6 August 2012 Last updated at 19:36 ET 
Forests are prone to fires after the driest winter in Spain for 70 years
Firefighters later managed to stop the advance of the blaze, which they suspect was started deliberately.
A fire on the neighbouring island of La Palma was also contained on Monday.
Spain has been hard hit by forest fires this year after experiencing its driest winter in 70 years.
Houses gutted The firefighters said La Gomera's difficult terrain - particularly the island's deep ravines - had made it difficult to tackle the blaze.
"The ravines act as genuine chimneys for the fire when the wind blows," the head of La Gomera's regional government, Paulino Rivero, told reporters.
A number of houses were gutted in one village inside the Garajonay National Park. Local residents were evacuated after the fire erupted on Saturday.
The park is home to nearly 500 plant species, including rare subtropical forests.
Officials said they had managed to stop the progress of the blaze by Monday evening by using water-dropping aircraft.
Firefighters on the Canary Islands and mainland Spain have been battling blazes for weeks after a winter that saw almost no rainfall.
Last month, four people died in forest fires in the north-eastern Catalonia region.
Fires hit Spain's Canary Islands, threaten unique flora
Forests are prone to fires after the driest winter in Spain for 70 years Fires on Spain's Canary Islands have destroyed more than 4,000 hectares (9,900 acres) of land, including part of a UN World Heritage site.
The Garajonay National Park on the island of La Gomera is home to hundreds of plant species, some of which are unique to the island in the Atlantic. Firefighters later managed to stop the advance of the blaze, which they suspect was started deliberately.
A fire on the neighbouring island of La Palma was also contained on Monday.
Spain has been hard hit by forest fires this year after experiencing its driest winter in 70 years.
Houses gutted The firefighters said La Gomera's difficult terrain - particularly the island's deep ravines - had made it difficult to tackle the blaze.
"The ravines act as genuine chimneys for the fire when the wind blows," the head of La Gomera's regional government, Paulino Rivero, told reporters.
A number of houses were gutted in one village inside the Garajonay National Park. Local residents were evacuated after the fire erupted on Saturday.
The park is home to nearly 500 plant species, including rare subtropical forests.
Officials said they had managed to stop the progress of the blaze by Monday evening by using water-dropping aircraft.
Firefighters on the Canary Islands and mainland Spain have been battling blazes for weeks after a winter that saw almost no rainfall.
Last month, four people died in forest fires in the north-eastern Catalonia region.
5 August 2012 Last updated at 01:25 ET
Yemen suicide bomber kills 30 in Abyan
A suspected suicide bomber has struck a village in the southern Yemeni province of Abyan, killing more than 30 people.
Dozens more were wounded in the attack on a funeral service in the city of Jaar, Yemeni officials said.Military officials told the Associated Press the funeral was for a man linked to militias which had helped the army in their fight against al-Qaeda.
They said five suspected al-Qaeda militants had been killed earlier in the day.
The men were killed in a suspected US drone strike on their vehicle in Hadramawt province.
Local governor Jamal al-Aqal said in a statement that an investigation had been opened into the "criminal and cowardly" attack on the funeral service.
A witness told the AFP news agency that "the suicide bomber belonged to the al-Qaeda network".
The Yemeni army carried out a major offensive against Islamist militants in Abyan earlier this year, taking control of the region in June with the help of civilian militias comprised of local tribesmen.
Separatist unrest and al-Qaeda-linked militants such as Ansar al-Sharia have plagued the south for years.
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31 July 2012 Last updated at 15:00 ET
Online poker sites settle fraud charges for $731m
US online poker sites were shut down after criminal charges were brought against some executives Two online poker companies have agreed a $731m (£466m) settlement with the US justice department over illegal internet gambling charges.
Under the deal, PokerStars will forfeit $547m to the US government, and must also reimburse $184m to non-US players of a rival firm, Full Tilt.A settlement with a third firm, Absolute Poker, has not yet been approved.
The three were closed in 2011 and hit with civil money laundering charges.
Criminal charges were brought against executives and payment processors. All but one of 11 individuals charged pleaded guilty. Charges are pending against four other defendants who remain at large.
The US alleged that the three firms had fooled banks into processing gambling proceeds by masking the payments to appear as if they had come from non-existent online merchants.
The companies have not admitted wrongdoing as part of the civil settlement, announced by the US Department of Justice.
Under the agreement, Isle of Man-based PokerStars acquired the assets of Dublin-based Full Tilt.
Mark Scheinberg, PokerStars chairman, said the company was "delighted we have been able to put this matter behind us".
US Attorney Preet Bharara said the settlements "allow us to quickly get significant compensation into the victim players' hands".
The deal also allows the firms to operate in the US if regulations are changed to allow online poker.
Legalisation of online poker in the US is growing - Delaware in July became the second state to authorise licensed online poker within its borders, following Nevada.
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James Holmes charged with 142 countS
Aurora shootings: James Holmes charged with 142 counts
Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom for the second hearing Alleged Colorado cinema gunman James Holmes has been formally charged with 142 criminal counts in one of America's worst mass shootings.
He faces 24 counts of murder, two for each of the 12 people killed, and 116 counts of attempted murder, two each for the 58 injured.For each person killed he faces a count of murder with deliberation and one of murder with extreme indifference.
If convicted, the 24-year-old could face the death penalty.
He opened fire at random in a crowded movie theatre showing Batman film The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora near Denver on 20 July, according to the authorities.
The judge had banned cameras from Monday's hearing, so there were no pictures of the defendant, who appeared dazed during his first court appearance last week.
Defendant impassive Mr Holmes was reportedly quiet and unemotional during the hearing. At times, he appeared to be trying to focus his eyes.
Victims and family of victims arrive for the second court hearing When asked if he approved a delay in his bail hearing, the defendant leaned towards his lawyer and appeared to say "okay", and then said "yes" quietly to the judge.
Survivors of the shooting and family members of those killed attended the hearing.
Several wore Batman shirts, including Don Lader, who was in the eighth row of the theater when the shooting began. He told CNN he had seen the movie twice since that day.
Among the counts on the prosecutors' sheet, Mr Holmes faces a gun charge and another of possessing an explosive or incendiary device.
He allegedly wired his apartment with enough explosives to destroy the entire building had they been detonated. It took authorities several days to dismantle the booby traps.
Court documents filed on Friday by defence lawyers said the suspect had been under the care of a psychiatrist at the University of Colorado Denver, where he had been in the process of dropping out as a neuroscience PhD student.
Insanity defense? Monday's hearing had also been expected to examine a defence motion relating to a package which the suspect addressed to that psychiatrist, Dr Lynne Fenton.
James Holmes had been under the care of a psychiatrist at the university where he studied The defense team has been seeking a court order requiring prosecutors to immediately turn over all evidence relating to the seizure of a package, citing doctor-patient privilege.
But plans to address the issue were postponed on Monday, according to the Denver Post.
Correspondents say it is likely that the defendant will plead insanity.
Prosecutors have said it will be several weeks before a decision is made on whether or not to seek the death penalty in the case.
As of Sunday, 10 victims of the 20 July shooting remained in hospital, four of them in a critical condition.
Ashley Moser, the critically injured mother of a six-year-old girl killed in the rampage in Aurora, has suffered a miscarriage, her family said on Saturday.
Will we ever… stop driving petrol-powered cars?
(Copyright: Thinkstock)
Despite a growing number of greener alternatives, Steven Ashley explains why the gas-guzzling internal combustion engine will still be on the roads for the foreseeable future.
I get asked this question a lot, often on long airline flights where you can easily alienate a seat companion with an answer that he or she does not wish to hear. Given that passions often run high among both lovers and haters of gas-guzzling cars, it’s a hard question to answer (safely). And the truth of the matter is, I don’t really know.
But over the course of decades, I’ve had the chance to put this question to all manner of experts in the field – the world’s best automotive engineers and business executives, technology specialists and experts, top scientists, researchers, lab managers, technical authorities, designers and economic pundits, green activists, military and political leaders. Now admittedly, some of these individuals can be classified as biased or interested parties (after all, there’s a whole industry out there with armies of employees dedicated to the promotion and welfare of the car engine), but my ‘expert panel’ represents a reasonably fair and measured sampling of the proverbial best minds on the topic. All speaking freely, usually off the record, so take this as you may.
And the overwhelming result of my private, unscientific, ongoing ‘poll’ is clear: despite significant advances in green or electric vehicle technology, the internal combustion engine is here to stay for the foreseeable future, at least to the end of this century.
So why’s that?
Lingering suspicion
Several things influence this consensus of opinion. One is that green technology –pretty much all of it of any significance – has been mandated by governments. If the green movement and subsequent green legislation hadn’t driven the global car industry to cut exhaust emissions and go electric, we’d all still be cruising the boulevard with big-block V-8s up front. But could governments go the extra mile and truly convert the car business to an environmentally sustainable operating basis in the long term? The expert panel remains pessimistic.
Another factor seems to be the lingering suspicion, if not conviction, that the process of transforming basic technologies among large populations is more often than not a very slow process, one that requires considerable innovation and capital investment, two resources that always seem in short supply. Germany and Japan, for example, are now finding out how difficult (and dirty) it is to pull nuclear power off the grid.
A third, more technical, point is that oil and its derivative fuels still hold huge advantages over all of the alternatives for transport use (especially if you don’t mind dumping the combustion trash into the atmosphere).
So backed by more than a century of steady and even intensive research, development and engineering efforts, the internal combustion engine today sets a high performance standard for low-cost, effective vehicle propulsion, one that has even partially cleaned up its act in recent years. Conversely, the growing use of fossil fuel-based electricity generation – China, for instance, the world’s biggest car market, builds a new coal-fired power plant each week – tends to undercut the argument for more electric vehicles in terms of the technology’s total environmental footprint.
Finally, although the ‘experts’ readily acknowledge and applaud the remarkably effective progress that green and electric vehicles have made in recent years, they tend to believe that electric propulsion is really not there yet as a substitute technology, and probably won’t reach the market in a fully capable form that can go for 300 miles or more on single charge at an affordable price for some time to come.
How long that takes is anybody’s guess. It depends to a great extent on your crystal-ball view of the global economic future. Probably decades, even without a Eurozone crisis or oil shortages. Note that the latter issue may or may not prove fatal to the petrol-driven car – thus potentially answering the question for good. And even when high-performance, affordable electric cars start hitting the roads, you’d have to wait for who knows how long until the entire auto fleet could be converted – until that day when the last exhaust-spouting car engine dies out...
Range anxiety
There are also a couple of related realities that people typically don’t always think about, but that are worth mentioning.
Firstly, the most popular of the green/electric vehicles, gas-electric hybrids, burn fossil fuels in engines. And hybrids are regularly touted as the transition technology to the electric car. It is perhaps ironic that of all the alternative propulsion technologies on the market it is hybrid technology that has probably saved more transportation fuel than anything else tried so far. You’d expect such an efficient transportation technology to have a relatively long operational lifetime.
Second, no matter how electrified passenger cars get, trucks, their omnipresent counterparts on roads and highways are not going electric any time soon, that is, barring the emergence of some unforeseen, revolutionary high-capacity battery or other advance. Nobody knows, for example, how to efficiently propel heavy tractor-trailers, long-haulers and larger transports without burning fuels in big internal combustion engines, hybrid power plants notwithstanding. And medium-size trucks probably need engines as well. So the fuel station is probably a keeper.
For smaller trucks like pick-ups and SUVs, the issue is a bit cloudier. Most ‘experts’ don’t think that electric batteries, even improved ones, will be able to drive small trucks in the short- or mid-term, so that’s why the car companies and governments are still sticking with the poor cousin of electric propulsion family, the hydrogen fuel cell. Though long ignored by most, fuel-cell vehicles have shown that they can haul larger loads. But like electric vehicles and the public/private recharging infrastructure that makes it all run, fuel cell-powered vehicles and its hydrogen infrastructure would be costly to build, and have yet to materialise.
Still, I always try to be optimistic about the world’s survival prospects and try to keep an eye out for potential breakthroughs. Thankfully one arrived in this week’s Science magazine.
Researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Fife, UK have demonstrated an early form of an improved, high-power electrochemical cell – the lithium-air battery. Such a device could theoretically provide some four to ten times the energy density per weight that conventional lithium-ion batteries do, which would banish EV ‘range anxiety’ and make electric vehicles fully practical. Today’s lithium-ion batteries can provide power for about 100 miles before needing to be recharged and nobody wants to be stranded with a dead battery.
“We need to go beyond the 300-mile driving range for EVs, so we need a transformational shift. Lithium-air batteries have the potential to provide it,” says Peter Bruce, lead researcher of the study, who describes himself as a battery specialist “for longer than I care to think of”.
Note the word “potential”. Their findings are essentially a proof of concept. That said, it is this type of breakthrough that could prove to be a stepping stone toward a golden and perhaps achievable, goal.
And that gives me hope.
27 July 2012 Last updated at 12:30 ET
The UN is helping in an offensive against the M23 rebels
Rwanda again rejected allegations in a UN report that it was supporting the M23 movement rebels in DR Congo.
Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo told the BBC it was "one sided".
The rebels mutinied from the Congolese army in April and some 200,000 people have fled their homes as a result of fighting.
Eastern DR Congo has been plagued by fighting since 1994, when more than a million ethnic Hutus crossed the border into DR Congo following the Rwandan genocide, in which some 800,000 people - mostly Tutsis - died.
Rwanda has twice invaded its much larger neighbour, saying it was trying to take action against Hutu rebels based in DR Congo. Uganda also sent troops into DR Congo during the 1997-2003 conflict.
'Non existent evidence' The brief UK announcement emerged after the Dutch foreign ministry confirmed it would no longer be making payments worth $6.15m (£3.9m) to Rwanda's aid budget until it had received reassurances from Kigali.
The UK government said its general budget support payment was being delayed while the government reviewed whether the expectations associated with the strict partnership principles surrounding the disbursement of aid are being met.
Total UK aid to Rwanda in the year 2012-13 is projected to be about $118m.
Mrs Mushikiwabo said any decision to suspend aid based on the UN report was "taken on evidence that does not exist" as she had explained to UN experts visiting Rwanda this week.
"More importantly I think it's a wake-up call for Rwanda and other aid recipient countries to actually start fending for ourselves and figure out a way to sustain our development without being subjected to bullying and pressure from donors," she told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
The Congolese rebels who took up arms in April named themselves M23 after a failed peace agreement signed with DR Congo's government on 23 March three years ago.
The rebellion is led by renegade general Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.
He belongs to the Tutsi ethnic group like the top leadership in Rwanda, which fears the presence of rival Hutu militias in eastern DR Congo.
'Laughable' Speaking off the record, a senior UN peacekeeping official told the BBC about the debriefing of 30 former members of the M23 movement.
The defectors said they had been recruited in Rwanda, but were then sent into DR Congo to find themselves fighting with the M23.
The UN official said this chimed with the UN's own observations of some rebels who are unlike the other Congolese troops who mutinied.
They are armed with weapons not used by the Congolese army, speak English - unlike most Congolese - have unusual uniforms and undertake night attacks - something the Congolese army does not do, the official said.
The UN says the M23 has grown in recent weeks - another sign that they are being reinforced.
Following the US cut of $200,000 in military aid, Stephen Rapp, head of the US Office of Global Criminal Justice warned on Wednesday that Rwanda's leadership, including Mr Kagame, could possibly face prosecution at the ICC over the current unrest.
"There is a line that one can cross under international law where you can be held responsible for aiding a group in a way that makes possible their commission of atrocities," the US ambassador for war crimes told the UK Guardian newspaper.
"I think you would have a situation where individuals who were aiding them from across the border could be held criminally responsible."
Mr Kagame has dismissed the article as irresponsible. He commented on his Twitter account that it was "laughable" and displayed "gross ignorance".
UK and the Netherlands withhold Rwanda budget aid
The UN is helping in an offensive against the M23 rebels The UK and the Netherlands have joined the US in withholding aid to Rwanda over its alleged backing of rebels in Democratic Republic of Congo.
The UK government said it was delaying £16m ($25m) in budget support due this month while it considered whether aid conditions had been met.Rwanda again rejected allegations in a UN report that it was supporting the M23 movement rebels in DR Congo.
Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo told the BBC it was "one sided".
The rebels mutinied from the Congolese army in April and some 200,000 people have fled their homes as a result of fighting.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
Louise Mushikiwabo Rwandan foreign ministerIt's a wake-up call for Rwanda.. to figure out a way to sustain our development without being subjected to bullying and pressure from donors”
News of the further aid suspensions came as a senior UN official told the BBC that defecting Congolese rebels have confirmed that they were recruited in Rwanda.
On Thursday, the UN reported that its forces helped the Congolese army push the rebels out of two towns north of Goma using helicopter gunships and armoured vehicle.Eastern DR Congo has been plagued by fighting since 1994, when more than a million ethnic Hutus crossed the border into DR Congo following the Rwandan genocide, in which some 800,000 people - mostly Tutsis - died.
Rwanda has twice invaded its much larger neighbour, saying it was trying to take action against Hutu rebels based in DR Congo. Uganda also sent troops into DR Congo during the 1997-2003 conflict.
'Non existent evidence' The brief UK announcement emerged after the Dutch foreign ministry confirmed it would no longer be making payments worth $6.15m (£3.9m) to Rwanda's aid budget until it had received reassurances from Kigali.
Continue reading the main story
Troublesome neighbours
- April-June 1994: Genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda
- June 1994: Paul Kagame's Tutsi rebels take power in Rwanda, Hutu fighters flee into Zaire (DR Congo)
- Rwanda's army enters eastern Zaire to pursue Hutu fighters
- 1997: Laurent Kabila's AFDL, backed by Rwanda, takes power in Kinshasa
- 1998: Rwanda accuses Kabila of not acting against Hutu rebels and tries to topple him, sparking five years of conflict
- 2003: War officially ends but Hutu and Tutsi militias continue to clash in eastern DR Congo
- 2008: Tutsi-led CNDP rebels march on North Kivu capital, Goma - 250,000 people flee
- 2009: Rwanda and DR Congo agree peace deal and CNDP integrated into Congolese army
- 2012: Mutiny led by former CNDP leader Bosco "Terminator" Ntaganda
The Dutch money was being used to improve the country's judicial system - Dutch support for non-governmental organisations will continue.
The BBC's Anna Holligan in The Hague says the Dutch government is still awaiting a response from Rwanda and is in the process of talking to other European government about possible further action. The UK government said its general budget support payment was being delayed while the government reviewed whether the expectations associated with the strict partnership principles surrounding the disbursement of aid are being met.
Total UK aid to Rwanda in the year 2012-13 is projected to be about $118m.
Mrs Mushikiwabo said any decision to suspend aid based on the UN report was "taken on evidence that does not exist" as she had explained to UN experts visiting Rwanda this week.
"More importantly I think it's a wake-up call for Rwanda and other aid recipient countries to actually start fending for ourselves and figure out a way to sustain our development without being subjected to bullying and pressure from donors," she told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
The Congolese rebels who took up arms in April named themselves M23 after a failed peace agreement signed with DR Congo's government on 23 March three years ago.
The rebellion is led by renegade general Bosco Ntaganda, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes.
He belongs to the Tutsi ethnic group like the top leadership in Rwanda, which fears the presence of rival Hutu militias in eastern DR Congo.
'Laughable' Speaking off the record, a senior UN peacekeeping official told the BBC about the debriefing of 30 former members of the M23 movement.
The defectors said they had been recruited in Rwanda, but were then sent into DR Congo to find themselves fighting with the M23.
The UN official said this chimed with the UN's own observations of some rebels who are unlike the other Congolese troops who mutinied.
They are armed with weapons not used by the Congolese army, speak English - unlike most Congolese - have unusual uniforms and undertake night attacks - something the Congolese army does not do, the official said.
The UN says the M23 has grown in recent weeks - another sign that they are being reinforced.
Following the US cut of $200,000 in military aid, Stephen Rapp, head of the US Office of Global Criminal Justice warned on Wednesday that Rwanda's leadership, including Mr Kagame, could possibly face prosecution at the ICC over the current unrest.
"There is a line that one can cross under international law where you can be held responsible for aiding a group in a way that makes possible their commission of atrocities," the US ambassador for war crimes told the UK Guardian newspaper.
"I think you would have a situation where individuals who were aiding them from across the border could be held criminally responsible."
Mr Kagame has dismissed the article as irresponsible. He commented on his Twitter account that it was "laughable" and displayed "gross ignorance".
25 July 2012 Last updated at 10:41 ET
California police shootings prompt Anaheim arrests
Including the deaths over the weekend six police shootings - five of which were fatal - have taken place in Anaheim this year, up from four a year earlier Twenty-four people have been arrested during a fourth night of violence after fatal weekend police shootings of two men in Anaheim, California.
The violence mounted outside City Hall as council members voted unanimously to investigate the incidents.About 500 protesters threw rocks, broke windows, and threw a petrol bomb at a police car as 250 policemen fired soft bullets and pepper balls at the crowd.
Order was restored around 02:00 (09:00 GMT), police said.
Rubbish bins were set on fire during a seven-hour-long standoff with police wearing riot gear.
Anaheim Mayor Tom Tait has called for state and federal investigations, and the FBI said it would review one of the shootings to see if a civil rights investigation should be launched, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"Anaheim Police Department is just way out of control," protester David Zavala, 25, told the newspaper on Tuesday evening. "The cops are supposed to be there to protect and serve."
Deadly weekend Police Chief John Welter said Manuel Diaz was fatally shot on Saturday after two policemen approached three people who were behaving suspiciously in an alley. He then tried to run away.
Mr Welter did not say what led the policeman to shoot Diaz.
But the police chief said the man did not obey orders to stop and threw something that police believe contained heroin onto the roof of a nearby building.
Kerry Condon, president of the Anaheim Police Association, said: ""Feeling that Diaz was drawing a weapon, the officer opened fire on Diaz to stop the threat," the Los Angeles Times reported.
Diaz was shot in the leg and the back of the head, court papers are reported to say. His family filed a lawsuit against the police department on Tuesday seeking $50m (£32m) in damages.
The second shooting took place on Sunday, when police saw a suspected gang member in a stolen car. After a short chase, three people jumped out of the sports utility vehicle and ran.
Joel Mathew Acevedo, 21, fired at a policeman who then shot him dead.
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President Barack Obama says he doesn't need to release photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse.
Science proves bin Laden's identity, and showing the photo could create a national security risk, BULL SHIT Obama told "60 Minutes" for a Sunday broadcast.
"We've done DNA sampling and testing. So there's no doubt we killed Osama bin Laden," Obama said. "And I think Americans and people around the world are glad that he's gone. YOU GOT THAT PART RIGHT But we don't need to spike the football."
BULL SHIT!! YES WE DO HE KILLED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE YOU DIMWIT
A leading forensic expert in the country told the Free Press that confirming bin Laden's identity -- which couldn't be done by DNA alone -- was "very much a classic forensic case."
"A little bit of DNA, facial reconstruction, eyewitness testimony -- it all came together," Mitchell Holland said.
Holland, the former director of the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory -- the lab that he speculates handled bin Laden's case -- said the DNA may have been the clincher but wasn't enough on its own for a positive ID.
The government said the DNA evidence provides a match with 99.9% confidence. Mathematically, Holland said, that means that by chance, one in 1,000 people could match the DNA profile.
But Holland said the government had plenty of other evidence from the scene: DNA, facial reconstruction evidence and witnesses.
There's more to identifying Osama bin Laden than just DNA
The government's DNA evidence verifying bin Laden's identity may seem foolproof: It provided a match with 99.9% confidence.
But to a trained scientist, that number alone wasn't good enough to make a positive ID.
"These numbers just aren't as high as one might like them to be for positive identification using DNA alone," said Holland of the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, which he speculates tested bin Laden's and his relatives' DNA. "A statistic of 99.9 -- it is strong circumstantial evidence."
Holland, who said he doesn't doubt that bin Laden was killed, speaks from experience. He oversaw the laboratory that identified the remains of the Vietnam Unknown Soldier, 1st Lt. Michael Blassie, and Nicholas Romanov, the last Russian czar. He also oversaw the lab that helped identify the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Given his experience, Holland viewed the bin Laden DNA statistics with a more critical eye. But he said it was clear that bin Laden was killed because the DNA was coupled with witness testimony and facial recognition evidence.
"It might have been the clincher," Holland said of the DNA evidence. "But if it's the only piece of the puzzle, then that would not be enough scientifically. ... I think they did everything they could."
The Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory would neither confirm nor deny that it had analyzed bin Laden's DNA. Neither would the Department of Defense.
The White House has not disclosed details about how it obtained bin Laden's DNA, who tested it or which bin Laden relatives they had compiled DNA profiles on to establish his identity.
White House spokesman Jay Carney released comments Wednesday that President Barack Obama made to CBS's "60 Minutes" in explaining why he didn't release the photos of bin Laden's body.
Obama said when bin Laden's body was taken out of the compound, "Facial analysis indicated that, in fact, it was him. We hadn't yet done DNA testing, but at that point, we were 95% sure."
Full confirmation, Obama said, came with the DNA testing. "Keep in mind that we are absolutely certain that this was him," Obama said during the interview.
Forensic experts said when it came to DNA proof in the bin Laden case, the government was limited in how much information it could obtain. It did not have his parents' DNA. The government couldn't get a 100% DNA identification because it didn't have a DNA profile on bin Laden or DNA from the number of relatives needed to reconstruct his DNA profile, such as his parents.
Instead, it relied on DNA profiles of 50 half-siblings and maybe other distant relatives. With siblings, experts noted, there is only a likelihood that they'll share some DNA. With half-siblings, it gets more convoluted.
"Working through siblings, you can only go so far ... but collectively, the more of them they have, the tighter the margin of error becomes," said Cyril Wecht, past president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. He's a forensic pathologist and attorney.
Wecht, considered a leading forensic expert by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the government likely took extensive photographs of the body -- dressed and undressed -- and measured and weighed it. Any scars or birthmarks would have been noted. They may have taken dental impressions.
For the DNA evidence, he said they likely took a cheek swab and skin and hair samples. Wecht also said they may have taken his fingerprints and items from the bathroom, things he would have touched.
As far as Wecht is concerned, the government has provided enough scientific proof that bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in a raid on his compound in Pakistan.
"Given the international ramifications, I just think this is not the kind of thing that you would BS about," he said. "It would make no sense for them."
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A pilot project run by Centrica in a plant at Didcot sewage
works, Oxfordshire, is the first in Britain to produce renewable gas from sewage for households to use.
President Barack Obama says he doesn't need to release photos of Osama bin Laden's corpse.
Science proves bin Laden's identity, and showing the photo could create a national security risk, BULL SHIT Obama told "60 Minutes" for a Sunday broadcast.
"We've done DNA sampling and testing. So there's no doubt we killed Osama bin Laden," Obama said. "And I think Americans and people around the world are glad that he's gone. YOU GOT THAT PART RIGHT But we don't need to spike the football."
BULL SHIT!! YES WE DO HE KILLED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE YOU DIMWIT
A leading forensic expert in the country told the Free Press that confirming bin Laden's identity -- which couldn't be done by DNA alone -- was "very much a classic forensic case."
"A little bit of DNA, facial reconstruction, eyewitness testimony -- it all came together," Mitchell Holland said.
Holland, the former director of the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory -- the lab that he speculates handled bin Laden's case -- said the DNA may have been the clincher but wasn't enough on its own for a positive ID.
The government said the DNA evidence provides a match with 99.9% confidence. Mathematically, Holland said, that means that by chance, one in 1,000 people could match the DNA profile.
But Holland said the government had plenty of other evidence from the scene: DNA, facial reconstruction evidence and witnesses.
There's more to identifying Osama bin Laden than just DNA
The government's DNA evidence verifying bin Laden's identity may seem foolproof: It provided a match with 99.9% confidence.
But to a trained scientist, that number alone wasn't good enough to make a positive ID.
"These numbers just aren't as high as one might like them to be for positive identification using DNA alone," said Holland of the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, which he speculates tested bin Laden's and his relatives' DNA. "A statistic of 99.9 -- it is strong circumstantial evidence."
Holland, who said he doesn't doubt that bin Laden was killed, speaks from experience. He oversaw the laboratory that identified the remains of the Vietnam Unknown Soldier, 1st Lt. Michael Blassie, and Nicholas Romanov, the last Russian czar. He also oversaw the lab that helped identify the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Given his experience, Holland viewed the bin Laden DNA statistics with a more critical eye. But he said it was clear that bin Laden was killed because the DNA was coupled with witness testimony and facial recognition evidence.
"It might have been the clincher," Holland said of the DNA evidence. "But if it's the only piece of the puzzle, then that would not be enough scientifically. ... I think they did everything they could."
The Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory would neither confirm nor deny that it had analyzed bin Laden's DNA. Neither would the Department of Defense.
The White House has not disclosed details about how it obtained bin Laden's DNA, who tested it or which bin Laden relatives they had compiled DNA profiles on to establish his identity.
White House spokesman Jay Carney released comments Wednesday that President Barack Obama made to CBS's "60 Minutes" in explaining why he didn't release the photos of bin Laden's body.
Obama said when bin Laden's body was taken out of the compound, "Facial analysis indicated that, in fact, it was him. We hadn't yet done DNA testing, but at that point, we were 95% sure."
Full confirmation, Obama said, came with the DNA testing. "Keep in mind that we are absolutely certain that this was him," Obama said during the interview.
Forensic experts said when it came to DNA proof in the bin Laden case, the government was limited in how much information it could obtain. It did not have his parents' DNA. The government couldn't get a 100% DNA identification because it didn't have a DNA profile on bin Laden or DNA from the number of relatives needed to reconstruct his DNA profile, such as his parents.
Instead, it relied on DNA profiles of 50 half-siblings and maybe other distant relatives. With siblings, experts noted, there is only a likelihood that they'll share some DNA. With half-siblings, it gets more convoluted.
"Working through siblings, you can only go so far ... but collectively, the more of them they have, the tighter the margin of error becomes," said Cyril Wecht, past president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. He's a forensic pathologist and attorney.
Wecht, considered a leading forensic expert by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said the government likely took extensive photographs of the body -- dressed and undressed -- and measured and weighed it. Any scars or birthmarks would have been noted. They may have taken dental impressions.
For the DNA evidence, he said they likely took a cheek swab and skin and hair samples. Wecht also said they may have taken his fingerprints and items from the bathroom, things he would have touched.
As far as Wecht is concerned, the government has provided enough scientific proof that bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in a raid on his compound in Pakistan.
"Given the international ramifications, I just think this is not the kind of thing that you would BS about," he said. "It would make no sense for them."
___________________________________________________________________________
Long-awaited Panama Trade Deal Moves Forward
By Kimberly Schwandt
Created 2011-04-18 18:21
The Obama administration has started the process of moving the Panama trade deal through Congress. U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk sent a letter to lawmakers Monday saying the deal is ready to move to the next step.
"I am pleased to report to you that the Office of the United States Trade Representative has completed its preparatory work on the Agreement and stands ready to begin technical discussions with Members of Congress on the draft implementing bill and draft Statement of Administrative Action," Kirk wrote to Chairmen ranking members to the key committees on Capitol Hill [1].
"We hope our discussions to review these documents can commence without delay so that we can work together to bring the benefits of this Agreement home to American businesses, farmers and workers," he added.
The long awaited agreement had stumbled for several years because of concerns that Panama was an illegal tax haven. Kirk said that after meeting with Panama's Vice President Juan Carlos Varela, commitments and actions had been addressed on the outstanding issues.
The Panama deal is the last of the remaining ones that former President George W. Bush started in 2007. The lapsed time in approval allowed the Obama administration to tweak the deal to its liking.
The Colombia one [2] was most recently was hammered out within the last month after Colombia dealt with human rights concerns.
The Korean free trade deal was finalized late last year. Both are awaiting Congressional approval, with a goal of passing them by mid-summer.
Big business has generally been supportive of the deals, while unions haven't been so quick to embrace them.
The president is scheduled to meet with the Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli next week. They'll discuss this agreement among other items of interest to both nations. It will be their first meeting.
Republicans been supportive of the trade deals and have been placing their passage as a negotiating tactic to hold-up nominations and bills.
Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., reacted to the deal. "U.S. job creators and workers are every day put at a disadvantage to foreign competitors from countries that have already concluded trade agreements without us. The more we delay, the more we lose. The time to act is now," Camp said.
Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, urged moving the deal along swiftly. "I look forward to working with the Administration to ensure that all three of our pending trade agreements are considered by Congress by July 1. We are on the home stretch, and I welcome the opportunity to show the world that we once again have a market-opening trade agenda that creates U.S. jobs," Brady said.
"I am pleased to report to you that the Office of the United States Trade Representative has completed its preparatory work on the Agreement and stands ready to begin technical discussions with Members of Congress on the draft implementing bill and draft Statement of Administrative Action," Kirk wrote to Chairmen ranking members to the key committees on Capitol Hill [1].
"We hope our discussions to review these documents can commence without delay so that we can work together to bring the benefits of this Agreement home to American businesses, farmers and workers," he added.
The long awaited agreement had stumbled for several years because of concerns that Panama was an illegal tax haven. Kirk said that after meeting with Panama's Vice President Juan Carlos Varela, commitments and actions had been addressed on the outstanding issues.
The Panama deal is the last of the remaining ones that former President George W. Bush started in 2007. The lapsed time in approval allowed the Obama administration to tweak the deal to its liking.
The Colombia one [2] was most recently was hammered out within the last month after Colombia dealt with human rights concerns.
The Korean free trade deal was finalized late last year. Both are awaiting Congressional approval, with a goal of passing them by mid-summer.
Big business has generally been supportive of the deals, while unions haven't been so quick to embrace them.
The president is scheduled to meet with the Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli next week. They'll discuss this agreement among other items of interest to both nations. It will be their first meeting.
Republicans been supportive of the trade deals and have been placing their passage as a negotiating tactic to hold-up nominations and bills.
Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., reacted to the deal. "U.S. job creators and workers are every day put at a disadvantage to foreign competitors from countries that have already concluded trade agreements without us. The more we delay, the more we lose. The time to act is now," Camp said.
Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, urged moving the deal along swiftly. "I look forward to working with the Administration to ensure that all three of our pending trade agreements are considered by Congress by July 1. We are on the home stretch, and I welcome the opportunity to show the world that we once again have a market-opening trade agenda that creates U.S. jobs," Brady said.
A pilot project run by Centrica in a plant at Didcot sewage
works, Oxfordshire, is the first in Britain to produce renewable gas from sewage for households to use.
The waste is stored for 18 days and then turned into domestic gas which will supply about 200 homes with power.
The scheme sees sewage arriving at the Didcot works for treatment, and then sludge – the solid part of the waste – is further treated in a process known as anaerobic digestion in which bacteria break down the biodegradable material and creates gas.
The gas is cleaned before it is fed into the gas grid, in a process which takes around 20 days from lavatory flush to being piped back to people's homes.
Anaerobic digestion is already used to create renewable electricity from sewage – with the gas burned to produce power – but this is the first time the biogas has been pumped directly into the grid for use in homes.
The £2.5m project is a joint venture between Thames Water, British Gas and Scotia Gas Networks.
Energy experts believe that 15 per cent of all gas consumed could come from human waste, sewage slurry and food thrown away by households and supermarkets.
It is hoped that if successful the pilot project could be rolled out across the country.
However there are concerns that the investment is not there as it is more expensive to produce renewable gas, known as biomethane.
Gearóid Lane, managing director of communities and new energy at British Gas, said: "This renewable gas project is a real milestone in Britain's energy history, and will help customers and the environment alike.
"Renewable gas has the potential to make a significant contribution to meeting the UK's energy needs. Gas from sewage is just one part of a bigger project, which will see us using brewery and food waste and farm slurry to generate gas to heat homes."
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said: "It's not every day that a Secretary of State can announce that, for the first time ever in the UK, people can cook and heat their homes with gas generated from sewage. This is a historic day for the companies involved, for energy from waste technologies, and for progress to increase the amount of renewable energy in the UK."
Under the proposed Renewable Heat Incentive, which was set to be introduced next April but is currently subject to the Government's spending review, subsidies would be paid for renewable gas being put into the grid.
8 April 2011 Last updated at 08:00 ET
But this is a global average; and now a Dutch team has made what appears to be the first attempt to model all the factors leading to regional variations.
Other researchers say the IPCC's figure is likely to be a huge under-estimate.
Whatever the global figure turns out to be, there will be regional differences.
Ocean currents and differences in the temperature and salinity of seawater are among the factors that mean sea level currently varies by up a metre across the oceans - this does not include short-term changes due to tides or winds.
So if currents change with global warming, which is expected - and if regions such as the Arctic Ocean become less saline as ice sheets discharge their contents into the sea - the regional patterns of peaks and troughs will also change.
"Everybody will still have the impact, and in many places they will get the average rise," said Roderik van der Wal from the University of Utrecht, one of the team presenting their regional projections at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) meeting in Vienna.
"But places like New York are going to have a larger contribution than the average - 20% more in this case - and Reykjavik will be better off."
Of the 13 regions where the team makes specific projections, New York sees the biggest increase from the global average, although Vancouver, Tasmania and The Maldives are also forecast to see above-average impacts.
Gravity trap
One peculiarity of the projections is that areas closer to melting ice sheets will experience a smaller sea level rise than those further away.
If the ice begins to melt, it raises the average sea level simply by entering the sea; but the gravitational pull is now smaller, so locally the sea level may go down.
"So if the Greenland sheet melts more, that's better for New York; but if Antarctica melts, that's worse for New York - and it's equally true for northwestern Europe," Professor van der Wal told BBC News.
The effects are particularly pronounced for Reykjavik, the closest capital to Greenland, which is projected to receive less than half the global average sea level rise.
Ice sheet question
Roderik van der Wal is one of scientists working on the sea level projections that will be included in the next IPCC assessment, due out in 2013-4.
Before then, other scientists are likely to have completed more regional models that can be put into this mix
"We're right at the beginning of making regional projections, and at this point there is still a lot of uncertainty," commented Stefan Rahmstorf, a sea level specialist from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.
"But it is clear that some parts of the world will feel sea level rise much more quickly than other parts; and an additional factor is land movements.
"In some places such as a lot of the Scandinavian coastline, the land is rising so fast that they will not have any problem with sea level rise in the near future, whereas in other places the land is subsiding - that includes some of the world's big delta cities."
Just before the last IPCC report came out in 2007, Professor Rahmstorf published research showing that sea levels had been rising faster that climate models predicted.
Since then, he and others, using various techniques, have concluded that somewhere between half a metre and two metres is likely by the end of the century.
He came to the EGU with a further analysis putting the likely range at 0.75-1.9m - the range reflecting uncertainties in how ice sheets may melt, and in how society may or may not respond to the findings of climate scientists by controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
New York set to be big loser as sea levels rise
Places like New York are projected to experience an above average sea level increase
New York is a major loser and Reykjavik a winner from new forecasts of sea level rise in different regions.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in 2007 that sea levels would rise at least 28cm (1ft) by the year 2100. But this is a global average; and now a Dutch team has made what appears to be the first attempt to model all the factors leading to regional variations.
Other researchers say the IPCC's figure is likely to be a huge under-estimate.
Whatever the global figure turns out to be, there will be regional differences.
Ocean currents and differences in the temperature and salinity of seawater are among the factors that mean sea level currently varies by up a metre across the oceans - this does not include short-term changes due to tides or winds.
So if currents change with global warming, which is expected - and if regions such as the Arctic Ocean become less saline as ice sheets discharge their contents into the sea - the regional patterns of peaks and troughs will also change.
"Everybody will still have the impact, and in many places they will get the average rise," said Roderik van der Wal from the University of Utrecht, one of the team presenting their regional projections at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) meeting in Vienna.
"But places like New York are going to have a larger contribution than the average - 20% more in this case - and Reykjavik will be better off."
Of the 13 regions where the team makes specific projections, New York sees the biggest increase from the global average, although Vancouver, Tasmania and The Maldives are also forecast to see above-average impacts.
Gravity trap
One peculiarity of the projections is that areas closer to melting ice sheets will experience a smaller sea level rise than those further away.
This is because ice sheets such as those on Greenland or Antarctica gravitationally attract the water.
This pulls the water towards the coast, effectively making it pile up to an extent that can be measured in centimetres.If the ice begins to melt, it raises the average sea level simply by entering the sea; but the gravitational pull is now smaller, so locally the sea level may go down.
"So if the Greenland sheet melts more, that's better for New York; but if Antarctica melts, that's worse for New York - and it's equally true for northwestern Europe," Professor van der Wal told BBC News.
The effects are particularly pronounced for Reykjavik, the closest capital to Greenland, which is projected to receive less than half the global average sea level rise.
Ice sheet question
Roderik van der Wal is one of scientists working on the sea level projections that will be included in the next IPCC assessment, due out in 2013-4.
Before then, other scientists are likely to have completed more regional models that can be put into this mix
"We're right at the beginning of making regional projections, and at this point there is still a lot of uncertainty," commented Stefan Rahmstorf, a sea level specialist from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.
"But it is clear that some parts of the world will feel sea level rise much more quickly than other parts; and an additional factor is land movements.
"In some places such as a lot of the Scandinavian coastline, the land is rising so fast that they will not have any problem with sea level rise in the near future, whereas in other places the land is subsiding - that includes some of the world's big delta cities."
Just before the last IPCC report came out in 2007, Professor Rahmstorf published research showing that sea levels had been rising faster that climate models predicted.
Since then, he and others, using various techniques, have concluded that somewhere between half a metre and two metres is likely by the end of the century.
He came to the EGU with a further analysis putting the likely range at 0.75-1.9m - the range reflecting uncertainties in how ice sheets may melt, and in how society may or may not respond to the findings of climate scientists by controlling greenhouse gas emissions.
