he army launched a major assault in South Waziristan on Sept. 17 to seize control of the lawless land after a string of attacks by militants, including a stunning assault on the army headquarters that killed more than 150 people.
Makeen is described as "the nerve centre" of the militants while Sararogha, about 20 km (13 miles) southeast of Makeen, houses a strategic fort manned by a paramilitary force until it was captured outdoor house Inflatable Obstacle by the Taliban last year after killing several soldiers and taking dozens hostage.
The offensive is a major test for the Pakistani government and the military to stem the rising tide of Islamist militancy and is being closely followed by the United States and other Western nations embroiled in Afghanistan's growing conflict.
The military says an "important phase" of its three-pronged offensive has begun as troops had reached the outskirts of Sararogha and Makeen, two main bases of the militants in treacherous mountainous terrain.
"Security forces have surrounded Makeen from three directions," the military said in a statement.
Security officials said military jets and helicopter gunships pounded militant positions in and around Makeen during the battle.
The military says government forces have laid siege to Sararogha, captured all the important features and ridges overlooking the town and cleared half of Kaniguram, a hub of Uzbek militants
2009年11月1日星期日
Police arrest one of Italy's most-wanted mafia men
NAPLES (Reuters) - Italian police arrested one of Italy's most wanted mafia bosses on Sunday, a day after detaining his brother, dealing a heavy blow to one of the most powerful criminal clans in the region around Naples.
In a statement, police cheap Inflatable Games said he was the chief of the Russo clan and described him as "extremely dangerous".
He was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison for 13 homicides and criminal association with the mafia.
Pasquale Russo, 62 and considered one of Italy's top 10 mafia fugitives, had been on the run since 1993 and was arrested at dawn on Sunday in a remote farmhouse near Sperone, some 80 km (50 miles) north of Naples.
His brother Salvatore Russo, 51, was arrested on Saturday after 14 years on the run. A third brother, Carmine, was also arrested on Sunday.
The Russo clan, based near the town of Nola, is a leading player in the Camorra organised crime syndicate that operates in and around Naples.
In a statement, police cheap Inflatable Games said he was the chief of the Russo clan and described him as "extremely dangerous".
He was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life in prison for 13 homicides and criminal association with the mafia.
Pasquale Russo, 62 and considered one of Italy's top 10 mafia fugitives, had been on the run since 1993 and was arrested at dawn on Sunday in a remote farmhouse near Sperone, some 80 km (50 miles) north of Naples.
His brother Salvatore Russo, 51, was arrested on Saturday after 14 years on the run. A third brother, Carmine, was also arrested on Sunday.
The Russo clan, based near the town of Nola, is a leading player in the Camorra organised crime syndicate that operates in and around Naples.
Israel envoy: UN Human Rights Council betrayed its own values
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Professor Gabriela Shalev, said on Friday at the organization's weekly to buy Inflatable Tent assembly that the UN Human Rights Council had betrayed the very values and principles it was established to protect.
Friday's discussion preceded the upcoming deliberation on Wednesday at the UN assembly regarding the report's conclusions.
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Shalev accused the council of constant and exclusive discrimination against Israel and said that more than half of the council's meetings have dealt with condemning Israel for one reason or another.
Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said the request for an urgent meeting was prompted by violence in Jerusalem that he blamed on Israel and which he also wants discussed.
Earlier this month, the Palestinian Authority agreed to delay debating the UN report on the conflict adult Inflatable Tunnel until March over concerns that going ahead now could harm the fragile Middle East peace process. The decision led to street protests by Palestinians and condemnation around the Arab world.
Shalev also said that the council has approved more resolutions critical of Israel than resolutions criticizing any other UN member country.
In regard to the controversial report compiled by the South African former Judge Richard Goldstone, Shalev said that it is a reminder that the UN rights council is dominated and used by countries obsessed with demonizing Israel and its democratic nature.
The ambassador concluded by saying that the basic human rights of thousands of innocent people are violated throughout the world on a daily basis, but the council has and remains silent to their plight.
Shalev spoke after the assembly was issued the Rights Councils' annual activity report, which includes the Goldstone report findings that accuse Israel and the Palestinians of war crimes during the Gaza offensive in December 2008.
Last week Palestinian diplomats in Geneva pushed to bring forward the UN Human Rights Council debate on the alleged war crimes committed by Israeli forces and Palestinian militants as stated in the Goldstone report.
"We deferred, so we were expecting that the Israelis should respect in some way human rights, but this act of aggression against people, against the human rights and humanitarian law, is unbelievable," Khraishi said.
Friday's discussion preceded the upcoming deliberation on Wednesday at the UN assembly regarding the report's conclusions.
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Shalev accused the council of constant and exclusive discrimination against Israel and said that more than half of the council's meetings have dealt with condemning Israel for one reason or another.
Ibrahim Khraishi, the Palestinian Authority's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said the request for an urgent meeting was prompted by violence in Jerusalem that he blamed on Israel and which he also wants discussed.
Earlier this month, the Palestinian Authority agreed to delay debating the UN report on the conflict adult Inflatable Tunnel until March over concerns that going ahead now could harm the fragile Middle East peace process. The decision led to street protests by Palestinians and condemnation around the Arab world.
Shalev also said that the council has approved more resolutions critical of Israel than resolutions criticizing any other UN member country.
In regard to the controversial report compiled by the South African former Judge Richard Goldstone, Shalev said that it is a reminder that the UN rights council is dominated and used by countries obsessed with demonizing Israel and its democratic nature.
The ambassador concluded by saying that the basic human rights of thousands of innocent people are violated throughout the world on a daily basis, but the council has and remains silent to their plight.
Shalev spoke after the assembly was issued the Rights Councils' annual activity report, which includes the Goldstone report findings that accuse Israel and the Palestinians of war crimes during the Gaza offensive in December 2008.
Last week Palestinian diplomats in Geneva pushed to bring forward the UN Human Rights Council debate on the alleged war crimes committed by Israeli forces and Palestinian militants as stated in the Goldstone report.
"We deferred, so we were expecting that the Israelis should respect in some way human rights, but this act of aggression against people, against the human rights and humanitarian law, is unbelievable," Khraishi said.
Leaking Timor Sea oil rig catches fire
PTTEP finally stopped the leak on Sunday, but as it was trying to fill the hole with heavy mud, the West person Inflatable Toys Atlas rig and Montara wellhead platform caught fire, said Australian officials.
All workers were safe and were being evacuated from the rig, more than 200 km (125 miles) off the northwest Australian coast.
"Current operations are focused on reducing the intensity of the fire," said Australian Resources Minister Martin Ferguson.
Montara is the flagship in the exploration and production business for PTTEP and which is involved in about 40 oil and gas exploration and development projects in 14 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The Australian government on Saturday released a report saying birds and marine species were at risk from the oil spill, but it said the full impact could not be immediately determined.
"Some of the world's leading experts are working to fix the leaking well and respond to this latest problem," he said in a statement.
The Montara field could be one of the main sources of profit for PTTEP in the second half of this year as many analysts expect higher output from new oil and gas fields to boost its sales.
Ferguson said the National outdoor house Inflatable Slide Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority had been called out to help fight the fire and that Geoscience Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority were on standby.
The leaking rig was due to start commercial operations this month.
PTTEP plans to produce about 35,000 barrels of oil per day from the Montara field, which should boost its 2009 petroleum sales to 240,000 bpd.
"This spill has been a disaster from the outset," Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said on Sunday.
"Coupled with the environmental impacts of the oil entering the ocean, the potentially hazardous effects of the dispersants being used and the threat to fisheries both here and in Indonesia, now we have a fire on our hands."
All workers were safe and were being evacuated from the rig, more than 200 km (125 miles) off the northwest Australian coast.
"Current operations are focused on reducing the intensity of the fire," said Australian Resources Minister Martin Ferguson.
Montara is the flagship in the exploration and production business for PTTEP and which is involved in about 40 oil and gas exploration and development projects in 14 countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The Australian government on Saturday released a report saying birds and marine species were at risk from the oil spill, but it said the full impact could not be immediately determined.
"Some of the world's leading experts are working to fix the leaking well and respond to this latest problem," he said in a statement.
The Montara field could be one of the main sources of profit for PTTEP in the second half of this year as many analysts expect higher output from new oil and gas fields to boost its sales.
Ferguson said the National outdoor house Inflatable Slide Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority had been called out to help fight the fire and that Geoscience Australia and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority were on standby.
The leaking rig was due to start commercial operations this month.
PTTEP plans to produce about 35,000 barrels of oil per day from the Montara field, which should boost its 2009 petroleum sales to 240,000 bpd.
"This spill has been a disaster from the outset," Australian Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said on Sunday.
"Coupled with the environmental impacts of the oil entering the ocean, the potentially hazardous effects of the dispersants being used and the threat to fisheries both here and in Indonesia, now we have a fire on our hands."
2009年10月30日星期五
White House touts 1 million jobs from stimulus
Reporting from Washington - The White House said Friday that the $787-billion stimulus package had created or saved about 1 million jobs so far -- a number that is hard to verify because of the guesswork involved in determining whether businesses had for sale Inflatable Christmas retained workers due to the stimulus who otherwise would have been laid off.
The White House released its findings with a bipartisan flourish, inviting Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland to a news conference touting the results. Accompanying the White House announcement was a video showcasing ordinary workers who said they owed their jobs and car purchases to the stimulus.After compiling reports from more than 100,000 businesses, nonprofit groups and state and local governments that received stimulus money, the Obama administration said the program was on pace to save or create 3.5 million business Air Dancer jobs by next year.
"So there's a lot more job creation to come from this act before they leaves the scene," Jared Bernstein, an economics advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, told reporters.
Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the Republican whip, said: "Americans, particularly those with friends and family out of work, know that the administration's claims of stimulus success and jobs saved or created are not serious."
But Obama officials said they were confident their numbers were accurate.
Edward DeSeve, an Obama advisor helping to oversee the stimulus, said recipients of the funds had no incentive to inflate job estimates.The job figures released by the White House were based on detailed reports filed by certain recipients of about $160 billion in stimulus money. The reports show the employers created or saved more than 640,000 jobs, the White House said. About 325,000 of those jobs were in education; 80,000 were in construction.
The White House said the job impact rises to 1 million when indirect benefits of the federal spending are included, as when a worker hired with stimulus dollars spends money at a restaurant.
Excluding indirect job-creation, California logged the most jobs created or saved, with 110,185. Next were New York, with 40,620, and Washington state, with 34,517.
With nationwide unemployment approaching 10%, the White House data provoked some skepticism. The Obama administration is basing its estimates partly on a concept that is difficult to measure: jobs saved. State governments and other agencies may be using subjective criteria in deciding whether stimulus money legitimately saved a job that was about to be eliminated.
Peter Morici, an economist and professor in the University of Maryland, said that claims of jobs saved were "not verifiable. It's only verifiable in the loosest sense."
Morici added: "The impact of the stimulus is less than the president is claiming or more than the Republicans will admit. It certainly has had an effect. But 1 million jobs is a fantasy."
Republican lawmakers were dismissive of the White House report.
"What we have to do is rely on the fact that our public officials are honest," DeSeve said. He added that "there's no advantage to a state from overstating or understating."
The White House released its findings with a bipartisan flourish, inviting Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland to a news conference touting the results. Accompanying the White House announcement was a video showcasing ordinary workers who said they owed their jobs and car purchases to the stimulus.After compiling reports from more than 100,000 businesses, nonprofit groups and state and local governments that received stimulus money, the Obama administration said the program was on pace to save or create 3.5 million business Air Dancer jobs by next year.
"So there's a lot more job creation to come from this act before they leaves the scene," Jared Bernstein, an economics advisor to Vice President Joe Biden, told reporters.
Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, the Republican whip, said: "Americans, particularly those with friends and family out of work, know that the administration's claims of stimulus success and jobs saved or created are not serious."
But Obama officials said they were confident their numbers were accurate.
Edward DeSeve, an Obama advisor helping to oversee the stimulus, said recipients of the funds had no incentive to inflate job estimates.The job figures released by the White House were based on detailed reports filed by certain recipients of about $160 billion in stimulus money. The reports show the employers created or saved more than 640,000 jobs, the White House said. About 325,000 of those jobs were in education; 80,000 were in construction.
The White House said the job impact rises to 1 million when indirect benefits of the federal spending are included, as when a worker hired with stimulus dollars spends money at a restaurant.
Excluding indirect job-creation, California logged the most jobs created or saved, with 110,185. Next were New York, with 40,620, and Washington state, with 34,517.
With nationwide unemployment approaching 10%, the White House data provoked some skepticism. The Obama administration is basing its estimates partly on a concept that is difficult to measure: jobs saved. State governments and other agencies may be using subjective criteria in deciding whether stimulus money legitimately saved a job that was about to be eliminated.
Peter Morici, an economist and professor in the University of Maryland, said that claims of jobs saved were "not verifiable. It's only verifiable in the loosest sense."
Morici added: "The impact of the stimulus is less than the president is claiming or more than the Republicans will admit. It certainly has had an effect. But 1 million jobs is a fantasy."
Republican lawmakers were dismissive of the White House report.
"What we have to do is rely on the fact that our public officials are honest," DeSeve said. He added that "there's no advantage to a state from overstating or understating."
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