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Friday, March 30, 2012

Unwanted date

After 48 years of service, a former Royal Malaysian Navy warship was sunk at the Sawadi diving spot and will be made a diving attraction.
KD Sri Sarawak which was decommissioned to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency in 2005, was sunk in a 40-minute operation in one of the top diving spots in the world near here yesterday.
The warship, which was renamed as KM Sipadan, was first used in 1964.
It was given to the Marine Park Department to be turned into an artificial reef for marine life.
'Burial' at sea: A former Royal Malaysian Navy warship being sunk in the depths of the Sawadi diving spot, off Pulau Tioman, so that it can be turned into an artificial reef. The Marine Park Department hopes that the 40-minute ‘burial at sea’ Wednesday will allow marine life in the area to thrive

The Evil Israel

For Palestinian farmer, a constant reminder of Israeli occupation

Paul Goldman / NBC News
Abu Nidal, 70, stands on his land in the Palestinian village of Al-Walaja. Construction of the Israeli security barrier can be seen in the background.
AL-WALAJA, West Bank –  Palestinian activists are calling for a “Global March to Jerusalem” this Friday to mark Land Day, an annual event that commemorates the killing of six Arabs who were protesting the Israeli practice of expropriating Arab land to build Jewish settlements on March 30, 1976.
Since then Palestinians have commemorated March 30 as Land Day and have turned it into a general day of protest against what they see as discriminatory practices by the Israeli government.
But 70-year-old Abu Nidal doesn’t need a special calendar day to remind him of the Israeli occupation and their confiscation of his land. Nidal just needs to wake up every morning and look outside his window to see how the Israelis are confiscating his land.

 He lives in the village Al Walaja, nestled in the hills between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Half of the village of just over 2,000 is considered to be part of Jerusalem and the other half is part of the West Bank. So now the Israeli security wall snakes through the village.
“Land Day is like a music record being played over and over,” he said. “I live out of despair with no future in sight, I see no light only darkness.”
'Global March to Jerusalem': Israel's borders on high alert as huge protests loom
When the Israelis sent huge yellow bulldozers to the village in 2010 to start working on the separation wall, no one bothered to check on whether or not the wall ran through Nidal’s farm land – which it does. And it has not only been 86 olive trees that were up rooted by the approximately 26-foot high concrete barrier, but also Nidal’s family graveyard.
Paul Goldman / NBC News
Parts of the Israeli security wall are still under construction, while others are already snaking through the West Bank village Al-Walaja.
It was his grandmother’s wish that every family member be buried on their 11-acre farm land. But the Israelis have a different plan for the confiscated land. They are planning to build not only the wall, but a recreational park for Israelis on the other side of the wall.
As it stands now, Nidal can only look at his mother and grandmother’s graves from a distance with the dreadful knowledge that soon the wall will be his only view.
“It’s not only a question of land confiscation, but also of making our life so miserable that we will have to pack up our lives and leave,” Nidal said. “But, of course, I want to be buried alongside my mother.”
This Friday when demonstrators take to the streets commemorating Land Day, Nidal won’t join them; his battle is being waged in the Israeli courts. But he pointed out that his case doesn’t have much of a shot. “The court is Israeli, the judge is Israeli and the lawyers are Israelis.  It’s a losing battle.”
Nidal’s story is just one out of many. There are approximately 2,300 Palestinians living in the village of Al Walaja and everyone I talked to had a similarly desperate story. The common theme to all the stories is the feeling they live in a prison surrounded by a wall and Jewish settlements

Drought

Drought conditions fuel wildfire in northern Spain

Photos by Miguel Riopa / AFP - Getty Images
A firemen runs close to a fire burning near the village of Castrelo do Val, in Ourense, northwestern Spain, on March 27, 2012. A firefighter was killed fighting one of the wildfires that have devastated thousands of acres due to drought in northwestern Spain

Beauty spring


Picking spring flowers in Carlsbad

Mike Blake / Reuters
A worker picks giant tecolote ranunculus flowers by hand at the Flower Fields in Carlsbad, Calif. on March 27. The flowers are sold for commercial purposes and the fields are a tourist attraction.


Slideshow: Spring is in the air!

An early spring coaxes the birds, bees, flowers and humans to come out from winter hibernation to enjoy the sunshine
 
Ina Fassbender / Reuters

Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro Suzuki a hit in Japan as Mariners beat A's in MLB opener

Toru Hanai / Reuters
Fans of Seattle Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki look up at his advertisement with a telecommunications company before their American League season opening MLB baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in Tokyo. March 28.
Ok, it's not real grass and sunshine, but there is something reassuring about the start of baseball season. And yes, it's my home team.
AP reports:
TOKYO - Ichiro Suzuki gave his fans in Japan a performance to cheer about.
 Suzuki had four hits in his return home, Dustin Ackley homered and singled in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1 Wednesday night in baseball's season opener.
 "It was very special to open in Japan," said Suzuki, who spent nine seasons in Osaka with the Orix Blue Wave. "I wanted to have fun and give the fans something at this special time and wanted to share a special moment with them."
Continue reading.
Toshifumi Kitamura / AFP - Getty Images
Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki runs in a game against the Oakland Athletics.
Koji Sasahara / AP
A helmet-wearing fan eats in the premium seats as he watches the American League season opening MLB baseball game between the Oakland Athletics and the Seattle Mariners.
Kimimasa Mayama / EPA
Oakland Athletics' shortstop Cliff Pennington (R) throws the ball to the first baseman for a double play attempt as Seattle Mariners' catcher Miguel Olivo (bottom) slides into the second base in the fifth inning of the opening game of the Major League Baseball 2012 season.
Toshifumi Kitamura / AFP - Getty Images
Seattle Mariners second baseman Dustin Ackley watches the ball after hitting a home run in the fourth inning of the MLB 2012 Opening Series in Japan.
Kimimasa Mayama / EPA
Seattle Mariners' outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (3rd L) celebrates with his teammates after dealing Oakland Athletics in the opening game against Oakland Athletics in the Major League Baseball 2012 season.

Paraplegic Macedonia to London


Marko Djurica / Reuters
Macedonian paraplegic athlete Mile Stojkoski pushes himself on a highway during a marathon from his native town of Krusevo to the London Olympics, in Belgrade March 28, 2012. Stojkoski will travel from Macedonia to Britain in a marathon that covers a total of 2175 miles to raise awareness on people with disabilities.

Pennsyvania water

Pennsylvania water tainted by hydraulic fracturing

Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA
Left: Sherry Vargson, who leased the mineral rights under a portion of her farm to the gas company Chesapeake Energy, illustrates her assertion that methane has leached into her well water by lighting the water on fire as it pours from her kitchen sink in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania, March 8.
Right: Ray Kimble shows the discoloration in a gallon of water he says came from his well in Dimock, Pennsylvania, March 8.
EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the extent of the water problems.
European Pressphoto Agency (EPA) reports:The gas rush in Pennsylvania, created by the controversial drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking—which requires injecting huge amounts of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure thousands of feet beneath the Earth's surface to extract reserves of natural gas, has brought an economic boom to the state, generating 23,000 jobs, and billions of dollars in state and local tax revenues. It has caused complaints in Northeastern Pennsylvania that the drilling is polluting the water table with dangerous quantities of methane. Some residents now rely on outside water distribution, and are making their protests heard. Yet with the gas industry expected to keep drilling here—as many as 2,500 new wells are expected in Pennsylvania every year—residents opposed to fracking are bracing for a drawn-out fight.
Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA
Ray Kimble fills up a 500 gallon water tank, called a buffalo, with fresh water which he will then distribute daily to neighbors whose water is non-potable near Dimock, Pennsylvania, March 8.
Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA
Support trucks for hydraulic fracturing are seen in the reflection of a car's side mirror outside Dimock, Pennsylvania, March 9. Heavy gas drilling trucks have caused so much damage to local roads that communities are requiring gas companies to bond the roads, and thus reimburse the towns for asphalt repairs.
Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA
Anti-fracking protestors concerned about natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale gather outside the Marcellus Midstream Conference and Exhibition, which promotes the development of infrastructure needed to transport and process natural gas, at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, Pa., March 20.
Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA
A hydraulic fracturing drill rig at dusk near Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, March 9. The drilling practice requires injecting huge amounts of water, sand, and chemicals at high pressure thousands of feet beneath the earth's surface to extract reserves of natural gas.
The Marcellus Shale formation that lies under parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia is believed to hold 84 trillion cubic feet (2.38 trillion cubic meters) of recoverable natural gas -- enough to supply the nation's gas-burning electrical plants for 11 years. But health concerns have risen over the drilling practice which many believe have caused air and groundwater pollution in other states where thousands of shale gas wells have been drilled — including Texas, Wyoming, Colorado and Pennsylvania.

Turk Teacher Protest

Water canons push back when teachers protest education bill in Turkey

Umit Bektas / Reuters
Sebahat Tuncel, a Kurdish member of parliament, runs for cover as riot police disperse demonstrators during a protest against a government attempt to railroad a new education bill through parliament in Ankara March 29. Members of teachers' union and opposition supporters gathered in the Turkish capital of Ankara to protest against a government attempt to railroad the new education bill through parliament which secular parties say is designed to promote Islamic schooling. The government wants to overturn a 1997 law imposed with the backing of the military which extended compulsory education from five to eight years, but also stopped under-15s attending religious "imam hatip" schools.
Adem Altan / AFP - Getty Images
Police use tear gas to disperse demonstrators during a protest against a government attempt to railroad a new education bill through parliament in Ankara, Turkey, on March 29. Police used tear gas and water cannons to break up the demonstration, which had been called by the KESK public service union with the aim of marching on parliament.
Adem Altan / AFP - Getty Images
Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against a government attempt to railroad a new education bill through parliament in Ankara, Turkey, on March 29.
Adem Altan / AFP - Getty Images
Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against a government attempt to railroad a new education bill through parliament in Ankara, Turkey, on March 29.
Adem Altan / AFP - Getty Images
Police use water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest against a government attempt to railroad a new education bill through parliament in Ankara, Turkey on March 29.

Protest in spain

Nationwide protests in Spain turn violent, destructive

Alvaro Barrientos / AP
Demonstrators run on the street as they try to flee riot police during a general strike to protest against the government's tough new labor reforms and cutbacks in Pamplona, northern Spain on March 29.
Andres Kudacki / AP
A protester throws a chair inside a food shop in Madrid on March 29 during a general strike.
Emilio Morenatti / AP
Mirian Burrueco, 30, reacts behind the broken glass of her shop stormed by demonstrators during clashes at the general strike in Barcelona on March 29.
Spanish workers livid over labor reforms they see as flagrantly pro-business staged a nationwide strike Thursday and tried to bring the country to a halt by blocking traffic, closing factories and clashing with police in rowdy demonstrations.
Spain is expected to announce more cuts with hopes that austerity measures will prevent it from needing a bailout.
The country is already heading toward recession and has an unemployment rate of almost 23 percent. Traders are worried that if Spain falls into financial trouble, larger economies such as Italy could be next.


:
David Ramos / Getty Images
A masked demonstrator walks past a burning Starbucks during heavy clashes with riot police during a 24-hour strike on March 29 in Barcelona

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Fisherman



Around the World in 80 Clicks - Thousands of pictures from around the world with free e-cards and downloads, travel advice, and much more

  
  Photograph of Fishermen putting nets in the Volta river - Ghana - Africa
Fishermen laying nets in the waters of the Volta river
 

Awassa, Ethiopia)


Al Khor, Qatar)

Photograph of Fishermen arranging the nets on top of their boat - Qatar - Asia
Arranging the nets on the roof of a boat

Ban Phe (Thailand)

Photograph of Fishermann arranging his nets on the beach near Ban Phe - Thailand - Asia
Fisherman arranging his nets on the beach near Ban Phe

Hydra, Greece)

Photograph of Fisherman on boat, Hydra - Greece - Europe
Fisherman on his boat

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