Thursday 17 November 2011

Police arrest suspect in shooting that hit White House

The White House is pictured at night from the South Lawn looking north in Washington in this April 29, 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Larry Downing/Files

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Police arrested a 21-year-old man on Wednesday suspected of shooting at the White House last week, after federal agents found two bullets that had hit the mansion, including one that struck a window.
Oscar Ortega-Hernandez was picked up by Pennsylvania state troopers at a hotel near Indiana, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Secret Service said, some four hours drive time from Washington.
No one was hurt in the Friday night shooting and President Barack Obama and wife Michelle were out of town at the time.
The Secret Service said the bullet that broke a window was stopped by protective ballistic glass behind the executive mansion's historic external glass, said Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan. The other round struck the exterior of the building.
The rounds were found on the south side of the White House, where the master bedroom and the Lincoln bedroom of the presidential private residence are located, as well as other bedrooms and spaces that can be used by the first family.
Secret Service officers had heard shots fired on the street, between 700 and 800 yards (meters) south of the president's residence.
Two cars were seen racing away from that scene. One of those vehicles was later found abandoned nearby with a semi-automatic rifle on board.
At the time of the incident, the president was in California before heading to Hawaii.
The shooting was being investigated by the Secret Service as well as Washington and U.S. Parks police, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

China spacecraft returns to Earth after docking test

A view of China's Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) 1 module (top L) just before it docks with the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft (top R) is seen on a monitoring screen showing a computer animation (bottom) of the docking process at the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center November 3, 2011 China successfully carried out its first docking exercise on Thursday between two unmanned spacecraft, a key test of the rising power's plans to secure a long-term manned foothold in space.The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft joined the Tiangong 1 module about 340 km (211 miles) above Earth, in a maneuver carried live on state television.The 10.5 meter-long unmanned Tiangong, launched on September 29, is part of China's preparations for a space laboratory at some point in the future. REUTERS/CCTV via Reuters TV

BEIJING (Reuters) — An unmanned Chinese spacecraft returned to Earth successfully on Thursday after more than two weeks in orbit, marking a pivotal moment for the rising power's plans to secure a long-term manned foothold in space.
The Shenzhou 8 spacecraft touched down in northern China's Inner Mongolia region after a fiery return to Earth, a live broadcast on Chinese television showed.
The spacecraft's return is the latest show of China's growing prowess in space, alongside its growing military and diplomatic influence, at a time when budget restraints and shifting priorities have held back U.S. manned space launches.
The spacecraft was part of China's first docking exercise on November 3, when it joined the Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) 1 module about 340 km (210 miles) above Earth.
The unmanned Tiangong module, which is 10.5 meters (35 feet) long, launched on September 29, is part of China's exploratory preparations for a space lab.
China aims to have a fully fledged space station by about 2020.
However, it is still far from catching up with the established space superpowers: the United States and Russia.
Russia, the United States and other countries jointly operate the 400-tonne International Space Station, to which China does not belong.
But the United States will not test a new rocket to take people into space until 2017, and Russia has said manned missions are no longer a priority.
China launched its first manned space mission in 2003 when astronaut Yang Liwei orbited Earth 14 times. It launched its second moon orbiter last year after becoming only the third country to send its astronauts walking in space outside their orbiting craft, in 2008.

As Libya dithers, fighters take on security role


An anti-Gaddafi fighter stands guard at the Mellitah Oil and Gas complex during a handover ceremony in Mellitah, 80 km west Tripoli September 6, 2011. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra



TRIPOLI (Reuters) — At the Mellitah Oil & Gas facility, a joint venture between Italy's oil major Eni and the Libyan national oil company, fighters from the mountain city of Zintan stand guard.
At the Mellitah Oil & Gas facility, a joint venture between Italy's oil major Eni and the Libyan national oil company, fighters from the mountain city of Zintan stand guard.
Deep in the Sahara desert, 700 km south, another brigade of fighters from Zintan -- a city which prides itself as being one of the first to rise up against Muammar Gaddafi -- say they are securing the Akakus oil field in the absence of a national army.
Some of the fighters who ousted Gaddafi are not prepared to wait for their interim government to form a cabinet and begin the long task of rebuilding a functioning state. They are doing it for themselves.
Armed militias are acting as a pseudo-police force: setting up road checkpoints, directing traffic and arresting those they regard as criminals.
Groups of fighters from Misrata, 190 km to the east of the capital, have joined some Tripoli brigades to guard the naval base where several military ships that escaped the bombing by NATO during the war are docked.

NLC gives FG 2 Weeks to fulfil agreements with PHCN workers


The Nigeria Labour Congress [NLC] has given the federal government two weeks from Friday November 18, 2011 to fulfil all agreements reached with workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria [PHCN] or risk an indefinite strike action by the labour unions.

Speaking on the situation in the Power Holding Company to journalists in Abuja, the General Secretary of the union, Mr Owei Lekamfa accused government of hiding under the guise of security threats to deploy armed soldiers who are used to guide foreign investors and the Bureau for Public Procurement on facility assessment tour without involving the management of the PHCN.

Lekamfa assured that PHCN workers will avoid shutting down power supply in the interest of the nation and her citizens who depend on power generation but government must fulfil its side of the bargain to ensure affordable, accessible and available power supply.

Previously, the NLC President Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar raised alarm over the Federal Government’s decision to deploy soldiers to PHCN offices and asked that they be withdrawn.

Speaking at an event in Kaduna, Omar expressed outrage at FG’s deployment of soldiers to occupy the corporate Headquarters of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) the Katampe, Wuse Zone 4 and Apo Transmission Stations in Abuja, the Olorunsogo centre, Ondo State, Ayede, the Egbin Power Station, the National Control Centre, Oshogbo and the Oshogbo Work Centre.

“The militarization of the electricity centres is an impotent and vain attempt by Government to force the deregulation of the PHCN. As you might know, there are on-going negotiations between the Federal Government and Electricity Workers on Power reform in the country. The next round of negotiations is scheduled to hold on November 22, 2011.

“To send armed soldiers to occupy electricity installations is therefore a calculated attempt to stall the negotiations and impose a pre-determined solution that will see the power sector sold as scrap to serving ministers and other cronies of the Federal Government. The industrial relations system must be made to work rather than Government and employers resorting to brute force”, the NLC president said.

Worried at what he termed ‘government’s insensitivity to the needs of the people’, Omar wondered why the chose to embark on poverty-inducing programmes and measures that can only push the populace to the wall and provoke a reaction by a long suffering populace.

“A you all know, the NLC and TUC signed an agreement with the Federal Government on July 19, 2011 on the implementation of the N18,000 Minimum Wage. It was agreed that the implementation will commerce from August 2011 with arrears paid from March 23, 2011. But as I speak to you four months later, the Federal Government has failed, or refused to implement this agreement. It appears that elements within Government with suicidal instincts want to provoke a general strike and mass protests on this issue.

“These elements also seem to be responsible for other provocative Government programmes such as a proposal to hike electricity tariff by 100 percent, re-impose toll-gates for un-motorable roads, and through a dubious constitutional amendment, annul the National Minimum Wage so that States and private employers can pay starvation wages. The NLC will never allow this to happen”, Omar said.

According to him, President Goodluck Jonathan’s deregulation policy is a deliberate attempt at devaluing the currency in order to devalue the N18,000 National Minimum Wage and as part of its poverty-inducing measures.

“As we have stated elsewhere, Government’s insistence to hike fuel prices by 120 percent will further complicate matters for a hungry citizenry that has to cope with growing mass unemployment and a non-existent social security. This will be an invitation to open revolt by the citizenry and the NLC will be there to lead the people”, Omar assured.
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Dozens killed in Syria as Jordan’s King Abdullah, Calls for Assad’s Resignation

Jordan’s King Abdullah has called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, the first Arab leader to do so since the Syrian government started its deadly crackdown on an eight-month-long uprising.
King Abdullah said in an interview with the BBC Monday that he would step down if he were in Assad’s position and create a way for Syrians to start “a new phase of political life.”
Meanwhile, Syria has accused the Arab League of taking a “dangerous step” by voting to suspend its membership in the regional bloc.
In a news conference Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Saturday’s vote is “illegitimate” because the motion to suspend Syria did not receive unanimous approval in the 22-member body. Eighteen nations led by Saudi Arabia and Qatar voted in favor of sanctioning Damascus, while Syria, Lebanon and Yemen voted against the sanctioning. Iraq abstained.
The motion said Syria’s membership will be suspended beginning Wednesday if Damascus continues to violate an Arab League peace deal to end the violent crackdown. League foreign ministers are due to meet Wednesday in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, to discuss the situation.
Al-Moallem said Damascus has taken measures to implement the Arab League plan. He predicted that Russia and China will continue to block Western efforts to impose sanctions on Syria through the U.N. Security Council.
European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed Monday to extend existing EU sanctions against Syria to 18 more individuals suspected of links to the violent suppression of opposition protests. The 27-nation EU also decided to stop Syria from accessing funds from the European Investment Bank.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated Moscow’s support for the Syrian president’s government Monday, saying Russia opposes Syria’s suspension from the Arab League. But China’s foreign ministry said it is important for Syria to implement the Arab League peace plan as soon as possible.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday Ankara will take a “resolute stance” against any further attacks on its diplomatic missions in Syria. He also said Turkey will stand by the Syrian people in what he called their “rightful struggle” against the Assad government.
Syria continued its violent crackdown Sunday, with activists reporting at least nine people killed in shootings by security forces across the country.
Assad
The U.N. human rights agency says at least 3,500 people have been killed in Syria in connection with anti-Assad protests since March. Syria blames much of the violence on foreign-backed “terrorists and thugs.”
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