CIA: Al-Qaida at Weakest Point Since Sept. 11 Attacks
Read original story in The Associated Press | Monday, June 28, 2010
BP robots to begin cuts to gushing well
June 1, 2010 7:20 a.m. EDTJune 1, 2010 -- Updated 1120 GMT (1920 HKT)
(CNN) -- Within hours, robots will begin making a series of cuts to the "lower marine riser package" on a gushing oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, preparing for the placement of a custom-made cap on the package, BP Managing Director Bob Dudley told CNN Tuesday.
The measure is aimed at minimizing the amount of oil that has been spewing from the well for 43 days after an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.
The process will involve a clean cut of the riser package. Warm water will be circulated around the cap to prevent the freezing that hindered a previous dome-cap effort.
If successful, the procedure will allow BP to collect most -- but not all -- of the oil spewing from the well.
Up to 19,000 barrels (798,000 gallons) of oil a day have been spewing into the Gulf, according to government estimates.
In mid-June, the company said it plans to add a separate riser to take oil and gas to a vessel on the surface to increase the efficiency of the containment operation.
A free-standing riser will be placed 300 feet below sea level by early July with a flexible hose that can be disconnected during a hurricane, BP said.
Video: Frustration mounts over oil spill 
Video: BP had previous problems with well 
Video: Oil could hit Alabama by Wednesday 
Video: Swimming in the oil slick A long-term solution to the oil leak is the drilling of a relief well that will be in place by August.
President Obama will meet Tuesday with the heads of a new commission created to investigate how to prevent future oil spills.
White House aides said Obama will make public comments after meeting with former Sen. Bob Graham of Florida and former Environmental Protection Agency administrator William Reilly. The two are leading a commission that has six months to issue a report with recommendations on how to prevent future spills resulting from offshore drilling.
BP, rig owner Transocean Ltd. and oilfield services company Halliburton have blamed each other for the disaster, which left 11 workers dead, but BP is responsible for cleanup under federal law.
Federal officials ordered another 1,200 square miles of the Gulf of Mexico closed to fishing Monday, extending the restricted zone toward the coasts of Alabama and Mississippi.
About 26 percent of the Gulf is closed to fishing, following National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts that showed oil spreading across the water and toward those states' coasts later this week.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder will head to the Gulf Coast Tuesday to survey the spill and meet with state attorneys general and federal prosecutors from Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, the Justice Department said.
Last month a group of senators -- including Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California -- sent Holder a letter expressing concerns "about the truthfulness and accuracy of statements submitted by BP to the government in its initial exploration plan for the site," and asking Holder to investigate possible criminal and civil wrongdoing.
But in a reply to that letter last week, a Justice Department official did not say whether a criminal investigation had begun.
"The Department of Justice will take all necessary and appropriate steps to ensure that those responsible for this tragic series of events are held fully accountable," Assistant Attorney General Ronald Welch wrote.
CNN's Ed Henry and Paul Courson contributed to this report.
U.S. to Aid South Korea With Naval Defense Plan
Kyodo News, via Associated Press
Thousands packed a square in Pyongyang, North Korea, on Sunday for a rally condemning South Korea and the United States.
By THOM SHANKER and DAVID E. SANGER
Published: May 30, 2010
They said the sinking revealed that years of spending and training had still left the country vulnerable to surprise attacks.
The discovery of the weaknesses in South Korea caught officials in both countries off guard. As South Korea has rocketed into the ranks of the world’s top economies, it has invested billions of dollars to bolster its defenses and to help refine one of the oldest war plans in the Pentagon’s library: a joint strategy with the United States to repel and defeat a North Korean invasion.
But the shallow waters where the attack occurred are patrolled only by South Korea’s navy, and South Korean officials confirmed in interviews that the sinking of the warship, the Cheonan, which killed 46 sailors, revealed a gap that the American military must help address.
The United States — pledged to defend its ally but stretched thin by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — would be drawn into any conflict. But it has been able to reduce its forces on the Korean Peninsula by relying on South Korea’s increased military spending. Senior Pentagon officials stress that firepower sent to the region by warplanes and warships would more than compensate for the drop in American troop levels there in the event of war.
But the attack was evidence, the officials say, of how North Korea has compensated for the fact that it is so bankrupt that it can no longer train its troops or buy the technology needed to fight a conventional war. So it has instead invested heavily in stealthy, hard-to-detect technologies that can inflict significant damage, even if it could not win a sustained conflict.
Building a small arsenal of nuclear weapons is another big element of the Northern strategy — a double-faceted deterrent allowing it to threaten a nuclear attack or to sell the technology or weapons in order to head off retaliation even for an act of war like sinking South Korean ships.
In an interview last week, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the joint training exercise with South Korea planned just off the country’s coast in the next few weeks represented only the “near-term piece” of a larger strategy to prevent a recurrence of the kind of shock the South experienced as it watched one of its ships sunk without warning. But the longer-range effort will be finding ways to detect, track and counter the miniature submarines, which he called “a very difficult technical, tactical problem.”
“Longer term, it is a skill set that we are going to continue to press on,” Admiral Mullen said. “Clearly, we don’t want that to happen again. We don’t want to give that option to North Korea in the future. Period. We want to take it away.”
American and South Korean officials declined to describe details of the coming joint exercises, except to say that they would focus on practicing antisubmarine warfare techniques and the interdiction of cargo vessels carrying prohibited nuclear materials and banned weapons.
To counter the unexpected ability of midget submarines to take on full warships, the long-term fix will mean greatly expanding South Korea’s antisubmarine network to cover vast stretches of water previously thought to be too shallow to warrant monitoring closely — with sonar and air patrols, for instance. That would include costly investment in new technologies, as well as significant time spent determining new techniques for the South Korean military.
North Korea presents an adversary with a complicated mix of strengths and weaknesses, said senior American officers.
According to a recent strategic assessment by the American military based on the Korean Peninsula, the North has spent its dwindling treasury to build an arsenal able to start armed provocations “with little or no warning.” These attacks would be specifically designed for “affecting economic and political stability in the region” — exactly what happened in the attack on the Cheonan, which the South Korean military and experts from five other countries determined was carried out by a North Korean midget submarine firing a powerful torpedo.
Admiral Mullen and other officials said they believed the Cheonan episode might be just the first of several to come. “North Korea is predictable in one sense: that it is unpredictable in what it is going to do,” he said. “North Korea goes through these cycles. I worry a great deal that this isn’t the last thing we are going to see.”
High-ranking South Korean officials acknowledge that the sinking was a shock.
Choe Sang-hun contributed reporting from Seoul, South Korea.
Phoenix Mars Lander officially dead
New snap suggests serious ice damage
Posted in Space, 25th May 2010 08:10 GMT
NASA has confirmed that its Phoenix Mars Lander has not survived the harsh Red Planet arctic winter, and appears to have suffered serious ice damage to its solar panels.
The agency has been attempting to contact the lander since January, in the slim hope it may have supported the weight of up to 30cm of accumulated carbon dioxide frost. However, NASA says that although its Odyssey orbiter last week "flew over the Phoenix landing site 61 times during a final attempt to communicate with the lander", Phoenix remained silent.
Photographic evidence captured by the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter appears to confirm Phoenix's fate. A picture captured earlier this month "suggests the lander no longer casts shadows the way it did during its working lifetime".
NASA explains: "The 2008 lander image shows two relatively blue spots on either side corresponding to the spacecraft's clean circular solar panels [seen in the Phoenix self-portrait, below*]. In the 2010 image scientists see a dark shadow that could be the lander body and eastern solar panel, but no shadow from the western solar panel."
Phoenix launched from Cape Canaveral on 4 August 2007 and touched down on the Martian surface on 25 May 2008. It last communicated on 2 November, 2008, at the end of a mission during which it "confirmed and examined patches of the widespread deposits of underground water ice detected by Odyssey and identified a mineral called calcium carbonate that suggested occasional presence of thawed water".
It also "found soil chemistry with significant implications for life and observed falling snow, and wowed scientists with its discovery of perchlorate - "an oxidizing chemical on Earth that is food for some microbes and potentially toxic for others".
Fuk Li, manager of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said of the fallen lander: "The Phoenix spacecraft succeeded in its investigations and exceeded its planned lifetime. Although its work is finished, analysis of information from Phoenix's science activities will continue for some time to come." ®
"The black circle is where the camera itself is mounted on the lander, out of view in images taken by the camera. North is toward the top of the image.
"This view comprises more than 100 different Stereo Surface Imager pointings, with images taken through three different filters at each pointing. The images were taken throughout the period from the 13th Martian day, or sol, after landing to the 47th sol (June 5 through July 12, 2008). The lander's Robotic Arm appears cut off in this mosaic view because component images were taken when the arm was out of the frame."
The agency has been attempting to contact the lander since January, in the slim hope it may have supported the weight of up to 30cm of accumulated carbon dioxide frost. However, NASA says that although its Odyssey orbiter last week "flew over the Phoenix landing site 61 times during a final attempt to communicate with the lander", Phoenix remained silent.
Photographic evidence captured by the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter appears to confirm Phoenix's fate. A picture captured earlier this month "suggests the lander no longer casts shadows the way it did during its working lifetime".
NASA explains: "The 2008 lander image shows two relatively blue spots on either side corresponding to the spacecraft's clean circular solar panels [seen in the Phoenix self-portrait, below*]. In the 2010 image scientists see a dark shadow that could be the lander body and eastern solar panel, but no shadow from the western solar panel."
Phoenix launched from Cape Canaveral on 4 August 2007 and touched down on the Martian surface on 25 May 2008. It last communicated on 2 November, 2008, at the end of a mission during which it "confirmed and examined patches of the widespread deposits of underground water ice detected by Odyssey and identified a mineral called calcium carbonate that suggested occasional presence of thawed water".
It also "found soil chemistry with significant implications for life and observed falling snow, and wowed scientists with its discovery of perchlorate - "an oxidizing chemical on Earth that is food for some microbes and potentially toxic for others".
Fuk Li, manager of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said of the fallen lander: "The Phoenix spacecraft succeeded in its investigations and exceeded its planned lifetime. Although its work is finished, analysis of information from Phoenix's science activities will continue for some time to come." ®
Bootnote
* NASA elaborates: "This view is a vertical projection that combines hundreds of exposures taken by the Surface Stereo Imager camera on NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander and projects them as if looking down from above."The black circle is where the camera itself is mounted on the lander, out of view in images taken by the camera. North is toward the top of the image.
"This view comprises more than 100 different Stereo Surface Imager pointings, with images taken through three different filters at each pointing. The images were taken throughout the period from the 13th Martian day, or sol, after landing to the 47th sol (June 5 through July 12, 2008). The lander's Robotic Arm appears cut off in this mosaic view because component images were taken when the arm was out of the frame."
Computing smart-scope gunsight for US snipers
Terry Pratchett gizmo makes long shots hit 6 times out of 10
Posted in Physics, 25th May 2010 13:12 GMT
US military boffins are about to produce a field-ready computer gunsight which will let snipers kill people on their first shot from a mile away - even with troublesome winds blowing.
The technical issues facing the so-called "One Shot" project have already been solved using prototype equipment, and it is now planned to produce 15 "fully operational and field hardened" sets of gear for further development trials on the battlefield.
This is how it's done nowadays.Modern-day sniper rifles can easily throw their bullets across tremendously long distances, but beyond a certain point it becomes impossibly difficult to adjust the aim to allow for atmospheric effects - in particular for the wind. It can also be a time-consuming business allowing for all the changing factors which can affect the path of a bullet's flight - range, temperature, atmospheric pressure, the spin of the projectile itself, the relative heights of the target and shooter.
Thus it is that very long-range hits beyond 2km do get made, but they are rarities. The current combat sniping record is nowadays generally credited to Corporal of Horse* Craig Harrison of the British Army, who hit and killed two Taliban machine-gunners at a distance of 2,474 metres in November last year in as many shots - and then destroyed their weapon with a third round.
Harrison was able to make these astonishing shots, however, because - in his words - "conditions were perfect, no wind, mild weather, clear visibility".
The previous record-holder, Corporal Rob Furlong of the 3rd battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, killed an al-Qaeda gunman at 2,430m in 2002 - but took several shots to get a hit. Furlong may also have been aided by the thin air high in the Shah-i-Kot valley where he was fighting at the time.
The technical issues facing the so-called "One Shot" project have already been solved using prototype equipment, and it is now planned to produce 15 "fully operational and field hardened" sets of gear for further development trials on the battlefield.
This is how it's done nowadays.Thus it is that very long-range hits beyond 2km do get made, but they are rarities. The current combat sniping record is nowadays generally credited to Corporal of Horse* Craig Harrison of the British Army, who hit and killed two Taliban machine-gunners at a distance of 2,474 metres in November last year in as many shots - and then destroyed their weapon with a third round.
Harrison was able to make these astonishing shots, however, because - in his words - "conditions were perfect, no wind, mild weather, clear visibility".
The previous record-holder, Corporal Rob Furlong of the 3rd battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, killed an al-Qaeda gunman at 2,430m in 2002 - but took several shots to get a hit. Furlong may also have been aided by the thin air high in the Shah-i-Kot valley where he was fighting at the time.
Queen to open British Parliament
May 25, 2010 6:28 a.m. EDTMay 25, 2010 -- Updated 1028 GMT (1828 HKT)
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip attend the State Opening of Parliament in 2009.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- State opening of Parliament usually takes place in November or December
- It is happening in May this year because of Britain's recent elections
- Speech sets out new Conservative-Liberal Democrat government's legislative agenda
- The delivery of a speech by the monarch traced to at least the 16th century
The occasion is considered the most important constitutional event of the year and sets out the government's legislative program.
The state opening of Parliament, as it is called, usually takes place in November or December. It is happening in May this year because of Britain's recent elections, which ushered in the country's first coalition government for 70 years and give the event added significance.
The queen's speech sets out the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat government's legislative agenda, which this year is expected to include many new measures in a break from the old Labour policies.
Special: Britain's general election
Video: State opening explained 
Video: About Black Rod Even though the queen delivers the speech, it is actually written by the government and approved by the Cabinet, symbolizing the right of lawmakers to debate without interference from the monarch. As a result, the queen "confirms" key bills and measures, rather than announcing them.
LIVE: Watch the queen's speech
Another symbol of parliamentary privilege is Black Rod, the name given to a senior officer in the House of Lords, the unelected chamber of Parliament. Before the queen makes her speech, Black Rod is sent from the Lords' chamber to the Commons to summon those members to hear the speech.
By tradition, the door of the Commons is slammed in Black Rod's face to symbolize the Commons' independence. Black Rod then uses his staff to knock on the door three times, at which point the door to the Commons Chamber is opened, and members follow him back to the House of Lords.
Profile: Britain's new Prime Minister
The queen delivers the speech from the throne in the House of Lords. When it's over, both houses of Parliament debate the contents of the speech for four or five days.
Traditions surrounding the state opening and delivery of a speech by the monarch can be traced to at least the 16th century, according to the parliament's web site. The current ceremony dates from 1852, when the Palace of Westminster reopened after the fire of 1834.
From Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster -- the seat of government -- the queen is expected to travel in a black and gold horse-drawn carriage, escorted by members of the Household Cavalry wearing their distinctive gold-colored helmets with tall red plumes.
Take a tour of Britain's political heart
Once the queen arrives at Westminster, the Union Jack is lowered and the royal standard raised on the flagpole outside. The queen puts on the white parliamentary robe and purple Imperial State Crown, set with more than 3,000 precious stones, including the 317-carat Cullinan II diamond, and weighing two pounds (0.91 kilograms).
The houses of Parliament are still searched by the Yeomen of the Guard, the Queen's ceremonial bodyguards, just before the state opening. The tradition dates back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when plotter Guy Fawkes was arrested in the cellar while preparing to blow up the parliament.
The checks are considered "picturesque," according to Parliament, with more serious searches done by police.
Another tradition is that of the "hostage" lawmaker. When the queen leaves Buckingham Palace to travel to Parliament, a member of the government is held at the palace to guarantee the monarch's safe return, according to the palace.
The "hostage" is released once the queen returns.
Bangkok residents: This is a 'mini-civil war'
May 19, 2010 1:47 a.m. EDTMay 19, 2010 -- Updated 0547 GMT (1347 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Residents anxiously wait and watch as troops move in to disperse protesters
- A hotel manager says his business had no guests
- Bangkok governor fears casualties
- Another resident hopes crisis can be resolved without loss of life
Prajya Aura-ek, 25, a manager in charge of sales and marketing at his family's boutique hotel -- which is located about three kilometers (1.8 miles) from the protest camp -- said he could see a growing cloud of black smoke, a helicopter circling the area and a plane from their roof. He said he could also smell burnt rubber from tires being set on fire.
"We are scared a bit that things might get out of hand and that all the protesters would come here instead," he said.
Aura-ek said he came to work because he didn't want to leave his aunt alone at the hotel. The hotel normally would have 85 percent to 90 percent occupancy at this time of year, he said, but now has no guests. He said they have closed their front gate and were monitoring the news.
"I grabbed all my clothes and all my stuff. I might even stay here tonight," he said. "Hopefully nothing bad is going to happen."
Military troops on Wednesday morning began entering a park in central Bangkok, where protesters have been camped out in defiance of a government order to vacate the area.
Video: Security in Bangkok 
Video: Long running protest in Bangkok 
Video: Gunfire heard in Bangkok 
Video: Thailand protest aftermath Armored personnel carriers were seen smashing into bamboo and tire barricades lining Lumpini Park, the site of the main demonstration area for the so-called Red Shirt protesters. Soldiers also were seen shooting sporadically as they entered the northwest edge of the park.
Timeline of Thailand's political crisis
The large show of force appeared to be the beginning of a large military operation to root out remaining protesters two days after a government-issued deadline expired with many Red Shirts still holding ground.
"I cannot see the operation coming to a successful end without further violence and without further losses. I was hoping to have a more optimistic message but I cannot," said Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra.
"The wounds will be very, very hard to heal. ... There is really no way of counting the physical cost of this conflict but I'm much, much more worried about the psychological wounds, which will have to heal after everything is over and done with."
What are the protests about?
Sirinun Siripanich, assistant secretary to the governor, has been going to the neighborhoods in the protest zones to deliver food and other necessities to the people who were trapped in their homes.
"Today we were planning to go into different zones ... but then all the plans were cancelled because it's supposed to be highly intensive fighting today," she said.
"We Thai people never experienced this kind of situation before," she said. "This is like a mini-civil war."
iReport: Video sparks discussion
Nanta Tangudtaisak, a 26-year-old business development manager who lives near an area where protesters had set up barricades, said she heard helicopters flying overhead and was following developments on the news.
"It's at a standstill so we feel like they (the government) have to do something," she said. "I am concerned it's going to get violent. Hopefully the government can try to limit the loss of life."
Good GovernmentDoes the spate of disasters help the party associated with activist government?
Posted Tuesday, May 4, 2010, at 7:47 PM ETIn the extended political argument over the size of the federal government, the last few weeks have favored Team Big. Wall Street excesses, the Gulf Coast oil disaster, the West Virginia mine collapse, the flooding in Tennessee and Kentucky, the Tylenol recall, and the Times Square bomber—it's a long list that reminds us that we depend on the federal government to ward off disaster or limit the damage afterwards.It would seem to be a good time to be a Democrat—the party that associates itself with activist government. Is it playing out that way?
Democratic officials have to be careful answering this question. No one wants to be seen making political hay out of tragedy or near-tragedy. (Except Rush Limbaugh, who pointed out that the accused Times Square bomber is a registered Democrat: "I wonder if his SUV has an Obama sticker on it.")
But the political benefit from these recent events has been visible enough. Obama administration officials, from Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, have said they will "keep a boot on the throat" of BP in order to make sure the company does its share to clean up the oil spill. Today, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee released a fundraising letter quoting that line and arguing that the oil spill offers a reason to elect Democrats. "We can stand with President Obama and the Democrats who are moving the country forward, or we can allow Republicans—led by Limbaugh and the Tea Parties—to cater to the needs of big corporations and special interests."
David Plouffe, Obama's 2008 campaign manager and the person heading up the president's 2010 efforts to elect Democrats to Congress, made a similar case to Obama activists Monday. Democrats are pitching themselves as the protectors. Fresh examples on the front page of the misdeeds of Big Oil, insurance companies, and Wall Street help remind Democratic voters why it is important to go to the polls in November.
Disasters also allow President Obama to perform the most appealing, action-figure elements of his job—issuing declarations, visiting disaster areas in a monogrammed windbreaker, and holding emergency briefings. Obama has the political leeway to do this almost as much as he likes. These are, after all, disasters, but also, after George Bush paid the political price for not reacting quickly enough to the Katrina, a president gets a lot of space before he can be tagged with the charge that his reaction is merely self-aggrandizing.
The biggest political bump for Democrats would come if people started connecting improvement in the economy with the government's activism. Democrats think they see the seeds of this in the latest CBS/New York Times poll. Americans are more optimistic about the economy now than at any time since the recession. Forty-one percent say the economy is getting better, up from 33 percent in April. Only 15 percent say the economy is getting worse. President Obama's approval rating on the economy has also improved, with 48 percent approving and 47 percent disapproving of his performance—up five points from last month, and Obama's highest rating since November.
More cautious Democrats worry the poll is a one-off. They (and Republicans) also argue that the recent spate of crises makes for good talking points in a fundraising letter, but aren't likely to lead to a wholesale change in public opinion.
Which is pretty solidly anti-government. A recent Pew poll found that esteem for Congress is at a 25-year low, and that trust in government is also at an historic nadir. "Rather than an activist government to deal with the nation's top problems, the public now wants government reformed and growing numbers want its power curtailed," wrote the authors. "There is less of an appetite for government solutions to the nation's problems – including more government control over the economy – than there was when Barack Obama first took office."
This suggests that the Republican warnings about big government takeover are hitting home. Republicans hope to build on this mistrust by branding Democratic efforts at smart government into attempts to merely grow government. They point to the recent financial collapse, arguing that government regulators didn't stop the risky behavior on Wall Street that led to the collapse. In some cases, government involvement made the situation worse—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were allowed (some would say pushed) to spin out of control.
Dismal opinions of government are also fed by ready examples of the bureaucracy not doing its job well—from the handling of the Christmas Day bomber to SEC regulators watching pornography instead of doing their jobs. In the case of the Times Square bombing attempt, there were also lapses, and the administration response to the oil spill was not as fast as the White House would like us to believe.
Even well-intentioned legislation can create unintended consequences, conservatives argue. That was the chief claim against the $50 billion liquidation fund that was once a part of the Wall Street reform working its way through Congress. Republicans argued that the fund, meant to help dismantle banks that fail, would send the signal to investors that certain banks were safe investments. They would grow so big that that if they ever did fail, the fund wouldn't be enough. Government would have to step in to rescue them or risk damaging the wider economy. Late Tuesday, Democrats agreed to drop the provision.
Even when it comes to regulating Wall Street—and here public opinion supports more regulation—it's not clear that people want as much regulation as they think Democrats are suggesting. In a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll, half of the 65 percent who support financial regulatory reform say it should be less strict than Democrats are proposing. Crises are a chance to showcase activist government, but they also often end in voters blaming the party in power. Given the number of unpredictable emergencies that have popped up since Barack Obama took office, Democrats may be benefiting now, but the story could change again tomorrow.
US reacts cautiously to Myanmar political changes
AFP/File – The United States reacted cautiously Tuesday after
Myanmar Prime Minister, General Thein Sein, pictured …
Man Stabs 31 Children and Teachers in Chinese Kindergarten
Read original story in Reuters | Thursday, April 29, 2010
