| U.S. drone strikes in South Waziristan kill 4 Posted: 28 Sep 2011 03:50 AM PDT MIRANSHAH, PAKISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Renewed U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan on Tuesday have killed at least four suspected militants, local media reported on Wednesday. The unmanned aircraft fired at least two missiles at compounds in the town of Azam Warsak in Pakistan's volatile tribal region of South Waziristan, the Express Tribune reported. The town is located near the city of Wana. According to the reports, the four individuals killed were members of the local Taliban Nazir group. Local residents had spotted the U.S. drone flying around the area during the last couple of days, but it had not fired any missiles until Tuesday. On Friday, U.S. drone missiles were launched against a house in the Mir Ali Khushali area of Pakistan's North Waziristan. The house was thought to belong to local tribal leader Jamal Wazir and the air strikes killed at least five people while several others are believed to have been injured, although the exact number is uncertain. Last month, U.S. drone strikes in North and South Waziristan killed at least 42 people in six air attacks. It is unknown if they were all militants or if there were civilian casualties. In the first seven months of the year, 51 U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan have killed at least 443 people, according to a report by Conflict Monitoring Center. The report showed that the two deadliest months were June and July, when 117 and 73 people were killed respectively. One of the deadliest attacks was carried out on July 11 and 12, when four air strikes killed 63 people, the report said. Controversy has surrounded the drone strikes as local residents and officials have blamed them for killing innocent civilians and motivating young men to join the Taliban. Details about the alleged militants are usually not provided, and the U.S. government does not comment on the strikes. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said in its annual report that the U.S. drone strikes were responsible for 957 extra-legal killings in 2010. Since August 2008, there have been over 250 drone attacks which have reportedly killed more than 1,500 people in North and South Waziristan alone. Pakistan's Afghan border, which the United States considers to be the most dangerous place on Earth, is known to be a stronghold of the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network, considered one of the top terrorist organizations and threats to U.S. forces in Afghanistan. (Copyright 2011 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.) 
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| UN chief renews call on Syria to end crackdown on protesters Posted: 27 Sep 2011 07:28 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday reiterated its call on the Syrian Government to end its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters and to cooperate with the UN's Commission of Inquiry tasked with investigating alleged human rights abuses. During a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated the call he has made on numerous occasions for an end to the violence. In addition, Ban repeated his call for a genuine process to fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the people for comprehensive political change, according to information released by his spokesperson. Also on Tuesday, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs B. Lynn Pascoe said that the increase in Syrian nationals seeking refuge across the border in Lebanon is a reflection of the "escalating political and human rights crisis" in Syria. "The polarization continues to deepen between the Syrian regime, which appears determined to pursue its policy of violent repression despite international and regional calls to change course, and a growing popular opposition that has continued to organize protests across the country," Pascoe said in a briefing to the UN Security Council. Some 2,700 people have been killed in Syria since March when the pro-democracy protests – part of a broader wave of uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa – began. The UN Human Rights Council has ordered an inquiry into the violence after an earlier UN fact-finding mission outlined a litany of Government abuses, including murders, enforced disappearances and acts of torture. Three experts have been appointed to carry out the probe. Pascoe went on to call on Syria to cooperation with the Commission of Inquiry, whose members are in Geneva this week to discuss their program and methods of work, and establish contacts with relevant stakeholders. "We underline the importance of accountability for all human rights violations committed in Syria since March, and hope that the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic will extend its full cooperation to the Commission," Pascoe underlined. (Copyright 2011 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.) 
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| Student Architects Shine in Solar Energy Contest Posted: 27 Sep 2011 07:04 PM PDT Dreams and designs of young architects are shining brightly in Washington at the bi-annual Solar Decathlon. They have come from around the world, college students combining their education with their imagination to create homes of the future that could be built now. Nineteen teams have built their creations in downtown Washington DC this year at the fifth U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. Each home generates power from solar panels attached to the roof. Usually when the sun is out, more power is generated then used and the excess energy is sent to the public power grid. At night, the reverse happens and power is drawn from the grid. The solar houses are designed to have a net zero power use over time, sending and using equal amounts of electricity.
Richard King, the Director of the Solar Decathlon, said "The Solar Decathlon challenges schools of architecture and engineering to design from the ground up a highly efficient solar powered house. We started this program back in 2002 to challenge these universities, our best and brightest, to design beautiful homes. The object was to educate the students, [and] also educate the public." The public will get to see and walk through the homes through October 2. 
Richard King says these are not just conceptual models."These houses are fully functional. And they have a lot of components in them that are directly useable by homeowners today," he said.
Some of those components include simple items like insulation in the home built by the team from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.
"We have 240 millimeters of wool insulation in the walls," said 24-year-old Ben Jagersma, the technology leader of his team. "So it is like a big wooly blanket, which keeps the house warm in the winter time."
But with the shading elements of the canopy, the tints on the windows, also keeps it cool in the summer months as well."
Interior designer 27-year-old Anna Falrow hopes the design of the 'First Light' home will separate their entry from the rest. "I think something that is maybe a little different with our house that it is a completely open plan. We do not have segregated rooms in the house apart from the bathroom and the laundry. The rest of the space is all one," she said.
Also with a unified space design is the team from Tongji University in Shanghai, China. Hua Guodong, the 23-year-old architecture leader, explained his 'Y-Container' concept.
"Y shape is a really flowing shape. The common residential house has some fixed divisions, different rooms. But in our Y-Container house there is no fixed compartment, no fixed division. You can see every angle from one branch of the Y-Container," he said.
The Y-Container revolves around the triangle shape. Hua's team also created more useful items from the simple shape.
"We designed a special triangle furniture which can be chairs, which also can be combined, integrated into a desk, and can also be the cabinets," he said.
Along with 15 U.S. universities are other international entries from Canada and Belgium, which have each spent nearly two years designing, building and testing their homes before shipping the components to Washington.
Solar Decathlon Director Richard King said, "Climate change, housing, energy are global concerns. In order to solve the problems, we need to work together, everybody. So we have invited international schools here to bring their culture, bring their design techniques, and do this cross fertilization and show each other how we can all live sustainably together."
As with the Olympic Decathlon, this competition includes 10 contests designed to assess how well the houses perform and how livable and affordable they are. Each contest is worth a maximum of 100 points, for a competition total of 1,000 points. The winners will be announced October 1. <!--IMAGE-RIGHT--> 
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| New York Has New Marijuana Arrest Policy Posted: 27 Sep 2011 05:39 PM PDT A new marijuana arrest policy in New York, America's largest city, is being applauded by civil rights advocates who say it will reduce alleged discrimination against black and Latino youth. Opponents of the old policy say it had negative implications not only for employment and housing opportunities of those arrested, but for the city's law enforcement budget as well.
More than 50,000 people were arrested on misdemeanor marijuana charges in New York City last year, enough to fill any local stadium to capacity. Most of them were black or Latino males.
Under a 1977 New York State law, possession of any amount of marijuana that is in public view can result in a three-month jail sentence and a $500 fine. City police officers, engaging in a controversial law enforcement technique known as stop-and-frisk, told people to empty their pockets even if they were not suspected of a crime. That would sometimes bring marijuana into public view, which resulted in an arrest.
Last week, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly issued a memo that said individuals may not be arrested if the drug "was disclosed to public view at an officer's discretion."
Speaking near Police Headquarters at a small rally of civil rights and pro-marijuana activists, state assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries said Kelly's decision represents a step toward an equitable criminal justice system.
"It cannot be criminal for one group of people, and socially-acceptable for another if the dividing line is race," said Jeffries.
Jeffries added that many white college students also have marijuana in their pockets, but are not asked to empty them.
Activists note that marijuana arrests skyrocketed under Mayor Michael Bloomberg to more than twice what they averaged under his predecessor. Bloomberg also stands accused of hypocrisy, having famously responded to a question if he ever smoked marijuana, "You bet I did. And I enjoyed it."
Alfredo Carrasquillo, a community organizer for VOCAL-NY, an advocacy group that deals with drug issues, says a misdemeanor charge can devastate a young person's life. He was first arrested for marijuana possession when he was 14.
"Because I am constantly being targeted and profiled, it is hard for me to maintain lawful employment, it is hard for me to maintain rent for an apartment, and it is hard for to maintain being in school," said Carrasquillo.
New York spends about $75 million per year pursuing misdemeanor marijuana charges. Activists say that money can be better spent on other law enforcement issues.
Hakeem Jeffries is sponsoring a bi-partisan bill that would reduce open possession of small amounts of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a violation. The Bloomberg administration opposes the measure. Mayoral assistant Frank Barry has said that reducing the offense would encourage marijuana use in public places, and reverse efforts to clean up neighborhoods and eliminate open air drug markets.
Jeffries says violators could still be arrested, but they would not be stuck with charges that have lasting consequences for child welfare, student loans, and employment.
The U.S. government survey on drug use indicates marijuana is America's most commonly used illicit drug. Last year, an estimated 17.4 million people said they had used it in the past 30 days.
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| UN Annual Debate Wraps Up in New York Posted: 27 Sep 2011 04:47 PM PDT On the final day of the U.N. General Assembly's annual debate, several countries took to the podium. Russia called for the lifting of the No-Fly-Zone in Libya, while Pakistan reiterated its resolve to fight terrorism; and North Korea and Venezuela both had harsh words for the United States.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that this year's meeting took place against the backdrop of large-scale change in North Africa and the Middle East.
He noted the recent authorization of a U.N. support mission for Libya and said it is time the Security Council-imposed, NATO-operated No-Fly-Zone is lifted. The zone was established in March to protect civilians from attack by the now ousted regime of Moammar Gadhafi and was recently renewed by NATO for another 90 days.
Pakistan's young female foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, said few countries have been as brutally ravaged by terrorism as hers. She said 30,000 Pakistani civilians, police and security forces have been killed since 2002 and the attacks continue.
"Numerous politicians have lost sons and brothers and fathers at the hands of terrorists. Our streets are filled with armed police posts. We cannot enter our parks, or shopping centers or churches or mosques without being search and frisked. Terrorists have attacked our military installations, attacked the gravesites of our spiritual leaders, attacked our minorities and attacked the very idea of Pakistan," he said.
Minister Khar said Pakistan is determined to eliminate terrorism, not just from its soil, but from the region and the world, and she called for enhanced international cooperation to wipe it out.
Her remarks came as a White House spokesman urged the Pakistani government "to take action" to deal with the Haqqani Network, a Taliban-linked group that Washington says conducts attacks in Afghanistan from its base in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region.
Meanwhile, Burma's foreign minister U Wunna Maung Lwin told the General Assembly that his government's efforts to improve the lives of its citizens are hampered by economic sanctions and urged their lifting.
Burma, which is also known as Myanmar, held its first elections in two decades last November. The government is supposed to be moving away from a military one to a democratic one, but critics say change is coming too slowly, particularly on the human rights front.
The minister said 20,000 prisoners were released between May and July in an amnesty, and that more would be released in the future, but he did not say if that included any of the 2,000 political prisoners in the country's jails.
Each year at the annual debate there are always countries that rant against the United States and its western allies. This year was no different.
Despite recent talks between the two countries, North Korea's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Pak Kil Yon, blamed the tensions on the Korean peninsula on the United States. "As long as the hostility exists between the DPRK and the U.S. as the parties to the armistice agreement leveling guns at each other, the mistrust and confrontation will not dissipate and no denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will be possible," he said.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been undergoing cancer treatment, so he did not personally deliver his annual diatribe. He sent an emissary to do it for him.
The envoy accused the United States of conducting an "imperialist war" for the last decade and scolded the United Nations for not stopping it. He was especially angry about the Security Council intervention in Libya, which ended with the ousting of his friend and ally Moammar Gadhafi. 
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