How scientists are turning to music to put across their message

28.12.09 / News / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)

Passenger held on Detroit flight

28.12.09 / News / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)

A man has been arrested after being “disruptive” on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit – two days after a failed attack on board the same flight.

The pilot of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 requested emergency assistance as it landed at Detroit on Sunday.

All 255 passengers were taken off the plane safely. The man, reportedly Nigerian, is in custody.

It came a day after a Nigerian man was charged with attempting to destroy a plane on a flight on 25 December.

The BBC’s Andy Gallacher at Detroit Metropolitan Airport said the situation was unfolding and it was unclear what had happened on Sunday’s flight.

There was possibly more than one passenger involved, he added.

The plane has been taken to a remote part of the airport for searching.

US media reports said the man was Nigerian and had locked himself in the plane’s bathroom.

US President Barack Obama was told about the incident.

The White House said in a statement: “The president stressed the importance of maintaining heightened security measures for all air travel.”

The US and international airports were already on alert after the 25 December failed attack, in which Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly attempted to detonate an explosive device.

Fellow passengers reported seeing flames coming from Mr Abdulmutallab’s lap.

The FBI said he had explosives on his body.

Croatian poll ‘heads for run-off’

27.12.09 / News / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)

Opposition Social Democrat leader Ivo Josipovic will face independent Milan Bandic in a run-off for the Croatian presidency, exit polls suggest.

Mr Josipovic gained more votes than his rival, but not more than the 50% needed to secure outright victory, according to the polls by two local TV stations.

The second-round of voting is expected to take place on 10 January.

Voters were concerned over corruption and the economy as Croatia aims to join the EU, observers say.

Ceremonial role

Croatia joined Nato in April, but EU membership has been delayed by a border dispute with Slovenia dating back to the break-up of Yugoslavia.

Mr Josipovic, a relative newcomer, has had a career untarnished by corruption, but analysts say he could be seen as lacking the charisma needed to take office.

Opinion polls had predicted he would be closely followed by Mr Bandic.

Voting closed at 1900 local time (1800 GMT) and official results are expected by the end of the day.

According to the exit polls, broadcast by RTL and Nova television stations, Mr Josipovic took 32.7% of the vote and Mr Bandic, the mayor of Zagreb, 14.1%.

Croat living in neighbouring Bosnia were also entitled to vote.

The Croatian presidency is a largely ceremonial role. The president has a say in foreign policy, security and defence but no power to veto legislation.

Popular centrist Stipe Mesic is stepping down in February after serving two five-year terms.

Iranian protesters die in clashes

27.12.09 / News / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)

Four protesters have been killed amid violence between anti-government crowds and police in Iran’s capital, Tehran.

Opposition sources said the nephew of former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi was among those killed when police opened fire.

A senior police official said three people had died in accidents, the fourth was hit by a bullet, but police were not carrying weapons.

Opposition websites also reported four deaths in Tabriz, north-western Iran.

There is no confirmation.

It is almost certainly the worst loss of life in protests since the disputed result of June’s presidential election sparked days of clashes.

On Sunday, opposition parties had urged people to take to the streets as the Shia Muslim festival of Ashura reached a climax.

People were chanting “Khamenei will be toppled”, opposition sources said, a reference to Iran’s Supreme Leader.

In pictures: Tehran clashes

Thousands of demonstrators are reported to have taken part in the protests, in defiance of official warnings.

Initial reports from Tehran said the security forces fired in the air to disperse the protests.

Police sources, quoted by the Iranian Fars news agency, denied this, saying foreign media were exaggerating reports of unrest.

But state television later acknowledged there had been several fatalities, and Iranian police said they had arrested 300 people in Tehran.

Iran’s deputy police chief Ahmad Reza Radan, speaking on state television, said the death of the person hit by a bullet was being investigated.

Of the other three fatalities in Tehran, according to Mr Radan, one had fallen off a bridge and the other two had died in car accidents.

Although there were deaths in the immediate aftermath of the disputed elections and protests in June, fatalities since then have been rare.

Mr Mousavi was at the hospital where his nephew Seyed Mousavi was taken after being fatally shot in the heart at Enghelab Square.

ANALYSIS Jon Leyne, BBC News Tehran correspondent The opposition hoped for a massive day of demonstrations, and they have managed that beyond their expectations. Despite attempts by the security forces to disperse them, the protesters eventually took over a large section of central Tehran, leaving the police watching from the sidelines. And there are similar reports from across the country. For much of the morning there was a series of violent confrontations. Witnesses described how opposition supporters attacked the police with their bare hands, and the police eventually opened fire directly on the crowd. The size of the demonstrations, and the death of a number of protesters, could dramatically change the nature and the intensity of the confrontation. But neither side has a clear strategy of what to do next. The opposition is leaderless. The government is still pretending there are just a handful of troublemakers. From day to day, it is not clear how the crisis will develop.

The security forces clearly have to tread a fine line between not appearing weak but also not provoking opposition protesters, says Siavash Ardalan of BBC Persian TV.

Police helicopters were seen flying over central Tehran as clouds of black smoke billowed into the sky, reports said.

On the ground, the security forces clashed with protesters trying to reach central Enghelab Square, witnesses said.

Protesters were chanting, “This is the month of blood”, and calling for the downfall of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to opposition websites.

At the same time, crowds of pro-government demonstrators marched on Enghelab Street to voice support for Ayatollah Khamenei, witnesses said.

Protests were also reported in the cities of Isfahan and nearby Najafabad.

In a statement, the White House said it strongly condemned the “unjust suppression of civilians in Iran”.

“Hope and history are on the side of those who peacefully seek their universal rights, and so is the United States. Governing through fear and violence is never just,” a White House spokesperson said.

The French foreign ministry said it condemned the “arbitrary arrests and the violent actions committed against simple protesters who came to defend their right to freedom of expression and their desire for democracy.”

The French government has continued to lobby the Iranian authorities to release a French university lecturer who was charged with spying during the election. Clotilde Reiss remains in Tehran, and last appeared in court on 23 December.

Disputed election

Tensions have risen in Iran since influential dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri died a week ago aged 87.

Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have sought to use Shia religious festivals this weekend to show continued defiance of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government.

There were chaotic scenes as forces and protesters clashed

Denied the right to protest, the opposition chose the highly significant festival of Ashura when millions of Iranians traditionally go onto the streets for ceremonies and parades, BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne says.

The festival mourns the 7th Century death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

Iranian television had live coverage of the Ashura ceremonies, including those in Tehran attended by President Ahmadinejad.

Mr Mousavi came second in the June election, and anger at the result saw mass protests in Tehran and other cities that led to thousands of arrests and some deaths.

Mr Mousavi has said the poll, that returned Mr Ahmadinejad to power, was fraudulent.

Are you in Iran? Have you witnessed any of the unrest? How are you affected by this story? Please send us your comments using the form below.

A selection of your comments may be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk, text them to +44 7725 100 100 or if you have a large file you can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws.

The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.

South Korea wins nuclear contract

27.12.09 / News / Author: timepasss / Comments: (0)

A South Korean consortium has been awarded a contract worth some $40bn (£25bn) to build four nuclear power plants in the United Arab Emirates.

The group, led by the Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco), beat bids from a US-Japanese group and a French firm.

South Korean officials said the deal was the biggest single contract the country had ever won abroad.

Though the world’s third largest oil exporter, the UAE says only nuclear power can meet its energy demands.

The nuclear reactors should all be in operation by 2020, by which time demand for electricity in the UAE is expected to have more than doubled. The first is scheduled to begin supplying power in 2017.

As well as Kepco, the winning consortium includes Samsung, Hyundai and Doosan Heavy Industries, as well as US firm Westinghouse and Japan’s Toshiba.

The South Korean president’s office described the deal as “the largest mega-project in Korean history”.

It also represents that first time the country has exported a nuclear power plant, according to the Associated Press news agency.

South Korea first introduced atomic power in 1978 and now has 20 nuclear reactors in operation.