health: Lincoln Tribune

الثلاثاء، 6 مارس 2012

Lincoln Tribune

Hundreds arrested in Russia during protests against election outcome
Hundreds arrested in Russia during protests against election outcome
U.S. Senator McCain calls for U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria
Suicide bomber attacks U.S. base in northeastern Afghanistan, killing 2
Indonesia’s Mount Marapi still highly active

Hundreds arrested in Russia during protests against election outcome

Posted: 05 Mar 2012 07:09 PM PST

MOSCOW, Russia (BNO NEWS) -- More than 550 people were arrested on Monday when tens of thousands of people participated in unauthorized protests in the Russian cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg to denounce Vladimir Putin's re-election as president, officials said on early Tuesday.

Thousands of people gathered at Pushkinskaya Square in Moscow to demand free elections after Putin won 63.60 percent during Sunday's presidential election, which international observers have said were 'clearly skewed' in favor of the prime minister. Putin was followed by Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov and self-nominee businessman Mikhail Prokhorov who won 17.18 and 7.86 percent respectively.

Police officials said approximately 14,000 people took part in the opposition rally in Moscow, but organizers said the actual figure was between 20,000 and 40,000. With 12,000 police officers present, the situation at the square was described as calm and there were no reports of significant incidents.

But although the main opposition rally had been authorized by city authorities, up to 1,000 people refused to leave the square when the authorized demonstration ended. Some protesters started a sit-in and pledged to stay until their demands for fair elections were met, resulting in about 250 people being arrested.

Among those arrested in Moscow was blogger and political activist Alexei Navalny. "Hello from the police van," the activist wrote on his Twitter profile. He later tweeted a photo from inside the police van, showing at least nine other protesters who had also been detained during the rally.

"The Moscow police forces responded to the violations promptly and in full accordance with the powers defined by law, and took measures to avoid negative developments and the aggravation of the situation," a spokesperson for Moscow police told the ITAR-TASS news agency. It said all the detainees were taken to city police stations for formal registration.

In St. Petersburg, more than 300 people were arrested at St. Isaac's Square when a group of approximately 800 people participated in an unauthorized protest against Sunday's election result. Among those arrested were several men who threw Molotov cocktails at police vehicles, Russian media reports said.

Earlier on Monday, election monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) concluded that voting procedures were generally followed during Sunday's presidential election. But there was evidence of fraud and observers said campaign conditions were 'clearly skewed' in favor of Putin.

"The point of elections is that the outcome should be uncertain. This was not the case in Russia," said Tonino Picula of the OSCE, commenting on Monday's report. "There was no real competition and abuse of government resources ensured that the ultimate winner of the election was never in doubt."

Opposition leaders have rejected the results of the election.

Hundreds arrested in Russia during protests against election outcome

Posted: 05 Mar 2012 07:09 PM PST

Opposition leaders have rejected the results of the election.

U.S. Senator McCain calls for U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria

Posted: 05 Mar 2012 03:51 PM PST

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- U.S. Senator John McCain on Monday called for a U.S.-led military operation to establish and defend safe havens in Syria, using airstrikes to protect civilians and rebels from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

There have been increasing calls for military intervention in Syria as Assad has stepped up his bloody crackdown against a popular uprising, resulting in the deaths of up to 8,000 people since the first protests in March 2011. Last month, McCain called for the United States to help arm the rebels against the Assad government, but he stopped short of calling for airstrikes.

"It is estimated that more than 7,500 lives have been lost. The United Nations has declared that Syrian security forces are guilty of crimes against humanity, including the indiscriminate shelling of civilians, the execution of defectors, and the widespread torture of prisoners," McCain said in a U.S. Senate floor speech. "Bashar al-Assad is now doing to Homs what his father did to Hama. Aerial photographs procured by Human Rights Watch show a city that has been laid to waste by Assad's tanks and artillery."

McCain, the first U.S. senator to publicly call for U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria, was also among the first U.S. officials to call for military intervention in Libya which led to the ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi last year. "The kinds of mass atrocities that NATO intervened in Libya to prevent in Benghazi are now a reality in Homs," McCain said. "Indeed, Syria today is the scene of some of the worst state-sponsored violence since Milosevic's war crimes in the Balkans, or Russia's annihilation of the Chechen city of Grozny."

In early February, the Pentagon began a preliminary internal review of U.S. military capabilities in Syria in the event that U.S. President Barack Obama calls for them. But senior administration officials said such a review is not unusual, and Obama has repeatedly said that he believes it is possible to end the conflict without outside military intervention.

But despite escalating international pressure and sanctions, Assad has been able to continue his crackdown. "Despite a year's worth of diplomacy backed by sanctions, Assad and his top lieutenants show no signs of giving up and taking the path into foreign exile," McCain said. "To the contrary, they appear to be accelerating their fight to the finish. And they are doing so with the shameless support of foreign governments, especially in Russia, China, and Iran."

The UN General Assembly passed a resolution last month which strongly condemned the continued 'widespread and systematic' human rights violations by the Syrian authorities and demanded that the Syrian government immediately ceases all violence and protects its people. But the UN Security Council, which has significantly more power, has failed to approve any significant statements due to opposition from Russia and China.

"The Security Council is totally shut down as an avenue for increased pressure," McCain said, acknowledging that there will be no UN Security Council mandate in the event of a military operation against the Syrian regime. "Russia and China took that option off the table long ago."

But McCain said the United States and other nations can launch a military operation without support from the UN Security Council. "NATO took military action to save Kosovo in 1999 without formal UN authorization," he said. "There is no reason why the Arab League, or NATO, or a leading coalition within the Friends of Syria contact group, or all of them speaking in unison, could not provide a similar international mandate for military measures to save Syria today."

"What opposition groups in Syria need most urgently is relief from Assad's tank and artillery sieges in the many cities that are still contested. Homs is lost for now, but Idlib, and Hama, and Qusayr, and Deraa, and other cities in Syria could still be saved," McCain said. "But time is running out. Assad's forces are on the march. Providing military assistance to the Free Syrian Army and other opposition groups is necessary, but at this late hour, that alone will not be sufficient to stop the slaughter and save innocent lives. The only realistic way to do so is with foreign airpower."

McCain, who was defeated by Obama in the 2008 presidential election, said the U.S. should lead an international effort to protect population centers in Syria through airstrikes on Assed's forces and by taking out air defenses in at least a part of the country. "The ultimate goal of airstrikes should be to establish and defend safe havens in Syria, especially in the north, in which opposition forces can organize and plan their political and military activities against Assad," he said. "These safe havens could serve as platforms for the delivery of humanitarian and military assistance. These safe havens could also help the Free Syrian Army and other armed groups in Syria to train and organize themselves into more cohesive and effective military forces, likely with the assistance of foreign partners."

Thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the uprising - part of the broader Arab Spring movement across North Africa and the Middle East - began almost a year ago. More than 3,800 people have died according to government figures, but opposition activists claim the actual number has already surpassed 8,000.

Suicide bomber attacks U.S. base in northeastern Afghanistan, killing 2

Posted: 05 Mar 2012 02:50 PM PST

BAGRAM, Afghanistan (BNO NEWS) -- Two Afghan civilians were killed on late Monday afternoon when a suicide bomber attacked Bagram Airbase in northeastern Afghanistan, apparently in retaliation over the alleged burning of Qurans at the base, officials said.

The attack happened just after 5 p.m. local time when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the third entrance gate to Bagram Airfield, one of the largest U.S. military bases in Afghanistan. The base is located near the ancient city of Bagram in Parwan province.

A provincial spokesman said two Afghan workers were killed in the attack while five others were injured, including three Afghan civilians and three service members with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The blast reportedly damaged an ISAF vehicle which was parked at the entrance.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack, adding that it was in retaliation for the alleged burning of Qurans at the U.S. base. "The heroic martyrdom-seeking Mujahid of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban), Ahmad drove up to the third gate of the airbase and detonated his bomb-laden car at a fairly large group of the American troops who had just returned from a patrol mission," he said.

Mujahid added: "The attack was in revenge for the burning of the copies of Holy Quran in the very base by U.S. terrorists as anti-U.S. fury has deepened significantly, triggering a series of widespread protests across the country since this worst act of blasphemy occurred."

U.S. troops have been accused of burning Qurans at the Bagram Airbase, triggering a series of violent protests across Afghanistan which have left dozens of people killed. Six U.S. soldiers were previously killed in attacks which were claimed to be retaliation attacks, forcing ISAF to recall all military advisers from Afghan ministries.

Indonesia’s Mount Marapi still highly active

Posted: 05 Mar 2012 11:17 AM PST

BUKITTINGGI, Indonesia (BNO NEWS) -- Mount Marapi, a volcano located in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra, continues to spew out volcanic ash after several brief eruptions last week, officials said on Monday.

The 2,891-meter (9,485 feet) tall volcano, located near the cities and town of Bukittinggi, Padang Panjang and Batusangkar in West Sumatra, spewed out sulfurous volcanic ashes up to 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) high on Sunday morning.

Bukittinggi's Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Agency (PVMBG) officer Suparmo told the Antara news agency that the activity on Sunday was Marapi's strongest in recent days, although he noted that the alert level has remained at level II as the volcano's activity is showing a downward trend.

The volcanic ash on Sunday traveled approximately 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) south and authorities have prohibited local residents and climbers from coming closer than 3 kilometers (1.86 mile) from Marapi's peak. It followed two brief eruptions on Wednesday morning.

The volcano has been spewing out ash almost daily since its increased activity began in August 2011, but Suparmo noted that while it could erupt any day, it is impossible to predict when. The PVMBG has installed seismometers and digital analogs at an altitude of 2,000 meters (6.560 feet) at Nagari Batu Palano and at an altitude of 1,500 meters (4,920 feet) at Nagari Lasi in order to monitor the activity.

Mount Marapi is the most active volcano on the island of Sumatra and has erupted 454 times since the late eighteenth century to 2008, fifty of those eruptions at a large scale. Its last significant eruption occurred in 2005.

Dozens of active volcanoes in Indonesia are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, known for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

One of Indonesia's most active volcanoes is Mount Merapi, which is located on the island of Java near Jogjakarta, the country's second-most visited area after Bali. Last year, more than 300 people were killed in a series of eruptions between October and November which also displaced over 300,000 people.

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الثلاثاء، 6 مارس 2012

Lincoln Tribune

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