TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
wahooe
wahooe
« previous 5


McCain Criticizes Obama on Al Qaeda.
Related to country: United States

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

McCain Criticizes Obama on Al Qaeda,Senator John McCain, looking ahead to a possible general-election matchup with Senator Barack Obama, attacked Mr. Obama on Wednesday for what he called a weak and naïve approach to the conflict in Iraq and the effort to combat international terrorism.

Seizing on a comment from Tuesday night’s Democratic debate, Mr. McCain, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, said that Mr. Obama’s plan to rapidly withdraw American troops from Iraq would leave the country in the hands of Al Qaeda and possibly other terrorist groups.

In response to a hypothetical question at the debate, Mr. Obama said that although he intended to withdraw American forces as rapidly as possible, he reserved the right to send troops back in “if Al Qaeda is forming a base in Iraq.”

Mr. McCain pounced on the remark. “I have some news,” he said at a town hall-style meeting in Tyler, Tex. “Al Qaeda is in Iraq. It’s called ‘Al Qaeda in Iraq.’ My friends, if we left, they wouldn’t be establishing a base. They’d be taking a country and I’m not going to allow that to happen.”

Mr. Obama, in Columbus, responded soon after. “I have some news for John McCain,” Mr. Obama said at a large rally at Ohio State University. “There was no such thing as Al Qaeda in Iraq until George Bush and John McCain decided to invade Iraq.”

Both men essentially ignored Mrs. Clinton, who was campaigning in Ohio on economic and trade issues. Mrs. Clinton, speaking to reporters Wednesday morning, said she was pleased with her debate performance and indicated she intended to pursue the nomination even if she loses the Ohio and Texas primaries next Tuesday. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, said last week that she needed to win those contests to remain a viable candidate.

“I think what’s important is that we have a lot of people yet to vote,” Mrs. Clinton told reporters traveling on her plane. “I’m doing everything I can to win. That’s what I intend to do.”

She said she remained optimistic about the race because she is raising $1 million a day online. “People have just been really rallying to my candidacy,” she said.

Mr. Obama delivered one of his most aggressive critiques of Mr. McCain. For several minutes, Mr. Obama mocked his potential Republican rival as he answered Mr. McCain’s charge that he lacks sufficient foreign-policy experience for the presidency.

“I’ve been paying attention, John McCain,” Mr. Obama said, speaking to a crowd of 7,000 in the St. John Arena on the Ohio State campus. “So John McCain may like to say he wants to follow Osama bin Laden to the gates of Hell, but so far, all he’s done is follow George Bush into a misguided war in Iraq.”

February 27, 2008 | 5:18 PM Comments  0 comments

Tags:


Mysterious Haze Found on Venus.
About this event: Let's Share Our Differences
Related to country: Australia

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Mysterious Haze Found on Venus.Bright hazes that mysteriously appear and then disappear on Venus in a matter of days have revealed a new dynamic feature of the planet's cloudy atmosphere that is unlike anything on Earth.

The European Space Agency's Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) captured a series of images showing the development of a bright haze over the southern latitudes of the planet in July 2007. Over a period of days, the high-altitude veil continually brightened and dimmed, moving towards equatorial latitudes and then back towards the south pole.

These transient dark and bright markings indicate regions on the cloud-covered world where solar ultraviolet radiation is being absorbed and reflected by sulfuric acid particles, mission scientists said this week.

Gaseous sulfur dioxide and small amounts of water vapor are usually found below altitudes of about 43 miles (70 kilometers) in Venus' carbon-dioxide rich atmosphere. These molecules are usually shrouded from view by cloud layers above that block our view to the surface at visible wavelengths.

ESA scientists think the sulfuric acid particles that make up the bright haze are created when some atmospheric process lifts the gaseous sulfur dioxide and water vapor high up above the cloud tops where they are exposed to ultraviolet radiation from the sun.

The UV radiation breaks up the molecules, making them highly reactive. The fragments of the molecules eagerly seek each other out and combine to form the sulfuric acid particles.

"The process is a bit similar to what happens with urban smog over cities," said mission team member Dmitri Titov of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany.

Exactly what causes the sulfur dioxide and water vapor to well up is not known, but Titov says it is likely some internal process of Venus' atmosphere.

The transient dark markings on the VMC images are even more of a mystery. They are caused by something that absorbs UV radiation, but scientists don't yet know what the chemical is.

The Wildest Weather in the Galaxy Images: Beneath the Clouds of Venus All About Venus Original Story: Mysterious Haze Found on Venus
Visit SPACE.com and explore our huge collection of Space Pictures, Space Videos, Space Image of the Day, Hot Topics, Top 10s, Multimedia, Trivia, Voting and Amazing Images. Follow the latest developments in the search for life in our universe in our SETI: Search for Life section. Join the community, sign up for our free daily email newsletter, listen to our Podcasts, check out our RSS feeds and other Reader Favorites today!

February 22, 2008 | 3:07 PM Comments  0 comments

Tags:


Diana murdered, Al Fayed claims.
About this event: Let's Share Our Differences
Related to country: United Kingdom

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Diana murdered, Al Fayed claims,Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed were murdered, Mohamed Al Fayed has told the inquest into their deaths in a car crash in Paris in August 1997.
Mr Al Fayed, Harrods owner and father of Dodi, told the Royal Courts of Justice he would "make no allegations".

However, he said Princess Diana "knew Prince Philip and Prince Charles were trying to get rid of her".

The Harrods boss also said Diana had told him she was pregnant. "I am the only person they told," he said.

'Crocodile wife'

Asked by Ian Burnett QC, counsel to the inquest, if he stood by his claim that Diana and Dodi were "murdered by the British security services on the orders of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh", Mr Al Fayed replied: "Yes."

He pinpointed driver Henri Paul, alleged security forces in the ambulance crew, the then British Ambassador to France Sir Michael Jay, the princess's brother-in-law Sir Robert Fellowes and former Prime Minister Tony Blair as all being involved in the plot.

And he said Prince Charles was complicit, hoping to make way so he could marry his "crocodile wife" Camilla Parker Bowles.


My belief (they) were murdered was confirmed when I learned Lord Condon and Lord Stevens did not show the coroner the note
Mohamed Al Fayed
The Harrods boss also raised concerns about a note written by Diana's divorce lawyer, Lord Mishcon, after an October 1995 meeting. It outlined her fears there was a plot to kill her in a car crash.

Lord Mishcon passed it on to police when the princess died in 1997, and after a meeting with the then Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Condon.

The police agreed to hand it to the coroner only after Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, produced a note from the Princess making similar allegations in the Daily Mirror in October 2003. By that time, Sir John Stevens led the Met.

Mr Al Fayed said this delay confirmed his "belief that my son and Princess Diana were murdered".

In his evidence, Mr Al Fayed branded Prince Philip a "Nazi" and a "racist" and said: "It's time to send him back to Germany from where he comes."

"You want to know his original name - it ends with Frankenstein," he added.

Wooden box

Mr Al Fayed also told the jury that Diana told him in a telephone call that she was pregnant, and that the couple said they were engaged.

He read out a statement detailing his main concerns about the crash, and the points he felt the inquest should address.

Diana had told him she kept a wooden box and if anything happened to her, the contents should be made public, he said. But it had not been kept safe by Diana's butler Paul Burrell, or her sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale.

He also said blood samples apparently taken from driver Henri Paul - who was also killed in the crash - did not belong to the Frenchman.

Mr Al Fayed felt the murder was likely to have been carried out by photographer James Andanson, who has since died, on the orders of the security services.

Tape investigation

During his evidence, Mr Al Fayed held up a copy of Monday's Sun newspaper, which claims Paul Burrell said he had not told the whole truth to the inquest.

He said of Mr Burrell: "He's been sitting here in the witness box talking about baloney things. It's important to bring him back."

Lord Justice Scott Baker later told the court: "This is something that's certainly being investigated."

The coroner said he had called for the Sun's tape and would want to know the circumstances under which it was obtained.

Mr Horwell put it to Mr Al Fayed that he had denied Diana "dignity in death" by raising the question of her pregnancy.

The barrister added that "witness after witness" had been asked about her method of contraception and her menstrual cycle, "and the evidence shows she could not have been pregnant".

Mr Al Fayed replied: "All the witnesses who have been saying this are part of the cover-up and have been told what to say."

The Harrods owner broke down when asked about the moment he was told Dodi was dead.

He said someone from security told him, but when asked if he remembered a call from Ritz hotel president Frank Klein, he answered: "It's difficult. I'd like to know why you are asking me things like that."

Mr Klein has told the inquest he telephoned Mr Al Fayed to break the news and he replied: "This is not an accident."