health: Lincoln Tribune

الثلاثاء، 24 يناير 2012

Lincoln Tribune

Dozens feared missing after landslide in Papua New Guinea
Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza Strip overnight, no casualties
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to host TV show
Latest avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan kill 8
UN’s Pillay: Guantanamo prison a ‘clear breach of international law’

Dozens feared missing after landslide in Papua New Guinea

Posted: 24 Jan 2012 03:09 AM PST

PORT MORESBY (BNO NEWS) -- As many as 40 people are believed to be missing after a large landslide devastated two villages in Papua New Guinea's Southern Highlands region on Tuesday morning, a minister said.

Papua New Guinean Petroleum and Energy Minister Francis Potape told Radio Australia that the landslide happened on early Tuesday morning near the village of Tari in the Southern Highlands province. He said the landslide struck two villages as people slept.

"The landslide is about a kilometer (0.6 mile) long and about 300 meters (984 feet) wide," Potape told Radio Australia. "There are people buried underneath and a number of them are from what I have heard, children."

A photo published by Radio Australia showed some houses narrowly avoided being swept away. "Almost five big trucks have also been covered and gardens and houses all destroyed," local resident Joseph Warai was quoted as saying. He said as many as 40 people are missing.

The landslide happened near one of the main work sites for Exxon-Mobil's liquefied natural gas (PNG LNG) project in the region. A company spokeswoman said work at the site and a nearby airfield has been halted and said Exxon has offered help to assist with search-and-rescue operations.

Other details were not immediately known.

Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza Strip overnight, no casualties

Posted: 24 Jan 2012 02:25 AM PST

GAZA (BNO NEWS) -- Israeli aircraft on early Tuesday morning carried out a series of airstrikes targeting a suspected weapons manufacturing site and several tunnels in the Gaza Strip, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. There were no reports of casualties.

The airstrikes happened just after midnight local time and follows a series of rockets fired at Israel during the past few days. "The Israel Defense Force (IDF) will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians, and will operate against anyone who uses terror against the State of Israel," a military spokesperson said.

The IDF said Israeli Air Force aircraft targeted a suspected weapons manufacturing site in the central Gaza Strip, two tunnels dug by militants in the northern Gaza Strip, and a third tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip. "Direct hits were confirmed," the spokesperson said, without giving other details.

Palestinian officials said there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The IDF said it carried out the airstrike in response to three rockets which were fired from Gaza at southern Israel over the weekend. Another rocket was fired at southern Israel on Monday, but there were no reports of significant damage or casualties.

On Wednesday, two Palestinians were killed and three others were injured when the Israeli Air Force carried out an airstrike close to the border fence near Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. The IDF said it was targeting a 'terrorist squad' which was planting an explosive device near the security fence.

In the winter of 2008-2009, Israel launched a surprise attack on the Gaza Strip which marked the beginning of a three-week military conflict between Israel and Hamas, killing nearly 1,500 people and leaving thousands more injured and displaced. Israel stated its aim was to stop rocket fire from and arms import into Gaza.

However, while most rockets cause no damage or casualties, the attacks from Gaza have continued. Last year, Palestinian militants fired at least 627 rockets and mortar shells into southern Israel, according to IDF figures. In late October, a 56-year-old Israeli man was killed when he was hit by shrapnel from a Grad rocket which hit his car.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to host TV show

Posted: 24 Jan 2012 01:50 AM PST

LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- Julian Assange, the founder of the controversial whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks, on Tuesday announced he will be hosting a series of TV specials to interview political figures about 'the world tomorrow'.

WikiLeaks said in a statement that the series. produced by Quick Roll Productions, will begin airing in mid-March in ten weekly half-hour episodes. It said 'initial licensing commitments' cover more than 600 million viewers across cable, satellite and terrestrial broadcast networks but gave no other details. It also asked broadcasters to contact them to license the series.

"Through this series I will explore the possibilities for our future in conversations with those who are shaping it," Assange said in the statement. "Are we heading towards utopia, or dystopia and how we can set our paths? This is an exciting opportunity to discuss the vision of my guests in a new style of show that examines their philosophies and struggles in a deeper and clearer way than has been done before."

WikiLeaks said Assange will draw together 'controversial voices' from across the political spectrum to hear their views on the world tomorrow and their ideas on how to secure a brighter future. The website did not say which guests Assange plans to interview on his TV show.

Assange is currently fighting extradition from Britain to Sweden where he faces allegations of sexual molestation, unlawful coercion and rape. A London court dismissed Assange's appeal in November 2011 and he is expected to appeal the ruling in the United Kingdom's highest court next month.

The accusations are unrelated to Assange's work for the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks which brought diplomatic earthquakes to the United States when it began releasing classified documents it had obtained. Assange has claimed the cases have been politically-linked, arguing that the sexual encounters with the two women in Sweden were consensual.

Wikileaks' first big scoop was on April 5, 2010, when it released a classified video which showed a 2007 U.S. helicopter attack in Iraq which left several civilians killed, including two unarmed Reuters journalists. Assange previously said he had been told to expect 'dirty tricks' from the Pentagon, including 'sex traps' to ruin his reputation.

Latest avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan kill 8

Posted: 24 Jan 2012 01:06 AM PST

FAYZABAD, AFGHANISTAN (BNO NEWS) -- Two new avalanches in northeastern Afghanistan have killed at least eight more people, including a pregnant woman, provincial officials said on Tuesday. It comes just a week after a series of avalanches killed more than 40 others.

One of the two latest avalanches occurred on Sunday in the Barikab Pass in Badakhshan, a remote and mountainous province which faces severe snow every year between October and April. The second avalanche happened in the Yaftal Bala area on the outskirts of Fayzabad.

In the Barikab Pass, a group was buried when they were transporting two pregnant women to the Badakhshan Civil Hospital. A governor's spokesman said the avalanche killed three men, two children and a pregnant woman. The second pregnant woman was rescued by locals.

In the second avalanche, in the Yaftal Bala area, two more people were killed while a third person was injured.

Earlier this month, on January 16, at least 41 people were killed and more than 60 others were injured when a series of avalanches devastated villages in the province. More than 500 houses are believed to have been buried under the snow, including up to 80 houses in Zech village alone.

Several highways and roads in the region have also been closed due to the heavy snowfall, which has prevented search and rescue teams from reaching the worst-hit areas. The Afghan Natural Disaster Management Agency said residents in the province had previously been supplied with food, meaning there should be no food shortages.

Mountainous regions in Afghanistan are prone to avalanches. In February 2010, more than 170 people were killed when a series of avalanches struck the Salang Pass, a major mountain pass which connects northern Afghanistan and the Afghan capital of Kabul.

UN’s Pillay: Guantanamo prison a ‘clear breach of international law’

Posted: 24 Jan 2012 12:40 AM PST

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) human rights chief on Monday criticized the failure of the United States government to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and to ensure accountability for serious human rights violations which took place there.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay spoke out against the U.S. government on its failure to close Guantanamo. The prison was opened in 2012 and it remains open despite President Barack Obama ordering its closure within 12 months on January 22, 2009.

"The facility continues to exist and individuals remain arbitrarily detained - indefinitely - in clear breach of international law," Pillay stated, expressing disappointment that instead of closing the facility, the U.S. Government has 'entrenched' a system of arbitrary detention with the new National Defense Authorization Act.

The act was signed into law late last month and includes a controversial component that allows the U.S. military to indefinitely detain terror suspects, including American citizens arrested in the United States, without charge. The piece of legislation drew severe criticism from human rights organizations.

"This piece of legislation contravenes some of the most fundamental tenets of justice and human rights, namely the right to a fair trial and the right not to be arbitrarily detained," said Pillay. "Nobody should ever be held for years on end without being tried and convicted, or released," she stressed.

Pillay reminded the U.S. Government that just as States have the right and duty to protect their people and territory from terrorist acts, it also has the obligation under international human rights law to ensure that individuals deprived of their liberty can have the lawfulness of their detention reviewed before a court.

"Where credible evidence exists against Guantanamo detainees, they should be charged and prosecuted. Otherwise, they must be released," Pillay underlined. She urged the Government, so long as Guantanamo remains open, to ensure that conditions of detention comply fully with human rights standards under international law.

The UN human rights chief also urged that individuals found to have perpetrated, ordered, tolerated or condoned torture and ill-treatment at the prison should be brought to justice. She also voiced her concern over the government's failure to allow independent human rights monitoring of the detention conditions at Guantanamo.

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الثلاثاء، 24 يناير 2012

Lincoln Tribune

Lincoln Tribune

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