Lebanese vote in key parliamentary election
07 June 2009
People in Lebanon have flocked to polling stations to vote in an election that pits the ruling Western-backed coalition against a Hezbollah-led bloc.
A tight race is predicted between the US-backed 14 March alliance, which has a small majority in parliament, and its rivals, supported by Syria and Iran.
Lebanon's Christian community is split between the two camps.
Analysts say the result could depend on which Christian politicians are elected in a few key constituencies.
Polls across Lebanon opened at 0400 GMT and will close at 1600 GMT. Some three million people are eligible to cast ballots.
LEBANON ELECTIONS KEY FACTS
128-seat, divided along sectarian and communal lines - 64 for Muslims and 64 for Christians
MPs elected for four-year terms
Voting age 21 years
Main factions- 14 March Coalition: Future movement; Progressive Socialist Party; Christian Lebanese Forces; Christian Phalangist party.- 8 March Coalition: Hezbollah; Amal movement headed by the parliamentary Speaker Nabih Birri; Free Patriotic Movement of Gen Michel Aoun.
Q&A: Lebanese elections explained
Christians - vote kingmakers
About 50,000 security personnel have been deployed to prevent violence - although none has been reported so far.
Initial results are expected late on Sunday.
Outside interference
Former US President Jimmy Carter, who heads a team of international observers, said Lebanese parties - and their foreign backers - should accept the result of the vote.
"I don't have any concerns over the conduct of the elections. I have concerns over the acceptance of the results by all the major parties," Mr Carter said at a polling station in Beirut.
A tight race is predicted between the US-backed 14 March alliance, which has a small majority in parliament, and its rivals, supported by Syria and Iran.
Lebanon's Christian community is split between the two camps.
Analysts say the result could depend on which Christian politicians are elected in a few key constituencies.
Polls across Lebanon opened at 0400 GMT and will close at 1600 GMT. Some three million people are eligible to cast ballots.
LEBANON ELECTIONS KEY FACTS
128-seat, divided along sectarian and communal lines - 64 for Muslims and 64 for Christians
MPs elected for four-year terms
Voting age 21 years
Main factions- 14 March Coalition: Future movement; Progressive Socialist Party; Christian Lebanese Forces; Christian Phalangist party.- 8 March Coalition: Hezbollah; Amal movement headed by the parliamentary Speaker Nabih Birri; Free Patriotic Movement of Gen Michel Aoun.
Q&A: Lebanese elections explained
Christians - vote kingmakers
About 50,000 security personnel have been deployed to prevent violence - although none has been reported so far.
Initial results are expected late on Sunday.
Outside interference
Former US President Jimmy Carter, who heads a team of international observers, said Lebanese parties - and their foreign backers - should accept the result of the vote.
"I don't have any concerns over the conduct of the elections. I have concerns over the acceptance of the results by all the major parties," Mr Carter said at a polling station in Beirut.
source:bbc.co
Sudan's president defies arrest warrant, visits Zimbabwe
CNN) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who faces charges of crimes against humanity, visited Zimbabwe on Sunday for a regional trade meeting.
Sudan president Omar al-Bashir is the first head of state ever indicted by the ICC.
Al-Bashir landed Saturday in the capital, Harare, for the two-day African leaders' summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on March 4, accusing him of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in his government's campaign against rebels in Darfur in western Sudan.
It was the first arrest warrant for a sitting head of state by the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, based at The Hague in the Netherlands.
Sudan expelled 13 international aid agencies from the Darfur region after the warrant was issued.
Al-Bashir has denied the charges, calling them an attempt by Western powers to recolonize Sudan. The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 after rebels in the western region of Sudan began attacking government positions. The government responded with a fierce military campaign that has left about 300,000 dead and more than 2.5 million displaced, the United Nations estimates.
The International Criminal Court has no arrest powers and depends on its 106-member states to take suspects into custody.
Al-Bashir has visited other counties, including Qatar and Ethiopia, since the warrant was issued.
In Zimbabwe, the summit will be at the Victoria Falls, a popular tourism spot on the Zambezi River. Sudan is a member of the trade group, which consists of 19 African nations.
source: cnn.co/world
Sudan president Omar al-Bashir is the first head of state ever indicted by the ICC.
Al-Bashir landed Saturday in the capital, Harare, for the two-day African leaders' summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on March 4, accusing him of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in his government's campaign against rebels in Darfur in western Sudan.
It was the first arrest warrant for a sitting head of state by the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, based at The Hague in the Netherlands.
Sudan expelled 13 international aid agencies from the Darfur region after the warrant was issued.
Al-Bashir has denied the charges, calling them an attempt by Western powers to recolonize Sudan. The conflict in Darfur began in 2003 after rebels in the western region of Sudan began attacking government positions. The government responded with a fierce military campaign that has left about 300,000 dead and more than 2.5 million displaced, the United Nations estimates.
The International Criminal Court has no arrest powers and depends on its 106-member states to take suspects into custody.
Al-Bashir has visited other counties, including Qatar and Ethiopia, since the warrant was issued.
In Zimbabwe, the summit will be at the Victoria Falls, a popular tourism spot on the Zambezi River. Sudan is a member of the trade group, which consists of 19 African nations.
source: cnn.co/world
Key to blood clotting discovered
Scientists have discovered a molecular mechanism that is key to regulating the way blood clots.
The team from Harvard University, writing in the journal Science, said the finding could help treat people who have blood-clotting disorders.
If blood clots too much, people can develop a potentially fatal thrombosis; too little and they can bleed to death.
UK experts said the research was important and could help develop new treatments for blood disorders.
This discovery should aid the creation of more effective medicines
Professor Jeremy Pearson, British Heart Foundation
A molecular messaging system has to maintain a balance between blood not clotting too much or too little.
The Harvard team identified an area on the von Willebrand factor (VWF) blood-clotting protein which contains a molecular sensor to regulate the size of the protein, important for it to work effectively.
VWF is vital to the body's circulation. It controls the balance between blood clotting and bleeding, and abnormalities affecting VWF can lead to health problems such as bleeding disorders and heart attacks.
Dr Wesley Wong, who worked on the research, said: "The human body has an incredible ability to heal from life's scrapes and bruises.
"A central aspect of this response to damage is the ability to bring bleeding to an end, a process known as haemostasis.
"Yet regulating haemostasis is a complex balancing act."
The team from Harvard University, writing in the journal Science, said the finding could help treat people who have blood-clotting disorders.
If blood clots too much, people can develop a potentially fatal thrombosis; too little and they can bleed to death.
UK experts said the research was important and could help develop new treatments for blood disorders.
This discovery should aid the creation of more effective medicines
Professor Jeremy Pearson, British Heart Foundation
A molecular messaging system has to maintain a balance between blood not clotting too much or too little.
The Harvard team identified an area on the von Willebrand factor (VWF) blood-clotting protein which contains a molecular sensor to regulate the size of the protein, important for it to work effectively.
VWF is vital to the body's circulation. It controls the balance between blood clotting and bleeding, and abnormalities affecting VWF can lead to health problems such as bleeding disorders and heart attacks.
Dr Wesley Wong, who worked on the research, said: "The human body has an incredible ability to heal from life's scrapes and bruises.
"A central aspect of this response to damage is the ability to bring bleeding to an end, a process known as haemostasis.
"Yet regulating haemostasis is a complex balancing act."
source: bbc.co/science & tech.
Aerial images online endanger national security, critics say
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- One is a assemblyman in California; the other a piano tuner in Pennsylvania.
Critics fear that online aerial images of nuclear power plants in the U.S., like this one, could aid terrorists.
But when they independently looked at online aerial imagery of nuclear power plants and other sites, they had the same reaction: They said they feared that terrorists might be doing the same thing.
Now, both have launched efforts to try to get Internet map services to remove or blur images of sensitive sites, saying the same technology that allows people to see a neighbor's swimming pool can be used by terrorists to chose targets and plan attacks.
"It is disturbing to me that terrorists can now perform considerable surveillance without visiting the targeted site," piano tuner and nuclear watchdog Scott Portzline wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
Portzline is asking the Department of Homeland Security and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to seek voluntary compliance from satellite and aerial imagery companies to blur images of nuclear plants. See how detailed these aerial images are »
Joel Anderson, a member of the California Assembly, has more expansive goals. He has introduced a bill in the state Legislature that would prohibit "virtual globe" services from providing unblurred pictures of schools, churches and government or medical facilities in California. It also would prohibit those services from providing street-view photos of those buildings.
Critics fear that online aerial images of nuclear power plants in the U.S., like this one, could aid terrorists.
But when they independently looked at online aerial imagery of nuclear power plants and other sites, they had the same reaction: They said they feared that terrorists might be doing the same thing.
Now, both have launched efforts to try to get Internet map services to remove or blur images of sensitive sites, saying the same technology that allows people to see a neighbor's swimming pool can be used by terrorists to chose targets and plan attacks.
"It is disturbing to me that terrorists can now perform considerable surveillance without visiting the targeted site," piano tuner and nuclear watchdog Scott Portzline wrote in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.
Portzline is asking the Department of Homeland Security and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to seek voluntary compliance from satellite and aerial imagery companies to blur images of nuclear plants. See how detailed these aerial images are »
Joel Anderson, a member of the California Assembly, has more expansive goals. He has introduced a bill in the state Legislature that would prohibit "virtual globe" services from providing unblurred pictures of schools, churches and government or medical facilities in California. It also would prohibit those services from providing street-view photos of those buildings.
source: cnn.tech
Review: 'SNL's' Maya Rudolph shines in 'Away We Go'
Maybe marriage to Kate Winslet isn't all that bad.
After cruelly dissecting marital malaise in "American Beauty" and again, just six months ago, in "Revolutionary Road," Winslet's husband Sam Mendes takes a slightly more optimistic view of family life in the edgy comedy "Away We Go."
Not that he's offering a whole-hearted endorsement of the institution.
Burt and Verona (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) aren't legally bound -- she staunchly resists his repeated proposals -- but nevertheless they're a couple about to go nuclear: She's six months pregnant.
He sells insurance to insurance companies. She's an illustrator with a lucrative line in anatomical drawings.
Nevertheless, they're struggling to make ends meet.
"Are we losers?" wonders Verona (only she uses a more colorful expression). "We have cardboard windows... I think we must be."
Insomuch as they have a plan at all, it hinges on the support they're expecting from Burt's doting parents. So it's a nasty wake-up call when Jerry and Gloria (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) announce they're taking off for a new life in Belgium -- yes, even before the baby's out.
There is a silver lining: Realizing they no longer have any reason to stay, Burt and Verona decide to widen their horizons. They could move to Arizona where Verona's sister lives. Burt has a job prospect in Madison, Wisconsin. Or they have college friends in Montreal. Their destiny awaits them, all they have to do is go out and find it. And away they go.
Not that he's offering a whole-hearted endorsement of the institution.
Burt and Verona (John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph) aren't legally bound -- she staunchly resists his repeated proposals -- but nevertheless they're a couple about to go nuclear: She's six months pregnant.
He sells insurance to insurance companies. She's an illustrator with a lucrative line in anatomical drawings.
Nevertheless, they're struggling to make ends meet.
"Are we losers?" wonders Verona (only she uses a more colorful expression). "We have cardboard windows... I think we must be."
Insomuch as they have a plan at all, it hinges on the support they're expecting from Burt's doting parents. So it's a nasty wake-up call when Jerry and Gloria (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) announce they're taking off for a new life in Belgium -- yes, even before the baby's out.
There is a silver lining: Realizing they no longer have any reason to stay, Burt and Verona decide to widen their horizons. They could move to Arizona where Verona's sister lives. Burt has a job prospect in Madison, Wisconsin. Or they have college friends in Montreal. Their destiny awaits them, all they have to do is go out and find it. And away they go.
source:cnn.com/entertainment
England left to absorb shocking defeat
There have been some stunning results by England's opponents on the hallowed turf of Lord's over the past century and a bit.
But this one, in the ICC World Twenty20 opener, by the Netherlands in their dayglo orange kit, and on a bleak, showery night, knocks spots off all the others.
And doesn't it just seem ever-so-slightly farcical now that England had begun to feel quietly confident about winning back the Ashes later this summer?
Whatever happens now, they will probably recover in time to prepare properly for that series. But it was a strange evening all round in NW8, and it wasn't just those scarily efficient floodlights - that made England look even whiter with mounting panic through the agonising climax - that were to blame.
Through the sort of general chaos that bad weather lends to cricketing occasions, the opening ceremony - such as it ever would have been - was reduced to two cursory speeches. One was by ICC president David Morgan and the other by the Duke of Kent - neither the sort of celebrity figure the younger fans in the family stands might have wanted to see.
But this one, in the ICC World Twenty20 opener, by the Netherlands in their dayglo orange kit, and on a bleak, showery night, knocks spots off all the others.
And doesn't it just seem ever-so-slightly farcical now that England had begun to feel quietly confident about winning back the Ashes later this summer?
Whatever happens now, they will probably recover in time to prepare properly for that series. But it was a strange evening all round in NW8, and it wasn't just those scarily efficient floodlights - that made England look even whiter with mounting panic through the agonising climax - that were to blame.
Through the sort of general chaos that bad weather lends to cricketing occasions, the opening ceremony - such as it ever would have been - was reduced to two cursory speeches. One was by ICC president David Morgan and the other by the Duke of Kent - neither the sort of celebrity figure the younger fans in the family stands might have wanted to see.
source:bbc.co/sports
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