Jakarta - As Barack Obama arrives in Asia for his first visit to the region as President and while the United States continues to block progress ahead of the critical UN climate negotiations at Copenhagen next month, a 50-strong international team of Greenpeace activists issued him an urgent call to action from the heart of Indonesia's threatened rainforests. One group of activists unfurled a 20 x 30 meter banner in a freshly destroyed area of rainforest that read "Obama: you can stop this", urging him to take strong leadership and work closely with other Heads of State to help avert a climate crisis by ending global deforestation, responsible for about a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. Another group of activists locked th... more

NASHVILLE, TN -- Hope Through Healing Hands (HTHH), a nonprofit founded by former Senator Bill Frist, M.D., has announced a partnership with Nashville-based Soles4Souls to bring aid to children living in extreme poverty in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Soles4Souls, an international charity that has distributed over 6 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes to people in need, both in the United States and around the world, has set up a website: www.hopeshoes.org to provide more information and to reserve sponsorships for new shoes. "Shoes are integral to combating neglected tropical diseases, like podoconiosis and other soil-transmitted diseases, which disable, disfigure, and cause death to over 1.4 billion peop... more

MINNEAPOLIS, MN --- Zip Express Installation, the leading next-day installation service for consumer electronics retailers and consumers, announces its partnership with regional retailer, Shopko, to provide select Shopko locations with Zip's full line of professional installation, delivery and assembly services. Zip Express Installation conveniently provides customers with value-added, cost conscious installation services such as TV installation, home theater installation, computer networking, setup, diagnosis and repair, electronics recycling, furniture assembly and in home delivery. "By partnering and offering our services, retailers stand to increase customer retention, extend their positive brand value beyond the store walls, and gai... more

NEWPORT, WA --- When the next Twilight film, New Moon, sinks its bloody fangs into global fans, best-selling author of 23 books Steve Wohlberg won't be touting its moral benefits to teens. In fact, Wohlberg's take on the movie is quite the contrary, because of rampant links to the dark and dangerous worlds of occultism and vampirism. Wohlberg realizes that many parents and teens consider Stephenie Meyer's tantalizing sequence of vampire romances to be wholesome fare because the Edward Cullen character is so noble, and he and Bella Swan wait until after marriage to have sex, yet his concerns are that hidden perils are intertwined with Twilight's "morality," and that Hollywood is fueling a mesmerizing and addictive, bloody phenomenon. "... more

Coalition of local business owners and organizations call on U.S. Chamber's President Tom Donohue to stop protecting a small number of CEOs and start supporting businesses and consumers in California SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- Outside of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Regional Government Affairs convention in San Francisco, small business owners and organizations held a press conference and rally calling on U.S. Chamber President Tom Donohue to end his campaign against health care and clean energy reform. The large crowd gathered outside of the Fairmont Hotel and called out Tom Donohue for pushing an agenda that favors corporate CEO profits at the expense of people and the planet. Tom Donohue's Chamber of Commerce has been met with protests at... more

UCSF scientists studying nerve cells in fruit flies have uncovered a new function for a gene whose human equivalent may play a critical role in schizophrenia. Scientists have known that the mutated form of the human gene ... one of three consistently associated with schizophrenia ... mildly disrupts the transmission of chemical signals between nerve cells in the brain. The new study focuses on genes involved in "adaptive plasticity," the capacity of nerve cells to compensate for a wide range of perturbations and continue to function normally. Studies ranging from fruit flies to human have shown that if a nerve cell is functionally impaired then the surrounding cells can compensate and restore normal cell-to-cell communication. Thi... more

With new submarines, destroyers and mine warfare ships, China's Navy is clearly benefiting from modernization financed by the nation's rapidly growing economy, a new report tells U.S. lawmakers. But a more shadowy Chinese force probably poses a greater immediate threat to the United States - that is, China's secretive army of intelligence collectors and cyber warriors, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. In its annual report to Congress on Nov. 19, the commission said that China has added 38 submarines, 13 destroyers, 16 frigates, support ships and dozens of aircraft to its Navy over the past decade. The Navy also has "vastly increased" its arsenal of advanced weapons, including anti-ship ballistic missile... more

China renewed a call for a cooperative international effort against Somali piracy by defining patrol areas in the Horn of Africa. In its call for teamwork, officials deftly parried appeals for China to lead the anti-piracy mission. China and other countries in Somali waters will "strive to reach consensus" on defining areas of patrol, said Senior Colonel Huang Xueping, a Defense Ministry spokesman. But he also said that "China is always open to boosting international patrolling cooperation (and) wishes to cooperate, bilaterally and multilaterally, with all nations involved" in response to a recent call for China to take a leading role in the dangerous waters. The appeal to China was made by Commodore Tim Lowe, the deputy commander of th... more

Somali livestock traders see through the Saudi policy and fear political closure will be imposed soon again. Aussie live sheep exports falling short. Countries like Romania are increasingly being relied on to make up for Australia's sheep live export shortfall because of continual downsizing in the nation's flock, which has fallen to a 104-year low of 71.6 million head. LiveCorp chief executive Cameron Hall told Rural Press this week that for "18-months to two years" the Middle East had increasingly been sourcing sheep from Romania, Syria and Somalia and in some cases switching to Australian beef in a bid to satisfy consumer protein demand. The extent of Australia's sheep flock demise came to light last week when an Australian Bureau of... more

I meet world-renowned undersea photojournalist Brian Skerry at Legal Seafoods, across from the New England Aquarium, where he's the explorer in residence. He orders a chicken Caesar salad. "I refrain from eating much seafood due to environmental concerns," he explains, before launching into a depressing litany of problems facing the world's marine ecosystems. "I have to remain optimistic, because I do believe there's always hope," says Skerry, who spends more than half of every year underwater, diving with harp seals in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and green sea turtles in Kiribati. "That said, it's very discouraging what I'm seeing." What he's seeing are oceans in crisis, their health potentially at a tipping point: gratuitously destruct... more

China has sent a new navy flotilla to join an international fleet in the Gulf of Aden combating increasingly bold Somali pirates who are pushing deeper into the Indian Ocean as merchant vessels start to fight back against them. One of the missions of the incoming flotilla, the fourth Beijing has rotated into the region since it joined the anti-piracy campaign in December, will be to locate 25 crewmen of the bulk carrier De Xin Hai captured Oct. 19. The Chinese have vowed an all-out effort to rescue their countrymen. The flotilla comprising the missile frigates Ma'anshan and Wenzhou recently joined the European-led fleet and hooked up with the supply ship Qiandaohu, which has been on station since June. Both frigates carry a helicopter an... more

Pirate attacks on shipping lanes around the Horn of Africa have shown no sign of relenting, and the nations policing the seas are struggling to find solutions in a mission that seems to be covering a growing area and time frame. The attacks have moved deeper into the Indian Ocean and along the African coast from Somalia toward the Mozambique Channel, away from the well-policed Gulf of Aden. Pirates are using captured ships and learning to evade confrontation by, for example, disposing of their weapons if the odds are against them, experts say. The European Union responded Tuesday by expanding its support for Somalia's interim government and pledging to retain flexibility in its operations against pirates. The larger zone makes responses s... more

The decision to pay ransom or fight pirates on the high seas still often depends more on shipowners. How can the U.S. and Europe keep ship owners from paying ransoms that make Somali pirates more dangerous? The swarm of pirates buzzing around the so-called Somali Basin has grown since last year even though American and European navies now patrol those waters in force. "This year we've seen more attacks than we did all of last year," said Lt. Nathan Christensen, a U.S. Navy spokesman in Bahrain, comparing all of 2008 with the first eight months of 2009. "So are they more active? Yeah, but they're less successful. ... There may be more events, but their rate of success is less." Europe and the United States rushed military ships to the Ind... more

Clashes Between Armed Guards And Pirates Lead to More Fatalities When pirates attacked the chemical freighter MV Theresa VIII, with a South Korean crew of 28, they didn't hesitate. The captain, who fired flares during the attack, was injured so badly by gunfire that he died one day later. He is said to have been taken ashore to receive medical attention. "When he got back to the ship, he wasn't in good condition," a spokesman for the pirates said. Not long later, he said, the captain died. It was the 200th pirate related incident of the year, according to the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, based in Mombasa. Pirate attacks involving hostages off the coast of Somalia were never free of violence. But aside from a few excepti... more

Spanish tuna trawler Alakrana and its 36 crew members were released on Nov. 17 after being held hostage by pirates for one and a half months, and after paying a $3.5 million ransom. The ship was hijacked by pirates in Somali waters on Oct. 2. Crew members were reported to be in good health. Spanish warships Canarias and M.ndez N..ez had orders to detain the hijackers before they could reach the beach, just 1.7 miles away. To signal the pirates' departure from the Alakrana, captain of the tuna trawler, skipper Ricardo Blach called the ship owner who had been stationed in Nairobi ever since the beginning of the negotiations. Immediately, two helicopters and three speedboats were launched to capture the pirates' boat. One of the Spanish he... more

Hostages Paul and Rachel Chandler have made a direct plea in a video obtained by Channel 4 News, warning UK authorities they fear the "kidnappers are losing patience" and may kill them. The couple, from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were taken captive by pirates on 22 October as they sailed their yacht, the Lynn Rival, in the Indian Ocean. In the two minute video, filmed on land, the couple look thin, tired and stressed. Behind them the kidnappers brandish guns, at one point aiming their weapons directly at the Chandlers. Mr Chandler, 59, speaks first and says:"This is our 27th day in captivity. So far we have been provided with adequate food and water and facilities, and so we are unharmed and in reasonable physical health. "Mentally we under... more

Innoshima, Japan - Following a week of potentially crippling budgetary reviews and a high-profile visit from US President Barack Obama to Japan, the so-called 'scientific' whaling fleet crept out of port, as Greenpeace called for today's departure to be the programme's last. Earlier, the environmental group unveiled a 'Yes We Can' banner in front of the factory ship Nisshin Maru, calling on new Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and the visiting US President Barack Obama to work together to end whaling. In their election campaigns, both leaders signaled that there is no future in whaling. The Obama administration is publicly opposed to 'scientific' whaling, while Hatoyama promised to wipe out bureaucratic corruption and the waste ... more

Easy Energy Introduces YoGen The World's First Human-Powered Fully-Sustainable Portable Electronics Charger WASHINGTON -- While it may not be possible to put "peace on Earth" on holiday lists this season, thanks to YoGen., an innovative product from Easy Energy (BULLETIN BOARD: ESYE) , one can still give the gift of "peace of mind!" The world's first fully-sustainable, handheld charging device, YoGen connects to many small personal electronic devices known to man. Through repeated pulls on the attached ripcord, similar to the motion of a yo-yo, YoGen generates sufficient power to charge cell phones, iPods, PDAs and MP3s some cameras and other devices. "Mobile electronics have become a part of who and what we are today and how we li... more

International -- An independent expert, commissioned by Greenpeace, has concluded that two nuclear reactors, currently under construction in Finland and France, suffer from serious safety flaws. The EPR (European Pressurised Reactor) design, which is supplied by the French company AREVA, fails to adequately separate different reactor control systems. Greenpeace is calling on the Finnish and French governments to immediately halt work at the EPR construction sites in Olkiluoto and Flamanville. According to independent nuclear safety analyst Dr. Helmut Hirsch the flaws in the reactor safety systems "in the worst case, can lead to a minor incident developing into a severe accident." Greenpeace Nordic commissioned Dr. Hirsch to produce an... more

The four new styles that Rebagz. eco-chic handbags recently debuted from their "Statement Makers" line will benefit Greenpeace and Women for Women International. The new line benefits organizations that are making a difference and offers holiday shoppers a great way to give to charities and their fashionable friends and family simultaneously. Rebagz. "Panda Love" and "Polar Bear Love" bags feature a black and white checkerboard pattern of the panda and polar bear to salute Greenpeace for its more than 35 years of diligent work exposing threats to the environment and finding solutions. The "Peace Out Loud" and "Peace Out Cool" handbags benefit Women for Women International, an organization dedicated to helping women survivors from con... more

Johannesburg, South Africa - On becoming Greenpeace International Executive Director, prominent human rights activist Dr. Kumi Naidoo today warned world leaders that there can be no excuse for not attending the upcoming UN Copenhagen Climate Summit and agreeing a fair, ambitious and binding treaty to save the climate. "The Copenhagen Summit offers the single greatest opportunity for leaders to come together and create a legally binding agreement to avert climate chaos. Our leaders need to find the courage to do what is right instead of what is comfortable. They need to become the leaders we elected them to be by acting to save the climate. They must avert the threat of mass migration, mass starvation and mass extinction all of which wil... more

State College, Pa. - AccuWeather.com's reports an intense heat wave will hit southeastern Australia until the end of the week, which could mean danger to an area already affected by wildfires and severe drought. Firefighters were able to subdue several fires in Sydney's southwestern outskirts, but several fires north of the city continue to burn, destroying hundreds of hectares. A lightning storm on Monday was thought to have ignited some of the fires. "We will be looking for any new ignitions following the lightning storm (on Monday) night," Rebel Talbert, a spokeswoman for the Rural Fire Service, said. Most of southern and southeastern Australia will be affected by a severe heat wave starting later on in the day Wednesday, loc... more

Marine piracy continues to be a serious risk for shipping companies, sailors, cargo owners, and insurers. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in London, pirate attacks are an almost daily feature. Modern day pirates are armed with state-of the-art weapons and experts suspect that they are also supported and trained by terrorist organizations. They comb coastal waters in high-speed boats. Surprise is the most important element in their raids. They operate both in ports and on the open sea. The dividing line between piracy and terrorism is becoming blurred and the danger of terror at sea is growing too. Political terror plays a role in hot spots like Somalia. Whatever the motivation, pirates prowl waters all around the wo... more

Djibouti has forcibly sent 40 asylum seekers from Somalia back to the Somali capital Mogadishu, says the United Nations refugee agency. A Dutch naval ship, the Evertsen, [N.B.: operating under EU NAVFOR, who were proud on their "ACTION"] on anti-piracy patrols in the Red Sea, rescued the migrants crammed on a boat en route to Yemen late last month. Yemeni authorities refused to accept them and Djibouti first agreed to take them in then sent them back to Somalia, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "UNHCR expresses regret regarding the forced repatriation of 40 Somali nationals to Mogadishu," spokeswoman Kathryn Mahoney said by telephone from Djibouti. The migrants, including six women and seven ch... more

Kenya will continue to work with the international community in the fight against piracy to protect its tourism sector. There should be no cause for alarm about trying suspected pirates on Kenyan soil, said Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojodeh. He said Kenya had signed a memorandum of understanding with the EU, the UK, the US and Northern Ireland, among others, committing itself to fight piracy and try suspects. The MoU also allows for suspected pirates to be transferred to signatory countries for prosecution. Mr Ojodeh was answering Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi (ODM) who had questioned the government's decision to allow suspected Somali pirates to be tried in Kenya. He also sought to know whether there were any benefits of doin... more

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has denied media reports saying Somali pirates have hijacked a UAE- flagged ship, the state-run news agency WAM reported. The reports by some media about the abduction "are deviating from the truth," Mohammed Sultan Al Suwaidi, director of the Foreign Ministry's Arab Affairs Department, was quoted as saying. He said the vessel, owned by a Somali trader, was carrying foodstuff when leaving the northeast port of Ajman, adding that it was flying the Panamanian flag. Earlier this week, Western media reported that Somali pirates have seized a UAE-flagged cargo ship loaded with weapons bound for the Horn of Africa nation in contravention of a UN arms embargo. A spokesman for Somali police forces said the reports... more

The families of the fishermen held in the Indian Ocean met Spanish Prime Minister Jos. Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to ask him to extradite the two Somali pirates jailed in Spain to Somalia. A meeting of the relatives of the crew members of the hijacked trawler Alakrana with the Spanish Prime Minister Jos. Luis Rodriguez Zapatero started at 5.00 pm on November 10, after the families met the president of the Spanish High Court Angel Juanes. They want the central government to send back the two arrested Somali jailed in Spain to Somalia, as the hijackers of the Alakrana require to continue with the negotiations. Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Angel Moratinos spoke at the House of Representatives at the end of the crisis cabinet meeti... more

The captain of a Hong Kong-flagged oil tanker has been hailed for successfully eluding Somali pirates who attacked his ship with automatic weapons and grenades from two skiffs in the Indian Ocean. Captain Sunil Fredrick Mani was in command of the VLCC BW LION when it was attacked by two pirate boats at 8.13GMT - 4.13pm Hong Kong time - on Monday about 900 miles off the coast of Somalia. Mani "successfully evaded the attack through evasive maneuvers and increased speed," according to vessel operator BW Maritime in Singapore. The 48-year-old captain joined BW Maritime in 2001. He has at least 24 years' experience at sea, of which half were spent in command of large crude carriers. There were no injuries, or environmental damage, reported... more

Spain is anxiously following a high-tension piracy drama off the coast of a faraway African country where Somali pirates are gradually stepping up pressure on the government in Madrid. Will a group of young pirates - nervous, drug-using, and armed to the teeth - kill the terrified fishermen who for more than 40 days have been held hostage on board a Spanish fishing vessel? The only way to save the lives of the hostages could be to compromise on some key legal principles and send back to Somalia two of the suspected pirates who were brought to face trial in Spain. The Basque trawler Alakrana is only one among around a dozen vessels currently held by Somali pirates, but its fate is the biggest such drama to hit Spain so far. The owner of t... more

An anti-piracy official in Somalia's transitional government said that a cargo ship seized by pirates had been carrying weapons, a charge denied by the owners of the ship's cargo. "On November 7 a cargo ship carrying a wide range of weapons was seized by Somali buccaneers," said the official, Ismail Haji Noor, in a statement. He said he had informed the EU's anti-piracy operation, Atalanta, of the capture of the ship and about "the unfortunate possibility that the captors themselves could now offload the weapons and bring them to shore - to either use or sell them". He said that despite his warning, no naval vessel in the area had sailed to Garacad, where the "weapons ship" is now moored, to investigate or prevent the arms from being off... more

Somali pirates said Wednesday that they had seized at dawn a Greek-owned container ship after a five-hour chase in fast skiffs across the Indian Ocean, reflecting both an increase in pirate activity after a period of rough weather and signs of increasing boldness among the hijackers. The East African Seafarers' Assistance Program, based in Kenya, identified the vessel as a cargo ship, the MV FILITSA. Andrew Mwangura, a spokesman for the program, said the Filitsa was sailing under a Marshall Islands flag and was carrying a load fertilizer (urea) from Kuwait via the UAE to Durban in South Africa when it was attacked 513 nautical miles northeast of the Seychelles. Tthe Seychelles as well as the Greek Coast Guards confirmed this. The 1996-bui... more

Somalia's al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants are tightening their grip on areas of the country they already control, imposing new rules and punishing people they say are violating their radical brand of Islamic law. Some observers believe until a more powerful group emerges to bring law and order to the country, ordinary Somalis are not likely to challenge al-Shabab's violence-driven agenda. In recent months, al-Shabab militants have carried out violent acts they describe as "just punishments" for Somalis who violated Sharia - Islamic law. Alleged spies and Christians have been publicly executed. Thieves have had their legs and hands amputated. And women accused of adultery have been flogged and stoned. Al-Shabab militants have also re... more

Dealing with the risks from sea piracy, cyber crime and climate change, will require vision, pragmatism and the collaboration of the public and private sectors, Lloyd's chief executive said. That advice came from Richard Ward, chief executive officer of Lloyd's, who said, he believed those threats can be addressed even as, "For too many people across the world, these issues seem insurmountable." He spoke at a conference here titled "Managing Risk In The 21st Century: Climate Change, Cyber Risk and Piracy," part of Lloyd's 360. Risk Insight series. Speakers at the event included Pen Shadow, an explorer who lead the recent Catlin Arctic Survey; Mike Liebowitz, director of risk management at New York University, who spoke about cyber risk; ... more

Thousands of people demonstrated on November 7 calling for the release of the 36 crewmen of a Spanish tuna trawler being held by Somali pirates under the threat of death. They gathered at Bermeo in the northern Spanish Basque country, home port of the trawler Alakrana, which was seized off Somalia more than a month ago. Leading Basque politicians joined in the protest, held in driving rain. A second demonstration was planned for later November 7 in the northwestern port city of Vigo. The crew's families appealed to Spain's government on Friday to negotiate with the kidnappers, who have threatened to kill the hostages. They urged Spanish authorities to release two suspected pirates who were captured and brought to Spain over their allege... more

BERLIN, Germany -- Beyonce was the major winner of the evening a the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards (EMAs) in Berlin. The versatile singer, writer and producer took home a total of three EMA trophies - Best Female, Best Song and Best Video - from the glittering music celebration, held at the O2 World on 5 November 2009. The MTV Europe Music Awards were sponsored by Sony Ericsson, MTV Games / Harmonix's The Beatles(TM): Rock Band(TM) and Dell. Eminem won the coveted Best Male category at the Awards, which honours and celebrates Europe's contemporary music stars, while Jay-Z triumphed in the Best Urban category. U2 clinched a well-deserved Best Live Act - scoring their third EMA award win since the MTV Europe Music Awards debuted in 1994. ... more

The Center for American Progress applauds the Senate for effectively ending debate on a proposal by Senators David Vitter (R-LA) and Robert Bennett (R-UT) that would have undermined a fundamental principle of our Constitution. In a procedural vote on the Commerce-Justice-Science funding bill, the Senate blocked further consideration of the divisive Vitter-Bennett proposal that would have required the Census Bureau to add to the 2010 Census a question on whether or not the respondent is a U.S. citizen in order to only count citizens when new House districts are reapportioned. Besides the extra $1 billion it would have cost to include the question and reprint the surveys so close to the April 2010 Census, the Vitter-Bennett amendment wa... more

Weak Verification and Loosening of Welfare Reform Rules Alter Longstanding System of Enforcement and Incentives WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Current versions of both the House and Senate health care reform bills contain inadequate verification measures that will fail to prevent millions of illegal aliens from accessing taxpayer funded health benefits, charges the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). And in a radical change from current law, both versions of the bill grant immediate health care benefits to immigrants currently subject to a 5-year waiting period before they may access most federal benefits. FAIR has pledged to try to block these proposals: "If powerful special interests prevail, the final version of a health care r... more

Washington D.C. - The Immigration Policy Center (IPC) released three publications today discussing proposals for and gains made from a broad legalization program for those in the country without legal status. This first report titled Economic Progress via Legalization provides insight into the socioeconomic improvement of immigrants legalized in the 1980's under the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). The findings presented in this report support the notion that legalization of unauthorized immigrants can play a role in promoting economic growth and lessening socioeconomic disparities. It was produced by Rob Paral and Associates. The second is a perspectives piece titled Back to the Future: The Impact of Legalization Then and ... more

WASHINGTON,D.C. -- Representatives of three federal law enforcement agencies told a House Judiciary Subcommittee today that more needs to be done to combat organized retail crime (ORC) in the U.S. In testimony before the House Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, officials from the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement testified to the challenges they face combating this growing crime. "The Coalition Against Organized Retail Crime (CAORC) thanks Subcommittee Chairman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA) for holding this hearing and for his commitment to providing federal law enforcement with the tools they need to address this growing criminal activity... more

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Laura Wang-Woodford, a U.S. citizen who served as a director of Monarch Aviation Pte Ltd., a Singapore company that imported and exported military and commercial aircraft components for more than 20 years, was sentenced in federal court in Brooklyn to 46 months in prison for conspiring to violate the U.S. trade embargo by exporting controlled aircraft components to Iran. Wang-Woodford was also ordered to forfeit $500,000 to the U.S. Treasury Department. The sentencing was announced by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Benton J. Campbell, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Kevin Delli-Colli, Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement; and John T. Morton, Ass... more

NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA -- November 6 marks the start of the Apple Vacations WinterSun SuperSale, the company's biggest sale of the year. Vacationers can save up to $1000 or more per couple with drastically discounted prices on Jan. and additional Winter 2010 departures to Mexico, the Caribbean and Hawaii. The sale runs through Nov. 26. SuperSale prices start at just $499.99 for three all-inclusive nights at the Oasis Palm Beach in Cancun including non-stop air from Chicago's O'Hare. $779.99 buys a full all-inclusive week in Puerto Plata at the Bahia Principe San Juan, including non-stop air from O'Hare, all meals, drinks, non-motorized watersports, entertainment and more. Vacationers from the East Coast can spend seven nights at the 4-Gol... more

While 30,000 IDPs remain inaccessible to relief, US Powered scores nuclear reactor Yemen has been rocked by a series of violent clashes between government and rebel forces from the northern tribes since August, and plans to build a new nuclear reactor has sparked fears of increased tensions. When the internal conflict in Yemen intensified in August from periodic clashes to full-scale military engagement, President Ali Abdullah Saleh was adamant that his forces would crush the rebel tribes. "We are determined to destroy this sedition," he said in an address to military school graduates. "We will nip this cancer wherever it exists, in [the province of] Sa'ada or elsewhere." The northern al-Houthi rebels immediately accused the armed for... more

Five important challenges threaten the future of Sudan. For the country to retain its cultural, political and strategic unity, it is now more important than ever that Sudan's different forces unite behind a national strategy. Such is the interest of the Arab media in the Arab- Israeli conflict as it unfolds in occupied Palestine, Lebanon and Syria that journalists are often accused of giving scant interest to the conflict in Somalia as well as the ongoing insurgencies in Sudan's south, west and east. Yet, Sudan is drifting along an uncertain and dangerous course. A host of domestic, regional and international influences, some threatening, seem to have taken hold of that country. Most recently, reports coming out of south Sudan last weeken... more

Somalis living in northern Kenya have accused the government in Nairobi of secretly recruiting and training youth from the region as soldiers to go to fight for the transitional Somali government against al- Shabaab fighters. Local leaders have said that in the last three weeks alone, at least 200 Kenyans of Somali origin have been recruited in the town of Garissa. The recuitment drive has also been accused of operating in other towns and the refugee camps in Dabaab. Habiba Kosar, one of numerous parents in northeastern Kenya raising the alarm, said her 18-year-old son, Mohammed, was recruited and is being trained as a soldier at a Kenyan government security facility. "My son was picked in the middle of the night. He is being trained fo... more

The Somali people are once again learning the crucial lessons of nationhood the hardest way. One such cardinal lesson is never to leave matters of your society to others alone or lightly but to engage. The only way people can protect what belongs to them, enhance collective wellbeing and further their common interests is to engage in the affairs of their nation. It was our promise to support the Transitional Government when it is doing something right and speak up when it is doing wrong. Because of its bumbling we visit again the issue of the transfer of swathes of Somalia's sea shelf to our neighbour. It was the disgust felt by the Somali people which made the Transitional Parliament to act and put a stop to the transfer of our sea she... more

Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and author of the book "The End of Poverty," made a recent visit to Japan and discussed the issue of world poverty with prominent Japanese economic analyst Kazuyo Katsuma. Sachs, a co-founder of the group Millennium Promise, whose vision is to end extreme poverty worldwide by 2025, has made various suggestions relating to the growth of developing nations and on related support issues, and Katsuma has a strong interest in poverty countermeasures. The following is Part 1 of their discussion. Kazuyo Katsuma: First of all, this is a very naive and generic question: Why do we need to end poverty? Jeffrey D. Sachs: Poverty means suffering. And everybody wants to end suffering... more

Starvation looms with supply line "effectively broken." U.S. fears that its shipments may be diverted to terrorists. U.N. officials said Friday that the supply of critical food aid to Somalia had been interrupted and that rations to starving people needed to be cut, partly because the U.S. government has delayed food contributions out of fears they would be diverted to terrorists. Last month, U.S. officials said they had suspended millions of dollars of food aid because of concerns that Somali contractors working for the United Nations were funneling food and money to the Shabab, an Islamist insurgent group with growing ties to Al-Qaida. U.S. officials played down the effect of the delays and said the food shipments would resume soon, onc... more

Sociologist Peter Berger has instructed that "The first wisdom of Sociology is that things are not what they seem." So it is with the Western media rendition of their piracy stories from Somalia. An article in the London-based Independent newspaper has confirmed the suspicions of many that behind the Western media hysteria over on Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean and Western governments' war on "modern day piracy" lurks a sinister plot: the theft of the war-torn country's sea food and the dumping of nuclear waste in its seas by some European countries. No, this is not one of the legions of conspiracy theories concocted on a daily basis around the globe. According to the Independent's, article Western governments are cynically exploiting... more

The Nato revelations come amid growing concern for the plight of Paul and Rachel Chandler, the middle-aged British couple held by bandits after being captured on their boat 15 days ago. Reports this week claimed that they had been moved inland and were being fought over by armed rival gangs. The need for better surveillance of pirates comes as the number of attacks on ships increases and the number of hostages taken multiplies. There was a lull in hijackings during this season's monsoon, but pirates have stepped up attacks in the past few weeks and are now holding some 10 vessels and at least 187 hostages. The draft report, written by Lord Jopling, a Nato adviser, says the US Navy is flying unmanned aircraft from the Seychelles, 1,000 mil... more

Mainstream UK media are reporting that Somali pirates are stepping up their pressure by threatening to torture Paul and Rachel Chandler, who were kidnapped from their yacht Lynn Rival on October 23 when they disregarded advice by Seychelles authorities and fellow cruisers not to travel from Seychelles towards Africa. If true (and many reports have later proved false) this is a new development in the world of Somali pirates, who have generally treated their captives well. The pirates, who want the return of seven fellow pirates who were captured by a German warship when they attacked French fishing vessel Cape Saint Vincent, were reported as saying that the Chandlers 'would be punished' unless their comrades were freed. The couple are bin... more