CUBA 2011 - Fidel's Resignation as Party Leader

Official resignation of Cuba's leader Fidel Castro. His brother Raul
taking over the charge of a secretary-general of Cuba's Communist
Party. The video is showing scenes from the actual 6th party congress,
the first after many years and that introduced new members of the
central committee. Most recent "Reflections of Fidel" on the political
development of Cuba are read by a speaker of Cubavision TV.

In his reflections, dated from April 18, 2011, Fidel remembered those many attempts to eliminate him. He considered that a most dangerous period of time had ended after the North-American Bush administration left place to a new government. At that time, he said, "mercenaries were already sitting on their luggage" ready to overthrow Communist rule in Cuba. As to the formation of a new central committee of the Communist Party, he said that two ideas were prevailing: The increase of feminine participation and the representation of members with an Afro-American background i.e. a background dating back to former times of slavery. Fidel also stressed the "revolutionary potential of Latin America" hinting at his friend and ally, the Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. And he pointed out that "rule of capitalism" should not become an option for Cuba which his brother Raul had stated as well on the actual party congress. Fidel Castro, while referring to his retreat from daily politics, remembered that he has still preserved his ability of analyzing and writing. Nevertheless, he is now convinced that a leader's time of office should be restricted.

---

Pictures of the Week:
Click to the pictures to see more !


30.000 on a nightly demonstration in Homs (Syria).


Protesting Yemenite women in the streets of Sanaa.


Heavy fighting at Misrata and general Yunis, commander of the freedom fighters.


Egypt: Mubarak's former prime minister charged for corruption.


Japanese Fukushima plant: 9 month needed to cool off.

Arabic World - Latest Developments

LIBYA

While the English service of Al-Jazeera reported about further Nato bombings of Gadafi's military facilities, the Arabic service held a video conference with participants from Benghazi, Kairo and Paris on latest political development:

الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة بانكي مون يدعو إلى حل "سياسي" و "وقف إطلاق نار فوري" في ليبيا
United Nation's secretary-general Banki Mun is urging a "political" solution and an "immediate cease-fire" in Libya.

أمين عام حلف الناتو يقول إن الحلف يحتاج لمزيد من الطائرات للقيام بمهمته على أكمل وجه
The Nato secretary-general says the alliance needs the majority of [their] airplanes for the most perfect accomplishment of their mission.

هيلاري كلينتون تحث حلف شمال الأطلسي على الحفاظ على وحدة الصف في مواجهة القذافي
Hillary Clinton has incited the North Atlantic Pact to guard their unity when it comes to face Gadafi.

وصول سفينة قطرية إلى ميناء الاسكندرية قادمة من ليبيا على متنها 630 مصريا
Arrival of a [regional] ship in the port of Alexandria, the first one from Libya carrying 630 Egyptians.
[Please note: The translation could as well be "a ship from Qatar" instead of "a regional ship", the latter making more sense if one has in mind that the state of Qatar as place of ship registration could be inserted without ambiguity by simply choosing another phrase construction. Anyway, the essential information about Egyptian migrants, held in camps and willing to leave Libya, remains clear.]

---

TUNISIA

Tunisian prosecutors want former president Ben Ali to face trial on the basis of 18 charges including drug trafficking and manslaughter. Ben Ali is now living in Saudi Arabia.

EGYPT

Former president Mubarak and both of his sons have been arrested only recently and are now facing charges of corruption.

YEMEN

Increasing pressure on Yemenite president Saleh to step down from office within a fortnight.

SYRIA

A new Syrian government has been formed on behalf of president Basher Assad following weeks of increasing unrest. Simultaneously, a release of political prisoners from a mass arrest has been ordered.



الخارجية الأمريكية: خطاب الأسد لا يرقى لمستوى الإصلاحات التي يريدها الشعب السوري و "يفتقر للجوهر"
اAccording to the U.S. secretary of foreign affairs, Assad's speech has not proceeded to the level of reforms wanted by the Syrian people and has been "lacking substance". [Al-Jazeera on March 30, 2011]


Shooting people from a car in the streets of Baniyas, allegedly targeting security forces, and increasing masses of protesters in Damascus:



The following news have been published on an Arabic website related to Syrian protesters. It is called FREE-SYRIA السورية الحرة

نظام الأسد يقتل الجنود الرافضين لاطلاق النار على المدنيين

استشهاد المجند \ من الفرقة الرابعة \: محمد موسى اسماعيل
الجراد ، من مدينة الحارة في درعا ، وذلك باطلاق النار عليه
ورميه امام القطعة ،لرفضه اطلاق النار على المدنيين في
بانياس ، وسلمت جثته الى اهله اليوم مضايا: عاجل: استشهاد
الضابط مراد حجو من مضايا كان الشهيد

" While shooting at citizens, the Assad
regime is killing deserted soldiers. "

" The example of a recruit / from the fourth brigade [or: division] /: Mahmud Moussa Ismail al-Djarad, from the township of al-Khara in Dira. This one has been shot at and hit by a shrapnel [that came in front of him] when he refused to target citizens in the [coastal] town of Baniyas. His carcass was delivered to his family the day [after]: Urgent [News]: Citation of the officer M. Kh. who is the witness of what happened. "

Japan - Contaminated Food Stuff in China

Yesterday, only hours after Japanese authorities raised the danger level of Fukushima Daiichi plant to the Chernobyl level, several Chinese internet sources reported on contaminated food stuff from Japan reaching Chinese markets.

The following reports from two Chinese online dailies should be cited in order to show how mere rumours can influence consumer's attitude towards Japanese food stuff products.

One publication from PR China's Gansu province (gansudaily.com.cn) has the headline:
"The selling of food stuff, imported from Japan and that has undergone nuclear radiation, is being blocked in our country."
The article is reporting on customer's behaviour in the township of Harbin, once known as the industrial center of Manchuria in Eastern China. People are saying that Japanese milk powder is being rejected "no matter if radiated or not". Already bought Japanese products should be brought back at once. This comes after an increase of Japanese sellings after the earthquake and before the extent of the nuclear catastrophe became known to a broader public. It must therefore be added that Japanese products are considered to be of an "unsual quality".



Another publication of the day from Phoenix Network (ifeng.com) is dealing with rumours that "Japanese trawlers packed with nuclear radiated fish are reaching Taiwan", an information that should not be trusted. Such rumours are said to have their origin in the worldwide web. Even though, the information of such shippings cannot be verified, customers in the Chinese republic of Taiwan are now finding themselves in a state of uncertainty.

---

Excerpt of monthly visitor statistics:

Libya - African Roadmap to Peace

Yesterday night, the African Union presented a roadmap for peace in Libya. Several African presidents and other high-ranking officials therefore met with Colonel Gadafi in Tripolis. What makes the difference between Nato and African positions on the issue of Libya is that any demand for Gadafi's resignation has been omitted. Facing the fact that Gadafi earlier sponsored African governments with Libya's oil revenues, especially when it came to the issue of a Panafrican government to be established under Gadafi's probable leadership, that roadmap simply looks like just another effort of the Gadafi clan to cling to power.

الوفد الأفريقي التقى القذافي في طرابلس
African delegation of [encouragement for] Gadafi in Tripolis:




المجلس الانتقالي: مبادرة الاتحاد الأفريقي لا تتضمن رحيل القذافي و أبنائه عن المشهد الليبي
The [Libyan] council of transition says that the initiative of the African Union does not imply the emigration of Gadafi and his sons from the Libyan scene.

Libya - Recent Development

- A former U.S. congressman in a conversation with Gadafi, telling him to step down.
- Recent losses of the freedom fighters are related to unsufficient support from the international alliance. CNN news from April 6, 2011.

Abdul Fatah Junis, commander of the freedom fighters:




Hillary Clinton, U.S. foreign secretary of state:


Hospital ship carrying the wounded from Misrata to Tunis:

Gadafi Clan - Clinging to the Power

خطة لتنحية القذافي على أيدي أبنائه
يقودها سيف الإسلام و الساعدي

Plannings to get rid of Gadafi in favour of his sons
under the direction of Saif al-Islam and al-Saidi:

- New York Times:
Plannings to get rid of Gadafi and for the transition
to a constitutional democracy led by Saif al-Islam.

- Confusing position of Gadafi about [such] plannings
and their support by Saif al-Islam and al-Saidi.

---

Further News about Libya:

الثوار يبدأون هجوما من ثلاثة محاور على مدينة البريقة
Rebels have begun a three-sided offensive at Breqa township.



The deputy foreign minister of Libya is visiting Greece and Turkey
in order to deliver the above mentioned message of the Gadafi clan.



حراك سياسي بحثا عن محرج
تركيا تتصدر وساطة دبلوماسية لإنهاء الأزمة في ليبيا
Political activity seeking a vow from Turkey to preside over
a diplomatic mediation that [deals with] the Libyan crisis.

Scotland Yard requested an interview with defected Libyan foreign
minister Mousa Kousa on the 1988 Lockerbie incident. As earlier
reported, there are hints that Gadafi had been directly involved
in the bombing of a passenger plane that killed all passengers and
many inhabitants of the Scottish village of Lockerbie. After his
defection, Mousa is now being "debriefed" in a safe house of the
British authorities.

---

Today's Visitor Statistics (Excerpt):

Libya - The War of a Crumbling Regime

COMMENT by Ulysses
based on the latest news report
of Al-Jazeera on April 2, 2011

During the last days, Libyan rebels have lost ground. However, this is not a decisive point in the development of their battle for Libya.

Lots of overexcited volunteer fighters, shooting in the air when nobody is around, have now been banned from the frontline together with all nosy correspondents from the international media. Such, there is nobody left to stand in the way of military operations by, both, allied forces and freedom fighters. It is estimated that some civilian casualties of allied bombardment should have been due to unauthorized persons on the battlefield.

From now on, only trained military personnel is holding the line. One of their commanders, a former colonel of the Gadafi army and one of the first who defected to the freedom fighters, put it that way: "The Gadafi officers have fled in the wake of high-ranking defections, and there are only 50 soldiers left on the other side in Brega." A senior U.S. analyst, questioned by Al-Jazeera, had another explanation for the volunteers he described as " the gang that could not shoot straight ". He said that such rebel fighters were undergoing a kind of " Darwinian experience ". Those who are unskilled and unintelligent will die soon. Others who learn will stay alive a little longer, and those who stick to experienced fighters will learn even more. However, " there is still a long way to go ".

Meanwhile, different contacts between the rebels and government authorities have been established on different levels. Mainly, a former Jordanian foreign minister is acting as a special envoy for both sides. However, a ceasefire recently offered by the rebels has been rejected by the Gadafi government. In any case, that decision is expected to deliver further discord within the inner circle of power in Tripolis. As could be heard from Britain, even more high-ranking followers of Gadafi or members of his clan are now looking for a safe place outside of Libya. That is why the Foreign Office in London felt obliged to remember the Libyan leadership of their final goal in the Libyan affair which is the resignation of Colonel Gadafi from power.

نصيب كل دولة من النشاط العسكري	Proportion of all nations [engaged] in military activity:
U.S.A. 90 France 33 Britain 17 Italy 16 Canada 11 Turkey 7.6 Netherl. 7.1 Spain 6.2	Belgium 6 Norway 6 Denmark 4 Greece 2 Romania 1 Bulgaria 1 [Germany is missing.]

التطورات الميدانية في ليبيا
Development of the [military] campaign in Libya.

Libya - Defection of Gadafi's Staff

Libyan foreign minister Mousa Kousa
defected to Britain the day before:


انشقاق مزيد من الشخصيات الرفيعة القريبة من العقيد القذافي بمن فيهم عبد السلام التريكي
Discord rising between high-ranking persons near to Colonel Gadafi including Abd al-Salam al-Tiriki (*).

* = Ali Abdul Salaam Al-Tiriki, Col. Gadaffi’s personal envoy whose brief in his office is the African Union. [Name written as it is spoken and text cited from an African source]

شخصيات ليبية من بينها شكري غانم و عبد العاطي العبيد تغادر ليبيا لتونس
Several persons from Libya, including Shakri Ranam and Abd al-Hadi al-Abid, defected from Libya to Tunisia.

For more information onشكري غانم و عبد العاطي العبيد refer to another website in Arabic related to "Kol Israel", the national broadcasting service of Israel. [April 1, 2011]


عبد الرحمن شلقم
مندوب المجلس الوطني الانتقالي الليبي لدى الأمم المتحدة
Abd al-Rahman Shaliqam, delegate of the national
council of transition in Libya at the United Nations:


Mr. Shaliqam is the envoy of the provisional administration of transition in Benghazi. From New York he participated in a late-night TV broadcast by Al-Jazeera on Gadafi's personal staff.

The following link in Arabic is leading to a website of Al-Arabiya TV that present their video on defection of high-ranking personnel of the Gadafi staff. [March 31, 2011]

وزير الخارجية الليبيا موسى كوسا
Libyan foreign minister Mousa Kousa:



An earlier news report on the defection of the Libyan interior minister, dating back to February 22,2011, has been added below:

Nuclear Energy - China vs. Germany

CHINA

This year, China is launching another four nuclear energy units. The recently built units are expected to reduce at least by 60% China's long-term plannings of an additional 10 Gigawatt (GW) or more. Those four nuclear reactors cited are namely unit 4, 5 and 6 of a Guangdong energy plant and one unit at a Fujian energy plant. It is impossible to China to abstain from its huge efforts to develop nuclear energy and rely on coal as an alternative energy source. .....

Original source: Dong Fang Early (Newspaper) on March 29, 2011

During the late 1950s, China already introduced nuclear technology made in the Soviet Union, its purpose obviously being the production of nuclear weapons. Much later, in the 1970s i.e. namely in the aftermath of the so-called Cultural Revolution, China began official nuclear plannings to ensure its increasing need of electric energy. It signed treaties with Germany and France and showed itself interested in nuclear technology developed in the United States of America. At that time, one of two French nuclear reactors using U.S. technology from Westinghouse was planned to be erected north of Shanghai to provide electricity for the gigantic steel production facility there. Until now, nuclear energy plants have been installed in different parts of the country.

As the Chinese learned their "nuclear lesson" almost from scratch, it was inevitable that one or another "incident" occured in their energy plants or research facilities. The best known example is referring to the research reactor shown below that had been heavily contaminated during the 1970s. The Chinese found a pragmatic solution to deal with that problem: They closed the facility and did not mention this place any more. By the way, my visitors are requested to enjoy the modern architecture of the building with its many windows to ventilate the whole thing.

"Let the sunshine in !"

"We are the masters of science !"


The industrial region near Shanghai - A potential target to earthquakes:


Looking at China from the Japanese center of disaster:


Recent map of nuclear energy units in PR China:
Green = existing; Red = in construction; White = in state of planning

GERMANY

The most debated providers for 22% of Germany's energy:

Marked by a red cross:
The reactors to be switched off immediately because of public pressure on the federal government and the suppliers of nuclear energy.


The power of public opinion after the Fukushima incident .....

..... accounted for the ruling party's heavy losses in two regional elections last weekend.


The federal government's deal with the atomic energy industry, shortly before the elections, has inspired a German artist to create the following picture that could be used as an election poster for the ruling party. - My visitors from Western Europe and the U.S.A. will surely recognize that greedy boss of TV hero Homer Simpson and who is owning Springfield's dangerous nuclear shack:

Libya - Front Report

Places actually held by the rebels are marked in white color. As can be seen, the rebels' army is now approaching the town of Sirt, Gadafi's birthplace. All places marked in red color are battle zones, either subject to allied bombing or endangered by the rebels.

Front line at the strategic town of Misrata, north of Sirt on the road to Tripolis, where clouds of exploding anti-aircraft grenades can be observed in the sky:


"According to an eyewitness, the barracks of Gadafi's units at Bab al-Aziziya in Tripolis have been evacuated." [Al-Jazeera, Arabic TV].
It was here that Gadafi delivered an aggressive speech to his followers shortly after the uprising began.

Now, as we are hearing so much about U.S., French and British support for the Libyan rebels, it should be mentioned that Turkey as well plays an important role within the international military action against colonel Gadafi:

دور تركي في ليبيا
The role of Turkey in Libya.

رجب طيب أردوغان: تركيا لها ثلاث مهام هي إدارة مطار بنغازي و مراقبة المجال الجوي الليبي و نشر قوات بحرية في الممر البحري بين كريت و بنغازي
[According to Al-Jazeera online, Turkey's prime minister] Rajab Daib Erdogan [said]:
"Turkey has three responsibilities which are the administration of Benghazi airport, the surveillance of Libyan airspace and the deployment of naval forces in the sea corridor between Kreta and Benghazi."

Libya and Egypt - Chaos and Consolidation

LIBYA:

ثوار ليبيا يدخلون راس لانوف بعد سيطرتهم على العقيلة و البريقة و اجدابيا و كتائب القذافي تنسحب
Libyan rebels enter Ras Lanuf after having gained control over al-Aquila, al-Brega and Ajdabia while Gadafi's units are retreating.

مراسل الجزيرة: الثوار يستولون على أسلحة خلفتها الكتائب في راس لانوف
A correspondent of Al-Jazeera [says] that rebels captured weapons left back by [enemy] units in Ras Lanuf.

مراسل الجزيرة: الثوار يأسرون 40 مرتزقا في راس لانوف
According to a correspondent of Al-Jazeera, the rebels captured 40 mercenaries at Ras Lanuf.

Captured: A relative of Gadafi ?


مراسل الجزيرة: ثوار ليبيا يستعيدون السيطرة على مدينة راس لانوف
A correspondent of Al-Jazeera [says] that Libyan rebels are gaining back al-Sidra near the town of Ras Lanuf.

متحدث باسم الثوار: الثوار يسيطرون على ميناء مصراتة الليبي و 7500 أجنبي عالقون فيه
[A speaker] of the rebels [says] that they have gained control over the port of Misrata al-Libia where 7500 foreigners are being [stranded].

Foreign refugees at a Misrata camp:


Report from Karthoum:

EGYPT:

رئيس الوزراء المصري عصام شرف يصل إلى الخرطوم في أول زيارة خارجية لأرفع مسؤول مصري منذ نجاح ثورة 25 يناير
The Egyptian prime minister Asam Sharif arrives in [the Sudanese capital of] Karthoum on his first foreign visit as a [high-ranking] Egyptian official since the successful revolution on January 25.

البورصة المصرية: وقف التداول مؤقتا جراء ارتفاع أسهم للحد الأقص
The Egyptian stock market: Ending of the temporary circulation of a risky hausse of short-term titles.

Egyptian stock market in Kairo:

Japan - Dangerous Leakage

Due to a dangerous leakage in, at least, one reactor radioactive iodine gained access to seawater. The actual iodine intensity is now 1.250 times higher than normal. The day before it was only 100 times higher.
On Wednesday, three rescue workers had already received a dangerous dose of radioactivity while they had to pass a pumping room that is still partly flooded with water leaked from one of the reactors.





Decontamination of the world's greatest aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan which participated in rescue operations during the first days after the earthquake and tsunami impact when a nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima energy plant was already in sight.