The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Himalaya glaciers shrinking on global warming, some may disappear
- ANALYSIS - Angry over U.S. debt debate, voters may punish leaders
- Hama assault into second day, U.N. revives Syria debate
| Himalaya glaciers shrinking on global warming, some may disappear Posted: 01 Aug 2011 09:26 PM PDT HONG KONG (Reuters) - Three Himalaya glaciers have been shrinking over the last 40 years due to global warming and two of them, located in humid regions and on lower altitudes in central and east Nepal, may disappear in time to come, researchers in Japan said on Tuesday.
Using global positioning system and simulation models, they found that the shrinkage of two of the glaciers -- Yala in central and AX010 in eastern Nepal -- had accelerated in the past 10 years compared with the 1970s and 1980s. Yala's mass shrank by 0.8 (2.6 feet) and AX010 by 0.81 metres respectively per year in the 2000s, up from 0.68 and 0.72 metres per year between 1970 and 1990, said Koji Fujita at the Graduate School of Environmental Studies in Nagoya University in Japan. "For Yala and AX, these regions showed significant warming ... that's why the rate of shrinking was accelerated," Fujita told Reuters by telephone. "Yala and AX will disappear but we are not sure when. To know when, we have to calculate using another simulation (model) and take into account the glacial flow," Fujita said, but added that his team did not have the data to do so at the moment. Their findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Tuesday. The Himalayas is an enormous mountain range consisting of about 15,000 glaciers and some of the world's highest peaks, including the 8,848-metre-high Mount Everest and K2. Apart from climate change and humidity, elevation also appears to play a critical role in the lifespan of glaciers, which are large persistent bodies of ice. The Rikha Samba glacier in the drier region of west Nepal has also been getting smaller since the 1970s, but its rate of shrinking slowed to 0.48 metres per year in the past 10 years compared to 0.57 metres per year in the 1970s and 1980s. This was because the 5,700-metre-high glacier was located on a higher altitude, which meant that losses in mass from melting could be compensated at least partly by collection of snowfall, Fujita said. "In the case of Yala and AX, they are situated on lower elevation (altitudes), therefore shrinkage was accelerated. Glaciers that have no chance to get snow mass will eventually disappear," Fujita said. Yala glacier is located about 5,400 metres above the sea level, while AX is 5,200 metres high. (Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Yoko Nishikawa) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. | ||
| ANALYSIS - Angry over U.S. debt debate, voters may punish leaders Posted: 01 Aug 2011 08:55 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Throw the bums out!
That phrase, which captured the anti-incumbent mood among U.S. voters in 2010, may apply to next year's elections, too, after the debt debate in Washington enraged the American public and demonstrated an unprecedented level of dysfunction among Democratic and Republican politicians alike. After weeks of drawn-out talks, refusals to compromise, and partisan attacks, the two sides agreed a deal on Sunday that would lift the U.S. debt ceiling and cut the deficit over 10 years. But deal or no deal, the damage to the those who led the messy process has been done. "The big loser after this exercise is Washington," said Republican strategist Scott Reed, who noted that in the last three elections more than 100 members of the 435-member House of Representatives have lost their jobs. "That could be a precursor for what this next election would look like," he said. "It has the potential to be an anti-incumbent feeling in both parties." Americans across the country grew increasingly concerned -- and increasingly angry -- in recent days about the antics over the debt ceiling, which brought the country to the edge of default and could have plunged it back into recession. Leaders from both sides were scrambling in the aftermath of the debt deal to take credit and place blame, and both sides seemed aware that they have lost credibility in the process. "Nobody's a winner when it comes to ... dysfunctionality and chaos in Washington," said David Axelrod, the top strategist for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, who spoke in his Chicago offices on Friday before the deal. "Even though I believe strongly the president's been a force to try and bring some sense and reasonableness to this process, the process itself is an ugly, ugly thing, and so just by dint of being associated with it, you know, you get tainted to some degree." A Washington Post-Pew Research Center Poll released on Monday showed Americans viewed the budget battle in strikingly negative terms, with the word "ridiculous" used by the most respondents to describe it. Variations of the words "disgusting" and "stupid" came in second and third as descriptions from poll participants. LOSERS AND LOSERS The U.S. Treasury said it would be unable to borrow more money to pay its bills after Aug. 2 if the debt ceiling were not raised. Analysts said the fallout from the process of addressing that deadline could reshape the makeup of Congress. "This whole situation has only led to a deterioration in Americans' perception of politicians in general and Congress specifically," said Costas Panagopoulos, political science professor at Fordham University. "There was a strong anti-politician, anti-incumbent sentiment that we observed in 2010, and that may also manifest itself in 2012 and in subsequent elections." It's difficult to say which side would lose the most. Tea Party conservatives helped give Republicans control of the House after the 2010 election, largely on the platform of reducing U.S. spending. But many Americans were put off by that group's general refusal to compromise. "They'll both suffer from it, but I think the Republicans (with) their starting position (of) 'we're not going to compromise' ... they'll come out worse for the wear," said one 61-year-old voter from Virginia named Stuart, who declined to give his last name. "I'm fed up, I think America's fed up. The world is fed up," he said while walking outside the White House on Sunday. Republican strategist Reed said congressional leaders from his party would have plenty of time to regroup from any damage it would suffer from the process, while Obama and Democrats would suffer from the president's economic stewardship. "Obama's the biggest loser here because he failed to lead," Reed said. Democratic strategist Axelrod said both parties would suffer in the short term, but in the long term, the difference in philosophies -- and Obama's greater willingness to compromise in the debt debate -- would help his party. "In the long term I think this has been a kind of definitional battle," Axelrod said. "I think that much of this country hungers for constructive compromise that'll move the country forward." (Editing by Christopher Wilson) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. | ||
| Hama assault into second day, U.N. revives Syria debate Posted: 01 Aug 2011 08:25 PM PDT AMMAN (Reuters) - A two-day assault by Syrian government forces on anti-government protesters in the city of Hama was widely condemned in the West and prompted European powers to relaunch a dormant U.N. resolution condemning Damascus for its crackdown.
Tanks pounded residential neighbourhoods across the city after evening prayers on Monday, marking the first day of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. Earlier, at least four civilians were killed by tank fire on the second day of attacks on the city where memories are still vivid of the brutal suppression of an uprising in 1982. "The shells are falling once every 10 seconds," a witness told Reuters by phone. The thump of artillery and explosions could be heard in the background. At least 122 civilians taking part in the protests calling for President Bashar Al-Assad to give up power have been killed in Syria since Sunday, according to witnesses, residents and rights campaigners. About 85 of those were in Hama, where Assad's father crushed an armed Muslim Brotherhood revolt 29 years ago by razing neighbourhoods and killing many thousands of people. Reacting to the new bloodshed, European powers relaunched a dormant draft U.N. resolution to condemn Damascus for its crackdown on protesters, circulating a revised text to the Security Council at a meeting on Monday. Following the hour-long closed-door meeting, several diplomats said that after months of deadlock in the council, the fresh violence appeared to be pushing the divided members towards some form of reaction. But envoys disagreed over whether the 15-nation body should adopt the Western-backed draft resolution or negotiate a less binding statement. Germany requested the meeting after human rights groups said Syrian troops killed at least 80 people on Sunday when they stormed Hama to crush protests amid a five-month-old uprising against Assad. The Assads have been repeatedly warned by the United States, European Union and Turkey against any attempt to repeat the massacre of Hama. But the government is signalling to its growing legion of critics abroad that it will not bow to calls for change that have swept across the Arab world, and to its people that it is prepared to all the force at its command to stay in power. Having embarked on a military drive to crush Syria's democracy protests at all costs, the Assads appear to have decided to raise the cost of protest, just as the Muslim month of Ramadan, which began on Monday, offers the opposition a platform to expand its nearly five-month-old uprising. "The assault on Hama is an indication of loss of control. They crossed the threshold," said Bassma Kodmani, head of the Paris-based Arab Reform Initiative. "They want to show that they can raise the level of repression to the whole country." Security forces, dominated by Assad's minority Alawite sect, had besieged Hama, a mainly Sunni Muslim city of 700,000, for nearly a month before the assault. Analysts said that by choosing to crush the dissent there with overwhelming military force, Assad had chosen a path of no return against those clamouring for his overthrow. "What has been clear is that the government is prepared to use force without limit," Beirut-based Middle East analyst Rami Khouri told Reuters. "But this is not solving the problem. Instead, it is making the rebellion more robust." ATTACK IN EAST Army tanks stormed the eastern town of Albu Kamal after a two-week siege, activists in the region said, as the military stepped up assaults aimed at subduing dissent in the tribal Deir al-Zor province bordering Iraq's Sunni heartland. Government armour attacked the town of Zabadani near the border with Lebanon after evening prayers, residents said. More than 20 tanks and armoured personnel carriers entered the resort town in the foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountains after people demonstrated in support of Hama, witnesses said. At least three protesters in Zabadani were wounded by machinegun fire from the tanks, two witnesses said. Residents said at least 29 civilians had been killed in a weekend tank assault on Deir al-Zor, the provincial capital. Syrian authorities have expelled most foreign journalists since the anti-Assad protests began in March, making it hard to verify activists' reports or official statements. MORE EU SANCTIONS The European Union extended sanctions against Assad's government, imposing asset freezes and travel bans on five more people associated with the crackdown. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said more sanctions could be levied unless the Syrian leadership changed course. Practical action by the U.N. Security Council on Syria, where rights groups say over 1,600 people have been killed since the uprising began, has until now been paralyzed by disagreements among members. Western European countries first circulated a draft resolution two months ago but it went nowhere after Russia and China, both allies of Damascus, threatened to veto it. Temporary council members Brazil, India, Lebanon and South Africa also said they did not support it. Critics have said they fear that even a simple condemnation could be the first step toward Western military intervention in Syria, as happened in Libya in March. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice described that as a "canard" and said the resolution contemplated no such thing. Following a briefing on Syria by Oscar Fernandez Taranco, deputy head of the U.N. political department, all 15 council members spoke but the body took no immediate action, postponing discussion until Tuesday, diplomats said. INSTILLED FEAR The 1982 Hama massacre instilled such fear that few Syrians were ready to challenge Assad family rule openly until this year, when many were inspired by the largely peaceful popular uprisings that toppled Arab autocrats in Egypt and Tunisia. The Syrian leadership blames "armed terrorist groups" for most killings during the revolt, saying that more than 500 soldiers and security personnel have been killed. The state news agency said the military entered Hama to purge armed groups that were terrorising citizens, an account dismissed as "nonsense" by a U.S. diplomat in Damascus. The agency said eight police were killed while "confronting armed terrorist groups" in Hama. Footage posted on social media showed large parts of the city covered in smoke, and panic-stricken groups around dead or wounded people in the streets as gunfire rang out. Reuters could not independently verify the content of the videos. U.S. President Barack Obama said he was appalled by the Syrian government's "horrifying" violence against its people in Hama and promised to work with others to isolate Assad. (Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman, Oliver Holmes in Beirut, David Brunnstrom and Marine Hass in Brussels, Daren Butler in Istanbul, Catherine Hornby in Rome; Patrick Worsnip in New York; Writing by Michael Roddy, Editing by Daniel Magnowski) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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