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Thursday, December 22, 2011
Monday, December 19, 2011
Iraq oil security tested as U.S. forces withdraw (Reuters)
BAGHDAD (Reuters) ? A bombing of southern Iraqi crude pipelines despite a nationwide alert against a possible surge in insurgent attacks has heightened fears for the future security of Iraq's vital oil sector as American troops withdraw.
The oil hub city of Basra, which handles the bulk of the OPEC member's oil exports, has generally seen fewer attacks this year than other cities in the country.
But militants have stepped up assaults over the past months and bombed oil installations despite tight security, testing the ability of Iraqi security forces to halt attacks nearly nine years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
On Tuesday, three bombs hit a pipeline network that transports crude from Iraq's southern oilfields to storage tanks around Basra, igniting a fire and disrupting output at the Rumaila field, the workhorse of Iraq's oil industry.
"Increased violence directly or indirectly affecting the oil industry is the main risk and unknown in all assumptions, as the impact on projects from a strong deterioration naturally could be massive," said Samuel Ciszuk, a consultant at KBC.
Protecting Iraqi oil reserves, the world's fourth largest, is crucial to Baghdad's plans to rebuild a shattered economy after years of war and economic sanctions, and its desire to become a top producer once again to rival Saudi Arabia.
Oil firms are awarding tenders for work in their fields to reach the production targets they have set after signing a dozen deals in Iraq that could quadruple output capacity to Saudi levels of 12 million barrels per day.
As Washington prepares to end its military presence by December 31, Iraqi officials say the American pullout will not affect oil security because U.S. troops have not been involved in protecting oilfields since 2005.
But Tuesday's attack occurred despite an increase in oil police patrols to protect installations against a possible surge in al Qaeda violence before the U.S. withdrawal.
"There is direct targeting of the oil sector ... By the start of the withdrawal there will be attacks not just on oil, but they (insurgents) will try to unsettle the situation in the country," Major General Hamid Ibrahim, head of Iraq's energy protection told Reuters.
VIOLENCE EASES BUT OIL SITES STILL TARGETED
Overall violence in Iraq has dropped since the peak of sectarian killings in 2006-07, and the Shi'ite Muslim south, where most oil output occurs, is relatively calm. But attacks remain common and militants still target oil infrastructure.
The Iraq-Turkey pipeline in the north, which carries around a quarter of Iraq's oil exports, is regularly hit by sabotage, usually blamed on al Qaeda and former members of Saddam Hussein's banned Baath party.
In early June, bombs were planted atop four crude depots of the Zubair 1 storage facility in Basra, setting ablaze one tank.
Zubair is surrounded by tight security and visitors pass three checkpoints to reach the site. Yet the bombers managed to plant four bombs without being seen by guards.
Tuesday's attack on the oil pipelines was in the same area of Zubair, according to security officials in Basra who said the bombers could have been had inside help.
Diplomatic sources said they believed disputes between the oil workers union and the state-run South Oil Co were behind June's attack, but did not dispel fears insurgents could turn their sights on foreign oil firms after the U.S. withdrawal.
Iraqi officials, however, say there have been no indications that oil firms could come into the crosshairs of insurgents.
"Foreign companies were and are still working in Iraq... There have been some incidents in Basra but they did not target the oil companies specifically," the deputy prime minister for energy affairs, Hussain al-Shahristani, told Reuters.
But Shahristani said Iraq still needed the Americans' help to protect its offshore oil platforms and export pipelines.
The Iraqi navy took over responsibility this year for guarding Iraq's 35 square-nautical-mile-slice of the Gulf and offshore oil export terminals -- the nation's economic lifeline.
More than once this past summer, neighboring Iran sent a fast boat into Iraqi Gulf waters, testing its defenses. Iraqi forces chased the intruders away without escalating tensions.
Competitive oil development in Iraq, however, could increase friction with Iran, OPEC's No. 2 producer, and lure potential foreign investment away from Iraq's neighbors.
The Iraqis can get by for basic security with the training and equipment they have now, said a U.S. military official involved in trained the Iraqi navy since 2004.
"They can do the basics with what they have," the official said. "But if the Iranians came with their ships and missiles, they can't match up."
JITTERS
Foreign investors who ventured into the country's promising energy sector were already on edge before the latest attacks.
On November 24, three bombs tore through a busy market in Basra, a day before a major energy conference, killing 19 people.
After the bombing, local officials said they believed the attack had targeted the country's oil sector ahead of the U.S. withdrawal to undermine Iraq's potential economic power.
Oil majors ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and ENI, who already work in Iraq, steered clear, leaving their booths empty during the three-day conference.
A day later, a bomb threat at the conference sent foreign executives fleeing. A suspected bomb was found in a car parked outside the venue and police said it was a false alarm.
But an Iraqi security source said an alert had been sent by Iraqi intelligence and security services to security contractors to get executives out of the meeting as it might get targeted.
Local Iraqi officials blamed the incident on neighboring countries with a competitive interest in limiting Iraq's oil growth. Basra, Iraq's major port, sits near Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait - all major oil exporters.
"Every time Basra moves a step ahead they want to push it back a mile," a senior Basra police officer said.
"This oil and gas conference was like a sword on the Gulf's neck, because major companies are coming here to invest instead of going to their countries."
(Additional reporting by Aref Mohammed; Edited by Patrick Markey and Mark Heinrich)
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Sunday, December 18, 2011
Egypt's military clashes with protesters
Egyptian army soldiers beat a protester wearing a Niqab, an Islamic veil, during clashes near Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square, Egypt, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. Activists say the clashes began after soldiers severely beat a young man who was part of a sit-in outside the Cabinet building. At background graffiti depicts members of the military ruling council and Arabic reads: "Killer". (AP Photo/Ahmed Ali)
Egyptian army soldiers beat a protester wearing a Niqab, an Islamic veil, during clashes near Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square, Egypt, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. Activists say the clashes began after soldiers severely beat a young man who was part of a sit-in outside the Cabinet building. At background graffiti depicts members of the military ruling council and Arabic reads: "Killer". (AP Photo/Ahmed Ali)
Egyptian army soldiers arrest a woman protester during clashes with military police near Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square, Egypt Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. Activists say the clashes began after soldiers severely beat a young man who was part of a sit-in outside the Cabinet building. (AP Photo/Str)
ALTERNATIVE CROP OF CAI111 An Egyptian army officer aims his gun at protesters during clashes near Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square, Egypt, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. Activists say the clashes began after soldiers severely beat a young man who was part of a sit-in outside the Cabinet building. (AP Photo)
Egyptian protesters threw rocks at military police during clashes near Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square, Egypt, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. Activists say the clashes began after soldiers severely beat a young man who was part of a sit-in outside the Cabinet building. (AP Photo/Ahmed Ali)
Egyptian army soldiers clash with rock throwing protesters near Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square, Egypt, Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. Activists say the clashes began after soldiers severely beat a young man who was part of a sit-in outside the Cabinet building. (AP Photo/Ahmed Ali)
CAIRO (AP) ? Soldiers stormed an anti-military protest camp outside Egypt's Cabinet building Friday, beating women with sticks and hurling chunks of concrete and glass onto protesters from the roof of the parliament in a resurgence of turmoil only a day after millions voted in parliamentary elections.
At least three protesters were shot to death in the clashes, including a prominent Muslim cleric, activists said. The heavy-handed assault was apparently an attempt to clear out protesters who have been camped out in front of the building for three weeks demanding the ruling military leave power.
But the mayhem ? which came despite promises from the army-appointed prime minister that the protesters would not be cleared by force ? threatened to spark a new round of violence after deadly clashes between youth revolutionaries and security forces in November that lasted for days and left more than 40 dead.
Several women protesters cowered on the pavement as military police beat them with truncheons and long sticks. Another woman was seen bring dragged away by her hair by soldiers.
Plainclothes and uniformed security officers threw slabs of concrete and stones on protesters from atop the parliament building, according to state TV footage and videos and photos posted by protesters on social networking sites. Protesters threw fire bombs and rocks at the security officers, lighting a part of parliament on fire and chanting "Down with the military."
"It's pretty ironic that the military is throwing rocks at protesters from the parliament building, where a sign is hanging that says democracy is the power of the people," protester Mostafa Sheshtawy said.
Hours after sunset, the crowds of protesters had grown to hundreds and clashes continued, with youths hiding behind a makeshift barrier of metal sheets and an overturned car, throwing volleys of stones at military police lined up in the broad avenue in front of the parliament and Cabinet headquarters.
There were reports of live gunfire from the rooftops. One protester, Islam Mohammed, said a fellow protester pushed him aside and was hit by a bullet in the stomach. "He took a bullet instead of me and fell to the ground. I have his blood on my shirt and hands," Mohammed said. The condition of the wounded man was not known.
Sahar Abdel-Mohsen, a youth activist, said she saw the bodies of two slain protesters brought to a Cairo hospital, both with gunshot wounds. "The blood is still dripping from the head of one of them," a 22-year-old man, she told The Associated Press. The other was shot in the chest, she said. A Health Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of he was not authorized to talk to the press, confirmed the two deaths.
Also killed was Sheik Emad Effat, a cleric from Al-Azhar, Egypt's most eminent religious institution, said Ibrahim el-Hodeiby, a prominent activist. He said Effat ? who has taken a pro-revolutionary position, criticizing the military and issuing a religious decree forbidding voting for former members of the regime in elections ? was shot in the heart after joining the protesters outside the Cabinet.
The Health Ministry said said at least 138 people were injured, including broken bones and gunshot wounds.
The assault was likely to re-ignite the tensions between revolutionaries and the military, which took power after the Feb. 11 resignation of Hosni Mubarak. The youth activists who led the protests that ousted Mubarak accuse the military of acting in the same authoritarian way as the former president.
Ziad el-Oleimi, an activist who won a parliament seat in the first round of elections on Nov. 28-29, told AP that military police beat him with sticks on his torso and arms and told him, "Don't imagine the parliament will protect you."
"So long as Egyptians are being humiliated and beaten on the streets, that means the revolution has not reached its goals. Taking to the streets will continue," el-Oleimi said.
The clashes took place as election officials counted ballots from the second round of parliament elections, considered to be the freest and fairest vote in Egypt's modern history. A third of Egypt's provinces voted Wednesday and Thursday. Election results from the first round of voting placed Islamist parties ahead of more liberal parties.
The armed forces retain support among many Egyptians who see it as the only entity able to run the country until presidential elections scheduled for next year.
But the new violence exacerbates the political tensions.
Two members of a civilian advisory panel created by the military earlier this month resigned in protest over the use of force. The military created the panel as a gesture to protesters, who say it has been making unilateral decisions. A number of newly elected lawmakers condemned the military for the violence.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest winner in parliamentary elections so far, said in a statement that it rejects the assault on protesters and the use of the parliament building to attack people.
In a Tweet, leading reform figure and Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei wrote, "If the sit-in broke the law, isn't the cruelty and brutality used to break it up a greater violation of all human rights laws? This is not how nations are managed."
The protesters have been peacefully camped out in front the Cabinet building for three weeks, preventing the newly appointed prime minister, Kamal al-Ganzouri, from entering his office.
In a statement read on state TV Friday night, the ruling military said its forces did not intent to break up the protest and said officers showed self-restraint, denying the used any gunfire. It said the clashes began when a military officer was attacked while on duty and protesters tried to break into the parliament compound.
But witnesses said the clashes erupted late Thursday when troops moved in, burning protesters' tents. Military police snatched one young man, taking him into the parliament building and beating him severely, witnesses said.
Hundreds of people rushed to join the protest after online video and photos showed people carrying the wounded man, his face bruised and swollen, his head wrapped in gauze and blood dripping from his nose.
Protester threw rocks and firebombs at military police, who fired back with water cannons and stones from inside parliament. Several cars were set on fire.
An American producer for Al Jazeera English, Evan Hill, was beaten by military police and his equipment confiscated, the network reported.
The military's assault is also a potential embarrassment to al-Ganzouri, who vowed last month that he would not use force to break up the sit-in. Al-Ganzouri had been touted as being more independent of the military than his predecessor, whose government stepped down amid the November protests amid criticism that it was simply a facade for the ruling generals.
"Who has power and who is responsible?" asked ElBaradei on his Twitter account.
___
Associated Press correspondent Sarah El Deeb contributed to this report from Cairo.
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Wynton Marsalis named CBS' cultural correspondent (AP)
NEW YORK ? Musician and educator Wynton Marsalis has been named as cultural correspondent for CBS News.
The network said Thursday that Marsalis will report on a range of cultural and educational developments on "CBS This Morning" and "CBS Sunday Morning." His first appearance is scheduled for Jan. 16, as the nation observes the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.
Marsalis has been associated with CBS News for a number of years. He has appeared on "60 Minutes," and it's his trumpet fanfare that opens "Sunday Morning" each week.
He is a composer and has been the artistic director of jazz at New York City's Lincoln Center since 1987. He has won nine Grammy Awards.
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Comet defies death, brushes up to sun and lives
This handout image provided by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, taken, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011, shows the Comet Lovejoy leaving the sun's corona which is several million degrees. A small comet survived what astronomers figured would be a sure death when it danced uncomfortably close to the broiling sun Thursday night. Comet Lovejoy, which was only discovered a couple of weeks ago, was supposed to melt as it came so close to the sun that the temperatures around it would hit several million degrees. Astronomers had tracked 2,000 other sun-grazing comets make the same suicidal trip. None had ever survived. (AP Photo/NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory)
This handout image provided by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, taken, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011, shows the Comet Lovejoy leaving the sun's corona which is several million degrees. A small comet survived what astronomers figured would be a sure death when it danced uncomfortably close to the broiling sun Thursday night. Comet Lovejoy, which was only discovered a couple of weeks ago, was supposed to melt as it came so close to the sun that the temperatures around it would hit several million degrees. Astronomers had tracked 2,000 other sun-grazing comets make the same suicidal trip. None had ever survived. (AP Photo/NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory)
This handout image provided by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, taken, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011, shows the Comet Lovejoy approaching the sun and interacting the with the sun's corona which is several million degrees. A small comet survived what astronomers figured would be a sure death when it danced uncomfortably close to the broiling sun Thursday night. Comet Lovejoy, which was only discovered a couple of weeks ago, was supposed to melt as it came so close to the sun that the temperatures around it would hit several million degrees. Astronomers had tracked 2,000 other sun-grazing comets make the same suicidal trip. None had ever survived. (AP Photo/NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? A small comet survived what astronomers figured would be a sure death when it danced uncomfortably close to the broiling sun.
Comet Lovejoy, which was only discovered a couple of weeks ago, was supposed to melt Thursday night when it came close to where temperatures hit several million degrees. Astronomers had tracked 2,000 other sun-grazing comets make the same suicidal trip. None had ever survived.
But astronomers watching live with NASA telescopes first saw the sun's corona wiggle as Lovejoy went close to the sun. They were then shocked when a bright spot emerged on the sun's other side. Lovejoy lived.
"I was delighted when I saw it go into the sun and I was astounded when I saw something re-emerge," said U.S. Navy solar researcher Karl Battams.
Lovejoy didn't exactly come out of its hellish adventure unscathed. Only 10 percent of the comet ? which was probably millions of tons ? survived the encounter, said W. Dean Pesnell, project scientist for NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which tracked Lovejoy's death-defying plunge.
And the comet lost something pretty important: its tail.
"It looks like the tail broke off and is stuck" in the sun's magnetic field, Pesnell said.
Comets circle the sun and sometimes get too close. Lovejoy came within 75,000 miles (121,000 kilometers) of the sun's surface, Battams said. For a small object often described as a dirty snowball comprised of ice and dust, that brush with the sun should have been fatal.
Astronomers say it probably didn't melt completely because the comet was larger than they thought.
The frozen comet was evaporating as it made the trip toward the sun, "just like you're sweating on a hot day," Pesnell said.
"It's like an ice cube going by a barbecue grill," he said.
Pesnell said the comet, although only discovered at the end of November by an Australian observer, probably is related to a comet that came by Earth on the way to the sun in 1106.
As Comet Lovejoy makes its big circle through the solar system, it will be another 800 or 900 years before it nears the sun again, astronomers say.
___
Online:
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory: http://1.usa.gov/upZJgS
U.S. Naval Research Lab's Sun-grazing comet website (video, photos at bottom): http://bit.ly/sfAAN5
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InFocus IN114
The InFocus IN114 ($399 direct) is a capable data projector that can be had at a very low price. There are plenty of projectors out there with higher resolution, better image quality, and/or more features, but the IN114 costs less than most, is highly portable, and is fine for basic business presentations
The IN114 uses a DLP light engine rated at 2,700 lumens. It has a native XGA (1,024 by 768) resolution, a 4:3 aspect ratio befitting data presentations. The projector, black with rounded corners, measures 2.8 by 11.8 by 9.2 inches and weighs 4.8 pounds, making it very easy to tote around. It has a focus wheel and a zoom wheel, each accessible from above the lens. In back there are two VGA-in ports for connecting to multiple computers; VGA-out for connecting to a monitor; RS232; S-Video; a yellow RCA composite video jack; audio-in and audio-out jacks; and a USB mini-B port that you can plug into your computer. It lacks a USB type A port that would let you run a computer-free presentation off a USB thumb drive.
Data and Video Testing
The IN114?s projecting distance was somewhat longer than with most projectors I?ve looked at; I needed about nine feet to fill our test screen with a 60-inch diagonal image on our test screen at the highest zoom setting.
In testing with the DisplayMate suite, the InFocus IN114?s data image quality was fair. Light gray tones often showed greenish tints, while white areas sometimes looked slightly yellowish. Gray areas with a hatched or moir? pattern looked distinctly greenish. Although type was readable down to the smallest size, the smallest type was a bit blurred.
All DLP projectors are potentially subject to the rainbow effect, in which bright areas break up into their component colors when one shifts one?s gaze, or when bright objects move in the case of video. The IN114 showed an average rainbow effect for a DLP projector; it could be distracting to people who are particularly sensitive to it.
Video quality is fine for short to medium-length video clips shown as part of a presentation, though you probably wouldn?t want to watch movies with it. In our test clips, the projector did better in retaining detail in darker than in very bright scenes. There were traces of posterization, sudden shifts in color or tone where they should be gradual. The rainbow effect was visible in scenes that typically bring it out. It may or may not be an issue, depending on how sensitive your audience is.
Other Issues
The IN114 has a built-in 2-watt speaker, and its audio is of decent quality and volume.?This projector?s lamp life is very good: 6,000 hours in eco mode, 4,500 hours in normal mode. Another plus is the 5-year limited warranty (though the lamp is only under warranty for 6 months).
Although its data and video quality are average, the InFocus IN114 does well as a budget data projector, adding features like long lamp life and a 5-year limited warrantee. ?It?s compact, portable, and easy to use?and you can?t beat the price. If you need better image quality and a fuller feature set, check out the NEC NP64 ($1,099, 4 stars) or the Editors? Choice WXGA-resolution NEC NP-260W ($850 street, 4 stars), though at their price you could get two IN114s with money to spare.
More Projector Reviews:
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Friday, December 16, 2011
Syrian troops sweep Assad foes; deserters strike back
By The Associated Press
Syrian troops swept into the city of Hama to break a three-day strike by opponents of President Bashar al-Assad, killing at least 10 people but running into resistance from armed insurgents who destroyed two armored vehicles, activists said.
Outside Hama, army deserters attacked a convoy of military jeeps, killing eight soldiers, they said, adding to a death toll of at least 30 people across the country on Wednesday.
The assault in Hama was the first armored incursion there since a tank offensive in August crushed huge protests in the city. Activists said troops fired machineguns and ransacked and burnt shops which had closed to observe a mass, open-ended "Strike for Dignity" called by the opposition.
The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have died in Assad's crackdown on protests that erupted in the southern city of Deraa in March, inspired by Arab uprisings elsewhere.
"This cannot go on," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in New York. "In the name of humanity, it is time for the international community to act."
Assad, 46, whose family from the minority Alawite sect has held power in majority Sunni Muslim Syria for four decades, is facing the most serious challenge to his 11-year rule.
The demonstrations started with peaceful calls for reform but burgeoned into demands for Assad's overthrow. A growing armed insurgency has since raised the specter of civil war.
The Syrian government says more than 1,100 members of the army, police and security services have been killed. State media reported military funerals on Wednesday for seven soldiers and police killed by "armed terrorist groups."
The United States and France, which blame Assad's forces for the violence, have urged the U.N. Security Council to respond to the mounting death toll.
But Syria retains international allies. Russia and China have blocked Western efforts to secure Council condemnation of Damascus, and its closest regional ally Iran offered support.
The state news agency SANA quoted the visiting Iranian minister for urban development and roads, Ali Nikzad, as saying his country would stand by Syria "and support its economy and its stances facing the great conspiracy targeting it."
SANA said Nikzad's visit to Damascus followed the endorsement by Iran's parliament on Tuesday of a free trade agreement between the two countries.
Read more content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Federal appeals court strikes down Wisconsin campaign finance law
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