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TEL AVIV // An Israeli plan to drill for oil in the Golan Heights aims to entrench the country's hold on a territory Israel annexed from Syria despite international opposition, analysts said yesterday.
Experts say the Israeli decision to issue its first oil-exploration permit in the Golan to a settler-run company, was at least partly driven by the ultranationalist ideology of Israel's minister of water and energy resources, Uzi Landau, in a bid to convey a message that the Golan would not easily be returned to Syria.
The Israelis also appear to be taking advantage of the violence and chaos in Syria.
The timing of the decision "is directly related to the fact that the Syrian government is not free to deal with this problem and that the Syrian army cannot pose a threat to Israel right now", said Yaron Ezrahi, an Israeli political analyst.
"This is mostly an Israeli ploy to deepen its commitment to the occupied Golan Heights," said Mr Ezrahi. "It's part of the right's political programme."
The Israeli decision, which was announced late on Thursday, is likely draw into condemnation from the United States and other allies just weeks before Barack Obama, the US president, is due to visit the country for the first time since taking office in 2009.
Israel captured the Golan Heights during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, when it also took over the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The country annexed the Golan in 1981, although that move was never recognised by the international community.
It has not annexed the West Bank despite massively expanding its Jewish settlement enterprise there, and pulled out of the Gaza Strip in 2005.
The country had considered exploring for oil in the Golan previously, but chose not to carry out drilling to avoid clouding prospects of peace talks with Syria.
They held four rounds of indirect negotiations through Turkey in 2008 but these were suspended after Israel's invasion of Gaza in December that year.
The Israeli government may now view chances of renewing negotiations as dim, analysts said.
Yossi Alpher, a veteran commentator on Israeli politics and diplomacy, said: "There is no peace process with Syria, Syria is in a state of chaos and appears to be breaking up as a sovereign state - all this might have persuaded even centrist Israeli energy ministers to grant the oil licence."
The licence was granted to the Israeli subsidiary of US-based Genie Energy, headquartered in New Jersey, which is associated with several known pro-settler figures. Effie Eitam, a former Israeli minister who lives on a Golan settlement, runs Genie's Israeli business, and the company's advisers include the British media mogul Rupert Murdoch and Dick Cheney, who served as the US vice president under George W Bush from 2001 to 2009.
Geological testing by Israel had indicated a potential for "significant" oil deposits in the area, according to the Israeli business newspaper Globes.
The exploration licence is unlikely to upset Israelis, partly because the plateau is viewed as far less politically sensitive than the West Bank, where the Israeli occupation and settlement is hindering Palestinian statehood. Furthermore, polls have shown that most Israelis would oppose returning the Golan, which has become a major domestic tourist destination with its verdant nature trails, vineyards, orchards and a ski resort.
More than 20,000 settlers live in at least 30 Jewish communities in the Golan, where an approximately equal number of Syrians - mostly from the Druze sect - also reside. Israel views the high-altitude plateau as a major security asset because it gives the country a vantage point for monitoring Syrian army movements and serves as a natural blockade against any military threats from Syria, with which Israel has fought three wars since its creation in 1948. The Golan also provides about a third of Israel's fresh water supply and is the site of a major Israeli wind turbine project.
Experts say exploration for oil in the Golan may spur a potentially explosive situation should significant amounts be discovered.
"If Israelis will find oil, I assume there will be a greater degree of aggression on the part of the Syrians to restore their sovereignty over the Golan," Mr Ezrahi said.
While Israel's oil exploration may not deter future peace talks with Syria, it might stir tensions even if a pact is reached between the two countries, experts said. Israeli papers reported this month that the Egyptian minister of petroleum, Osama Kamal, has charged that Israel owes Egypt about US$480 billion (Dh1.76 trillion) for oil pumped from the Sinai Peninsula in the years after Israel captured the area in 1967. Israel returned Sinai to Egypt under a 1979 peace pact.
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(Reuters) - It goes without saying ? but we will say it, anyway ? that the key to hosting an Oscar party is to make sure that you do not spend too much time in the kitchen and too little time in front of the TV. Oscar night is all about serving everything buffet-style, and with a little planning, you can enjoy the fun. Here's how.
DRINKS This is no time to play bartender. Stick with a good white wine and a solid red ? there are great inexpensive bottles coming from everywhere these days. There are a lot of good beers and microbrews, too. Be sure to have water on hand (flat and sparkling) as well as soda and maybe a big pitcher of iced tea and/or lemonade for the non-drinkers (and the drivers). Put out various glasses and let everyone help themselves.
APPS Think of this as an evening served in stages. The first one is guest arrival and about the first 30 to 45 minutes of the show. Keep it simple here: A crudite platter (baby carrots, sugar snap peas, sliced mushrooms, bell pepper strips, etc.) with both a "regular" dip and a nonfat salsa, some tortilla chips, a selection of good olives and a cheese platter that will be replenished later. I like a contrasting trio such as Brie or Camembert, a good cheddar and a soft goat cheese. Have baguette slices, plain crackers and celery and jicama sticks alongside.
MAINS "Announce" the main dish about 45 minutes into the show. Use the commercial break(s) to change gears. Highly recommended: a big pot of hearty soup or chili. Keep it over a very low heat on the stove, put out the bowls and spoons and let everyone help themselves in the kitchen. For soup, have a bowl of grated Parmesan cheese for garnish; for the chili, set out bowls of chopped onion, grated Jack, Queso Fresco or cheddar, and sliced jalapenos for the adventurous. And remember, no one ever said you had to make anything. We've done takeout pizza and a big salad in the past; or a lasagna from Trader Joe's or Costco (no kidding; it's great for a party like this); or a big chicken salad using store-bought rotisserie chicken and bags of Romaine, arugula, sliced mushrooms, shredded carrots, etc., with a great loaf of bread to accompany it. I make my own dressing, but there's nothing that says you can't use store-bought. Don't be a martyr ? be with your guests.
DESSERTS Set these out about 45 minutes before the end of the show. This is when the "big" awards are usually announced, so you will want to be in front of the TV and not slicing a cheesecake. Keep it simple here, too: A platter of cookies or "mini" tartlets, say. Replenish the cheese platter, add a bowl of grape clusters and another of sliced ripe pears and crisp apples. (Cut up the latter ahead of time and keep them fresh in a bowl of ice water and a little lemon juice to prevent them from turning brown.) Set up the coffeemaker ahead of time, too, so all you have to do is a flip the switch to get that going. Put out the cups and mugs and let everyone pour their own. If you want to add a few after-dinner-drink selections, no one is stopping you: They're a nice finishing touch.
EXTRA, EXTRA: YOU VERSUS THE ACADEMY A little wagering never hurts on a night like this. Print out ballots for as many categories as you like. We usually do the main acting ones and Best Picture, plus director, original and adapted screenplays (we know a lot of writers!), animated feature and Best Song. Each guest puts a dollar into the pot, and the one with the most correct picks wins.
(Reporting by Barbara Fairchild; Editing by Arlene Getz, Kathy Jones and Douglas Royalty)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/host-oscar-party-still-enjoy-show-171042383.html
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People gather on the scene after a bomb blast in Hyderabad, India,Thursday, Feb.21, 2013. Several people were killed and many injured Thursday in a pair of explosions in a crowded area of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, officials said. (AP Photo)
People gather on the scene after a bomb blast in Hyderabad, India,Thursday, Feb.21, 2013. Several people were killed and many injured Thursday in a pair of explosions in a crowded area of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, officials said. (AP Photo)
The scene of a blast at Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, Feb.21, 2013. At least five people were killed Thursday in a pair of explosions in crowded areas of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, police said. More were feared dead and injured. (AP Photo) INDIA OUT
The scene of a blast at Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad, India, Thursday, Feb.21, 2013. At least five people were killed Thursday in a pair of explosions in crowded areas of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, police said. More were feared dead and injured. (AP Photo) INDIA OUT
People gather on the scene after a bomb blast in Hyderabad, India,Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. At least 11 people were killed and 50 injured Thursday in a pair of explosions in a crowded area of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, officials said. (AP Photo)
People walk past a damaged bus waiting shelter after a bomb blast in Hyderabad, India,Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Several people were killed and many injured Thursday in a pair of explosions in a crowded area of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, officials said. (AP Photo)
HYDERABAD, India (AP) ? A pair of bombs exploded Thursday evening in a crowded shopping area in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, killing at least 11 people and wounding 50 more in the worst bombing in the country in more than a year, officials said.
The blasts occurred about two minutes apart at around 7 p.m. outside a movie theater and a bus station, police said. Storefronts were shattered, motorcycles covered in debris, and food and plates from a roadside restaurant were scattered on the ground near a tangle of dead bodies. Passersby rushed the bleeding and wounded out of the area.
"This is a dastardly attack, the guilty will not go unpunished," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said. He appealed to the public to remain calm.
The bombs were attached to two bicycles about 150 meters (500 feet) apart in Dilsukh Nagar district, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said. The district is a usually crowded shopping area near a residential neighborhood.
Eight people died in one explosion and three in the other, Shinde told reporters in the Indian capital of New Delhi.
Mahesh Kumar, a 21-year-old student, was heading home from a tutoring class when a bomb went off.
"I heard a huge sound and something hit me, I fell down, and somebody brought me to the hospital," said Kumar, who suffered shrapnel wounds.
Hyderabad, a city of 10 million, is a hub of India's information technology industry and has a mixed population of Muslims and Hindus.
The explosions Thursday were the first major bomb attack to hit India since a September 2011 blast outside the High Court in New Delhi killed 13 people. The government has been heavily criticized for its failure to arrest the masterminds behind previous bombings.
Home Secretary R.K. Singh said officials from the National Investigation Agency and commandos of the National Security Guards were leaving New Delhi for Hyderabad.
Rana Banerji, a former security official, said India remains vulnerable to such attacks because there is poor coordination between the national government and the states. Police reforms are also moving very slowly and the quality of intelligence gathering is poor, he said.
"The concept of homeland security should be made effective, on a war footing," he said.
India has been in a state of alert since Mohammed Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri, was hanged in a New Delhi jail nearly two weeks ago. Guru had been convicted of involvement in a 2001 attack on India's Parliament that killed 14 people, including five gunmen.
Many in Indian-ruled Kashmir believe Guru did not receive a fair trial, and the secrecy with which the execution was carried out fueled anger in a region where anti-India sentiment runs deep.
___
Associated Press writer Ashok Sharma in New Delhi contributed to this report.
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Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., center, arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Jackson and his wife were to appear in federal court to answer criminal charges that they engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., center, arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Jackson and his wife were to appear in federal court to answer criminal charges that they engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
With the Capitol dome in the background, Rev. Jessie Jackson, Sr. and his wife Jacqueline Lavinia Brown arrive at federal court in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, where their son, former Illinois Rep. Jessie Jackson, Jr., and his wife Sandra were to appear to answer criminal charges that they engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Jackson and his wife were to appear in federal court to answer criminal charges that they engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Attorney Reid Weingarten, representing former Illinois Rep. Jessie Jackson, Jr., speaks to reporters outside federal court in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, after Jackson entered a guilty plea to criminal charges that he engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and his legal team arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Jackson and his wife were to appear in federal court to answer criminal charges that they engaged in an alleged scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
CHICAGO (AP) ? Residents in this swath of sprawling Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs have brimmed with loyalty to Jesse Jackson Jr. over the past 17 years, giving him an enthusiastic majority each election ? even after questionable links to ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, reports of an extramarital affair and a bizarre five-month medical leave.
But the former congressman's guilty plea to charges that he lived off and lavishly spent campaign money for personal use ? on everything from toilet paper to mink capes ? has turned the tide. In territory where it was difficult to scrape up any criticism of Jackson, his Chicago alderman wife or his famous civil rights leader father, the mood is now simply one of disappointment.
"He knew better; it was a very stupid thing to do," said 75-year-old Jeannette Reese, shaking her head as she grocery-shopped at a busy shopping complex. "He and his father came to our church. I thought he was the real thing."
Reese said she had voted for the younger Jackson for years.
Jackson, who resigned from office in November, pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Washington to criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. He faces up to 57 months ? more than four years ? in prison and a fine, under a plea deal with prosecutors.
It was an emotional day for Jackson, 47, who held back tears as he addressed the federal judge, just hours before his wife pleaded guilty to filing false joint federal income tax returns that knowingly understated the income the couple received. She faces up to two years in prison and a fine.
"I did these things," Jackson told the judge, adding later, "Sir, for years I lived in my campaign."
Jackson first won office in a 1995 special election and developed widespread support from mayors who said he delivered and constituents who valued his family legacy and said he gave them a voice. That support persevered even through an intense primary challenge last year from former one-term U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson who made Jackson's ethical troubles central to her campaign. He came away with the easy majority even as he remained under a House Ethics Committee investigation for ties to Blagojevich, who's serving a federal prison sentence on allegations that he tried to profit from President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate Seat.
Even the most loyal Jackson supporters who praised him for bringing home nearly $1 billion in federal funding to the district were rattled.
"I hate that circumstances ended up like they did," said Ford Heights Mayor Charles Griffin. His small community south of Chicago ? one of Illinois' poorest ? got a boost in its water system because of Jackson.
Still, Griffin did not want to pile on criticism. "His situation is between the court system and the family," the mayor said.
Next week, voters in the heavily Democratic district head to the polls in a special primary to replace him. The crowded field of candidates includes Halvorson, former state Rep. Robin Kelly and Chicago Alderman Anthony Beale.
Jackson is scheduled to be sentenced June 28 and his wife on July 1. Both Jacksons, who maintain homes in Washington and Chicago, are free until sentencing.
More details emerged in a 22-page statement compiled by prosecutors and filed Wednesday. In it, Jackson admitted that he and his wife used campaign credit cards to buy thousands of personal items worth $582,772.58 from 2005 through April of last year. The most lavish purchases included the spending of more than $43,000 on a gold-plated men's Rolex watch.
Court papers said more than $60,000 was shelled out for restaurant, nightclub and lounge outings. Money was also spent on a washer, a dryer, a range and a refrigerator for the Jacksons' Chicago home.
Jackson even arranged for the use of campaign money to buy two mounted elk heads for his congressional office, according to court documents.
Jackson entered the courtroom Wednesday holding hands with his wife and looking a bit dazzled as he surveyed the packed room. He kissed his wife and headed to the defense table.
After the hearing he shouted to a reporter: "Tell everybody back home I'm sorry I let them down, OK?"
The Chicago Democrat disappeared from the public eye last June for a medical leave, though details on his condition and location were always scarce. Doctors later said he suffers from bipolar disorder and was hospitalized at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.
His attorney said after the court appearance that Jackson's health is "not an excuse" for his actions, "just a fact." Jackson's father has said that his son remains under strict medical supervision.
One attorney, Reid Weingarten, told reporters after the hearing that there's reason for optimism.
"A man that talented, a man that devoted to public service, a man who's done so much for so many, has another day," he said. "There will be another chapter in Jesse Jackson's life."
___
Associated Press writers Frederic J. Frommer and Pete Yost in Washington contributed to this report.
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Photo courtesy Valentina Mordvintseva
The warrior's burial site was richly adorned and contained more than a dozen gold artifacts. This fibula-brooch, only 2.3 by 1.9 inches in size, contains intricate decorations leading toward the center where a rock crystal bead is mounted.
By Owen Jarus
LiveScience
Hidden in a necropolis situated high in the mountains of the Caucasus in Russia, researchers have discovered the grave of a male warrior laid to rest with gold jewelry, iron chain mail and numerous weapons, including a 36-inch (91 centimeters) iron sword set between his legs.
That is just one amazing find among a wealth of ancient treasures dating back more than 2,000 years that scientists have uncovered there.
Photo courtesy Valentina Mordvintseva
This iron axe is one of many weapons found buried with the warrior.
Among their finds are two bronze helmets, discovered on the surface of the necropolis. One helmet (found in fragments and restored) has relief carvings of curled sheep horns while the other has ridges, zigzags and other odd shapes.
Although looters had been through the necropolis before, the warrior's grave appears to have been untouched. The tip of the sword he was buried with points toward his pelvis, and researchers found "a round gold plaque with a polychrome inlay" near the tip, they write in a paper published in the most recent edition of the journal Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia. [See Images of the Warrior Burial and Artifacts]
The remains of three horses, a cow and the skull of a wild boar were also found buried near the warrior.
"These animals were particularly valuable among barbarian peoples of the ancient world. It was (a) sign of (the) great importance of the buried person, which was shown by his relatives and his tribe," wrote team member Valentina Mordvintseva, a researcher at the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences Institute of Archaeology, in an email to LiveScience. The animal bones and pottery remains suggest that a funeral feast was held in his honor.
Without written records it is difficult to say exactly who the warrior was, but rather than ruling a city or town, "he was rather a chief of a people," Mordvintseva said.
Photo courtesy Valentina Mordvintseva
This gold plaque, with mounted agate, would have been attached to the sheath of a short iron sword. It is less than 2 inches across.
The necropolis is located near the town of Mezmay. Grave robbers discovered the site in 2004 and rescue excavations began in 2005.?
Who used the necropolis?
Based on the artifacts, researchers believe the warrior's burial dates back around 2,200 years, to a time when Greek culture was popular in west Asia, while the necropolis itself appears to have been in use between the third century B.C. and the beginning of the second century A.D.?
Researchers were careful to note that the artifacts cannot be linked to a specific archaeological culture. Mordvintseva points out that "this region is very big, and not sufficiently excavated," particularly in the area where the necropolis is located. "(I)t is situated high in mountains. Perhaps the population of this area (had) trade routes/passes with Caucasian countries ? Georgia, Armenia etc.," Mordvintseva writes in the email.
Courtesy of Valentina Mordvintseva
The grave of a male warrior who was laid to rest some 2,200 years ago in what is now the mountains of the Caucasus in Russia, shown here in a diagram of the warrior's skeleton and numerous artifacts.
While the people who used the necropolis were clearly influenced by Greek culture, they maintained their own way of life, said Mordvintseva. "Their material culture shows that they were rather very proud of themselves and kept their culture for centuries."
Gold treasures
This way of life includes a fondness for gold-working. The warrior's burial included more than a dozen artifacts made of the material. Perhaps the most spectacular find was a gold fibula-brooch with a rock crystal at its center. Although the brooch was only 2.3 by 1.9 inches (5.8 by 4.8 centimeters), it had several layers of intricately carved decorations leading toward the mount.
"Inside the mount a rock-crystal bead has been placed with a channel drilled through it from both ends," the researchers write.?
The team was surprised to find that two of the warrior's swords (including the one pointing toward his pelvis) had gold decorations meant to be attached. In one case a short 19-inch-long (48.5-cm) iron sword had a gold plate, with inlaid agate, that was meant to adorn its sheath. Until now, scholars had never seen this type of golden sword decorations in this part of the ancient world, the researchers write. The "actual fact that these articles were used to decorate weapons sets them apart in a category all of their own, which has so far not been recorded anywhere else ..."
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An award-winning photograph of burning waste in Bangladesh shows how environmental degradation has personal and unpredictable consequences
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Dennis Tito paid $20 million to visit the International Space Station in 2001 - now he is promising to launch a Mars mission in 2018
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The console itself wasn't there, but last night's Sony press conference told us what the PlayStation?4 will contain - and hinted how we'll use it
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