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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Great Ideas And Tips About Home Improvement | Pregnancy Health ...

When selecting colors for your room, adorn ?vertically.? Choose darker shades for the floor, middle colors upon the walls as good as the lighter tone upon the ceiling. Don?t be tempted to operate darker colors the single the single side of the room as good as lighter colors upon the alternative side. This will have the room crop up out of balance, as good as, visually unappealing.

If we do run in to complications when perplexing to renovate the territory of your residence alone ask for help. There is no contrition in asking for assistance when we come opposite an obstacle. A home that is scrupulously remodeled looks improved than the home that was remodeled feeble as good as not accomplished properly.

Use window movie for tiny windows or windows though the curtain. There have been most opposite sorts of window drive-in theatre to select from, similar to ambiguous or one-way variants. During the day no the single will be means to see in your home, though during night if your lights have been upon people will be means to see inside. Be certain to keep this in mind.

Freshen up your kitchen with flowering plants as good as fruit. A pleasing agreement of uninformed flowering plants or the play of brightly colored ripened offspring will perk up any kitchen. This is an cheap repair as good as will lighten up the kitchen instantly. Seeing the vase of uninformed flowering plants upon even the dullest of days will now urge both the kitchen as good as your mood!

Take value of today?s technological advancements to pre-plan your home alleviation projects. Many home alleviation stores, paint manufacturers, as good as alternative companies have collection upon their websites that let we daydream tone combinations, flooring, wall coverings, or alternative updates in your own space. All we have to do is upload the photo.

If we need some-more room due to the flourishing family, do not sell your home. Instead, renovate it. Add upon bedrooms or renovate the ones that we already have to have them bigger. This has the little good benefits, it will save we the poignant volume of income as good as the con of carrying to move.

Have the transparent design in thoughts of the home improvements we wish to accomplish. This will forestall beating if the devise doesn?t spin out as we planned. Utilize lists, drawings as good as repository articles for ideas upon how to emanate the accomplished product that will be all we want!

When creation home improvements, devise for the worst. If you?re operative in the groundwork or bathroom, devise as good as bill for distinctive nature removal. If you?re pulling down the walls in an aged residence devise to find doorknob as good as blood vessel wiring.

Sometimes, as any residence pet owners can discuss it you, your pets can be destructive. If we have had the dog rip holes in to your runner do not despair. You can essentially cut out the block of carpet, magnitude it, as good as regulating runner fasten essentially distinctive nature the square right in the dull container seamlessly.

If we have motionless to do your own repainting of your home?s exterior, recollect to paint surfaces from the tip down. Begin initial with the gutters. The fascia boards, as good as the eaves of your house. When this partial is finished, work your approach downward to the categorical surfaces. You can save yourself the substantial volume of time by regulating the high-quality 4-inch brush. Check mostly for drips as good as streaks given they have been some-more formidable to purify up after the paint is dried.

If your aged bed set is seeking the bit aged as good as we have been an desirous person, we should try structure your own bed furniture. While this is the formidable task, if we take your time as good as work tough during it, we can emanate seat that is pleasing as good as entirely customized to your liking.

The on top of intelligent tips will get we seeking during home improvements similar to the professional, so your projects will all cruise true for success instead of receiving the some-more expensive, devious approach to removing where we in conclusion wish to be. With the right perspective as good as mental preparation, we can renovate your home in to the mental condition home.

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Monday, June 25, 2012

Toll from Colorado wildfire raised to 248 homes

In this Saturday, June 23, 2012 photo provided by Darrell Spangler, a firefighter works the scene of a home being consumed by flames in Estes Park, Colo. As many as 21 structures were destroyed by the fire on Saturday. Eight separate wildfires are burning across Colorado, which is seeing record-breaking heat. (AP Photo/Darrell Spangler) MANDATORY CREDIT

In this Saturday, June 23, 2012 photo provided by Darrell Spangler, fire consumes a home in Estes Park, Colo. As many as 21 structures were destroyed by the fire on Saturday. Eight separate wildfires are burning across Colorado, which is seeing record-breaking heat. (AP Photo/Darrell Spangler) MANDATORY CREDIT

In this photo provided by Darrell Spangler, rubble smolders Sunday, June 24, 2012, from a home consumed by fire a day earlier, in Estes Park, Colo. As many as 21 structures were destroyed by the fire on Saturday. Eight separate wildfires are burning across Colorado, which is seeing record-breaking heat. (AP Photo/Darrell Spangler) MANDATORY CREDIT

The evening sky glows orange as smoke and flames from the Waldo Canyon Fire has consumed 2500 acres west of Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire is zero percent contained. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were taking place across the west side of Colorado Springs. Tankers were dropping fire retardant in front of the advancing flames. ( AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

A giant plume from the Waldo Canyon Fire hovers high above Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Colo. on Saturday, June 23, 2012. The fire is zero percent contained and has consumed 2500 acres. Voluntary and mandatory evacuations were taking place across the west side of Colorado Springs. Tankers were dropping fire retardant in front of the advancing flames. ( AP Photo/Bryan Oller)

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) ? The total number of homes destroyed by a two-week old wildfire in northern Colorado was raised to 248 on Sunday as residents of a subdivision near Fort Collins learned that 57 more homes in their neighborhood had been lost, authorities said.

Fire officials had previously said that 191 homes had burned, the most in state history. The High Park Fire is the second-largest wildfire and among the most expensive in Colorado's history. It has scorched more than 130 square miles and was just 45 percent contained on Sunday, The Denver Post reported.

With a total of eight fires burning, Colorado is having its worst wildfire season in a decade.

A fire near Colorado Springs erupted Saturday and grew out of control to more than 3 square miles early Sunday, prompting the evacuation of more than 11,000 residents and an unknown number of tourists. Authorities said Sunday that they were allowing about 5,000 of those residents to return.

Also on Saturday, a blaze destroyed structures near the mountain community of Estes Park, where many visitors stay while visiting Rocky Mountain National Park. The Larimer County Sheriff's Office said Sunday that 22 homes and 2 outbuildings had been burned.

"We're used to flooding and tornadoes, nothing like this," said Amanda Rice, who recently moved to the area from Rock Falls, Ill. Rice, her husband, four children and dog left a Manitou Springs hotel late Saturday.

Rice, scared when she saw flames, took her family to the evacuation center before she was told to go.

"It was just this God-awful orange glow. It was surreal. It honestly looked like hell was opening up," Rice said Sunday.

With Colorado midway through its worst wildfire season in a decade, travelers have seen some of their favorite sites closed to the public, obscured by smoke and haze. Some travelers were awoken with evacuation orders.

Plumes of gray and white smoke poured from the mountains Sunday, obscuring at times Pikes Peak, the most-summited high-elevation mountain in the nation and inspiration for the song "America The Beautiful." Winds were pushing smoke away from Colorado Springs, but residents and tourists watched nervously as haze wrapped around the peak.

Families planning whitewater rafting trips or visits to the stunning red-rock formations in Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs were instead spending their vacations passing out bottled water and setting up cots in evacuee centers.

They included Mark Stein of Morristown, N.J., whose family arrived after midnight Sunday at their Manitou Springs hotel for a week of whitewater rafting and sightseeing.

"We were sleeping for 15 minutes when they started knocking on the door ? a day from hell," Stein said of the day of travel. With his wife and two sons, Stein spent the first night of his vacation setting up cots for more than 200 evacuees who slept at the school.

"I think it's the best vacation ever. This is what the real world is about. There's a lot of people that need help," Stein said.

Also Sunday, a brushfire that began near Elbert, about 50 miles southwest of Denver, quickly spread to about 60 acres, forcing the evacuation of about 100 residents.

Half the nation's firefighting fleet is now battling fires in Colorado, said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. He said C-130 military transport planes from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs would begin assisting on Monday.

"People recognize this is going to take a big push" to extinguish, Hickenlooper said Sunday from a Colorado Springs grocery store, where volunteers were passing out burritos, sandwiches and drinks to 350 firefighters working near Pikes Peak.

The wildfire near Rocky Mountain National Park destroyed vacation cabins and closed the most commonly used entrance to the park. Clouds of smoke blew toward the 102-year-old Stanley Hotel that inspired Stephen King to write "The Shining."

Elsewhere in the West, firefighters made progress against wildfires in Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

? In Utah, a 15-square-mile blaze around Fountain Green in Sanpete County was threatening more than 359 permanent structures and 213 mobile homes and travel trailers in four rural subdivisions, forcing about 1,000 people to flee. BLM says the human-caused fire erupted Saturday afternoon. Officials report progress on a 9-square-mile wildfire around Saratoga Springs, about 40 miles south of Salt Lake City.

? In California, a wildfire about 60 miles north of Los Angeles triggered evacuations of campgrounds around an off-road recreation area on Saturday. Officials said the fire has blackened at least 1,000 acres in the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area, along the Interstate 5 corridor in Gorman.

? In New Mexico, a lightning-caused wildfire that destroyed 242 homes and businesses is 90 percent contained. The 69-square-mile fire near Ruidoso began June 4. Meanwhile, the largest wildfire in state history was 87 percent contained, having burned more than 464 square miles after two blazes merged on May 16.

? In Montana, two wildfires were burning in the southwest part of the state, including the fast-moving Antelope Fire, which started Saturday afternoon about 10 miles north of Whitehall and had grown to 462 acres on Sunday. About 100 firefighters were battling that blaze.

? In Arizona, the U.S. Forest Service said Sunday that containment against the Poco Fire, just outside of Young, is up to 50 percent and remains under 12,000 acres. Officials say many of the firefighting resources are being released to their home units or to other fire assignments.

Associated Press

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Beirut Honors Friend of Israel, Again

For the second year in a row, the administration of the American University of Beirut (AUB) has come under fire regarding its decision to bestow an honorary doctorate on a candidate with a record of being outspokenly supportive of Israel.

Last year, the decision to honor former World Bank president James Wolfensohn, known for his political and economic support of Israel?s occupation of Palestinian lands, faced heavy criticism from students and faculty members of the university. Subsequently, a petition was drafted and garnered much support, resulting in Wolfensohn not attending the honoring ceremony.

This year, the AUB administration had decided to award honorary doctorates to three individuals, one of whom is Donna Shalala ? an American citizen of Lebanese descent who was Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Clinton administration and is currently the president of the University of Miami.

As president of the University of Miami, Shalala?s tenure has faced two major scandals. The first involved her handling of a custodial workers? hunger strike during the first quarter of 2006. Shalala was?heavily criticized?for living in luxury while custodians of the university received salaries lower than the living wage and were not even granted health insurance.

However, it is her relationship with pro-Israeli academic institutions, such as Bar-Ilan University, which are involved in the research and development of military technology used against Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, as well as her strong support for Israel that has caused great concern for students and faculty members of AUB.

According to an open letter drafted by a coalition of like-minded students, faculty members, and anti-normalization groups (refer to Box below), the decision by the AUB administration is seen as ?insulting? and ?shows a lack of concern for the fate of Palestinian victims of Israeli oppression, disrespect for universal human rights, and a disregard for the sentiments of the Lebanese community that supports Palestinian rights.?

Furthermore, the letter notes that the decision backtracks on assurances made by the administration last year after the Wolfensohn incident to ensure that the process of selecting honorary doctorate recipients is transparent and respects calls to boycott Israeli institutions. Regardless of these assurances, the announcement of the honorary recipients was suddenly made less than a week prior to the honorary ceremony, which will be held this Friday.

Israel?s?Jerusalem Post?noted in a?July 2010 article?that Shalala, who first visited the Zionist state as far back as the 1960s, is an adamant opponent of the boycott movement against the state of Israel.

Shalala?s 20-page?curriculum vitae?states that she received honors from at least two Israeli universities, including the University of Haifa in 1998 and the Technion Institute in 1994. Moreover, she was a member of the Jerusalem Committee within the?Jerusalem Foundation?from 1982 to 1992, a notorious organization that seeks to entrench and expand Zionist colonization of Jerusalem, and she was a consultant to theAmerican Jewish Committee?from 1970 to 1976. The American Jewish Committee is a hawkish pro-Israeli advocacy group that actively stifles any criticism directed towards the Zionist state. Presently, it is working on drumming up support against Iran?s nuclear program.

As a professed opponent of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement that seeks to pressure Israel to recognize Palestinian rights and end its persistent violations of international law, Shalala presided over aresearch collaboration agreement?in May 2011 between the University of Miami and Ben Gurion University that includes joint research, academic cooperation, and student exchange programs.

In July 2010 Shalala took part in a delegation of American university presidents in a week-long trip to Israel in support against calls for an academic and cultural boycott of Israeli institutions. Shalala stayed behind for several more days to accompany a group from the University of Miami?s medical department that met with faculty members of Israel?s Bar-Ilan University as well as Israeli President Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and other Israeli officials.

Yet despite her support of Israel, Shalala was subjected to a ?humiliating? detainment and interrogation at Ben Gurion Airport prior to her departure back to the US due to her Arab background.

Upon returning to the United States Shalala excused the blatantly discriminatory treatment she faced, saying, ?While I was inconvenienced, Israel's security and the security of travelers is far more important. I have been going in and out of Israel for many years and expect to visit again.?

According to the AUB website, honorary degrees are awarded ?based on a record of scholarly excellence in a field of study in the sciences or humanities, artistic creativity, leadership, humanitarian service, or concern for the public good, as well as a demonstrated commitment to the humane and educational values that exemplify the?mission of AUB.?

Al-Akhbar?attempted to contact the AUB administration for comment, but repeated tries went unanswered.

An Open Letter from anti-normalization groups at the AUB

Can AUB find only those Complicit with Zionism to Honor?

In the lead-up to last year?s AUB graduation, over one hundred of the university?s faculty members voiced their principled opposition to the bestowal of an honorary doctorate upon a former World Bank president with demonstrated political and economic connections to the Zionist occupation of Palestine.[1] In light of this petition, and numerous messages from AUB students and alumni, as well as others, James Wolfensohn decided not to attend the AUB commencement and was not awarded an honorary doctorate from AUB. In meetings that followed this event, university administrators assured AUB community members that awarding future honorary doctorates would be a more transparent process. The AUB administration also stressed, in a letter to the faculty, that ?as an institution of higher learning with an historic presence in Lebanon and the Middle East, AUB is deeply committed to upholding the essential values of academic Freedom, and will do so within the bounds of Lebanese law, which strictly prohibits collaboration with Israeli institutions.?

Directly contradicting this commitment to transparency, AUB administrators have chosen to announce the 2012 honorary doctorate recipients less than a week before the ceremony at which these awards are to be presented. More insulting to the AUB community, as well as to the society in which the university is situated, is that Donna Shalala, one of this year?s recipients, and the one set to deliver the Commencement address on June 22, has established clear academic ties with the Israeli apartheid regime and has been one of the leading voices opposing the boycott of Israel. AUB?s choice of honoree forces us to wonder whether this is no mere coincidence, whether there is a systematic and structural attempt to turn the AUB, through its administration and Board of Trustees, into a normalizing entity, violating the boycott principles that Palestinians under Israeli occupation have called for and that most advocates of the Palestinian cause have endorsed. This shows a lack of concern for the fate of Palestinian victims of Israeli oppression, disrespect for universal human rights, and a disregard for the sentiments of the Lebanese community that supports Palestinian rights.

Ms. Donna Shalala served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services for eight years under President Bill Clinton. In these eight years, her administration systematically brought about the starvation of the Iraqi people under one of the most brutal sanctions regime in human history; directly killing 1-1.5 million Iraqis, 225,000-500,000 of whom were children.[2] During her tenure as Health Secretary, she accepted honorary degrees from two Israeli universities: the Technion University (in 1994) and the University of Haifa (in 1998). After taking on the presidency of the University of Miami, she has worked to encourage partnership agreements signed between her university and Israel?s Bar Ilan[3] and Ben Gurion[4] Universities. In July of 2011, Ms. Shalala was awarded another honorary doctorate from the Ben Gurion University. At the celebration she stated that "I am honored to share this special day with the students and scholars at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. BGU proudly represents Israel's abiding commitment to the special values and tradition of higher education."[5] All four of these universities, as with most other Israeli universities, are deeply enmeshed in discrimination against Palestinian students, Israeli military training and the development of weaponry used against Palestinian and Lebanese civilians.[6]

Consistently misrepresenting the boycott of Israeli academic institutions as a boycott of Israeli academics, Shalala has been a leading opponent of the academic boycott. The highlight of her anti-boycott crusade came in July 2010 when she participated in a 13-member delegation of U.S. university presidents to Palestine organized by Project Interchange[7], an offshoot of the Zionist lobby group?and leading proponent of a U.S.-led war against Iran?the American Jewish Committee. The dual purpose of the delegation was to engage these university leaders in developing partnership with Israeli academic institutions?a goal clearly achieved with the University of Miami?s subsequent partnerships?and to fight the academic boycott.

Less than a month before travelling with the delegation, Shalala told the Jerusalem Post that she had ?joined the presidents of the major American universities to denounce the boycott of Israeli academics. I sent a personal letter to the presidents of universities here, as did the other presidents, promising there would be no boycott in the United States and that Israeli scholars would always be welcome in the US.?[8] Ironically, but far from surprisingly, Shalala?s Lebanese surname resulted in her detention and humiliation for over two hours by Israeli airport security.[9] Astonishingly, she shrugged off this act of racism by saying: "While I was inconvenienced, Israel's security and the security of travelers is far more important."[10]

As with Wolfensohn before her, there can be no doubt that Shalala is an accomplished individual, and even that many of her accomplishments may have benefited groups of people. There are hundreds of people around the world, however, who have done a great deal for humanity without also being complicit in crimes like the sanctions imposed on the Iraqi people, or with the apartheid regime of Israel.

Why are AUB administrators adamant in selecting those marred by such complicity for the bestowal of honorary awards? What makes AUB ignore the ongoing calls and petitions from its own community and the community at large to abide by the principles of academic boycott? What was the role of numerous lectures, conferences and seminars on the Arab Spring held this past year at AUB, if they failed to inspire the AUB administration and community to understand the basic value that led to these revolutions, namely: dignity. Why would AUB advocate for a candidate for an honorary doctorate by pointing to their ethnic origin without pointing to their moral principles? These questions are not addressed to the AUB administration, which seems to be disrespectful of voices of its own students, faculty, and staff, and unconcerned to open a dialogue with its own constituency, but to the community in which AUB is embedded. It is about time for the community to oblige AUB to act as an institution embedded in a society that stands by moral principles of humanity, dignity, and equal rights.

[1]?http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1621
[2]?http://www.globalissues.org/article/105/effects-of-sanctions
[3]?http://sizedoesntmatter.com/research/israel-us-med-schools-sign-deal/
[4]?http://www.aabgu.org/media-center/news-releases/bgu-and-university-of-mi...
[5]?http://www.aabgu.org/media-center/news-releases/bgu-awards-shalala.html
[6]http://alternativenews.org/images/stories/downloads/Economy_of_the_occup...
[7]?http://projectinterchange.org/?page_id=36
[8]?http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=181131
[9]?http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3931210,00.html
[10]?http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/07/1765823/um-shalala-treated-as-secu...

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/beirut-honors-friend-israel-again

Posted on 21-06-2012

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NATO to discuss downing of Turkish plane by Syria

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ? NATO leaders will meet this week to discuss whether and how to respond to Syria's downing of a Turkish jet in what Turkey insists was international airspace. The incident has spiked regional tensions caused by the conflict in Syria, where reports Sunday said nearly 40 people died in new clashes between rebels and regime forces.

The jet's wreckage was found in the Mediterranean at a depth of 4,265 feet (1,300 meters), Turkish state media reported Sunday. The two pilots remain unaccounted for.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the jet was on a training flight to test Turkey's radar capabilities, not spying on Syria. He said the plane mistakenly strayed into Syrian airspace Friday, but was quickly warned to leave by Turkish authorities and was a mile inside international airspace when it was shot down off the coast of Latakia.

Syria insisted Saturday that the shooting was "not an attack" and that the aircraft had violated its airspace. But Turkish authorities say Syria didn't warn the Turkish plane nor send its own jets to confront it. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was expected to make a statement Tuesday and might announce some retaliatory steps.

"No one should dare to test Turkey's capabilities," Davutoglu said Sunday.

Meantime, at the request of Turkey, NATO's governing body will meet Tuesday to discuss the incident, said Oana Lungescu, a NATO spokeswoman. The consultations will focus on article 4 of NATO's founding Washington Treaty.

"Under article 4, any ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened," Lungescu said. The North Atlantic Council ? the ambassadors of the 28 NATO countries ? will decide whether to respond, she said.

The last time article 4 was invoked was nine years ago ? also by Turkey ? after tensions with neighboring Iraq escalated. However, that case did not lead to the invocation of article 5, which declares that an attack against any single NATO country shall be considered as an attack against them all.

Despite some opposition leaders' calls for Western military intervention in Syria, the United States and allies have been hesitant to get involved in what could prove a protracted conflict, preferring the diplomatic route. Syrian allies Russia and China have already shielded Syria from U.N. sanctions and stridently oppose any military intervention.

It's unlikely the downing of the Turkish plane will change those calculations, despite Ankara's appeal for the NATO meeting.

In October 1989, two Syrian MiG-21s violated Turkish air space and shot down a Turkish plane on a geographical survey mission, killing all five crew members. Syria at the time promised to severely punish the pilots, who disregarded Turkish orders not to enter Turkish airspace.

Dogu Ergil, a professor of political science at the Ankara University, told private NTV television that Turkey had repeatedly sent its jets across the Syrian border for several weeks to show its military muscle at the time.

Turkey has been one of the most vociferous critics of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime as it has cracked down over the past 15 months on an increasingly armed popular uprising. Opposition activists say the conflict has killed 14,000 people, most of them civilians.

The plane's downing has already drawn international criticism from other countries pushing Assad to stop his crackdown.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Sunday he was "gravely concerned by the Syrian regime's action in shooting down" the plane and that Davutoglu had told him no warning was given.

"This outrageous act underlines how far beyond accepted behavior the Syrian regime has put itself, and I condemn it wholeheartedly," Hague said in a statement. "The Assad regime should not make the mistake of believing that it can act with impunity. It will be held to account for its behavior."

Hague met last week with United Nations and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan for talks on plans for an international summit, while British officials discussed the issue in Geneva on Saturday with members of Annan's team. Hague noted Sunday that "The UK stands ready to pursue robust action at the United Nations Security Council."

Italy's foreign minister decried the shooting down of the plane as "a further, very grave and unacceptable action by the Assad regime." In a written statement, Giulio Terzi promised that Italy will play an active role in the NATO meeting Tuesday.

Syrian activists reported violence in different parts of the country Sunday, saying nearly 40 people were killed.

The deadliest incident was in the northern town of Ariha where a shell hit a home killing seven members of the same family, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.? A video posted online showed the seven men's bodies, some badly mutilated, including one who had part of his head blown off.

Activists also reported intense shelling and clashes between rebels and troops in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour and the central city of Homs, which has been under a government attack for the past two weeks.

Earlier Sunday, activists said rebels captured a military base in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo, confiscating large amounts of ammunition. The Observatory said 16 government troops died in the attacks on the base near the rebel-held town of Daret Azzeh and nearby checkpoints early Sunday.

Area activist Mohammed Saeed said the rebels had removed hundreds of artillery shells from the base. Saeed added via Skype that troops retaliated with intense shelling on the area using helicopter gunships.

On Friday, state media said 25 people were kidnapped by "terrorists" and killed in Daret Azzeh. Activists said the 25 killed were pro-regime gunmen known as shabiha.

Syria's state-run SANA news agency, meanwhile, said gunmen from Turkey clashed with Syrian border guards in Rabiah, a region in the coastal Latakia province. SANA said several infiltrators died in the late Saturday clash, while others reportedly returned to Turkey. It said several Syrian border guards were hurt, but didn't specify how many.

Turkey denies sheltering armed Syrian rebels, although many Syrian refugees have fled to camps on the Turkish side of the border.

Also on Sunday, Syrian opposition groups met in Brussels to hash out differences and plan for a democratic transition. The disparate groups are divided over whether outside military intervention would help or hurt and whether to engage in dialogue with Assad's regime. The conference, attended by some 50 people, will continue Monday.

Jordanian Information Minister Sameeh Maaytah, meanwhile, said Sunday that three other Syrian pilots had defected last week, even before a pilot flew his warplane into neighboring Jordan. He said the other three crossed overland into Jordan. He was unsure if the four pilots knew each other or had coordinated their escape from Syria.

___

Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Don Melvin in Brussels, Frances D'Emilio in Rome and Jamal Halaby in Jordan contributed to this report.

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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Palestinians push Nativity church as Heritage site

PARIS (AP) ? The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is becoming the church of contention, with a bid by the Palestinians to use their position as the newest members of the U.N.'s cultural arm to obtain World Heritage status for the iconic Christian site ? and perhaps boost their own campaign for legitimacy.

The effort by the Palestinian Authority, like its overall efforts for global recognition for an independent Palestinian state, is drawing resistance. And it may fail at the World Heritage Committee meeting that starts Sunday.

An experts committee has turned down the emergency bid to quickly confer on the Church of the Nativity, and its pilgrimage route, the status as an endangered World Heritage site, saying the application needs more work. Even custodians of the holy site, the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian churches are opposed, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.

The church ? which drew some 2 million visitors last year and parts of which are 1,500 years old ? stands above the grotto that Christians believe was the birthplace of Jesus. The Palestinians' application asks for recognition as a site of "outstanding universal value" urgently in need of attention.

There is concern by the United States and others that the Bethlehem holy site and the integrity of the World Heritage process risk falling victim to the politics that for decades have torn the region asunder, with the Palestinians using their foothold in the U.N. system to grab symbolic recognition of their elusive bid for statehood in a long-disputed land.

The World Heritage candidacy of the Church of the Nativity and the pilgrimage route is one way for the Palestinians to prove they are responsible stewards of the site which draws tourists the world over. Above all, it is part of a broader attempt by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to seek international recognition for a state of Palestine after its controversial backdoor entry into the U.N. system.

Negotiations with Israel on the terms of a Palestinian state have been frozen since 2008, mainly because Abbas and Israel's hardline prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, have failed to reach enough common ground for meaningful talks.

Meantime, Abbas has tried to create new leverage, including with a quest for U.N. membership for a state of Palestine in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, the territories Israel occupied in 1967. The U.N. bid has been stalled for months, but Abbas hopes to garner recognition for Palestine wherever possible, including with a nod from UNESCO for Bethlehem.

Angry at Palestinian membership in UNESCO, the United States pulled its $80 million in annual dues ? 22 percent of the overall budget ? from the Paris-based organization after the October vote that made the Palestinians the 195th member.

Bucking the bad feedback, the Palestinians refused to follow UNESCO custom and withdraw the candidacy ? as the French did with their emergency bid for the Chauvet cave, with its hundreds of prehistoric drawings, when it got a negative recommendation from the experts.

The Palestinians now risk losing face at the World Heritage Committee meeting from Sunday until July 6 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, when 33 sites from around the world will be considered for the coveted World Heritage status.

A surprise thumbs up could feed rancor and rivalries in a volatile region, within the church itself and perhaps at the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Already, the Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO, Elias Sanbar, has denounced a "persistent campaign of rumors" at the organization.

Protecting the cultures of the world is among UNESCO's core missions and there is little doubt the Church of the Nativity ? with a longstanding problem of leaks from the roof ? is in need of repair. A program administered by the Palestinians is already in progress.

Located in the Israeli-controlled West Bank, it is managed by three churches, each jealous of its role as custodian of the site, defined under an agreement dating back to the Ottoman Empire.

With a big measure of diplomacy, the leaders of the Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Armenian churches rebuffed the Palestinian proposal, politely reserving judgment on its reasons.

"In our opinion, we do not think it opportune to deal with this request that the Basilica and its entire complex be included in the list of World Heritage sites, due to different considerations," read a letter to Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas signed by the three leaders. A copy of the letter was obtained by The Associated Press.

Among other things, a World Heritage designation raises fears that the delicate arrangement of custodianship might be disturbed. Fights among priests using broomsticks have been known to break out in the past over a perception that boundaries are being overstepped.

"When it comes to the Church of the Nativity, no one can interfere," said Yousef Daher of the World Council of Churches in Jerusalem. "They (the Palestinian Authority) figured it wrong." He called the Palestinian bid a "surprising request."

"A church is a church, it shouldn't become a world heritage. It's a sacred place and its ownership is not for anyone," Daher said.

The Palestinian emergency application cites lack of regular restoration on the church due to the political situation since 1967 when Israel occupied the territories and difficulties procuring equipment because of lack of free movement imposed by Israeli forces.

Though Israel captured the West Bank, it turned much of Bethlehem over to the Palestinian Authority in the 1990s.

The U.S. State Department did not hide its disapproval of the Palestinians' emergency bid.

"We are disappointed by the Palestinians' intention to push through an emergency inscription against the recommendation of UNESCO's own experts and without thoroughly consulting all stakeholders," a statement said. It made clear that Washington's objection stems from the rush job that an emergency candidacy implies and which prevents a full review including by those with a stake in the outcome.

"We hope the Committee will act responsibly as good stewards of the World Heritage Convention, rather than allowing yet another U.N. forum to become a victim of politicization," the U.S. statement said. "The site is sacred to all Christians."

An experts report, conducted for UNESCO by the Rome-based International Council on Monuments and Sites, which reviews all applications, concluded that the Palestinians failed to show that damage or dangers to the Church of the Nativity "make its condition an emergency that needs to be addressed ... for immediate action necessary for the survival of the property."

It suggests the application be resubmitted under normal procedures with fuller detail. That takes about 18 months, meaning it could be re-nominated in 2014.

"Palestinians are continuing with their bid, and they are still hopeful and optimistic that they will succeed," said Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib. He declined to elaborate.

The Palestinian delegation to UNESCO refused any comment until after the Saint Petersburg meeting. However, a letter circulating among delegations suggested a plot was afoot.

In a letter, Ambassador Sanbar denounced a campaign of pressure against the bid from "those who do not want to see Palestine exercise its legitimate rights."

The June 11 letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, included what is purported to be a statement of support for Palestinian leader Abbas signed in type by the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox leaders, noting the Armenian was absent.

That letter "gave some delegations the impression that the churches had changed their opinion and were no longer opposed to the inscription," said one UNESCO official. "Was it designed for that purpose? I don't know."

The official asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity surrounding the Palestinian bid.

Despite fears by some that Palestinian backers on the committee will win the church the emergency designation as an endangered World Heritage site, others say it would be highly unusual for the voting committee to ignore the experts' negative recommendation.

"The committee is a sovereign body. Experts are there to give expert advice that is usually taken on board," said UNESCO spokeswoman Sue Williams.

Win or lose, the Palestinians are looking to putting their mark on other sites under their purview, including historic Bethlehem.

That gets a green light from the custodial churches at the Nativity ? as long as the church itself stays off limits.

___

Dalia Nammari in Jerusalem and Karin Laub in Ramallah, West Bank contributed to this report.

View the original article here

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