Israel killed people again

Israeli commandos on Monday stormed six ships carrying hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists on an aid mission to the blockaded Gaza Strip, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens after encountering unexpected resistance as the forces boarded the vessels.

The operation in international waters off the Gaza coast was a nightmare scenario for Israel that looked certain to further damage its international standing, strain already-tense relations with Turkey, and draw unwanted attention to Gaza's plight.

Television reports in Israel and Turkey said as many as 19 people were killed in the clashes at sea, but the higher death toll could not be immediately confirmed.

The two sides offered conflicting accounts of what happened.

A reporter on one of the boats said the Israelis fired at the vessel before boarding it.
Israel claims its naval forces met violent resistance from the ship's passengers - knives and clubs, but also live fire - and so they fired back.
A Turkish TV journalist on board one ship reported that members of the flotilla raised a white flag to the Israeli military, after one person had been killed. But it was quickly clear, CBS News correspondent Richard Roth reports, that there had been several more dead and wounded among the 600 or so passengers.

Across Gaza and the West Bank, there is outrage, Roth said. Palestinians are calling it a massacre. And in Turkey, there have been angry protests denouncing Israel. Turkey called for an urgent U.N. meeting.

With Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House tomorrow to discuss the Middle East peace process, Rith said, the political and diplomatic fallout is just beginning.

The activists were headed to Gaza on a mission meant to draw attention to a 3-year-old Israeli blockade of the coastal territory. Israel imposed the blockade after Hamas militants took power there.

"It's disgusting that they have come on board and attacked civilians. We are civilians," said Greta Berlin, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza movement, which organized the flotilla.

Speaking from the east Mediterranean island of Cyprus, she said she had lost contact with the flotilla at about 3:30 a.m. (0030 GMT).

Israel had declared it would not allow the ships to reach Gaza and had offered to transfer the aid to Gaza from an Israeli port. Israeli naval commandos raided the ships while they were in international waters after ordering them to stop about 80 miles from Gaza's coast, according to a pro-Palestinian activist in Greece involved in the aid mission.

A Turkish website showed video of pandemonium onboard one of the ships, with activists in orange life jackets running around as some tried to help an activist apparently unconscious on the deck. The site also showed video of an Israeli helicopter flying overhead and Israeli warships nearby.

Turkey's NTV showed activists beating one Israeli soldier with sticks as he rappelled from a helicopter onto one of the boats.

The al-Jazeera satellite channel reported by telephone from the Turkish ship leading the flotilla that Israeli navy forces fired at the ship and boarded it, wounding the captain.

"These savages are killing people here, please help," a Turkish television reporter said.

The broadcast ended with a voice shouting in Hebrew, "Everybody shut up!"

The Israeli military said troops only opened fire after encountering unexpected resistance from the activists. Activists attacked troops with knives and iron rods, and one activist wrested a serviceman's weapon.

Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon declared that weapons had been found on board the ship, prepare din advance for use.

"The organizers' intent was violent, their method was violent and the results were unfortunately violent," Ayalon said. "Israel regrets any loss of life and did everything to avoid this outcome."

At least five Israeli soldiers were wounded, including at least one hit by gunfire, the army said. Two of the dead activists had fired at soldiers with pistols, the army said.

"They planned this attack," said Israeli military spokeswoman Lt. Col. Avital Leibovitch. "Our soldiers were injured from these knives and sharp metal objects ... as well as from live fire."

The ships were being towed to the Israeli port of Ashdod, and the wounded were evacuated by helicopter to Israeli hospitals, officials said. Sporadic clashes were still going on at midmorning.

There were no details on the identities of the casualties, or on the conditions of some of the more prominent people on board, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Northern Ireland, European legislators, and Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, 85.

Satellite phones onboard the ships were turned off, and communication with a small group of reporters embedded with the Israeli military was blocked.

The Free Gaza Movement is an international group of pro-Palestinian activists that claims the blockade, imposed three years ago after the militant Islamic Hamas group overran Gaza, is unjust and a violation of international law.

Hamas leaders in the Syrian capital - where the movement is based - sent a statement to CBS News condemning the naval siege as "piracy," reports CBS News' George Baghdadi.

"We call on the international community, in front of which are the Arab countries, to denounce this crime and work to bring the Zionist war criminals who are exercising piracy in the international waters to account," said Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and its allies, but a legitimate resistance movement and political force by many in the Arab and Muslim world.

Organizers of the flotilla included people affiliated with the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian group that often sends international activists into battle zones, and the IHH, a Turkish aid group that Israel accuses of having terrorist links.

News of the attack sparked violent protests in Turkey, which had unofficially supported the aid mission and has been vocally critical of Israeli military operations against Palestinians in Gaza.

Police blocked dozens of stone-throwing protesters who tried to storm the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. The CNN-Turk and NTV televisions showed dozens of angry protesters scuffling with Turkish police and shouting, "Damn Israel."

The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the Israeli raid and said it was summoning the Israeli ambassador for an "urgent explanation." It says Israel violated international law and will suffer consequences.

Israeli security forces were on alert across the country.


The flotilla of three cargo ships and three passenger ships carrying 10,000 tons of aid and 700 activists was carrying items that Israel bars from reaching Gaza, like cement and other building materials. The activists said they also were carrying hundreds of electric-powered wheelchairs, prefabricated homes and water purifiers to the territory's 1.5 million residents.

"We did not want to see confrontation," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was in Ontario at the time of the raid.

"We made repeated offers to the boats that they come to the (Israeli) port of Ashdod unload the humanitarian cargo, and we guaranteed to pass all humanitarian items through the crossings to the Gaza Strip. Unfortunately, they rejected our offers and chose the path of confrontation."

The head of the Gaza Hamas government, Ismail Haniyeh, condemned the "brutal" Israeli attack.

"We call on the Secretary-General of the U.N., Ban Ki-moon, to shoulder his responsibilities to protect the safety of the solidarity groups who were on board these ships and to secure their way to Gaza," Haniyeh told The Associated Press.

The violent takeover threatened to deal yet another blow to Israel's international image, already tarnished by war crimes accusations in Gaza and its three-year-old blockade of the impoverished Palestinian territory.

The flotilla began the journey from international waters off the coast of Cyprus on Sunday afternoon after two days of delays.

After nightfall Sunday, three Israeli navy missile boats left their base in Haifa, steaming out to sea to confront the ships. Two hours later, Israel Radio broadcast a recording of one of the missile boats warning the flotilla not to approach Gaza.

"If you ignore this order and enter the blockaded area, the Israeli navy will be forced to take all the necessary measures in order to enforce this blockade," the radio message continued.

This is the ninth time that the Free Gaza movement has tried to ship in humanitarian aid to Gaza since August 2008.

Israel has allowed ships through five times, but has blocked them from entering Gaza waters since a three-week military offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers in January 2009.

Unfortunately no one can not say to Israel that do not attack to people, nobody even American government can not do any things.

This is really democracy that american or Israel government want to be in the world , I am sorry for them .

Again disaster, this time earthquake in China

Some 400 people have died and thousands are feared injured after a magnitude-6.9 quake hit western China's Qinghai province, officials say.

The powerful tremor struck remote Yushu county, 800km (500 miles) south-west of the provincial capital Xining, at 0749 (2349 GMT), at a shallow depth of 10km.

Most of the buildings in the worst-hit town of Jiegu were wrecked, and landslides have cut off roads.

Police said hundreds of survivors had already been pulled from the rubble.

And at least one aid flight had been able to land at the local airport, according to officials.

Senior Yushu official Huang Liming announced the latest death toll of 400, as the extent of the damage became clearer.

State broadcaster CCTV reported that at least 10,000 people are injured.

A local official in Jiegu told the BBC that almost all of the buildings in the town had been destroyed.

"The death toll will definitely go up," he said.

About 5,000 specialist quake rescuers have been dispatched from neighbouring provinces plus tents, clothing and blankets.

Many people have fled to the surrounding mountains, amid fears that a nearby dam could burst in the aftershocks hitting the area.

State media reported that officials were trying to drain a reservoir after a crack appeared in the dam.

Most of the damage has been to houses built of wood and mud, but some larger concrete buildings have been badly damaged as well.

A spokesman for the local government, Zhuo Huaxia, told China's state news agency Xinhua: "The streets in Jiegu are thronged with panic - injured people, with many bleeding in the head.

"Many students are buried under the debris due to building collapse at a vocational school.

"I can see injured people everywhere. The biggest problem now is that we lack tents, we lack medical equipment, medicine and medical workers."

Another local official told CCTV that contact had been made with 40-50 people buried alive under the rubble of a government building.

Karsum Nyima, the deputy head of news for Yushu TV, told CCTV that houses had gone down "in a flash".

He said: "It was a terrible earthquake. In a small park, there is a Buddhist tower and the top of the tower fell off."

"Everybody is out on the streets, standing in front of their houses, trying to find their family members."

One man living in a town near Jiegu told the BBC the damage was extensive.

"As far as I can see, not many buildings have been left standing... Because the houses are flattened, it is very difficult to dig out survivors or the dead."

Survivors are struggling to stay warm in the mountainous region of about 4,000m (13,000 feet) elevation where temperatures drop below 0C (32F) overnight.

Power and water have been cut off, and the road to the local airport is reported to have been blocked by landslides.

In 2008, a huge quake struck in neighbouring Sichuan province, about 800km from Yushu, which left 87,000 people dead or missing and five million homeless.

The dead included many schoolchildren, prompting a storm of controversy over alleged shoddy construction of school buildings.

After the Sichuan quake, the disaster response was widely praised, but the BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing says the remoteness of Yushu means this rescue effort will pose very different challenges.

Although the high-altitude region is prone to earthquakes, officials from the US Geological Survey said this was the strongest tremor within 100km of the area since 1976.

The Yushu region, home to 250,000 mostly ethnic Tibetans, is dotted with coal, tin, lead and copper mines.

The region is roughly half-way between Xining and Lhasa, about 400km from the Qinghai-Tibet railway line.

RE: BBC NEWS

'Racism' claims at Lebanon beach clubs

Many tourists are unaware of the beach clubs' entry policies

Summer is at its peak in Lebanon. Each weekend its famous beach clubs are heaving with people seeking some relief from the oppressive heat.

Thanks to the relative peace in the country, many clubs are now having their best season in years - with thousands of tourists joining the beachside throng. 

However, it seems not everyone is welcome at the clubs. 

The Lebanese office of campaign group Human Rights Watch says a majority of beach clubs it surveyed are preventing many migrant workers from Asia and Africa from using their facilities.

The clubs are not being quite as specific as that. 

It is alleged the bans are on household maids and domestic servants, widely employed by Lebanese families and the many Gulf Arabs among the tourists. 

As the vast majority of the maids are women from places like the Philippines, Nepal, Ethiopia and Kenya, it seems no-one can be in any doubt as to who these restrictions are aimed at. 

Restrictions enforced

"It's a clear manifestation of the racism that exists in large parts of Lebanese society," says Nadim Houry of Human Rights Watch, whose survey found that 17 out of 27 beach clubs enforce some kind of restriction on migrants. 

One of Beirut's best known and oldest beach establishments, The Sporting Club, is among those enforcing such restrictions. 

The manager, Marwan Abu Nassar, initially justified the ban on grounds that allowing in maids would attract too many children to the club. 

When it was pointed out that there is a children's pool inside the complex - and there are usually many families with youngsters there - Mr Abu Nassar eventually conceded he was operating a policy of discrimination. 

"You can call it that, if you want, from a foreigner's point of view," he said. 

Marwan Abu Nassar protested that if he started allowing in domestic maids, "we would get complaints, I would lose customers and it would affect my business". 

By contrast, other foreigners are welcomed - those from wealthier Western countries, for example. The club is popular with this group of expats though few are seemingly aware of the entry policies.

As a private club, Mr Abu Nassar said, it is up to the management to decide on the rules. 

The Sporting Club - and others with similar policies - are doing nothing illegal, as Lebanon has no law against discrimination. 

In a country still rebuilding from past conflicts and fearing the possibility of more in the future, this may not seem like a priority issue. 

Yet critics say it is symptomatic of a widespread culture of discrimination and of the abuse many of these migrants working in Lebanon suffer. 

It is thought that there are currently 200,000 domestic maids in Lebanon, the vast majority of them women from Asia and East Africa. 

Tales of mistreatment

Reports of mistreatment are commonplace. 

The story of one maid the BBC spoke to is typical. Carrie - not her real name - arrived in Lebanon three years ago at the age of 20, after being recruited in her native Philippines.

Carrie was taken on by another household but claims they beat her and after two months she ran away. She is now effectively stuck in Lebanon because that employer still has her passport. 

Every year there are reports of domestic maids in Lebanon committing suicide. 

The country's labour ministry says a new law granting migrant workers better rights is awaiting approval, once a new government is formed. 

In a statement it condemned the practice of banning maids from beach clubs as, "an act of discrimination and racism". 

The new law will be a "good sign", says MP Ghassan Mkheiber, from the Lebanese parliament's human rights committee. 

He adds that there is "a lot of racism in the way the Lebanese deal with people of different nationalities." 

Attitudes, he says, need to change.

Finally Russia finds missing cargo ship

Russia says it has found a missing cargo vessel near the Cape Verde islands and retrieved its Russian crew.

Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that the 15-member crew had been taken on board a Russian navy vessel. They were in good condition, he said. 

The Finnish-owned Arctic Sea went off radar after passing through the English Channel with its cargo of timber. 

Speculation over the cause of its disappearance had ranged from pirates to a mafia dispute to a commercial row. 

The Arctic Sea was found at 0100 Monday (2100 GMT Sunday) 300 miles (480 km) off Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean, Tass news agency quoted Mr Serdyukov as telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Iran: US nationals nabbed over 'illegal entry'

Iran's security officials confirm the arrest of three American nationals in Western city of Marivan, charging the detainees with "illegal entry". 

“The three, who have not been identified yet, were arrested on the Malakh- Khur border area in Marivan," Iraj Hassanzadeh, the deputy governor of Kurdistan for political-security affairs, told Fars news agency. 

He said the 'middle-aged' men were traveling on Syrian and Iraqi visas, noting all those who try to 'illegally' cross Iran's borders will be arrested. 

The US had earlier asked Swiss embassy in Tehran -- which looks after US interests in Iran as the two countries have no diplomatic ties -- to follow the case of the three Americans. 

A Kurdish official in northern Iraq told AFP that the US nationals were backpackers who were arrested after warnings on the Iraqi side not to hike in the mountains because of the proximity of the border with Iran. 

However, Colonel Anwar Haj Omar of the Halabja police force in northern Iraq linked the three Americans to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), according to Voices of Iraq. 

Head of the Iranian Parliament's foreign policy committee, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, has said the case will take its natural course.

RE : Presstv

US public against Afghanistan, Iraq wars

As the Obama administration struggles to handle the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, a majority of Americans are against the long-fought wars, a new poll says.

The AP-GfK Poll released on Thursday showed that 63% of respondents oppose the war in Iraq and 53% oppose the war in Afghanistan.

This is while 34% favor the Iraq battlefield and 44% favor the conflict in Afghanistan, according to the poll.

The survey also revealed that 56% of Americans approve President Barack Obama's handling of the situation in Iraq and 55% approve his handling of Afghanistan. Both numbers are down just slightly since April.

July is already the deadliest month of the war for both US and NATO forces with 63 international troops killed, including 35 Americans and 19 Britons.

Seven and half years after the US-led coalition invaded Afghanistan to allegedly root out the country's militancy US Vice-President Joe Biden in an interview with the BBC said that groups based on Afghanistan's border with Pakistan could 'wreak havoc' on the US and Europe.

"In terms of national interest of Great Britain, the US and Europe, (the war) is worth the effort we are making and the sacrifice that is being felt," he added.

The US Vice President also warned "there are more to come" and US and UK casualties could be expected to climb.

The poll has been released days after US Defense Secretary Robert Gates acknowledged that the Obama administration will risk losing public support for the war in Afghanistan if the coalition forces fail to turn the situation around within a year.

The poll was conducted July 16-20 and involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,006 adults nationwide.
Re : Presstv

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Second air crash in Iran during one month

Iran-Mashhad : Sixteen die in Aria Air plane crash in Mashhad

At least 16 people have been killed and 21 others have been injured when an Aria Air plane crash-landed in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

The plane en route to the northeastern city of Mashhad from Tehran crashed as it was attempting to make an emergency landing at the destination at about 18:00 (1430 GMT) Friday, reported Fars news agency.

The aircraft, an Ilyushin Il-62 jet, had 160 passengers and crewmembers onboard. Earlier reports had put the number of deaths at 30 and the number of injured at 20.

Images obtained by Press TV show the cockpit and front part of the fuselage completely destroyed, and the aircraft tipping back on its tail, with the main landing-gear deployed.

The aircraft' was likely to have been the UP-I6208, which indicates that it was registered in Kazakhstan.

A spokesman for the airport said that emergency services were carrying the injured to nearby hospitals, and a full breakdown of deaths and injuries will be provided later.

Post incident videos also show that one of the central emergency chutes on the left side of the cabin had been deployed.

The Il-62 is a long-range airliner with a capacity of about 185 passengers and a fair service record.

The incident comes less than 10 days after another Iranian airliner, a Tupolev-154M, crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran en route to the Armenian capital of Yerevan on July 15, killing all 168 passengers onboard. The cause of the crash has not yet been determined.

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Jakarta twin blasts kill 9 , injure 48

Indonesia : At least nine people have been killed and four dozens more injured when explosions ripped through two luxury hotels in the Indonesian capital, authorities say.

The blasts shocked early on Friday at about 0730 local time the Marriott Hotel and the nearby Ritz-Carlton Hotel in central Jakarta's business district, Indonesia's Metro TV reported.

Earlier reports suggested that six people were killed in back-to-back blasts, but failed to give an account of injuries.

Some foreigners are known to be among the dead while several were being taken to nearby hospitals for treatment.

Health ministry sources now say the death toll may rise as many of the injured are in serious conditions.

Jakarta has been targeted by the militants for several times over some past years.

The deadly attacks on two nightclubs in Bali in October 2002 killed 202 people, including many Australian.

More than a dozen people perished in 2003 when a lethal attack targeted the Marriott in 2003.

Nine people lost their lives in an attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta in 2004.

During this news Malaysia attentions to Hotel and big shopping center for take care of people.

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