World News joined 0010

[John]

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Zimbabwe's opposition leaders boycotted a regional summit Monday, arguing the session was too limited to "knock sense" into Robert Mugabe and make a proposed unity government a reality.

Soon after the opposition's chief negotiator, Tendai Biti, appeared at a news conference in South Africa, leaders from South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Congo and Mozambique gathered in Swaziland. They were meeting as a committee of the main regional bloc, the 12-member Southern African Development Community, or SADC, to try to resolve Zimbabwe's political impasse. But Biti was dismissive.

"Going to Swaziland now won't resolve anything," Biti said. "Which is why we're calling for a full SADC summit."

A spokesman for Zimbabwean President Mugabe, who attended Monday's meeting, was not immediately available for comment on the opposition's boycott. Arthur Mutambara, leader of a smaller Zimbabwean opposition faction, attended the meeting but told reporters it was only to insist that no progress could be made without main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed a power-sharing deal last month but are deadlocked over how to allocate ministries in a 31-member unity Cabinet. Tsvangirai accuses Mugabe's ZANU-PF party of trying to hold on to too many of the most powerful ministries, including those responsible for finance and police.

Biti said lack of progress during negotiations last week to break the impasse raised questions about whether Mugabe could be trusted to carry out the Sept. 15 agreement. Biti said more questions were raised when Tsvangirai, who was awaiting a new passport after filling all the pages in his previous one, had to fight for travel documents to go to Swaziland. Biti said Tsvangirai was given an emergency travel document over the weekend, but said he considered that an "insult."

"The issue of a passport is a mere symptom," Biti said. "The real problem (is) there is no readiness on the part of ZANU-PF to engage in a cooperative government with Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC."

Mutambara, the leader of the smaller opposition faction, said he told summit host King Mswati III of Swaziland that Zimbabwe could not be discussed without Tsvangirai. The Swazi king offered to charter a plane to get Tsvangirai to the meeting, but Biti indicated the opposition chief would not come under any circumstances.

"Somebody has to knock sense into the head of Robert Mugabe," Biti said, adding the opposition might eventually appeal to the African Union, but that "SADC still remains the starting forum for the resolution of this crisis."

African leaders are traditionally reluctant to publicly criticize one of their own, but Biti said Monday he was confident that Zimbabwe's neighbors wanted a solution.

Zimbabwe was the main topic of a full SADC summit in South Africa in August. That summit ended with a call on Zimbabwean negotiators to press ahead with talks mediated by former South African President Thabo Mbeki that a month later produced the power-sharing agreement.

Zimbabwe faces the world's worst inflation, a looming humanitarian emergency and worsening shortages of food, gasoline and most basic goods. The economy had been a major factor in a March presidential election Tsvangirai won.

Tsvangirai, however, did not receive enough votes according to the official count to avoid a runoff. Tsvangirai withdrew from the June runoff after an onslaught of violence on his supporters blamed on police, soldiers and Mugabe party militants. Mugabe went ahead with a runoff observers at home and abroad denounced as a sham, and was declared the overwhelming winner.

Source- Yahoo News.

[John]

ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq – After a troubled history, the V-22 Osprey — half-helicopter, half-plane — has been ferrying troops and equipment across Iraq for just over a year without a major incident.

Critics say the Osprey, which was designed to replace transport helicopters, lacks firepower for defense in heavy combat.

But pilots say the Osprey makes up for that in speed, which one of them says can take the plane "like a bat out of hell" to altitudes safe from small-arms fire.

Since arriving at this sprawling desert base in western Iraq, a dozen Ospreys have been ferrying troops and equipment at forward operating bases. One even took around Barack Obama during his tour of Iraq earlier this year.

But on only a handful of occasions has the aircraft faced any serious enemy fire.

Military officials say this is partly a result of the changing nature of the war in Iraq as well as the advantages the high-flying Osprey has over the Vietnam-era Sea Knight helicopters they will eventually replace. The Osprey also avoids day flights into Baghdad or other tasks that entail excessive risk.

"It's not the same World War II tactics that we used to deal with, or even Vietnam tactics," said Maj. Paul Kopacz, who led two Ospreys on a recent mission to Fallujah. "We have not been battle-tested because we aren't going guns blazing into hot zones. Our nation is now too sensitive to the loss of soldiers to let that happen."

The military calls the Osprey a "tilt-rotor" aircraft, because it takes off with its rotors set vertically like a helicopter and glides in the air with them thrust forward as on an airplane. The shift requires only a pull of the lever by the pilot.

The aircraft, which took over two decades to develop, has been plagued by a series of technical failures and deadly crashes — including a pair in quick succession in 2000 that killed 23 Marines and nearly scuttled the entire project.

Some skeptics have attacked the design of the plane because they feel it is too slow in descent, lacks maneuverability, kicks up too much dust and should have been delayed until designers mastered the idea of "autorotation" — which would keep the rotors spinning even if both engines are taken out.

Another issue has been the lack of firepower on the Osprey, which does not include a mounted gun on the front as once envisaged — although the Marines have placed a machine gun at the rear.

There are also the aircraft's soaring costs, which have pushed the bill to over $100 million per unit including research and development expenses.

Still, it has won wide support from the Marines flying the machine in Iraq since September 2007, even among those with long experience as pilots of the CH-46 Sea Knight. They say problems experienced so far have been caused by desert dust and heat, mostly related to avionics and nothing that has overly confounded technicians.

"I used to fly the CH-46 and we couldn't do nearly what we do now in terms of weight, cargo, distance or speed," said Lt. Col. Christopher Seymour, commanding officer of what is now the third Osprey squadron at Asad air base, a complex in the desert of western Iraq that houses 10,000 U.S. servicemen.

Seymour and the other pilots at Asad say they've noticed the Osprey's advantages most. It can travel twice as fast and three times farther than the Sea Knight, is equipped with radar, lasers and a missile defense system, and soars at altitudes far above its 39-year-old predecessor.

"It's a gorilla. The ability to accelerate to speeds is so strong," Seymour said, adding that the Osprey's benefits will become even more evident as the military continues to move away from ground convoys, which face roadside bombs and ambushes. "Like a bat out of hell you're at altitudes safe from small arms fire."

The Osprey is certainly an awesome sight. In helicopter mode, its twin nacelles point downward as if they were pistols in a holster. At night, its neon-tipped rotors sparkle like emeralds.

During a mission last week, on which an Associated Press reporter and photographer accompanied Marines, the only problem involved its global positioning system.

But Maj. Andreas Lavato, one of the pilots, said the aircraft is built with so many backup systems — what the Marines call "redundancies" — that there are no concerns over engine or computer problems.

One engine can still power both propellors at a somewhat lower speed, he said as the aircraft traveled at 280 mph about 9,500 feet above Anbar province in western Iraq. Each vital computer system has at least two backups.

"I'm an old helicopter guy myself and I really didn't feel confident flying with this thing until about 70 hours," said Lavato, 36, who piloted the Sea Knight for a decade. "That's with the technology, because the flying is really easy. It didn't really take long to fall in love with this and realize its capabilities."

He conceded that the Osprey's lack of firepower — it has only a 7.62 mm machine gun at its rear, one fewer weapon than the Sea Knight — caused part of his initial skepticism.

But he insisted that speed and elevation were more important, as the Ospreys are largely avoiding descents into "hot zones" or violent areas unprepared by aircraft more geared for attack.

"Nobody sees us and you have to see something to shoot it," Lavato said. "If I'm coming into a situation I can just leave and get from 0 to 200 knots in about 10 seconds. I'm just gone."

Kopacz, meanwhile, rejected the idea that the multibillion dollar Osprey project was being shielded from the real fight to protect its record.

"We are flying into every zone out here — they are just not hot when we land," he said. "Is that because we are so quiet coming in? Is it because we're not low and slow?"

Kopacz said people can hear a helicopter from 10 miles away.

"You can't hear us until two miles away," he said, "and we're coming fast."

Yahoo News.

[John]

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Pandemonium marred the trial Monday of 86 people accused of conspiring to overthrow Turkey's Islamic-oriented government when defendants and lawyers piled into an overcrowded courtroom and complained they couldn't hear.

A panel of judges adjourned proceedings and resumed with only the 46 jailed suspects and their lawyers present on the opening day. Other suspects are free pending a verdict on whether they sought to destabilize Turkey with attacks ahead of a planned coup in 2009.

A new hearing was set for Thursday so the court can consider a demand by defendants that the judges be replaced because of alleged bias, Anatolia news agency reported.

Those on trial include a retired general, the leader of a small leftist and nationalist party, a newspaper editor, a best-selling author and a former university dean.

They are accused of being part of a nationalist network called Ergenekon — which takes its name from a legendary valley in Central Asia believed to be the ancestral homeland of Turks — and of plotting an armed uprising.

The trial amounts to an exploration of the key division in Turkey between a growing Islamic class with political and economic clout and a backlash from secular foes, some of whom have purportedly turned to violence.

The conflict eased in July when the Constitutional Court ruled against the closure of the ruling Justice and Development Party on the grounds that it was steering the country toward Islamic rule, but imposed a fine as a warning.

The coup plot trial revisits the battle over Turkey's political and social future, with government opponents saying the case is an attempt to cow them with the courts. The government, meanwhile, says it is an opportunity to expose the influence of the "deep state," a shadowy network of alleged extremists with links to state institutions, including the military.

The trial is being held at a prison complex in Istanbul's Silivri district on the coast of the Sea of Marmara. The courtroom can accommodate about 280 people, but an accreditation system appeared to have failed and almost double that number tried to enter Monday.

"The trial is being held in a courtroom too small and inappropriate for a fair trial," opposition lawmaker Sahin Mengu said outside the court. "This is the Turkish republic's shame."

Some 1,500 people gathered outside the courthouse in support of the defendants, holding Turkish flags and portraits of the suspects. They shouted slogans against the government as well as the United States and the European Union, reflecting the nationalist feeling of many Turks that outside influences seek to undermine their country.

"We want a fully independent Turkey," one sign read. Protesters also held posters of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the national founder who enshrined secularism as a way of life and restored Turkish pride after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

A small group of people who supported the trial gathered, but police kept them away from the larger group.

Human rights activists say the case is an opportunity to unravel an illegal organization, strengthen democracy in Turkey and investigate possible involvement by people currently serving office, including military and intelligence personnel.

"This case gives Turkey a chance to make clear that it will hold security forces accountable for abuse," said Benjamin Ward of New York-based Human Rights Watch. "But that can only happen if the investigation follows the evidence wherever and to whomever it leads."

Prosecutors say the defendants were behind attacks or attempted attacks on prominent Turks. These included the 2006 assault on Turkey's administrative court that killed a judge and on the pro-secular Cumhuriyet newspaper, allegedly carried out by secularists impersonating Islamists. The violence led to secular demonstrations against the government.

The indictment alleges the suspects planned to kill Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Nobel literature laureate Orhan Pamuk, prominent Kurdish politicians and the country's military chief.

Some suspects face other charges, including possessing explosives, obtaining classified documents and provoking military disobedience. Most of the arrests happened after police raided the home of a retired noncommissioned officer in Istanbul last year and seized a cache of hand grenades.

Source- Yahoo News.

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[JohnCenaFan28]

A British aid worker whose strong Christian faith inspired her to volunteer in Afghanistan was murdered by the Taliban for her beliefs.

Gayle Williams, 34, was shot dead by two gunmen on a motorcycle as she walked to work in the capital, Kabul.

She had spent about two years in the troubled country helping mentally handicapped Afghans as a volunteer with UK-registered Christian charity Serve Afghanistan.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the shooting saying she was killed because she was trying to spread Christianity in the conservative Islamic nation.

But Mike Lyth, chairman of the board of Serve Afghanistan, rejected this and insisted Ms Williams was only in Afghanistan to offer aid to people in need.

"We are Christians - that is what gives us the motivation to go into a dangerous and difficult country to try to help," he said. "But she was not involved in proselytisation."

Kabul-based colleagues of the murdered aid worker paid tribute to her "plucky adventurous spirit" and good-humoured dedication to caring for others.

They said in a joint statement: "Gayle will be remembered as one of the inspiring people of the world who truly put others before herself. She was killed violently while caring for the most forgotten people in the world - the poor and the disabled.

"She herself would not regret taking the risk of working in Afghanistan. She was where she wanted to be - holding out a helping hand to those in need."

Ms Williams had nearly reached Serve Afghanistan's office in Kabul when two men shot her several times in the leg and torso before speeding off on a motorcycle at about 8am local time. She was found dead by another member of the charity's staff shortly afterwards.

-Ananova

[JohnCenaFan28]

Gordon Brown has insisted the Government would still go ahead with plans to spend its way out of the looming recession, despite a massive rise in public sector debt.

Official figures showed net borrowing hitting a record £37.6 billion between April and September - higher than the whole of the previous year.

The sharp increase left Chancellor Alistair Darling's forecasts of £43 billion of borrowing this year in tatters and led to warnings that debt could balloon to £120 billion in three years.

In the Commons, Tory leader David Cameron warned the country was entering the global economic downturn with "the highest government deficit in the industrialised world".

In exchanges with Mr Brown, he pointed to one economic forecast predicting that total debt this year could hit £64 billion.

"Isn't the £64 billion question this: why, when business and families need more help, has he left the cupboard so bare?" he demanded.

The Prime Minister however insisted the public finances were in good shape and the Government could afford to borrow to finance a major programme of public works - outlined by Mr Darling at the weekend - in a bid to stave off the worst effects of the downturn.

"It is because we cut the national debt over the last few years that we are able to do what is the right thing," he told the House.

He cited figures from the International Monetary Fund which put debt in Britain at 37.6% of national income, compared to 55.5% in France, 56.1% in Germany, 101.3% in Italy, 46.3% in the United States, and 94.3% in Japan.

However more recent figures for September, which include the liabilities of the nationalised Northern Rock, show that debt in the UK has since risen to 43.4%.

-Ananova