick off his tour of the middle-east and Europe.
The trip aims to highlight his foriegn policy views, and boost their credentials: his visit to Iraq and his actions there will be important in this respect.
But Mr Obama does not plan on delivering strong words to the middle east leaders, saying he was "more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking", adding: "we have one president at a time, so it's the president's job to deliver those messages". Barack Obama arrived in Afghanistan on saturday, to kick off his tour of the middle-east and Europe. ... more -
Yusuf Islam wins damages for ‘veiled women’ slur -
Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, on Friday accepted libel damages and an apology from a news agency which reported he refused to talk to women at an awards ceremony who were not wearing a veil.
The artist, who changed his name after becoming a Muslim in the late 1970s, will donate the "substantial" payout to Small Kindness, a UN-linked charity which he chairs.
Adam Tudor, the singer's solicitor, told London's High Court that the story behind the legal action was published by World Entertainment News Network and was used on Contactmusic.com, a Web site said to have 2.2 million page views a month.
The article appeared in March 2007 and suggested that the singer was "so sexist and bigoted that he refused at an awards ceremony to speak to or even acknowledge any women who were not wearing a veil," Tudor said.
"It went on to suggest that Mr. Islam's manager had stated 'Mr. Islam doesn't speak with women except his wife. Least of all if they don't wear a headscarf. Things like that only happen via an intermediary."'
Tudor said the article had embarrassed the singer, creating a false impression of his attitude to women and also casting serious aspersions on his religious faith.
World Entertainment News Network issued an apology, saying:
"We now accept that these allegations ... are entirely without foundation, and that Mr. Islam has never had any difficulties working with women, whether for religious or for any other reason."
Islam, 59, is still best known for his hits as Cat Stevens, including "Wild World," "Morning Has Broken" and "Moonshadow."
He sold an estimated 60 million albums as Stevens, but retired from showbusiness in 1978 after converting to Islam. He released his first mainstream pop album since then in 2006.
I love his version of peace train from the 70's. What are your thoughts? Comment below. Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, on Friday accepted libel damages and an apology from a news agency which reported he refused to tal... more -
Street Style: Dubai
The latest fashion trends emerging from the streets of Dubai brought to you in this installment of Street Styles.
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Electrical Risks at Iraq Bases Are Worse Than Admitted
Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to internal Army documents.
During just one six-month period — August 2006 through January 2007 — at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military’s largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007. Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing more deaths... more -
“40 cross-dressing tourists” arrested in Dubai
Police in the Gulf state of Dubai have arrested 40 men in a crackdown on transvestites.
"Any man or woman who dresses up and behaves like the opposite gender in public will be questioned and legal action will be taken against him or her," Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai Police Chief, said in a statement on the Dubai Police website.
"The 40 transvestites were referred to the Public Prosecution, which issued an administrative deportation order against them. All of those arrested were visitors and tourists and not residents.
"This is against the UAE's traditions and social values," he said.
In May Dahi announced that transvestites caught in public would be arrested as part of a new campaign.
He said "transvestites have been seen of late in public places, including shopping malls."
He said the campaign under the slogan "Our social values are precious.. let's protect them", targets those who "do not respect social values and behave like the opposite sex."
Dahi called on the Social Affairs Ministry to study the problem and find out the actual reasons behind the increase in transvestites.
"I think studying in a mixed environment is the reason behind the increase in this problem.
"However, there must be a study to find out the actual factors behind the problem," he said.
Dubai is one of the seven oil-rich United Arab Emirates.
It is unclear if any British men were arrested, though Dubai is a popular destination for UK tourists.
Despite claims that it is the most modern and "Westernised" state in the region, homosexual relations are still considered a crime and punishments range from jail to deportation and death penalty.
Last year two men aged 35 and 18 were sentenced by a Dubai court to fifteen years in prison for raping a 15-year-old Western boy.
One of the men is HIV positive.
Alexander Robert, of French-Swiss nationality, was in the United Arab Emirates last summer when a group of men took him to a desert, threatened him with a knife and repeatedly raped him.
According to Alexander's mother Veronique Robert, authorities neglected to inform them about the HIV status of one of the rapists in an attempt to hide that AIDS was present in the country. Police in the Gulf state of Dubai have arrested 40 men in a crackdown on transvestites. ... more -
Americans being electrocuted in Iraq 'on an almost daily basis'
Among the seemingly innumerable scandal-worthy stories which have so marked the war in Iraq is one growing tragedy which has been largely ignored: shoddy electrical work by U.S. contractors at military bases leading to numerous electrical fires, troops receiving painful shocks, and even death by electrocution.
In January 2008, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a 24-year-old weapons expert, was electrocuted while showering in Baghdad's green zone. According to a criminal investigation by the Army, an electrical water pump on the building's roof shorted out from not being properly grounded when installed. On March 19 his parents sued the contractor, KBR Inc., for Sgt. Maseth's death.
According to the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette:
"The Defense Contract Management Agency, we believe, authorized [the contractor] to the tune of millions of dollars to make the repairs. And they never made the repairs," Mr. Cavanaugh said. "And we don't know why. A simple repair -- just ground the building -- and Ryan would be alive today."
On July 1, New York Times Investigative Reporter James Reisen, author of the 2006 book "State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration," took up the subject. According to Reisen, General David Petraeus stated to Congress that 13 Americans had been electrocuted since the invasion of Iraq: 12 soldiers and one contractor.
As recently as July 11, KBR Inc. electricians told a Senate panel tasked to investigate the deaths that their employer used inexperienced, non-English speaking workers to install electrical systems. Many experienced contractors, they claimed, were dismissed after raising cautions over the work.
According to the Associated Press:
"Time and again we heard, `This is not the states, OSHA doesn't apply here. If you don't like it you can go home,'" said Debbie Crawford, a journeyman electrician with 30 years experience.
Army Times reports that the shoddy wiring and electrical risks have brought about the deaths of 11 service members and two U.S. civilians.
However, a follow-up report by James Reisen in the New York Times on July 18 states that the problem is far worse than General Petraeus stated, and the military has known about the systemic problems since 2004.
Since the invasion, over 283 electrical fires on US bases have been reported, along with two deaths in 2006 at a base in Tikrit, the death of Sgt. Maseth, and innumerable painful shocks dealt to Americans.
A log of complaints compiled early in 2008 found soldiers living in just one Baghdad building complex were complaining of painful electrical shocks 'on an almost daily basis.'
In public statements, Pentagon officials have not addressed the scope of the hazards, instead mostly focusing on the circumstances surrounding the death of Sergeant Maseth, who lived near Pittsburgh.
But the internal documents, including dozens of memos, e-mail messages and reports from the Army, the Defense Contract Management Agency and other agencies, show that electrical problems were widely recognized as a major safety threat among Pentagon contracting experts. It is impossible to determine the exact number of the resulting deaths and injuries because no single document tallies them up. (The records were compiled for Congressional and Pentagon investigators and obtained independently by The Times.)
The 2007 safety survey was ordered by the top official in Iraq for the Defense Contract Management Agency, which oversees contractors, after the October 2006 electrical fire that killed two soldiers near Tikrit. Paul Dickinson, a Pentagon safety specialist who wrote the report, confirmed its findings, but did not elaborate.
READ THE REST.
Among the seemingly innumerable scandal-worthy stories which have so marked the war in Iraq is one growing tragedy which has been larg... more -
Gore ends fossil fuels for electricity by 2018
The former vice-president credited with rejuvenating America's environmental movement today issued a challenge to its people: End the use of fossil fuels for electricity within 10 years.
Al Gore's call to end the burning of carbon for power, delivered before an adoring audience in Washington, was clearly aimed at vaulting renewable energy to the top of the presidential candidates' agenda.
"Our dangerous reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all these problems – economic, environmental, national security," Gore said. "The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels."
The Nobel prizewinner likened his clean power challenge to John F Kennedy's 1961 vow to put a man on the moon within 10 years. The young president was mocked at the time, Gore observed, but the US achieved its spacewalk eight years later.
Gore also delivered a withering jab at Republicans and Democrats alike for debating whether to expand coastal oil drilling rather than how to diminish the country's unsustainable reliance on oil. The US Congress is opening debate this week on expanding domestic oil leases.
"Even those who reap the profits of the carbon age have to recognise the inevitability of its demise," Gore said, repeating former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Yamani's famous quip: "The Stone Age didn't end because of a shortage of stones."
Despite winning the popular vote against George Bush in the 2000 presidential election, Gore has displayed no interest in returning to politics. His speech today was sponsored by the Alliance for Climate Protection, a non-profit group that serves as a home base for his environmental advocacy.
He shied away from specifics during the speech, not mentioning the trillion-dollar price tag of ending carbon-based electricity. Instead, Gore urged the US to institute a carbon tax that could be offset by reducing the payroll tax on employers.
"We should tax what we burn, not what we earn," he said.
Underpinning Gore's remarks, however, was a finely tuned sense of the economic anxiety that dominates American life 13 weeks before the next presidential election. He observed that the environmental, fiscal, and national-security dangers facing the country would be eliminated by a conversion to clean energy.
"We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet," Gore said to wild applause. "Every bit of that has got to change."
John McCain and Barack Obama - whom Gore has endorsed for president - were not mentioned by name. But Gore did give kudos to Bob Barr, the former Republican congressman running for president on the Libertarian party ticket, who attended the speech.
Though Obama was not in the audience, he released a statement hailing Gore's reminder that "we cannot drill our way to energy independence, but must fast-track investments in renewable sources of energy like solar power, wind power and advanced biofuels".
"Those are the investments I will make as president," Obama added. "It's a strategy that will create millions of new jobs that pay well and cannot be outsourced, and one that will leave our children a world that is cleaner and safer."
The former vice-president credited with rejuvenating America's environmental movement today issued a challenge to its people: End the ... more -
Gas prices 'could rise 70%'
Consumer organisations attacked energy companies today for not doing enough to protect poorer people from the worst effects of spiralling gas prices .
The comments came after a report warned that gas prices could soar by up to 70% in the next two years and stay high. Annual gas bills could rise from around £600 a household to more than £1,000, according to the independent report commissioned by Centrica, which owns British Gas.
It said gas prices in the UK would be more strongly influenced by the soaring cost of oil, which has jumped above $140 a barrel this year - twice as high as a year ago. This is because declining output from the North Sea makes Britain more reliant on imports.
"The energy companies could do more to shield vulnerable people from the worst effects of rising energy prices," said Cassie Higgs, energy expert at the National Consumer Council. "An effective response would be for the companies to offer low-cost 'social' tariffs to vulnerable households, such as low-income families and elderly people. Some energy companies are doing well in this area, but others are offering schemes that are inadequate - often rationed and applied inconsistently."
Jake Ulrich, managing director of Centrica Energy, admitted that gas price rises were likely to lead to a "potentially significant" rise in the number of people in fuel poverty. He predicted that people would have to change their habits to deal with higher prices. "I do think we will see people change their behaviour," he said. "I think people will use less energy and I hate to go back to the Jimmy Carter days in the US but maybe it's two jumpers instead of one."
Energywatch, the gas and electricity watchdog, called on the government to act to reduce the pressure on wholesale gas prices and force the industry to deliver affordable energy for the less well-off.
"The government is right to say that the link to oil is a cause of the problems but wrong to say there is nothing that can be done," said chief executive Allan Asher. "The local impact is so catastrophic it should be leading the international drive to end the hugely damaging and entirely unjustifiable link between the prices of gas and oil.
Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern, said higher energy bills were hitting pensioners particularly hard. "Price rises on this scale would mean well over three million pensioner households - more than one in three - would be in fuel poverty," he said. "It is totally unacceptable that because of price hikes many older people may feel forced to cut back on their heating, which could put their health at risk."
Consumer organisations attacked energy companies today for not doing enough to protect poorer people from the worst effects of spirall... more -
Gaddafi's son Hannibal arrested for assault
The son of Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been released on bail in Swizerland after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting two of his servants.
Hannibal Gaddafi was taken into police custody, along with his heavily pregnant wife, after the alleged assault took place at the luxurious President Wilson Hotel in Geneva.
The couple, who are in Swizerland for the birth of their child, both face charges of inflicting bodily harm, threatening behaviour, and coercion, after injuries sustained on a Moroccan man and a Tunisian woman were confirmend by a medical certificate. The son of Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been released on bail in Swizerland after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting two... more -
Al-Qaida draws more foreign recruits to Afghan war
Afghanistan has been drawing a fresh influx of jihadi fighters from Turkey, Central Asia, Chechnya and the Middle East, one more sign that al-Qaida is regrouping on what is fast becoming the most active front of the war on terror groups.
More foreigners are infiltrating Afghanistan because of a recruitment drive by al-Qaida as well as a burgeoning insurgency that has made movement easier across the border from Pakistan, U.S. officials, militants and experts say.
For the past two months, Afghanistan has overtaken Iraq in deaths of U.S. and allied troops, and nine American soldiers were killed at a remote base in Kunar province Sunday in the deadliest attack in years.
Afghanistan has been drawing a fresh influx of jihadi fighters from Turkey, Central Asia, Chechnya and the Middle East, one more sign ... more -
Two-thirds of Egyptian men harass women: most men blame women for it
A survey of more than 2,000 Egyptian men and women and 109 foreign women said the vast majority of Egyptians believed that sexual harassment in Egypt was on the rise, citing a worsening economic situation and a lack of awareness or religious values.
It said 62 percent of Egyptian men reported perpetrating harassment, while 83 percent of Egyptian women reported having been sexually harassed. Nearly half of women said the abuse occurred daily.
Only 2.4 percent of Egyptian women reported it to the police, with most saying they did not believe anyone would help. Some feared reporting harassment would hurt their reputations.
"The vast majority of women did nothing when confronted with sexual harassment," the survey said, adding that most Egyptian women believed the victim should "remain silent."
Some 53 percent of men blamed women for bringing on sexual harassment, saying they enjoyed it or were dressed in a way deemed indecent. Some women agreed. A survey of more than 2,000 Egyptian men and women and 109 foreign women said the vast majority of Egyptians believed that sexual hara... more -
Alive In Baghdad: Life, from Iraqis to you
"Alive in Baghdad is a weekly news program distributed via RSS. Our limited staff is able to post a video every Monday morning, so if you’re looking for more material please look through our archive.
Alive in Baghdad employs Iraqi journalists to produce video packages each week about a variety of topics on daily life in Iraq. Through the work of a team of Americans and Iraqi correspondents on the ground, Alive in Baghdad shows the conflict through the voices of Iraqis. Alive in Baghdad brings testimonies from individual Iraqis, footage of daily life in Iraq, and short news segments from Iraq to you."
(End of excerpt from AliveInBaghdad.org)
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Video from MobLogic.tv with Lindsay Campbell
http://www.moblogic.tv/video/2008/07/14/alive-in-baghda...
"Alive in Baghdad is a weekly news program distributed via RSS. Our limited staff is able to post a video every Monday morning, so if ... more
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