25 killed as Syrian troops storm Daraa

Syrian troops backed by tanks stormed the flashpoint town of Daraa on Monday killing at least 25 people, witnesses said, as a leading rights activist accused Damascus of opting for a military solution to crush dissent.Troops also launched assaults on the towns of Douma and Al-Muadamiyah near Damascus witnesses said, as the head of the UN human rights agency slammed what she said was the Syrian security forces disregard for human life.Amman said Syria had Monday sealed off its border with Jordan in a statement quickly denied by a top Syrian customs official.An activist in Daraa, Abdullah Abazid, said by telephone that Syrian forces were bombarding the town near the Jordanian border with heavy artillery and that ‘at least 25 martyrs have fallen.’‘There are still bodies sprawled in the streets,’ he said as loud explosions and shooting could be heard in the background.They are pounding the town with heavy artillery and machine guns,Abazid said, adding that snipers posted on rooftops were also shooting.Rights activists said a 3,000-strong military force swarmed into Daraa in the early hours of Monday, with tanks taking up positions in the town centre and snipers deploying on rooftops.A witness reported at least five bodies in a car that had been raked by gunfire.‘We saw with our own eyes, they were in a car that was riddled with bullets the witness said, adding that he was on a rooftop and could hear intense gunfire reverberating across the town.The minarets of the mosques are appealing for help. The security forces are entering houses. There is a curfew and they fire on those who leave their homes. They even shot at water tanks on roofs to deprive people of water.’A massive crackdown was also underway Monday in Douma, 15 kilometres north of Damascus, and nearby Al-Muadamiyah, rights activists said, reached by telephone.‘Security forces have surrounded a mosque and are firing indiscriminately. Streets are cut off from each other and Douma is isolated from the outside world,’ said an activist, adding that there have been sweeping arrests in the town since Sunday.The military assaults come as Syria is engulfed in anti-regime protests that have sparked security force crackdowns in which more than 360 people have been killed, according to rights activists and witnesses Of these, more than 140 people have died since Friday alone. The crackdown comes despite the president, Bashar al-Assad, signing on Thursday decrees ending a draconian state of emergency, imposed by the Baath Party when it seized power in 1963, to placate more than a month of pro-democracy protests.He also abolished the state security court that has tried scores of regime opponents outside the normal judicial system and issued a decree ‘to regulate peaceful demonstrations.Rami Abdel Rahman, a prominent rights activist said that Monday’s assaults showed Damascus had decided to crush the protests militarily.‘It is clear that the Syrian authorities have taken a decision for a military and security solution,’ Abdel Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said by telephone. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called on Syria to stop the use of violence against protesters.‘The government has an international legal obligation to protect peaceful demonstrators and the right to peaceful protest,’ Pillay said in a statement issued in Geneva. ‘The first step now is to immediately halt the use of violence,’ she added.Pillay called the Syrian government’s response to the demonstrations erratic.‘Just a few days after the announcement of sweeping and important reforms, we are seeing such disregard for human life by Syrian security forces,’ she said.

Lemon Law on Cars

Yes – if you receive an express written warranty with the vehicle. An express written warranty can be either a) the balance of a manufacturer’s warranty, b) a separate limited warranty given by the dealer, or c) an extended warranty or service contract you purchase from the dealer at the time you purchase the vehicle. If you have such a warranty, the substance of the new car lemon laws applies.In addition, some states have consumer protection statutes which prohibit deceptive acts in the sale of used cars. These laws generally require that a car dealer respond to every question honestly. To the extent that you purchased a used vehicle as a result of a false representation, you may have a claim against the dealership. Additionally, some states require that a dealership disclose certain facts about used cars, such as whether it was a rental

Dhaka-Russia JVC for Energy Sector Development

The Bangladesh state-owned company Petrobangla and Russian state agency Gazprom also agreed to install two gas compressor stations by September, 2012. At a joint press briefing in the Secretariat recently on Wednesday, Prime Minister’s Power and Energy adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said Gazprom would drill some wells, install two compressors, train up human resources and launch a regional office here. Director General of the Gazprom Ivan Guleb and senior officials from both Russian and Bangladeshi sides were present at the briefing.Director General of Gazprom Ivan Guleb said Russia wants to strengthen the 40-year-long relations with Bangladesh through working in energy sector development of the country through a joint venture company. It would be the first step by the company to form a joint venture company with another state-owned company in the sub-continent, officials of the Petrobangla said. “The JVC would promote gas sector of the country,” Ivan Guleb said, adding that the company would start operating soon.

It would procure two state-of-the-art drilling rigs within one and a half months to start drilling activities from October, the Gazprom policymaker said. About installation of compressors, he said both sides would need further negotiations about the financial terms and conditions to install the compressor stations.He hoped that the terms and conditions be chalked out by September to install the compressors.The government has a plan to install the compressors at Muchi in Sylhet and Asuganj in Brahmanbaria as soon as possible as such initiatives were deferred several times before for a failure to reach to an common point on terms and conditions of Asian Development Bank for getting financial assistance. The Russian delegation would meet prime minister’s Sheikh Hasian today to express their interest to install the compressors and launch drilling activities here.

The Petrobangla would place 10 separate projects to Gazprom for energy sector development here, Petrobangla Chairman Prof Hossain Monsur said.Under the projects, the Petrobangla will drill four wells at Bangladesh Gas Field Company Limited (BGFCL) and Sylhet Gas Field Company Limited (SGFCL), he said.In March, the government decided to drill five development and work-over wells under a fast-track energy sector development programme devised earlier. During the briefing Tawfiq-e-Elahi said the government is preparing to explore oil and gas in onshore and offshore blocks.The adviser hoped that disputes over the maritime boundaries with India and Myanmar be resolved within two to three years.

Thousands of protesters want ‘A New Morocco

Thousands took to the streets of Morocco on Sunday in peaceful demonstrations to demand sweeping reforms and an end to political detention, the third day of mass protests since they began in February. Desperate to avoid the turmoil that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt, authorities have already announced some reforms to placate demands that King Mohammed cede more powers and limit the monarchy’s extensive business influence.Some 10,000 people joined the protest in Casablanca, the largest city in one of the West’s staunchest Arab allies. Marchers in the capital Rabat also denounced corruption and torture as well as unemployment, which is very high among youths.Policing has been low key for protests by the February 20 Movement, named after the date of its first march, particularly compared to the turmoil elsewhere in North Africa.‘This is more about the young ones than it is about us,’ said Redouane Mellouk, who had brought his 8 year-old son Mohamed Amine, carrying a placard demanding ‘A New Morocco.’

‘Our parents could not talk to us about political issues. They were too afraid.This must change,’ said Mellouk.

Although levels of popular anger have risen, ratings agencies assess Morocco as the country in the region least likely to be affected by the type of unrest that toppled Tunisian and Egyptian regimes and then led to the conflict in Libya.A seventy-four year old man who gave his name only as Ahmed said Morocco’s youths were right to protest.‘Look at them. They are educated and like most young educated Moroccans they are idle,’ he said. ‘Everything in this country is done through privileges. You need an uncle or a relative somewhere to get somewhere.’Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament, but the constitution empowers the king to dissolve the legislature, impose a state of emergency and have a decisive say in government appointments.King Mohammed last month announced constitutional reforms to give up some of his sweeping powers and make the judiciary independent, but protesters demand more.There is also resentment at the royal family’s business interests through its holding company SNI.One of the banners waved by the Casablanca marchers depicted the King’s holdings as an octopus with tentacles stretching out to subsidiary companies. ‘Either money or power,’ it said.Islamists also joined in the protests, demanding the release of all political prisoners. Authorities freed 92 political prisoners, most of whom were members of the Islamist Salafist Jihad group, earlier this month.In Rabat, the wife of Islamist Bouchta Charef, who has said he was tortured in prison while accused of terrorism, called for all Islamists to be freed.‘They have made my children homeless,’ Zehour Dabdoubu told Reuters. ‘Every month I move from one house to another. I’m persecuted because people think I am the wife of a terrorist.’The banned Islamist opposition group Al Adl Wal Ihsane has maintained a low profile at the February 20 demonstrations, but said it supports them.‘It’s excellent what’s happening in Morocco. It’s a quiet revolution,’ Nadia Yassine, daughter of the movement’s founder, told Reuters by telephone. ‘We’re moving slowly but surely.’

I’ve challenged myself with ‘Dear Friend Hitler’: Neha Dhupia

Picturing Pahela Baishakh

I Love the festivals of Bangladesh. Most of all, I look forward to Pahela Baishakh, the Bengali New Year. It is a festival of pure fun, without any baggage, accompanied by a spirit of happiness that fills the air.

For this one day, Bengalis from all walks of life shake off the troubles of their everyday existence- the daily grind of earning a living, along with 160 million others, from this tiny land- and celebrate being themselves. It is as if they look in the mirror in the morning and say, “Yes! It feels really good to be Bengali.”Exploring the milieu around Shahbag, I realise that while I was growing older abroad, Pahela Baishakh grew up too. The low-key festivities, singing and small-scale functions of my school days have metamorphosed into a gigantic,world-class party with its own colour code, music, cuisine and all-round good cheer.Everyone wears beautiful clothes. Parents have gone through great lengths to dress up their children. Flowers grace the hair of every woman I see. Faces are painted and masks are worn.Taking pictures, I am drawn irresistibly to the people, their dresses, and their interactions. I wander the grounds, searching for moments that may reveal a little more than the ordinary, and click away.The camera becomes an extension of my hungry eyes. I stare intently and without embarrassment, absorbing everything voraciously. Having spent most of my life abroad, I am making up for lost time. The shutter's click becomes my way of highlighting anything or anyone that catches my eye.Most people cooperate happily with me. Some turn away. A child looks up to see my large camera pointing at her: she unexpectedly bursts into tears and I kick myself.Some moments tell stories. Under a banyan, a woman holds open her compact mirror for her husband to inspect his freshly painted face. A daughter rides high on daddy's shoulders while holding a red ektara, both wearing matching green and red. A young man tenderly wraps a jasmine garland around the khopa of his sweetheart. A tired vendor woman, her own child sleeping next to her on the traffic island, sells miniature dhols to children of the well-to-do.Other moments hold suggestions of deeper meanings. Inside the park, a young man stands alone, a few feet apart from the crowd. He is wearing a mask which, strangely, accentuates his loneliness. A graceful middle-aged couple poses among the offerings of a flower shop, the experience of their shared years compressed into their faces.Back home, I eagerly look through the photographs. Through experience I have found that just because I enjoyed myself does not mean good pictures will follow, and so I am prepared for disappointments. Sure enough, detached from their exuberant reality, most photos look banal, like hundreds I have seen before, here and there. But today I am lucky, because, in addition to the wonderful memories, I also caught a few moments worth preserving

Fighting grips Misrata after Libya regime ‘ultimatum’

We’re overwhelmed, overwhelmed. We lack everything: personnel, equipment and medicines,’ he said.
Ambulances pulled up outside the hospital every three or four minutes, also bringing in wounded soldiers loyal to Gaddafi, as paramedics frantically wiped blood off stretchers.Misrata has been the scene of deadly urban guerrilla fighting between pro-Gaddafi forces and outgunned rebels for more than six weeks.Saturday’s upsurge in the fight for the port city came after Gaddafi’s government said it had given its army an ‘ultimatum’ to stop the rebellion in the city, 200 kilometres east of the capital.The deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim said: ‘There was an ultimatum to the Libyan army: if they cannot solve the problem in Misrata, then the people from (the neighbouring towns of) Zliten, Tarhuna, Bani Walid and Tawargha will move in and they will talk to the rebels.‘If they don’t surrender, then they will engage them in a fight,’ he told journalists.
Hamed al-Hasi, a colonel coordinating rebel fighters at the western gate of the crossroads town of Ajdabiya in the east, said the decision meant the insurgents were beginning to win the war.This is the first nail in the coffin of Gaddafi. This means the Libyan army is no longer capable,’ he said.The United States carried out its first Predator drone strike in Libya in the early afternoon on Saturday, the Pentagon said, declining to give details on the targets or location.Earlier, NATO strikes hit a patch of bare ground opposite Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziya residence in central Tripoli, and what looked like a bunker.Authorities who took foreign correspondents there said they were ‘a parking lot’ and ‘sewers.’Anti-aircraft fire rang out as ambulance sirens wailed.Allibya television said the capital was ‘now the target of raids by the barbaric crusader colonialist aggressor,’ a term the Gaddafi regime uses for Western forces.The official JANA news agency reported two people died in NATO raids late Friday on the Zintan region southwest of Tripoli where stepped up fighting has taken place with rebels who hold several towns.NATO warplanes continued to overfly Tripoli on Saturday.Kaim accused Washington of ‘new crimes against humanity’ after the US president, Barack Obama, authorised deployment of missile-carrying drone warplanes over Libya for what his administration called ‘humanitarian’ reasons.He also hit out at a senior US senator’s visit to Benghazi, the rebel capital in the east, saying the Transitional National Council did not represent Libyans and had ‘no authority on the ground.’
Rebels bogged down in their bid to oust Gaddafi hailed the US decision to deploy armed drones over Libya.

Rebels have complained civilians are being killed in places such as Misrata, where entire streets have been pulverised by gunfire, shelling and cluster bombs.France, Italy and Britain have said they would send military personnel to eastern Libya, but only to advise the rebels on technical, logistical and organisational matters and not to engage in combat.The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has signalled his intent to follow in US Senator McCain’s footsteps and visit Benghazi.On the humanitarian front, the Red Cross warned the situation in Misrata could ‘rapidly deteriorate further and the lack of basic services such as water, electricity, food and medical care could turn critical.’And on Saturday, an aid ship delivered 160 tonnes of food and medicine to the port city before it evacuates around 1,000 stranded refugees, mostly Nigerians.Hundreds of Libyan families lined up along the harbour front in hope of getting on board the vessel chartered by the International Organisation for Migration, which has already transported 3,100 refugees from 21 countries out of the besieged city. But Dakir Hussam, a Syrian electrician, expressed his delight at managing to get a place on the Red Star One after witnessing violent clashes.The UN refugee agency says about 15,000 people fled fighting in western Libya into Tunisia in the past two weeks and a much larger exodus was feared.Massive Libyan protests in February — inspired by the revolts that toppled long-time autocrats in Egypt and Tunisia escalated into war when Gaddafi’s troops fired on demonstrators and protesters seized several eastern towns.