The scale of the war damage to the main city in the Swat valley has become clear, as fears are expressed about the humanitarian situation in the region.
Taliban rebels were driven out of Mingora on Saturday by Pakistan government troops.
The defence secretary says operations in the whole Swat valley region should end in the next few days, though military chiefs are more cautious.
A BBC correspondent who went to Mingora has reported widespread damage.
Rifatullah Orakzai, reporting for the BBC's Urdu Service, said that all the buildings and shops in the town square had been completely destroyed.
However, local people have now been able to seek supplies in the town's market after the lifting of a curfew.
Pakistan's army said essential services were being restored to the city.
The International Red Cross said it was "gravely concerned" by the humanitarian situation in Swat.
Water and electricity were not available, there was no fuel for generators, most medical facilities had stopped operating and food was scarce, it said.
"The people of Swat need greater humanitarian protection and assistance immediately," said Pascal Cuttat, head of the organisation's delegation in Pakistan.
Fawad Hussein, of the United Nations office for the co-ordination of humanitarian affairs, said:
"Since there is no electricity supply, the wells are not working. People are forced to use alternative water sources, which is causing water-borne diseases. There is no electricity in any of the health facilities."
Some 2.5 million people have fled their homes since military operations began in Swat more than a month ago.
Army operations
Earlier, the Pakistani Defence Minister, Syed Athar Ali, told a meeting of Asian nations in Singapore that only "5% to 10% of the job" of clearing the Taliban from the Swat valley remained.
But an army spokesman said it was not possible to predict when the military operation would be completed.
Meanwhile, 40 militants were killed in an attack on a Pakistani army base near the Afghan border, officials said.
Officials said four soldiers were also killed in an eight-hour gun battle at the camp in South Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold.
"Militants came in force and attacked a paramilitary camp and fighting lasted for eight hours," an intelligence official in the region told Reuters news agency.
'Elusive enemy'
The army has said it will pursue "hardcore" rebels after recapturing Mingora, the main town in Swat.
Mingora was home to 300,000 people before the fighting began.
"The main cities in the Swat valley stand clear today. The operation is being conducted in the countryside to the right and left of the valley and to the North... so the operation is ongoing and it will take a little more time," army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told the BBC.
But while Maj Gen Abbas said the remaining militants were being hunted down, he could not confirm when the army's operation in the area would be complete.
"It's difficult to give a timeline because this is an elusive enemy that has strongholds in the countryside," he said.
The US is giving full backing to the Pakistani operations, which are linked to its own offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Pakistan army 'regains' Swat city
The Pakistan military says it has regained control of the largest town in the Swat valley from the Taliban.
Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told the BBC that the centre of Mingora was under military control, although there were still skirmishes on the outskirts.
Fighting intensified a week ago as the army strengthened its presence in the town, conducting house-to-house searches for Taliban militants.
Journalists are banned from the area so it is hard to verify the army's claims.
Hundreds of people have been killed and more than two million have fled the Swat valley since the operation against the Taliban was launched after a peace deal broke down earlier this month.
The army's latest declaration comes days after a lethal bombing in Lahore, which was later claimed by Taliban as revenge for the Swat operations.
Although the military has always had bases in Mingora, the city has in effect been under Taliban control in recent weeks.
The army said seven days ago that it had re-taken key intersections, and expected a further seven to 10 days of fighting.
Fighting has been fierce, with troops having to check houses for booby-traps as they move through the streets of the city, once home to more than 300,000 people.
Maj Gen Abbas emphasised that it was only Mingora he was talking about on Saturday.
"Much more fight in Swat is left," he told AFP news agency.
As the army aims to clear Taliban strongholds and supply depots in Swat's mountains, soldiers are battling militants in towns where many thousands of civilians are believed to be hiding.
Following the attack in Lahore, and in Peshawar a day later, Pakistan increased its reward for a Taliban chief to 50m rupees ($600,000, £372,000).
The figure is more than 10 times the original bounty for radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah - believed to be the architect of a two-year uprising in the Swat valley intended to enforce Sharia law.
Army spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas told the BBC that the centre of Mingora was under military control, although there were still skirmishes on the outskirts.
Fighting intensified a week ago as the army strengthened its presence in the town, conducting house-to-house searches for Taliban militants.
Journalists are banned from the area so it is hard to verify the army's claims.
Hundreds of people have been killed and more than two million have fled the Swat valley since the operation against the Taliban was launched after a peace deal broke down earlier this month.
The army's latest declaration comes days after a lethal bombing in Lahore, which was later claimed by Taliban as revenge for the Swat operations.
Although the military has always had bases in Mingora, the city has in effect been under Taliban control in recent weeks.
The army said seven days ago that it had re-taken key intersections, and expected a further seven to 10 days of fighting.
Fighting has been fierce, with troops having to check houses for booby-traps as they move through the streets of the city, once home to more than 300,000 people.
Maj Gen Abbas emphasised that it was only Mingora he was talking about on Saturday.
"Much more fight in Swat is left," he told AFP news agency.
As the army aims to clear Taliban strongholds and supply depots in Swat's mountains, soldiers are battling militants in towns where many thousands of civilians are believed to be hiding.
Following the attack in Lahore, and in Peshawar a day later, Pakistan increased its reward for a Taliban chief to 50m rupees ($600,000, £372,000).
The figure is more than 10 times the original bounty for radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah - believed to be the architect of a two-year uprising in the Swat valley intended to enforce Sharia law.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
US begins GM bankruptcy planning
General Motors and the US Treasury have improved the offer to GM's bondholders, as they prepare for the firm's move into bankruptcy protection.
Bondholders with $27bn (£17bn) of GM debt are now being offered the option to buy an extra 15% of GM shares as part of a proposed bankruptcy deal.
This is on top of the 10% they had previously been offered.
If bondholders back the new offer, it will allow GM to exit bankruptcy protection more quickly.
The US car giant is expected to apply for bankruptcy protection by 1 June.
GM said it had already secured the backing for the new offer from bondholders representing 20% of the bond debt.
Under its plans to reorganising its share base, the US government will take a 72.5% stake.
German row
Meanwhile efforts are continuing to secure the sale of GM's main European business Opel, and its UK brand Vauxhall.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he had received assurances from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the US government would increase its support to help secure the sale of Opel, GM's main European business, which has its headquarters in Germany.
Berlin had been due to announce its preferred bidder for Opel, and its UK Vauxhall brand, on Thursday, but it was forced to cancel its decision after GM revealed that Opel would need an extra 300m euros ($415m; £260m) in short-term funding.
German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg was critical of GM's last-minute request, calling the move "pretty scandalous".
He also criticised the level of involvement of the US Treasury Department, describing it as "marginal, to put it politely".
Berlin also announced that US investor Ripplewood Holdings had pulled out of the race for Opel, leaving Italy's Fiat and Canada's Magna in the front seat.
There had also been a last-minute expression of interest from Beijing Automotive Industry Corp (BAIC), but German officials said that their focus was on Fiat and Magna.
The sale of Opel is a key part of GM's plans to restructure its business.
The German government expects to receive the extra information it needs by Friday, when talks will reconvene in Berlin.
Job cut fears
While GM will ultimately choose who buys Opel and Vauxhall, the preference of the German government is key because Berlin has pledged the most financial support for the eventual buyer.
The German government is offering the most money because half of Opel's 50,000 workers are based in Germany.
And with Germany facing a general election in September, Berlin wishes to protect as many German job losses as possible when whoever buys Opel is expected to cut jobs to help secure the business' long-term future.
The central involvement of the German government in the Opel talks has led to British unions expressing concern that any job cuts at the company could be focused upon its Vauxhall operations in the UK that employ 5,500 people.
But UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said he had received "categorical assurances" about continued Vauxhall production.
"We are making sure the future of Vauxhall is secured," he said.
However, Lord Mandelson did admit job cuts were likely across all of the Opel business, including the Vauxhall arm.
The Belgian government has also expressed concern for the Opel workers in its country.
Bondholders with $27bn (£17bn) of GM debt are now being offered the option to buy an extra 15% of GM shares as part of a proposed bankruptcy deal.
This is on top of the 10% they had previously been offered.
If bondholders back the new offer, it will allow GM to exit bankruptcy protection more quickly.
The US car giant is expected to apply for bankruptcy protection by 1 June.
GM said it had already secured the backing for the new offer from bondholders representing 20% of the bond debt.
Under its plans to reorganising its share base, the US government will take a 72.5% stake.
German row
Meanwhile efforts are continuing to secure the sale of GM's main European business Opel, and its UK brand Vauxhall.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he had received assurances from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that the US government would increase its support to help secure the sale of Opel, GM's main European business, which has its headquarters in Germany.
Berlin had been due to announce its preferred bidder for Opel, and its UK Vauxhall brand, on Thursday, but it was forced to cancel its decision after GM revealed that Opel would need an extra 300m euros ($415m; £260m) in short-term funding.
German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg was critical of GM's last-minute request, calling the move "pretty scandalous".
He also criticised the level of involvement of the US Treasury Department, describing it as "marginal, to put it politely".
Berlin also announced that US investor Ripplewood Holdings had pulled out of the race for Opel, leaving Italy's Fiat and Canada's Magna in the front seat.
There had also been a last-minute expression of interest from Beijing Automotive Industry Corp (BAIC), but German officials said that their focus was on Fiat and Magna.
The sale of Opel is a key part of GM's plans to restructure its business.
The German government expects to receive the extra information it needs by Friday, when talks will reconvene in Berlin.
Job cut fears
While GM will ultimately choose who buys Opel and Vauxhall, the preference of the German government is key because Berlin has pledged the most financial support for the eventual buyer.
The German government is offering the most money because half of Opel's 50,000 workers are based in Germany.
And with Germany facing a general election in September, Berlin wishes to protect as many German job losses as possible when whoever buys Opel is expected to cut jobs to help secure the business' long-term future.
The central involvement of the German government in the Opel talks has led to British unions expressing concern that any job cuts at the company could be focused upon its Vauxhall operations in the UK that employ 5,500 people.
But UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said he had received "categorical assurances" about continued Vauxhall production.
"We are making sure the future of Vauxhall is secured," he said.
However, Lord Mandelson did admit job cuts were likely across all of the Opel business, including the Vauxhall arm.
The Belgian government has also expressed concern for the Opel workers in its country.
Police foil prison phone delivery
By Gary Duffy
BBC News, Sao Paulo
Police in Brazil have foiled a plot to smuggle mobile phones into a high-security prison using a remotely-controlled model helicopter.
Four people were arrested and the high-tech toy was recovered after police stopped a car near to the jail.
Mobile phones are widely used by prisoners inside jails in Brazil to continue directing criminal activities.
Earlier this year prison guards in the same state discovered that pigeons were being used to carry mobile phone parts.
It seems the plot to smuggle the mobile phones into the Presidente Venceslau high security jail in Sao Paulo state was only stymied when police stopped a car as part of a routine check.
In the boot of the vehicle they found the one-metre long model helicopter with a basket-like container attached to its base.
Inside were nine mobile phones wrapped in a disposable nappy, while another five phones were also discovered in the vehicle.
Four suspects were arrested, and the youngest, who was aged just 17, is reported to have confessed they had been given $5,000 to buy and prepare the helicopter.
They were apparently to be paid the same amount if they had successfully landed the model inside the prison walls.
Prisoners in Brazilian jails routinely use mobile phones to carry on with criminal activity, and the police say the ones they recovered were probably intended to go to gang leaders inside the jail.
It is not the first time that the authorities have foiled an innovative attempt to smuggle material into a jail in Brazil.
Earlier this year Sao Paulo state prison guards uncovered a plot using pigeons to carry mobile phone parts over the walls of a jail.
BBC News, Sao Paulo
Police in Brazil have foiled a plot to smuggle mobile phones into a high-security prison using a remotely-controlled model helicopter.
Four people were arrested and the high-tech toy was recovered after police stopped a car near to the jail.
Mobile phones are widely used by prisoners inside jails in Brazil to continue directing criminal activities.
Earlier this year prison guards in the same state discovered that pigeons were being used to carry mobile phone parts.
It seems the plot to smuggle the mobile phones into the Presidente Venceslau high security jail in Sao Paulo state was only stymied when police stopped a car as part of a routine check.
In the boot of the vehicle they found the one-metre long model helicopter with a basket-like container attached to its base.
Inside were nine mobile phones wrapped in a disposable nappy, while another five phones were also discovered in the vehicle.
Four suspects were arrested, and the youngest, who was aged just 17, is reported to have confessed they had been given $5,000 to buy and prepare the helicopter.
They were apparently to be paid the same amount if they had successfully landed the model inside the prison walls.
Prisoners in Brazilian jails routinely use mobile phones to carry on with criminal activity, and the police say the ones they recovered were probably intended to go to gang leaders inside the jail.
It is not the first time that the authorities have foiled an innovative attempt to smuggle material into a jail in Brazil.
Earlier this year Sao Paulo state prison guards uncovered a plot using pigeons to carry mobile phone parts over the walls of a jail.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Bolivia marks freedom bicentenary
Bolivians marked the 200th anniversary of their country's uprising against Spanish rule with rival ceremonies in different parts of the country.
Addressing the nation, President Evo Morales said that Latin Americans were engaged in a second struggle for liberation against capitalism.
Meanwhile, the opposition held parades in the constitutional capital Sucre.
Bolivia is the first of many South American states that will celebrate bicentennials in the next few years.
'New enemy'
President Morales made his speech in a remote Andean village where one of Bolivia's greatest independence fighters, Juana Azurduy, had been based.
A former trade unionist, he said capitalism had put the wealth in the hands of the few and it was now the enemy that had to be fought, the BBC's Candace Piette reports.
Mr Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, told the gathering of farmers and dignitaries that Latin Americans have been oppressed for years and are still fighting against internal and external enemies.
"The people who forget their struggle and their history are a people who have no awareness of their destiny," the president was quoted as saying by Spanish news agency, EFE.
Meanwhile in Sucre, where the independence struggle started 200 years ago, opposition leaders attended a separate event and used their speeches to criticise Mr Morales for "creating divisions" in the country.
There were processions through the streets and the city's church bells were rung at the end of days of dancing displays and school military marching bands in the main square, our correspondent says.
Police in Sucre had been on high alert, following last year's violent attacks, when Indians were allegedly picked out and beaten, some stripped and publicly humiliated.
Addressing the nation, President Evo Morales said that Latin Americans were engaged in a second struggle for liberation against capitalism.
Meanwhile, the opposition held parades in the constitutional capital Sucre.
Bolivia is the first of many South American states that will celebrate bicentennials in the next few years.
'New enemy'
President Morales made his speech in a remote Andean village where one of Bolivia's greatest independence fighters, Juana Azurduy, had been based.
A former trade unionist, he said capitalism had put the wealth in the hands of the few and it was now the enemy that had to be fought, the BBC's Candace Piette reports.
Mr Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, told the gathering of farmers and dignitaries that Latin Americans have been oppressed for years and are still fighting against internal and external enemies.
"The people who forget their struggle and their history are a people who have no awareness of their destiny," the president was quoted as saying by Spanish news agency, EFE.
Meanwhile in Sucre, where the independence struggle started 200 years ago, opposition leaders attended a separate event and used their speeches to criticise Mr Morales for "creating divisions" in the country.
There were processions through the streets and the city's church bells were rung at the end of days of dancing displays and school military marching bands in the main square, our correspondent says.
Police in Sucre had been on high alert, following last year's violent attacks, when Indians were allegedly picked out and beaten, some stripped and publicly humiliated.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Brazil floods displace thousands
The Brazilian authorities say almost 380,000 people still cannot return home because of floods that began last month in the Amazon basin.
The bad weather is forecast to persist for another fortnight.
The Brazilian government has released more than $435m (£273m) in aid for victims of the flooding in the north and north-east of the country.
A BBC correspondent says the damage across the region runs into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Forty-five people are said to have died across eight states and many small farmers say the flooding has devastated this year's crops, the BBC's Gary Duffy reports from Sao Paulo.
Nearly 400,000 children are also missing classes either because roads are blocked, classrooms are under water, or schools are being used as shelters to accommodate the homeless, he adds.
The situation is said to be most critical in the state of Amazonas, where a quarter of all pupils are affected.
Despite the government's emergency aid, there are reports from the worst-affected areas that help is not reaching those who need it most.
In the northern town of Trizidela do Vale, food supplies are said to be insufficient to meet demand, despite pleas from local community leaders, our correspondent says.
Experts say global warming may be behind the wild climate swings that have brought periods of unprecedented droughts and flooding to the Amazon in recent years.
The bad weather is forecast to persist for another fortnight.
The Brazilian government has released more than $435m (£273m) in aid for victims of the flooding in the north and north-east of the country.
A BBC correspondent says the damage across the region runs into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Forty-five people are said to have died across eight states and many small farmers say the flooding has devastated this year's crops, the BBC's Gary Duffy reports from Sao Paulo.
Nearly 400,000 children are also missing classes either because roads are blocked, classrooms are under water, or schools are being used as shelters to accommodate the homeless, he adds.
The situation is said to be most critical in the state of Amazonas, where a quarter of all pupils are affected.
Despite the government's emergency aid, there are reports from the worst-affected areas that help is not reaching those who need it most.
In the northern town of Trizidela do Vale, food supplies are said to be insufficient to meet demand, despite pleas from local community leaders, our correspondent says.
Experts say global warming may be behind the wild climate swings that have brought periods of unprecedented droughts and flooding to the Amazon in recent years.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
NKorea says it conducted nuclear test
SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea announced Monday that it successfully carried out an underground nuclear test, weeks after threatening to restart its rogue atomic program.
The country's official Korean Central News Agency called Monday's test "part of measures to bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense."
President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency security session. His spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan, confirmed that a nuclear test may have been carried out in the North.
Seismologists from the U.S., South Korea and Japan reported earthquakes in an northeastern area, where North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2006.
A 4.7-magnitude earthquake was registered in northeastern North Korea at 9:54 a.m. (0054 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The quake, measured at a depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers) underground, occurred 40 miles (70 kilometers) northwest of the city of Kimchaek, the USGS said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency also said it detected seismic activity Monday morning. "We are checking whether they were due to a nuclear test," agency official Gen Aoki said in Tokyo.
In Seoul, the Korea Institue of Geoscience and Mineral Resources reported a 4.5-magnitude quake in Kilju in North Hamgyong Province.
North Korea also carried out a nuclear test in October 2006 in Kilju, a test that drew sanctions from the United Nations and prompted five other nations to push negotiations on a nuclear disablement-for-aid pact with North Korea.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Andy Laine said the U.S. government had no confirmation of a new nuclear test.
"At this point we've seen the reports and we're trying to get more information, but we're not able to confirm at this time," Laine said.
The country's official Korean Central News Agency called Monday's test "part of measures to bolster its nuclear deterrent for self-defense."
President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency security session. His spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan, confirmed that a nuclear test may have been carried out in the North.
Seismologists from the U.S., South Korea and Japan reported earthquakes in an northeastern area, where North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2006.
A 4.7-magnitude earthquake was registered in northeastern North Korea at 9:54 a.m. (0054 GMT), the U.S. Geological Survey said.
The quake, measured at a depth of 6 miles (10 kilometers) underground, occurred 40 miles (70 kilometers) northwest of the city of Kimchaek, the USGS said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency also said it detected seismic activity Monday morning. "We are checking whether they were due to a nuclear test," agency official Gen Aoki said in Tokyo.
In Seoul, the Korea Institue of Geoscience and Mineral Resources reported a 4.5-magnitude quake in Kilju in North Hamgyong Province.
North Korea also carried out a nuclear test in October 2006 in Kilju, a test that drew sanctions from the United Nations and prompted five other nations to push negotiations on a nuclear disablement-for-aid pact with North Korea.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Andy Laine said the U.S. government had no confirmation of a new nuclear test.
"At this point we've seen the reports and we're trying to get more information, but we're not able to confirm at this time," Laine said.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Castroneves, Patrick headline Indy's deepest field in years
By Tim Tuttle
Everything points to this Indianapolis 500 being one of the most competitive races in the event's 93-race history. It'll be a grueling test of speed and pit-stop execution on IndyCar's fastest and most demanding track.
The driver lineup is deeper than last year with the return of 2007 Indy winner Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy, the maturing of Graham Rahal and the addition of a third entry from Penske Racing for Will Power. They're all threats to drink the milk Sunday. Penske's Ryan Briscoe, starting from the middle of the front row, has a shot at it, too.
Dan Wheldon, the 2005 winner, Vitor Meira, second at Indy twice in the past four races and Mario Moraes are outside possibilities.
All eight are talented and with solid teams, but here's my list of the five drivers who will be the most watched Sunday by the crowd of about 300,000. These five are most likely to add their image to the Borg-Warner Trophy.
1. Helio Castroneves
Castroneves starts from the pole, which says everything about his ability to stretch his car when necessary. The Brazilian has the speed to run at the front all day -- perhaps even dominate -- and he'll have it when he needs it most: in the final 20 laps. In this IndyCar era of every driver having a Dallara chassis, Honda engine and Firestone tires, three of the past five winners have started on the pole. Historically, that's significant. Only 17 won from the pole in the first 87, 19.5 percent.
Castroneves has two of the 14 victories for Roger Penske, by far the 500's most successful car owner, and almost became the first to win three straight when he finished second to teammate Gil de Ferran in 2003. Castroneves was flying through the field following a pit stop late in the 2007 race, up to third and closing on leader Franchitti, when rain ended the race with 34 laps to go. If the race had gone the distance, Castroneves was the likely winner. He's magic at Indianapolis, and he still drives for Penske, which has clearly improved its Dallara over last year. All Dallaras are created the same, but teams can do development work under the skin.
2. Scott Dixon
Dixon has flown under the radar this month, a surprise considering he led 115 laps last year en route to victory, went on to take the IndyCar Series championship and is starting from the second row. He's 28, and this will be his seventh straight start in the 500 for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. This is a driver in his prime with tons of experience and continuity, and who has developed into a force at Indianapolis. He finished sixth in 2006 and second in 2007.
Dixon's victory at Kansas in the race leading into Indianapolis was his 11th since halfway through the 2006 season. You can count on him being cool under fire. They don't call him the Iceman for nothing.
3. Tony Kanaan
Kanaan has done everything at Indianapolis except win. He won the pole in 2005, finished second in the rain-shortened 2004 race and has led laps in each of his previous seven starts (214 in total). The Brazilian can get it done at Indianapolis. He doesn't need good luck; he just needs to not have bad luck. Case in point: In 2007, he led eight times for 83 laps, but was forced to spin to avoid another spinning car, and finished 12th.
Kanaan is the team leader at Andretti Green Racing, which hasn't shown the outright speed of the Penske and Ganassi teams this month. Still, he's starting sixth, highest on the team. Kanaan, the 2004 series champion, has 13 career wins in IndyCar. His next victory could be Sunday. He's a big-time racer.
4. Danica Patrick
Patrick's stardom began in the 2005 Indianapolis 500 when Rahal Letterman Racing decided to forgo a pit stop during a late-race caution, and she took the lead, becoming the first woman to lead the race. She finished fourth. What has been largely overlooked about that performance is that Patrick passed eventual-winner Dan Wheldon for the lead on a restart. Wheldon had passed her on the previous restart and Patrick took the lead right back. It proved she had the ability to race
Everything points to this Indianapolis 500 being one of the most competitive races in the event's 93-race history. It'll be a grueling test of speed and pit-stop execution on IndyCar's fastest and most demanding track.
The driver lineup is deeper than last year with the return of 2007 Indy winner Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy, the maturing of Graham Rahal and the addition of a third entry from Penske Racing for Will Power. They're all threats to drink the milk Sunday. Penske's Ryan Briscoe, starting from the middle of the front row, has a shot at it, too.
Dan Wheldon, the 2005 winner, Vitor Meira, second at Indy twice in the past four races and Mario Moraes are outside possibilities.
All eight are talented and with solid teams, but here's my list of the five drivers who will be the most watched Sunday by the crowd of about 300,000. These five are most likely to add their image to the Borg-Warner Trophy.
1. Helio Castroneves
Castroneves starts from the pole, which says everything about his ability to stretch his car when necessary. The Brazilian has the speed to run at the front all day -- perhaps even dominate -- and he'll have it when he needs it most: in the final 20 laps. In this IndyCar era of every driver having a Dallara chassis, Honda engine and Firestone tires, three of the past five winners have started on the pole. Historically, that's significant. Only 17 won from the pole in the first 87, 19.5 percent.
Castroneves has two of the 14 victories for Roger Penske, by far the 500's most successful car owner, and almost became the first to win three straight when he finished second to teammate Gil de Ferran in 2003. Castroneves was flying through the field following a pit stop late in the 2007 race, up to third and closing on leader Franchitti, when rain ended the race with 34 laps to go. If the race had gone the distance, Castroneves was the likely winner. He's magic at Indianapolis, and he still drives for Penske, which has clearly improved its Dallara over last year. All Dallaras are created the same, but teams can do development work under the skin.
2. Scott Dixon
Dixon has flown under the radar this month, a surprise considering he led 115 laps last year en route to victory, went on to take the IndyCar Series championship and is starting from the second row. He's 28, and this will be his seventh straight start in the 500 for Target Chip Ganassi Racing. This is a driver in his prime with tons of experience and continuity, and who has developed into a force at Indianapolis. He finished sixth in 2006 and second in 2007.
Dixon's victory at Kansas in the race leading into Indianapolis was his 11th since halfway through the 2006 season. You can count on him being cool under fire. They don't call him the Iceman for nothing.
3. Tony Kanaan
Kanaan has done everything at Indianapolis except win. He won the pole in 2005, finished second in the rain-shortened 2004 race and has led laps in each of his previous seven starts (214 in total). The Brazilian can get it done at Indianapolis. He doesn't need good luck; he just needs to not have bad luck. Case in point: In 2007, he led eight times for 83 laps, but was forced to spin to avoid another spinning car, and finished 12th.
Kanaan is the team leader at Andretti Green Racing, which hasn't shown the outright speed of the Penske and Ganassi teams this month. Still, he's starting sixth, highest on the team. Kanaan, the 2004 series champion, has 13 career wins in IndyCar. His next victory could be Sunday. He's a big-time racer.
4. Danica Patrick
Patrick's stardom began in the 2005 Indianapolis 500 when Rahal Letterman Racing decided to forgo a pit stop during a late-race caution, and she took the lead, becoming the first woman to lead the race. She finished fourth. What has been largely overlooked about that performance is that Patrick passed eventual-winner Dan Wheldon for the lead on a restart. Wheldon had passed her on the previous restart and Patrick took the lead right back. It proved she had the ability to race
Former S. Korean President Roh commits suicide
(CNN)
Former South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun committed suicide Saturday by leaping to his death from a hill behind his house, the South Korean government announced.
He was 62.
Roh, who was president from 2003 to 2008, had gone hiking near his home with an aide around 6:30 a.m. Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET Friday), the state-run Yonhap news agency said. He was found later with head injuries, and died at 9:30 a.m. after being taken to a hospital in Busan, police said. A hospital spokesman declined to comment.
Roh left a suicide note for his family that family lawyer Moon Jae-in handed out to South Korean media. News reports said Roh wrote it on his computer about half an hour before he left the house.
"I am in debt to too many people," the note reads. "Too many people have suffered because of me. And I cannot imagine the suffering they will go through in the future."
Roh's death came amid an investigation into a bribery scandal that had tarnished his reputation.
Prosecutors were investigating the former president for allegedly receiving $6 million in bribes from a South Korean businessman while in office. Roh's wife was scheduled to be questioned by prosecutors Saturday, and Roh was planning to answer a second round of questions next week.
With Roh's death, prosecutors said, the case against him has been suspended.
Roh had said he was ashamed about the scandal. In the first round of questioning, he said he was losing face and that he was disappointing his supporters.
The former president said he learned about the payments only after he left office and that some of them were legitimate investments, Yonhap reported.
Roh wrote about his thoughts on a blog that he maintained, which also attracted supporters and tourists to his hometown, Yonhap said.
Roh's suicide note said his health was poor and that "nothing is left in my life but to be a burden to others."
"Don't be too sad. Aren't life and death both a piece of nature? Don't be sorry. Don't blame anyone. It is fate," he wrote.
The note asks that his body be cremated and for a small headstone to be left near his house.
"It's what I have thought about for a long time," he writes at the end.
Although Roh had not made a formal guilty plea, many were disappointed that a man who came to power vowing an end to corruption would face such allegations.
Roh hoped to leave a legacy of improved relations with North Korea.
Just before he left the presidency, Roh became the first South Korean leader to cross the demilitarized zone and meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong il. Roh believed in the "sunshine policy" of his predecessor, Kim Dae-Jung, that sought to engage the north and Roh also promised aid.
Roh spoke to CNN Correspondent Sohn Jie-ae just after that trip and said he thought his legacy would be to ensure that many others crossed the demilitarized zone after him. The current South Korean president, Lee Myung-Bak, however, takes a harder line on the north and has so far not continued Roh's efforts.
Former South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun committed suicide Saturday by leaping to his death from a hill behind his house, the South Korean government announced.
He was 62.
Roh, who was president from 2003 to 2008, had gone hiking near his home with an aide around 6:30 a.m. Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET Friday), the state-run Yonhap news agency said. He was found later with head injuries, and died at 9:30 a.m. after being taken to a hospital in Busan, police said. A hospital spokesman declined to comment.
Roh left a suicide note for his family that family lawyer Moon Jae-in handed out to South Korean media. News reports said Roh wrote it on his computer about half an hour before he left the house.
"I am in debt to too many people," the note reads. "Too many people have suffered because of me. And I cannot imagine the suffering they will go through in the future."
Roh's death came amid an investigation into a bribery scandal that had tarnished his reputation.
Prosecutors were investigating the former president for allegedly receiving $6 million in bribes from a South Korean businessman while in office. Roh's wife was scheduled to be questioned by prosecutors Saturday, and Roh was planning to answer a second round of questions next week.
With Roh's death, prosecutors said, the case against him has been suspended.
Roh had said he was ashamed about the scandal. In the first round of questioning, he said he was losing face and that he was disappointing his supporters.
The former president said he learned about the payments only after he left office and that some of them were legitimate investments, Yonhap reported.
Roh wrote about his thoughts on a blog that he maintained, which also attracted supporters and tourists to his hometown, Yonhap said.
Roh's suicide note said his health was poor and that "nothing is left in my life but to be a burden to others."
"Don't be too sad. Aren't life and death both a piece of nature? Don't be sorry. Don't blame anyone. It is fate," he wrote.
The note asks that his body be cremated and for a small headstone to be left near his house.
"It's what I have thought about for a long time," he writes at the end.
Although Roh had not made a formal guilty plea, many were disappointed that a man who came to power vowing an end to corruption would face such allegations.
Roh hoped to leave a legacy of improved relations with North Korea.
Just before he left the presidency, Roh became the first South Korean leader to cross the demilitarized zone and meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong il. Roh believed in the "sunshine policy" of his predecessor, Kim Dae-Jung, that sought to engage the north and Roh also promised aid.
Roh spoke to CNN Correspondent Sohn Jie-ae just after that trip and said he thought his legacy would be to ensure that many others crossed the demilitarized zone after him. The current South Korean president, Lee Myung-Bak, however, takes a harder line on the north and has so far not continued Roh's efforts.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Nuggets an improbable success
By Scott Howard-Cooper
The Denver players who have every chance of winning the Western Conference finals have no business being in the Western Conference finals.
Nenê had cancer.
Chris Andersen had an addiction.
Kenyon Martin had microfracture knee surgery. Twice.
Chauncey Billups had a locker in Michigan.
Dahntay Jones had two years only Bekins could love.
The Nuggets are not having a successful season. The Nuggets are having a magical season, the kind of run when so many things going wrong, life-threateningly wrong, come together.
This is stars-in-alignment stuff. Beating cancer around the same time as beating drugs around the same time as Carmelo Anthony's growth from his Olympic experience around the same time of the trade. Sorry -- The Trade. Not all in the identical moment, but close enough to uniquely and strangely shape the 2008-09 Nuggets as one of the NBA's great success stories of recent years no matter what becomes of this 1-0 deficit to the Lakers. There just aren't convergences like this.
"I think there's very much of a can-do attitude with these guys," said Mark Warkentien, the vice president of basketball operations.
Because of the have-been-through experiences.
Billups first. Of course Billups first. He was a Piston at the start of the season before the trade that tipped the league. It was a blockbuster at the time because Allen Iverson and Billups were involved, but has become more than that. There was no way to anticipate the level to which Billups' leadership would alter history as he enjoyed a storybook return to his hometown.
"He's maybe as revered in that city and state for who he is and how he carries himself, and has always carried himself, as for what he does on the court," said Rex Chapman, Denver's vice president of player personnel.
Billups was the point guard and the calming effect. The Nuggets needed both, and not necessarily in that order.
"We've got some, I guess they could be considered some volatile, combustible personalities at times," Chapman said. "A voice of reason out there probably does us a lot of good."
Nenê is the starting center who overcame testicular cancer. The surgery to remove a tumor and subsequent treatment cost him nearly half of last season, along with another quarter lost to a thumb injury. So, yeah, he is really going to sweat Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.
From cancer to 77 games this regular season and 11 more and counting in the playoffs.
"I just look at him in awe of his whole deal," Warkentien said.
Andersen is the guy kicked out of the league in January 2006 for violating the substance-abuse policy and reinstated in March 2008. He played 34 minutes in five games for the Hornets last season, then became a free agent with a future as uncertain as his past had been destructive.
"There were probably a lot of guys nervous about him," Warkentien said of teams not wanting to invest in someone fighting such a public battle with demons.
Including the Nuggets.
"Sure," Warkentien said. "We know the numbers with this kind of deal [of how common it is for people to fall back into addiction]. We're educated men."
Andersen became the reserve forward-center who finished second in the league in blocked shots while logging just 20.6 minutes a game.
Educated, rewarded men.
Martin had microfracture surgery on his left knee, the procedure that is supposed to signal a doomed career, in May 2005. Then he had it on his right knee in November 2006. All he's done since is play 75 games last season, including the playoffs, and 77 this time.
Jones went from 2006-07 with the Grizzlies to being waived by the Celtics the following training camp to 25 games with the Kings in '07-08 to being waived again to joining Fort Wayne of the D-League to signing with the Nuggets last summer. To starting at shooting guard!
Anthony was always bursting with talent. But his summer with the gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic team, surrounded not only by the best but also the most focused, seemed to move him to a new level. In the play
The Denver players who have every chance of winning the Western Conference finals have no business being in the Western Conference finals.
Nenê had cancer.
Chris Andersen had an addiction.
Kenyon Martin had microfracture knee surgery. Twice.
Chauncey Billups had a locker in Michigan.
Dahntay Jones had two years only Bekins could love.
The Nuggets are not having a successful season. The Nuggets are having a magical season, the kind of run when so many things going wrong, life-threateningly wrong, come together.
This is stars-in-alignment stuff. Beating cancer around the same time as beating drugs around the same time as Carmelo Anthony's growth from his Olympic experience around the same time of the trade. Sorry -- The Trade. Not all in the identical moment, but close enough to uniquely and strangely shape the 2008-09 Nuggets as one of the NBA's great success stories of recent years no matter what becomes of this 1-0 deficit to the Lakers. There just aren't convergences like this.
"I think there's very much of a can-do attitude with these guys," said Mark Warkentien, the vice president of basketball operations.
Because of the have-been-through experiences.
Billups first. Of course Billups first. He was a Piston at the start of the season before the trade that tipped the league. It was a blockbuster at the time because Allen Iverson and Billups were involved, but has become more than that. There was no way to anticipate the level to which Billups' leadership would alter history as he enjoyed a storybook return to his hometown.
"He's maybe as revered in that city and state for who he is and how he carries himself, and has always carried himself, as for what he does on the court," said Rex Chapman, Denver's vice president of player personnel.
Billups was the point guard and the calming effect. The Nuggets needed both, and not necessarily in that order.
"We've got some, I guess they could be considered some volatile, combustible personalities at times," Chapman said. "A voice of reason out there probably does us a lot of good."
Nenê is the starting center who overcame testicular cancer. The surgery to remove a tumor and subsequent treatment cost him nearly half of last season, along with another quarter lost to a thumb injury. So, yeah, he is really going to sweat Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.
From cancer to 77 games this regular season and 11 more and counting in the playoffs.
"I just look at him in awe of his whole deal," Warkentien said.
Andersen is the guy kicked out of the league in January 2006 for violating the substance-abuse policy and reinstated in March 2008. He played 34 minutes in five games for the Hornets last season, then became a free agent with a future as uncertain as his past had been destructive.
"There were probably a lot of guys nervous about him," Warkentien said of teams not wanting to invest in someone fighting such a public battle with demons.
Including the Nuggets.
"Sure," Warkentien said. "We know the numbers with this kind of deal [of how common it is for people to fall back into addiction]. We're educated men."
Andersen became the reserve forward-center who finished second in the league in blocked shots while logging just 20.6 minutes a game.
Educated, rewarded men.
Martin had microfracture surgery on his left knee, the procedure that is supposed to signal a doomed career, in May 2005. Then he had it on his right knee in November 2006. All he's done since is play 75 games last season, including the playoffs, and 77 this time.
Jones went from 2006-07 with the Grizzlies to being waived by the Celtics the following training camp to 25 games with the Kings in '07-08 to being waived again to joining Fort Wayne of the D-League to signing with the Nuggets last summer. To starting at shooting guard!
Anthony was always bursting with talent. But his summer with the gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic team, surrounded not only by the best but also the most focused, seemed to move him to a new level. In the play
Magic show grit, Cavaliers finally getting tested; more observations
By Steve Aschburner
Five playoff thoughts -- or should we say, fi' playoff thoughts, while setting aside any notion of fo', fo', fo' and fo' for the Cleveland Cavaliers ...
1. Orlando is either unusually tough for a team built around jump shooters or remarkably finesse-full for a team that's so tough.
The twain rarely meet in the NBA -- perimeter-oriented teams frequently get characterized as "soft,'' while more resilient clubs typically demonstrate that by forcing action inside and getting to the line for ugly wins. But Orlando, in rallying for a 3-2 series deficit vs. Boston last week, proved wrong critics who felt it was as squeezable as Charmin, and it did it again Wednesday night in its 107-106 comeback victory (RECAP | BOX) over Cleveland in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Sure, the Magic jump-shot themselves back into the game, hitting 62.5 percent (35 of 56) over the final three quarters after a 8-of-22 start. Sure, seven of their nine three-pointers came after intermission. But they took care of business in more gritty ways, too. Such as their 50 points in the paint. Their 36-33 rebounding edge. The 19 points they limited Cleveland to in the third quarter. And the discipline to whittle the Cavaliers' 15- point halftime lead down to nothing -- in fact, an 85-84 Orlando lead -- over the first 14 minutes of the second half. None of that NBA cliché alibiing ("They used up so much energy clawing back that they had nothing left'') from the Magic. They stayed focused, they stayed true to the things that got them this far -- Dwight Howard inside, everybody else outside -- and they did it in the league's most difficult arena for visiting teams. If you're scoring at home, the Cavaliers are 43-3 now at the Q, regular season and playoffs.
"They hit us first,'' said Rashard Lewis, whose 17 points over the final two quarters were only six less than LeBron James scored in that span, his 7-of-8 shooting -- including the game-winning three-pointer with 14.7 seconds left -- nearly as impressive as what the King did. "I feel like we only played one half tonight, and that was the second half. We were a little timid in the first half ... Coach got into us at halftime. I thought we played tremendous defense the second half, as well as moved the ball around.''
Lewis added: "Coach mentioned to us on the bench that we'd been in tough situations like this in the playoffs. Cleveland hadn't.''
Orlando's defense put the Cavaliers into a way-back machine, Cleveland reverting down the stretch to its retro LeBron and Four Guys Watching mode. It surely planted doubts, too, with the way it blew past the Cavs' playoff standards -- from a 78.1 defensive average to 107 points allowed, from an 8-0 record built on an average scoring margin of +16.8 points to this deflating home loss. Don't forget, either, that when the teams met in April in central Florida, the Magic waltzed in a 116-87 victory and now has won three of four meetings since November.
2. Letting LeBron get his might work after all.
Asked about that possible tactic prior to the series -- accepting the impossibility of containing James, so clamping down as much as possible on his teammates -- Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy answered that question with a question. "How many are we talking about?'' he wondered. If it was 30 points, sure, Van Gundy conceded, that might work. The problem with guys like James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and one or two others, he said, is that each of them can rear up and score 50 on you.
Or, in this case, 49. James set his personal playoff high, topping that memorable game in 2007 against Detroit when he scored 48, by hitting 20 of his 30 field-goal attempts. He had 16 of Cleveland's 18 during a late stretch in the first half, and eight in the game's final four minutes. But James was dragging when coach Mike Brown called a timeout with 2:47 left and, after the final horn, the Cavs star lingered on the floor -- surrounded by staffers -- as he inventoried the cramps clenching in his l egs.
Van Gundy got some nice mileage out of Mickael Pietrus as a defensive option on James, which allowed Hedo Turkoglu to devote more energy to offense (15 points, 14 assists) while keeping him out of foul trouble. He also was able to cover James' point total with just two Magic starters; Lewis and Howard combined for 52. Still, letting James get his remains a risky strategy.
"If that were my formula, it still got them 107 points and great shooting,'' the Orlando coach told reporters afterward. "The one thing I don't lave this game with is any idea what to do with him, whatsoever. You'd like to come out of Game 1 and say, at least we found a game plan that will work. We can't say that.''
3. Cleveland finally is getting tested.
Enough already with the red carpet. This is competition, not a coronation. The Cavaliers had breezed through two rounds with eight easy victories, all decided by double digits. They had nine days to lounge around after dispatching Detroit, eight days to laze about after smacking down Atlanta. Those days are done, and you get the sense Cleveland -- the team anyway, not the fans -- is fine facing a tougher go of it.
"It's always good,'' James said. "Nobody said it was going to be easy.''
The beauty of the playoffs are the adjustments required, as two opponents learn each other's gameplans almost as thoroughly as they know their own. The Cavaliers barely did any of that through their first two series. Now, finally, we get to see their championship resolve -- if it exists -- emerge. Something tells me, if Brown has anything to say about it, Orlando won't be shooting 55 percent from the field Friday night.
4. Howard brought down the shot clock but needed help to bring down the Cavs.
He got it, too. As if the Cavaliers hadn't waited long enough to get busy again, they and the Magic had to deal with a delay of nearly 8 ½ minutes after Howard, on a dunk for Orlando's first points, caused the shot clock atop that basket to collapse backwards. It was replaced for the rest of the first half by old-fashioned, boxy clocks in the corners of the court, then swapped out at halftime for a completely new stanchion.
The Orlando center scored 13 more baskets and finished with 30 points, but he was watching helplessly from the side for the game's last 25.6 seconds, picking up his sixth foul on a shaky call when James attacked him inside. Lewis scored eight of the Magic's final 12 points and Turkoglu was a revelation directing the attack. He scored nine points in the fourth quarter, snookered Anderson Varejao into a frustrating foul by jumping into him with 1:17 left and repeatedly was caught by the cameras smiling and enjoying what so many in his spot would feel as pressure or tension.
5. Even pigeons didn't like Cleveland's bench in Game 1.
Orlando's reserves outscored the backup Cavs, 25-5. You might argue that they had to, given that the Magic was more worn down (they played seven games against Boston, with a couple of flights mixed into its 72-hour turnaround). But that doesn't excuse the chintzy contributions from Joe Smith (five points, one rebound, a minus-8 rating), Wally Szczerbiak (0-of-2 shooting, minus-7), Ben Wallace (no points, minus-14) or Daniel Gibson (3:14 on the court, zeroes across the board). And it doesn't explain the DNP-CD of Sasha Pavlovic when Mo Williams and Delonte West were combining to miss 20 of their first 28 shots.
Five playoff thoughts -- or should we say, fi' playoff thoughts, while setting aside any notion of fo', fo', fo' and fo' for the Cleveland Cavaliers ...
1. Orlando is either unusually tough for a team built around jump shooters or remarkably finesse-full for a team that's so tough.
The twain rarely meet in the NBA -- perimeter-oriented teams frequently get characterized as "soft,'' while more resilient clubs typically demonstrate that by forcing action inside and getting to the line for ugly wins. But Orlando, in rallying for a 3-2 series deficit vs. Boston last week, proved wrong critics who felt it was as squeezable as Charmin, and it did it again Wednesday night in its 107-106 comeback victory (RECAP | BOX) over Cleveland in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Sure, the Magic jump-shot themselves back into the game, hitting 62.5 percent (35 of 56) over the final three quarters after a 8-of-22 start. Sure, seven of their nine three-pointers came after intermission. But they took care of business in more gritty ways, too. Such as their 50 points in the paint. Their 36-33 rebounding edge. The 19 points they limited Cleveland to in the third quarter. And the discipline to whittle the Cavaliers' 15- point halftime lead down to nothing -- in fact, an 85-84 Orlando lead -- over the first 14 minutes of the second half. None of that NBA cliché alibiing ("They used up so much energy clawing back that they had nothing left'') from the Magic. They stayed focused, they stayed true to the things that got them this far -- Dwight Howard inside, everybody else outside -- and they did it in the league's most difficult arena for visiting teams. If you're scoring at home, the Cavaliers are 43-3 now at the Q, regular season and playoffs.
"They hit us first,'' said Rashard Lewis, whose 17 points over the final two quarters were only six less than LeBron James scored in that span, his 7-of-8 shooting -- including the game-winning three-pointer with 14.7 seconds left -- nearly as impressive as what the King did. "I feel like we only played one half tonight, and that was the second half. We were a little timid in the first half ... Coach got into us at halftime. I thought we played tremendous defense the second half, as well as moved the ball around.''
Lewis added: "Coach mentioned to us on the bench that we'd been in tough situations like this in the playoffs. Cleveland hadn't.''
Orlando's defense put the Cavaliers into a way-back machine, Cleveland reverting down the stretch to its retro LeBron and Four Guys Watching mode. It surely planted doubts, too, with the way it blew past the Cavs' playoff standards -- from a 78.1 defensive average to 107 points allowed, from an 8-0 record built on an average scoring margin of +16.8 points to this deflating home loss. Don't forget, either, that when the teams met in April in central Florida, the Magic waltzed in a 116-87 victory and now has won three of four meetings since November.
2. Letting LeBron get his might work after all.
Asked about that possible tactic prior to the series -- accepting the impossibility of containing James, so clamping down as much as possible on his teammates -- Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy answered that question with a question. "How many are we talking about?'' he wondered. If it was 30 points, sure, Van Gundy conceded, that might work. The problem with guys like James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade and one or two others, he said, is that each of them can rear up and score 50 on you.
Or, in this case, 49. James set his personal playoff high, topping that memorable game in 2007 against Detroit when he scored 48, by hitting 20 of his 30 field-goal attempts. He had 16 of Cleveland's 18 during a late stretch in the first half, and eight in the game's final four minutes. But James was dragging when coach Mike Brown called a timeout with 2:47 left and, after the final horn, the Cavs star lingered on the floor -- surrounded by staffers -- as he inventoried the cramps clenching in his l egs.
Van Gundy got some nice mileage out of Mickael Pietrus as a defensive option on James, which allowed Hedo Turkoglu to devote more energy to offense (15 points, 14 assists) while keeping him out of foul trouble. He also was able to cover James' point total with just two Magic starters; Lewis and Howard combined for 52. Still, letting James get his remains a risky strategy.
"If that were my formula, it still got them 107 points and great shooting,'' the Orlando coach told reporters afterward. "The one thing I don't lave this game with is any idea what to do with him, whatsoever. You'd like to come out of Game 1 and say, at least we found a game plan that will work. We can't say that.''
3. Cleveland finally is getting tested.
Enough already with the red carpet. This is competition, not a coronation. The Cavaliers had breezed through two rounds with eight easy victories, all decided by double digits. They had nine days to lounge around after dispatching Detroit, eight days to laze about after smacking down Atlanta. Those days are done, and you get the sense Cleveland -- the team anyway, not the fans -- is fine facing a tougher go of it.
"It's always good,'' James said. "Nobody said it was going to be easy.''
The beauty of the playoffs are the adjustments required, as two opponents learn each other's gameplans almost as thoroughly as they know their own. The Cavaliers barely did any of that through their first two series. Now, finally, we get to see their championship resolve -- if it exists -- emerge. Something tells me, if Brown has anything to say about it, Orlando won't be shooting 55 percent from the field Friday night.
4. Howard brought down the shot clock but needed help to bring down the Cavs.
He got it, too. As if the Cavaliers hadn't waited long enough to get busy again, they and the Magic had to deal with a delay of nearly 8 ½ minutes after Howard, on a dunk for Orlando's first points, caused the shot clock atop that basket to collapse backwards. It was replaced for the rest of the first half by old-fashioned, boxy clocks in the corners of the court, then swapped out at halftime for a completely new stanchion.
The Orlando center scored 13 more baskets and finished with 30 points, but he was watching helplessly from the side for the game's last 25.6 seconds, picking up his sixth foul on a shaky call when James attacked him inside. Lewis scored eight of the Magic's final 12 points and Turkoglu was a revelation directing the attack. He scored nine points in the fourth quarter, snookered Anderson Varejao into a frustrating foul by jumping into him with 1:17 left and repeatedly was caught by the cameras smiling and enjoying what so many in his spot would feel as pressure or tension.
5. Even pigeons didn't like Cleveland's bench in Game 1.
Orlando's reserves outscored the backup Cavs, 25-5. You might argue that they had to, given that the Magic was more worn down (they played seven games against Boston, with a couple of flights mixed into its 72-hour turnaround). But that doesn't excuse the chintzy contributions from Joe Smith (five points, one rebound, a minus-8 rating), Wally Szczerbiak (0-of-2 shooting, minus-7), Ben Wallace (no points, minus-14) or Daniel Gibson (3:14 on the court, zeroes across the board). And it doesn't explain the DNP-CD of Sasha Pavlovic when Mo Williams and Delonte West were combining to miss 20 of their first 28 shots.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Sri Lankan president declares war 'victory'
UPDATED: 06:48 AM EDT 05.20.09
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN)
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, flashing a broad smile, declared victory Tuesday in the country's 25-year civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.
"We are celebrating the defeat of terrorism," he said in a nationally televised speech before parliament. "We have won and restored democracy in the country."
Rajapaksa announced that Wednesday would be a national holiday, to celebrate the war's end and begin a new phase in the country's history.
It is time for Sri Lanka to build "a new country ... a new nation," he said, calling "the defeat of Tamil terrorism ... a victory for the Tamil people."
"What have they given the Tamil people?" Rajapaksa asked, suggesting that the war had cost them far more than they had gained. With the war over, he said, Sri Lanka would begin to restore government services to Tamil areas.
The United Nations, meanwhile, urged the government to provide more for the 65,000 people who had fled the last fighting in the past few days. It said there were now 265,000 displaced people in the country.
A short time after the presidential address, the military announced that it had recovered the body of Tamil Tiger founder and leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. A local television station aired video it said showed his body.
The "psychopathic leader of the world's most barbaric terrorist outfit ... has been found," confirmed Gen. Sarath Fonseka, commander of the Sri Lankan army, according to the Ministry of Defense Web site. "Troops ... have found the bullet ridden body of the terrorist leader lying on the bank of the Nanthikadal lagoon," the ministry reported.
But earlier in the day, the pro-rebel Web site Tamilnet.com reported that the Tigers' leader was "alive and safe," countering previous military claims.
The defense ministry said Prabhakaran and 18 other senior rebel leaders were among the bodies found in mop-up operations, after government troops routed the Tigers -- formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The leaders included Prabhakaran's eldest son, Charles Anthony, as well as Pottu Amman, the Tigers' intelligence leader, according to the ministry.
"Our beloved leader Velupillai is alive and safe," rebel spokesman Selvarasa Pathmanathan said, according to Tamilnet.com. "He will continue to lead the quest for dignity and freedom for the Tamil people."
CNN has been unable to independently confirm the accounts because of access and safety reasons.
News of Prabhakaran's death was greeted with pro-Tamil marches elsewhere in the world, with around 2,000 gathering outside parliament in London and others protesting in front of the White House in Washington.
Prabhakaran founded the rebel group, which has been declared a terrorist organization by 32 countries. It pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks and, according to the FBI, invented the explosive suicide belt.
It was also behind the assassination of two world leaders -- the only terrorist organization to do so.
Prabhakaran is accused of masterminding the killing of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 in the Tamil-dominated Indian state of Tami Nadu as he campaigned for a second term. Sri Lankan authorities allege that Prabhakaran was avenging Gandhi's decision to send Indian peacekeepers to Sri Lanka.
Two years later a Tigers suicide bomber, allegedly acting under Prabhakaran's orders, detonated explosives that killed Sri Lanka's then-president, Ranasinghe Premadasa, during a rally.
Over the weekend, the militants offered to "silence" their guns after an intense military offensive decimated their ranks, pushed them from their stronghold in the north and east of the country, and cornered the remaining rebels on a small stretch of land.
Prabhakaran's supporters considered him a hero with a single-minded focus -- to fight for the rights of his people. The Sri Lankan government deemed him a war criminal with a disregard for civilian casualties. He was wanted by Interpol on charges including terrorism and organized crime.
In the past it has been reported he wore a cyanide capsule around his neck -- to swallow and kill himself rather than risk capture. And he reportedly expected the same dedication from his troops. As a result, few Tigers have been captured alive.
The rebels have fought for an independent state for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka since July 1983. An estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people have died during the quarter century of fighting.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN)
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, flashing a broad smile, declared victory Tuesday in the country's 25-year civil war against the Tamil Tiger rebels.
"We are celebrating the defeat of terrorism," he said in a nationally televised speech before parliament. "We have won and restored democracy in the country."
Rajapaksa announced that Wednesday would be a national holiday, to celebrate the war's end and begin a new phase in the country's history.
It is time for Sri Lanka to build "a new country ... a new nation," he said, calling "the defeat of Tamil terrorism ... a victory for the Tamil people."
"What have they given the Tamil people?" Rajapaksa asked, suggesting that the war had cost them far more than they had gained. With the war over, he said, Sri Lanka would begin to restore government services to Tamil areas.
The United Nations, meanwhile, urged the government to provide more for the 65,000 people who had fled the last fighting in the past few days. It said there were now 265,000 displaced people in the country.
A short time after the presidential address, the military announced that it had recovered the body of Tamil Tiger founder and leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. A local television station aired video it said showed his body.
The "psychopathic leader of the world's most barbaric terrorist outfit ... has been found," confirmed Gen. Sarath Fonseka, commander of the Sri Lankan army, according to the Ministry of Defense Web site. "Troops ... have found the bullet ridden body of the terrorist leader lying on the bank of the Nanthikadal lagoon," the ministry reported.
But earlier in the day, the pro-rebel Web site Tamilnet.com reported that the Tigers' leader was "alive and safe," countering previous military claims.
The defense ministry said Prabhakaran and 18 other senior rebel leaders were among the bodies found in mop-up operations, after government troops routed the Tigers -- formally known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
The leaders included Prabhakaran's eldest son, Charles Anthony, as well as Pottu Amman, the Tigers' intelligence leader, according to the ministry.
"Our beloved leader Velupillai is alive and safe," rebel spokesman Selvarasa Pathmanathan said, according to Tamilnet.com. "He will continue to lead the quest for dignity and freedom for the Tamil people."
CNN has been unable to independently confirm the accounts because of access and safety reasons.
News of Prabhakaran's death was greeted with pro-Tamil marches elsewhere in the world, with around 2,000 gathering outside parliament in London and others protesting in front of the White House in Washington.
Prabhakaran founded the rebel group, which has been declared a terrorist organization by 32 countries. It pioneered the use of women in suicide attacks and, according to the FBI, invented the explosive suicide belt.
It was also behind the assassination of two world leaders -- the only terrorist organization to do so.
Prabhakaran is accused of masterminding the killing of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 in the Tamil-dominated Indian state of Tami Nadu as he campaigned for a second term. Sri Lankan authorities allege that Prabhakaran was avenging Gandhi's decision to send Indian peacekeepers to Sri Lanka.
Two years later a Tigers suicide bomber, allegedly acting under Prabhakaran's orders, detonated explosives that killed Sri Lanka's then-president, Ranasinghe Premadasa, during a rally.
Over the weekend, the militants offered to "silence" their guns after an intense military offensive decimated their ranks, pushed them from their stronghold in the north and east of the country, and cornered the remaining rebels on a small stretch of land.
Prabhakaran's supporters considered him a hero with a single-minded focus -- to fight for the rights of his people. The Sri Lankan government deemed him a war criminal with a disregard for civilian casualties. He was wanted by Interpol on charges including terrorism and organized crime.
In the past it has been reported he wore a cyanide capsule around his neck -- to swallow and kill himself rather than risk capture. And he reportedly expected the same dedication from his troops. As a result, few Tigers have been captured alive.
The rebels have fought for an independent state for minority Tamils in Sri Lanka since July 1983. An estimated 70,000 to 80,000 people have died during the quarter century of fighting.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Clinton to be named U.N. envoy to Haiti
UNITED NATIONS (CNN)
Former U.S. President Clinton has been tapped as a United Nations special envoy to Haiti, a senior U.N. official said Monday.
An official announcement will be made Tuesday, the official said.
The two-term president has traveled to Haiti on several occasions, most recently in March with his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.
At the time, the Clintons voiced optimism at Haiti's potential because of political stability and economic growth after decades of chaos. The Caribbean country is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
Former U.S. President Clinton has been tapped as a United Nations special envoy to Haiti, a senior U.N. official said Monday.
An official announcement will be made Tuesday, the official said.
The two-term president has traveled to Haiti on several occasions, most recently in March with his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon.
At the time, the Clintons voiced optimism at Haiti's potential because of political stability and economic growth after decades of chaos. The Caribbean country is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Obama: Early to mull more troops in Afghanistan
Barack Obama Video:Obama's Surprise Pick for Ambassador ABC News
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32 mins ago
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says he needs to see how fast Afghanistan can be stabilized and led toward a more democratic government before deciding whether more troops are needed.
In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Obama said the hardest thing he has had to do so far in his administration was to order 17,000 troops to Afghanistan on top of an estimated 38,000 that were already in Afghanistan. The interview was released on the Web Saturday.
He did not rule out the possibility of sending even more troops, while stressing such a decision was premature at this point and that U.S. military action is not the only answer to bringing stability to the region.
"We have to see our military action in the context of a broader effort to stabilize security in the country, allow national elections to take place in Afghanistan and then provide the space for the vital development work that's needed so that a tolerant and open, democratically elected government is considered far more legitimate than a Taliban alternative," Obama said.
"My strong view is that we are not going to succeed simply by piling on more and more troops," he added. "The military component is critical to accomplishing that goal, but it is not a sufficient element by itself."
Obama said he wrestled with his options before making the decision in February to order a surge of troops. He said he was sobered by the idea that many men and women could be harmed but that a surge was unavoidable.
"The starting point was a recognition that the existing trajectory was not working, that the Taliban had made advances, that our presence in Afghanistan was declining in popularity, that the instability along the border region was destabilizing Pakistan as well," Obama said.
.
32 mins ago
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says he needs to see how fast Afghanistan can be stabilized and led toward a more democratic government before deciding whether more troops are needed.
In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Obama said the hardest thing he has had to do so far in his administration was to order 17,000 troops to Afghanistan on top of an estimated 38,000 that were already in Afghanistan. The interview was released on the Web Saturday.
He did not rule out the possibility of sending even more troops, while stressing such a decision was premature at this point and that U.S. military action is not the only answer to bringing stability to the region.
"We have to see our military action in the context of a broader effort to stabilize security in the country, allow national elections to take place in Afghanistan and then provide the space for the vital development work that's needed so that a tolerant and open, democratically elected government is considered far more legitimate than a Taliban alternative," Obama said.
"My strong view is that we are not going to succeed simply by piling on more and more troops," he added. "The military component is critical to accomplishing that goal, but it is not a sufficient element by itself."
Obama said he wrestled with his options before making the decision in February to order a surge of troops. He said he was sobered by the idea that many men and women could be harmed but that a surge was unavoidable.
"The starting point was a recognition that the existing trajectory was not working, that the Taliban had made advances, that our presence in Afghanistan was declining in popularity, that the instability along the border region was destabilizing Pakistan as well," Obama said.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Google's Street View halted in Greece over privacy
ATHENS, Greece“ A privacy watchdog has banned Google Inc. from gathering detailed, street-level images in Greece for a planned expansion of its panoramic Street View mapping service until the company provides additional privacy safeguards.
In rejecting Google's bid to roam Greek streets with cameras mounted on vehicles, Greece's Data Protection Authority, or DPA, said it wanted clarification from the U.S. Internet company on how it will store and process the original images and safeguard them from privacy abuses.
The decision, announced Monday, comes despite Google's assurances that it would blur faces and vehicle license plates when displaying the images online and that it would promptly respond to removal requests.
The DPA also sought clarification on how Google plans to inform the public that its vehicles with mounted cameras are being used to take photographs.
"Simply marking the car is not considered an adequate form of notification," a DPA statement said. "The authority has reserved judgment on the legality of the service pending the submission of additional information, and until that time will not allow (Google) to start gathering photographs."
Since launching in 2007, Street View has expanded to more than 100 cities worldwide but has faced privacy complaints from many individuals and institutions that have been photographed.
Residents of a small English village formed a human chain last month to stop one of Google's camera vans. And last year the Pentagon barred Google from photographing U.S. military bases for Street View.
But in most cases, particularly in the United States, Google has been able to proceed on grounds that the images it takes are no different from what someone walking down a public street can see and snap.
And last month, Britain's privacy watchdog dismissed concerns that Street View was too invasive, saying it was satisfied with such safeguards as obscuring individuals' faces and car license plates.
The World Privacy Forum, a U.S.-based nonprofit research and advisory group, said the Greek decision could raise the standard for other countries and help challenge that argument.
"It only takes one country to express a dissenting opinion," Pam Dixon, the group's executive director, said in a phone interview from the United States. "If Greece gets better privacy than the rest of the world then we can demand it for ourselves. That's why it's very important."
Google spokeswoman Elaine Filadelfo said the Mountain View, Calif.-based company would be happy to provide the Greek DPA with further clarifications.
"Google takes privacy very seriously, and that's why we have put in place a number of features, including the blurring of faces and license plates, to ensure that Street View will respect local norms when it launches in Greece," Filadelfo said Tuesday.
Filadelfo said expanding the service to Greece would help local residents and tourists alike. Those unable to visit Greece in person would be able to see the Acropolis and other ancient sites from their living rooms, similar to how the service already lets users take virtual tours of the Colosseum in Rome and the Eiffel Tour in Paris.
Greece has strict privacy laws, giving the DPA broad powers of enforcement.
The authority has repeatedly ruled against Greece's conservative government and banned the use of street cameras for fighting crime. The cameras were set up as part of elaborate security preparations for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
It also clashed with the Greek Orthodox Church after it ruled that recording Greek citizens' religion on state ID cards was illegal.
The DPA on Monday also ordered a Greek mapping site, kapou.gr, to suspend a similar street-level image service until it provides further privacy clarifications and uses face-blurring on its online images. The Greek site on Tuesday said it had stopped posting photographs while it was upgrading its service.
Google has, on occasion, voluntarily limited images in response to complaints.
Before unveiling Street View, it removed images of shelters for battered women be
In rejecting Google's bid to roam Greek streets with cameras mounted on vehicles, Greece's Data Protection Authority, or DPA, said it wanted clarification from the U.S. Internet company on how it will store and process the original images and safeguard them from privacy abuses.
The decision, announced Monday, comes despite Google's assurances that it would blur faces and vehicle license plates when displaying the images online and that it would promptly respond to removal requests.
The DPA also sought clarification on how Google plans to inform the public that its vehicles with mounted cameras are being used to take photographs.
"Simply marking the car is not considered an adequate form of notification," a DPA statement said. "The authority has reserved judgment on the legality of the service pending the submission of additional information, and until that time will not allow (Google) to start gathering photographs."
Since launching in 2007, Street View has expanded to more than 100 cities worldwide but has faced privacy complaints from many individuals and institutions that have been photographed.
Residents of a small English village formed a human chain last month to stop one of Google's camera vans. And last year the Pentagon barred Google from photographing U.S. military bases for Street View.
But in most cases, particularly in the United States, Google has been able to proceed on grounds that the images it takes are no different from what someone walking down a public street can see and snap.
And last month, Britain's privacy watchdog dismissed concerns that Street View was too invasive, saying it was satisfied with such safeguards as obscuring individuals' faces and car license plates.
The World Privacy Forum, a U.S.-based nonprofit research and advisory group, said the Greek decision could raise the standard for other countries and help challenge that argument.
"It only takes one country to express a dissenting opinion," Pam Dixon, the group's executive director, said in a phone interview from the United States. "If Greece gets better privacy than the rest of the world then we can demand it for ourselves. That's why it's very important."
Google spokeswoman Elaine Filadelfo said the Mountain View, Calif.-based company would be happy to provide the Greek DPA with further clarifications.
"Google takes privacy very seriously, and that's why we have put in place a number of features, including the blurring of faces and license plates, to ensure that Street View will respect local norms when it launches in Greece," Filadelfo said Tuesday.
Filadelfo said expanding the service to Greece would help local residents and tourists alike. Those unable to visit Greece in person would be able to see the Acropolis and other ancient sites from their living rooms, similar to how the service already lets users take virtual tours of the Colosseum in Rome and the Eiffel Tour in Paris.
Greece has strict privacy laws, giving the DPA broad powers of enforcement.
The authority has repeatedly ruled against Greece's conservative government and banned the use of street cameras for fighting crime. The cameras were set up as part of elaborate security preparations for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
It also clashed with the Greek Orthodox Church after it ruled that recording Greek citizens' religion on state ID cards was illegal.
The DPA on Monday also ordered a Greek mapping site, kapou.gr, to suspend a similar street-level image service until it provides further privacy clarifications and uses face-blurring on its online images. The Greek site on Tuesday said it had stopped posting photographs while it was upgrading its service.
Google has, on occasion, voluntarily limited images in response to complaints.
Before unveiling Street View, it removed images of shelters for battered women be
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Space shuttle catches up to Hubble
(CNN) -- The space shuttle Atlantis took up its position Wednesday close to the Hubble Space Telescope, nearing the end of a chase that began almost two days earlier.
Atlantis is preparing for its robot arm to grab hold of the orbiting telescope at 12:54 p.m. ET.
The operation is a delicate dance for the shuttle crew, involving periodic firings of the shuttle's thrusters to align it with the space telescope -- all of this taking place about 350 miles above Earth.
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is commanding the telescope to stow its two high-gain antennas and close a door to protect Hubble's sensitive equipment and mirror.
Ultimately, the shuttle will maneuver to within 35 feet of the telescope before capturing it and pulling it into the cargo bay for repairs.
Atlantis launched Monday afternoon for NASA's fifth and final repair visit to the telescope. It has been seven years since NASA's last mission to service the Hubble, which was designed to go about three years between fixes.
NASA canceled an Atlantis mission to extend Hubble's operational life in January 2004 because the trip was considered too risky in the wake of the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster, which killed seven astronauts. That accident was blamed on a hole punched in the front of the wing by debris during liftoff.
But public pressure and steps taken to increase shuttle safety led the space agency to reconsider.
A survey of Atlantis' outer body after launch revealed that four tiles on the right side have "some dings" in them, flight director Tony Ceccacci said Tuesday.
"To me, I'm not the tile expert, but they looked very minor," he said.
Ceccacci said tile experts will examine the dings, which are on the wing.
Space shuttle Endeavour is on standby in the unlikely event that NASA would need to rescue the Atlantis crew members during their 11-day mission.
Atlantis is preparing for its robot arm to grab hold of the orbiting telescope at 12:54 p.m. ET.
The operation is a delicate dance for the shuttle crew, involving periodic firings of the shuttle's thrusters to align it with the space telescope -- all of this taking place about 350 miles above Earth.
Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is commanding the telescope to stow its two high-gain antennas and close a door to protect Hubble's sensitive equipment and mirror.
Ultimately, the shuttle will maneuver to within 35 feet of the telescope before capturing it and pulling it into the cargo bay for repairs.
Atlantis launched Monday afternoon for NASA's fifth and final repair visit to the telescope. It has been seven years since NASA's last mission to service the Hubble, which was designed to go about three years between fixes.
NASA canceled an Atlantis mission to extend Hubble's operational life in January 2004 because the trip was considered too risky in the wake of the 2003 space shuttle Columbia disaster, which killed seven astronauts. That accident was blamed on a hole punched in the front of the wing by debris during liftoff.
But public pressure and steps taken to increase shuttle safety led the space agency to reconsider.
A survey of Atlantis' outer body after launch revealed that four tiles on the right side have "some dings" in them, flight director Tony Ceccacci said Tuesday.
"To me, I'm not the tile expert, but they looked very minor," he said.
Ceccacci said tile experts will examine the dings, which are on the wing.
Space shuttle Endeavour is on standby in the unlikely event that NASA would need to rescue the Atlantis crew members during their 11-day mission.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Google adds new filters, visualized results
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Google introduced three new enhancements to its search engine Tuesday, giving searchers new ways to filter results and adding new types of data to the search results themselves.
Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and experience, led a parade of the company's product managers on stage at Searchology 2009 to demonstrate the new features, known as Google Search Options, Google Squared, and Rich Snippets. Search Options will be rolling out gradually on Tuesday, giving searchers ways to filter their results based on factors like timeliness, result type such as image or videos, or a desire to see search results in visual form.
The announcements "center around how can you find more, and what can you do with it," Mayer said. Google last held a Searchology event in 2007, when it introduced Universal Search, blending regular search results with images, video, and news results.
Building on Universal Search, Mayer and Nundu Janakiram, an associate product manager, showed how Search Options allows users searching for information on the Hubble Telescope, for example, to filter their results with a "Show Options" link at the very top of the search results page. Clicking on that link brings up a new page with a list of options on the side, somewhat akin to the current Google News user interface.
By opting for the most recent information on the space telescope, the subject of a current NASA mission, users will be given a mix of news and blog results. If they prefer, they can click a filter that will sort those stories with images pulled from those stories.
Other options include new ways to visualize search results, such as the News Timeline introduced last month, as well as something called Wonder Wheel that visually represents data as rays of a star spreading out from the center of a search result.
Google Squared is the newest addition to Google Labs. This project allows searchers to create a spreadsheet based on Web results. Users can filter the data accessed through the Google Squared search, request additional categories to create a custom spreadsheet with the results that matter the most to them, and even fact-check the results by accessing the source of the data as well as alternate sources.
The other enhancement discussed Tuesday is called Rich Snippets, which is a partnership between Google and certain publishers, including CNET, to display information from Web pages within the box that encompasses a search result. Google is backing open standards called RDFa markup and Microformats markup that allow Web publishers to highlight aspects of their Web page to show in the search results.
Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and experience, led a parade of the company's product managers on stage at Searchology 2009 to demonstrate the new features, known as Google Search Options, Google Squared, and Rich Snippets. Search Options will be rolling out gradually on Tuesday, giving searchers ways to filter their results based on factors like timeliness, result type such as image or videos, or a desire to see search results in visual form.
The announcements "center around how can you find more, and what can you do with it," Mayer said. Google last held a Searchology event in 2007, when it introduced Universal Search, blending regular search results with images, video, and news results.
Building on Universal Search, Mayer and Nundu Janakiram, an associate product manager, showed how Search Options allows users searching for information on the Hubble Telescope, for example, to filter their results with a "Show Options" link at the very top of the search results page. Clicking on that link brings up a new page with a list of options on the side, somewhat akin to the current Google News user interface.
By opting for the most recent information on the space telescope, the subject of a current NASA mission, users will be given a mix of news and blog results. If they prefer, they can click a filter that will sort those stories with images pulled from those stories.
Other options include new ways to visualize search results, such as the News Timeline introduced last month, as well as something called Wonder Wheel that visually represents data as rays of a star spreading out from the center of a search result.
Google Squared is the newest addition to Google Labs. This project allows searchers to create a spreadsheet based on Web results. Users can filter the data accessed through the Google Squared search, request additional categories to create a custom spreadsheet with the results that matter the most to them, and even fact-check the results by accessing the source of the data as well as alternate sources.
The other enhancement discussed Tuesday is called Rich Snippets, which is a partnership between Google and certain publishers, including CNET, to display information from Web pages within the box that encompasses a search result. Google is backing open standards called RDFa markup and Microformats markup that allow Web publishers to highlight aspects of their Web page to show in the search results.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Microsoft confirms Windows 7 coming this year by Ina Fried
by Ina Fried
Full coverage: Windows 7
This won't come as a surprise, but Microsoft is planning to release Windows 7 this year, in time for the holiday shopping season.
What is new is that the software maker is finally willing to put itself on the line and say as much.
"We are tracking well to a Windows 7 holiday," Microsoft Senior Vice President Bill Veghte said in an interview. Veghte plans to make a similar statement in a speech Monday at Microsoft's TechEd event in Los Angeles. As recently as January, Veghte was saying publicly that such a release was not a sure thing.
At the event, Microsoft is also announcing it plans to wrap up work on an update to its server operating system--Windows Server 2008 R2--at the same time it finishes Windows 7 on the desktop side. Microsoft issued a release candidate for the server operating system last month, alongside the near-final version of Windows 7.
For months now, Microsoft's official position has been that Windows 7 would ship by January 2010--the three-year anniversary of Windows Vista's mainstream launch. However the software maker has been aiming and planning for a 2009 release all along, as we noted last fall.
Computer makers have been indicating privately--and in a few cases publicly--that things have remained on track. But, with memories of Vista's delays fresh in its mind, Microsoft continued to hedge its bets.
Early feedback from the Windows 7 release candidate, which came out late last month, convinced Microsoft it could commit to a 2009 launch, Veghte said.
Veghte said Microsoft has seen the needed step-function drop in the number of crashes being experienced with the release candidate as opposed to the beta version.
"You know pretty quickly if you've got any big gotchas," he said. "You can get a pretty good sniff pretty quickly."
Equally important, Veghte said the company has seen the needed level of partner support. He noted that the first couple of companies have gotten Windows 7 logo certification. Among that first group are some graphics chip vendors--a big change from Vista in which limited graphics support was among the many compatibility headaches experienced by early adopters.
Veghte did not provide a specific time for launch or when the code would be finalized. However, he said that typically the ecosystem needs anywhere from nine to 14 weeks from the product being declared final to be ready for launch.
At TechEd, Veghte also plans to show a demo of how Office 2010 will take advantage of some of Windows 7's features. For example, Office will make use of a feature called "Jump Lists," which allow users to quickly take action directly from the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. From Outlook's Jump List, for example, users will be able to start a new message, create a contact, or schedule a meeting with two clicks.
Those that have both products will also be able to drag an Office file from a Jump List directly into an e-mail, a big time-saver.
A technical preview of Office 2010 will kick off in July, with those at TechEd among the first to get to try out the software.
Full coverage: Windows 7This won't come as a surprise, but Microsoft is planning to release Windows 7 this year, in time for the holiday shopping season.
What is new is that the software maker is finally willing to put itself on the line and say as much.
"We are tracking well to a Windows 7 holiday," Microsoft Senior Vice President Bill Veghte said in an interview. Veghte plans to make a similar statement in a speech Monday at Microsoft's TechEd event in Los Angeles. As recently as January, Veghte was saying publicly that such a release was not a sure thing.
At the event, Microsoft is also announcing it plans to wrap up work on an update to its server operating system--Windows Server 2008 R2--at the same time it finishes Windows 7 on the desktop side. Microsoft issued a release candidate for the server operating system last month, alongside the near-final version of Windows 7.
For months now, Microsoft's official position has been that Windows 7 would ship by January 2010--the three-year anniversary of Windows Vista's mainstream launch. However the software maker has been aiming and planning for a 2009 release all along, as we noted last fall.
Computer makers have been indicating privately--and in a few cases publicly--that things have remained on track. But, with memories of Vista's delays fresh in its mind, Microsoft continued to hedge its bets.
Early feedback from the Windows 7 release candidate, which came out late last month, convinced Microsoft it could commit to a 2009 launch, Veghte said.
Veghte said Microsoft has seen the needed step-function drop in the number of crashes being experienced with the release candidate as opposed to the beta version.
"You know pretty quickly if you've got any big gotchas," he said. "You can get a pretty good sniff pretty quickly."
Equally important, Veghte said the company has seen the needed level of partner support. He noted that the first couple of companies have gotten Windows 7 logo certification. Among that first group are some graphics chip vendors--a big change from Vista in which limited graphics support was among the many compatibility headaches experienced by early adopters.
Veghte did not provide a specific time for launch or when the code would be finalized. However, he said that typically the ecosystem needs anywhere from nine to 14 weeks from the product being declared final to be ready for launch.
At TechEd, Veghte also plans to show a demo of how Office 2010 will take advantage of some of Windows 7's features. For example, Office will make use of a feature called "Jump Lists," which allow users to quickly take action directly from the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. From Outlook's Jump List, for example, users will be able to start a new message, create a contact, or schedule a meeting with two clicks.
Those that have both products will also be able to drag an Office file from a Jump List directly into an e-mail, a big time-saver.
A technical preview of Office 2010 will kick off in July, with those at TechEd among the first to get to try out the software.
Schott Solar opens plant despite downturn
by Martin LaMonica
Schott Solar on Monday dedicated a $100 million solar manufacturing plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, although an industry downturn has kept its growth plans in check.
The Germany-based company picked New Mexico to be the hub of its U.S. operations because the U.S. solar business is poised to grow significantly in the coming years, said Gerald Fine, the president and CEO of Schott North America.
It will manufacture solar panels aimed at businesses and consumers as well as solar concentrator receivers, a piece of equipment for utility-scale solar thermal installations. The receivers circulate a fluid, heated up by mirrored troughs, which is converted into steam to make electricity.
Schott's Albuquerque, New Mexico plant will make flat solar panels as well as concentrating solar receivers, pictured here.
(Credit: Schott Solar)
The near-term outlook for solar concentrating systems at solar power plants in the southwest is strong, Fine said. But prices for solar panels, typically fitted onto rooftops, are falling across the industry. Subsidies in Germany and Spain--the two largest solar marketplaces--are being scaled back and there is now more silicon available to make solar cells. Both factors are contributing to less business for solar manufacturers and lower prices.
Schott has committed to making a total of $500 million in investments in the U.S., but the timing for its follow-on investments is still not firm, Fine said.
The federal recovery package is making loans available for renewable energy projects and has changed the rules so that investors don't need large tax bills to take advantage of subsidies. But those measures aren't yet implemented which, combined with the industry downturn, has stalled some activity, Fine said.
"We are probably acting a little slower than I would have expected a year ago in committing to another round of invesment," said Fine. "I would have guessed we would have deployed that money already but we haven't as we wait for clarity."
The operation in Albequerque, which started operating in January, employs about 300 people and will employ about 350 by the end of the year.
New Mexico governor Bill Richardson attended the inuaguration who Fine said was involved in Schott Solar's U.S. expansion plans from the beginning.
"Overall, I feel pretty good about the prospects for growth in North America. Our medium to long-term position hasn't changed at all about the opportunities in this country," Fine said.
Schott Solar on Monday dedicated a $100 million solar manufacturing plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, although an industry downturn has kept its growth plans in check.
The Germany-based company picked New Mexico to be the hub of its U.S. operations because the U.S. solar business is poised to grow significantly in the coming years, said Gerald Fine, the president and CEO of Schott North America.
It will manufacture solar panels aimed at businesses and consumers as well as solar concentrator receivers, a piece of equipment for utility-scale solar thermal installations. The receivers circulate a fluid, heated up by mirrored troughs, which is converted into steam to make electricity.
Schott's Albuquerque, New Mexico plant will make flat solar panels as well as concentrating solar receivers, pictured here.
(Credit: Schott Solar)
The near-term outlook for solar concentrating systems at solar power plants in the southwest is strong, Fine said. But prices for solar panels, typically fitted onto rooftops, are falling across the industry. Subsidies in Germany and Spain--the two largest solar marketplaces--are being scaled back and there is now more silicon available to make solar cells. Both factors are contributing to less business for solar manufacturers and lower prices.
Schott has committed to making a total of $500 million in investments in the U.S., but the timing for its follow-on investments is still not firm, Fine said.
The federal recovery package is making loans available for renewable energy projects and has changed the rules so that investors don't need large tax bills to take advantage of subsidies. But those measures aren't yet implemented which, combined with the industry downturn, has stalled some activity, Fine said.
"We are probably acting a little slower than I would have expected a year ago in committing to another round of invesment," said Fine. "I would have guessed we would have deployed that money already but we haven't as we wait for clarity."
The operation in Albequerque, which started operating in January, employs about 300 people and will employ about 350 by the end of the year.
New Mexico governor Bill Richardson attended the inuaguration who Fine said was involved in Schott Solar's U.S. expansion plans from the beginning.
"Overall, I feel pretty good about the prospects for growth in North America. Our medium to long-term position hasn't changed at all about the opportunities in this country," Fine said.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Transparent plastic solar cells fitted into windows
by Martin LaMonica
Solar company Konarka has developed a transparent solar cell that it hopes will be built onto electricity-generating windows.
The Lowell, Mass.-based company on Tuesday said it has reached an agreement with Arch Aluminum & Glass to use Konarka's plastic solar cells in building materials, including windows.
A transparent solar cell Konarka hopes will be fitted into power-generating windows.
(Credit: Konarka)
Under its Arch Active Solar Glass development, the company has built prototypes of windows with the solar cells between two panes of glass. The photovoltaic cells can be tinted different colors.
"It is energy-efficient and transparent with superior vertical performance and a subtle red, blue or green aesthetic. With these features, BIPV (building-integrated photovoltaics) will no longer need to be confined to spandrel or overhead applications," Arch CEO Le...
Solar company Konarka has developed a transparent solar cell that it hopes will be built onto electricity-generating windows.
The Lowell, Mass.-based company on Tuesday said it has reached an agreement with Arch Aluminum & Glass to use Konarka's plastic solar cells in building materials, including windows.
A transparent solar cell Konarka hopes will be fitted into power-generating windows.
(Credit: Konarka)
Under its Arch Active Solar Glass development, the company has built prototypes of windows with the solar cells between two panes of glass. The photovoltaic cells can be tinted different colors.
"It is energy-efficient and transparent with superior vertical performance and a subtle red, blue or green aesthetic. With these features, BIPV (building-integrated photovoltaics) will no longer need to be confined to spandrel or overhead applications," Arch CEO Le...
Saturday, May 9, 2009
OFFICIAL: THEO WALCOTT SIGNS NEW ARSENAL CONTRACT
Jumat Mei 08 15:26
The England international forward has put pen to paper on a new long-term deal at the Emirates Stadium...
Premier League club Arsenal have announced on Friday morning that Theo Walcott has signed a new long-term contract with the north London outfit.
A statement on the club's website reads, "Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce that Theo Walcott has signed a new long term contract with the Club."
It was speculated earlier on Friday that the 20-year-old versatile forward was set to put pen to paper on a new four-year deal at the Emirates Stadium, but the length of the new contract has not yet been confirmed.
Manager Arsene Wenger remarked, "We are absolutely delighted that Theo has committed his long term future to Arsenal Football Club.
"Theo is an intelligent player with amazing ability and speed, and has developed extremely well this season. At still only 20 years of age, Theo has huge potential for the forthcoming years and we are all looking forward to see him grow even more in an Arsenal shirt."
An ecstatic Theo Walcott added, "I’m absolutely delighted to have signed a new long term contract.
"I’m so happy here and just want to say thanks to everyone who has helped me get to this point in my career. Together with the belief of my team mates, the boss and everyone on the staff, everyone has got behind me here at Arsenal which is brilliant.
"It’s fantastic to work with the best manager in the world and play at Emirates Stadium, which is an unbelievable place to play in. I just want to continue playing my football at this Club and look forward to many successful seasons ahead."
Despite suffering a number of injury setbacks, Walcott has started 25 games for Arsenal during the 2008-09 campaign, five more than last season.
The six-time capped England international, who has scored three goals for his country, has made 103 first-team appearances since arriving at the Emirates Stadium from Southampton in January 2006, finding the back of the net on 14 occasions.
Ricky Brooks, Goal.com
Now stay up-to-date with the latest news, livescores from around the world at zero cost. Just visit m.goal.com and get access to all what you need to know...
The England international forward has put pen to paper on a new long-term deal at the Emirates Stadium...
Premier League club Arsenal have announced on Friday morning that Theo Walcott has signed a new long-term contract with the north London outfit.
A statement on the club's website reads, "Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce that Theo Walcott has signed a new long term contract with the Club."
It was speculated earlier on Friday that the 20-year-old versatile forward was set to put pen to paper on a new four-year deal at the Emirates Stadium, but the length of the new contract has not yet been confirmed.
Manager Arsene Wenger remarked, "We are absolutely delighted that Theo has committed his long term future to Arsenal Football Club.
"Theo is an intelligent player with amazing ability and speed, and has developed extremely well this season. At still only 20 years of age, Theo has huge potential for the forthcoming years and we are all looking forward to see him grow even more in an Arsenal shirt."
An ecstatic Theo Walcott added, "I’m absolutely delighted to have signed a new long term contract.
"I’m so happy here and just want to say thanks to everyone who has helped me get to this point in my career. Together with the belief of my team mates, the boss and everyone on the staff, everyone has got behind me here at Arsenal which is brilliant.
"It’s fantastic to work with the best manager in the world and play at Emirates Stadium, which is an unbelievable place to play in. I just want to continue playing my football at this Club and look forward to many successful seasons ahead."
Despite suffering a number of injury setbacks, Walcott has started 25 games for Arsenal during the 2008-09 campaign, five more than last season.
The six-time capped England international, who has scored three goals for his country, has made 103 first-team appearances since arriving at the Emirates Stadium from Southampton in January 2006, finding the back of the net on 14 occasions.
Ricky Brooks, Goal.com
Now stay up-to-date with the latest news, livescores from around the world at zero cost. Just visit m.goal.com and get access to all what you need to know...
Friday, May 8, 2009
Drew Peterson charged with murder, authorities say
(CNN) -- Drew Peterson, the former police sergeant who authorities call the prime suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, has been indicted on murder charges related to his third wife, Kathleen Savio, the Illinois state attorney's office said.
Drew Peterson was arrested Thursday on murder charges relating to his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
1 of 3
Illinois State Police said Peterson was taken into custody about 5:30 p.m. Thursday after a traffic stop near his home.
Police had staked out his home all day, said police Capt. Carl Dobrich, but waited for Peterson to leave to arrest him out of concern for his three children, who were inside the house.
Peterson, through his attorney, denied any wrongdoing in either case.
Wills County State's Attorney James Glasgow said he believes the case is strong and said Peterson is being held on $20 million bond.
"This is an extremely grave and serious matter and it is reflected in the bond," Glasgow said.
Peterson's attorney Joel Brodsky told CNN's Larry King he believed the bond was excessive and would seek a more "reasonable" bond, noting it was the most expensive bond he'd seen in 10 years. Watch Peterson's attorney address his client's arrest »
Charles B. Pelkie, spokesman for the state's attorney in Will County, Illinois, said a grand jury indicted Peterson in the murder of Savio, whose death had been ruled an accidental drowning.
Brodsky said in a written statement that prosecutors won't be able to prove their case because "he didn't do it."
"There is no evidence that links Drew Peterson to the death of Kathleen Savio or anyone else for that matter," Brodsky said. "Drew did not harm Kathleen; he has said so from Day One. We're obviously disappointed a grand jury indicted him. But an indictment does not mean guilt."
Pelkie said the grand jury continues to meet and is studying the possibility of charges in Stacy Peterson's disappearance. Watch family members react to the arrest »
After Stacy Peterson went missing in October 2007, media frenzy and police scrutiny on Peterson revealed Savio had died mysteriously a few years earlier during a nasty divorce.
Savio died just before the division of the marital assets was finalized, making Drew Peterson the sole beneficiary.
Savio was found in the dry bathtub of her home. At the time, the death was ruled an accidental drowning. But her family continued to insist that Savio died as a result of foul play.
The investigation into Stacy Peterson's disappearance brought renewed interest in Savio's death. Authorities exhumed Savio's body, further tests were conducted, and her death has now been ruled a "homicide staged to look like an accident."
Brodsky told King he believes the case has always been about circumstantial evidence and that he will bring a pathologist to trial who will say Savio died from an accidental drowning.
Don't Miss
FindLaw: Read the indictment
WGN: Local coverage
Lots of suspicion, few leads in Peterson mystery
Nancy Grace's Cold Cases
"I think the jury's going to see that, in fact, this always has been an accidental death and still is an accidental death," Brodsky told King.
Kathleen Savio's brother, Nick, told CNN affiliate WLS-TV he received a call from his sister saying Peterson had been arrested. Watch police arrest Peterson »
"The state police had been telling us the day was coming," he told WLS-TV. "We kept hearing it for about eight months. I'm almost in tears here. It's been so hard for our family."
"Hopefully, we'll get the justice we've always been waiting for."
Martin Glink, attorney for the Savio family, said they were hopeful the grand jury felt there was enough evidence to charge Peterson.
"We're very happy that the wheels of justice have continued to move and they are pointing in his direction," Glink told WLS-TV.
The news was also bittersweet for Stacy Peterson's family, who continue to wait for news about her disappearance.
"We have anticipated this coming. We have dreamed about it. We have been patient over it," Pam Bosco, spokesperson for Stacy Peterson's family told WLS-TV. "Now that it's here, it's almost a little bit calm. We're waiting for the storm to calm now. The calm before the storm."
Bosco said while she had not heard about any charges relating to Stacy Peterson's death, she was hopeful those charges would follow.
"We always said from the very beginning that Kathleen and Stacy had one thing in common -- and that was Drew Peterson," she said. "So, hopefully, we'll have news soon about Stacy, too."
Ernie Raines is also relieved about the arrest. His daughter, Christina Raines, is dating Peterson and was living with him before his arrest. Ernie Raines told CNN's Anderson Cooper he was with his daughter and Peterson as recently as last week, when they talked about going to Las Vegas, Nevada, and getting married.
Thursday night he spoke with his daughter after the arrest.
"My daughter was terrified, very emotional, upset," Ernie Raines said. "And I tried to tell her from the beginning that this was going to happen, be prepared."
Ernie Raines said more than anything, when he heard about the arrest, he was relieved.
"I'm glad justice finally came -- before he hurt my daughter," he said.
Drew Peterson was arrested Thursday on murder charges relating to his third wife, Kathleen Savio.
1 of 3
Illinois State Police said Peterson was taken into custody about 5:30 p.m. Thursday after a traffic stop near his home.
Police had staked out his home all day, said police Capt. Carl Dobrich, but waited for Peterson to leave to arrest him out of concern for his three children, who were inside the house.
Peterson, through his attorney, denied any wrongdoing in either case.
Wills County State's Attorney James Glasgow said he believes the case is strong and said Peterson is being held on $20 million bond.
"This is an extremely grave and serious matter and it is reflected in the bond," Glasgow said.
Peterson's attorney Joel Brodsky told CNN's Larry King he believed the bond was excessive and would seek a more "reasonable" bond, noting it was the most expensive bond he'd seen in 10 years. Watch Peterson's attorney address his client's arrest »
Charles B. Pelkie, spokesman for the state's attorney in Will County, Illinois, said a grand jury indicted Peterson in the murder of Savio, whose death had been ruled an accidental drowning.
Brodsky said in a written statement that prosecutors won't be able to prove their case because "he didn't do it."
"There is no evidence that links Drew Peterson to the death of Kathleen Savio or anyone else for that matter," Brodsky said. "Drew did not harm Kathleen; he has said so from Day One. We're obviously disappointed a grand jury indicted him. But an indictment does not mean guilt."
Pelkie said the grand jury continues to meet and is studying the possibility of charges in Stacy Peterson's disappearance. Watch family members react to the arrest »
After Stacy Peterson went missing in October 2007, media frenzy and police scrutiny on Peterson revealed Savio had died mysteriously a few years earlier during a nasty divorce.
Savio died just before the division of the marital assets was finalized, making Drew Peterson the sole beneficiary.
Savio was found in the dry bathtub of her home. At the time, the death was ruled an accidental drowning. But her family continued to insist that Savio died as a result of foul play.
The investigation into Stacy Peterson's disappearance brought renewed interest in Savio's death. Authorities exhumed Savio's body, further tests were conducted, and her death has now been ruled a "homicide staged to look like an accident."
Brodsky told King he believes the case has always been about circumstantial evidence and that he will bring a pathologist to trial who will say Savio died from an accidental drowning.
Don't Miss
FindLaw: Read the indictment
WGN: Local coverage
Lots of suspicion, few leads in Peterson mystery
Nancy Grace's Cold Cases
"I think the jury's going to see that, in fact, this always has been an accidental death and still is an accidental death," Brodsky told King.
Kathleen Savio's brother, Nick, told CNN affiliate WLS-TV he received a call from his sister saying Peterson had been arrested. Watch police arrest Peterson »
"The state police had been telling us the day was coming," he told WLS-TV. "We kept hearing it for about eight months. I'm almost in tears here. It's been so hard for our family."
"Hopefully, we'll get the justice we've always been waiting for."
Martin Glink, attorney for the Savio family, said they were hopeful the grand jury felt there was enough evidence to charge Peterson.
"We're very happy that the wheels of justice have continued to move and they are pointing in his direction," Glink told WLS-TV.
The news was also bittersweet for Stacy Peterson's family, who continue to wait for news about her disappearance.
"We have anticipated this coming. We have dreamed about it. We have been patient over it," Pam Bosco, spokesperson for Stacy Peterson's family told WLS-TV. "Now that it's here, it's almost a little bit calm. We're waiting for the storm to calm now. The calm before the storm."
Bosco said while she had not heard about any charges relating to Stacy Peterson's death, she was hopeful those charges would follow.
"We always said from the very beginning that Kathleen and Stacy had one thing in common -- and that was Drew Peterson," she said. "So, hopefully, we'll have news soon about Stacy, too."
Ernie Raines is also relieved about the arrest. His daughter, Christina Raines, is dating Peterson and was living with him before his arrest. Ernie Raines told CNN's Anderson Cooper he was with his daughter and Peterson as recently as last week, when they talked about going to Las Vegas, Nevada, and getting married.
Thursday night he spoke with his daughter after the arrest.
"My daughter was terrified, very emotional, upset," Ernie Raines said. "And I tried to tell her from the beginning that this was going to happen, be prepared."
Ernie Raines said more than anything, when he heard about the arrest, he was relieved.
"I'm glad justice finally came -- before he hurt my daughter," he said.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Asia "One standby" Pig Flu Virus
After
cases of swine flu virus found in Mexico, U.S., and New Zealand, Asia is now in "standby One," Sunday. Asia, who for many years "war" with the outbreak of SARS and bird flu, menyiagakan airport checkpoint and the border at all.
Outbreak of swine flu is believed to be extended to other regions in the world. World Health Organization (WHO) reminded, swine flu virus is potentially a very big pandemic. Cases of swine flu is considered the WHO as "the condition for public health emergency" that must receive immediate attention of the international community.
Until this far swine flu virus was reported to have extended to New Zealand, USA, Israel, and France. Swine flu virus is suspected to be quickly expanded to various countries in time very quickly because of air transportation. Therefore, one way is to prevent a post-post medical examination at the airport-the airport.
In Japan, for example, now the international airport tighten the inspection of all passengers arriving from Mexico. Quarantine officers also active share masks cover the nose and mouth while using the camera technology to scan the body heat of the passengers to ensure that the symptoms of flu or fever. "We must prevent flu this late before," said Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso to the journalist.
Agriculture Minister Shigeru Ishiba mengimbau community to remain calm and not panic. I have nothing feared. Moreover, given the drug Tamiflu have the votes Ishiba is very effective.
Stop the import of meat
, South Korea and Taiwan also has the same policy. All passengers who arrive from countries affected by swine flu virus must pass the post first medical examination. In fact, the Government of South Korea is now also the quarantine for imported pig meat from Mexico and the U.S.. Russia even more firmly. Although there were no cases of swine flu, the government forbade the import of meat from Mexico, several U.S. states, and nine Latin American countries.
Prevention
with cork checkpoint in the airport's health is also done in China. Minister of Public Health in Thailand Witthaya Kaewparadai mengimbau Thailand so that people be careful if traveling to the U.S. and Mexico.
According to WHO, the virus reached phase 4 if the virus move from human to human. When the virus is found in at least two of the same area, meaning it has been 5 phase. Phase 6 the global pandemic.
cases of swine flu virus found in Mexico, U.S., and New Zealand, Asia is now in "standby One," Sunday. Asia, who for many years "war" with the outbreak of SARS and bird flu, menyiagakan airport checkpoint and the border at all.
Outbreak of swine flu is believed to be extended to other regions in the world. World Health Organization (WHO) reminded, swine flu virus is potentially a very big pandemic. Cases of swine flu is considered the WHO as "the condition for public health emergency" that must receive immediate attention of the international community.
Until this far swine flu virus was reported to have extended to New Zealand, USA, Israel, and France. Swine flu virus is suspected to be quickly expanded to various countries in time very quickly because of air transportation. Therefore, one way is to prevent a post-post medical examination at the airport-the airport.
In Japan, for example, now the international airport tighten the inspection of all passengers arriving from Mexico. Quarantine officers also active share masks cover the nose and mouth while using the camera technology to scan the body heat of the passengers to ensure that the symptoms of flu or fever. "We must prevent flu this late before," said Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso to the journalist.
Agriculture Minister Shigeru Ishiba mengimbau community to remain calm and not panic. I have nothing feared. Moreover, given the drug Tamiflu have the votes Ishiba is very effective.
Stop the import of meat
, South Korea and Taiwan also has the same policy. All passengers who arrive from countries affected by swine flu virus must pass the post first medical examination. In fact, the Government of South Korea is now also the quarantine for imported pig meat from Mexico and the U.S.. Russia even more firmly. Although there were no cases of swine flu, the government forbade the import of meat from Mexico, several U.S. states, and nine Latin American countries.
Prevention
with cork checkpoint in the airport's health is also done in China. Minister of Public Health in Thailand Witthaya Kaewparadai mengimbau Thailand so that people be careful if traveling to the U.S. and Mexico.
According to WHO, the virus reached phase 4 if the virus move from human to human. When the virus is found in at least two of the same area, meaning it has been 5 phase. Phase 6 the global pandemic.
Good Bye Pig Flu
World Health Organization (WHO), announced, that the world body will not longer use the term "swine flu" ( swine flu ) in the reference and choose to take the influenza virus as a new "influenza A" (H1N1).
WHO has repeatedly stressed that the people can not be infected by this new virus through the consumption of pork is cooked well.
;
Prev made from Washington, U.S. officials argued the name change for the flu pigs.
In a taklimat, Minister of Security Affairs to U.S. Janet Napolitano and the Minister of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack with a heavy heart repeatedly mentions the flu as the "H1N1 virus".
Israel has rejected the first name of swine flu and select call "Mexican flu." Law about food in the Jewish religion forbids eating pork pemeluknya.
WHO based in Paris has also made his objections with the name and say, viruses that contain elements of poultry and human virus . So far, no pigs were found suffering from disease.
In addition, there is a growing feeling in the agricultural sector to call North America, although the virus specialist, Anthony Fauci, said in a Senate hearing on the opinion that the design of flu pigs reflect scientific naming protocol.
For pork producers in the U.S., the flu so that the pigs have been hurt the government officials take the attitude that asserts the United States safe pig meat is eaten and no other country need to prohibit the import.
Price pork, soybean, and maize has anjlok in a few days later. If this continues, of course, have great potential. That is why it is important to align, said Vilsack.
At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also have to talk to remove the word "pig" from the name of the swine flu justiciary CDC Director Richard Besser lead to wrong interpretation that the disease can be from pigs.
WHO has repeatedly stressed that the people can not be infected by this new virus through the consumption of pork is cooked well.
;
Prev made from Washington, U.S. officials argued the name change for the flu pigs.
In a taklimat, Minister of Security Affairs to U.S. Janet Napolitano and the Minister of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack with a heavy heart repeatedly mentions the flu as the "H1N1 virus".
Israel has rejected the first name of swine flu and select call "Mexican flu." Law about food in the Jewish religion forbids eating pork pemeluknya.
WHO based in Paris has also made his objections with the name and say, viruses that contain elements of poultry and human virus . So far, no pigs were found suffering from disease.
In addition, there is a growing feeling in the agricultural sector to call North America, although the virus specialist, Anthony Fauci, said in a Senate hearing on the opinion that the design of flu pigs reflect scientific naming protocol.
For pork producers in the U.S., the flu so that the pigs have been hurt the government officials take the attitude that asserts the United States safe pig meat is eaten and no other country need to prohibit the import.
Price pork, soybean, and maize has anjlok in a few days later. If this continues, of course, have great potential. That is why it is important to align, said Vilsack.
At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also have to talk to remove the word "pig" from the name of the swine flu justiciary CDC Director Richard Besser lead to wrong interpretation that the disease can be from pigs.
China Stop Flight from Mexico
Government of China, decided to stop the flight from Shanghai to Mexico following a case of H1N1 bird flu or pigs in a flight coming from countries in the Americas.
China has conveyed to the Government of Mexico, and airline-related ini.Demikian decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as quoted China Xinhua , in Beijing, Saturday. Return flight will be opened depending on the situation of disease control.
the passengers of the Chinese plan to fly from Shanghai to Mexico on May 3, the Government of China to consider sending a rented plane to take them home.
firm attitude taken the Government of China overtake authorities in Hong Kong mengonfirmasi that for the first time in the Chinese special administrative region is found or the case of influenza H1N1 swine flu known.
local government immediately raise the level of vigilance "serious" to "emergency", the highest level in Hong Kong. Likewise Tsang announced after an emergency meeting.
Hong Kong Chief Secretary Henry Tsang, said the government will fight against H1N1 influenza, with prevention in the border region.
Speaking to reporters after a number of inspections in the prevention and control of the airport Lo Wu, Tang said, the government has to seek a serious approach to combat the virus in the new.
To prevent transmission of viruses that kill, the Government of China has also decided to stop importing pigs and pork products from Mexico and the United States at the beginning of this weekend.
China has conveyed to the Government of Mexico, and airline-related ini.Demikian decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as quoted China Xinhua , in Beijing, Saturday. Return flight will be opened depending on the situation of disease control.
the passengers of the Chinese plan to fly from Shanghai to Mexico on May 3, the Government of China to consider sending a rented plane to take them home.
firm attitude taken the Government of China overtake authorities in Hong Kong mengonfirmasi that for the first time in the Chinese special administrative region is found or the case of influenza H1N1 swine flu known.
local government immediately raise the level of vigilance "serious" to "emergency", the highest level in Hong Kong. Likewise Tsang announced after an emergency meeting.
Hong Kong Chief Secretary Henry Tsang, said the government will fight against H1N1 influenza, with prevention in the border region.
Speaking to reporters after a number of inspections in the prevention and control of the airport Lo Wu, Tang said, the government has to seek a serious approach to combat the virus in the new.
To prevent transmission of viruses that kill, the Government of China has also decided to stop importing pigs and pork products from Mexico and the United States at the beginning of this weekend.
After 'Stress Tests,' Banks Told to Raise Money
WASHINGTON - After subjecting the nation's biggest banks to the most public scrutiny in decades, federal regulators ordered 10 of them on Thursday to raise a total of $75 billion in extra capital and gave the rest a clean bill of health.
The long-awaited results of the "stress tests" set off an immediate scramble by major institutions for more capital. By June 8, they must give regulators their plans for raising the money, and raise it by November.
The verdict was far more upbeat than many in the industry had feared when the tests were first announced in February. And the banks that came up short will have to raise much less than some analysts had expected as recently as a few days ago.
The stress tests were aimed at estimating how much each bank would lose if the economic downturn proved even deeper than currently expected. But regulators gave the banks a break by letting them bolster their capital with unusually strong first-quarter profits and also by letting them predict modest profits even if the economy again turns sour.
Despite an almost tangible sense of relief among the banks and investors, the report card is unlikely to silence an intense debate over whether the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve let the banks off too easily and glossed over their problems.
Under the worst-case assumptions - an unemployment rate of 10.3 percent next year, an economic contraction of 3.3 percent this year and a 22 percent further decline in housing prices - the losses by the 19 banks could total $600 billion this year and next, or 9.1 percent of the banks' total loans, regulators concluded. That rate of loss would be higher than any other since 1921.
But while the adverse situation was supposed to be unlikely, it is not that much worse than what has happened so far. Unemployment hit 8.5 percent in April and could top 9 percent as early as Friday, when the Labor Department releases its employment report for May.
Bank of America was told it would have to come up with $34.9 billion. Wells Fargo will have to find $13.7 billion. And Citigroup will have to produce another $5.5 billion, on top of the $52.5 billion that it had planned to acquire by letting the Treasury become its biggest single shareholder as part of a broader deal.
Industry executives reacted with jubilation, as if they had proved their critics wrong and passed the tests with flying colors.
"The results off the stress tests should put to rest the harmful speculation we have seen over the past few months," declared Edward L. Yingling, president of the American Bankers Association, hours before the results were even made public.
Investors had already bid up share prices of the big banks in reaction to leaks about the results earlier this week.
Regulators and bank executives alike predicted that most of the institutions would be able to build up the necessary capital from private sources - either by selling off assets or by converting shares of preferred stock into ordinary stock.
"With the clarity that today's announcement will bring, we hope banks are going to get back to the business of banking," Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, said Thursday.
Wells Fargo immediately announced that it would raise $6 billion through a new stock offering. Morgan Stanley, which was told to raise $1.8 billion, announced plans for a $2 billion stock offering.
GMAC, the financing arm of General Motors, will need to find $11.5 billion in capital. Last week the government gave GMAC more federal funds after it agreed to be the lender for purchasers of Chrysler vehicles while Chrysler is under bankruptcy protection. Earlier this year, the Treasury Department supplied the company with $5 billion through its Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Regulators did not push for the ouster of any chief executives, or demand any specific board shake-ups. They also said they would not subject the rest of the nation's banks to similar stress tests or require them to have additional capital buffers.
But Treasury and Fed officials said they would press banks to improve their governance and would reserve the right to demand changes in management.
Indeed, Bank of America is expected to announce that it will start recruiting fresh board members in a bid to strengthen oversight.
Despite the reassuring picture outlined by Mr. Geithner and the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke, the stress test results hardly silenced critics.
"It's window-dressing," said Bert Ely, a longtime bank analyst based in Alexandria, Va. Mr. Ely was particularly skeptical about letting companies bolster their balance sheets by converting preferred shares to common.
"That won't add one extra dollar to a bank's capital buffer against losses," Mr. Ely complained. "It's just moving capital from one place to another."
From the start, Treasury and Fed officials have steered between what Mr. Bernanke recently described as "Scylla and Charybdis" - being perceived as too easy and too coddling of banks on the one hand, or so tough and antagonistic that investors and consumers alike become even more anxious.
But the big question, which remains unanswered, is whether Mr. Geithner and Mr. Bernanke will in fact confront banks over their risk management practices in a way that regulators have been afraid to do for years.
Officials also disclosed detailed estimates of potential losses at individual banks, concluding that losses could skyrocket at institutions with particularly risky loan portfolio
The long-awaited results of the "stress tests" set off an immediate scramble by major institutions for more capital. By June 8, they must give regulators their plans for raising the money, and raise it by November.
The verdict was far more upbeat than many in the industry had feared when the tests were first announced in February. And the banks that came up short will have to raise much less than some analysts had expected as recently as a few days ago.
The stress tests were aimed at estimating how much each bank would lose if the economic downturn proved even deeper than currently expected. But regulators gave the banks a break by letting them bolster their capital with unusually strong first-quarter profits and also by letting them predict modest profits even if the economy again turns sour.
Despite an almost tangible sense of relief among the banks and investors, the report card is unlikely to silence an intense debate over whether the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve let the banks off too easily and glossed over their problems.
Under the worst-case assumptions - an unemployment rate of 10.3 percent next year, an economic contraction of 3.3 percent this year and a 22 percent further decline in housing prices - the losses by the 19 banks could total $600 billion this year and next, or 9.1 percent of the banks' total loans, regulators concluded. That rate of loss would be higher than any other since 1921.
But while the adverse situation was supposed to be unlikely, it is not that much worse than what has happened so far. Unemployment hit 8.5 percent in April and could top 9 percent as early as Friday, when the Labor Department releases its employment report for May.
Bank of America was told it would have to come up with $34.9 billion. Wells Fargo will have to find $13.7 billion. And Citigroup will have to produce another $5.5 billion, on top of the $52.5 billion that it had planned to acquire by letting the Treasury become its biggest single shareholder as part of a broader deal.
Industry executives reacted with jubilation, as if they had proved their critics wrong and passed the tests with flying colors.
"The results off the stress tests should put to rest the harmful speculation we have seen over the past few months," declared Edward L. Yingling, president of the American Bankers Association, hours before the results were even made public.
Investors had already bid up share prices of the big banks in reaction to leaks about the results earlier this week.
Regulators and bank executives alike predicted that most of the institutions would be able to build up the necessary capital from private sources - either by selling off assets or by converting shares of preferred stock into ordinary stock.
"With the clarity that today's announcement will bring, we hope banks are going to get back to the business of banking," Timothy F. Geithner, the Treasury secretary, said Thursday.
Wells Fargo immediately announced that it would raise $6 billion through a new stock offering. Morgan Stanley, which was told to raise $1.8 billion, announced plans for a $2 billion stock offering.
GMAC, the financing arm of General Motors, will need to find $11.5 billion in capital. Last week the government gave GMAC more federal funds after it agreed to be the lender for purchasers of Chrysler vehicles while Chrysler is under bankruptcy protection. Earlier this year, the Treasury Department supplied the company with $5 billion through its Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Regulators did not push for the ouster of any chief executives, or demand any specific board shake-ups. They also said they would not subject the rest of the nation's banks to similar stress tests or require them to have additional capital buffers.
But Treasury and Fed officials said they would press banks to improve their governance and would reserve the right to demand changes in management.
Indeed, Bank of America is expected to announce that it will start recruiting fresh board members in a bid to strengthen oversight.
Despite the reassuring picture outlined by Mr. Geithner and the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke, the stress test results hardly silenced critics.
"It's window-dressing," said Bert Ely, a longtime bank analyst based in Alexandria, Va. Mr. Ely was particularly skeptical about letting companies bolster their balance sheets by converting preferred shares to common.
"That won't add one extra dollar to a bank's capital buffer against losses," Mr. Ely complained. "It's just moving capital from one place to another."
From the start, Treasury and Fed officials have steered between what Mr. Bernanke recently described as "Scylla and Charybdis" - being perceived as too easy and too coddling of banks on the one hand, or so tough and antagonistic that investors and consumers alike become even more anxious.
But the big question, which remains unanswered, is whether Mr. Geithner and Mr. Bernanke will in fact confront banks over their risk management practices in a way that regulators have been afraid to do for years.
Officials also disclosed detailed estimates of potential losses at individual banks, concluding that losses could skyrocket at institutions with particularly risky loan portfolio
Firefighters Work to Contain Blaze on Hills by Santa Barbara
A wildfire on the hills near this oceanside city was only 10 percent contained on Thursday, and firefighters struggled to pen in the flames, which had destroyed 75 houses since they began on Tuesday.
Faltering winds slowed the fire's spread through the day, but officials worried that the blaze could worsen as the humidity dropped, temperatures rose and the evening winds returned.
"Firefighters have been building lines in pieces around the perimeter," said Mike Carr, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "Now they are working to connect the dots."
The fire has burned about 2,793 acres, and 15,000 people have been evacuated from the area, which is known for its sprawling mansions and ocean views. A mandatory evacuation order was in effect for about seven square miles from the Santa Ynez foothills to just outside downtown Santa Barbara, the police said. Hotels in the area were near capacity, with families unable to return to their homes.
Mr. Carr said strong winds expected Thursday evening could threaten 3,500 homes and 100 businesses in the area.
At a news conference here Thursday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said that the state's budget woes would not affect efforts to fight the fire but that the blaze presented a "great challenge."
"Seventy-five percent of the response cost" would be covered by the federal government, Mr. Schwarzenegger said, after his declaration of a state of emergency on Wednesday.
"This is very, very helpful for us," he said, "because, as you know, we have a financial crisis in California. But I want to reassure you all that even though we have this crisis, we will not be short of money when it comes to fighting this fire."
More than 9,000 elementary and high school students were evacuated from schools in the county on Thursday, said Barbara Keyani, a spokeswoman for Santa Barbara's two largest school districts. Ms. Keyani said 12 schools remained closed.
Ten firefighters have been injured, officials said, although most of the injuries were minor. No injuries were reported among evacuees.
At 2 a.m. Thursday, as the winds that had fanned flames rapidly Wednesday afternoon slowed to fitful gusts, a few hundred firefighters slept between shifts in trucks and tents at the city fairgrounds. Sixty or so lay in sleeping bags scattered like blue cocoons over the trim lawn near their command post.
The air smelled of acidic, sweet wood smoke, and ash flakes fluttered to the ground. Crews from across Southern California had come to assist, said Capt. David Sadecki of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Geege Ostroff, 65, walking out of a Red Cross shelter in a high school down the road, said he and his wife, Carole, decided to evacuate ahead of orders on Tuesday, when they saw smoke plumes and orange flames near their home at the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens, where he is a caretaker.
"We knew that with the winds what they were, this would grow," Mr. Ostroff said.
He said he was sure his house had burned.
"Sometimes I think it's there," he said, as he held his hat in a gust of wind, "then I realize it's gone. I miss the stupidest things now, like my coffee grinder. I want to be home."
Faltering winds slowed the fire's spread through the day, but officials worried that the blaze could worsen as the humidity dropped, temperatures rose and the evening winds returned.
"Firefighters have been building lines in pieces around the perimeter," said Mike Carr, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "Now they are working to connect the dots."
The fire has burned about 2,793 acres, and 15,000 people have been evacuated from the area, which is known for its sprawling mansions and ocean views. A mandatory evacuation order was in effect for about seven square miles from the Santa Ynez foothills to just outside downtown Santa Barbara, the police said. Hotels in the area were near capacity, with families unable to return to their homes.
Mr. Carr said strong winds expected Thursday evening could threaten 3,500 homes and 100 businesses in the area.
At a news conference here Thursday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said that the state's budget woes would not affect efforts to fight the fire but that the blaze presented a "great challenge."
"Seventy-five percent of the response cost" would be covered by the federal government, Mr. Schwarzenegger said, after his declaration of a state of emergency on Wednesday.
"This is very, very helpful for us," he said, "because, as you know, we have a financial crisis in California. But I want to reassure you all that even though we have this crisis, we will not be short of money when it comes to fighting this fire."
More than 9,000 elementary and high school students were evacuated from schools in the county on Thursday, said Barbara Keyani, a spokeswoman for Santa Barbara's two largest school districts. Ms. Keyani said 12 schools remained closed.
Ten firefighters have been injured, officials said, although most of the injuries were minor. No injuries were reported among evacuees.
At 2 a.m. Thursday, as the winds that had fanned flames rapidly Wednesday afternoon slowed to fitful gusts, a few hundred firefighters slept between shifts in trucks and tents at the city fairgrounds. Sixty or so lay in sleeping bags scattered like blue cocoons over the trim lawn near their command post.
The air smelled of acidic, sweet wood smoke, and ash flakes fluttered to the ground. Crews from across Southern California had come to assist, said Capt. David Sadecki of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.
Geege Ostroff, 65, walking out of a Red Cross shelter in a high school down the road, said he and his wife, Carole, decided to evacuate ahead of orders on Tuesday, when they saw smoke plumes and orange flames near their home at the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens, where he is a caretaker.
"We knew that with the winds what they were, this would grow," Mr. Ostroff said.
He said he was sure his house had burned.
"Sometimes I think it's there," he said, as he held his hat in a gust of wind, "then I realize it's gone. I miss the stupidest things now, like my coffee grinder. I want to be home."
A siege is underway in the town of Napier, New Zealand after a policeman was killed while attempting to enter a house to search for illegal drugs.
Jan Molenaar, a former army reservist, allegedly shot dead Senior Constable Len Snee, seriously wounded two other police and injured a bystander.
The armed standoff began on Thursday but the officers body remained where he fell while the gunman fired at random.
New Zealand police are not normally armed; 29 have died on duty since 1890.
The authorities are preparing for the possibility of the siege lasting for days.
The situation was "incredibly tense" said Superintendent Sam Hoyle, who is the officer in charge of the operation, although he added that the siege could also end in minutes.
In the meantime, police have evacuated nearby residents.
"At least 500 people could not return to their homes," Mayor of Napier Barbara Arnott told National Radio in New Zealand.
Mr Molenaar, who police believe has a stock of ammunition, has been sporadically firing bursts from an automatic rifle.
However, he has refused to speak to police negotiators.
His brother, Peter Molenaar, has been on the radio to urge him to give himself up.
"He over-reacted to the situation. He flipped," Mr Molenaar said.
His mother Anna has apologised "to the police who have been shot and those who are injured and in hospital," by her son's actions.
She told New Zealand television she had difficulty understanding her son's actions.
"What was he trying to protect? That's what I want to know. A silly marijuana plant?" she said.
The armed standoff began on Thursday but the officers body remained where he fell while the gunman fired at random.
New Zealand police are not normally armed; 29 have died on duty since 1890.
The authorities are preparing for the possibility of the siege lasting for days.
The situation was "incredibly tense" said Superintendent Sam Hoyle, who is the officer in charge of the operation, although he added that the siege could also end in minutes.
In the meantime, police have evacuated nearby residents.
"At least 500 people could not return to their homes," Mayor of Napier Barbara Arnott told National Radio in New Zealand.
Mr Molenaar, who police believe has a stock of ammunition, has been sporadically firing bursts from an automatic rifle.
However, he has refused to speak to police negotiators.
His brother, Peter Molenaar, has been on the radio to urge him to give himself up.
"He over-reacted to the situation. He flipped," Mr Molenaar said.
His mother Anna has apologised "to the police who have been shot and those who are injured and in hospital," by her son's actions.
She told New Zealand television she had difficulty understanding her son's actions.
"What was he trying to protect? That's what I want to know. A silly marijuana plant?" she said.
Israel will Backward Region of Lebanon Banjamin Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel supports the withdrawal of troops from a border village in Lebanon, and will discuss the problem with the cabinet ministers this weekend.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz, reported Sunday the United States urges that Netanyahu israel out of Ghajar, which is located on the border between Lebanon and Israel rebut the region from Syria in the Middle East 1967.
United States, said the newspaper, the withdrawal of Israel from sure akan Ghajar is a good hint to the Prime Minister of Lebanon Fouad Siniora, and can support the moderate group in Lebanon before the election on June 7.
government sources said Netanyahu, who will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on May 18, will discuss the problem with the cabinet ministers this weekend. Netanyahu, said the source, the withdrawal from Ghajar "profitable."
Menganeksasi Ghajar Israel in 1981 along with the Golan in the Highest The one action that is not recognized internationally. Withdrawal from Ghajar can also open a wide debate about the Regional Agriculture Shebaa, a region that Israel occupied the Lebanese claim the area as the United Nations but admitted it was the property of Syria. Mark Regev, spokesman Netanyahu refused to comment on the problem.
United States, said the newspaper, the withdrawal of Israel from sure akan Ghajar is a good hint to the Prime Minister of Lebanon Fouad Siniora, and can support the moderate group in Lebanon before the election on June 7.
government sources said Netanyahu, who will meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on May 18, will discuss the problem with the cabinet ministers this weekend. Netanyahu, said the source, the withdrawal from Ghajar "profitable."
Menganeksasi Ghajar Israel in 1981 along with the Golan in the Highest The one action that is not recognized internationally. Withdrawal from Ghajar can also open a wide debate about the Regional Agriculture Shebaa, a region that Israel occupied the Lebanese claim the area as the United Nations but admitted it was the property of Syria. Mark Regev, spokesman Netanyahu refused to comment on the problem.
Girls Youth Gantung Iran, Amnesty angry Government of Iran to hang it on a young girl after six years is in prison because the murder case.
Delara Darabi (23) swing on Friday (1 / 5) in a prison in Rasht was without family or pengacaranya . So disclosed deceased lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, told Associated Press on Saturday.
Darabi still aged 17 years when killed. Vonis the death penalty is triggered criticism from international human rights groups. Among human rights activists protest the execution.
Institute on Human Rights, Amnesty International, are very angry over digantungnya Delara Darabi and the states, he does not get a fair legal process. Iran's leadership the Department of Justice recently fulfill two hours delay the execution, but lawyers say, be the decision by prison authorities.
Darabi, the artist, said, he was not guilty. He says, he bears a mistake to save girlfriend. Case invite international attention after pictures and paintings that he made from behind the iron trellis circulating around the world.
Journalists BBC, Jon Leyne, in Tehran, said Delara Darabi make phone contact to the despair of his parents and says he can see a rope hanging, Friday morning.
Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Chairman of Amnesty International for the Middle East and North Africa, said, execution is a cynical act to avoid international protest.
Amnesty International holds pengadilannya not fair because the court then refused to consider new evidence that lawyers say proves that he may not do the murder.
Darabi still aged 17 years when killed. Vonis the death penalty is triggered criticism from international human rights groups. Among human rights activists protest the execution.
Institute on Human Rights, Amnesty International, are very angry over digantungnya Delara Darabi and the states, he does not get a fair legal process. Iran's leadership the Department of Justice recently fulfill two hours delay the execution, but lawyers say, be the decision by prison authorities.
Darabi, the artist, said, he was not guilty. He says, he bears a mistake to save girlfriend. Case invite international attention after pictures and paintings that he made from behind the iron trellis circulating around the world.
Journalists BBC, Jon Leyne, in Tehran, said Delara Darabi make phone contact to the despair of his parents and says he can see a rope hanging, Friday morning.
Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Chairman of Amnesty International for the Middle East and North Africa, said, execution is a cynical act to avoid international protest.
Amnesty International holds pengadilannya not fair because the court then refused to consider new evidence that lawyers say proves that he may not do the murder.
Grandmother Obama Want Up Haji
Dubai - Sarah Hussein Obama, grandmother President of the United States Barack Obama plan will fulfill the Hajj this year. It was after he received an invitation from the United Arab Emirates property (UAE) Sulaiman Al Fahim.
grandmother that Obama is a warg country Kenya is to tread in the age of 86 at this time is not yet fulfill the Hajj. In fact, he really want to go to the holy land.
"Because my mother is no longer with us, our families have a place empty. And then he invites me to receive the invitation, "said the head of Hydra Properties, such as Arabian Business reported quoted called , on Tuesday (28 / 4).
Al Fahim said, he met Sarah in lawatan to Kenya last week to wage a campaign antikekurangan nutrition in the area. The visit was made in the capacity as a special ambassador program Millennium Development Goals (MDG's).
grandmother that Obama is a warg country Kenya is to tread in the age of 86 at this time is not yet fulfill the Hajj. In fact, he really want to go to the holy land.
"Because my mother is no longer with us, our families have a place empty. And then he invites me to receive the invitation, "said the head of Hydra Properties, such as Arabian Business reported quoted called , on Tuesday (28 / 4).
Al Fahim said, he met Sarah in lawatan to Kenya last week to wage a campaign antikekurangan nutrition in the area. The visit was made in the capacity as a special ambassador program Millennium Development Goals (MDG's).
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