Israel after troops kill 4 Palestinians[ 771 ]

Palestinians warn Israel after troops kill 4

Ali Sawafta

NABLUS, West Bank

Sun Mar 21, 2010 1:07pm EDT

Palestinians carry the bodies of Mohammed and Salah Qawareek during their funeral in the West Bank village of Awarta near Nablus March 21, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Ammar Awad

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank were buried on Sunday following violence that has exacerbated growing tensions.

The Israeli army shot dead two 19-year-old men who it said had tried to stab a soldier on patrol near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Two youths were also shot on Saturday.

Palestinian officials accused Israel of escalating tensions already running high over moves which Palestinians believe aim to deepen Israeli control over the territory.

Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib called for an independent investigation into the killing of cousins Mohammed Qawariq and Saleh Qawariq on Sunday, citing witness accounts they had been shot only after being arrested.

Mahmoud al-Aloul, a senior figure in the Fatah party led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said they had been killed in "cold blood": "Nobody can imagine that we can stand with our hands tied vis-a-vis what is happening," Aloul told around 1,500 mourners at their funeral in Awarta, south of Nablus.

One of the bodies was wrapped in a yellow Fatah flag and the other in the green flag of the rival Hamas Islamist movement.

Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said Israel had responded to international efforts to revive peace talks "with more escalation" that thwarted attempts to get negotiations going.

Tensions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have risen in recent weeks, with Palestinians staging more protests over Israeli policies they believe aim to retain land where the Palestinians want to establish a state. The United States is trying to relaunch peace negotiations between the two sides.

Many of the protests have turned violent, with Palestinians throwing rocks at soldiers who fire rubber bullets and tear gas.

This though was the bloodiest 24 hours for Palestinians in the West Bank for more than a year. Two youths killed by Israeli forces on Saturday were also buried in the nearby village of Iraq Burin, just a few kilometers (miles) from Awarta.

MEDICS SAY LIVE AMMUNITION USED

Palestinian medics said Mohammed Kaddous, 16, and Osaid Kaddous, 17, were killed by gunfire during a confrontation on Saturday between Israeli forces and Palestinian youths.

Ahmad Hammad, a Nablus doctor, showed a Reuters journalist a photograph of what he said was a bullet entry wound in Mohammed Kaddous's chest and an exit wound in his back.

Hamid al-Masri, a doctor who treated Osaid Kaddous, presented an X-ray which he said showed a metal bullet lodged in his brain.

The Israeli army, which said it was responding to people throwing stones, denied using live rounds, only rubber bullets.

Locals said the youths, who were not closely related despite their similar names, had not been taking part in the protest.

Villagers in Iraq Burin have been staging protests over Israeli-imposed restrictions on access to farmland that lies near the Jewish settlement of Har Bracha. Jewish residents there say they are anxious to expand their land holdings rapidly.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad strongly condemned "the Israeli military escalation" that had led to the four deaths, according to a statement issued by his office.

He warned that Israel was endangering the West Bank stability which his administration has sought to build.

(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem and Erika Solomon in Ramallah; Writing by Tom Perry; editing by Alastair Macdonald and Jon Hemming)

Iceland Volcano roaring and erupts..[ 770 ]

Iceland Fears 2nd, Even Larger Volcanic Eruption

Volcano erupts in Iceland, hundreds evacuated; scientists wary of larger eruption

By GUDJON HELGASON and PAISLEY DODDS Associated Press Writers
REYKJAVIK, Iceland March 21, 2010 (AP)

The Associated Press

This frame grab from APTN shows the volcano near the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier as it begins erupting...

This frame grab from APTN shows the volcano near the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier as it begins erupting early Sunday morning March 21, 2010. Fearing flooding from the glacier melt, authorities evacuated some 400 people in the area 100 miles southeast of Reykjavik as a precaution but no damage or injuries have been reported. The last time the volcano erupted was in the 1820s.

(APTN/AP Photo)

A volcano in southern Iceland has erupted for the first time in almost 200 years, raising concerns that it could trigger a larger and potentially more dangerous eruption at a volatile volcano nearby.

The eruption at the Eyjafjallajokull (AYA-feeyapla-yurkul) volcano, located near a glacier of the same name, shot ash and molten lava into the air but scientists called it mostly peaceful. It occurred just before midnight Saturday (2000 EDT, 8 p.m. EDT) at a fissure on a slope — rather than at the volcano's summit — so scientists said there was no imminent danger that the glacier would melt and flood the area.

TV footage showed lava flowing along the fissure, and many flights were canceled due to the threat of airborne volcanic ash. After an aerial survey Sunday, scientists concluded the eruption struck near the glacier in an area that had no ice.

"This is the best possible place for an eruption," said Tumi Gudmundsson, a geologist at the University of Iceland.

Nonetheless, officials sent phone messages to 450 people between the farming village of Hvolsvollur and the fishing village of Vik, some 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of the capital, Reykjavik, urging them to evacuate immediately.

A state of emergency was declared although there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. Evacuation centers were set up near the town of Hella, but many people returned to their homes later Sunday. The most immediate threat was to livestock because of the caustic gases the eruption released.

"We had to leave all our animals behind," Eli Ragnarsdottir, a 47-year-old farmer, told RUV, Iceland's national broadcaster from an evacuation center. "We got a call and a text message ... and we just went."

Scientists say it is difficult to predict what comes next. Like earthquakes, it is hard to predict the exact timing of volcanic eruptions.

"It could stop tomorrow, it could last for weeks or months. We cannot say at this stage," Gudmundsson said.

The Greek fight for Idependence [ 769 ]

Greek War of Independence

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Greek War of Independence
Part of Wars of Independence
Theodoros Vryzakis (oil painting, 1849) illustrates Bishop Germanos of old Patras blessing the Greek banner at Agia Lavra on the outset of the national revolt against the Turks on 25 March 1821.
Result Greek victory, establishment of the Kingdom of Greece.

The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution
Greek: Ελληνική Επανάσταση Elliniki Epanastasi; Ottoman: يونان عصياني Yunan İsyanı) was a successful war of independence waged by the Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1829, with later assistance from several European powers, against the Ottoman Empire, who were assisted by their vassals, the Egyptian Khedivate and partly the Vilayet of Tunisia.

Following the fall of the Byzantine Empire to the Ottoman Empire, most of Greece came under Ottoman rule. During this time, there were numerous revolts by Greeks attempting to gain independence. In 1814, a secret organization called the Filiki Eteria was founded with the aim of liberating Greece. The Filiki Eteria planned to launch revolts in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities and Constantinople. The first of these revolts began on 6 March 1821 in the Danubian Principalities, but it was soon put down by the Ottomans. The events in the north urged the Greeks in the Peloponnese in action and on 17 March 1821 the Maniots declared war on the Ottomans. By the end of the month, the Peloponnese was in open revolt against the Turks and by October 1821 the Greeks under Theodoros Kolokotronis had captured Tripolitsa. The Peloponnesian revolt was quickly followed by revolts in Crete, Macedonia and Central Greece, which would soon be suppressed. Meanwhile, the makeshift Greek navy was achieving success against the Ottoman navy in the Aegean Sea and prevented Ottoman reinforcements from arriving by sea.

Tensions soon developed among different Greek factions, leading to a virtual civil war. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Sultan negotiated with Mehmet Ali of Egypt, who agreed to send his son Ibrahim Pasha to Greece with an army to suppress the revolt in return for territorial gain. Ibrahim landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825 and had immediate success: by the end of 1825, most of the Peloponnese was under Egyptian control, and the city of Messolonghi—put under siege by the Turks since April 1825—fell in April 1826. Although Ibrahim was defeated in Mani, he had succeeded in suppressing most of the revolt in the Peloponnese and Athens had been retaken.

Following years of negotiation, three Great Powers, Russia, the United Kingdom and France, decided to intervene in the conflict and each nation sent a navy to Greece. Following news that combined Ottoman–Egyptian fleets were going to attack the Greek island of Hydra, the allied fleet intercepted the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet at Navarino. Following a week long standoff, a battle began which resulted in the destruction of the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet. With the help of a French expeditionary force, the Greeks drove the Turks out of the Peloponnese and proceeded to the captured part of Central Greece by 1828. As a result of years of negotiation, Greece was finally recognized as an independent nation in May 1832.

The Revolution is celebrated on 25 March by the modern Greek state, which is a national day.

Israel : Jerusalem, before U.S. visit....[ 768 ]

Netanyahu stands firm on Jerusalem before U.S. visit

Jeffrey Heller

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in his office in Jerusalem March 21, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Uriel Sinai/Pool

JERUSALEM (Reuters) Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:35am EDT-

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had informed Washington in writing that Israel would not stop Jewish settlement in and around Jerusalem, setting the stage for a defiant visit to the United States this week.

World

The tinderbox settlement issue, accompanied by mounting violence in the West Bank where four Palestinians have been killed in the past two days, is challenging renewed efforts by a U.S. envoy to get indirect peace talks under way.

"Our policy on Jerusalem is the same policy followed by all Israeli governments for the 42 years, and it has not changed. As far as we are concerned, building in Jerusalem is the same as building in Tel Aviv," Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday.

"I believed it would be of great importance for these things not to remain in the context of commentary or speculation. I subsequently wrote a letter, at my own initiative, to the secretary of state so that things would be crystal clear."

Hillary Clinton and Netanyahu spoke by telephone on Thursday in an attempt to defuse a vocal U.S.-Israeli dispute over settlement in areas around East Jerusalem, captured by Israel captured in a 1967 war.

Israel's announcement -- during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden two weeks ago -- that it would build 1,600 homes for Jews near East Jerusalem embarrassed Washington and delayed the start of indirect peace talks with the Palestinians.

But in a softening of Washington's tone in the worst public spat with Israel since U.S. President Barack Obama came to office early last year, Clinton said last week that Netanyahu had given a "useful and productive" response to her concerns.

She gave no details. Israel media said Clinton failed to persuade Netanyahu to shelve the new housing project but that he agreed to several confidence-building steps such as freeing Palestinian prisoners and easing a Gaza blockade.

Netanyahu was to fly to the United States later on Sunday after talks with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell on restarting peace talks that have been suspended since December 2008.

He planned to address the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC on Monday. U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, on a visit to Gaza, said Netanyahu would also meet President Barack Obama, but there was no confirmation of that from Israel or the United States.

In the latest West Bank bloodshed, Israeli troops killed two Palestinians who tried to stab soldiers, the army said.

On Saturday, soldiers shot two Palestinian teenagers during a stone-throwing protest against Israeli settlement policy that Palestinians say will deny them a viable state. One was killed immediately and the other youth died of his wounds on Sunday.

Palestinians stuck publicly to their refusal to negotiate until Israel froze settlement building.

Israel's action "thwarts efforts by the Quartet (of international peace mediators) and the U.S. administration to return to the peace process," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

ISSUES

Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim that is not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of the state they want to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In his remarks at the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu appeared to give Mitchell an opening in dealing with a Palestinian demand to negotiate core issues, such as borders and the future of Jerusalem," during indirect peace talks.

Netanyahu reaffirmed that each side was free to put forward its positions on all issues in dispute, but he said pointedly that "a real solution to the core problems ... can be reached only in direct peace negotiations."

Netanyahu had apologized to Washington for the timing of the announcement of the construction plans for the settlement of Ramat Shlomo, built on West Bank land that Israel annexed to Jerusalem in 1967.

But he told parliament last week there was a national consensus to build in "Jerusalem neighborhoods," Jewish apartment blocs in disputed areas under Israeli control.

"I believe that Israel's position is very clear. It will be clear during my visit to the U.S. capital, Netanyahu told his cabinet, which is comprised mainly of pro-settler parties, including his own.

At a meeting in Moscow on Friday, the Quartet -- the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia -- called on Israel to halt all settlement building.

Israel has refused to do so, citing biblical and historical links to the West Bank and saying it intends to keep major settlement blocs in any future peace agreement.

Under U.S. and international pressure, Netanyahu announced a 10-month moratorium on new housing starts in Jewish settlements in November. But he excluded East Jerusalem and nearby annexed areas of the West Bank from the temporary building freeze, leading Palestinians to call it insufficient.

(Editing by Noah Barkin)

A sea of tranquility in Wakayama...[ 767 ]

'Dolphin house' a sea of tranquility in Wakayama Prefecture

Norio Oki and wife Yoko are pictured in the living room of their "dolphin house" in Susami, Wakayama Prefecture. (Mainichi)

(Mainichi Japan) March 21, 2010

In the midst of the tranquil countryside in southern Kii Peninsula, there is a unique house in the shape of a giant dolphin. Owner Norio Oki, 68, and his wife Yoko, 65, have been living in the dolphin's belly for nearly eight years.

The couple, who used to live in an apartment complex in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, decided to move to a quiet rural area after Norio retired from his work, and started looking for an ideal place with the help of their close friends. In the summer of 2000, they chose a small town in Wakayama Prefecture for its warm climate and abundant nature.

"It feels as if we are living inside the stomach of a large dolphin, and it's really relaxing," the couple said.

It was nothing but a coincidence that the couple, who had never had any special feelings for dolphins, modeled their new residence after the animal.

The idea came up when the couple became acquainted with Akifumi Konishi, an architect based in northern Wakayama Prefecture at the time who is engaged in housing development in harmony with the natural environment. Among the unique models of houses Konishi had designed, the couple especially liked the one in the shape of a dolphin.

"At first glance I said 'Oh, this one's so adorable', and thought it would be lots of fun to live in a house like that," Yoko recalls.

Located in the small town of Susami, Wakayama Prefecture, the construction of the 40-meter-long "dolphin house" started in the spring of 2001 and was completed in December the same year at a total construction cost of some 26 million yen. The 132-square-meter flat wooden structure is supported by curved beams and pillars, which look just like the bones of dolphins.

The head part of the dolphin is used as a bedroom with a roof skylight, and the belly as a spacious living/dining room with a high ceiling. The entrance is located at its right fin, and the bathroom on the other side. There is even a tatami room next to the living room and a guest room at the tail fin. The roof and the exterior wall were painted grey to look like a dolphin.

In spring the Japanese bush warblers sing and in summer fireflies dance around the nearby Wabuka River.

"I'm glad that friends who visit us enjoy themselves here, too," said Norio.