NASA image of Yesterday, July 16th ..[ 1480 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

Symbol of Cooperation

On July 17, 1975, Cold War rivals America and the Soviet Union met in Earth orbit as American Apollo astronauts Tom Stafford, Vance Brand and Deke Slayton docked with Soviet Soyuz cosmonauts Aleksey Leonov and Valeriy Kubasov. 

During their joint mission, the astronauts and cosmonauts assembled this commemorative plaque in orbit as a symbol of the international cooperation. 

The American side is blue with English text, while the Soviet side is red with Russian text.

Image Credit: NASA

Παρασκευή, 16 Ιούλιος 2010 7:00:00 πμ

Lockerbie bomber release based on a health lie..[ 1479]

Hague vows talks on bomber release

the London Evening Standard., 17.07.10

The UK Government has vowed to engage with the US on questions over the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi

The UK Government will "engage constructively" with Washington over questions surrounding the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, Foreign Secretary William Hague has vowed.

His commitment came in a telephone call with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in which he repeated the Government's view that the release on compassionate grounds was "a mistake".

Mrs Clinton said she will look into claims by a group of Democrat senators that BP lobbied the Government to release Megrahi in order to smooth an oil deal with Libya - an allegation the oil giant denies.
Both issues are likely to feature when Prime Minister David Cameron holds talks with US President Barack Obama next week on his first official visit to Washington.

BP acknowledged it pressed the Government over the signing of a prisoner transfer agreement with the Gaddafi regime, but insisted it made no representations about Megrahi's actual release by the Scottish Government last August.

The only man to be convicted of involvement in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which killed 270 people in 1988, was freed on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with terminal cancer and given just three months to live.

There was outrage on both sides of the Atlantic when he was flown home to a hero's welcome in Tripoli, and the case has been revived as the first anniversary of his release approaches without news of his death.

BP officials are expected to be asked to give evidence to special hearings of the US Senate foreign relations committee later this month.

A US State Department spokesman said Mrs Clinton "indicated that it might be appropriate for the British Government to communicate with Congress as well to make sure that they fully understand what transpired a year ago".

Mr Hague made clear to her, a Foreign Office spokesman said, "that we would engage constructively with the US administration and the Senate on this issue".

Ripper will sped the rest of his life in jail..[ 1478 ]

Jailed Ripper will never be freed

 

 

Evening Standard 16.07.10

Peter Sutcliffe will spend the rest of his life behind bars

Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, whose notorious murder campaign caused "widespread and permanent harm to the living", will never be released, a judge has ruled.

The serial killer of 13 women must serve a "whole life" tariff, said Mr Justice Mitting, announcing his decision at the High Court in London.
His judgment was welcomed by Richard McCann, whose mother Wilma was one of the victims of Sutcliffe's reign of terror.

Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice, Mr McCann said that for many years he had feared Sutcliffe might get released, but now felt a "sense of relief" at the decision. He described it as a "small victory for my mum" and the other victims. In his ruling Mr Justice Mitting said: "This was a campaign of murder which terrorised the population of a large part of Yorkshire for several years.
"The only explanation for it, on the jury's verdict, was anger, hatred and obsession. Apart from a terrorist outrage, it is difficult to conceive of circumstances in which one man could account for so many victims. Those circumstances alone make it appropriate to set a whole life term."

Now known as Peter Coonan, the former lorry driver, now 64, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, was convicted at the Old Bailey in 1981. He received 20 life terms for the murder of 13 women and the attempted murder of others in Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. Mr Justice Mitting said he had read statements by relatives of six victims: "They are each moving accounts of the great loss and widespread and permanent harm to the living caused by six of his crimes.

"None of them suggest any term other than a whole life term would be regarded by them as appropriate." He said he had no doubt that the "appropriate minimum term is a whole life term". Sutcliffe is being held in Broadmoor top security psychiatric hospital after being transferred from prison in 1984 suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

It was on July 5 1975, just 11 months after his marriage, that he took a hammer and carried out his first attack on a woman. Sutcliffe is said to have believed he was on a "mission from God" to kill prostitutes - although not all of his victims were sex workers - and was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper because he mutilated their bodies using a hammer, a sharpened screwdriver and a knife.

The primary submission made on behalf of Sutcliffe was that the degree of his responsibility "was lowered by mental disorder or mental disability". The diagnosis of psychiatrists was that he was "suffering from encapsulated paranoid schizophrenia when he committed the crimes". But the judge said: "These propositions were, however, unquestionably rejected by the jury."

A report from Dr Kevin Murray, the psychiatrist who has been in charge of Sutcliffe's care since 2001, revealed that in July 1993 the killer was started on anti-psychotic medicine and "has persevered with it ever since". The judge said: "He has been well-behaved and has posed no threat to other inmates. Jehovah's Witnesses who have befriended him for over 15 years are emphatic that he now shows remorse for his crimes."

Iran Mosque Bombing for avenge..[ 1477 ]

Sunni Insurgents Kill 27 in Iran Mosque Bombing

Published July 16, 2010

| Associated Press 

AP

July 15: Twin bombers from a Sunni insurgent movement struck outside a mosque in Zahedan, Iran, killing 27 people including members of the powerful Revolutionary Guard.

TEHRAN, Iran -16 July 2010 - A Sunni insurgent group said it carried out a double suicide bombing against a Shiite mosque in southeast Iran to avenge the execution of its leader, as Iranian authorities Friday said the death toll rose to 27 people, including members of the elite Revolutionary Guard.

The blast was the latest by the group Jundallah, which has repeatedly succeeded in carrying out deadly strikes on the Guard, the country's most powerful military force -- including an October suicide bombing that killed more than 40 people. It was a sign that the group is still able to carry out devastating attacks even after Iran hanged its leader Abdulmalik Rigi and his brother earlier this year.
Jundallah has been waging an insurgency for years in the remote Sistan-Baluchistan province, a lawless area where smuggling and banditry are rife. 

The groups says it is fighting for the rights of the mainly Sunni ethnic Baluchi minority, which it says suffers discrimination at the hands of Iran's Shiite's leadership. Iran has accused the group of links to Al Qaeda, but experts say no evidence of such a link has been found.
Iran executed Jundallah's leader in June in Zahedan, a month after hanging his brother Abdulhamid Rigi, who had been captured in Pakistan in 2008 and extradited to Iran. The group named a new leader, al-Hajj Mohammed Dhahir Baluch.

In a statement posted on its Web site, Jundallah claimed responsibility for Thursday night's blast, saying they were to avenge Abdulmalik Rigi's death. It showed pictures of two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests, identified as Mohammad and Mujahid Rigi, apparently members of the leader's clan, though the site did not specify their relationship to him

A Sunni insurgent group said it carried out a double suicide bombing against a Shiite mosque in southeast Iran to avenge the execution of its leader, as Iranian authorities Friday said the death toll rose to 27 people, including members of the elite Revolutionary Guard.

The group said its "sons of the faith ... carried out tonight a heroic unprecedented operation at the heart of an assembly of the Guard at Zahedan," claiming to have killed more than 100.
Shiite worshippers were attending ceremonies marking the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson, Hussein, when the first blast went off outside the mosque in the provincial capital Zahedan. The male bomber was disguised as a woman, local lawmaker Hossein Ali Shahriari told the ISNA news agency.
Inside the mosque, a cleric was reading from the Quran in front of lines of faithful sitting crosslegged on the floor when the building suddenly shook from the blast and screams were heard from outside, according to footage taken at the time and aired on Iranian state TV.

As people rushed to help, the second explosion detonated, causing the majority of the deaths and injuries. The technique is often used by Sunni militants in Iraq to maximize casualties.
Members of the Guard were among the worshippers, particularly because the ceremonies coincided with Iran's official Revolutionary Guard Day. The deputy interior minister, Ali Abdollahi, told the Fars news agency Thursday that several Guard members were among the dead.

Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastagerdi told the semiofficial ISNA news agency that the toll stood at 27 dead but could still rise, with another 270 injured, including 11 in serious condition.
Iran accuses the United States and Britain of supporting Jundallah in a plot to weaken Tehran clerical leadership, a claim both countries deny. On Friday, officials blamed them for the latest attack.

Gen. Hossein Salami, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guard, told worshippers during Tehran Friday prayers that the victims "were martyred by hands of mercenaries of the U.S. and U.K."
He was echoed by influential lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi who said "America should be answerable for the terrorist incident in Zahedan."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the bombing in the "strongest possible terms" and called for those responsible to be held accountable.
Jundallah has repeatedly targeted the Revolutionary Guards. In its deadliest attack, a suicide bomber hit a meeting between Guard commanders and Shiite and Sunni tribal leaders in the border town of killed Pishin on Oct. 18, killing 42 people, including 15 Guard members.

The group struck another mosque in Zahedan in May 2009, killing 25 people. In February 2007, a Jundallah car bomb blew up a bus carrying Revolutionary Guards in Zahedan, killing 11.

Pack your tents and go..[ 1476 ]

Parliament Square peace protesters told to pack their tents and go

Evicted: a group of protesters from the peace camp outside the High Court today after Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, rejected an appeal against eviction. He ruled their tent village must be dismantled

 

 Paul Cheston and Pippa Crerar
the London Evening Standard 16.07.10

Peace protesters in Parliament Square will be thrown out after losing an eviction battle with Boris Johnson today.

The Democracy Village set up near the House of Commons in May must be dismantled, the Appeal Court ruled.

But the judge was forced to leave amid chaotic scenes as activists shouted “hypocrite” and accused him of running a pirate court. The Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, rejected an appeal against eviction and refused the group leave to take their case to the Supreme Court.

The so-called peace campaigners must now pay 80 per cent of the estimated £110,000 legal costs of bringing the case. If they fail to pay, the Mayor must decide whether to spend more money chasing the debt or write it off and let the taxpayer foot the bill.

Mr Johnson welcomed the ruling, saying: “I am very, very pleased. The ethos of these kind of protesters is something I have great sympathy for, but this thing was doing too much damage to a World Heritage site. It was an unsustainable expense to the public purse and was becoming an 

eyesore.”

Colin Barrow, leader of Westminster City Council, said: “We are delighted by this decision as we feel the hijacking of one of London's historic public spaces needs to be brought to an end.

“We all support peaceful protest, but it is completely unacceptable for parts of our city to be occupied and turned into no-go areas by vociferous minorities, however laudable their cause.

“This decision will mean ordinary Londoners and visitors can once again use the square.” High Court officers were unable to give a timetable for eviction but police will be sent in to ensure protesters comply with the order.

Today activists claimed they would continue to fight but experts said they had run out of legal options and must now leave. The camp was set up on May 1, sparking a protracted legal battle.

High Court judge Mr Justice Griffith Williams last month granted orders sought by Mr Johnson but their enforcement was delayed pending an appeal. Counsel for the protesters argued that the Mayor had no right to evict them as he did not own the land, which belongs to the Queen. But Mr Johnson's lawyer successfully argued that Parliament Square Gardens is an open space which the public has a right to use.

He said there was a pressing social need to prevent camps on the site for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others to access. The court also heard it was vital to protect health, as the camp had no running water or lavatories and attracted homeless people, alcoholics and drug users.

Today, as Lord Neuberger made his ruling together with Lady Justice Arden and Lord Justice Stanley Burnton, a threadbare protester calling himself Friend — real name Ian Hobbs — told the court: “Put the costs down to me.”

Lecturer Camilla Power, 51, of Battersea, said: “We won't leave until we're made to. We're non-violent but will stand our ground. That's what protesters have done historically at Parliament Square, including the Suffragettes.”

Anthony Bexley, 52, who has been at the camp since the start, said: “They'll need to move us physically. We'll take this to the Court of Human Rights.”

Mr Johnson said the police would not be “brutal” in removing the protesters but insisted the law had to be upheld. The camp has been called a sewer by MPs, who feared activists' use of straw bales as latrines put hygiene at risk.