Ambush kills 12 Pakistan troops

Taliban militants have ambushed a Pakistani military convoy and killed 12 soldiers, the army says.

The attack happened in North Waziristan , near the Afghan border, when militants fired rocket-propelled grenades at several vehicles.

A fire-fight then broke out in which 10 militants were killed, the military said.

The attack came as Pakistani troops prepared to launch an operation against militants in the region.

They want to eliminate the Pakistani Taliban network led by Baitullah Mehsud, whose stronghold is in South Waziristan .

The US has already put a bounty of $5m (£3m) on his head and on Sunday the Pakistani authorities offered an additional $615,000 for his capture.

The convoy was attacked in the Gharlamai region near Wachabibi village, some 45km (25 miles) west of the region's main town of Miranshah .

Twelve soldiers were killed and 10 others were injured, the military statement said.

"An exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists continued for some time. Ten terrorists were killed," it said.

The military has been fighting militants in the Swat valley, to the north, for two months - an operation that has triggered militant attacks on both the military and towns and cities elsewhere.

source : bbc.news

Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard has unveiled a prototype of the solar-powered plane he hopes eventually to fly around the world.

The vehicle, spanning 61m but weighing just 1,500kg, will undergo trials to prove it can fly through the night.

Dr Piccard, who made history in 1999 by circling the globe non-stop in a balloon, says he wants to demonstrate the potential of renewable energies.

The final version of the plane will try first to cross the Atlantic in 2012. Although the vehicle is expected to be capable of flying non-stop around the globe, Dr Piccard will in fact make five long hops, sharing flying duties with project partner Andre Borschberg.

"The aeroplane could do it theoretically non-stop - but not the pilot," said Dr Piccard. "We should fly at roughly 25 knots and that would make it between 20 and 25 days to go around the world, which is too much for a pilot who has to steer the plane.

"In a balloon you can sleep, because it stays in the air even if you sleep. We believe the maximum for one pilot is five days." The public unveiling on Friday of the HB-SIA took place at Dubendorf airfield near Zürich.

"The real success for Solar Impulse would be to have enough millions of people following the project, being enthusiastic about it, and saying 'if they managed to do it around the world with renewable energies and energy savings, then we should be able to do it in our daily life'."

source : bbc.news.com

Baghdad market bomb kills scores

Nearly 70 people have been killed by a bomb blast in the eastern Sadr City area of Baghdad , Iraqi officials say.

Police said the device went off in a market place in the predominantly Shia area of the Iraqi capital. More than 130 people were also reported to have been injured in the blast, one of the worst in Iraq this year. It comes less than a week before US soldiers pull out of all Iraqi cities, a move the US said would not be affected by a recent surge in violence.

'Horrific'

An interior ministry official told the AFP news agency the blast struck the market place at about 1930 (1630 GMT). The official said the bomb was hidden underneath a motorised cart carrying vegetables for sale. "I heard a boom and saw a ball of fire," said Najim Ali, a 30-year-old father who was injured in the blast. "I saw cars flying in the air because of the force of the explosion," he was quoted as saying by AFP. Raad Latif, a local shop owner, said the scene after the blast was "horrific". He said people ran to help the injured after hearing the explosion but were initially kept back as security forces tried to get emergency vehicles to the scene.

"After a while they came to their senses and allowed us to help as much as we could. The scene was horrific," he told Reuters.Another witness told the Associated Press news agency he heard a sound like "unbelievable thunder" and was knocked to the ground by "a hurricane". Market stalls were set on fire and an official told AP that people standing 600m away were hit by shrapnel.

source : bbc.news.com

'Dozens dead' in US drone strike

I have collect you some information regarding “At least 45 people have died in a missile strike by a US drone aircraft in a Taliban stronghold area of Pakistan , officials there have said.” From the source bbc.news.com

The people killed in South Waziristan had been attending a funeral for others killed in a US drone strike earlier. Intelligence officials said at least 45 people had been killed and dozens more injured in the later strike, when two missiles were fired. But a local official told BBC News the death toll was more than 50. The region is a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.

Earlier on Tuesday, tribal leader Qari Zainuddin, who often criticised Mehsud, was shot dead by a gunman in north-western Pakistan . Earlier this month, Zainuddin criticised Mehsud after an attack on a mosque, which killed 33 people. The Pakistani army is preparing to launch an offensive against Taliban fighters under Mehsud's command, who are blamed for a number of deadly attacks.

But Zainuddin's killing is being seen as a setback for the government in its efforts to isolate Mehsud ahead of the security forces' next phase of their anti-Taliban offensive in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan , says the BBC's Mike Wooldridge in Islamabad .

Source : bbc.news.com

Tribal leader killed in Pakistan

A tribal leader who opposed the head of the Taliban in Pakistan has been shot dead in the north-western Pakistani town of Dera Ismail Khan , police said.

Qari Zainuddin, 26, who often criticised Taliban head Baitullah Mehsud, was killed by a gunman in his office early on Tuesday. Separately, reports say six people have been killed in a missile strike by a US drone aircraft in South Waziristan . They say at least one missile struck a known stronghold of Baitullah Mehsud. Mehsud's group is blamed for a number of deadly attacks in Pakistan. Earlier this month, Zainuddin hit out at Mehsud for recent attacks in which civilians have been killed.

The fresh violence comes as the Pakistani army is preparing to launch a new offensive against Taliban fighters under Mehsud's command. An aide of Zainuddin who was also wounded in the attack that killed the tribal leader said a guard entered the room at Zainuddin's office after morning prayers and opened fire. "It was definitely Baitullah's man who infiltrated our ranks, and he has done his job," Baz Mohammad told the Associated Press news agency. Zainuddin was taken to the hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.

'Not a jihad'

Earlier this month, Zainuddin criticised Mehsud after an attack on a mosque which killed 33 people. He told Associated Press: "Whatever Baitullah Mehsud and his associates are doing in the name of Islam is not a jihad, and in fact it is rioting and terrorism". "Islam stands for peace, not for terrorism," he had said. Zainuddin's killing is being seen in Pakistan as a setback for the government in its efforts to isolate Mehsud as the security forces prepare for the next phase of their anti-Taliban offensive in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan , says the BBC's Mike Wooldridge in Islamabad .

Earlier this month a prominent Muslim cleric who was outspoken in his opposition to the Taliban was killed in a suicide blast at his seminary in Lahore. Correspondents say Mehsud is thought to head the most powerful group of militants in the country, with a network of alliances with other militants. His stronghold in South Waziristan , bordering Afghanistan , is an area considered by many to be the hide-out of Osama Bin Laden.

source : bbc.news.com

Obama 'prepared' for N Korea test

President Barack Obama says the US is fully prepared for a possible missile test by North Korea over the Pacific.

His comments, in an interview with CBS television, come in response to reports that Pyongyang was considering launching a missile towards Hawaii .

Last month the North conducted an underground nuclear test - its second-ever - and test-fired a number of short-range missiles.

The United Nations Security Council extended sanctions in response.

"This administration - and our military - is fully prepared for any contingencies," Mr. Obama said in an interview to be aired by CBS on Monday.

Asked if Washington was warning of a military response, Mr. Obama said no.

He added: "I don't want to speculate on hypothetical. But I do want to give assurances to the American people that the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted."

North Korea 's nuclear ambitions have long been the focus of international concern.

China and Russia - the country's traditional allies - approved the new sanctions earlier this month, and called for North Korea to return to international talks on its nuclear programmer.

Source : news.bbc.co.uk

DNA tests prove man is not Stephen Damman - Missing boy

DNA tests by the FBI have crushed the hopes of an American man convinced he was a toddler kidnapped in New York, US in 1955.

Michigan man John Barnes believed the tests could prove he was Stephen Damman, a 2 -year-old boy snatched outside a bakery on Long Island when left alone briefly by his mother 54 years ago.

Pamela Damman Horne was 7 months old when she was kidnapped along with her brother outside the shop on October 31, 1955.

Mrs Horne was soon found not far from the shop but her brother was never seen again.

The FBI announced on its website that tests comparing the DNA samples of Mrs Horne and Mr Barnes showed they didn't share the same mother.



Mr Barnes had told media that he never felt like he belonged in the family who he grew up with and while searching for his possible roots came across media reports of the Damman kidnapping.

He believed the missing toddler's mother Marilyn Damman bore an uncanny resemblance to himself as did photos of the child.

Mr Barnes and Mrs Horne became close and had believed they may be siblings.

But Richard Barnes, who raised John, had denied kidnapping his son, who he insisted was his own flesh and blood.

In Iowa, Stephen's father, Jerry Damman, was reportedly disappointed by the DNA test results.

"It's too bad we had to go through all of this for actually nothing in the end," he was reported as saying.

"I guess we don't know any more than we did. It's been very hard to bring this all up after all those years. It's been hard."

Mr Barnes said he was born the same year Stephen disappeared but that he had only seen his birth certificate once.

Photos of the missing toddler's mother on the internet led him to believe he could be Stephen. Mr Barnes said pictures of the missing boy's mother when she was a young adult resembled what he looked like at the same age, so he started looking into the case.

Mr Barnes did bear a striking resemblance to a photo of the missing toddler: He had the same chubby cheeks, the same round face and bright, blue eyes. And there was a faint line on his chin, close to the scar the missing toddler was said to have.

But his father, Richard Barnes, immediately dismissed the speculation as "a bunch of foolishness," and said John Barnes was born in a Navy hospital in Pensacola, Florida,US on August 18, 1955.

Cheryl Barnes, John Barnes' sister, said she was not surprised by the test results. Mending fences, she said, won't be easy. "He pretty much lost 2 families today," she said.

"We knew that was going to be the outcome. ... My dad feels the same way. Neither of us had a doubt. My dad knows who his son is. I'm angry at my brother for putting everyone through this, turning everybody's lives upside down."

No one answered the door at John Barnes' home. A message seeking comment was also left for a lawyer representing the toddler's sister in Lee's Summit, Missouri.

Dwight Damman, a son from Jerry Damman's 2nd marriage who would be the missing toddler's half brother, said he always had been skeptical of Barnes' story.

"We did not hold out a lot of hope that it was true, "Dwight Damman said. "After the pictures came out it kinda made you think, but with DNA you've to wait for the results."

source: http://www.theage.com.au/national/missing-boy-dna-tests-prove-man-is-not-stephen-damman-20090619-cmtz.html

Survey finds mixed bag of solar-power knowledge among many Americans

When it comes to their knowledge about solar power, many Americans are both exuberant in their desire to see solar more quickly become a larger part of the country's energy portfolio and ignorant of just how much sun-based electricity is being generated by their utilities. A slim majority would pay more on their monthly energy bills if their utility ramped up the percentage of its power provided by renewables, but a significant minority would not. Many think the U.S. leads the world in solar, and most believe that the optimal, most efficient way to deploy solar power is on private homes.

Those are some of the findings in the relatively modest "Summer Solstice" thought leadership survey of the U.S. public's "understanding and opinions about solar energy," designed and analyzed by Ketchum Global Research Network and carried out by Braun Research on behalf of Applied Materials.

Why relatively modest? Because only 2000 people - including 1000 in 5 populous states (California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Colorado)—were contacted when the poll was fielded earlier this month. Although the survey has a ±3% margin of error for the base sample at a 95% confidence level (pretty good by statistical standards), the results do not exactly offer the most comprehensive snapshot of the average Americans' take on solar energy. (Paragraph revised from original)

For that to happen, the number of those surveyed would have to grow into the tens of thousands. Demographic details of those participating in the survey (level of education, age, political/religious affiliations, etc.) would also be interesting to factor in, as well as the public's knowledge of "solar basics," such as the difference between photovoltaic and thermal (both heating and concentrating) technologies and whether the installation of a residential rooftop PV system is synonymous with going off the grid. (Paragraph revised from original)

Still, the results of the AMAT/Ketchum effort are revealing.

Other findings show that most of those surveyed (56%)—especially respondents in California (63%) and Colorado (71%, perhaps thanks to the presence of NREL?)—know that solar panel technology has advanced over the past two decades. A whopping 78% of respondents (95% in California) think that now, compared to 10 years ago, we "have the technological know-how for solar energy to become a really important part of our nation’s energy needs."

Another huge number of those surveyed, 81%, strongly agree that solar should play "a greater role in meeting our energy needs in the next 2 to 5 years." However, a slim plurality—41% to 38% (with 21% stating "don’t know") believe that most of the country’s renewable energy comes from solar sources (it doesn’t…yet)—and a fifth of respondents think the States already gets 20% or more of its power from old Sol.

Some 65% overall answered "true" when presented with the statement "solar energy is the most readily available of all the renewable energy sources." This question seems problematic, since it could be interepreted as meaning either the most readily available in terms of actual installed solar power capacity or that the question actually refers to the raw material—the solar energy from the sun itself—and its relative abundance (duh).

Another loaded question had to do with which kind of solar installation is the best. When asked if the "most efficient way to collect solar power is to install panels on individuals' homes," 56% responded "true," with most states' replies trending even higher, including California at 73% and New York at 65%.

In Applied Materials' press release announcing the survey results, the none-too-subtle suggestion is that the public is ill-informed and that utility-scale solar farms—no doubt equipped with gazillions of the company’s SunFab turnkey customers’ big-glass thin-film PV panels—are the most efficient deployment of solar. The "1.6% solution" is even trotted out—that is, that if the U.S. covered 1.6% of its land area with solar panels, it would suffice to meet its entire energy needs.

While scale and the economies thereof can be good things, there's also some pretty compelling arguments that the solar solution needs to combine large-, medium-, and small-scale PV and thermal, on and off the grid, centralized and distributed or a combo of the two, and that the smartening up of the grid and build-out/renovation of the power transmission infrastructure must accompany the gigawatt/terawatt solar revolution that many envision.

The jury's still out on whether the longer-term answer lies mostly in massive solar installations-even if Applied would like that to happen so a major component of its PV business strategy pays off. Nevertheless, the general message of solar being cost competitive with carbon-producing fuels at peak periods in a growing number of areas—both inside the U.S. and around the planet—gets more compelling every day.

Still, as the results of the survey show, the solar industry has its work cut out to get its messaging across to the American people.

But let us bask in the moment. "The summer solstice [June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere] is a good time to celebrate the unique power of the sun," quips one of Applied's resident solar PV rockstars, Charlie Gay, in the press release.

Funny thing is, the winter solstice offers cause for celebration too. Although the hours of good sunlight in the colder months and more northern climes may be few, crystalline-silicon panels perform quite well on crisp, clear, blue-sky days too.

source: http://www.pv-tech.org/chip_shots/_a/exuberance_and_ignorance_new_survey_finds_mixed_bag_of_solar_power_knowledg/