A new space-based study of Antarctica shows its ice sheet is shrinking. Researchers used satellites to plot changes in the Earth's gravity in the Antarctic during the period 2002-2005. Writing in the journal Science, they conclude that the continent is losing 152 cubic km of ice each year, with most loss in the west. In recent years scientists have found other evidence that West Antarctic ice is melting, which could contribute to sea level rise. In his contribution to a recent report on climate change, the director of the British Antarctic Survey, Chris Rapley, described the West Antarctic ice sheet as "a giant awakened". ... http://news.bbc.co.uk censor News |
Editor - 10:12:00 03-03-06 |
Guantánamo detainee tells of torture and beatings |
A man told today of the brutal beatings and torture he claims to have suffered during more than four years at the Guantánamo Bay detention camp.Fawzi al-Odah, a 29-year-old from Kuwait, said he had been force-fed by guards and that he had "given up" on life as a consequence of the treatment he had received.Mr Odah's version of life at the controversial prison camp at a US base in Cuba was relayed through his lawyer in reply to a series of written questions submitted by a BBC journalist. Mr Odah, who the US administration claims was fighting with the Taliban in Afghanistan, got his American attorney Tom Wilner to smuggle the answers out of the prison.One of 84 detainees who have spent part of their time in captivity on hunger strike, Mr Odah told how he was force-fed by guards to keep him alive.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1723018,00.html
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Editor - 10:03:00 03-03-06 |
Afghan bomb hits Canadian convoy |
A Canadian military convoy has been attacked in southern Afghanistan, Afghan officials have said. The bomber died but it is not clear whether there are any other casualties. The attack happened in the Daman district, some 15km (10 miles) south of Kandahar. The area has been sealed off by soldiers. A spokesman for the former Taleban regime, Qari Mohammad Yousuf, has said the attack was carried out by members of the group, reports say. "A car full of explosives blew up near a Canadian armoured vehicle," General Rahamatullah Raufi, the Afghan army commander in the south, told Reuters. The vehicle is said to have been partially damaged. On Thursday, a Canadian soldier was killed and at least six others injured in an accident outside Kandahar. Canada has some 2,300 troops stationed in Afghanistan, most of them in the south. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4769584.stm
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Editor - 10:00:00 03-03-06 |
Bush faces angry reception in Pakistan |
Bush saluted a new era of friendship and economic co-operation between the United States and India today, declaring that the world's two largest democracies were "closer than ever before". Mr Bush made the comments at the end of a three-day visit to India that saw a landmark agreement yesterday under which India will be able to import Western technology and fuel for its fast-growing nuclear power programme.The visit to India provoked multiple protests by Indian Muslims and leftists angered by the US-led invasion of Iraq. Three people were killed today in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh state, when dozens of armed Muslims tried to force Hindu shopkeepers to join an anti-Bush protest and shut their stores.But Mr Bush faces the prospect of much more widespread demonstrations when he touches in down in Pakistan tonight for the final leg of his South Asian tour.... http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2068184,00.html
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Editor - 09:55:00 03-03-06 |
Bush rewards ally Pakistan with high-profile visit |
President Bush rewarded this anti-terror ally Friday, minimizing U.S. concerns about democracy's pace and anti-American sentiment in favor of a high-profile visit to boost Pakistan's global standing. Bush arrived amid extraordinary security for an overnight stay, following an unannounced visit to Afghanistan and three days in India, Pakistan's neighbor and rival. Air Force One landed after dark, its lights off and window shades drawn to conceal the distinctive aircraft.A banner strung across an airport building welcomed "President George W. Bush, a friend of Pakistan," and above it were pictures of Bush, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and the prime minister. A motorcade assembled to bring Bush into town included helicopters, but it was not immediately clear which method of transportation he took to the U.S. Embassy. Highways were cleared of all traffic, and military forces stood guard along the route.... http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-03-03-bush_x.htm?csp=34
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Editor - 09:51:00 03-03-06 |
Rockies' Energy Boom Fueling Conflict Between Energy Companies, Residents and Other Industries |
On a blustery winter day on the rolling plains north of Denver, a herd of cattle stood grazing a few yards from an idled natural gas pump in a dormant field as traffic rumbled by along a black-topped, two-lane highway. Just down the road are shopping centers and subdivisions packed with new homes, gobbling up land around this once-sleepy agricultural town that just happens to sit atop the Wattenberg gas field, one of the nation's most productive. Ed Orr knows this land well. A rancher and developer whose family roots in Colorado date back more than a century, Orr says the real estate business is growing increasingly difficult because gas producers want access no matter what the plans are for the property. "The conflict of the cultures is certainly more prevalent. You have two industries that are both growing," Orr said. "They think that we have no valid rights to get any accommodation for development use of the surface." ... http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1683848
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Editor - 09:49:00 03-03-06 |
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