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Showing posts with label meets. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meets. Show all posts

Sunday, June 26, 2011

African Union meets for crucial Libya peace talks

South African President Jacob Zuma (R) chairs an African Union (AU) meeting on Libya in Pretoria on Sunday.NEW: South Africa's president says a U.N. resolution's goal was not "political assassination"Human rights groups want the African Union to prioritize the issue of civilian casualtiesLibya says latest round of NATO strikes have killed civiliansNATO said there is no indication that it did so

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- The African Union attempted Sunday to map a road to peace in Libya, despite a previous failed effort to end hostilities between Moammar Gadhafi's forces and rebels seeking to oust the Libyan leader.

The meeting follows claims a day earlier by the Libyan government that NATO warplanes bombed a bakery and a restaurant in a key oil refinery town east of Tripoli, a charge the alliance has countered.

South African President Jacob Zuma said continued bombing by NATO and its allies was a "concern," since protecting the Libyan people was the intention behind a U.N. resolution authorizing the use of force in Libya.

"The intention was not to authorize a campaign for regime change or political assassination," he said in his opening remarks at a meeting of the African Union's special committee on Libya.

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The committee, established in March, convened in Pretoria, South Africa, to discuss avenues to end the months-long fighting that has gripped the nation and left tens of thousands dead.

Ahead of the meeting, human rights activists urged the African Union to prioritize the issue of the plight of civilians caught in armed conflicts, including Libya.

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have blamed the Gadhafi regime for violations of human rights, including indiscriminate fire on civilians, the use of internationally banned cluster bombs and the torture and executions of captured fighters.

On Sunday, an International Committee of the Red Cross ship arrived in Tripoli from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi with about 100 people on board. It was the second time in a week that the ICRC has reunited friends and families between the the eastern opposition-controlled city and the western regime-controlled city.

Over the past three months, members of the African Union's Special Committee on Libya have met with Gadhafi and opposition leaders. The special committee includes representatives from Mauritania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Uganda and South Africa.

Gadhafi has been a strong supporter of the African Union and has channeled large sums of money its way. Libya also holds a seat on the 15-member Peace and Security Council, which is headed by Ramtane Lamamra.

As such, opposition leaders had voiced doubt that any mediation involving that multinational group would end the conflict in a way that would satisfy their goals, which include Gadhafi's ouster.

In April, the African Union attempted to broker peace between Gadhafi and the rebels. In the agreement, the African Union said Gadhafi had agreed in principle to stop all hostilities and allow outside forces to help keep the peace.

The rebels rejected the proposal, saying it did not address whether Gadhafi would step down nor did it provide any solution to the violence against the Libyan people.

The proposal did not address whether Gadhafi would step down, nor was it binding.

NATO began bombing military targets in March after the U.N. Security Council issued a resolution authorizing force by whatever means necessary, with the exception of a ground invasion, to protect civilians.

Libya accused NATO on Saturday of killing civilians in airstrikes, with NATO responding that it struck key command-and-control centers. The alliance said there was "no indication of civilian casualties in connection with these strikes."

Gadhafi's forces have occupied buildings in an abandoned area of al-Brega from where they are launching attacks on civilians, a NATO statement said. The alliance monitored the buildings and said it determined they were clear military targets.

"This continues to show Gadhafi's reprehensible tactics of placing military assets and operations at the heart of civilian neighborhoods," said Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard, NATO commander for the Libya campaign.

"We have meticulously monitored these developments for a significant period and it was time to remove this threat," he said.

Al-Brega is a key oil refinery town about 500 miles east of Tripoli that has been the scene of heavy fighting between pro-Gadhafi forces and rebel fighters.

Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, a spokesman and deputy chairman of the opposition's Transitional National Council, said Gadhafi bears a lot of the responsibility for civilian casualties as the Libyan leader keeps weapons near where people live.

Also Saturday, Libyan state TV said NATO strikes hit Gharyan, a city in the west. The report cited an unnamed military source who said a number of people were killed and wounded in the attack. CNN cannot independently confirm the claim.

CNN's Raja Razek, Yousuf Basil and Ingrid Formanek and journalist David Adams contributed to this report.


CNN

Friday, June 24, 2011

'Pottermore' Secrets Revealed: J.K. Rowling's New Site is E-Book Meets Interactive World (Time.com)

Gulping gargoyles! Just when it seemed the Harry Potter franchise was finally avada kedavra-ed, J.K. Rowling has launched the website "Pottermore" to continue the story of the young boy wizard. (See what she's doing with the wordplay there?)

The site, which Rowling launched via YouTube, will sell her seven Potter novels as e-books and audiobooks in several different languages. It will also reveal background details on characters and settings Rowling says she's been "hoarding for years."

Fans will have 18,000 words of new Harry Potter content to devour in a matter of hours. Meanwhile, Rowling has deftly cornered the market on proceeds from the sale of her books online, without having to pay Apple or Amazon one galleon.

(LIST: Top 10 Movies Based on Kids' Books)

The site launches on July 31 (Mr. Potter's birthday), when one million fans can compete in an online challenge to gain early access. Pottermore opens its gates to the masses for free on October 1, 2011.

But what is the site like? Those hoping for a sophisticated first-person odyssey may be disappointed. Pottermore isn't a game: it's a series of illustrated environments, themed around "moments" from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (material from the other novels will be added with time). The primary attraction for Potterphiles is access to arcana Rowling's been squirreling away in her attic. Want to know why Harry's uncle is called Vernon Dursley? Or learn about Prof. Minerva McGonagal's early heartbreak? You can find it on the site, although you may have to click around a bit to uncover the hidden treasures.

Users start out at Privet Drive, where they can explore Harry's cupboard under the stairs (replete with scampering spiders) before moving on to Platform 9 ?, the Hogwarts Express, Diagon Alley and Gringotts. Each new witch or wizard gets a personalized trunk (where they can store their chocolate frog cards), 175 galleons and a Hogwarts shopping list (don't forget your crystal phials!) Then they're directed to Ollivander's, where they are asked a series of questions (eye color? Favorite artifact?) in order that their wand can choose them.

(PHOTOS: The Harry Potter Theme Park)

With personalized wand in hand, users continue on to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry itself, where, wearing the sorting hat, they are sorted into a House via a unique series of character testing questions written by Rowling herself. Some test the super-ego: would you snitch on a fellow wizard pupil who used a cheating quill? Others probe the id: which do you choose, forests or rivers? (Those who are not placed in Gryffindor get access to special material from The Sorcerer's Stone as compensation.) Once ensconsed in a house common room, users can read the secret lore of Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, meet housemates, and earn housepoints through wizard duels and mixing potions to compete for the House Cup.

While the environments do have some animated features (Scabbers lurking behind the cabin curtains in the Hogwarts Express, owls and ravens flying about), Pottermore is no World of Warcraft. Rowling wanted to keep the emphasis firmly on reading and the "literary experience," which is why Pottermore's environments are more like digitized pop-up books than a graphic adventure game. (While the environments share some similarities to the films, they are not based on them. And there are no avatars.)

Rowling is also encouraging user contributions to Pottermore. Users can jabber on the site about the benefits of dragon heartstring vs. Thestral tail hair wand cores to their heart's delight. Fans can even submit art.

Given the boxes of material gathering dust in her house, Rowling hasn't ruled out the possibility of creating a Harry Potter encyclopedia. She says she has "no plans" for another Harry Potter book. From now on, Harry Potter will live in the digital age. Talk about magic.

LIST: Top 10 British Invasions

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Yahoo! News

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Greek PM warns against default as Europe meets on aid (Reuters)

ATHENS/LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – Prime Minister George Papandreou asked Greeks on Sunday to support austerity steps and avoid a "catastrophic" default, as European finance ministers discussed extending tens of billions of euros of aid to Athens.

Addressing the Greek parliament, Papandreou appealed for the nation to accept deeply unpopular tax hikes, spending cuts and privatisation plans which international donors have demanded as a condition for the aid.

"The consequences of a violent bankruptcy or exit from the euro would be immediately catastrophic for households, the banks and the country's credibility," Papandreou said at the start of a confidence debate on his new crisis cabinet.

Greek officials have said the country will face default in mid-July if the European Union and the International Monetary Fund do not hand over a 12 billion euro tranche of emergency loans by then..

Euro zone finance ministers began a two-day meeting in Luxembourg on Sunday evening to decide whether to disburse that tranche, part of a 110 billion euro ($156 billion) bailout of Greece launched in May last year. They will also discuss proposals for a second bailout that could be worth some 120 billion euros and keep Greece funded through 2014.

Spain's economy minister told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting that ministers hoped to reach agreement on Sunday night on disbursement of all of the next loan tranche to Greece.

"We're still discussing... We hope (to have a deal). That's why we are here tonight," Elena Salgado said.

The finance minister of Germany, where political opposition to spending taxpayers' money on bailing out Greece has been rising, was more equivocal.

"We will work today and tomorrow so that we get as far as possible," Wolfgang Schaeuble said. "Greece must fulfill all the necessary preconditions so that it can be paid out on time. Europe will do its part.

OPPOSITION

Facing public protests and dissent in his Socialist party, which has a slim majority in parliament, Papandreou reshuffled his cabinet last week and called a confidence vote for next Tuesday in an effort to push his reforms through the legislature this month.

Political analysts think he is likely to succeed, but public opposition means it is unclear if he can stick to austerity over the long term. Over 10,000 people protested in front of parliament on Sunday, chanting: "We won't pay! We won't pay" and thrusting their open hands forward in a traditional insult.

Opposition leader Antonis Samaras demanded in parliament that Papandreou quit to pave the way for early elections and a renegotiation of the terms of Greece's current bailout.

Greece, with a public debt worth more than 150 percent of its annual economic output and rising, missed debt targets in its initial bailout plan partly because of a deep recession.

In the proposed new bailout scheme, private investors would for the first time share the burden, pledging to maintain their exposure to Greece by voluntarily buying about 30 billion euros of sovereign bonds as their current holdings matured.

But such a debt rollover would be complex and controversial, financially and legally. Key details have not been worked out, and euro zone finance ministers are expected to discuss them in Luxembourg.

Yields on bonds of indebted euro zone states rose sharply last week as markets speculated Greece might fail to obtain more aid. Many investors think that even if it does, its debt problem is so large that a more radical solution is needed, such as imposing deep losses on its creditors.

The head of Pimco, the world's largest bond fund, said in an interview published on Sunday that Europe risked wasting more money for nothing if it kept pumping billions into the weak Greek economy.

"After a year, every indicator has unfortunately worsened, despite the incredible quantity of financial assistance," Mohammed El-Erian told Italy's Corriere della Sera daily.

"All of this has terrible human consequences and it's associated with a transfer of liabilities from private creditors to European taxpayers. Why? Very little is being done to deal with the excess of public debt, and the conditions for higher growth are not being put in place.

"Further on, if this approach is kept up, more money will be wasted to save private creditors and the risk of a disorderly restructuring of the debt will be greater.

EUROPE

There were signs across Europe on Sunday of tensions over austerity measures and economic reforms.

In Madrid, tens of thousands of people marched against the government's handling of an economic slump and the "Euro Pact," which was agreed by euro zone politicians to improve competitiveness across the bloc and has led in Spain to reforms giving companies greater power to hire and fire.

In Dublin, which obtained an 85 billion euro bailout last year, the Sunday Times quoted an unnamed European Central Bank source as criticising Finance Minister Michael Noonan's call to impose losses on senior bond holders in two failed banks.

"It was a good soundbite for the cameras ... Considering the Greek situation, it was the worst possible time for him to make an impression," the source was quoted as saying. The ECB has opposed making those bond holders pay on the grounds that it might destabilise financial markets.

"By the time it comes to paying back the bonds next autumn, Greece may have defaulted. If Greece defaults, Ireland is next," the source said.

In Milan, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Italy would take the measures it considered right to keep its public finances in order. On Friday, credit rating agency Moody's warned it might cut Italy's rating out of concern over Rome's ability to reduce its heavy public debt burden.

(Writing by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Andrew Heavens)


Yahoo! News

Friday, June 10, 2011

US delegation meets with American jailed in Cuba (AP)

HAVANA – Members of a visiting U.S. delegation met with a jailed U.S. contractor Thursday and reported that he has lost nearly 100 pounds in captivity but is otherwise doing well.

Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile, who was part of the delegation, said they talked for about two hours with Alan Gross in an air-conditioned room across from the cell he shares with two other prisoners at a military hospital. She said the meeting was apparently being monitored, but there were no Cuban officials in the room.

"He's in good spirits although he's clearly lost a lot of weight," Brazile said. "He wants to come home. He does not want us to forget him."

About 50 pounds overweight when he was taken into custody, Gross has lost 95 pounds by his own estimation, she said.

Gross, of Montgomery County, Maryland, was working on a USAID-funded democracy building program when he was arrested in December 2009. This March, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison after being convicted of bringing communications equipment into Cuba illegally. His lawyer is appealing.

Havana, which considers the millions of dollars spent on USAID-funded projects to be aimed at toppling the government, calls Gross a spy. U.S. officials say relations with Havana cannot improve while he remains in jail.

Brazile said at Havana's international airport before flying back to the United States on Thursday that Gross and his visitors had a "down-home" conversation about the Washington Redskins, U.S. politics and crab cake recipes. She said he was not bitter and had "a remarkable sense of humor."

"This has taken a huge toll on his family, his wife, his daughter, his mother, and I assured him that ... I will visit his family and also relate to them his condition," Brazile said.

Gross' daughter and elderly mother both have cancer, and State Department officials have expressed hope that Cuba might release him on humanitarian grounds.

David Dreyer, another member of the delegation who said he and Gross belong to the same Jewish congregation in Washington but had never met before, showed journalists a plastic wristband that Gross apparently fashioned while in custody.

"He pulled this bracelet out of his pocket which he had knitted together from the bottle caps of the bottled water that he drinks every day, and he said that he wanted us to bring this bracelet home so that he would not be forgotten," said Dreyer, who planned to address the congregation back home this weekend.

Gross has said he was working to improve Internet communications for Cuba's Jewish community, though Jewish leaders denied dealing with him.

"Some news about the States is coming through," Dreyer said. "We asked him about that, and the first thing he responded was, 'Anthony Weiner?'" referring to the U.S. congressman who admitted this week that he had sent lewd photos and text messages to women.

The delegation, which arrived Sunday, consisted of U.S. women leaders brought to Cuba by the Center for Democracy in the Americas, which works to improve U.S. relations with Cuba and other countries and is a critic of Washington's decades-old economic embargo against the island.

Former U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, a California Democrat who resigned in February and now heads the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, also was part of the group.


Yahoo! News

Friday, May 6, 2011

Obama meets Osama bin Laden's killers

Fort Campbell, Kentucky (CNN) -- President Barack Obama met Friday afternoon with members of the military team responsible for conducting the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound, and promised a war-weary nation victory over al Qaeda.


"We are ultimately going to defeat al Qaeda," the president told more than 2,300 troops who recently returned from Afghanistan. "We have cut off their head."


"Our strategy is working and there is no greater evidence of that than justice finally being delivered to Osama bin Laden," he declared. "We're still the America that does the hard things, that does the great things."


The president made his remarks at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, home to the Army's 101st Airborne Division and the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the group that operated the helicopters used in the raid.


Bin Laden death leaves roots of terror untouched


While at Fort Campbell, the president, along with Vice President Joe Biden, privately met with members of Navy SEAL Team 6, the unit that conducted the raid.


Obama and Biden thanked the commandos and were briefed on the operation by the unit members who conducted it, according to a White House official.


Obama awarded Presidential Unit Citations to the units involved in the mission, the official said. The citation is the highest such honor that can be given to a military unit.


"They practiced tirelessly for this mission, and when I gave the order they were ready," the president told the troops. "They're America's quiet professionals."


It was a "job well done," he said.


Did bin Laden's wife rush Navy SEALs?


Friday's visit to Fort Campbell came a day after Obama's first presidential visit to New York's ground zero, the focal point of bin Laden's 9/11 terror attacks.


It also came one day after a nationwide alert was issued regarding rail security, the first terror threat notification linked to materials found during the raid on the Abbottabad compound in Pakistan. The terror plot was planned for the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.


As early as February 2010, al Qaeda members discussed a plan to derail trains in the United States by placing obstructions on tracks over bridges and valleys, the alert said, according to one law enforcement official.


No specific rail system was identified in the plans for the attacks, the official said.


With bin Laden's death, there has been a growing call among some lawmakers to immediately withdraw the 130,000 U.S. and allied troops still battling the late al Qaeda leader's followers and his Taliban allies.


Former Pakistan intel chief: Obama lying


Obama has repeatedly said he is confident the United States can meet a self-imposed deadline to begin bringing troops back home in July without compromising Afghan security, though military commanders and government officials have raised concern about the readiness of Afghan security forces.


Lawmakers also have started questioning the U.S. relationship with Pakistan.


During a Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing Thursday, legislators on both sides of the aisle said a new approach to Pakistan is now needed.


Pakistan's government is "very irrational," said Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican.


Obama visits ground zero; honors victims of 9/11


But Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir said it is a "false charge" to assert that Pakistani authorities did not go after bin Laden.


He said his country's intelligence agency alerted the United States about the presence of al Qaeda operatives in Abbottabad as early as 2004.


Pakistani armed forces chiefs issued a statement Thursday admitting that there had been "shortcomings in developing intelligence" on the terror leader's presence in the country.


The army chief of staff, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, also "made it very clear that any similar action, violating the sovereignty of Pakistan, will warrant a review on the level of military/intelligence cooperation with the United States," the statement said.


Trove of data found at bin Laden home


Pakistan has ordered U.S. military personnel on its territory drawn down to the "minimum essential" level in the wake of the raid, the statement said.

Anti-U.S. sentiment was growing in Abbottabad, where about 600 demonstrators gathered Friday at a rally, chanting "Go America, go America, your show is over."

CNN's Bonney Kapp, Brianna Keilar, and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report


CNN


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Obama lays wreath at Ground Zero, meets with families, firefighters, cops

NEW YORK — President Obama punctuated his success in tracking down Osama bin Laden with a visit Thursday to those on the front line of the terrorist attack — families and colleagues of those killed on Sept. 11, 2001.



President Obama hugs Diane Wall, from Rumson, NJ, as her daughters and a family friend watch. Both families lost fathers on 9/11.

Under sunny skies and the unfinished bulk of the first tower to rise at Ground Zero, Obama laid a wreath on the plaza of the emerging 9/11 Memorial on the site of the World Trade Center. In a solemn, silent ceremony, he placed flowers in front of a tree that survived the towers' collapse and hugged and greeted family members, police officers and firefighters.

He gave a fist bump to Christopher Cannizzaro, 10, who was an infant when his firefighter father, Brian, was killed. In return, Christopher gave the president a prayer card for his dad.

His mother, Jackie Cannizzaro-Hawkins, said she told the president, "Thank you. Thank you for seeing it through." Obama's visit to the WTC site "means the world to me. It was appropriate. He never forgot."

Obama hugged Payton Wall, 14, and her friend Madison Robertson, 14. Both girls from Rumson, N.J., lost their dads on 9/11 and had written letters to the president several months ago.

They also had written to teen idol Justin Bieber. "I just wanted to share my story," Payton said.

"He just said how proud of us he is," Madison said.

En route to the ceremony, the president ate lunch — including eggplant parmigiana — at a firehouse, Engine 54, which on 9/11 lost all 15 members on duty.

"When we say we will never forget, we mean what we say," Obama told the firefighters.

He visited a Manhattan police station, where he signed the log book. "I am here basically to shake your hand and say how proud I am of all of you," Obama told them.

The city seemed to return the sentiment as crowds lined streets to cheer. It was Obama's first visit to Ground Zero since he became president.

Dorothy Francis, who worked in the neighborhood when the attack occurred, said she turned out "to do honor to the families. And it's a compliment on the bin Laden thing. … It's a relief to know that he's gone. It's a solemn day, really, just to know what was accomplished."

Chuck Alf, 41, visiting from Buffalo, was at the site for the first time since he went to dinner at Windows on the World, atop the north tower, in 2000. "There's a sense of pride there, to see your leader," he said. The mood on the street during the ceremony, even though no one could see the wreath laying, was solemn, he said. "For as many people as were on that street corner, it was amazingly quiet." He shared the sentiment, even though he's glad bin Laden has been killed. "I have no interest in hooting and hollering," he said. "There's a very solemn sense of some closure."

Obama spent an hour with about 60 relatives of the nearly 3,000 people who died in the attacks. They gathered at the 9/11 Memorial Preview Center, just outside the Trade Center site.

"It was like the bride at her wedding: He went to every table," said Jefferson Crowther, whose son Welles died after helping get injured Trade Center workers to safety. "He hugged the ladies, he shook the hands of the gentlemen."

Some family members had been upset not to have been included in the invitation-only event, so Mary and Frank Fetchet, founders of Voices of September 11 took letters to Obama that family members who were not invited posted on the group's Facebook page.

The message from Alexandra Luckett, who lost her brother in the collapse of the north tower, was heartfelt: "Please thank President Obama from everyone in Ted Luckett's family for finally bringing us some justice!" she wrote on Facebook. "I hope this brings a little peace to this country and that the war will soon come to an end. I love the Navy SEALs! Great job. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!"

Frank Fetchet, whose son Bradley was killed, said he had been among those who met with Obama at the beginning of his presidency in 2009.

"I felt this was kind of a bookend to that,"Fetchet said. With the death of bin Laden, "this phase of our journey from 9/11 is completed. ? There was a real pride in the room that this was done, and relief and thanks for the hard work of our military."

Jim Riches, a retired deputy chief with the city fire department and father of Jimmy Riches, a firefighter who was killed in the collapse of the north tower, was among those scheduled to meet with Obama. He recalled that at a meeting in 2009, Obama told the 9/11 families that he was determined to get bin Laden.

"He did a great job,and he deserves credit for it. He had the conviction to do it," Riches said Wednesday evening.

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