Mavi Marmara pull out of Israel

Haifa, Israel  Turkish passenger ship that became the center of deadly violence during the raid against the Israeli navy ships aim assistance Gaza Strip Israel pulled out of port, on Thursday, an AFP correspondent said.Mavi Marmara taken out from the port of Haifa by a large Turkish tugboat sent to bring back the ship.Two other ships were also detained by the navy during the attack on May 31 would also be withdrawn from the port of Ashdod, southern Israel, on Thursday, the defense ministry said.

Repatriation of the ships were made after a decision taken by the political leaders after a request from Ankara, the ministry said in a statement.”Three Turkish tugs will arrive in Israel today. The crew they will receive three ships moored in Israel along with personal equipment on top of existing ships,” the ministry said, without explaining when the transfer is made. The ships were part of a fleet of six ships which attempted to penetrate the Israeli naval blockade against the Gaza Strip on 31 May. Unclear whether the other three ships were still in Israeli ports.The ship is also believed to aid Rachel Corrie, was arrested at an Israeli port, but the legal steps taken to set him free.Israel became the international spotlight after deadly attacks against aid ships.

Israeli commandos raided ships in the fleet assistance to the Gaza Strip on May 31, which killed nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in the attack on one ship.Israel-Turkey relations plunged to its lowest level since the two countries reached a strategic partnership in the 1990s due to the incident.

Turkey summoned its ambassador from Tel Aviv and canceled three planned military exercises after the raid. Turkey also twice rejected the Israeli request for military aircraft using the airspace.Severe violence in the pre-dawn raid Monday (31 / 5) by Israeli troops occurred on the boat Turkey, Mavi Marmara, who led the fleet of aid to Gaza.Israel argued that the passenger-passenger ship was attacked the troops, but the organizers claimed that the fleet of the Israeli troops started shooting as soon as they landed.

After the attack, Egypt, who reached peace with Israel in 1979, it opened the Rafah border to allow aid convoys into Gaza – widely seen as an effort to counter critics of the Egyptian role in the blockade.Cairo, in coordination with Israel, allowing only limited in its border crossing since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.

Under increasing pressure, Israel then launched an investigation along with two international observers for the attack. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon encourages a separate investigation into the UN with the participation of Israel and Turkey.Israel also relax the blockade of Gaza by allowing the majority of civilian goods into the coastal territory. Gaza Strip, a densely populated coastal regions, blockaded by Israel and Egypt after Hamas to power nearly three years ago.

Group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June of 2007 after defeating Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a deadly battle for a few days.Since then, these poor coastal dibloklade by Israel. Any Palestinian entity into two separate areas – the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and West Bank under Abbas government.The AFP report, the European Union, Israel and the U.S. enter into the Hamas terrorist organization list.(AFP)

Helen Thomas / bulldog 1950 – 2010 stop of journalists

For the ten leaders of the United States (U.S.) who have inhabited the White House including the current president, Barack Obama – Helen Thomas is the name of a journalist who dared to speak out frankly and critically ask. However, after about 50 years as a correspondent at the White House, Thomas’s sudden retirement. Journalist who has 89-year-old announced his resignation as a correspondent for the Hearst News Service in the White House, Monday, June 7, 2010. The resignation followed a scathing criticism of Thomas’s comments against Israel, which turned out to offend Jewish people.

“Tell them to get out of Palestine. Remember, the people in that country was conquered and their land,” Thomas said in a videotape aired Breitbart.tv pages. The incident occurred on May 27, 2010 in a Jewish community event outside the White House. According to the daily page of the Huffington Post, Thomas’s controversial remarks when asked for opinions by a rabbi. When asked again where the people of Israel must go, Thomas casually replied, “They must return to their places of origin, to Poland, Germany … American, or other places.” Later, descendants of Lebanese journalist was expressed regret at the same time apologizing for his comments about Israel and Palestine.

However, what is meretricious, comments Thomas already reaped a storm of criticism from many quarters, including from the White House. According to the Associated Press, White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said Thomas comments as an insult. Even his fellow reporters the White House said the comments were not worth Thomas brought up.

Thomas scathing comments about Israel soon spread on the internet. Offended parties canceled the contract a number of projects involving Thomas. Tail, he is mentioned to have to resign as a columnist for Hearst News Service. It was unclear whether the resignation was then made Thomas is no longer covering the White House or can be re-engaged in different media. Because, Thomas clearly was too senile to start a new career.

Nevertheless, the White House has become an integral part of Thomas’s career. His name was even printed permanently below normal stool she sat in the press room at the office of the U.S. presidency. Before retiring, Thomas regarded as the most senior journalists at the White House. He has covered the activities of the U.S. presidency since the days of the late Dwight Eisenhower in the late 1950s.

Thomas, who always sat in the front seat during a press conference and frequently asked questions that upset the leader of the United States, joined United Press International (UPI) in 1943 and began covering the White House in 1960. Thanks to its persistent and often ask critical questions, Thomas called a “bulldog” UPI. Through fierce competition, she became the first woman into the White House bureau chief for UPI in 1974.

In addition to being a pioneer of women in journalism, Thomas is also included in the management ranks of the National Press Club, which had banned women become members. Thomas joined Hearst in 2000. “Helen was like a vacuum cleaner of information,” says writer Kay Mills, who wrote the book “A Place in the News: From the Women’s Pages to the Front Page.”

“He always made sure already possess all the information,” said Mills. “Say he’s covered the Kennedy and Jackie’s birthday party one of their children. I tell you, he’s got every information needed.” During this time, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants was not conceal his view that the pro-Arab. During George W. Bush became president, almost all of the questions that Thomas always posed regarding the Iraq war.

Recent combined air and ground assaults against al Qaeda in Yemen last month were American-led

combined air and ground assaults

Recent combined air and ground assaults against al Qaeda in Yemen last month were American-led, according to a U.S. special operations expert who trains Yemeni forces.”It was cruise missile strikes in combination with military units on the ground,” Sebastian Gorka, an instructor at the U.S. Special Operation’s Command’s Joint Special Operations University, told CBS News Correspondent Kimberly Dozier.”It was a very distinct signal from the Obama administration that they are serious in assisting Yemen to remove these al Qaeda facilities from its soil.”That was very much something executed by the United States, but with heavy support by the Yemeni government,” Gorka told Dozier.The target was al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula, an affiliate of Osama bin Laden’s group with a popular following in Yemen. AQAP, as it’s known in the counterterrorist world, claimed responsibility for the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Flight 253, which resulted in the arrest of Nigerian Umar Farouk AbdulmutallabU.S. counterterrorist teams have been tracking al Qaeda in Yemen since the U.S.S. Cole bombing in 2000. And the Defense Department has been training Yemeni counterterrorist forces since 1990. Training has been conducted by a range of troops. U.S. Marines did much of the training when President George W. Bush was in office. More recently, the Pentagon has dispatched units from the Army’s Special Forces/Green Berets, who specialize in what’s called “foreign internal defense.”

The top American commander in the region, Central Command’s Gen. David Petraeus, visited Yemen’s capital Sanaa Saturday. It was his last stop in a tour of the region. Earlier, when he stopped in Baghdad, he praised the joint strikes in Yemen in December.

“In one case, forestalling an attack of four suicide bombers were moving into Sana’a,” Petraeus told reporters. “Two training camps targeted and some senior leaders believed to have been killed or seriously injured as well. Certainly there were activities going on there, one of which resulted in the failed attack on the airliner.” But Petraeus was careful to emphasize that the Yemeni government was the decision maker in choosing the targets. He called it “so very important indeed that Yemen has taken the actions that it has and indeed, not just the United States, but countries in the region.” Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Britain have all had a role in providing training and other strategic assistance.

While U.S. military officials say the Yemeni counterterrorist forces aren’t yet ready to go it alone, Petraeus says their intelligence sources are proving so good that “sharing of intelligence and information” has become what he called a “two-way street,” such that “the operations that were carried out in December were very significant.” Yemeni local media report that three strikes on Dec. 17, 2009, hit Abyan, Arhab and San’a, and killed several al Qaeda targets, including one former Guantanamo detainee Hani Abdu Musalih Al-Shalan. He’d been repatriated to Yemen in June 2006 and returned into al Qaeda’s fold. More strikes on Christmas Eve targeted American-born al Qaeda cleric Anwar al Awlaki. They struck in Rafd, a mountain valley in Yemen’s Shabwa province, but intelligence officials believe Awlaki survived the attack. He was initially thought to be a more inspirational figure in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, but multiple intelligence officials tell CBS News they now believe he is taking an active role in planning operations, including the attempted December airliner bombing. U.S. officials had kept fairly quiet about the extent of American involvement in the recent Yemeni strikes. But with so many Americans asking what their government is doing to keep them safe after the Christmas Day bombing attempt, many more officials seem eager to describe how they’re striking back. They also say to stand by for more joint U.S.-Yemeni action.(CBS)

Hundreds of workers in northern China are trying to contain a pipeline leak that has spilled diesel fuel into a major tributary of the Yellow River

Hundreds of workers in northern China are trying to contain a pipeline leak that has spilled diesel fuel into a major tributary of the Yellow River.About 150,000 litres of diesel poured into the Wei river in Shaanxi province after a construction accident on Wednesday, state media reported. Pollution has been reported up to 33km (21 miles) downstream. Locals have been warned not to use water from the river. The Yellow River is a source of drinking water for millions of people. In 2005, a chemical spill in the Songhua river in the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang cut off water supplies to 4 million residents.

Floating dams

The BBC’s Quentin Sommerville in Beijing says that although the accident in Shaanxi happened on Wednesday, it has only just come to light. Local officials have in the past attempted to cover up such incidents, fearing reprisals from the central government, our correspondent says. The leak occurred on the fuel pipeline operated by the state-run China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) that connects Lanzhou in the north-west province of Gansu with Zhengzhou in central Henan province, according to the China Daily newspaper.

The diesel first went into the Chishui river, a tributary of the Wei. Around 700 emergency workers are said to be labouring round the clock, using floating dams and solidifying agents to contain the spill. Their task has been helped by the current cold weather in the region. The Chinese Vice-Premier, Li Keqiang, has told the local government to prevent the slick from reaching the Yellow River.

Copenhagen have summit a new topic to discuss a new agreement

There have been concerns that the Copenhagen summit will not bear a strong agreement.But analysts assess the presence of so many heads of state that will change the estimates.The UN’s annual meeting to discuss the climate is usually attended by environment ministers.Delegated ari 192 countries will attend the summit are trying to design a new climate treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who will be attending the summit said the new agreement will be born if the head of government support.maybe now it could happen.But Chinese leaders, the United States and India called the state’s biggest maker of pollution are not included in the list will be present.But the BBC’s  environment correspondent Roger Harrabin said, the move will undoubtedly increase the political influence.(BBC’s)