Recriminations grow over airline costs
There have been bitter recriminations over the almost week-long closure of large parts of European airspace because of volcanic ash from Iceland.
The BBC Thursday, 22 April 2010
Airlines are seeking compensation from governments over the disruption, said to be the worst since World War II.
But scientists have said regulators had few options beyond a ban on flights.
Although officials said air traffic in Europe would be back to “almost 100%” on Thursday, certain airports in Sweden and Norway reportedly closed again.
Airports in southern Sweden Gothenburg’s Landvetter and Malmo’s Sturup closed late on Wednesday when part of the volcanic ash cloud took an unexpected turn north, Sweden’s TT news agency reported.
Lungless frog and ‘ninja slug’ among new species discovered under Borneo protection plan
Conservationists hail success of three-year plan that has resulted in the discovery of 123 new species in the biodiverse rainforest of the ‘Heart of Borneo’
David Adam, environment correspondent
The Guardian, Thursday 22 April 2010
An enormous stick insect more than half a metre long and a bizarre lungless frog are among a staggering collection of new species highlighted today to celebrate an agreement to conserve wildlife on the island of Borneo.Conservationists say the weird and wonderful creatures were discovered thanks to a pioneering deal between three governments to protect and conserve 220,000 square kilometres of lush rainforest on the island.
Some 123 new species have been recorded in the protected region, known as the “Heart of Borneo”, since the 2007 agreement.
USA
In Upstate New York, Democrats feel betrayed by Rep. Arcuri
By Sandhya Somashekhar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 22, 2010
CORTLAND, N.Y. — Woodman’s Pub has been the site of many celebrations over the years. On a recent evening, though, four Democrats gathered at the neon-lit bar to take stock of their problems.
And Rep. Michael Arcuri, the first Democrat to represent this area in the House since 1983, has become one of Congress’s most vulnerable Democrats, unpopular not only with conservatives but with many of the activists who helped him get elected.
Tough enforcement against illegal immigrants is decried
Advocates say the deportation case against one Nevada couple highlights the continued harassing of many who pose no threat – despite Obama’s promises to target bad actors and help legalize others.
By Ken Dilanian
April 21, 2010 | 9:19 p.m.
Reporting from Washington
When the Obama administration went before California’s 9th Circuit Court last year seeking to deport a middle-class couple from Nevada, one judge criticized the government’s case as “horrific.” Another labeled it the “most senseless result possible.” A third complained of “an extraordinarily bad use of government resources.”“These people have worked hard. They have paid their taxes,” Judge William Fletcher said. “Why don’t you go after the bad guys?”
Europe
President is trying to kill me, says Chechen clan leader
By Shaun Walker in Moscow Thursday, 22 April 2010
A powerful Chechen clan leader, who has seen two of his brothers murdered in the last two years, yesterday accused the Chechen president of being behind the killings and an attempt on his own life.The Yamadayevs were once one of the most powerful families in Chechnya and were known to have strained relations with Ramzan Kadyrov, the 33-year-old Chechen President and Kremlin-supported “strongman”.
Radovan Karadzic dismisses Srebrenica survivor as a ‘soldier not a victim’
From Times Online
April 21, 2010
David Charter, Europe Correspondent
Radovan Karadzic was admonished by judges at his genocide trial today for dismissing a Muslim survivor of the Srebrenica massacre as a “soldier not a victim.”The former Bosnian Serb leader was warned by judges at the UN tribunal in The Hague not to make “appalling” comments but stick to asking pertinent questions to the witness, who escaped from an execution squad by playing dead under the bodies of other Muslim men as they were shot.
The court in The Hague heard how the witness was among a group of approximately 30 men who were blindfolded and taken to a meadow to be murdered but he miraculously survived and heard numerous other groups being brought to the site to suffer the same fate. Around 8,000 men died in the Srebrenica massacre.
Middle East
Iran’s military begins large-scale war games
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard has begun three days of major military manoeuvres in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz
Reuters
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 22 April 2010 08.28 BST
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard began three days of large-scale war games in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, state television reported.The military manoeuvres, in a waterway crucial for global oil supplies, coincided with rising tension between Iran and the west, which fears Tehran’s nuclear programme is aimed at developing bombs. Iran denies the charge.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon said US military action against Iran remained an option even as Washington pursues diplomacy and sanctions to halt Iran’s nuclear activities.
12-year-old bride’s divorce prompts marriage age review in Saudi Arabia
From The Times
April 22, 2010
Hugh Tomlinson in Dubai
A girl aged 12 has won a divorce from her 80-year-old husband in Saudi Arabia in a case that may help to introduce a minimum age of marriage in the kingdom for the first time. The girl’s unusual legal challenge to the arrangement generated international media attention and scrutiny of Saudi Arabia’s record of child marriages.It also prompted the state-run Human Rights Commission to appoint a lawyer to represent her. The commission has capitalised on the case and pushed for a legal minimum age for marriage of at least 16.
Asia
Japan Tries to Face Up to Growing Poverty Problem
By MARTIN FACKLER
Published: April 21, 2010
MEMURO, Japan – Satomi Sato, a 51-year-old widow, knew she had it tough, raising a teenage daughter on the less than $17,000 a year she earned from two jobs. Still, she was surprised last autumn when the government announced for the first time an official poverty line – and she was below it.
“I don’t want to use the word poverty, but I’m definitely poor,” said Ms. Sato, who works mornings making boxed lunches and afternoons delivering newspapers. “Poverty is still a very unfamiliar word in Japan.”
Caught in the crossfire of Pakistan’s secret war
In North West Frontier Province the army is fighting the Taliban – and both want the locals on their side
By Patrick Cockburn Thursday, 22 April 2010
Staying alive is not a simple business for people in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province. The local Taliban and the army compete mercilessly to establish their authority along the border with Afghanistan. “If we support the army, the Taliban is unhappy and if we support the Taliban then the army is unhappy,” lamented one local resident living outside Peshawar.This unhappiness can have dire consequences for the civilian population. In the case of the army this usually means ordering civilians out of a hostile area and then plastering it with high explosives.
Africa
Fewer attacks by Somali pirates, but their net widens
There were fewer attacks by Somali pirates in the first quarter of this year than during the same time last year, but their reach is extending far beyond the Gulf of Aden.
By Scott Baldauf, Staff writer / April 21, 2010
Johannesburg, South Africa
There have been fewer attacks by Somali pirates during the first quarter of this year than during the same time period last year, according to a report issued Wednesday by the London-based International Maritime Bureau.Thirty-five of the 67 reported piracy incidents worldwide were conducted by Somali pirates, according to the report. The impressive drop from the 102 attacks reported during the first quarter of last year is due in large part to the efforts of the multinational naval force patrolling the Gulf of Aden.That’s the good news.
Latin America
Belo Monte dam approval provokes ‘bloodshed’ threats from Amazon Indians
Brazil has given the go-ahead for one of the world’s largest hydroelectric dams to be built in the Amazon rainforest, sparking immediate protests and threats of violence.
By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
The controversial Belo Monte dam will flood almost 193 square miles (500 square km) of villages and virgin forest, displacing up to 40,000 people.
Indigenous tribes and environmentalists have fought the project for 30 years with court cases, protests and even machetes.
Most recently James Cameron, the Hollywood director, entered the fray liking the story of the tribal people under threat to the plot of his recent blockbuster Avatar.
But despite a last minute injunction, the project in the north of the country has finally been pushed through.