Woof. Analysts have placed a sell rating on Palm and are now valuing their stock, at least in hyperbolic terms, at $0. Quoth CNN:
Shares of Palm (PALM) plunged 19% to $4.59 a share early Friday, a new 52-week low. Investors are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the company’s future and several analysts downgraded their positions on the stock to “sell.” Two analysts even lowered their price targets to $0.
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/
Josh Topolsky has some advice for a turnaround but I don’t think even that sprightly elf-man can help this company in distress. The dream, as they say, is dead.
Monday, March 22, 2010
McLaren MP4-12C: We live in a world where $225,000 cars are considered ‘affordable’
The British supercar made its fancy debut yesterday, surrounded by Formula One drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Supposedly it’s the UK’s answer to the Ferrari 458—Italian, of course.
It can go 0 to 60mph in 3.4 seconds. I believe that’s an impressive number.
The exterior is one single piece of carbon fiber. That’s the new “cool” material, right, carbon fiber? You hear about it all the time on Top Gear.
http://www.crunchgear.com
There’s no video of it in action, unfortunately. Someone call The Stig, or Matt. Whoever’s available.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Top climate officials urge progress at Mexico summit
Cancun, Mexico (AFP) March 20, 2010
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has listened to and learned from recent criticism, but the threat of global warming is real and must be tackled, the group's head said Saturday.
Rajendra Pachuari, the embattled head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning panel of experts, has been criticized for endorsing climate projections based on faulty or inaccurate evidence.
"There's been a lot of talking about climate change. It's an area under strict scrutiny," he acknowledged at a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank.
"We at the IPCC, we've listened, we've learnt, we've done something about it."
He defended the panel's much-criticized fourth assessment report, which he said "has a great deal of robust material and findings."
The report has been pilloried for claiming erroneously that the Himalayan glaciers were in imminent danger of melting and the group has also been forced onto the offensive by a series of email exchanges made public by a hacker that appear to show climate experts seeking to hide or misrepresent evidence.
Joining Pachuari was Yvo de Boer, the United Nations official who headed efforts to secure a new international agreement on climate change, but announced his resignation after a major summit on a new deal in Copenhagen last year.
De Boer urged progress in the follow-up summit to Copenhagen, to be held in Cancun in November.
He said funding for the fight against climate change would be a major hurdle to address, and warned that a proposed 100-billion-dollar fund to help developing nations tackle global warming would be difficult to fund solely through contributions from rich nations.
"There's a large perception, especially in the developing world, that the entire 100 billion, it's going to come from public financing. I think that extremely unlikely, I don't see industrialized countries... mobilizing another 100 billion a year for climate change," he said.
He also said the Cancun conference would need to address the challenge of managing and distributing funds.
"If in Mexico we can make a significant advance in terms of addressing the resources mobilization, the resources management and the resources disbursement challenges in a way that effectively blends public and private finance towards the development priorities of developing countries, we'll probably have resolved the most difficult issue in this entire process."
Climate finance group meeting this month: British PM
London (AFP) March 19, 2010 - The first meeting of a group which will help poor countries finance efforts to tackle the effects of climate change will be held in London this month, Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday. Brown announced that the Climate Finance Group established by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will meet in London on March 31. The British premier is co-chairing it with his Ethiopian counterpart Meles Zenawi. The group was set up in the wake of December's climate summit in Copenhagen which adopted a document most scientists and green groups say falls well short of the steps needed to fight global warming. The Copenhagen summit agreed that 100 billion dollars (74 billion euros) a year of public and private finance will be needed by 2020 to help developing countries.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has listened to and learned from recent criticism, but the threat of global warming is real and must be tackled, the group's head said Saturday.
Rajendra Pachuari, the embattled head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning panel of experts, has been criticized for endorsing climate projections based on faulty or inaccurate evidence.
"There's been a lot of talking about climate change. It's an area under strict scrutiny," he acknowledged at a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the Inter-American Development Bank.
"We at the IPCC, we've listened, we've learnt, we've done something about it."
He defended the panel's much-criticized fourth assessment report, which he said "has a great deal of robust material and findings."
The report has been pilloried for claiming erroneously that the Himalayan glaciers were in imminent danger of melting and the group has also been forced onto the offensive by a series of email exchanges made public by a hacker that appear to show climate experts seeking to hide or misrepresent evidence.
Joining Pachuari was Yvo de Boer, the United Nations official who headed efforts to secure a new international agreement on climate change, but announced his resignation after a major summit on a new deal in Copenhagen last year.
De Boer urged progress in the follow-up summit to Copenhagen, to be held in Cancun in November.
He said funding for the fight against climate change would be a major hurdle to address, and warned that a proposed 100-billion-dollar fund to help developing nations tackle global warming would be difficult to fund solely through contributions from rich nations.
"There's a large perception, especially in the developing world, that the entire 100 billion, it's going to come from public financing. I think that extremely unlikely, I don't see industrialized countries... mobilizing another 100 billion a year for climate change," he said.
He also said the Cancun conference would need to address the challenge of managing and distributing funds.
"If in Mexico we can make a significant advance in terms of addressing the resources mobilization, the resources management and the resources disbursement challenges in a way that effectively blends public and private finance towards the development priorities of developing countries, we'll probably have resolved the most difficult issue in this entire process."
Climate finance group meeting this month: British PM
London (AFP) March 19, 2010 - The first meeting of a group which will help poor countries finance efforts to tackle the effects of climate change will be held in London this month, Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Friday. Brown announced that the Climate Finance Group established by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will meet in London on March 31. The British premier is co-chairing it with his Ethiopian counterpart Meles Zenawi. The group was set up in the wake of December's climate summit in Copenhagen which adopted a document most scientists and green groups say falls well short of the steps needed to fight global warming. The Copenhagen summit agreed that 100 billion dollars (74 billion euros) a year of public and private finance will be needed by 2020 to help developing countries.
California Bay-Delta Fisheries Need Federal Protection
The California Bay-Delta region receives its fresh water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and their tributariesMost of the actions proposed by two federal agencies to reduce water diversions in the California Bay-Delta in order to protect endangered and threatened fish species are "scientifically justified," but the basis for the specific environmental triggers that would indicate when water diversions should be reduced is less well-supported by scientific analyses, says a new report from the National Research Council that was requested by Congress and the U.S. Department of the Interior.
The California Bay-Delta region receives its fresh water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and their tributaries, and the delta's water ultimately flows into the San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Tidal mixing from the Pacific Ocean also occurs, resulting in a brackish water ecosystem in many regions of the delta.
In addition, pumping stations divert water from the delta, primarily for Central Valley agriculture and southern California metropolitan areas. The effects of an increasing population and the operation of the engineered water-control system have substantially altered the delta ecosystem, including its fish species.
In 2008 and 2009 respectively, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) issued biological opinions under the Endangered Species Act that contained "Reasonable and Prudent Alternatives" requiring actions to reduce the adverse effects of water diversions on delta smelt, Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, and green sturgeon.
Those actions included restrictions in diverting water during certain periods, depending on environmental conditions. Congress and the Interior Department asked the Research Council to provide a scientific evaluation of the actions in the biological opinions.
For its study, the committee that wrote the report reviewed an action in the FWS alternative to protect delta smelt by limiting how much water is pumped from the delta to reduce reverse flows in the Old and Middle rivers, two branches of the San Joaquin River. The committee concluded that in winter, high reverse river flows from high levels of pumping probably adversely affect smelt.
Therefore, reducing the high reverse flows to decrease mortality of smelt is scientifically justified. However, the data do not permit confident identification of when to limit reverse flows of the rivers or a confident assessment of the benefits fish receive by reducing reverse flows, the committee found. As a result, the implementation of this action needs to be accompanied by careful monitoring, adaptive management, and additional analyses.
How the action in the FWS alternative to manage the contour line of 2 parts per thousand salinity, called X2, is beneficial to smelt needs further clarification, the committee said. The action is intended to increase outflows of water during the fall by maintaining the average position of X2 no farther upstream (east) of the Golden Gate Bridge than 74 kilometers in wet years and 81 kilometers in moderately wet years.
The FWS's argument for the action is that the average position of X2 is an indicator of suitable and available habitat for delta smelt. Preventing X2 from moving farther east on average requires the use of additional freshwater releases from reservoirs under some conditions.
The action is conceptually sound to the degree that the amount of habitat available for smelt limits their abundance, but the derivation of the details lacks rigor, the committee said. The committee emphasized that the adaptive management requirements in the action should be implemented in light of the uncertainty about the biological effectiveness of the action and its possibly high water requirements.
In addition, the FWS requirement for creation or restoration of 8,000 acres of intertidal and subtidal habitat in the delta is weakly justified, because the relationship between tidal habitats and food availability for smelt is poorly understood. Because the details of implementation are not fully justified in the biological opinion, the committee recommended that this action be carried out in phases, with the first to include developing an implementation and adaptive management plan. The committee also recommended considering the sustainability of the resulting habitats.
Regarding the NMFS biological opinion, which applies to the Chinook salmon, steelhead, and green sturgeon in the delta and farther upstream, the committee concluded that on balance the actions are scientifically justified. However, as with the FWS opinion, specific environmental triggers, thresholds, and flows should receive additional evaluation that is integrated with the analyses of similar actions for delta smelt.
In particular, the NMFS alternative contains an action similar to the FWS action to limit pumping in order to reduce high reverse flows in the Old and Middle rivers, and the committee likewise judged that high reverse river flows probably adversely affect the fish, but that the scientific support for specific flow targets is less certain.
The committee also found it difficult to ascertain the extent to which the collective watershed and tributary actions will appreciably reduce risks to the fishes within the watershed or throughout the entire river system and recommended a quantitative framework be created to assess survival.
The committee also considered whether any additional actions not included in the biological opinions might have the potential to provide equal or greater protection for the fishes than the current requirements, while costing less in terms of water availability for other uses. The committee found none that had received sufficient documentation or evaluation to be confident that any action had the potential to meet this objective, but will consider alternatives in more detail in its second report.
Adverse effects of all other stressors on the listed fish - such as contaminants in the delta and structures on rivers that block fishes from access to their spawning habitat - are potentially large, concluded the committee, which was asked to consider the effects of other stressors if time allowed.
The limited timeframe to complete the first report did not permit full exploration of the issue, but the committee will review it more thoroughly in its second report, scheduled to be released next year. Moreover, the committee found that its evaluations and the agencies' evaluations were hampered by the lack of an integrated analysis that took all aspects of the fishes' life cycles into account, considered the effects of all the actions and fish species together, and included clear and well-documented considerations of the water needed to implement the actions. However, such an analysis likely goes beyond the agencies' legal obligations under the Endangered Species Act.
The report was sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are independent, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under an 1863 congressional charter.
Committee members, who serve pro bono as volunteers, are chosen by the Academies for each study based on their expertise and experience and must satisfy the Academies' conflict-of-interest standards. The resulting consensus reports undergo external peer review before completion. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org/studycommitteprocess.pdf. A committee roster follows.
Rare Opportunity To Map One Of Largest Quakes In Recorded History
by Staff Writers
San Diego CA (SPX) Mar 22, 2010
Scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) at the University of California at San Diego are undertaking an expedition to explore the rupture site of the 8.8-magnitude Chilean earthquake.
The quake is one of the largest in recorded history.
The scientists hope to capitalize on a unique scientific opportunity to capture fresh data from the event. They will study changes in the seafloor that resulted from movements along faults and submarine landslides.
The "rapid response" expedition, called the Survey of Earthquake And Rupture Offshore Chile, will take place aboard the research vessel Melville.
The Melville was conducting research off Chile when the earthquake struck.
"This rapid response cruise is a rare opportunity to better understand the processes that affect the generation and size of tsunamis," said Julie Morris, NSF division director for Ocean Sciences. "Seafloor evidence of the quake will contribute to understanding similar earthquake regions worldwide."
An important aspect of the rapid response mission involves swath multibeam sonar mapping of the seafloor to produce detailed topographic maps. Data from mapping the earthquake rupture zone will be made public soon after the research cruise ends, Morris said.
The new data will be compared with pre-quake data taken by scientists at Germany's Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR).
Several years ago IFM-GEOMAR researchers conducted a detailed multibeam mapping survey off Chile. Their data will be valuable for comparisons with the new survey to expose changes from the earthquake rupture, say researchers.
"We'd like to know if the genesis of the resulting tsunami was caused by direct uplift of the seabed along a fault, or by slumping from shaking of sediment-covered slopes," said Dave Chadwell, an SIO geophysicist and chief scientist of the expedition.
"We will look for disturbances in the seafloor, including changes in reflectivity and possibly shape, by comparing previous data with the new [rapid response] data."
The rapid response cruise is possible because the vessel Melville is currently in Chilean waters, where a research team has been conducting an investigation of the geology and biology of the Chilean margin.
"This is a unique case in which we have the shipboard assets, the scientific agenda and the funding all in place," said Bruce Appelgate, associate director for Ship Operations and Marine Technical Support at SIO. "The earthquake was a tragedy for the people of Chile, but we hope this opportunity enables important new discoveries that can help us plan for future events."
The logistical details of undertaking the expedition are enormous and constantly evolving due to uncertainties regarding transportation infrastructure in Chile.
Port facilities are limited due to widespread earthquake devastation, making fueling and provisioning the ship difficult.
Chadwell and SIO scientist Peter Lonsdale, along with graduate students Jared Kluesner and Ashlee Henig, and Scripps Geological Data Center analyst Aaron Sweeney, will be aboard Melville for the eight-day expedition.
The scientists, along with Scripps researchers Mike Tryon and Mark Zumberge, also will deploy depth sensors on the seafloor to record possible abrupt vertical motions over the next year.
The U.S. scientists will be joined by Chilean researchers Juan Dيaz and Matias Viel Gonzلlez from Universidad Catolica in Valparaيso, as well as scientists from IFM-GEOMAR.
San Diego CA (SPX) Mar 22, 2010
Scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) at the University of California at San Diego are undertaking an expedition to explore the rupture site of the 8.8-magnitude Chilean earthquake.
The quake is one of the largest in recorded history.
The scientists hope to capitalize on a unique scientific opportunity to capture fresh data from the event. They will study changes in the seafloor that resulted from movements along faults and submarine landslides.
The "rapid response" expedition, called the Survey of Earthquake And Rupture Offshore Chile, will take place aboard the research vessel Melville.
The Melville was conducting research off Chile when the earthquake struck.
"This rapid response cruise is a rare opportunity to better understand the processes that affect the generation and size of tsunamis," said Julie Morris, NSF division director for Ocean Sciences. "Seafloor evidence of the quake will contribute to understanding similar earthquake regions worldwide."
An important aspect of the rapid response mission involves swath multibeam sonar mapping of the seafloor to produce detailed topographic maps. Data from mapping the earthquake rupture zone will be made public soon after the research cruise ends, Morris said.
The new data will be compared with pre-quake data taken by scientists at Germany's Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR).
Several years ago IFM-GEOMAR researchers conducted a detailed multibeam mapping survey off Chile. Their data will be valuable for comparisons with the new survey to expose changes from the earthquake rupture, say researchers.
"We'd like to know if the genesis of the resulting tsunami was caused by direct uplift of the seabed along a fault, or by slumping from shaking of sediment-covered slopes," said Dave Chadwell, an SIO geophysicist and chief scientist of the expedition.
"We will look for disturbances in the seafloor, including changes in reflectivity and possibly shape, by comparing previous data with the new [rapid response] data."
The rapid response cruise is possible because the vessel Melville is currently in Chilean waters, where a research team has been conducting an investigation of the geology and biology of the Chilean margin.
"This is a unique case in which we have the shipboard assets, the scientific agenda and the funding all in place," said Bruce Appelgate, associate director for Ship Operations and Marine Technical Support at SIO. "The earthquake was a tragedy for the people of Chile, but we hope this opportunity enables important new discoveries that can help us plan for future events."
The logistical details of undertaking the expedition are enormous and constantly evolving due to uncertainties regarding transportation infrastructure in Chile.
Port facilities are limited due to widespread earthquake devastation, making fueling and provisioning the ship difficult.
Chadwell and SIO scientist Peter Lonsdale, along with graduate students Jared Kluesner and Ashlee Henig, and Scripps Geological Data Center analyst Aaron Sweeney, will be aboard Melville for the eight-day expedition.
The scientists, along with Scripps researchers Mike Tryon and Mark Zumberge, also will deploy depth sensors on the seafloor to record possible abrupt vertical motions over the next year.
The U.S. scientists will be joined by Chilean researchers Juan Dيaz and Matias Viel Gonzلlez from Universidad Catolica in Valparaيso, as well as scientists from IFM-GEOMAR.
Several years ago IFM-GEOMAR researchers conducted a detailed multibeam mapping survey off Chile. Their data will be valuable for comparisons with the new survey to expose changes from the earthquake rupture, say researchers. "We'd like to know if the genesis of the resulting tsunami was caused by direct uplift of the seabed along a fault, or by slumping from shaking of sediment-covered slopes," said Dave Chadwell, an SIO geophysicist and chief scientist of the expedition http://www.terradaily.com/
Iceland volcano eruption causes hundreds to flee
by Staff Writers
Hvolsvoellur, Iceland (AFP) March 21, 2010
Iceland's first volcanic eruption in six years sent lava and ashes into the air, forcing hundreds to flee their homes and halting flights, but caused no damage or casualties.
Smoke could be seen rising from behind Eyjafjallajoekull glacier and volcanic ash filled the sky after the eruption that began around midnight on Sunday following three weeks of localised earthquakes.
The eruption occurred in a remotely populated area about 125 kilometres (75 miles) east of Iceland's capital Reykjavik and caused 600 people to flee their homes.
It also brought to a halt all flights into and out of the Nordic island nation, but they resumed with serious delays mid-day Sunday, while domestic traffic started up again late in the afternoon.
The risk of floods posed by melting glacial ice prompted the authorities to declare a state of emergency and to immediately evacuate the area.
It was the first volcanic eruption in Iceland since 2004, and the first in the vicinty of Eyjafjallajoekull, in the south of the island, since 1823.
"We did not have time to be afraid and everyone was so calm and stoical," said farmer Thorhildur Bjarnadottir, 51, who received the evacuation order by text message on her mobile phone.
"We went right away and checked on our neighbours in the nearby farms," she added, explaining meetings had been held during the summer on what to do in case of an eruption.
"The worst part in all of this is to leave our animals behind at home," her husband added.
Local police chief Kjartan Thorkelsson told AFP the evacuation plan went well, although some farmers reportedly refused to leave their homes.
He said almost all area residents, except those living on 14 farms still at risk, were allowed to return home late in the afternoon.
"We are allowing almost all of the 600 inhabitants to return to their homes... All roads have now been opened" he said, adding "there is still an official situation of danger because of the volcanic eruption".
Significant floods were avoided because the fissure eruption occurred between two large glaciers, Eyjafjallajoekull and Myrdalsjoekull, said Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a professor of geophysics and civil protection advisor.
"We are extremely lucky that the eruption did not occur underneath the glacier, so therefore a gigantic glacier flood did not occur," Gudmundsson said.
With about 15 magma exits at the fissure, he said, and the volcano "is not a big eruption" by Icelandic standards.
But Gudmundsson warned that extreme caution had to be exercised, because the eruption was taking place so close to two large glaciers.
"The eruption could end within one or two days, but also within one or two years," he told reporters.
Thorkelsson said no damages related to the eruption had been reported.
"There is almost no measureable quantity of volcanic ash that fell to the ground," he said.
Following eruptions, volcanic ash often falls to the ground, damaging vehicules.
The Red Cross set up an emergency telephone line and opened three evacuation centres in the towns of Hella, Hvolsvoellur and Vik to help people displaced by the eruption.
Bjoerk Valdimarsdottir, whose sister lives in the vicinity of the eruption, told Swedish news website dn.se the glow from the eruption could be seen near the capital, where she lives.
"There are lots of people who want to go there to take a look and that's why they closed the road some miles out of Reykjavik," she said.
Asked by Swedish public radio if she felt there was any danger, local resident Christina Bengtsson said the biggest problem was volcanic ash.
"The ash can be dangerous for the animals," she said. "When we went out before, we could feel (the ash) in our mouths. From my window, I see a red sky. If I went out the door, I could also see fire."
Iceland evacuees return home, flights resume
Hvolsvollur, Iceland (AFP) March 21, 2010 - Almost all of the 600 people evacuated Sunday following a volcanic eruption in southern Iceland were allowed to return home and all flights resumed in the Nordic island country, authorities said. "We are allowing almost all of the 600 inhabitants to return to their homes, with the exception of the residents of 14 farms who are not allowed to return home," local police chief Kjartan Thorkelsson told AFP at 1730 GMT. "All roads have now been opened, but we encourage people not to drive unless it is necessary," he said, adding "there is still an official situation of danger because of the volcanic eruption". Hjordis Gudmundsdottir of the Icelandic airport authority meanwhile said all domestic flights had resumed at around 1600 GMT.
After being halted following the eruption, traffic in and out of Iceland started up again at around 1100 GMT, but most international flights suffered serious delays. "There are no problems getting to Iceland and domestic flights have now resumed, but of course there are delays," Gudmundsdottir said. She said air traffic was still barred from a small area, "but it's not a big area, and it's ok to fly (in the area) if it's above 5,000 feet." "The problem with (volcanic) ashes wasn't as bad as we thought it could be," she said. A volcanic eruption in the south of Iceland forced 600 people to flee their homes early Sunday but no casualties were reported. It was the first volcanic eruption in Iceland since 2004, and the first in the vicinity of the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier since 1823.
Hvolsvoellur, Iceland (AFP) March 21, 2010
Iceland's first volcanic eruption in six years sent lava and ashes into the air, forcing hundreds to flee their homes and halting flights, but caused no damage or casualties.
Smoke could be seen rising from behind Eyjafjallajoekull glacier and volcanic ash filled the sky after the eruption that began around midnight on Sunday following three weeks of localised earthquakes.
The eruption occurred in a remotely populated area about 125 kilometres (75 miles) east of Iceland's capital Reykjavik and caused 600 people to flee their homes.
It also brought to a halt all flights into and out of the Nordic island nation, but they resumed with serious delays mid-day Sunday, while domestic traffic started up again late in the afternoon.
The risk of floods posed by melting glacial ice prompted the authorities to declare a state of emergency and to immediately evacuate the area.
It was the first volcanic eruption in Iceland since 2004, and the first in the vicinty of Eyjafjallajoekull, in the south of the island, since 1823.
"We did not have time to be afraid and everyone was so calm and stoical," said farmer Thorhildur Bjarnadottir, 51, who received the evacuation order by text message on her mobile phone.
"We went right away and checked on our neighbours in the nearby farms," she added, explaining meetings had been held during the summer on what to do in case of an eruption.
"The worst part in all of this is to leave our animals behind at home," her husband added.
Local police chief Kjartan Thorkelsson told AFP the evacuation plan went well, although some farmers reportedly refused to leave their homes.
He said almost all area residents, except those living on 14 farms still at risk, were allowed to return home late in the afternoon.
"We are allowing almost all of the 600 inhabitants to return to their homes... All roads have now been opened" he said, adding "there is still an official situation of danger because of the volcanic eruption".
Significant floods were avoided because the fissure eruption occurred between two large glaciers, Eyjafjallajoekull and Myrdalsjoekull, said Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a professor of geophysics and civil protection advisor.
"We are extremely lucky that the eruption did not occur underneath the glacier, so therefore a gigantic glacier flood did not occur," Gudmundsson said.
With about 15 magma exits at the fissure, he said, and the volcano "is not a big eruption" by Icelandic standards.
But Gudmundsson warned that extreme caution had to be exercised, because the eruption was taking place so close to two large glaciers.
"The eruption could end within one or two days, but also within one or two years," he told reporters.
Thorkelsson said no damages related to the eruption had been reported.
"There is almost no measureable quantity of volcanic ash that fell to the ground," he said.
Following eruptions, volcanic ash often falls to the ground, damaging vehicules.
The Red Cross set up an emergency telephone line and opened three evacuation centres in the towns of Hella, Hvolsvoellur and Vik to help people displaced by the eruption.
Bjoerk Valdimarsdottir, whose sister lives in the vicinity of the eruption, told Swedish news website dn.se the glow from the eruption could be seen near the capital, where she lives.
"There are lots of people who want to go there to take a look and that's why they closed the road some miles out of Reykjavik," she said.
Asked by Swedish public radio if she felt there was any danger, local resident Christina Bengtsson said the biggest problem was volcanic ash.
"The ash can be dangerous for the animals," she said. "When we went out before, we could feel (the ash) in our mouths. From my window, I see a red sky. If I went out the door, I could also see fire."
Lava spews out of a mountain on March 21, 2010 in the region of the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier in Iceland. A volcano in the area of the Eyjafallajoekull glacier in southern Iceland erupted early March 21, forcing more than 500 people in its vicinity to evacuate their homes, authorities said. Photo courtesy AFP
Iceland evacuees return home, flights resume
Hvolsvollur, Iceland (AFP) March 21, 2010 - Almost all of the 600 people evacuated Sunday following a volcanic eruption in southern Iceland were allowed to return home and all flights resumed in the Nordic island country, authorities said. "We are allowing almost all of the 600 inhabitants to return to their homes, with the exception of the residents of 14 farms who are not allowed to return home," local police chief Kjartan Thorkelsson told AFP at 1730 GMT. "All roads have now been opened, but we encourage people not to drive unless it is necessary," he said, adding "there is still an official situation of danger because of the volcanic eruption". Hjordis Gudmundsdottir of the Icelandic airport authority meanwhile said all domestic flights had resumed at around 1600 GMT.
After being halted following the eruption, traffic in and out of Iceland started up again at around 1100 GMT, but most international flights suffered serious delays. "There are no problems getting to Iceland and domestic flights have now resumed, but of course there are delays," Gudmundsdottir said. She said air traffic was still barred from a small area, "but it's not a big area, and it's ok to fly (in the area) if it's above 5,000 feet." "The problem with (volcanic) ashes wasn't as bad as we thought it could be," she said. A volcanic eruption in the south of Iceland forced 600 people to flee their homes early Sunday but no casualties were reported. It was the first volcanic eruption in Iceland since 2004, and the first in the vicinity of the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier since 1823.
Forests Critical For Slowing Climate Change
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 22, 2010
A new study involving scientists from 13 different organizations, universities and research institutions states that forest protection offers one of the most effective, practical, and immediate strategies to combat climate change. The study, "Indigenous Lands, Protected Areas, and Slowing Climate Change," was published in PLoS Biology, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, and makes specific recommendations for incorporating protected areas into overall strategies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses from deforestation and degradation (nicknamed REDD).
"Deforestation leads to about 15 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, more than all the cars, trucks, trains, ships, and planes on earth. If we fail to reduce it, we'll fail to stabilize our climate," said Taylor Ricketts, director of World Wildlife Fund's science program and lead author of the study.
"Our paper emphasizes that creating and strengthening indigenous lands and other protected areas can offer an effective means to cut emissions while garnering numerous additional benefits for local people and wildlife."
The authors highlight analyses showing that since 2002, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has been 7 to 11 times lower inside of indigenous lands and other protected areas than elsewhere. Simulation models suggest that protected areas established between 2003 and 2007 could prevent an estimated area of 100,000 square miles of deforestation through 2050.
That is roughly the size of the state of Colorado, representing enough carbon to equal 1/3 of the world's annual CO2 emissions. Within these efforts, location matters; protected areas in regions that face deforestation pressures would be most effective at truly reducing emissions.
"This study reinforces the wisdom behind global investments in protected areas," says Gustavo A.B. da Fonseca, co-author of the study and Team Leader Natural Resources of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). "In addition to protecting globally important species and ecosystems, the 2,302 protected areas supported by the GEF alone span over 634 million hectares and together store an impressive 30 billion tons of CO2"
International policies for compensating forest nations for REDD are under active negotiation. To access the resulting funds, developing countries will need to develop programs and institutions to reduce forest emissions.
"Protected areas represent a valuable component of national REDD programs since they already contain the necessary institutions and infrastructure to handle funds, strengthen protection and generate results," said Claudio Maretti, Conservation Director, WWF Brazil. "Establishing protected areas usually clarifies land tenure and the associated carbon rights, which has been a sticking point in some negotiations."
In addition, the study estimates that the cost of creating and better managing protected areas is lower than many other options to reduce emissions from deforestation. Completing and managing a network of protected areas in the developing world might require $4 billion USD annually, which is roughly 1/10 of the capital that could be mobilized by international REDD policies.
According to the study, forest nations can strengthen the role of protected areas in their REDD strategies by:
+ Identifying where Indigenous Lands and Protected Areas would most effectively reduce deforestation rates and associated emissions;
+ Establishing national monitoring to measure deforestation rates and quantify carbon emissions reductions;
+ Establishing insurance mechanisms for illegal logging or forest fires;
+ Providing indigenous groups and local communities the information and capacities they need to participate;
+ Distributing payments transparently to reward those responsible for reducing emissions.
Potential emissions are estimated by simulating future deforestation through 2050, with and without forest protected areas present. The difference (depicted by orange bars) represents the reductions of CO2 emissions contributed by each forest protected area
http://www.terradaily.com/
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 22, 2010
A new study involving scientists from 13 different organizations, universities and research institutions states that forest protection offers one of the most effective, practical, and immediate strategies to combat climate change. The study, "Indigenous Lands, Protected Areas, and Slowing Climate Change," was published in PLoS Biology, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, and makes specific recommendations for incorporating protected areas into overall strategies to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses from deforestation and degradation (nicknamed REDD).
"Deforestation leads to about 15 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, more than all the cars, trucks, trains, ships, and planes on earth. If we fail to reduce it, we'll fail to stabilize our climate," said Taylor Ricketts, director of World Wildlife Fund's science program and lead author of the study.
"Our paper emphasizes that creating and strengthening indigenous lands and other protected areas can offer an effective means to cut emissions while garnering numerous additional benefits for local people and wildlife."
The authors highlight analyses showing that since 2002, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has been 7 to 11 times lower inside of indigenous lands and other protected areas than elsewhere. Simulation models suggest that protected areas established between 2003 and 2007 could prevent an estimated area of 100,000 square miles of deforestation through 2050.
That is roughly the size of the state of Colorado, representing enough carbon to equal 1/3 of the world's annual CO2 emissions. Within these efforts, location matters; protected areas in regions that face deforestation pressures would be most effective at truly reducing emissions.
"This study reinforces the wisdom behind global investments in protected areas," says Gustavo A.B. da Fonseca, co-author of the study and Team Leader Natural Resources of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). "In addition to protecting globally important species and ecosystems, the 2,302 protected areas supported by the GEF alone span over 634 million hectares and together store an impressive 30 billion tons of CO2"
International policies for compensating forest nations for REDD are under active negotiation. To access the resulting funds, developing countries will need to develop programs and institutions to reduce forest emissions.
"Protected areas represent a valuable component of national REDD programs since they already contain the necessary institutions and infrastructure to handle funds, strengthen protection and generate results," said Claudio Maretti, Conservation Director, WWF Brazil. "Establishing protected areas usually clarifies land tenure and the associated carbon rights, which has been a sticking point in some negotiations."
In addition, the study estimates that the cost of creating and better managing protected areas is lower than many other options to reduce emissions from deforestation. Completing and managing a network of protected areas in the developing world might require $4 billion USD annually, which is roughly 1/10 of the capital that could be mobilized by international REDD policies.
According to the study, forest nations can strengthen the role of protected areas in their REDD strategies by:
+ Identifying where Indigenous Lands and Protected Areas would most effectively reduce deforestation rates and associated emissions;
+ Establishing national monitoring to measure deforestation rates and quantify carbon emissions reductions;
+ Establishing insurance mechanisms for illegal logging or forest fires;
+ Providing indigenous groups and local communities the information and capacities they need to participate;
+ Distributing payments transparently to reward those responsible for reducing emissions.
http://www.terradaily.com/
تمسك مصري بمصرية أمين الجامعة العربية
أبو الغيط ينفي وجود مطالب بتدوير منصب الامين العام للجامعة بين الدول العربية.
ميدل ايست اونلاين
القاهرة - قال وزير الخارجية المصري احمد ابو الغيط الخميس ان منصب الامين العام للجامعة العربية "سيظل مصريا" بعد انتهاء الولاية الثانية للامين العام الحالي عمرو موسى منتصف العام المقبل.
واكد الوزير في مقابلة بثها التلفزيون الرسمي مساء الخميس ان القمة العربية المقبلة المقرر عقدها في 27 و28 اذار/مارس الجاري في مدينة سرت الليبية ستشهد "محاولات لكسر الجليد والتحرك نحو جمع الشمل العربي".
واضاف "نأمل ان تكون القمة المقبلة قمة مصالحة شاملة".
وردا على سؤال حول مطالبة بعض الدول العربية بتدوير منصب الامين العام بين الدول الاعضاء في الجامعة، اعتبر ابو الغيط ان "الامين العام للجامعة العربية يكون من الدولة التي يتواجد بها المقر (مصر) وهو امر يسهل قيامه بعمله وهناك اجماع عربي حول ذلك".
وتابع "ان هذه المسألة محسومة بالنسبة لمصر".
ونفى الوزير المصري وجود توتر في العلاقات بين بلاده والجزائر مؤكدا على ان "البلدين لا يسمحان لاطراف اخرى بالعبث في العلاقات التاريخية بينهما".
وعاد السفير المصري في الجزائر الى ممارسة مهام منصبه في السابع من شباط/فبراير الماضي بعد ان استدعي "للتشاور" في تشرين الثاني/نوفمبر الفائت على خلفية توتر بين البلدين بسبب مباراتين في تصفيات كأس العالم لكرة القدم.
وحول العلاقات المصرية-السورية، قال ابو الغيط "اذا كانت هناك فجوة لها اسبابها وتكمن في اختلافات الرأي لكن في نفس الوقت مصلحة سوريا هي مصلحة مصر" مضيفا "نأمل ان تكون القمة المقبلة قمة مصالحة وتمكين للعرب من الدفاع عن مصالحهم".
وتتسم العلاقات المصرية السورية بالبرودة منذ الحرب الاسرائيلية على لبنان في تموز/يوليو 2006 والتي اصطفت خلالها دمشق الى جانب حزب الله بينما انتقدته القاهرة انتقادا شديدا وحملته مسؤولية اندلاع الحرب.
ورغم القمة الرباعية التي عقدت في الرياض في اذار/مارس 2009 وضمت العاهل السعودي عبد الله بن عبد العزيز وامير الكويت الشيخ صباح الاحمد الصباح والرئيسين المصري حسني مبارك والسوري بشار الاسد، الا ان الفتور استمر بين القاهرة ودمشق
ميدل ايست اونلاين
القاهرة - قال وزير الخارجية المصري احمد ابو الغيط الخميس ان منصب الامين العام للجامعة العربية "سيظل مصريا" بعد انتهاء الولاية الثانية للامين العام الحالي عمرو موسى منتصف العام المقبل.
واكد الوزير في مقابلة بثها التلفزيون الرسمي مساء الخميس ان القمة العربية المقبلة المقرر عقدها في 27 و28 اذار/مارس الجاري في مدينة سرت الليبية ستشهد "محاولات لكسر الجليد والتحرك نحو جمع الشمل العربي".
واضاف "نأمل ان تكون القمة المقبلة قمة مصالحة شاملة".
وردا على سؤال حول مطالبة بعض الدول العربية بتدوير منصب الامين العام بين الدول الاعضاء في الجامعة، اعتبر ابو الغيط ان "الامين العام للجامعة العربية يكون من الدولة التي يتواجد بها المقر (مصر) وهو امر يسهل قيامه بعمله وهناك اجماع عربي حول ذلك".
وتابع "ان هذه المسألة محسومة بالنسبة لمصر".
ونفى الوزير المصري وجود توتر في العلاقات بين بلاده والجزائر مؤكدا على ان "البلدين لا يسمحان لاطراف اخرى بالعبث في العلاقات التاريخية بينهما".
وعاد السفير المصري في الجزائر الى ممارسة مهام منصبه في السابع من شباط/فبراير الماضي بعد ان استدعي "للتشاور" في تشرين الثاني/نوفمبر الفائت على خلفية توتر بين البلدين بسبب مباراتين في تصفيات كأس العالم لكرة القدم.
وحول العلاقات المصرية-السورية، قال ابو الغيط "اذا كانت هناك فجوة لها اسبابها وتكمن في اختلافات الرأي لكن في نفس الوقت مصلحة سوريا هي مصلحة مصر" مضيفا "نأمل ان تكون القمة المقبلة قمة مصالحة وتمكين للعرب من الدفاع عن مصالحهم".
وتتسم العلاقات المصرية السورية بالبرودة منذ الحرب الاسرائيلية على لبنان في تموز/يوليو 2006 والتي اصطفت خلالها دمشق الى جانب حزب الله بينما انتقدته القاهرة انتقادا شديدا وحملته مسؤولية اندلاع الحرب.
ورغم القمة الرباعية التي عقدت في الرياض في اذار/مارس 2009 وضمت العاهل السعودي عبد الله بن عبد العزيز وامير الكويت الشيخ صباح الاحمد الصباح والرئيسين المصري حسني مبارك والسوري بشار الاسد، الا ان الفتور استمر بين القاهرة ودمشق
تصفية اسلام اونلاين تكشف الانحسار الثقافي عن القاهرة
الغارديان: ابوظبي ترتقي بخطوات فعالة لتصبح عاصمة الشرق الاوسط الثقافية بعد انحسار دور القاهرة وبيروت.
ميدل ايست اونلاين
لندن – من أحمد عبد الله
ربطت صحيفة "الغارديان" البريطانية تصفية مكتب موقع "إسلام أونلاين" في العاصمة المصرية بالانحسار والجفاف الثقافي الذي يصيبها لصالح دول الخليج العربي.
وركز تقرير كتبه "جاك شينكار" على الجدل الدائر حول السيطرة التحريرية في "إسلام أون لاين" أكثر من الاسباب المالية، ثم التنافس السياسي الأوسع بين مصر وقطر، أو ما سماه بـ "حرب ثقافية بين مصر ودول الخليج".
وذكرت الصحيفة ان الموقع يجتذب يومياً أكثر من 120 الف زائر من مختلف بقاع العالم، ويستخدمه المسلمون كمصدر رئيسي للفتوى من العجز الجنسي حتى ارتداء نوعية القمصان وشرعية محاربة الاحتلال في العراق.
واشارت الصحيفة في عددها الصادر الاربعاء الى ان سوق وسائل الاعلام والسيطرة على المشهد الثقافي في دول الشرق الاوسط يسيران بالتوازي مع الهيمنة السياسية.
وذكّرت بهيمنة القاهرة وبيروت على الانتاج الفني والموسيقي في عقدي الخمسينات والستينات من القرن الماضي الى جانب الهيمنة السياسية.
واضحت مصر آنذاك عاصمة للثقافة العربية في عهد الرئيس جمال عبد الناصر بأغاني ام كلثوم وافلام يوسف شاهين واشهر الراقصات، بموازة خطاب سياسي ملتهب تجسد في تأميم قناة السويس من الاستعمار الغربي عام 1956.
الا ان القاهرة سرعان ما فقدت دورها مع بيروت التي انشغلت بالحرب الأهلية، منذ بداية عقد السبعينات ومع الطفرة النفطية التي بدأت في دول الخليج العربي.
وعزت "الغارديان" ذلك الى بيروقراطية حكم الرئيس حسني مبارك بعد اغتيال السادات، فيما شرعت المملكة العربية السعودية ودولة الامارات في برنامج ثقافي طموح بعيدا عن منافسة القاهرة.
وذكرت الصحيفة ان ذروة البرامج التلفازية في المحطات العربية هي من انتاج اماراتي وبمبالغ طائلة بعد انحسار الدراما والمنوعات المصرية.
وأكدت على شغف الجمهور العربي ببرنامج "شاعر المليون" الذي تنتجه هيئة ابوظبي للثقافة والتراث والذي يستقطب سبعين مليون مشاهد من العالم العربي، مشبهة أياه بشهرة برامج تلفزيون الواقع الغربية.
ويمثل برنامج "شاعر المليون" - حسب صحيفة الغارديان -جانباً من الصورة المحلية الفخمة التي ترسمها ابوظبي كعاصمة جديدة للثقافة في الشرق الاوسط، اضافة الى الانفتاح على الغرب بصيغ محلية من متحف اللوفر ومتحف غوغنهايم الذي هو قيد الانشاء.
واشارت الصحيفة الى استحواذ الاستثمارات السعودية على سوق الانتاج السينمائي المصري بعد ان هبط الانتاج السينمائي عام 1990 الى خمسة أو ستة أفلام سنوياً.
ويخشى المتابعون ان تفرض السعودية خطابها الديني المتشدد على الانتاج الفني في استثماراتها بمصر، أو ما أسمته بـ "سعودة" الفن المصري.
وذكّرت "الغارديان" باستياء الملياردير القبطي سميح ساويرس في تصريحات سابقة من صعود الأصولية الإسلامية في مصر بقوله "أنا لست ضد الحجاب لأنني لست ضد الحريات الشخصية، لكنني عندما أسير في الشارع المصري اليوم أشعر وكأنني في ايران... وكأنني غريب في بلادي".
وقال خليل العناني الخبير في شؤون الاسلام السياسي جامعة دورهام للصحيفة "هناك مذاق مصري لإسلام أونلاين، وبمجرد انتقاله الى قطر سوف يتغير ويفقد هذه الروحية".
وعبر العناني عن اسفه لخسارة الجالية المسلمة في العالم لخدمات الموقع في مواجهة الحركات المتطرفة والسلفية والمد الاعلامي الغربي المشوه لصورة الاسلام.
وواصلت الإدارة القطرية عبر لجنتها المرسلة للقاهرة تصفية مكتب موقع "إسلام أونلاين".
وكانت اللجنة القطرية التي تمثل جمعية البلاغ القطرية قد وصلت القاهرة بغرض التصفية والرحيل.
وأدى قرار اللجنة القطرية تنظيم اعتصام العاملين للمطالبة بحقوقهم.
وبات الجميع في الموقع ورفضوا تسليم المقر حتى يتم التوصل لاتفاق يضمن حقوقهم التي ينص عليها القانون.
ولا يزال الموقع الرسمي على الانترنت بعيدا عن الحدث ولم يورد أي تعليق على الازمة.
وذكر مراقبون مصريون على اطلاع على تفاصيل الازمة ان سببها سياسي بالدرجة الاولى ويعكس الخلافات المتزايدة داخل حركة الاخوان المسلمين.
واتهم زعماء الحركة موقع "اسلام أونلاين" بالتذبذب في المواقف، في حين نسب البعض الى مصادر مطلعة أن القطريين قرروا "قطرنة" الموقع وتحويله إلى موقع محلي ذي بعد إقليمي وهو جزء من سياسة جديدة تتبعها القيادة القطرية فيما يخص الاعلام.
وذكر مصدر مطلع أن أخوان مصر يجدون أنفسهم في موقف محرج داخليا بسبب موقف قطر والاخوان الفلسطينيين من العلاقة مع ايران، وان هذا انعكس على الخط التحريري للموقع.
ونفى المصدر أن يكون ثمة اسباب مالية لأن الانتقال الى قطر سيزيد من كلفة ادارة وتحرير الموقع بالمقارنة مع كلفته في مصر
ميدل ايست اونلاين
لندن – من أحمد عبد الله
ربطت صحيفة "الغارديان" البريطانية تصفية مكتب موقع "إسلام أونلاين" في العاصمة المصرية بالانحسار والجفاف الثقافي الذي يصيبها لصالح دول الخليج العربي.
وركز تقرير كتبه "جاك شينكار" على الجدل الدائر حول السيطرة التحريرية في "إسلام أون لاين" أكثر من الاسباب المالية، ثم التنافس السياسي الأوسع بين مصر وقطر، أو ما سماه بـ "حرب ثقافية بين مصر ودول الخليج".
وذكرت الصحيفة ان الموقع يجتذب يومياً أكثر من 120 الف زائر من مختلف بقاع العالم، ويستخدمه المسلمون كمصدر رئيسي للفتوى من العجز الجنسي حتى ارتداء نوعية القمصان وشرعية محاربة الاحتلال في العراق.
واشارت الصحيفة في عددها الصادر الاربعاء الى ان سوق وسائل الاعلام والسيطرة على المشهد الثقافي في دول الشرق الاوسط يسيران بالتوازي مع الهيمنة السياسية.
وذكّرت بهيمنة القاهرة وبيروت على الانتاج الفني والموسيقي في عقدي الخمسينات والستينات من القرن الماضي الى جانب الهيمنة السياسية.
واضحت مصر آنذاك عاصمة للثقافة العربية في عهد الرئيس جمال عبد الناصر بأغاني ام كلثوم وافلام يوسف شاهين واشهر الراقصات، بموازة خطاب سياسي ملتهب تجسد في تأميم قناة السويس من الاستعمار الغربي عام 1956.
الا ان القاهرة سرعان ما فقدت دورها مع بيروت التي انشغلت بالحرب الأهلية، منذ بداية عقد السبعينات ومع الطفرة النفطية التي بدأت في دول الخليج العربي.
وعزت "الغارديان" ذلك الى بيروقراطية حكم الرئيس حسني مبارك بعد اغتيال السادات، فيما شرعت المملكة العربية السعودية ودولة الامارات في برنامج ثقافي طموح بعيدا عن منافسة القاهرة.
وذكرت الصحيفة ان ذروة البرامج التلفازية في المحطات العربية هي من انتاج اماراتي وبمبالغ طائلة بعد انحسار الدراما والمنوعات المصرية.
وأكدت على شغف الجمهور العربي ببرنامج "شاعر المليون" الذي تنتجه هيئة ابوظبي للثقافة والتراث والذي يستقطب سبعين مليون مشاهد من العالم العربي، مشبهة أياه بشهرة برامج تلفزيون الواقع الغربية.
ويمثل برنامج "شاعر المليون" - حسب صحيفة الغارديان -جانباً من الصورة المحلية الفخمة التي ترسمها ابوظبي كعاصمة جديدة للثقافة في الشرق الاوسط، اضافة الى الانفتاح على الغرب بصيغ محلية من متحف اللوفر ومتحف غوغنهايم الذي هو قيد الانشاء.
واشارت الصحيفة الى استحواذ الاستثمارات السعودية على سوق الانتاج السينمائي المصري بعد ان هبط الانتاج السينمائي عام 1990 الى خمسة أو ستة أفلام سنوياً.
ويخشى المتابعون ان تفرض السعودية خطابها الديني المتشدد على الانتاج الفني في استثماراتها بمصر، أو ما أسمته بـ "سعودة" الفن المصري.
وذكّرت "الغارديان" باستياء الملياردير القبطي سميح ساويرس في تصريحات سابقة من صعود الأصولية الإسلامية في مصر بقوله "أنا لست ضد الحجاب لأنني لست ضد الحريات الشخصية، لكنني عندما أسير في الشارع المصري اليوم أشعر وكأنني في ايران... وكأنني غريب في بلادي".
وقال خليل العناني الخبير في شؤون الاسلام السياسي جامعة دورهام للصحيفة "هناك مذاق مصري لإسلام أونلاين، وبمجرد انتقاله الى قطر سوف يتغير ويفقد هذه الروحية".
وعبر العناني عن اسفه لخسارة الجالية المسلمة في العالم لخدمات الموقع في مواجهة الحركات المتطرفة والسلفية والمد الاعلامي الغربي المشوه لصورة الاسلام.
وواصلت الإدارة القطرية عبر لجنتها المرسلة للقاهرة تصفية مكتب موقع "إسلام أونلاين".
وكانت اللجنة القطرية التي تمثل جمعية البلاغ القطرية قد وصلت القاهرة بغرض التصفية والرحيل.
وأدى قرار اللجنة القطرية تنظيم اعتصام العاملين للمطالبة بحقوقهم.
وبات الجميع في الموقع ورفضوا تسليم المقر حتى يتم التوصل لاتفاق يضمن حقوقهم التي ينص عليها القانون.
ولا يزال الموقع الرسمي على الانترنت بعيدا عن الحدث ولم يورد أي تعليق على الازمة.
وذكر مراقبون مصريون على اطلاع على تفاصيل الازمة ان سببها سياسي بالدرجة الاولى ويعكس الخلافات المتزايدة داخل حركة الاخوان المسلمين.
واتهم زعماء الحركة موقع "اسلام أونلاين" بالتذبذب في المواقف، في حين نسب البعض الى مصادر مطلعة أن القطريين قرروا "قطرنة" الموقع وتحويله إلى موقع محلي ذي بعد إقليمي وهو جزء من سياسة جديدة تتبعها القيادة القطرية فيما يخص الاعلام.
وذكر مصدر مطلع أن أخوان مصر يجدون أنفسهم في موقف محرج داخليا بسبب موقف قطر والاخوان الفلسطينيين من العلاقة مع ايران، وان هذا انعكس على الخط التحريري للموقع.
ونفى المصدر أن يكون ثمة اسباب مالية لأن الانتقال الى قطر سيزيد من كلفة ادارة وتحرير الموقع بالمقارنة مع كلفته في مصر
تصفية اسلام اونلاين تكشف الانحسار الثقافي عن القاهرة
الغارديان: ابوظبي ترتقي بخطوات فعالة لتصبح عاصمة الشرق الاوسط الثقافية بعد انحسار دور القاهرة وبيروت.
ميدل ايست اونلاين
لندن – من أحمد عبد الله
ربطت صحيفة "الغارديان" البريطانية تصفية مكتب موقع "إسلام أونلاين" في العاصمة المصرية بالانحسار والجفاف الثقافي الذي يصيبها لصالح دول الخليج العربي.
وركز تقرير كتبه "جاك شينكار" على الجدل الدائر حول السيطرة التحريرية في "إسلام أون لاين" أكثر من الاسباب المالية، ثم التنافس السياسي الأوسع بين مصر وقطر، أو ما سماه بـ "حرب ثقافية بين مصر ودول الخليج".
وذكرت الصحيفة ان الموقع يجتذب يومياً أكثر من 120 الف زائر من مختلف بقاع العالم، ويستخدمه المسلمون كمصدر رئيسي للفتوى من العجز الجنسي حتى ارتداء نوعية القمصان وشرعية محاربة الاحتلال في العراق.
واشارت الصحيفة في عددها الصادر الاربعاء الى ان سوق وسائل الاعلام والسيطرة على المشهد الثقافي في دول الشرق الاوسط يسيران بالتوازي مع الهيمنة السياسية.
وذكّرت بهيمنة القاهرة وبيروت على الانتاج الفني والموسيقي في عقدي الخمسينات والستينات من القرن الماضي الى جانب الهيمنة السياسية.
واضحت مصر آنذاك عاصمة للثقافة العربية في عهد الرئيس جمال عبد الناصر بأغاني ام كلثوم وافلام يوسف شاهين واشهر الراقصات، بموازة خطاب سياسي ملتهب تجسد في تأميم قناة السويس من الاستعمار الغربي عام 1956.
الا ان القاهرة سرعان ما فقدت دورها مع بيروت التي انشغلت بالحرب الأهلية، منذ بداية عقد السبعينات ومع الطفرة النفطية التي بدأت في دول الخليج العربي.
وعزت "الغارديان" ذلك الى بيروقراطية حكم الرئيس حسني مبارك بعد اغتيال السادات، فيما شرعت المملكة العربية السعودية ودولة الامارات في برنامج ثقافي طموح بعيدا عن منافسة القاهرة.
وذكرت الصحيفة ان ذروة البرامج التلفازية في المحطات العربية هي من انتاج اماراتي وبمبالغ طائلة بعد انحسار الدراما والمنوعات المصرية.
وأكدت على شغف الجمهور العربي ببرنامج "شاعر المليون" الذي تنتجه هيئة ابوظبي للثقافة والتراث والذي يستقطب سبعين مليون مشاهد من العالم العربي، مشبهة أياه بشهرة برامج تلفزيون الواقع الغربية.
ويمثل برنامج "شاعر المليون" - حسب صحيفة الغارديان -جانباً من الصورة المحلية الفخمة التي ترسمها ابوظبي كعاصمة جديدة للثقافة في الشرق الاوسط، اضافة الى الانفتاح على الغرب بصيغ محلية من متحف اللوفر ومتحف غوغنهايم الذي هو قيد الانشاء.
واشارت الصحيفة الى استحواذ الاستثمارات السعودية على سوق الانتاج السينمائي المصري بعد ان هبط الانتاج السينمائي عام 1990 الى خمسة أو ستة أفلام سنوياً.
ويخشى المتابعون ان تفرض السعودية خطابها الديني المتشدد على الانتاج الفني في استثماراتها بمصر، أو ما أسمته بـ "سعودة" الفن المصري.
وذكّرت "الغارديان" باستياء الملياردير القبطي سميح ساويرس في تصريحات سابقة من صعود الأصولية الإسلامية في مصر بقوله "أنا لست ضد الحجاب لأنني لست ضد الحريات الشخصية، لكنني عندما أسير في الشارع المصري اليوم أشعر وكأنني في ايران... وكأنني غريب في بلادي".
وقال خليل العناني الخبير في شؤون الاسلام السياسي جامعة دورهام للصحيفة "هناك مذاق مصري لإسلام أونلاين، وبمجرد انتقاله الى قطر سوف يتغير ويفقد هذه الروحية".
وعبر العناني عن اسفه لخسارة الجالية المسلمة في العالم لخدمات الموقع في مواجهة الحركات المتطرفة والسلفية والمد الاعلامي الغربي المشوه لصورة الاسلام.
وواصلت الإدارة القطرية عبر لجنتها المرسلة للقاهرة تصفية مكتب موقع "إسلام أونلاين".
وكانت اللجنة القطرية التي تمثل جمعية البلاغ القطرية قد وصلت القاهرة بغرض التصفية والرحيل.
وأدى قرار اللجنة القطرية تنظيم اعتصام العاملين للمطالبة بحقوقهم.
وبات الجميع في الموقع ورفضوا تسليم المقر حتى يتم التوصل لاتفاق يضمن حقوقهم التي ينص عليها القانون.
ولا يزال الموقع الرسمي على الانترنت بعيدا عن الحدث ولم يورد أي تعليق على الازمة.
وذكر مراقبون مصريون على اطلاع على تفاصيل الازمة ان سببها سياسي بالدرجة الاولى ويعكس الخلافات المتزايدة داخل حركة الاخوان المسلمين.
واتهم زعماء الحركة موقع "اسلام أونلاين" بالتذبذب في المواقف، في حين نسب البعض الى مصادر مطلعة أن القطريين قرروا "قطرنة" الموقع وتحويله إلى موقع محلي ذي بعد إقليمي وهو جزء من سياسة جديدة تتبعها القيادة القطرية فيما يخص الاعلام.
وذكر مصدر مطلع أن أخوان مصر يجدون أنفسهم في موقف محرج داخليا بسبب موقف قطر والاخوان الفلسطينيين من العلاقة مع ايران، وان هذا انعكس على الخط التحريري للموقع.
ونفى المصدر أن يكون ثمة اسباب مالية لأن الانتقال الى قطر سيزيد من كلفة ادارة وتحرير الموقع بالمقارنة مع كلفته في مصر
ميدل ايست اونلاين
لندن – من أحمد عبد الله
ربطت صحيفة "الغارديان" البريطانية تصفية مكتب موقع "إسلام أونلاين" في العاصمة المصرية بالانحسار والجفاف الثقافي الذي يصيبها لصالح دول الخليج العربي.
وركز تقرير كتبه "جاك شينكار" على الجدل الدائر حول السيطرة التحريرية في "إسلام أون لاين" أكثر من الاسباب المالية، ثم التنافس السياسي الأوسع بين مصر وقطر، أو ما سماه بـ "حرب ثقافية بين مصر ودول الخليج".
وذكرت الصحيفة ان الموقع يجتذب يومياً أكثر من 120 الف زائر من مختلف بقاع العالم، ويستخدمه المسلمون كمصدر رئيسي للفتوى من العجز الجنسي حتى ارتداء نوعية القمصان وشرعية محاربة الاحتلال في العراق.
واشارت الصحيفة في عددها الصادر الاربعاء الى ان سوق وسائل الاعلام والسيطرة على المشهد الثقافي في دول الشرق الاوسط يسيران بالتوازي مع الهيمنة السياسية.
وذكّرت بهيمنة القاهرة وبيروت على الانتاج الفني والموسيقي في عقدي الخمسينات والستينات من القرن الماضي الى جانب الهيمنة السياسية.
واضحت مصر آنذاك عاصمة للثقافة العربية في عهد الرئيس جمال عبد الناصر بأغاني ام كلثوم وافلام يوسف شاهين واشهر الراقصات، بموازة خطاب سياسي ملتهب تجسد في تأميم قناة السويس من الاستعمار الغربي عام 1956.
الا ان القاهرة سرعان ما فقدت دورها مع بيروت التي انشغلت بالحرب الأهلية، منذ بداية عقد السبعينات ومع الطفرة النفطية التي بدأت في دول الخليج العربي.
وعزت "الغارديان" ذلك الى بيروقراطية حكم الرئيس حسني مبارك بعد اغتيال السادات، فيما شرعت المملكة العربية السعودية ودولة الامارات في برنامج ثقافي طموح بعيدا عن منافسة القاهرة.
وذكرت الصحيفة ان ذروة البرامج التلفازية في المحطات العربية هي من انتاج اماراتي وبمبالغ طائلة بعد انحسار الدراما والمنوعات المصرية.
وأكدت على شغف الجمهور العربي ببرنامج "شاعر المليون" الذي تنتجه هيئة ابوظبي للثقافة والتراث والذي يستقطب سبعين مليون مشاهد من العالم العربي، مشبهة أياه بشهرة برامج تلفزيون الواقع الغربية.
ويمثل برنامج "شاعر المليون" - حسب صحيفة الغارديان -جانباً من الصورة المحلية الفخمة التي ترسمها ابوظبي كعاصمة جديدة للثقافة في الشرق الاوسط، اضافة الى الانفتاح على الغرب بصيغ محلية من متحف اللوفر ومتحف غوغنهايم الذي هو قيد الانشاء.
واشارت الصحيفة الى استحواذ الاستثمارات السعودية على سوق الانتاج السينمائي المصري بعد ان هبط الانتاج السينمائي عام 1990 الى خمسة أو ستة أفلام سنوياً.
ويخشى المتابعون ان تفرض السعودية خطابها الديني المتشدد على الانتاج الفني في استثماراتها بمصر، أو ما أسمته بـ "سعودة" الفن المصري.
وذكّرت "الغارديان" باستياء الملياردير القبطي سميح ساويرس في تصريحات سابقة من صعود الأصولية الإسلامية في مصر بقوله "أنا لست ضد الحجاب لأنني لست ضد الحريات الشخصية، لكنني عندما أسير في الشارع المصري اليوم أشعر وكأنني في ايران... وكأنني غريب في بلادي".
وقال خليل العناني الخبير في شؤون الاسلام السياسي جامعة دورهام للصحيفة "هناك مذاق مصري لإسلام أونلاين، وبمجرد انتقاله الى قطر سوف يتغير ويفقد هذه الروحية".
وعبر العناني عن اسفه لخسارة الجالية المسلمة في العالم لخدمات الموقع في مواجهة الحركات المتطرفة والسلفية والمد الاعلامي الغربي المشوه لصورة الاسلام.
وواصلت الإدارة القطرية عبر لجنتها المرسلة للقاهرة تصفية مكتب موقع "إسلام أونلاين".
وكانت اللجنة القطرية التي تمثل جمعية البلاغ القطرية قد وصلت القاهرة بغرض التصفية والرحيل.
وأدى قرار اللجنة القطرية تنظيم اعتصام العاملين للمطالبة بحقوقهم.
وبات الجميع في الموقع ورفضوا تسليم المقر حتى يتم التوصل لاتفاق يضمن حقوقهم التي ينص عليها القانون.
ولا يزال الموقع الرسمي على الانترنت بعيدا عن الحدث ولم يورد أي تعليق على الازمة.
وذكر مراقبون مصريون على اطلاع على تفاصيل الازمة ان سببها سياسي بالدرجة الاولى ويعكس الخلافات المتزايدة داخل حركة الاخوان المسلمين.
واتهم زعماء الحركة موقع "اسلام أونلاين" بالتذبذب في المواقف، في حين نسب البعض الى مصادر مطلعة أن القطريين قرروا "قطرنة" الموقع وتحويله إلى موقع محلي ذي بعد إقليمي وهو جزء من سياسة جديدة تتبعها القيادة القطرية فيما يخص الاعلام.
وذكر مصدر مطلع أن أخوان مصر يجدون أنفسهم في موقف محرج داخليا بسبب موقف قطر والاخوان الفلسطينيين من العلاقة مع ايران، وان هذا انعكس على الخط التحريري للموقع.
ونفى المصدر أن يكون ثمة اسباب مالية لأن الانتقال الى قطر سيزيد من كلفة ادارة وتحرير الموقع بالمقارنة مع كلفته في مصر
مصائب دبي، فوائد البحرين
البحرين تستعيد وضعها السابق كمركز لأعمال الشرق الأوسط إثر المبالغة في تقدير شدة أزمة العقارات في دبي.
ميدل ايست اونلاين
كان (فرنسا) ـ من سينيد كروز
قال بوب فينسنت الرئيس التنفيذي لمشروع خليج البحرين ان مخاوف أزمة ديون دبي منحت البحرين فرصة كبيرة لاستعادة وضعها السابق كمركز لاعمال الشرق الاوسط في 2010.
وتبلغ تكلفة مشروع خليج البحرين أربعة مليارات دولار.
وكان دعم سيادي على نطاق واسع ساعد دبي في تخطي البحرين كبوابة لرأس المال الغربي الى الخليج في السنوات الاخيرة لكن فينسنت قال ان المملكة مهيأة لان تستغل الفرصة بينما تتضخم المشاكل الائتمانية في دبي.
وقال فينسنت "تتغير الايام وتتبدل الدوائر وتلعب مدن مختلفة ادواراً مختلفة في تشجيع الاعمال في منطقة معينة. بذلت دبي جهداً منسقاً وحقيقياً لتحل محل البحرين لكن الاعمال المستدامة والناجحة لا تخلق بين عشية وضحاها".
واضاف "ومن المثير بقدر كاف من وجهة نظرنا أن البحرين لم تتضرر من نمو دبي".
وذكر فينسنت أن مشاكل دبي القت الضوء على الاستقرار النسبي في البحرين على مدى 30 عاماً.
وقال فينسنت "تأثرت البحرين لكنها لم تتأثر بشدة وتستطيع أن ترى طريقاً الى الامام بعيدا عن الانكماش الاقتصادي. واثبتت المملكة نفسها على مدى فترة طويلة".
وفي 2009 وضعت مؤسسة هيرتج البحرين في المرتبة السادسة عشرة بين أكثر الاقتصادات تحرراً في العالم لتضيف الى وضعها في المرتبة الثامنة عشرة بين أكثر الاسواق التي تنتهج سياسة ميسرة للاعمال كما تتابعها مؤسسة التمويل الدولية التابعة للبنك الدولي.
وبالرغم من هذه المراكز قال فينسنت انه ما زال يتعين عليه اقناع بعض المتشككين في أن البحرين ليست دبي أخرى.
وقال فينسنت "الامر متروك لنا لنظهر للناس أننا مركزون وملتزمون وأننا ننجز وعودنا. بالنسبة لمشروع خليج البحرين الذي يشمل مرحلتين تبلغ تكلفة الاولى 2.5 مليار دولار في حين تبلغ تكلفة الثانية 1.5 مليار دولار لم نتخلف عن الخطة".
واضاف "لم نتخلف عن الموعد من حيث برنامجه ولم نفقد دولاراً واحداً فيما يتعلق بميزانية المشروع. ذلك ما يحتاج المستثمرون الذين يتطلعون لفرص في الشرق الاوسط لرؤيته".
وبيع أكثر من 65 بالمئة من المرحلة الاولى من مشروع الواجهة البحرية متعدد الاستخدامات وقال فينسنت ان الشركة ستكون راضية اذا باعت ما بين عشرة و15 بالمئة في عام 2010 الذي سيتجه التركيز خلاله الى مزيد من الانشاءات بدلاً من المبيعات
قللوا من شأن دبي، فبالغوا في تقدير أزمتها
لؤلؤة دبي: النموذج الاقتصادي في دبي نجح على مدى الأربعين عاماً الماضية فكيف يفشل الآن؟
ميدل ايست اونلاين
كان (فرنسا)ـ من سينيد كروز
قال سانتوش جوزيف رئيس شركة لؤلؤة دبي - التي تقوم بتطوير مشروع اللؤلؤة الذي تم احياؤه في الآونة الاخيرة بتكلفة أربعة مليارات دولار - ان هؤلاء الذين ليس لديهم خبرة مباشرة تذكر بالسوق بالغوا في ضعف قطاع العقارات في دبي.
وقال جوزيف على هامش معرض "ام اي بي اي ام" للعقارات في كان "اعتقادي الراسخ أن الذين يقللون من شأن دبي سيكونون بين اوائل العائدين اليها".
وفي أقل من ستين عاماً تحولت دبي من صحراء جرداء الى احد أكثر المدن تطوراً في العالم في ظل القيام بمشروعات ضخمة واحداً تلو الآخر بينها ناطحات سحاب ضخمة وجزر صناعية مرئية من الفضاء الخارجي.
لكن كثيراً من العقارات اصبحت عبئاً على شركات التطوير العقاري التي قامت بها اذ ساهم نموذج البناء الذي تنتهجه دبي في زيادة المعروض من المكاتب والفنادق والمنازل.
ورغم هذه الزيادة في المعروض استأنف فريق جوزيف أعمال الانشاءات في مشروع لؤلؤة دبي في وقت سابق من هذا الشهر مما يعكس الثقة في سوق دبي ما بعد الازمة.
وذكر جوزيف "في نظري أن النموذج نجح على مدى العشرين أو الثلاثين أو الاربعين عاما الماضية فلماذا يتوقف الآن؟".
واضاف "بحلول عامي 2012 و2013 اتوقع استيعاب أغلب المساحات التجارية في دبي. أما المساكن فانه يوجد معروض يتراوح بين 16 ألف وحدة سكنية و18 الفا سنويا على مدى الاعوام الثلاثة أو الاربعة المقبلة لكن نمو السكان السنوي يبلغ عشرة أمثال هذا المعروض تقريباً".
ولا يشعر جوزيف بالقلق من عدم ترحيب عشرات الشركات الغربية بهذه الجهود بعدما تخلوا عن خطط توسعة الأعمال في دبي بعد تدهور الاقتصاد.
وقال جوزيف "ذلك مفهوم خاطئ آخر. نحن لا نقوم ببناء مشروعات ببساطة من أجل (الغربيين) ولكن للاسيويين وباقي العالم العربي. لا اعتقد أن العالم الغربي قام بشراء أو شغل أكثر من 15 بالمئة من العقارات في دبي".
وتابع "لدينا سوق تأجير مستدامة في الوقت الحالي للشركات القادمة الى دبي. ارتفعت أسعار الايجارات الى نطاق يتراوح بين 200 دولار و250 دولاراً لكل قدم مربعة في بعض الاماكن في وقت ذروة طفرة العقارات. تتراوح الاسعار الان بين 50 و60 دولاراً لكل قدم مربعة وهي أسعار يسيرة الى حد بعيد وستساعد دبي كثيراً".
واضاف "بالطبع أثرت الازمة العالمية سلباً على دبي لكن ليس هناك مشاكل محورية كما نراها. كانت دبي آخر المدن تضرراً بالازمة واعتقد أنها ستكون الاولى في الانتعاش على نحو حقيقي الى مستويات ما بعد الازمة".
أطفال بريطانيا قراصنة انترنت
استطلاع للرأي يكشف أن أكثر من ربع أطفال بريطانيا جربوا اختراق الكمبيوترات.
ميدل ايست اونلاين
لندن - أظهر استطلاع للرأي نشرت نتائجه الأسبوع الماضي، أن معظم الأطفال في بريطانيا يقرون أن اختراق الكمبيوترات أمر خاطئ، إلا أن أكثر من ربع هؤلاء حاولوا تجربة القرصنة.
ميدل ايست اونلاين
لندن - أظهر استطلاع للرأي نشرت نتائجه الأسبوع الماضي، أن معظم الأطفال في بريطانيا يقرون أن اختراق الكمبيوترات أمر خاطئ، إلا أن أكثر من ربع هؤلاء حاولوا تجربة القرصنة.
وقال الاستطلاع إن 26 % من الأطفال الذين شملهم الاستطلاع حاولوا اختراق أو اقتحام حسابا إلكترونيا لشخص آخر، في حين أن نحو ربع من نفذوا عمليات قرصنة استهدفوا حسابات على شبكات اجتماعية مثل الـ(فيس بوك)، بينما استهدف 18 % منهم البريد الإلكتروني لأصدقائهم.
وشمل استطلاع الرأي نحو 1000 طفل في لندن و150 من مقاطعة (كومبريا) الإنجليزية الشمالية ونفذته قبل أسبوعين شرطة (كومبريا) وشركة(توفن تكنولوجيز) وهي شركة أمن لتكنولوجيا المعلومات الدولية.
وقال ستيوارت هايد نائب قائد شرطة كومبريا ورئيس جمعية المحافظة على أمن الإنترنت ما تقوله هذه الدراسة بوضوح هو أن اختراق الحسابات الشخصية على الانترنت، سواء البريد الإلكتروني أو فيسبوك، يمكن أن يكون لعب الأطفال.
وأضاف هايد أن على المستخدمين حماية كلمات المرور الخاصة بهم فهذا الاستطلاع يبين أهمية حفظ كلمات السر الخاصة بك بطريقة قوية وآمنة، وتغييرها بشكل منتظم.
ووفقا للاستطلاع فأن الأطفال الذين قالوا إنهم نفذوا عمليات اختراق، انقسموا بالتساوي تقريبا بين الإناث والذكور، في حين أن 47 % ممن اعترفوا بالذنب هن من الفتيات.
وطبقا لهذا الاستطلاع فإن معظم عمليات القرصنة نفذت من غرف نوم الأطفال، بينما جرى تنفيذ 22 % من الاختراقات في مقاهي للإنترنت و21 % تمت في مختبر الكمبيوتر في المدرسة و19 % من أجهزة للأصدقاء.
نواكشوط: علاقتنا مع إسرائيل منتهية
وزيرة الخارجية الموريتانية تدعو الكف عن المغالاة في قضية العلاقات مع إسرائيل لأنها انتهت تماما.
ميدل ايست اونلاين
نواكشوط - اعلنت وزيرة الخارجية الموريتانية الناها بنت حمدي ولد مكناس السبت اثناء تجمع في نواكشوط ان بلادها قد قطعت "نهائيا" علاقاتها مع اسرائيل.
وقالت الوزيرة خلال تجمع جماهيري لدعم سياسة الرئيس محمد ولد عبد العزيز "فليعلم العالم من هنا ان موريتانيا قد قطعت علاقاتها الدبلوماسية مع دولة اسرائيل بشكل نهائي".
وبالتالي دعت الوزيرة المعارضة "الى الكف عن المغالاة في هذه القضية لانها حلت نهائيا".
وقد اتهم زعيم المعارضة الديمقراطية مسعود ولد بلخير النظام بانه "ابقى العلاقات الدبلوماسية مع العدو الصهيوني مؤكدا في آن واحد بشكل ديماغوجي انه قطعها".
وعلقت موريتانيا في كانون الثاني/يناير 2009 علاقاتها الدبلوماسية مع اسرائيل احتجاجا على الهجوم الذي شنه الجيش الاسرائيلي على قطاع غزة واسفر عن سقوط اكثر من 1400 قتيل فلسطيني حسب مصادر طبية فلسطينية.
واغلقت سفارة اسرائيل في نواكشوط بعد ذلك ورحلت موظفيها
http://middle-east-online.com
ميدل ايست اونلاين
نواكشوط - اعلنت وزيرة الخارجية الموريتانية الناها بنت حمدي ولد مكناس السبت اثناء تجمع في نواكشوط ان بلادها قد قطعت "نهائيا" علاقاتها مع اسرائيل.
وقالت الوزيرة خلال تجمع جماهيري لدعم سياسة الرئيس محمد ولد عبد العزيز "فليعلم العالم من هنا ان موريتانيا قد قطعت علاقاتها الدبلوماسية مع دولة اسرائيل بشكل نهائي".
وبالتالي دعت الوزيرة المعارضة "الى الكف عن المغالاة في هذه القضية لانها حلت نهائيا".
وقد اتهم زعيم المعارضة الديمقراطية مسعود ولد بلخير النظام بانه "ابقى العلاقات الدبلوماسية مع العدو الصهيوني مؤكدا في آن واحد بشكل ديماغوجي انه قطعها".
وعلقت موريتانيا في كانون الثاني/يناير 2009 علاقاتها الدبلوماسية مع اسرائيل احتجاجا على الهجوم الذي شنه الجيش الاسرائيلي على قطاع غزة واسفر عن سقوط اكثر من 1400 قتيل فلسطيني حسب مصادر طبية فلسطينية.
واغلقت سفارة اسرائيل في نواكشوط بعد ذلك ورحلت موظفيها
http://middle-east-online.com
China State Media Accuses Google of Political Agenda
BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s state media on Sunday accused Google of pushing a political agenda by “groundlessly accusing the Chinese government” of supporting hacker attacks and by trying to export its own culture, values and ideas.
In a commentary signed by three Xinhua writers, the state news agency also sought to defend the government’s Internet censorship, which Google has cited as one reason the world’s largest search engine may quit China.
“Regrettably, Google’s recent behaviors show that the company not just aims at expanding business in China, but is playing an active role in exporting culture, value and ideas.
“It is unfair for Google to impose its own value and yardsticks on Internet regulation to China, which has its own time-honored tradition, culture and value.”
On Friday, the China Business News reported that Google may make an announcement as early as Monday on whether it will pull out of China.
Two months ago, Google said it had been the target of sophisticated hacking attacks originating from inside China, and the company said it would no longer agree to abide by Beijing’s censorship rules even if that meant shutting down its Google.cn site.
Since then, the two sides have reportedly been at a standoff, although Google’s chief executive, Eric Schmidt, said he hoped to have an outcome soon from talks with Chinese officials.
China requires Internet operators to block words and images the ruling Communist Party deems unacceptable, including those involving politically sensitive topics.
Beijing has also entirely blocked internationally popular websites Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
In the Xinhua commentary, the writers accused Google of violating international norms.
“In fact, no country allows unrestricted flow on the Internet of pornographic, violent, gambling or superstitious content, or content on government subversion, ethnic separatism, religious extremism, racialism, terrorism and anti-foreign feelings,” the commentary stated.
As in other disputes with foreign businesses and governments, the commentary said China’s stance in this case was a “pure internal affair.”
The writers said China’s Internet development would prosper without Google, while the company would be the “biggest loser.”
“Whether it leaves or not, the Chinese government will keep its Internet regulation principles unchanged. One company’s ambition to change China’s Internet rules and legal system will only prove to be ridiculous.
“And whether leaving or not, Google should not continue to politicalize itself, as linking its withdrawal to political issues will lose Google’s credibility among Chinese netizens.”
Although it is the global leader, Google operates at a distant second place to Baidu Inc, China’s domestic search engine leader, which has benefitted from the dispute.
Baidu’s shares have surged more than 44 percent since Google’s announcement that it could pull out of China, while Google’s stock has fallen roughly 6.3 percent.
(Reporting by Ken Wills; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
In a commentary signed by three Xinhua writers, the state news agency also sought to defend the government’s Internet censorship, which Google has cited as one reason the world’s largest search engine may quit China.
“Regrettably, Google’s recent behaviors show that the company not just aims at expanding business in China, but is playing an active role in exporting culture, value and ideas.
“It is unfair for Google to impose its own value and yardsticks on Internet regulation to China, which has its own time-honored tradition, culture and value.”
On Friday, the China Business News reported that Google may make an announcement as early as Monday on whether it will pull out of China.
Two months ago, Google said it had been the target of sophisticated hacking attacks originating from inside China, and the company said it would no longer agree to abide by Beijing’s censorship rules even if that meant shutting down its Google.cn site.
Since then, the two sides have reportedly been at a standoff, although Google’s chief executive, Eric Schmidt, said he hoped to have an outcome soon from talks with Chinese officials.
China requires Internet operators to block words and images the ruling Communist Party deems unacceptable, including those involving politically sensitive topics.
Beijing has also entirely blocked internationally popular websites Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
In the Xinhua commentary, the writers accused Google of violating international norms.
“In fact, no country allows unrestricted flow on the Internet of pornographic, violent, gambling or superstitious content, or content on government subversion, ethnic separatism, religious extremism, racialism, terrorism and anti-foreign feelings,” the commentary stated.
As in other disputes with foreign businesses and governments, the commentary said China’s stance in this case was a “pure internal affair.”
The writers said China’s Internet development would prosper without Google, while the company would be the “biggest loser.”
“Whether it leaves or not, the Chinese government will keep its Internet regulation principles unchanged. One company’s ambition to change China’s Internet rules and legal system will only prove to be ridiculous.
“And whether leaving or not, Google should not continue to politicalize itself, as linking its withdrawal to political issues will lose Google’s credibility among Chinese netizens.”
Although it is the global leader, Google operates at a distant second place to Baidu Inc, China’s domestic search engine leader, which has benefitted from the dispute.
Baidu’s shares have surged more than 44 percent since Google’s announcement that it could pull out of China, while Google’s stock has fallen roughly 6.3 percent.
(Reporting by Ken Wills; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)
Picture: A man walks past the Google logo in front of its China headquarters building in Beijing March 19, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Lee
Read More http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/03/china-state-media-accuses-google-of-political-agenda/#ixzz0isIcniCb
Saturday, March 20, 2010
6 Cars So Alluring They’re in an Art Museum
Curators at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta agree. The museum is hosting an exhibition to celebrate automotive design, and it has gathered a very impressive assortment of cars. The Allure of the Automobile, which opens Sunday and runs through June 20, features 18 vehicles created in what could be called the golden age of design, from the early 1930s through the early 1960s.
The vehicles range from a 1933 Pierce Silver Arrow to a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT. Each is presented in the context of the Art Moderne and Postwar Modernity movements, and they all have a timelessness that goes beyond mere craft to become art.
Take, for example, the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C2900B Touring Berlinetta shown above. Phil Hill, America’s first world champion driver, said of this car, “If that doesn’t get your heart racing, then you don’t have any blood in you.” Who are we to argue? The Touring Berlinetta exudes strength and refinement and finely shaped design that is hard to equal, let alone surpass.
Read More http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/03/high-museum-of-art-allure-automobile/
Friday, March 19, 2010
Layered Graphene Could Store Hydrogen
Graphene-carbon formed into sheets a single atom thick-now appears to be a promising base material for capturing hydrogen, according to recent research at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Pennsylvania. The findings suggest stacks of graphene layers could potentially store hydrogen safely for use in fuel cells and other applications.
Graphene has become something of a celebrity material in recent years due to its conductive, thermal and optical properties, which could make it useful in a range of sensors and semiconductor devices.
The material does not store hydrogen well in its original form, according to a team of scientists studying it at the NIST Center for Neutron Research.
But if oxidized graphene sheets are stacked atop one another like the decks of a multilevel parking lot, connected by molecules that both link the layers to one another and maintain space between them, the resulting graphene-oxide framework (GOF) can accumulate hydrogen in greater quantities.
Inspired to create GOFs by the metal-organic frameworks that are also under scrutiny for hydrogen storage, the team is just beginning to uncover the new structures' properties.
"No one else has ever made GOFs, to the best of our knowledge," says NIST theorist Taner Yildirim. "What we have found so far, though, indicates GOFs can hold at least a hundred times more hydrogen molecules than ordinary graphene oxide does. The easy synthesis, low cost and non-toxicity of graphene make this material a promising candidate for gas storage applications."
The GOFs can retain 1 percent of their weight in hydrogen at a temperature of 77 degrees Kelvin and ordinary atmospheric pressure-roughly comparable to the 1.2 percent that some well-studied metal-organic frameworks can hold, Yildirim says.
Another of the team's potentially useful discoveries is the unusual relationship that GOFs exhibit between temperature and hydrogen absorption. In most storage materials, the lower the temperature, the more hydrogen uptake normally occurs. However, the team discovered that GOFs behave quite differently.
Although a GOF can absorb hydrogen, it does not take in significant amounts at below 50 Kelvin (-223 degrees Celsius). Moreover, it does not release any hydrogen below this "blocking temperature"-suggesting that, with further research, GOFs might be used both to store hydrogen and to release it when it is needed, a fundamental requirement in fuel cell applications.
Some of the GOFs' capabilities are due to the linking molecules themselves. The molecules the team used are all benzene-boronic acids that interact strongly with hydrogen in their own right.
But by keeping several angstroms of space between the graphene layers-akin to the way pillars hold up a ceiling-they also increase the available surface area of each layer, giving it more spots for the hydrogen to latch on.
According to the team, GOFs will likely perform even better once the team explores their parameters in more detail. "We are going to try to optimize the performance of the GOFs and explore other linking molecules as well," says Jacob Burress, also of NIST.
"We want to explore the unusual temperature dependence of absorption kinetics, as well as whether they might be useful for capturing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and toxins like ammonia."
J. Burress, J. Simmons, J. Ford and T.Yildirim. "Gas adsorption properties of graphene-oxide-frameworks and nanoporous benzene-boronic acid polymers." To be presented at the March meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) in Portland, Ore
Graphene has become something of a celebrity material in recent years due to its conductive, thermal and optical properties, which could make it useful in a range of sensors and semiconductor devices.
The material does not store hydrogen well in its original form, according to a team of scientists studying it at the NIST Center for Neutron Research.
But if oxidized graphene sheets are stacked atop one another like the decks of a multilevel parking lot, connected by molecules that both link the layers to one another and maintain space between them, the resulting graphene-oxide framework (GOF) can accumulate hydrogen in greater quantities.
Inspired to create GOFs by the metal-organic frameworks that are also under scrutiny for hydrogen storage, the team is just beginning to uncover the new structures' properties.
"No one else has ever made GOFs, to the best of our knowledge," says NIST theorist Taner Yildirim. "What we have found so far, though, indicates GOFs can hold at least a hundred times more hydrogen molecules than ordinary graphene oxide does. The easy synthesis, low cost and non-toxicity of graphene make this material a promising candidate for gas storage applications."
The GOFs can retain 1 percent of their weight in hydrogen at a temperature of 77 degrees Kelvin and ordinary atmospheric pressure-roughly comparable to the 1.2 percent that some well-studied metal-organic frameworks can hold, Yildirim says.
Another of the team's potentially useful discoveries is the unusual relationship that GOFs exhibit between temperature and hydrogen absorption. In most storage materials, the lower the temperature, the more hydrogen uptake normally occurs. However, the team discovered that GOFs behave quite differently.
Although a GOF can absorb hydrogen, it does not take in significant amounts at below 50 Kelvin (-223 degrees Celsius). Moreover, it does not release any hydrogen below this "blocking temperature"-suggesting that, with further research, GOFs might be used both to store hydrogen and to release it when it is needed, a fundamental requirement in fuel cell applications.
Some of the GOFs' capabilities are due to the linking molecules themselves. The molecules the team used are all benzene-boronic acids that interact strongly with hydrogen in their own right.
But by keeping several angstroms of space between the graphene layers-akin to the way pillars hold up a ceiling-they also increase the available surface area of each layer, giving it more spots for the hydrogen to latch on.
According to the team, GOFs will likely perform even better once the team explores their parameters in more detail. "We are going to try to optimize the performance of the GOFs and explore other linking molecules as well," says Jacob Burress, also of NIST.
"We want to explore the unusual temperature dependence of absorption kinetics, as well as whether they might be useful for capturing greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and toxins like ammonia."
J. Burress, J. Simmons, J. Ford and T.Yildirim. "Gas adsorption properties of graphene-oxide-frameworks and nanoporous benzene-boronic acid polymers." To be presented at the March meeting of the American Physical Society (APS) in Portland, Ore
UN wildlife body rejects bluefin trade ban
by Staff Writers
Doha (AFP) March 19, 2010
Japan welcomed Friday a decision by delegates at a UN wildlife trade meeting to reject a ban on cross-border commerce in rapidly declining Atlantic bluefin tuna, a sushi mainstay.
Backers of a ban, the European Commission and the United States both regretted the result, with the Commission warning the consequences could be catastrophic for the future of the species.
After aggressive lobbying by the Japanese, the controversial proposal was crushed at a meeting in Doha of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The proposal, which had been put forward by Monaco with the backing of the United States and European Union, had needed the support of two thirds of the nations present.
In the end, there were 68 votes against the measure, 20 in favour and 30 abstentions.
"We welcome the rejection" of a ban on cross-border trade of bluefin caught in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic as well as an amendment to allow a moratorium on the ban, a Japanese foreign ministry statement said.
"We will continue our efforts to get understanding of our country's position" so that the rejection will be adopted at a general meeting on March 24-25, it added.
US Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland lamented the vote as "a setback for the Atlantic bluefin tuna," but vowed to "keep fighting" for the sustainable management of the fishery.
The European Commission warned that rejecting the ban threatened the species with extinction.
"If action is not taken, there is a very serious danger that the bluefin will no longer exist," said the EU's Environmental Commissioner Janez Potoznik in Brussels.
Patrick van Klaveren, head of the Monaco delegation, was even more pessimistic.
"It will not be CITES that is the ruin of professional (fisheries), it will be nature that lays down the sanction, and it will be beyond appeal," he said.
Environmental groups and experts also slammed the result.
"The abject failure of governments here to protect Atlantic bluefin tuna spells disaster for its future and sets the species on a pathway to extinction," said Oliver Knowles of Greenpeace International.
Sue Lieberman, policy director for the Pew Environment Group in Washington, called the decision "very disappointing and very irresponsible."
The bluefin's fate was now in the hands of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the inter-governmental group responsible for managing bluefin stocks.
"This is the very body that drove the species to the disastrous state it is in now" by failing to enforce its own quotas, Liberman said.
Monaco's Van Kaveren recalled that a proposed Atlantic bluefin ban was withdrawn from CITES in 1992 after ICCAT promised stricter oversight.
"The result is that the reproductive capacity has dropped from 200,000 to 60,000 in 20 years, tunas are half as small, and illegal fishing has tripled," he said.
Former ICCAT president Masonori Miyahara, now head of Japan's delegation and the country's top fisheries official, acknowledged there had been shortcomings with ICATT in the past.
"We have heavy homework with ICCAT now," he told AFP.
"We made the commitment to ensure the recovery of the stock with specific measures and restrictions."
Last November, ICCAT agreed to cut its catch for bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean regions by 40 percent, from 22,000 tonnes in 2009 to 13,500 in 2010.
Industrial-scale harvesting on the high seas has caused bluefin stocks to plummet by up to 80 percent in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, the two regions which would have been affected by the ban.
A single 220-kilo (485-pound) fish can fetch 160,000 dollars (120,000 euros) at auction in Japan, which consumes three quarters of all bluefin caught in the world, mainly as sushi and sashimi.
Meanwhile, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warned that another expensive delicacy, caviar, had pushed sturgeon into the most threatened creature on the planet.
"Four species are now possibly extinct," it said in a report on the conference sidelines.
earlier related report
French tuna fishermen fear for livelihood
Sete, France (AFP) March 18, 2010 - Efforts to ban bluefin tuna fishing hit a hitch on Thursday, but French fishermen who make their living from the threatened species are already resigned to the end of their trade.
At a meeting in Doha, the UN body overseeing commerce in endangered wildlife, CITES, rejected a proposal to outlaw international trade in eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna, a sushi mainstay in Japan.
But in Sete, southern France, Bertrand Wendling, head of an organisation which groups the 11 tuna boats fishing in the area, has doubts about their future due to lower quotas.
The rejection of a ban "is a load off our mind, but the whole issue is not settled," he said.
"In 2005, we were fishing for 11 months out of 12, this year the season will only last a month," from May to June, he said. "There are just 17 boats at sea," compared to 28 in 2009 and 36 in 2008.
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has slashed the quota from 22,000 tons in 2009, to 13,500 tons in 2010, of which France is allocated just over 2,000 tons.
Despite the failure of Monaco's attempt to classify bluefin tuna as under threat of extinction, those involved in the industry say that dramatically falling revenues mean fishermen can no longer make a living from the bluefin.
Raphael Scannapieco, one of the main shipowners in the Sete area, has seen turnover fall to just 500,000 euros (680,000 dollars) this year, down from three million in 2007.
In May, the newly reduced quota will mean that one of his two ships will have to remain docked at port.
Some fishermen have taken to Libyan waters where there is a more plentiful supply and where checks are less rigorous, but ICCAT has now banned fishermen from doubling up Libyan and French quotas, Wendling said.
"There is no way to adapt: the boats are too small to fish tropical tuna and too big to fish other species," he said.
The government has proposed to compensate those who permanently retire their ships with up to two million euros per vessel but many fishermen say this is insufficient. Only seven boats have been cashed in under the scheme.
Some fishermen have talked of casting their nets as far afield as the Pacific and the Indian Ocean for other fish species. Others are eyeing sardines and anchovies or seeking licences for other small-scale fishing ventures.
However, despite the alternatives, the fishing industry as a whole is under threat from "all these environmentalists", said Henri Gronzio, president of the Sete regional fishermen's committee.
The effect of new restrictions is already being felt in Sete with a 25 percent drop in the number of those directly or indirectly employed by the industry, from about 1,000 in 2006 to 750 this year, town authorities say.
"Adapting is not easy either for the owner or the crew", acknowledged Philippe Mauguin, a senior official at the farms and fisheries ministry, which has promised to help those making changes.
Tokyo (AFP) March 19, 2010 - Japan on Friday hailed the defeat of a proposed ban on trading Atlantic bluefin tuna. "We welcome the rejection" of a ban on cross-border trade of bluefin caught in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic as well as an amendment to allow a moratorium on the ban, a foreign ministry statement said. "We will continue our efforts to get understanding of our country's position" so that the rejection will be adopted at a general meeting on March 24-25, the brief statement said. The proposal, put forward by Monaco, was crushed with 68 votes against, 20 in favour and 30 abstentions at a meeting in Doha of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) on Thursday. To pass, the measure needed the support of two-thirds of the nations present. Japan lobbied fiercely in Doha and elsewhere to block the proposal that would affect supply of bluefin, a sushi mainstay in the country.
US bemoans 'setback' for tuna
Washington (AFP) March 18, 2010 - The United States on Thursday lamented the rejection of a trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna, calling it a "setback" to conservation efforts and urging others to do more to preserve the species. With sushi-loving Japan leading the opposition, nations at a UN-led conference in Qatar soundly defeated a proposed ban that had enjoyed strong support from the United States. "The US is strongly committed to protecting the bluefin tuna and restoring the health of the fishery for the benefit of all nations," said Tom Strickland, the assistant secretary of the interior for fish and wildlife. The vote "was a setback for the Atlantic bluefin tuna, but we will keep fighting to ensure that the fishery is managed sustainably, so that future generations may see it return to health," he said in a statement.
Japan, which eats three quarters of the worldwide bluefin catch, said the threat to tuna was overblown and had already warned it would ignore any ban by the UN-led Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). It argued that another body, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), already existed to manage the catch and monitor tuna numbers. "The US calls on all parties of CITES and those who are also members of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas to fulfill the promises made today to conserve the Atlantic bluefin tuna," US negotiator Jane Lyder said. "The responsibility is now on ICCAT to manage the fishery in a sustainable manner. The world will be watching."
source:http://www.terradaily.net
Doha (AFP) March 19, 2010
Japan welcomed Friday a decision by delegates at a UN wildlife trade meeting to reject a ban on cross-border commerce in rapidly declining Atlantic bluefin tuna, a sushi mainstay.
Backers of a ban, the European Commission and the United States both regretted the result, with the Commission warning the consequences could be catastrophic for the future of the species.
After aggressive lobbying by the Japanese, the controversial proposal was crushed at a meeting in Doha of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The proposal, which had been put forward by Monaco with the backing of the United States and European Union, had needed the support of two thirds of the nations present.
In the end, there were 68 votes against the measure, 20 in favour and 30 abstentions.
"We welcome the rejection" of a ban on cross-border trade of bluefin caught in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic as well as an amendment to allow a moratorium on the ban, a Japanese foreign ministry statement said.
"We will continue our efforts to get understanding of our country's position" so that the rejection will be adopted at a general meeting on March 24-25, it added.
US Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland lamented the vote as "a setback for the Atlantic bluefin tuna," but vowed to "keep fighting" for the sustainable management of the fishery.
The European Commission warned that rejecting the ban threatened the species with extinction.
"If action is not taken, there is a very serious danger that the bluefin will no longer exist," said the EU's Environmental Commissioner Janez Potoznik in Brussels.
Patrick van Klaveren, head of the Monaco delegation, was even more pessimistic.
"It will not be CITES that is the ruin of professional (fisheries), it will be nature that lays down the sanction, and it will be beyond appeal," he said.
Environmental groups and experts also slammed the result.
"The abject failure of governments here to protect Atlantic bluefin tuna spells disaster for its future and sets the species on a pathway to extinction," said Oliver Knowles of Greenpeace International.
Sue Lieberman, policy director for the Pew Environment Group in Washington, called the decision "very disappointing and very irresponsible."
The bluefin's fate was now in the hands of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the inter-governmental group responsible for managing bluefin stocks.
"This is the very body that drove the species to the disastrous state it is in now" by failing to enforce its own quotas, Liberman said.
Monaco's Van Kaveren recalled that a proposed Atlantic bluefin ban was withdrawn from CITES in 1992 after ICCAT promised stricter oversight.
"The result is that the reproductive capacity has dropped from 200,000 to 60,000 in 20 years, tunas are half as small, and illegal fishing has tripled," he said.
Former ICCAT president Masonori Miyahara, now head of Japan's delegation and the country's top fisheries official, acknowledged there had been shortcomings with ICATT in the past.
"We have heavy homework with ICCAT now," he told AFP.
"We made the commitment to ensure the recovery of the stock with specific measures and restrictions."
Last November, ICCAT agreed to cut its catch for bluefin tuna in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean regions by 40 percent, from 22,000 tonnes in 2009 to 13,500 in 2010.
Industrial-scale harvesting on the high seas has caused bluefin stocks to plummet by up to 80 percent in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, the two regions which would have been affected by the ban.
A single 220-kilo (485-pound) fish can fetch 160,000 dollars (120,000 euros) at auction in Japan, which consumes three quarters of all bluefin caught in the world, mainly as sushi and sashimi.
Meanwhile, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) warned that another expensive delicacy, caviar, had pushed sturgeon into the most threatened creature on the planet.
"Four species are now possibly extinct," it said in a report on the conference sidelines.
earlier related report
French tuna fishermen fear for livelihood
Sete, France (AFP) March 18, 2010 - Efforts to ban bluefin tuna fishing hit a hitch on Thursday, but French fishermen who make their living from the threatened species are already resigned to the end of their trade.
At a meeting in Doha, the UN body overseeing commerce in endangered wildlife, CITES, rejected a proposal to outlaw international trade in eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna, a sushi mainstay in Japan.
But in Sete, southern France, Bertrand Wendling, head of an organisation which groups the 11 tuna boats fishing in the area, has doubts about their future due to lower quotas.
The rejection of a ban "is a load off our mind, but the whole issue is not settled," he said.
"In 2005, we were fishing for 11 months out of 12, this year the season will only last a month," from May to June, he said. "There are just 17 boats at sea," compared to 28 in 2009 and 36 in 2008.
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has slashed the quota from 22,000 tons in 2009, to 13,500 tons in 2010, of which France is allocated just over 2,000 tons.
Despite the failure of Monaco's attempt to classify bluefin tuna as under threat of extinction, those involved in the industry say that dramatically falling revenues mean fishermen can no longer make a living from the bluefin.
Raphael Scannapieco, one of the main shipowners in the Sete area, has seen turnover fall to just 500,000 euros (680,000 dollars) this year, down from three million in 2007.
In May, the newly reduced quota will mean that one of his two ships will have to remain docked at port.
Some fishermen have taken to Libyan waters where there is a more plentiful supply and where checks are less rigorous, but ICCAT has now banned fishermen from doubling up Libyan and French quotas, Wendling said.
"There is no way to adapt: the boats are too small to fish tropical tuna and too big to fish other species," he said.
The government has proposed to compensate those who permanently retire their ships with up to two million euros per vessel but many fishermen say this is insufficient. Only seven boats have been cashed in under the scheme.
Some fishermen have talked of casting their nets as far afield as the Pacific and the Indian Ocean for other fish species. Others are eyeing sardines and anchovies or seeking licences for other small-scale fishing ventures.
However, despite the alternatives, the fishing industry as a whole is under threat from "all these environmentalists", said Henri Gronzio, president of the Sete regional fishermen's committee.
The effect of new restrictions is already being felt in Sete with a 25 percent drop in the number of those directly or indirectly employed by the industry, from about 1,000 in 2006 to 750 this year, town authorities say.
"Adapting is not easy either for the owner or the crew", acknowledged Philippe Mauguin, a senior official at the farms and fisheries ministry, which has promised to help those making changes.
Japan hails rejection of bluefin trade ban
Tokyo (AFP) March 19, 2010 - Japan on Friday hailed the defeat of a proposed ban on trading Atlantic bluefin tuna. "We welcome the rejection" of a ban on cross-border trade of bluefin caught in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic as well as an amendment to allow a moratorium on the ban, a foreign ministry statement said. "We will continue our efforts to get understanding of our country's position" so that the rejection will be adopted at a general meeting on March 24-25, the brief statement said. The proposal, put forward by Monaco, was crushed with 68 votes against, 20 in favour and 30 abstentions at a meeting in Doha of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) on Thursday. To pass, the measure needed the support of two-thirds of the nations present. Japan lobbied fiercely in Doha and elsewhere to block the proposal that would affect supply of bluefin, a sushi mainstay in the country.
US bemoans 'setback' for tuna
Washington (AFP) March 18, 2010 - The United States on Thursday lamented the rejection of a trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna, calling it a "setback" to conservation efforts and urging others to do more to preserve the species. With sushi-loving Japan leading the opposition, nations at a UN-led conference in Qatar soundly defeated a proposed ban that had enjoyed strong support from the United States. "The US is strongly committed to protecting the bluefin tuna and restoring the health of the fishery for the benefit of all nations," said Tom Strickland, the assistant secretary of the interior for fish and wildlife. The vote "was a setback for the Atlantic bluefin tuna, but we will keep fighting to ensure that the fishery is managed sustainably, so that future generations may see it return to health," he said in a statement.
Japan, which eats three quarters of the worldwide bluefin catch, said the threat to tuna was overblown and had already warned it would ignore any ban by the UN-led Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). It argued that another body, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), already existed to manage the catch and monitor tuna numbers. "The US calls on all parties of CITES and those who are also members of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas to fulfill the promises made today to conserve the Atlantic bluefin tuna," US negotiator Jane Lyder said. "The responsibility is now on ICCAT to manage the fishery in a sustainable manner. The world will be watching."
source:http://www.terradaily.net
Thai tourism hit by blood-pouring protests
by Staff Writers
Bangkok (AFP) March 19, 2010
Thai tourism is taking a battering as the latest gruesome protests in Bangkok have frightened off visitors to the kingdom, better known for its white sands and smiles.
Would-be tourists considering massage, temples and spicy food in the Thai capital this week may have been put off by scenes, televised worldwide, of red-clad protesters throwing bottles of their own blood at government offices.
The so-called Red Shirts, supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, are trying to force snap elections.
And although their rally has been peaceful so far, many recall the Red Shirts' protests last year that turned violent and came months after airport blockades by the rival Yellow Shirts that left tens of thousands of visitors stranded.
Thai travel agents' representative Surapol Sritrakul said the crimson protests had led to many tour cancellations, particularly in key Asian markets, estimating that tourism figures were down 20-30 percent on the yearly average.
"Blood is scary. Many people think the protests could be violent. They think the blood could come from killing. It's not a good image for Thailand," said Surapol, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents.
Thailand's tourism authority said 38 countries had issued travel warnings for Bangkok over the rally that began last weekend.
But the Red Shirts' pouring of their own blood was only the latest, though most bizarre, piece of political theatre to be seen in Thailand since a military coup in 2006 that overthrew their hero Thaksin.
The rival red and yellow protest groups have taken to the streets repeatedly, causing insecurity among tourism officials who say they see a gradual erosion of Thailand's reputation as the "Land of 1,000 Smiles".
In late 2008, the pro-establishment Yellow Shirts staged a months-long sit in at government offices and blockaded Bangkok's two airports for nine days, stranding hordes of frustrated travellers.
Last April the Reds, most from the country's poor, forced the early closure of a key Asian summit and caused riots in Bangkok that left two dead and scores injured and only ended when troops hit the streets.
"The tolerance of tourists is decreasing. They worry they will be blocked again, that they will face problems. It is always a matter of security. I think it's really negative in the long term," said the marketing director of an international hotel brand, who refused to be named.
April is the month of Songkran, a water festival that celebrates the Thai new year and usually attracts thousands of tourists to the country. But this year, bookings are down.
"We have lost 25 million baht (780,000 dollars) since March 11, but what worries me are the bookings for April... things are quiet," he said.
The picture on Thailand's stunning palm-fringed beaches is not so bleak in the short term, said Bill Barnett, a Thai media columnist on tourism who runs a consulting firm based on the southern tourist isle of Phuket.
Barnett said many people were opting to avoid Bangkok and rerouting their flights to Phuket at the last minute to catch some sun amid peace and quiet.
But longer term prospects were less rosy, he said, hit not only by political turmoil, but also health fears over the 2003 SARS outbreak and safety concerns after the Asian tsunami in 2004 that left 5,395 people dead in Thailand.
"In the long term there will be damage. Tourist figures usually follow a cyclical pattern but here it's a lot more volatile -- instead of peaks and valleys it looks like an ECG machine after a heart attack."
SOURCE http://www.terradaily.net/
Bangkok (AFP) March 19, 2010
Thai tourism is taking a battering as the latest gruesome protests in Bangkok have frightened off visitors to the kingdom, better known for its white sands and smiles.
Would-be tourists considering massage, temples and spicy food in the Thai capital this week may have been put off by scenes, televised worldwide, of red-clad protesters throwing bottles of their own blood at government offices.
The so-called Red Shirts, supporters of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, are trying to force snap elections.
And although their rally has been peaceful so far, many recall the Red Shirts' protests last year that turned violent and came months after airport blockades by the rival Yellow Shirts that left tens of thousands of visitors stranded.
Thai travel agents' representative Surapol Sritrakul said the crimson protests had led to many tour cancellations, particularly in key Asian markets, estimating that tourism figures were down 20-30 percent on the yearly average.
"Blood is scary. Many people think the protests could be violent. They think the blood could come from killing. It's not a good image for Thailand," said Surapol, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents.
Thailand's tourism authority said 38 countries had issued travel warnings for Bangkok over the rally that began last weekend.
But the Red Shirts' pouring of their own blood was only the latest, though most bizarre, piece of political theatre to be seen in Thailand since a military coup in 2006 that overthrew their hero Thaksin.
The rival red and yellow protest groups have taken to the streets repeatedly, causing insecurity among tourism officials who say they see a gradual erosion of Thailand's reputation as the "Land of 1,000 Smiles".
In late 2008, the pro-establishment Yellow Shirts staged a months-long sit in at government offices and blockaded Bangkok's two airports for nine days, stranding hordes of frustrated travellers.
Last April the Reds, most from the country's poor, forced the early closure of a key Asian summit and caused riots in Bangkok that left two dead and scores injured and only ended when troops hit the streets.
"The tolerance of tourists is decreasing. They worry they will be blocked again, that they will face problems. It is always a matter of security. I think it's really negative in the long term," said the marketing director of an international hotel brand, who refused to be named.
April is the month of Songkran, a water festival that celebrates the Thai new year and usually attracts thousands of tourists to the country. But this year, bookings are down.
"We have lost 25 million baht (780,000 dollars) since March 11, but what worries me are the bookings for April... things are quiet," he said.
The picture on Thailand's stunning palm-fringed beaches is not so bleak in the short term, said Bill Barnett, a Thai media columnist on tourism who runs a consulting firm based on the southern tourist isle of Phuket.
Barnett said many people were opting to avoid Bangkok and rerouting their flights to Phuket at the last minute to catch some sun amid peace and quiet.
But longer term prospects were less rosy, he said, hit not only by political turmoil, but also health fears over the 2003 SARS outbreak and safety concerns after the Asian tsunami in 2004 that left 5,395 people dead in Thailand.
"In the long term there will be damage. Tourist figures usually follow a cyclical pattern but here it's a lot more volatile -- instead of peaks and valleys it looks like an ECG machine after a heart attack."
SOURCE http://www.terradaily.net/
Jaws: Four Million BC
Jaws: Four Million BC
Identifying the victim of the attack was the easy part - it's an extinct species of dolphin known as Astadelphis gastaldii- working out the identity of the killer called for some serious detective work, as the only evidence to go on was the bite marks."
by Staff Writers
Pisa, Italy (SPX) Mar 19, 2010
It might sound like a mashup of monster movies, but palaeontologists have discovered evidence of how an extinct shark attacked its prey, reconstructing a killing that took place four million years ago.
Such fossil evidence of behaviour is incredibly rare, but by careful, forensic-style analysis of bite marks on an otherwise well-preserved dolphin skeleton, the research team, based in Pisa, Italy, have reconstructed the events that led to the death of the dolphin, and determined the probably identity of the killer: a 4-meter shark by the name of Cosmopolitodus hastalis.
The evidence, published in the latest issue of the journal Palaeontology, comes from the fossilised skeleton of a 2.8 m long dolphin discovered in the Piedmont region of northern Italy.
According to Giovanni Bianucci, who led the study: "the skeleton lay unstudied in a museum in Torino for more than a century, but when I examined it, as part of a larger study of fossil dolphins, I noticed the bite marks on the ribs, vertebrae and jaws.
Identifying the victim of the attack was the easy part - it's an extinct species of dolphin known as Astadelphis gastaldii- working out the identity of the killer called for some serious detective work, as the only evidence to go on was the bite marks."
The overall shape of the bite indicated a shark attack, and Bianucci called in fossil shark expert Walter Landini.
"The smoothness of the bite marks on the ribs clearly shows that the teeth of whatever did the biting were not serrated, and that immediately ruled out some possibilities. We simulated bite marks of the potential culprits and, by comparing them with the shape and size of the marks on the fossils, we narrowed it down to Cosmopolitodus hastalis."
Circumstantial evidence also supports this verdict: fossil teeth from Cosmopolitodus are common in the rock sequences that the dolphin was found in. "
"From the size of the bite, we reckon that this particular shark was about 4 m long" says Landini.
Detailed analysis of the bite pattern allowed the researchers to go even further. "The deepest and clearest incisions are on the ribs of the dolphin" says Bianucci, "indicating the shark attached from below, biting into the abdomen. Caught in the powerful bite, the dolphin would have struggled, and the shark probably detached a big amount of flesh by shaking its body from side to side.
"The bite would have caused severe damage and intense blood loss, because of the dense network of nerves, blood vessels and vital organs in this area. Then, already dead or in a state of shock, the dolphin rolled onto its back, and the shark bit again, close to the fleshy dorsal fin."
The study is significant because of the rarity of such 'fossilized behaviour'. According to Dr Kenshu Shimada, fossil shark expert at DePaul University and the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in the US, "studies like this are important because they give us a glimpse of the ecological interactions between organisms in prehistoric seas.
Shark teeth are among the most common vertebrate remains in the fossil record, yet interpreting the details of diet and feeding behaviour of extinct sharks is extremely difficult. Fossil remains of prey species with shark bite marks, like those described by Bianucci and his team, provide direct evidence of what each prehistoric shark ate and how it behaved."
Identifying the victim of the attack was the easy part - it's an extinct species of dolphin known as Astadelphis gastaldii- working out the identity of the killer called for some serious detective work, as the only evidence to go on was the bite marks."
by Staff Writers
Pisa, Italy (SPX) Mar 19, 2010
It might sound like a mashup of monster movies, but palaeontologists have discovered evidence of how an extinct shark attacked its prey, reconstructing a killing that took place four million years ago.
Such fossil evidence of behaviour is incredibly rare, but by careful, forensic-style analysis of bite marks on an otherwise well-preserved dolphin skeleton, the research team, based in Pisa, Italy, have reconstructed the events that led to the death of the dolphin, and determined the probably identity of the killer: a 4-meter shark by the name of Cosmopolitodus hastalis.
The evidence, published in the latest issue of the journal Palaeontology, comes from the fossilised skeleton of a 2.8 m long dolphin discovered in the Piedmont region of northern Italy.
According to Giovanni Bianucci, who led the study: "the skeleton lay unstudied in a museum in Torino for more than a century, but when I examined it, as part of a larger study of fossil dolphins, I noticed the bite marks on the ribs, vertebrae and jaws.
Identifying the victim of the attack was the easy part - it's an extinct species of dolphin known as Astadelphis gastaldii- working out the identity of the killer called for some serious detective work, as the only evidence to go on was the bite marks."
The overall shape of the bite indicated a shark attack, and Bianucci called in fossil shark expert Walter Landini.
"The smoothness of the bite marks on the ribs clearly shows that the teeth of whatever did the biting were not serrated, and that immediately ruled out some possibilities. We simulated bite marks of the potential culprits and, by comparing them with the shape and size of the marks on the fossils, we narrowed it down to Cosmopolitodus hastalis."
Circumstantial evidence also supports this verdict: fossil teeth from Cosmopolitodus are common in the rock sequences that the dolphin was found in. "
"From the size of the bite, we reckon that this particular shark was about 4 m long" says Landini.
Detailed analysis of the bite pattern allowed the researchers to go even further. "The deepest and clearest incisions are on the ribs of the dolphin" says Bianucci, "indicating the shark attached from below, biting into the abdomen. Caught in the powerful bite, the dolphin would have struggled, and the shark probably detached a big amount of flesh by shaking its body from side to side.
"The bite would have caused severe damage and intense blood loss, because of the dense network of nerves, blood vessels and vital organs in this area. Then, already dead or in a state of shock, the dolphin rolled onto its back, and the shark bit again, close to the fleshy dorsal fin."
The study is significant because of the rarity of such 'fossilized behaviour'. According to Dr Kenshu Shimada, fossil shark expert at DePaul University and the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in the US, "studies like this are important because they give us a glimpse of the ecological interactions between organisms in prehistoric seas.
Shark teeth are among the most common vertebrate remains in the fossil record, yet interpreting the details of diet and feeding behaviour of extinct sharks is extremely difficult. Fossil remains of prey species with shark bite marks, like those described by Bianucci and his team, provide direct evidence of what each prehistoric shark ate and how it behaved."
Identifying the victim of the attack was the easy part - it's an extinct species of dolphin known as Astadelphis gastaldii- working out the identity of the killer called for some serious detective work, as the only evidence to go on was the bite marks
Too late to avert second Haiti disaster
by Staff Writers
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) March 18, 2010
Despite billions of dollars in pledges and an unprecedented humanitarian drive, it is likely too late to avert a second disaster in quake-hit Haiti, a top US aid coordinator warned Thursday.
Tents and tarpaulins are simply not enough to protect tens of thousands of Haitians from the coming rains and hurricanes, and a new wave of quake survivors could perish in a second "catastrophe," InterAction chief Sam Worthington predicted.
"Having observed camps on very steep slopes and that you cannot simply relocate hundreds of thousands of people easily, we anticipate that the rainy season will lead, to a certain degree, to another catastrophe that despite the hard work of the international community will be hard to avoid," he told AFP.
"Deaths, landslides and so forth," he explained, adding: "What we can do is work with the UN to create shelters that people can find refuge in, but there simply isn't the time."
In Haiti for a week for meetings with top government officials, including President Rene Preval, Worthington is coordinating the massive US NGO effort but is realistic about what can be achieved.
"We're in a race against time and even though a large number of people will be moved, I do anticipate that, sadly, many will be affected by the fact that they are living in areas that are dangerous.
"One could get a tent, one could get plastic sheeting but to get people in temporary shelter in such a way that it will withstand a hurricane or rains and ultimately rebuild, we are talking about an effort that will take years."
Teams from the International Organization for Migration are laboriously trawling hundreds of camps to register the particulars of each family, while other UN agencies draw up emergency plans for flood and hurricane prevention.
Some 218,000 Haitians are deemed to be in "red camps," those considered at gravest flood risk, and the race is on to find them alternative shelter before the rain and possibly calamitous landslides.
There have already been a few nights of torrential downpours in the past week and sustained rains could spell disaster in Port-au-Prince where countless people subsist in wretched conditions perched on treacherous slopes.
"Our community is talking about a second disaster happening when the rains hit," said Worthington. "I am not sure to what extent that can be avoided."
"Unfortunately, many of the camps are in areas that have no drainage whatsoever and many of the shelters are on slopes that are 20 degrees or steeper," he told AFP after a briefing at the UN logistics base.
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti as dusk fell on January 12 was one of the worst natural disasters of modern times, if not the worst. It left at least 220,000 people dead and affected three million Haitians.
earlier related report
All 33 children in Haiti 'orphan' drama have parents
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) March 17, 2010 - The 33 Haitian children at the center of a US abduction row were finally reunited Wednesday with their families, but the fact that not one of them turned out to be an orphan raised fresh concern.
SOS Children's Villages, the international aid group caring for the children since the drama erupted seven weeks ago, said it was only right for them to be handed back to their families.
"It has turned out that all of the 33 children have parents. SOS Children's Villages is convinced that in most cases, the best place for a child to be cared for and protected is within the family," the group said in a statement.
Laura Silsby and nine fellow Baptists from Idaho were arrested on January 29 as they tried to take the children into the neighboring Dominican Republic by bus without the necessary documentation.
The group denied wrongdoing, saying it was only trying to help orphans in the wake of Haiti's devastating January 12 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people and left more than a million homeless.
Some parents told the judge they willingly handed over the children because they could no longer care for them following the quake that destroyed much of the Haitian capital.
Nine of the accused have since been released and returned to the United States, but Silsby, the leader of the New Life Children's Refuge group, remains in a Port-au-Prince jail facing child trafficking charges.
SOS Children's Villages spokeswoman Line Wolf Nielsen said that although it was in many cases a tearful reunion, or departure, many parents had actually been visiting for weeks.
"It wasn't as if you had parents and children running toward each other," she told AFP. "The children were dressed in their finest clothes and playing with the SOS 'mother' they had been living with."
"It was a happy event but a few tears were shared. Quite a few kids have made many friends here and they were sad to say goodbye."
The smallest of the children was only a few months old and will have spent almost half her life in the care of a "mother" assigned to her by the SOS Villages charity, which was founded in 1949 in Austria.
"We will continue to follow these children on home visits and make sure things are fine and well," said Wolf Nielsen.
The reunions followed weeks of painstaking registration work by Haitian government officials who had to make sure all the parents were bona fide.
Several of the 22 families that claimed the children -- many were siblings -- left it until the last minute, Wolf Nielsen said, explaining it was difficult for some to get there while others may have feared prosecution.
"I have made some good friends here and enjoyed playing football, but I miss my mother and now it will be nice to go home," said nine-year old Michael, quoted in the SOS Children Villages' statement.
The national director of SOS Children's Villages, Celigny Darius, suggested the high-profile case, which diverted valuable media spotlight off the massive relief effort in Haiti, had raised serious questions.
"This case has highlighted the risks of separation in emergency situations, when destitute families see no other way than to give up their children," Darius said.
"It is essential that relief efforts focus on preventing separation by ensuring that families have access to basic necessities."
The revelation that all the children have parents is bound to raise more questions about adoption procedures and how to best care for orphans in the wake of such disasters.
SOS Children's Villages, which has looked after the 33 since January 30, is now free to focus solely on almost 500 other children in its care, many of whom were simply handed to aid workers at the gates of the compound.
"We are registering the children. We have a national database operated by UNICEF. A significant percentage have families, have relatives," Wolf Nielsen said.
Cancun, Mexico (AFP) March 18, 2010 - The United States wants the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to cancel all of Haiti's debt, standing at some 447 million dollars, US Treasury sources said on Thursday. The United States also supports a "robust" increase in the bank's capital, the main issue on the agenda of its annual meeting in Cancun, Mexico, which starts on Friday, one of the sources said, without giving a figure. "What we have to work out is the manner in which Haiti's debt to this institution (IDB) in cancelled," another source said in a telephone conference with journalists, giving the figure as 447 million dollars. The US Senate last week unanimously approved a resolution calling for easing Haiti's debt burden to help with reconstruction efforts in the wake of the devastating January 12 earthquake. The IDB estimates that Haiti's reconstruction could cost up to 14 billion dollars
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) March 18, 2010
Despite billions of dollars in pledges and an unprecedented humanitarian drive, it is likely too late to avert a second disaster in quake-hit Haiti, a top US aid coordinator warned Thursday.
Tents and tarpaulins are simply not enough to protect tens of thousands of Haitians from the coming rains and hurricanes, and a new wave of quake survivors could perish in a second "catastrophe," InterAction chief Sam Worthington predicted.
"Having observed camps on very steep slopes and that you cannot simply relocate hundreds of thousands of people easily, we anticipate that the rainy season will lead, to a certain degree, to another catastrophe that despite the hard work of the international community will be hard to avoid," he told AFP.
"Deaths, landslides and so forth," he explained, adding: "What we can do is work with the UN to create shelters that people can find refuge in, but there simply isn't the time."
In Haiti for a week for meetings with top government officials, including President Rene Preval, Worthington is coordinating the massive US NGO effort but is realistic about what can be achieved.
"We're in a race against time and even though a large number of people will be moved, I do anticipate that, sadly, many will be affected by the fact that they are living in areas that are dangerous.
"One could get a tent, one could get plastic sheeting but to get people in temporary shelter in such a way that it will withstand a hurricane or rains and ultimately rebuild, we are talking about an effort that will take years."
Teams from the International Organization for Migration are laboriously trawling hundreds of camps to register the particulars of each family, while other UN agencies draw up emergency plans for flood and hurricane prevention.
Some 218,000 Haitians are deemed to be in "red camps," those considered at gravest flood risk, and the race is on to find them alternative shelter before the rain and possibly calamitous landslides.
There have already been a few nights of torrential downpours in the past week and sustained rains could spell disaster in Port-au-Prince where countless people subsist in wretched conditions perched on treacherous slopes.
"Our community is talking about a second disaster happening when the rains hit," said Worthington. "I am not sure to what extent that can be avoided."
"Unfortunately, many of the camps are in areas that have no drainage whatsoever and many of the shelters are on slopes that are 20 degrees or steeper," he told AFP after a briefing at the UN logistics base.
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti as dusk fell on January 12 was one of the worst natural disasters of modern times, if not the worst. It left at least 220,000 people dead and affected three million Haitians.
earlier related report
All 33 children in Haiti 'orphan' drama have parents
Port-Au-Prince (AFP) March 17, 2010 - The 33 Haitian children at the center of a US abduction row were finally reunited Wednesday with their families, but the fact that not one of them turned out to be an orphan raised fresh concern.
SOS Children's Villages, the international aid group caring for the children since the drama erupted seven weeks ago, said it was only right for them to be handed back to their families.
"It has turned out that all of the 33 children have parents. SOS Children's Villages is convinced that in most cases, the best place for a child to be cared for and protected is within the family," the group said in a statement.
Laura Silsby and nine fellow Baptists from Idaho were arrested on January 29 as they tried to take the children into the neighboring Dominican Republic by bus without the necessary documentation.
The group denied wrongdoing, saying it was only trying to help orphans in the wake of Haiti's devastating January 12 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people and left more than a million homeless.
Some parents told the judge they willingly handed over the children because they could no longer care for them following the quake that destroyed much of the Haitian capital.
Nine of the accused have since been released and returned to the United States, but Silsby, the leader of the New Life Children's Refuge group, remains in a Port-au-Prince jail facing child trafficking charges.
SOS Children's Villages spokeswoman Line Wolf Nielsen said that although it was in many cases a tearful reunion, or departure, many parents had actually been visiting for weeks.
"It wasn't as if you had parents and children running toward each other," she told AFP. "The children were dressed in their finest clothes and playing with the SOS 'mother' they had been living with."
"It was a happy event but a few tears were shared. Quite a few kids have made many friends here and they were sad to say goodbye."
The smallest of the children was only a few months old and will have spent almost half her life in the care of a "mother" assigned to her by the SOS Villages charity, which was founded in 1949 in Austria.
"We will continue to follow these children on home visits and make sure things are fine and well," said Wolf Nielsen.
The reunions followed weeks of painstaking registration work by Haitian government officials who had to make sure all the parents were bona fide.
Several of the 22 families that claimed the children -- many were siblings -- left it until the last minute, Wolf Nielsen said, explaining it was difficult for some to get there while others may have feared prosecution.
"I have made some good friends here and enjoyed playing football, but I miss my mother and now it will be nice to go home," said nine-year old Michael, quoted in the SOS Children Villages' statement.
The national director of SOS Children's Villages, Celigny Darius, suggested the high-profile case, which diverted valuable media spotlight off the massive relief effort in Haiti, had raised serious questions.
"This case has highlighted the risks of separation in emergency situations, when destitute families see no other way than to give up their children," Darius said.
"It is essential that relief efforts focus on preventing separation by ensuring that families have access to basic necessities."
The revelation that all the children have parents is bound to raise more questions about adoption procedures and how to best care for orphans in the wake of such disasters.
SOS Children's Villages, which has looked after the 33 since January 30, is now free to focus solely on almost 500 other children in its care, many of whom were simply handed to aid workers at the gates of the compound.
"We are registering the children. We have a national database operated by UNICEF. A significant percentage have families, have relatives," Wolf Nielsen said.
US seeks to cancel Haiti's 447 million dollar debt to IDB
Cancun, Mexico (AFP) March 18, 2010 - The United States wants the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to cancel all of Haiti's debt, standing at some 447 million dollars, US Treasury sources said on Thursday. The United States also supports a "robust" increase in the bank's capital, the main issue on the agenda of its annual meeting in Cancun, Mexico, which starts on Friday, one of the sources said, without giving a figure. "What we have to work out is the manner in which Haiti's debt to this institution (IDB) in cancelled," another source said in a telephone conference with journalists, giving the figure as 447 million dollars. The US Senate last week unanimously approved a resolution calling for easing Haiti's debt burden to help with reconstruction efforts in the wake of the devastating January 12 earthquake. The IDB estimates that Haiti's reconstruction could cost up to 14 billion dollars
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