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Stricken ship off NZ fully evacuated

2011-10-10T23:10:00.000-07:00

Vessel sends out mayday alarm as it continues to leak oil into the sea in heavy weather.

The cargo ship stranded on a reef off New Zealand was fully evacuated in heavy weather after sending out a mayday alarm as it continued to leak heavy fuel oil into the sea.
Maritime New Zealand said on Tuesday that the 25-man mainly Filipino crew had been lifted off the 47,000 tonne MV Rena, which has been aground off the east coast port city Tauranga since last week as a precautionary measure.
The agency said the loaded container ship was still intact and an aerial survey showed "no obvious sign of deformation", but it was moving around in 3-4-metre sea swells and winds gusting to 46km an hour.
It said an estimated 130-350 tonnes of oil had now leaked from the vessel and a "significant" amount was still leaking into the ocean.
Earlier, many of the crew had been evacuated but the captain and salvage workers had remained on board. But all have now left the ship.
Michael Morrah, a journalist from New Zealand's TV3 television station, told Al Jazeera: "Tt is trying conditions, but all the staff have been accounted for.
"But there has been a leak of 200-300 tonnes of oil from the ship, and in the coming days it will be noticeable, it will be a large scale environmental disaster."
The 236-metre ship had suffered more damage leading to additional flooding in the forward holds, but that would help to settle it on the reef, a statement said.
Meanwhile, small amounts of oil from the ship has begun washing up at a popular recreational beach.
After beginning an operation on Sunday to extract up to 1,700 metric tonnes of oil from the stricken ship, marine crews halted pumping work on Monday due to worsening weather.
They managed to removed just 10 metric tonnes of oil before work was called off ahead of forecast gale-force winds and swells.
"The weather is expected to deteriorate in the coming days, so we are working around the clock to remove the oil," the agency said in a statement.

Egypt PM Essam Sharaf urges calm after Cairo clashes

2011-10-10T00:59:00.000-07:00

Egypt's PM has appealed for calm after 24 people were killed as clashes between Coptic Christians and security forces escalated into full-scale riots.

The violence broke out after a protest in Cairo against an attack on a church in Aswan province last week, with Muslims joining in on both sides.
PM Essam Sharaf said discord between Muslims and Christians in Egypt was "a threat to the country's security".
An emergency cabinet meeting has been called for Monday.
The BBC's Yolande Knell in Cairo says there is pressure on ministers and on the country's military rulers to give assurances about national unity.
A nighttime curfew was lifted at 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT).
Mr Sharaf, who toured the area where the clashes occurred, also addressed calls by protesters for the removal of the military rulers.
"The most serious threat to the country's security is tampering with national unity, and the stirring of discord between Muslim and Christian sons of Egypt," he said in a televised address late on Sunday.

Steve Jobs Is Dead [APPLE]

2011-10-05T23:59:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs is dead. The Apple chairman and former CEO who made personal computers, smartphones, tablets, and digital animation mass-market products passed away today. We're going to miss him. Deeply, and personally.

Steven P. Jobs passed away on October 5th, 2011 after a long struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was just 56 years old. We mourn his passing, and wish his family the very best.
Let's address this up front: Gizmodo and Steve Jobs had, at best, a tumultuous relationship. Yet no matter how much he may have hated us, we admired him.
No, that's not quite right. We loved him.
He was the reason many of us got into this industry, or even care about technology at all. He made the computer personal, and the smartphone fun. Bill Gates may have put a computer on every office desk, but it was Steve Jobs who put one in every dorm room and bedroom and living room. And then, years later, he repeated the trick, putting one in every bag and every pocket, thanks to the iPad and iPhone. If you use a computer or smartphone today, it is either one he created, or an imitation of his genius.
He changed the way movies are made, the way music is sold, the way stories are told, the very way we interact with the world around us. He helped us work, and gave us new ways to play. He was a myth made man.
Prior to Steve Jobs, computers were alien to most of us. They were accessible to few people without an engineering degree. Not merely because of their complex operating procedures, but also because they were so cold and so inhuman. Jobs understood that they could be something more than that. That while computers would never be people, he could endow them with humanity. He could transform them into machines that not only anyone could use, but that everyday people would enjoy using thanks to the art of great design. He made them something that would be part of our lives. And he did that again and again.
His life story is familiar, but it deserves repeating. He was given up for adoption by his unmarried parents. He grew up in California, and was very much a product of that place and time. He took drugs. He got into phone hacking. Both were precursers to what would always be his interest: changing the status quo.
In 1976 he started Apple in a garage. Together with Steve Wozniak, he shipped the first true fully-built personal computer, the Apple I. He drove development of the Mac, understanding that it was the future of computers. The great thing that we would all see. He brought in a grown up to run the company. And that grown up forced him out of the company that he built and into the wilderness.
While he was gone, he started NeXT computer. The NeXT operating system would form the underpinnings of Apple's OS X, and iOS.
He also started the best movie studio of the past 30 years. Pixar's films were innovative, to be sure. It pushed the boundaries of CGI to such an extent that even today its early films still look great. But technology is only a tool. As with everything else he understood that great technology alone is not enough. It must be human to have an impact. Pixar movies tell stories. They make grown men cry. That was the impact of Steve Jobs.
He became a family man. He reunited with his biological mother, and his sister, the writer Mona Simpson. He married. He had children. He was, by all accounts, a great dad. It was his role as husband and father that helped drive his second act at Apple.
After his return to Apple, the company began shipping iconic product after iconic product. Products that defined a decade. The iMac, OS X, the iPod, iTunes (which was very good, before it was very bad), the iPhone, the iPad. All of these were deeply human products. They reflected his understanding of how technology was used not only in the workplace, but in the home. In his keynotes, product demos typically showed not executives, but families.
He made Apple into the most valuable company in the world.
He never met his biological father.
He accomplished so many things, in so many fields that it's tempting to compare Jobs to someone from the past. A Thomas Edison or a Ben Franklin or even a Leonardo Da Vinci. We tend to do that because it helps us understand. But it does him a disservice. He was unique. His own person. Our own person.
He was our emblematic genius. In 100 years, when historians talk about the emergence of the age of intelligent machines, it is Steve Jobs they will hold up as the great exemplar of our era.
They will remember his flaws, too. When Atari hired Jobs and Woz to write the code for the iconic Atari game Breakout, the pair earned a $5000 bonus for completing the work, largely done by Woz. But Jobs kept the bonus a secret, and only paid his partner $375. When his daughter Lisa was born in 1978, he spent two years denying he was her father. His denials forced her and her mother to support themselves on welfare. In the workplace he's often been described as temperamental and even petulant. He could be arrogant and unforgiving.
He was not a god. He was simply a man.
Yet for all his faults, he changed the world. He made it better.
He once famously asked of a critic "what have you done that's so great?" For Jobs, the answer to that question was very nearly unlimited.
Our world will be less interesting, less exciting, and less meaningful without him.
Goodbye, Mr. Jobs. We will miss you so very much.

Steve Jobs dead: Biography of Apple visionary

Greece hit by new 24-hour general strike over austerity

2011-10-05T00:39:00.000-07:00

Airports are among the services to be hit by the general strike

A 24-hour general strike is underway in Greece in protest at the nation's austerity measures.

Flights and ferry services are expected to be cancelled, schools will be closed and hospitals will be working with reduced staff.
Greece's biggest unions will want a huge turn-out to prove that resistance is still strong.

The European Commission is meeting later to discuss co-ordination on propping up banks in Europe.
Global financial markets have been in turmoil over fears that Greece could default on its debt, increasing the cost of borrowing for other debt-laden countries.
On Monday, Italy's credit rating was slashed by the Moody's ratings agency, which blamed a loss in confidence in eurozone governments.
'Stunting growth' Wednesday's general strike in Greece is the first since the government announced an emergency property tax and the suspension of 30,000 public sector staff last month.
"People are very angry," Greek civil servant and trade unionist Tiana Andreou told the BBC.
"Not only because of the measures that the government's taking but because of the whole situation. Our lives have been ruined. We have decided that we're going to stop this."

Greece must implement the stringent austerity measures in order to secure its next instalment of bailout cash from the EU.

Inspectors from the IMF, European Central Bank and European Commission have been in Greece this week to assess its financial situation.
On Monday, eurozone finance minister delayed a decision on handing over the money, after Greece said it would not meet this year's deficit cutting plan.
The government admitted that the budget deficit will stand at 8.5% this year, rather than the 7.5% target.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said on Tuesday that the government had enough cash to pay pensions, salaries and bondholders until mid-November.
Greece had previously said it needed more money by mid-October to avoid a default.
The government's austerity measures are hugely unpopular and have led to a wave of strikes and protests.
Some militant civil servants are promising to sabotage the reforms and on Tuesday, protesters again blocked the entrance to several government departments including the finance and transport ministries.
They say the austerity drive is deepening the recession, stunting Greece's growth - the economy will shrink 5.5% this year - and stopping Greece from being able to reduce its government debt itself.

Iran postpones monkey's ride into space

2011-10-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

By AFPTEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's plans to send a live monkey into space have been postponed indefinitely, the country's top space official said, quoted on Monday by the state television website."One cannot give a set date for this project and as soon as our nation's scientists announce the readiness (of the project) it will be announced," said Hamid Fazeli, head of Iran's Space Organisation said.Fazeli had said in mid-June that a Kavoshgar-5 rocket would be launched "during the month of Mordad (July 23 to August 23) with a 285-kilogram capsule carrying a monkey to an altitude of 120 kilometres (74 miles)."He gave no reason on Monday for the postponement."Our scientists are exerting continuous efforts on this project... our colleagues are busy with empirical studies and sub-system testing of this project so it is a success," he said.In mid-March, Iran's space organisation announced the launch of the Kavoshgar-4 rocket carrying a test capsule designed to house the monkey.The capsule had been unveiled in February by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with four new prototypes of home-built satellites the country hopes to launch before March 2012.At the time, Fazeli touted the launch of a large animal into space as the first step towards sending a man into space, which Tehran says is scheduled for 2020.Iran has already sent small animals into space -- a rat, turtles and worms -- aboard a capsule carried by its Kavoshgar-3 rocket in 2010.The Islamic republic, which first put a satellite into orbit in 2009, has outlined an ambitious space programme amid Western concerns it may be linked to developing a ballistic missile capability that could deliver nuclear warheads.Tehran has repeatedly denied that its contentious nuclear and scientific programmes mask military ambitions.

US releases 'bin Laden video tapes'

2011-05-08T02:26:00.000-07:00

find the videos here : http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/05/20115717832650859.html

The US has released five video clips of Osama bin Laden that it says were taken from the Pakistani compound where the leader of al-Qaeda was killed last week in a raid.

One shows him rehearsing a text statement and another has him watching news coverage of himself on TV.

Al Jazeera's Rosiland Jordan, reporting from the Pentagon on Saturday, said that the video clips were shown to journalists, but the sound was removed from them.
Click here for more of our special coverage

"We did see a video of Osama bin Laden watching video of himself on what appears to be Al Jazeera," she said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Washington DC, Wayne Madsen, an investigative journalist, said it was still difficult to confirm that all these videos do show bin Laden, as some were not clear.

"There are going to be many more questions raised after the release of these videos, because there have been videos and images in the past that were thought to be of bin Laden, but some of those turned out to be fake," he said.

In another video, bin Laden had apparently dyed and neatly trimmed his beard for the filming of taped remarks.

The video, which the US released without sound, was titled "Message to the American People" and was believed to be made sometime last year, a senior intelligence official said during a briefing for reporters.

None of the videos released had any sound and there was no way of confirming dates either.

Compound videos

Earlier on Saturday, Al Jazeera aired new footage of the compound where bin Laden was killed, video that showed the interiors of the house where he is thought to have been hiding for up to six years.

Filmed during daylight hours, there is no doubt that the compound is where bin Laden was shot and killed by US forces, Al Jazeera's Imtiaz Tyab said, reporting from outside the house in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

"These pictures ... give a sense of just how Osama bin Laden - the world's most wanted fugitive - lived relatively undetected right here in Abbottabad," he said.
Al Jazeera has obtained new footage of the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed

It was not immediately clear how long after the raid the footage was taken.

Our correspondent said Pakistani forces have been in charge of the house since the US operation.

"They, presumably, have taken with them what they deemed important as well," he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistanis stepped up calls for senior government officials to resign, with some of the sharpest language directed at the army and intelligence chiefs.

The calls marked a rare challenge to the most powerful men in the country, who are more accustomed to being feared than publicly criticised.

"It was an attack on our soil, and the army was sleeping," Zafar Iqbal, a 61-year-old retired bureaucrat in the central city of Lahore, said.

He singled out the leaders of Pakistan's army, air force and the main intelligence organisation - General Ashfaq Kayani, Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman and General Ahmed Shuja Pasha - saying they all should be forced to resign.

In contrast, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a former foreign minister and member of the ruling Pakistan People's Party, fixed the blame squarely on Asif Ali Zardari, the president, and Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister.

"This is a great violation of our sovereignty, but it is for the president and prime minister to resign and no one else," Qureshi said.

The Pakistani army has said it had no idea bin Laden was hiding for up to six years in Abbottabad, an army town only two and a half hours' drive from the capital, Islamabad.

Osama bin Laden killed in Pakistan

2011-05-02T00:31:00.000-07:00

US president confirms al-Qaeda leader's death, saying he has been killed in firefight following US raid in Abbottabad.

Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, is dead.

US president Barack Obama said bin Laden, the most-wanted fugitive on the US list, has been killed on Sunday in a US operation in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, about 150km north of Islamabad.

"Tonight, I can report to the people of the United States and the world, the United States had carried an operation that has killed Osama Bin Laden, a terrorist responsible for killing thousands of innocent people," Obama said in a statement.

"Today, at my direction, the United States carried out that operation... they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.

"The death of bin Laden marks the most significant achievement to date against al-Qaeda.

"We must also reaffirm that United states is not and will never be at war against Islam. Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader, in fact, he slaughtered many Muslims," Obama said.

Barack Obama called bin Laden's death the 'most significant achievement' against al-Qaeda [EPA]

US celebrations

As the news of bin Laden's death spread, crowds gathered outside the White House in Washington DC to celebrate.

Former US president George Bush called his death a "momentous achievement".

"The fight against terror goes on, but tonight America has sent an unmistakable message: No matter how long it takes, justice will be done," Bush said in a statement.

According to Al Jazeeera's Rosalind Jordan in Washington, the operation had been in the making for the last nine or 10 months.

"The fact that it happened inside Pakistan, there have been suggestions that Pakistani intelligence may have been protecting them," she said.

Patty Culhane, another Al Jazeera correspondent, said the US authorities got intelligence last September and were able to track bin Laden down through his couriers. They followed them to his compound which is reported to be worth over a million dollars.

Reporting from Pakistan, Al Jazeera's Kamal Hyder said the development had caught a lot of people by surprise .

"He was considered by many as a hero, but not to the extent that people would come out on the streets. The reaction so far not likely to be strong on the streets, perhaps a protest here or there by the religious parties," he said.

'Symbolic victory'
Qais Azimy, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Kabul, said Afghan officials described bin Laden's killing as a "symbolic victory", since he was no longer directly connected to the group's field operations.
Mark Kimmit, a US military analyst, said bin Laden's death "was not the end of terrorism, but an end of a chapter."

"Capturing or killing bin Laden has more iconic value. It will have symbolic value, because it has been a number of years since bin Laden has exercised day to day control over operations. We still have an al-Qaeda threat out there and that will be there for a number of years.

"This organisation (al-Qaeda) is more than bin Laden, it may be symbolised by bin Laden, but it definitely is more than bin Laden," he said.

It is, however, a major accomplishment for Obama and his national security team. Obama's predecessor, George Bush, had repeatedly vowed to bring to justice the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, but never did before leaving office in early 2009.

He had been the subject of a search since he eluded US soldiers and Afghan militia forces in a large-scale assault on the Tora Bora mountains in 2001. The trail quickly went cold after he disappeared and many intelligence officials believed he had been hiding in Pakistan.

While in hiding, bin Laden had taunted the West and advocated his views in videotapes spirited from his hideaway.

Besides September 11, Washington has also linked bin Laden to a string of attacks - including the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 bombing of the warship USS Cole in Yemen.

Having the body may help convince any doubters that bin Laden is really dead.

Bin Laden Dead : US

2011-05-01T22:44:00.000-07:00

US President Barack Obama officially announced that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed in a mansion outside Islamabad, Pakistan by US led forces.

The official said on condition of anonymity that bin Laden was dead, but did not provide details of how his death occurred.
CNN quoted sources as saying that bin Laden was killed in an operation based on actionable US intelligence targeting a mansion outside the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

Against the Panel report of UN

2011-04-29T09:40:00.000-07:00

The picture shows people signing a petition against the UN panel of experts’ report on Sri Lanka’s human rights violation and war crimes, in Colombo today. Pix by Pradeep Dilrukshana

Probe only if member states agree - Ban

2011-04-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon says he will only launch an international investigation into allegations of possible war crimes taking place at the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka that ended in May, 2009, if the member states agree.

After releasing the Expert Panel report on Sri Lanka a UN statement said “the secretary-general has been advised that this (international investigation) will require host country consent or a decision from Member States through an appropriate intergovernmental forum. The monitoring and repository functions it was suggested this mechanism undertake will continue to be performed by the United Nations Secretariat.”

However the Ban’s statement didn't mention a forum but it could include the U.N. Security Council, General Assembly or Human Rights Council.

The panel's report called for an investigation of the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tiger rebels, as it stated that tens of thousands of the final 2009 offensive against Tamil separatists may have resulted from war crimes.

The UN Chief also said that there would be an inquiry into United Nations' actions during the last stage of the war.
“The Secretary-General has decided that he will respond positively to the Panel’s recommendation for a review of the United Nations actions regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates during the war in Sri Lanka — particularly in the last stages. The exact modality of such a review will be determined after consultations with relevant agencies, funds and programmes,” the statement added.

The 200-page report of a three-member panel, that made public, “found credible allegations” of violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws by both sides. The report also said UN “political organs and bodies failed to take actions that might have protected civilians,” including public use of casualty figures.

The report cited evidence that a “wide range of serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law was committed both by the government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

The full statement issued by the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:

The United Nations has today made public the advisory report of the Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on accountability with respect to the final stages of the decades-long armed conflict in Sri Lanka, which was submitted to him on 12 April 2011. The decision to release the report was made as a matter of transparency and in the broader public interest.

The report was shared in its entirety with the Government of Sri Lanka on 12 April. The Secretary-General has indicated his willingness to publicize the Government’s response alongside the report. This invitation was extended to the Sri Lankan Government throughout the week, including again on Saturday by the Secretary-General to the External Affairs Minister of Sri Lanka. The Government has not responded to this offer, which nonetheless still stands.

The Secretary-General expresses his appreciation to the advisory Panel of Experts who have provided their advice on how the undertaking on accountability in the joint communiqué that he had made with the President at the conclusion of Sri Lanka’s war can be fulfilled.

The Secretary-General is carefully reviewing the report’s conclusions and recommendations with regard to events that took place during the final stages of the conflict, including its assessment that there are a number of allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law committed by both the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka, some of which could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Panel’s first recommendation is that the Government of Sri Lanka should respond to the serious allegations by initiating an effective accountability process, beginning with genuine investigations. The Secretary-General has consistently held the view that Sri Lanka should, first and foremost, assume responsibility for ensuring accountability for the alleged violations. This and a number of other short- and medium-term recommendations that the Panel proposed in regard to steps that could be undertaken by the Government of Sri Lanka have now been shared with the Government. He encourages the Sri Lankan authorities to respond constructively.

The Secretary-General has decided that he will respond positively to the Panel’s recommendation for a review of the United Nations actions regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates during the war in Sri Lanka — particularly in the last stages. The exact modality of such a review will be determined after consultations with relevant agencies, funds and programmes.

In regard to the recommendation that he establish an international investigation mechanism, the Secretary-General is advised that this will require host country consent or a decision from Member States through an appropriate intergovernmental forum. The monitoring and repository functions it was suggested this mechanism undertake will continue to be performed by the United Nations Secretariat.

The Secretary-General trusts that the Government of Sri Lanka will continue to respect the work of the United Nations and its agencies as well as its obligations to the safety of United Nations staff in Colombo. He regrets the inflammatory tone of some of the recent public statements emanating from Sri Lanka.

The Secretary-General sincerely hopes that this advisory report will make a contribution to full accountability and justice so that the Sri Lankan Government and people will be able to proceed towards national reconciliation and peace. -End-

UN Secretary General’s Expert Panel Report on Sri Lanka

Man overpowered trying to hijack Alitalia flight

2011-04-26T03:53:00.000-07:00

By Reuters

ROME (Reuters) - A man with a knife tried to hijack an Alitalia flight from Paris to Rome Sunday night, demanding it be flown to Libya, but was quickly overpowered and arrested when the plane landed, officials and witnesses said.

Witnesses said the man put a small knife to the throat of a female flight attendant and held her for a few minutes.

"The man grabbed the stewardess from behind her back and pointed the knife. She was in difficulty and tried to turn around," a passenger named Sofia told reporters.

Stefanie, a French woman who lives in Italy, said the man laughed when the stewardess asked him to go the front of the plane with her.

"He held her for just a few minutes and then the other flight attendants intervened and passengers helped hold the man to the floor," she said.

Italian media said police had identified the man as a 48-year-old citizen of Kazakhstan who worked in Paris.

A statement from Alitalia airlines said the man had "assaulted a flight attendant and asked that the plane be taken to Tripoli."

Other attendants on flight AZ329 then overpowered the man, who was "clearly agitated" and the captain radioed police, who arrested the man when the plane landed, the statement said.

The flight attendant was taken to a first aid station at Rome airport for treatment of minor injuries

In Dossier, Portrait of Push for Post-9/11 Attacks

2011-04-26T01:24:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON — He peers out from the photo in the classified file through heavy-framed spectacles, an owlish face with a graying beard and a half-smile. Saifullah Paracha, a successful businessman and for years a New York travel agent, appears to be the oldest of the 172 prisoners still held at the Guantánamo Bay prison. His dossier is among the most chilling.
In the months after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mr. Paracha, 63, was one of a small circle of Al Qaeda operatives who explored ways to follow up on the hijackings with new attacks, according to the classified Guantánamo files made available to The New York Times.

Working with Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the 9/11 planner who in early 2002 gave him $500,000 to $600,000 “for safekeeping,” Mr. Paracha offered his long experience in the shipping business for a scheme to move plastic explosives into the United States inside containers of women’s and children’s clothing, the files assert.

“Detainee desired to help Al Qaeda ‘do something big against the U.S.,’ ” one of his co-conspirators, Ammar al-Baluchi, told Guantánamo interrogators, the files say. Mr. Paracha discussed obtaining biological or nuclear weapons as well, though he was concerned that detectors at ports “would make it difficult to smuggle radioactive materials into the country,” the file says.

Mr. Paracha’s assessment is among more than 700 classified documents that fill in new details of Al Qaeda’s efforts to make 9/11 just the first in a series of attacks to cripple the United States, intentions thwarted as the Central Intelligence Agency captured Mr. Mohammed and other leaders of the terrorist network.

The plots reportedly discussed by Mr. Mohammed and various operatives, none of them acted upon, included plans for a new wave of aircraft attacks on the West Coast, filling an apartment with leaked natural gas and detonating it, blowing up gas stations and even cutting the cables holding up the Brooklyn Bridge.

For the small circle of Qaeda operatives described in the December 2008 assessment of Mr. Paracha, terrorism appears to have been a family affair. There was Mr. Mohammed, the terrorist network’s top plotter, and his nephew, Mr. Baluchi, who was married to another militant, an American-trained neuroscientist, Aafia Siddiqui. And there was Mr. Paracha and his son, Uzair.

The newly revealed assessments, obtained last year by the group WikiLeaks and provided by another source to The Times, have revived the dispute, nearly as old as the prison, over whether mistreatment of some prisoners there and the prison’s operation outside the criminal justice system invalidate the government’s conclusions about the detainees.
Hina Shamsi, director of the national security project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the assessments “are rife with uncorroborated evidence, information obtained through torture, speculation, errors and allegations that have been proven false.”

Likewise, David H. Remes, a lawyer who represents the elder Mr. Paracha, said in an interview on Monday that while he had not seen the assessment, its conclusion that Mr. Paracha posed a “high risk” to American interests was without foundation.

“The notion that he ever did anything that justified his detention, or ever was or is any kind of threat to the United States, is preposterous,” Mr. Remes said. “He is a 63-year-old man with a serious heart condition and severe diabetes, and he has been nothing but cooperative with the authorities.”

What Mr. Paracha wants, Mr. Remes added, is either a transfer back to his native country, Pakistan, or “a definitive adjudication of his case.”

Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, condemned on Monday the publication of what he called “documents obtained illegally” and noted the military’s findings about some detainees had been changed by a new review under President Obama. The detailed results of that review, however, remain secret.

Mr. Carney said the president remained committed to closing the Guantánamo prison someday. But Mr. Obama’s review identified about 50 detainees his advisers said could not be tried and were too dangerous to release, and Congress has imposed restrictions on bringing prisoners to the United States.

The portrait of Mr. Paracha is one of the striking ones to emerge from the files. The documents say he attended the New York Institute of Technology in the early 1970s and worked as a travel agent in New York for 13 years.

He was arrested in Bangkok in July 2003 after Uzair, who was already in F.B.I. custody in New York, “acknowledged” his father was a militant, the assessment says. Uzair Paracha was convicted in a 2005 trial on charges including material support for terrorism and is serving a 30-year sentence in federal prison.

According to his Guantánamo assessment, Saifullah Paracha had “provided useful information concerning senior Al Qaeda members” but “attempted to deceive and misinform intelligence and law enforcement personnel about his own activities.” As a result, the assessment draws heavily on statements by others, notably Mr. Mohammed, who was subjected to waterboarding and other brutal treatment during his interrogation by the C.I.A.

But Mr. Paracha’s assessment suggests that he did not deny militant connections at the highest level. “Detainee claimed he met UBL on a trip to Afghanistan in December 1999 or January 2000,” the documents say, using the government’s initials for Osama bin Laden. It says he offered to let Mr. bin Laden use his broadcasting business in Pakistan to generate propaganda films for Al Qaeda.

Later, Mr. bin Laden dispatched Mr. Mohammed to talk further about the idea, and Mr. Paracha explained “his vision of dedicating a program on his broadcasting network depicting UBL quoting Koranic verses.”

After 9/11, Mr. Paracha’s discussions focused on new plots, the files say. A Casio digital diary he was carrying when he was arrested “contained references to military chemical warfare agents, and their effects on humans,” according to the classified assessment. The document says Mr. Paracha told interrogators he had worked with Abdul Qadeer Khan, considered to be the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program and a major proliferator of nuclear technology.

Edward D. Wilford, a lawyer who represented the son at his 2005 trial, said his client had played no “witting” role in his father’s arrest.

“He was not a part of it in any way,” he said. “He didn’t make any calls. He didn’t make any contact. In fact, he was being held incommunicado. He didn’t have any way of knowing what was going on.” The son had been jailed in Manhattan on a material-witness warrant after his questioning by the F.B.I. in March 2003. He was charged criminally in August 2003, after his father’s arrest.

The relationship between father and son is only hinted at in the assessment report. It says that analysts concluded that Saifullah Paracha was “hiding aspects of his son’s extremist activities.” The son, though, talked about his father and his father’s relationship with Mr. bin Laden while testifying in his own defense.

A prosecutor asked whether Uzair Paracha had told F.B.I. agents that his father admired Mr. bin Laden. “I don’t remember if my father actually said that he admired bin Laden,” the son testified. “He said that bin Laden was a humble person and he had a simple way of life.”

Saifullah Paracha is being held in Guantánamo.

Syria Escalates Crackdown as Tanks Go to Restive City

2011-04-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Syrian Army stormed the restive city of Dara’a with tanks and thousands of soldiers and carried out arrests in poor towns on the capital’s outskirts on Monday in a sharp escalation of a widening crackdown on Syria’s five-week-old uprising, according to human rights activists and accounts posted on social networking sites. They said at least 25 people were killed in Dara’a, with bodies strewn in the streets.

The move into the town seemed to signal a new, harrowing chapter in a crackdown that has already killed nearly 400 people, with the single highest toll coming on Friday, when more than 110 people were killed in 14 towns and cities. So far hewing to a mix of concessions and brute force, the government’s actions on Monday indicated that it had chosen the latter, seeking to crush a wave of dissent in virtually every Syrian province that has shaken the once-uncontested rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

Residents said at least eight tanks entered Dara’a before dawn from four directions, with anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 troops. Water, electricity and phone lines were cut to the area, making first-hand accounts difficult, and nearby border crossings with Jordan were reportedly sealed. Snipers took positions on the roofs of mosques, residents said, and a mix of soldiers and armed irregulars went house to house to search for protesters.

“There are bodies in the streets we can’t reach; anyone who walks outside is getting shot at,” said a resident of Dara’a who gave his name as Abdullah, reached by satellite phone. “They want to teach Syria a lesson by teaching Dara’a a lesson.”

A handful of videos posted on the Internet, along with residents’ accounts, painted a picture of a city under broad military assault, in what appeared to mark a new phase in the government crackdown. Tanks had not previously been used against protesters, and the force of the assault suggested the military planned some sort of occupation of the town.

“It’s an attempt to occupy Dara’a,” Abdullah said.

He said soldiers had taken three mosques, but had yet to capture the Omari Mosque, where thousands had reportedly sought refuge. Since the beginning of the uprising last month, it has served as a headquarters of sorts for demonstrators. He quoted people there shouting, “We swear you will not enter but over our dead bodies.”

For weeks, organizers have managed to circumvent the government’s effort to black out news from Dara’a and cities like Homs. But it appeared to have more success Monday. Organizers themselves had trouble reaching contacts, and only occasional videos emerged from the tumult. One showed heavily armed soldiers taking up positions behind walls, a few feet away from a tank parked in a leafy avenue. In another, a young boy threw a chunk of concrete at a passing tank. Other videos showed a cloud of black smoke rising on the horizon and volleys of heavy gunfire echoing in the distance.

“God is great, Bashar,” a protester cried in one. “Why are you attacking us?”

The town of low-slung buildings, with about 75,000 inhabitants, has become almost synonymous with the revolt, which has posed the greatest challenge to four decades of rule by the Assad family. Protests erupted there in March after security forces arrested a group of high school students accused of scrawling antigovernment graffiti on a wall, galvanizing demonstrations that have spread to virtually every province in Syria.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, urged a halt to the killings Monday, condemning “such disregard for human life by Syrian security forces.”

The United States called the violence “completely deplorable.” Tommy Vietor, a National Security Council spokesman, said the Obama administration was considering sanctions against Syrian officials to “make clear that this behavior is unacceptable.”

The government moved against other regions, too. Activists said security forces entered two towns on the capital’s outskirts — Douma and Maadamiah — carrying out dozens of arrests. Clashes have been especially pronounced in the poor, restive towns that encircle the capital, Damascus, and activists said there were reports of shooting during the raids.

Residents said security forces had surrounded the towns Sunday, with tanks and checkpoints. Anyone leaving or entering was searched, they said, either in preparation for Monday’s raids or in an effort to stop protesters from marching on the capital, a bulwark of the Assad family’s four decades of rule.

In Jabla, a coastal city inhabited by Syria’s Sunni Muslim majority and members of the minority Alawite sect, from which the government draws much of its support, security forces killed at least 12 people in a crackdown that began Sunday and persisted into the night. One resident said protesters had burned an army car and took a soldier hostage.

Syrian troops in tanks and armored vehicles moved into the southern town Dara'a and opened fire on Monday, according to residents.

Pakistan issues flooding 'red alert' for Sindh province

2010-08-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

Pakistan has issued a red alert as floods that have devastated northern areas sweep south into Sindh province.

Authorities have evacuated more than half a million people living near the Indus river as hundreds of villages have been inundated by floodwaters.

The worst floods in the region for 80 years have killed at least 1,600 people and affected about 12 million others.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari has rejected criticism that he should return from an extended foreign trip.

In a BBC interview, Mr Zardari said the cabinet was directing relief efforts, and he was being kept up to date about the situation.

"I'm the one who's given all the powers from the presidency to the parliament. The parliament is in session - the Senate is in session. It's the prime minister's responsibility, and he's fulfilling his responsibility."

The president said he had secured promises of assistance from the countries he had visited - the UAE, France and the UK.

'Critical period'

Pakistan's meteorological office has warned that at least two more days of rain are expected in Sindh, where a red alert is in place because of the "imminent" and "extreme" flood threat.

Further downpours are also forecast in the badly-hit north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The continued bad weather has grounded all the helicopters working to deliver aid and rescue stranded survivors, according to Amal Masud of the National Disaster Management Authority.

Prime Minister Gilani called the flooding the worst in Pakistan's 63-year history and appealed for help.

"I would ask the international community to support and help Pakistan alleviate the sufferings of its flood-affected people," he said.

"The next two days are very critical. Our top priority is to rescue people, to save their lives. But we will also provide them all facilities, and we will work for their rehabilitation."

The authorities have so far evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from low-lying areas along the Indus river, much of which is already submerged.

Engineers have also warned that the huge Tarbela and Mangla dams are dangerously close to their maximum levels.

Earlier, a dam in northern Sindh's Kashmore district was breached, inundating large parts of the surrounding area with floodwater and forcing thousands of residents to take shelter on rooftops or in trees. One man told the BBC said his entire village had been destroyed and all its livestock washed away.

The BBC's Shoaib Hasan in Karachi say the authorities are now trying to prevent a breach in another dam downstream, close to the cities of Kandhkot and Kashmore, where nearly half a million people live. A breach would also threaten the Qadirpur gas field, one of Pakistan's largest.

But despite the threat of further deluges, many people have refused to leave their land, crops and homes.

"We are compelling them to evacuate because there is massive danger to their lives," Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo said.

Officials say 650,000 homes have so far been destroyed, 1.4m acres (557,000 hectares) of agricultural land has been flooded and 10,000 cows have died.

The UN earlier said the disaster was "on a par" with the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, which killed about 73,000 people, in terms of the damage to infrastructure and the numbers of people needing assistance.

Many of those affected by the flooding have been critical of the government's response.

"Floods killed our people, they have ruined our homes and even washed away the graves of our loved ones," Mai Sahat told the Associated Press near Sukkur, Sindh. "Yet we are here without help from the government."

Correspondents say that with victims bitterly accusing the authorities of failing to come to their aid, the disaster has piled yet more pressure on an administration struggling to contain the Taliban and an economic crisis.

Meanwhile in Indian-administered Kashmir, rescue workers are recovering more bodies after the mountainous region of Ladakh was hit by flash floods on Friday. One-hundred-and twenty people are known to have died and hundreds more are missing. Many buildings were damaged.

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Flooded Pakistan battles to avoid disease

2010-08-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

Concerns are growing for survivors of flooding in north-west Pakistan after the heaviest rains in a generation killed at least 1,100 people.

There are reports of diarrhoea and cholera among the hundreds of thousands left homeless, and food and potable water are in short supply.

Pakistan's military is helping with the rescue effort, and the US has announced $10m (£6.4m) in emergency aid.

Floodwaters are receding in some areas, but more rain is now forecast.

Part of the main north-south motorway into the region was reopened on Sunday, before reportedly closing again. The brief opening allowed some aid supplies into the flooded area while also permitting people to flee.

The BBC's Aleem Maqbool, in the capital Islamabad, says officials there fear that once access to affected areas improves, the full picture will show that the situation is much worse than is so far known.

'Contaminated wells'

The information minister of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (formerly North West Frontier Province), one of the worst-hit provinces, said 1.5 million people had been affected by the floods and landslides.

"We are receiving information about the loss of life and property caused by the floods all over the province," Mian Iftikhar Hussain told the AFP news agency.

The province's disaster management authority earlier said an aerial survey showed dozens of villages had been simply washed away.

Mr Hussein said rescue teams were trying to reach the 27,000 people stranded by the floods in the province, including 1,500 tourists in the Swat district, the scene of a major military offensive against the Taliban last year.

"We are also getting confirmation of reports about an outbreak of cholera in some areas of Swat," he added.

Shariyar Khan Bangash, the regional programme manager for the aid organisation World Vision, based in Peshawar, said survivors of the worst-affected areas were pleading for clean drinking water to be delivered.

"These people were saying: 'We don't need food at this time but we need drinking water.' All the wells which are providing water for them are full of mud and you cannot use those wells," he told the BBC.

"Already among the children the diarrhoea has been started already and cholera. That's the main risk at this time. Food shortages are already there."

The humanitarian director of Oxfam, Jane Cocking, said the extent of this crisis was only slowly emerging.

"The more villages that are reached the grimmer the picture becomes," she said as the organisation launched an appeal for aid.

"There is a desperate need for temporary shelter, clean drinking water and toilets to avert a public health catastrophe. People also need medical care and basic food items."

The BBC's Lyse Doucet meets people sleeping rough

The UN's Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said he was "deeply saddened by the significant loss of lives, livelihoods and infrastructure in Pakistan", and stressed that the UN would help meet the humanitarian needs of those affected.

The Pakistani military says it has committed 30,000 troops and dozens of helicopters to the relief effort, but winching individuals to safety is a slow process and time right now is crucial for the survival of so many, our correspondent says.

Earlier, the US promised the government $10m in aid. It also provided about 50,000 meals, four rescue boats and two water-filtration units.

The US embassy in Islamabad said Washington would also be providing 12 temporary bridges to replace some of those destroyed by the floods.

There have been complaints from some that emergency shelters have been inadequate or even non-existent in some areas.

As well as the more 1,000 deaths in Pakistan, at least 60 people have died across the border in Afghanistan, where floods have affected four provinces.

Are you in north-west Pakistan? Have you been affected by the floods? Tell us your experiences using the form below.

India state-run banks 'turn away Muslims'

2010-07-21T23:26:00.000-07:00

State-owned banks in India have been accused of discriminating against the country's Muslim minority.

India's minorities watchdog has received a record number of complaints from Muslims who say they have been prevented from opening bank accounts.

India's Muslim community is among the poorest in the country.

Some bankers say it is not so much their religious background, but their economic status that makes it hard for Muslims to get banking facilities.

The National Commission of Minorities says that there has been a 100% increase in the number of complaints it has received over the past year from Muslims who say they are being prevented from opening accounts in state-run banks.

Reports say the worst case took place in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, where some 90,000 Muslim students were unable to open accounts to deposit scholarship cheques given to them by the government.

Official reports frequently put Muslims at the bottom of India's social and economic ladder - even beneath than low-caste Hindus.

Their economic status means they are often excluded by private banks, which prefer more well-to-do clients.

Already a number of reports have suggested that India's Muslims fare poorly when it comes to getting access to quality education or employment opportunities.

This latest finding will add more pressure on a government which is seen as doing very little for the country's largest minority group.

Source: Iranian researcher headed back to Tehran from U.S.

2010-07-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Shahram Amiri -- an Iranian nuclear scientist Tehran claimed was kidnapped by U.S. agents -- is leaving Washington Tuesday night for Iran, a diplomatic source has told CNN.

Amiri, who is a researcher from Tehran's Malek Ashtar University, mysteriously disappeared in June 2009 while on a religious pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, according to Iranian media reports.

The Iranian government has accused the United States of involvement in Amiri's disappearance, with Iran saying the researcher was taken to force him to give up data about Tehran's nuclear program.

A top Iranian lawmaker recently claimed that newly found documents back up Tehran's claims that the CIA is responsible for Amiri's disappearance, Iranian media reported Sunday. Javad Jahangirzadeh, a member of Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said Iranian officials had turned over the documents to the Swiss ambassador in Tehran.

The U.S. State Department has denied that charge. A U.S. official, who is not authorized to talk to the media about such issues, told CNN last month that it would be "ludicrous, absurd and even preposterous" to claim an individual was kidnapped by the United States and held against his will.

Last month, two videos surfaced on the Internet of a man claiming to be Amiri, in which he said he had escaped from U.S. agents and was hiding in Virginia.

That was the third time that videos allegedly showing Amiri had been circulated on the Internet.

In one, he said he had been kidnapped by U.S. agents. Another contradicted that claim and said he was living freely and studying in Arizona.

In one of the videos posted June 30 on YouTube and dated June 14, the man again said that he was brought against his will to the United States and fears he will be discovered and re-arrested.

"I am Shahram Amiri, the son of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who with God's help succeeded in running away from the U.S. security agents in the state of Virginia. I am [temporarily] at a safe place and I am trying to do this video but it is quite possible that I may shortly be again arrested by American security agents."

He went on to say: "I am not free here and not allowed to contact my family or other people. If I face any problems or if I do not return to my country soon, the government of the U.S. would be directly responsible for it."

CNN could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos, nor the identity of the man in them.

"If he is who people think he is, the U.S. would be in contact with the person," a CIA official said last month. And if he were being held against his will, "how would he have been able to produce any of the videos?" the official said.

In the second video that surfaced June 30 and dated June 23, the man claiming to be Amiri reassures his family about his well-being.

"I want to let my beloved family know that I am OK and they should not worry about my health," he says. "With God's help I shall return to my beloved country in the next few days. I want them to be, as always, strong and patient and to pray for my safe return. I hope to see you in our beloved country."

Tehran blamed Washington for Amiri's disappearance shortly after revelations surfaced that Iran has been building a second uranium enrichment facility near the city of Qom. After that, tensions over Iran's nuclear program mounted.

Iran claims its nuclear energy is solely for civilian purposes. But the United States has pushed the United Nations to punish Tehran for its nuclear ambitions. The Security Council recently slapped a fourth round of tough sanctions on the Islamic republic.

It is unclear how much information Amiri was privy to in Iran.

Castro blames U.S. for stoking nuclear tensions

2010-07-12T23:38:00.000-07:00

The United States is pushing for what would become nuclear wars against Iran and North Korea, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said in a rare televised interview Monday.

Castro blamed the United States, not North Korea, for the sinking of a South Korean ship that killed 46 sailors. The incident was orchestrated to stir conflict in the region, Castro said.

The former Cuban leader, who is 83, said he was disappointed that China and Russia didn't veto a U.N. Security Council resolution for additional sanctions against Iran for its alleged illegal nuclear program.

Iran, he said, has been building up for a confrontation for 30 years. If the United States attacks Iran, it will meet a resistance unlike anything it faced in Iraq, Castro said.

"A war there can't avoid becoming nuclear," Castro said.

One subject Castro did not mention during the hour-long appearance was Monday's release of political prisoners.

Castro spoke on Cuban TV on a show called "Roundtable." He appeared in a dark blue tracksuit worn over a plaid shirt and sat on a swivel chair that he shifted at points during the interview.

His remarks were based on a column published Monday of a possible nuclear war involving the United States and Iran, sparked by conflict over that country's nuclear activities.

News of Castro's television appearance appeared to resonate with some residents in the Cuban capital.

"[It's] extraordinary because we want to feel him, hear him, see him, because we haven't seen him in a long time," said Havana resident Ruben Morrejon Fernandez.

Monday's appearance was the second Castro sighting in the past few days. Three photographs of Castro surfaced Saturday on a pro-government blog, which claimed the photos were taken last Wednesday.

The set of three photos appear to show the ailing Castro meeting with people during "a surprise visit" at the National Center of Scientific Investigations in Havana, according to a blog published by columnist Rosa C. Baez.

An additional five photos -- appearing to be from the same event -- were published Saturday by the state-run media site Cubadebate.

Castro has been largely out of sight since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery in July 2006. He ceded power to younger brother Raul Castro in February 2008.

The elder Castro's appearance follows last week's announcement of the largest release of Cuban political prisoners in more than a decade.

Cuba's Roman Catholic Church also announced Monday the names of the three more political prisoners set to be freed. They were identified as: Jesus Mustafa Felipe, Omar Rodriguez Saludes and Antonio R. Diaz Sanchez.

The first prisoners to be released are expected to arrive in Madrid on Tuesday, a Spanish Foreign Ministry spokesman told CNN on Monday.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos met with Cuban President Raul Castro and Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega last week, after which the prisoner release was announced.

The 52 political prisoners Cuba plans to free are the remainder of 75 dissidents jailed during a government crackdown on political opposition in March 2003.

They represent roughly one-third of all known political prisoners left on the island, according to Cuba's unofficial Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation.

Spain beat Germany to book first ever World Cup final slot

2010-07-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

The World Cup will have a new winner on Sunday after Spain beat Germany 1-0 to set up a mouthwatering clash with the Netherlands.

Spain's hero was Barcelona defender Carles Puyol as his 73rd minute header secured his country's first ever World Cup final.

Puyol rose highest to power Xavi's corner into the net and hand Spain a deserved victory.

Vicente del Bosque's team dominated possession against their opponents and should have won by a more convincing score line but they couldn't convert their chances.

Germany only created a handful of opportunities as they attempted to avenge their defeat to Spain in the European Championships final of 2008 but they failed to regularly test Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Spain will now face Netherlands at Soccer City in Johannesburg on Sunday after they beat Uruguay 3-2 in the other semifinal on Tuesday night.

SI.com: Three quick thoughts

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres was dropped in favor of Pedro Rodriguez as Spain made one change from their quarterfinal team. Germany drafted in Piotr Trochowski in place of the suspended Thomas Muller.

It was Barcelona striker David Villa who had the first chance of the game but his effort was smothered by Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Puyol was the next to go close for Spain after he headed Andres Iniesta's powerful cross over the bar.

Lukas Podolski registered Germany's first effort on goal just after the half hour mark as Spain keeper Iker Casillas turned his shot round the post.

Just before the break Mesut Özil went down under a challenge from Sergio Ramos but the referee waved away his appeal for a penalty.

Spain stepped it up a gear after halftime and Xabi Alonso came close with a fierce shot from the edge of the area that flashed past the post.

Pedro was next to shoot but Neuer blocked his effort before Iniesta rolled a pass across the goal line with Villa agonizingly close to tapping home.

Substitute Toni Kroos nearly scored with his first touch for Germany as he was found by a Podolski cross but Casillas parried his volley.

But just four minutes later Spain were in front. Xavi's corner was met by Puyol, and his header sped past Neuer.

In Madrid, relief and rejoicing intertwine

As Germany tried to force an equalizer Spain should have made the game safe but Pedro failed to tee up Torres when the striker had a clear run on goal.

Spain held on to record another one goal victory and seal a first ever World Cup final appearance. Neither they, nor opponents Netherlands, have ever won world football's most prestigious trophy but one team will make history on Sunday.

158 feared dead in India plane crash

2010-05-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

Rescue teams worked into the night at the smoldering scene of an Air India plane crash that killed 158 people Saturday after the jet overshot a runway in southern India, crashed into a ravine and burst into flames, officials said.

As darkness descended, workers used portable lights to pull charred bodies out of the wreckage outside Mangalore International Airport. All but three bodies have been recovered, said Jeeja Harisingh, head of fire and emergency services.

Eight of the 166 people on board Air India Flight IX-812 survived the crash and were taken to hospitals.

The Boeing 737 took off from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and crashed while trying to make its scheduled landing in Mangalore at 6:30 a.m. Saturday (9 p.m. ET Friday), Air India spokesman Anup Srivastava said.

India's civil aviation minister Praful Patel said an investigation was underway but reasons for the crash would not be known until the flight data and voice data recorders have been recovered. Emergency workers were attempting to cool the fiery wreckage Saturday night to keep the data intact.

The Air India jet touched down on a 8,000-feet runway -- 2,000 feet longer than the old runway and more than sufficient for the Boeing 737, Patel said. The runway has been operational since 2006.

Mangalore's airport was "technically certified" by the country's civil aviation regulator.

Patel said weather conditions were good -- calm winds, no rain and good visibility of six kilometers -- and both the pilot and co-pilot were experienced and had landed many times before at the Mangalore airport. They did not report any problems before landing the plane, India's civil aviation ministry said.

However, the 90-meter spillover sand bed beyond the runway was limited and was not able to stop the aircraft after it overshot the tarmac, Patel said. Only the tail of the aircraft was left intact.

Witnesses said the plane crashed through the hilltop airport's boundary wall and fell into a valley, CNN-IBN reported.

Survivors told CNN's sister network that they jumped out of the plane after it crashed, seconds before it burst into flames.

Rescue workers struggled to reach the crash site in a hilly wooded area, the network said. Smoke from the plane also hampered rescue efforts and many of the recovered bodies were badly burned, CNN-IBN reported.

Abhay Pathak, a regional manager for Air India based in Dubai, said there were 160 passengers on board the plane and six crew members. Of the passengers, 32 were women, 105 were men, 19 were children and four were infants, he said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced financial aid for the victims Saturday and canceled scheduled events at his residence to mark the end of his first year in office.

The government said families would receive 200,000 rupees, or about $4,260, for each dead passenger and 50,000 rupees, or $1,064, for every injured passenger.

The airline has offered relatives of crash victims in the United Arab Emirates free passage to India, Pathak said, and about 20 people have accepted the offer.

Boeing released a statement saying the company would send a team to provide technical assistance to Indian authorities during their investigation.

The city of Mangalore, situated in the state of Karnataka along India's Western Ghats or hills, had just christened a new terminal. A week later, it was marred by the crash, India's worst aviation disaster in a decade. In 2000, an Alliance Air jet crashed while trying to land in the northeastern city of Patna, killing about 60 people.

Air India has released the following telephone numbers to learn more information about the crash:

General: +91 2560 3101 +91 2565 6196

In Mangalore: 0824 222 0422

Dubai (Air India Express): 00971 4 2165828/29

Brown defiant as exit poll shows Conservative election gains

2010-05-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

Brown defiant as exit poll shows Conservative election gains

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave no indication early Friday that he would step down, despite exit-poll predictions that his Labour party had come second in elections for the House of Commons on Thursday.

The "outcome is not yet known but my duty .. is to play my part in Britain having a strong, stable and principled government," he said. "I will not let you down."

Exit polls suggest that David Cameron's Conservatives are on pace to win 305 seats -- 21 short of a majority in the 650-seat House of Commons.

After being returned to parliament by his constituency, Cameron said it was "clear that the Labour government has lost its mandate to govern this country."

If the predictions are borne out by results the UK is heading for a "hung parliament" in which no single party controls an overall majority.

Full election coverage

The leader of the largest party traditionally gets the first chance to form the government and become prime minister. But if no party has a majority, the sitting prime minister has the right to stay in office and try to win a confidence motion in parliament.

"The sitting prime minister and the incumbent government are given the first chance to create a majority that commands the confidence of the House of Commons, and if they fail to do that it passes to the leader of the opposition," top Labour politician Peter Mandelson told CNN.

Brown was expected to fly to London from his constituency of Kirkcaldy in Scotland.

Top figures in each party took to the airwaves late Thursday night to spin their results their way.

Labour's David Miliband said that if no party had won a clear majority, no party had "a moral right to a monopoly of power."

But George Osborne, a Conservative, called the results a "decisive rejection of the Labour party," urging them to "get real."

Few pre-election opinion polls, if any, suggested the Conservatives would win an outright majority.

The official results are not expected until Friday, after votes are counted by hand through the night across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Labour won the first three seats to be declared officially, all in Labour strongholds -- but the Conservatives did better in each district than they did in the last election, in 2005.

A key Cameron ally, Democratic Unionist Party leader Peter Robinson, lost his seat in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, potentially robbing the Conservatives of a supporter in the Commons.

There were some scenes of voter anger across the country over long lines to cast ballots or polling stations running out of ballot papers, but it was not immediately clear how widespread problems were.

Anger at polling stations

The election campaign was marked by the first-ever televised debates between party leaders. Cameron hammered Brown for the country's economic woes, arguing for tax cuts to get the country moving again. He also took a hard line on immigration, which many voters listed as a high priority.

A YouGov poll for CNN the day before the election showed that more than 3 out of 4 British voters wanted to cut immigration levels or halt the inflow of foreigners entirely.

Brown has stood at the center of British government since 1997, when Labour ended 18 years of Conservative rule -- first as the powerful chancellor, or finance minister, under Tony Blair for a decade, and then as prime minister since 2007.

But he was personally unpopular with voters, many polls suggested.

Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats -- the smallest of the national parties -- appeared to be the favorite in early debates, and some opinion polls showed his party could overtaking a slipping Labour.

But if the exit polls are correct, the Liberal Democrats will finish with about the same number of seats they had in the outgoing parliament -- probably a crushing disappointment to a leader who had talked about overturning the dominance of the two big parties.

It's very unusual for no party to get an absolute majority of seats in the Commons. The last time it happened, in 1974, voters were back at the polls within months.

British political parties normally do not form coalition governments, as happens in many parliamentary democracies.

A parliament with no majority party is called a "hung parliament."

Many smaller parties also appeared ready to take some seats, including nationalist parties such as the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru in Wales, and unionist and republican parties in Northern Ireland.

The far-right British National Party is hoping to win its first seats in the House of Commons after having won races for European Parliament seats last year. The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) also fielded candidates, as did the venerable if satirical Monster Raving Loony Party, whose candidates have been known to say, "Vote for insanity! You know it makes sense!"

After the election there will be 650 seats in the Commons, four more than in the previous Parliament. Voters are choosing representatives for only 649 seats. Because of the death of a UKIP candidate in the Thirsk and Malton constituency in North Yorkshire, the election there has now been moved to May 27, local officials said.

The candidate who gets the most votes in a constituency wins; it's not necessary to win an absolute majority of votes in a district to win the seat.

Because of that "first-past-the-post" voting system, one party normally wins a majority of seats, even though there are three national parties.

U.S. reveals it has 5,113 nuclear warheads

2010-05-03T20:19:00.000-07:00

Pentagon statistics show the nuclear stockpile was reduced by 84 percent since a peak of more than 31,255 in 1967.

The United States has 5,113 nuclear warheads in its stockpile and many thousands more that have been retired and are awaiting dismantling, according to a senior defense official.

The release of the number of warheads marks only the second time in U.S. history the government has released the once top secret information.

The Pentagon statistics show the nuclear stockpile was reduced by 75 percent between the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and September 30, 2009, and 84 percent since its peak of more than 31,255 in 1967.

The 5,113 warheads include active and inactive ones, according to the senior defense official.

The numbers released Monday also include yearly statistics on the strategic long-range and nonstrategic short-range weapons dating back to 1962. Previously released information on the stockpile size showed the number of warheads from 1945 through 1961.

The release of the most recent stockpile accounting by the U.S. government "is important to nonproliferation efforts, and to pursuing follow-on reductions" after the upcoming ratification of the updated START treaty, according to a fact sheet released by the Pentagon on Monday.

"We think the United States has set an example of transparency," according to a senior defense official.

Reporters were briefed on the statistical information at the Pentagon as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the United Nations during a conference to review of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

Active warheads are those ready to be used within a short period of time, while inactive warheads are maintained but have key parts removed from them, the official said.

The United States has thousands more nuclear warheads that have not been dismantled but are slated to be taken apart. Those weapons have key parts removed from them and are not maintained, the official said. The warheads are only being kept secure and it would take a good deal of effort and money to restore them to working order, the official said.

The Pentagon did not provide a figure on the number waiting to be dismantled, but did acknowledge there are thousands.

iPhone browsing could be faster with Opera -- if Apple approves

2010-03-12T21:27:00.000-08:00

(CNN) -- The company behind the Web browser Opera is weeks away from submitting it to Apple's iPhone store for approval, a spokesman said Friday.

The result, according to the Norwegian company, would be a browser up to six times faster than the iPhone's default Web tool, Safari.

The question raised by the plans -- and the major publicity push Opera made last month at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain -- is whether Apple will approve the application -- in effect creating competition for its own product.

At the South By Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Opera spokesman Thomas Ford demonstrated for CNN the Opera Mini app being developed for the iPhone.

"I can't positively say the time frame, but I can say it's very soon," Ford said when asked when the app would be officially submitted to Apple. Asked whether it would be weeks or months, he said "weeks."

In the smartphone market, Opera currently is available on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Android platforms. Opera Mini is huge on non-smartphone mobile phones, accounting for much of its more than 50 million monthly users worldwide, according to the company.

But the company clearly covets the iPhone's devoted and active user base.

At the Barcelona conference, the company pushed Opera Mini hard -- an unusual approach for an application that hasn't yet been submitted, much less approved.

But Ford downplayed the notion that the push was meant to put pressure on Apple.

"This is a very, very complete beta," he said. "We were definitely ready to show it to people. We wanted people to see what it would do."

Apple did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this report.

While developers have sometimes complained that the Cupertino, California-based computer giant's standards for apps are sometimes hard to understand, Apple has been consistently clear on one point -- apps aren't accepted if they duplicate a function the iPhone already does.

Opera argues that Mini and Safari are different, saying Opera Mini is quicker at downloading regular Internet pages while Safari's design makes it more apt for more data-intensive functions, such as editing a Google document.

Opera's process involves running Web pages through their servers, stripping away all but the most essential data so the pages load quickly.

Whether that's enough of a distinction for Apple to allow another Web browser onto the iPhone remains to be seen.

"I wouldn't say we're trying to back Apple into a corner," Ford said. "We feel that we're very much following their rules."

More than 2 million affected by earthquake, Chile's president says

2010-02-27T21:25:00.000-08:00

antiago, Chile (CNN) -- As the sun set in Chile on Saturday, a picture of the immense structural damage wrought by an early morning earthquake had come clearly into focus, with the nation's president estimating that 2 million people had been affected in some way.

More than 300 people were killed, according to Chile's Office of Emergency Management, and 15 are missing.

The carnage from the 8.8-magnitude quake didn't begin to approach that unleashed by January's earthquake in Haiti, which left 212,000 people dead and more than a million homeless, even though it was considerably less forceful, with a 7.0 magnitude.

Saturday's quake was 700 to 800 times stronger, but at a greater depth -- 21.7 miles -- compared to the shallow 8.1-mile depth of the Haiti quake, which contributed to much of the damage there.

Coastal Chile has a history of deadly earthquakes, with 13 quakes of magnitude 7.0 or higher since 1973, the U.S. Geological Survey said. As a result, experts said that newer buildings are constructed to help withstand the shocks.

Still, the damage from Chile's earthquake was widespread. A 15-story high rise near the southern city of Concepcion collapsed; the country's major north-south highway was severed at multiple points; and the capital city's airport was closed after its terminal sustained major damage.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announced that all public events would be canceled for the next 72 hours and that the start of the the school year -- originally scheduled for Monday -- would be delayed until March 8.

"The forces of nature have hurt our country greatly," Bachelet said in a nationally televised message Saturday night. "We are now having to face adversity and stand again."

The quake struck at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. ET) off the Pacific coast at a depth of nearly 22 miles (35 km) and about 60 miles (100 km) northwest of Chillan, Chile, the USGS said. Santiago, the capital, is 200 miles (325 km) northeast of the epicenter.

Saturday's epicenter was just a few miles north of the largest earthquake recorded in the world: a magnitude 9.5 quake in May 1960 that killed 1,655 and unleashed a tsunami that crossed the Pacific.

The quake was followed by 76 aftershocks of 4.9 magnitude or greater, according to the USGS. That includes a 6.1-magnitude temblor in Argentina that killed a 58-year-old man and an 8-year-old boy in separate towns, the government-run Telam news agency said. Some buildings in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, were evacuated, though the city is 690 miles (1,111 kilometers) from Santiago.

Earlier Saturday, a large wave killed three people and 10 were missing on the island of Juan Fernandez, 400 miles (643 km) off the coast of Chile, said Provincial Governor Ivan De La Maza.

Across Chile, desperate relatives spent the day searching for missing loved ones. Many used the Internet to ask for help in finding relatives.

Millions of other Chileans began swapping tales of fear and confusion in the early morning hours, soon after the quake struck.

CNN iReporter Matias de Cristobal said many homes in her Santiago neighborhood were destroyed.

Cristobal tried to climb upstairs to check on her three children after she began feeling tremors Saturday, but she was slowed by shifting ground and falling objects.

Mirko Vukasovic, a 25-year-old illustrator in Santiago, had been dancing at a club early Saturday when the disco ball began swinging wildly. A chaotic evacuation was already under way when the lights went out, and everyone managed to escape, Vukasovic said.

"Broken windows and falling building parts was what welcomed us in the streets," he said.

Many initially greeted the quake with disbelief.

"It was 3 or 4 in the morning and I had come home late," said Aneya Fernando, an American who teaches English in Santiago. "Suddenly my bed was moving so violently that it woke me up."

"I'm on the 10th floor of a building and it was swaying and shaking," Fernando, 23, said. "Suddenly [the shaking] was just gone and I was confused. I thought it was in my head."

When Fernando's electricity returned 30 minutes later, she learned of the earthquake on TV.

The task of trying to rescue survivors and recover the dead continued into the night. Buildings lay in rubble, bridges and highway overpasses were toppled and roads buckled like rumpled paper. Mangled cars were strewn on highways, many of them resting on their roofs.

Santiago, the capital, lost electricity and basic services, including water and telephones. A chemical fire in the city that was spreading from one building to others forced the evacuation of everyone within 500 meters.

Chilean television showed buildings in tatters in Concepcion, in coastal central Chile. Whole sides of buildings were torn off, and at least two structures were engulfed in flames. Emergency teams rescued 30 people from one collapsed building in Concepcion.

iReport.com: Did you feel it? Share information, images with CNN

President-elect Sebastian Pinera, who will take office in March, also was monitoring the situation and warned, "The number of victims could get higher."

Bachelet declared areas of catastrophe, similar to a state of emergency, which will allow her to rush in aid. She noted that two of the nation's largest hospitals had suffered structural damage and patients were taken to other facilities.

Other public institutions also were affected.

Pacific under tsunami threat after massive 8.8 quake strikes Chile

2010-02-27T05:09:00.000-08:00

(CNN) -- A massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake rocked Chile early Saturday, killing at least 78 people and triggering tsunami warnings for the entire Pacific basin.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said she expected the death toll to rise.

Numerous aftershocks -- including one of magnitude 6.9 -- were felt within hours of the initial quake, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The quake's epicenter was located off the coast of Maule, about 200 miles southwest of the capital of Santiago. It struck at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. ET), when most people were sleeping.

Jolted out of bed

"This is a major event. This happened near some very populated areas," said Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist with USGS. "With an 8.8 you expect damage to the population in the area."

The earth's rumbling was felt by millions in Chile and in parts of Argentina as well. Some buildings in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, were evacuated.

iReport.com: Did you feel it? Share information, images with CNN

Bachelet declared areas of catastrophe, similar to a state of emergency that will allow her to rush in aid. She said the town of Chillan -- which was destroyed by a killer quake in 1939 -- was one of the worst affected.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning, the highest level of a tsunami alert, for the entire Pacific region, including Hawaii and places as far away as Russia and Japan.

Follow tsunami warning information

California and Alaska are under a tsunami advisory.

"An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines near the epicenter within minutes and more distant coastlines within hours," the National Weather Service said in a statement.

USGS geophysicist Victor Sardina said several tsunami waves had come ashore along the Chilean coast; the largest was recorded at 9 feet near the quake's epicenter.

"I urge people in coastal zones to move to higher ground," Bachelet said at a morning news conference.

The earliest estimated arrival for a wave that could affect Hawaii was 12:46 a.m. local time (6:46 p.m. ET). But evacuations of coastal areas were to begin at 6 a.m. (12 p.m. ET).

Saturday's quake comes just a few weeks after an earthquake devastated parts of Haiti. That quake was magnitude 7.0. The Chilean quake, at magnitude 8.8, was a thousand times stronger -- an earthquake displaces 64 times more energy for each additional point on the magnitude scale.

Check out the world's biggest earthquakes since 1900

The full extent of the damage was not yet known, although there were reports of collapsed buildings and hundreds of people in the streets. The ceiling of a parking lot in the fashionable Las Condes neighborhood of Santiago came crashing down, crushing at least 50 cars.

CNN showed pictures from TV Nacional, a 24-hour network that broadcasts across the country. CNN Chile has suffered damage to its broadcast facilities, although it is still actively newsgathering.

The capital lost electricity and basic services including water and telephones. Bachelet said regional hospitals had suffered damage; some were evacuated. The Santiago airport was shut down and a major bridge connecting northern and southern Chile was rendered inoperable.

Eduardo de Canto, the head of airport operations in Santiago, told Chile's TVN that the terminal in the airport is severely damaged, although he said runways were operational.

Santiago resident Leo Perioto jumped out of bed in his apartment at the top of a six-story building.

"The whole building was shaking," he said. "The windows were wobbling a lot. We could feel the walls moving from side to side."

Glass shattered at the Santiago Marriott Hotel, but there appeared to be no structural damage, said Alessandro Perez.

Anita Herrera at the Hotel Kennedy in Santiago said electricity was out and guests were nervous.

"Our hotel is built for this," she said. "In Chile this happens many times."

Coastal Chile has a history of deadly earthquakes, according to the USGS. Since 1973, there have been 13 quakes of magnitude 7.0 or higher.

Saturday's epicenter was just a few miles north of the largest earthquake recorded in the world: a magnitude 9.5 quake in May 1960 that killed 1,655 and unleashed a tsunami that crossed the Pacific.

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2009-07-08T06:11:00.000-07:00

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