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Archive for February 7, 2011
North and South Korea to begin military talks – CNN.com
(CNN) — North and South Korea will meet at the truce village of Panmunjom on Tuesday to begin working-level military talks, South Korea’s Defense Ministry said.
The talks are meant to help pave the way for higher-level military discussions.
Colonel-grade officers from both sides will lead the meeting, which is expected to start at 10 a.m., according to the ministry.
The South has previously said that it will demand that Pyongyang take responsibility for last year’s military provocations and promise not to carry out any more attacks. Higher-level military talks will be held only if the North promises to refrain from further provocations.
The Seoul government also has proposed holding inter-Korean talks between high-ranking government officials to discuss denuclearization, something the North has not yet agreed to.
Last month, South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it had reopened communication channels with North Korea in the border area of Panmunjom.
It was the first time in eight months the two sides had reopened the hotline, as tensions on the peninsula remain high. North Korea cut it off May 26 to protest Seoul’s response to the March sinking of a South Korean naval ship.
via North and South Korea to begin military talks – CNN.com.
Kendrick Perkins shows strong suit – BostonHerald.com
According to two league sources, Perkins has already turned down a Celtics offer that is bound by the CBA’s current restrictions — a contract extension worth slightly less than $30 million over four years, which reflects the currently mandated contract limits of a 20-percent increase and a four-year maximum. Perkins, represented by agent Arn Tellem, has opted to wait until he is an unrestricted free agent, when even in an unpredictable market he has a chance of commanding far more.
Shocking ‘Egypt images’ emerge – Middle East – Al Jazeera English
Al Jazeera has obtained footage showing violent clashes between pro-democracy protesters and supporters of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s president.
In one clip, showing events on the night between February 2 and 3, Mubarak loyalists are seen driving into a crowd of protesters, who then set upon them.
In another, shots are fired on protesters on a bridge.
Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons in Cairo has more.
This report contains images which some viewers may find distressing
via Shocking ‘Egypt images’ emerge – Middle East – Al Jazeera English.
Youngstown fraternity shooting suspects in court Tuesday | Reuters
(Reuters) – Arraignments for two suspects in the shooting of 12 people at a fraternity house in Youngstown, Ohio were postponed on Monday because of the need for further investigation, officials said.
The suspects will be arraigned Tuesday, according to the city prosecutor’s office.
Jamail Johnson, 25, a student at Youngstown State University, was killed and 11 other people, including six YSU students, were wounded in a shooting early Sunday at an off-campus fraternity house. A 17-year-old girl was in critical condition.
The suspects had been thrown out of a party at the house, police said.
University spokesman Ron Cole said the residence housed some members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, a university-sanctioned African-American fraternal organization.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich plans to meet Monday with Mayor Jay Williams and university president Cynthia Anderson about the shooting, according to Kasich spokesman Robert Nichols. Kasich will be speaking to reporters about the shooting at 4 p.m. on the campus.
via Youngstown fraternity shooting suspects in court Tuesday | Reuters.
Southern Sudan votes to split from the north – CNN.com
Khartoum, Sudan (CNN) — Final results of last month’s referendum show that an overwhelming majority of southern Sudanese voted to split from the north, a result that will lead to the creation of the world’s newest nation, the referendum commission said Monday.
The chairman of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, which organized the vote, said 98.83% voted for separation, while 1.17% voted for unity.
“It was a peaceful process,” said chairman Muhammad Ibrahim Khali, in a ceremony in Khartoum attended by Sudanese politicians, international diplomats, U.N. staff, academics and others. “It was a transparent process.”
Concerns grow over Egypt’s WMD research – World news – Mideast/N. Africa – msnbc.com
With Egypt in revolt and the country’s future uncertain, concern is growing over whether a new government in the Arab world’s most militarily and industrially advanced country could accelerate an arms race in one of the world’s most volatile regions.
At the heart of the concern is intelligence indicating that Egypt has quietly carried out research and development on weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical, biological and missile technology.
The research and development has continued virtually without pause over the past three decades, according to interviews with U.S. officials and a review of intelligence and other government documents by NBC News.
Specifically, the intelligence indicates that Egypt has carried out experiments in plutonium reprocessing and uranium enrichment, helped jump-start Saddam Hussein’s missile and chemical weapons programs in Iraq, and worked with Kim il-Jung on North Korea’s missile program.
“If we found another country doing what they’ve done, we would have been all over them,” said a former U.S. intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
via Concerns grow over Egypt’s WMD research – World news – Mideast/N. Africa – msnbc.com.
Green Bay Packers persevere to win Super Bowl XLV over Pittsburgh Steelers – Don Banks – SI.com
ARLINGTON, Texas — It probably couldn’t have ended any other way for these Green Bay Packers.
With the fast start, the wave of injuries, the resilience, and somehow hanging on through the game’s darkest moments. It was all so familiar, and so fitting. Just as the story of their regular season went, so too did their Super Bowl. And when it was over, there they were, still standing, still breathing and somehow having persevered once again, all the way to the big confetti shower at midfield.
And not one single Packer seemed to miss the symmetry.
“The Super Bowl was the way our whole season was in one win,” Green Bay linebacker Desmond Bishop said. “Ups, downs, roller coaster rides, people getting hurt, and a momentum swing. We showed resilience again. We just kept fighting, and stayed as one.”
The Packers didn’t do much the easy way this season. For a team that never trailed by more than seven points in any game, it still seemed like one long, uphill climb. But look where it led. To the mountaintop experience in the NFL.
Green Bay’s 31-25 win over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV will never be remembered as one of the classics in this now 45-game series. There were too many dropped passes, too many turnovers by the Steelers and too many moments when neither team seemed to want to make the game its own.
via Green Bay Packers persevere to win Super Bowl XLV over Pittsburgh Steelers – Don Banks – SI.com.
Health-related money continues to flow to members of Congress
While it is well-known that health-care and health-insurance providers and companies donated heavily while the bill was being drafted, a new study of campaign spending makes clear that the health-care and health-insurance industries continued to give steadily after its approval, an apparent effort to influence its fate this year.
Roe’s late-arriving contributions were part of a windfall of more than $42.7 million in health-care and health-insurance industry funds that have flowed to current Republican and Democratic lawmakers after each chamber voted on the Obama bill, according to the study of spending for that period.
That investment reflects the conviction of those affected by the bill that the fight over its consequences and key provisions is not over – it is just beginning. The steady spending late last year makes the donors well-positioned now to call on the members they helped reelect to assault or defend elements of the reform that matter to their bottom line.
The study, conducted for The Washington Post by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, also shows that Republicans have been heavily favored in this period. While Democrats got just more than half of the industries’ money before the bill was approved in spite of uniform Republican opposition, the Republican attracted 60 percent after the votes were counted. The Republican total for that period was $25.7 million, while the Democrats was $17 million.
via Health-related money continues to flow to members of Congress.
Globe: Daniels bruises spinal cord in collision
Globe: Daniels bruises spinal cord in collision – http://b.globe.com/ieE2mB #celtics
