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[04 Sept 2012] Iran hosts Urban Water Development International Conference - English

As cities are growing bigger and bigger and by emerging megacities, the traditional methods of urban management seem to be outdated. Cities are facing increasingly complex challenges, relating to social, economic, physical and environmental concerns. This makes the people in charge make better use of available resources manage and develop cities in a sustainable way.

Clashes have broken out between Turkish police and a group of protesters in Istanbul. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators. Protesters were angry at the government\\\\\\\'s urban plans and graft allegations involving several top ruling party politicians. Earlier, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to QUOTE break the hands of his opponents if they try to use the case against his government. Erdogan made the remark among his supporters in the north of the country. His ruling party has been in hot waters since twenty-four top officials were arrested as part of the corruption probe. Interior minister Muammar Guler has already tendered his resignation after the arrest of his son due to his involvement in the scandal.

Green living expert Lucy Siegle is shown how to keep chickens in a city garden to collect up to 12 organic, free-range eggs a week.

The coward soldier runs away from the palestinian child stones, thouh he holds in hands the best US weapons :) Pappe, an Israeli historian and a senior lecturer at Haifa University, has written a superb account of the Israeli expulsion of the Palestinians from their land in 1948. He says that between 30 March and 15 May 1948, i.e. before any Arab government intervened, Israeli forces seized 200 villages and expelled 250,000 Palestinians. The Israeli leadership stated, "The principal objective of the operation is the destruction of Arab villages ... the eviction of the villagers." On 9 April, Israeli forces massacred 93 people, including 30 babies, at Deir Yassin. In Haifa, the Israeli commander ordered, "Kill any Arab you encounter." Overall, the Zionist forces uprooted more than half Palestine's population, 800,000 people, destroyed 531 villages and emptied eleven urban neighbourhoods of their inhabitants. Pappe concludes that this was "a clear-cut case of an ethnic cleansing operation, regarded under international law today as a crime against humanity." Casualties (figures in parenthesis indicate the total figure since the beginning of the intifada) According to B'Tselem's research, from January to December 27, 2006, Israeli security forces killed 660 (4005) Palestinians in the Occupied Territories VS. 16 israeli civilians... WHO IS THE TERRORIST??? Who killed 16 civilians or who killed 660 civilians??

The Palestinian Exile - also known as Al Nakba - Arabic for - The Catastrophe- -refers to the ethnic cleansing of native Palestinian peoples all during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. From December 1947 until November 1948 Zionist forces - namely the Irgun - Lehi - Haganah terrorist gangs - expelled approximately 750 000 indigenous Palestinians --almost two third of the population--from their homes. Hundreds of Palestinians were also murdered for refusing to leave their homes. The most notable massacre is the Deir Yassin Massacre in which an estimated 120 Palestinian civilians were brutally murdered by an Irgun-Lehi force. Other massacres include the ones at Sahila - 70-80 killed - Lod - 250 killed- and Abu Shusha - 70 killed -. About 40 other massacres were carried out by Zionist forces in just the summer of 1948. Not only did Zionist forces conduct massacres of Palestinian civilians - rape occured as well. According to Israeli historian Benny Morris - In Acre four soldiers raped a girl and murdered her and her father. In Jaffa soldiers of the Kiryati Brigade raped one girl and tried to rape several more. At Hunin which is in the Galilee two girls were raped and then murdered. There were one or two cases of rape at Tantura south of Haifa. There was one case of rape at Qula in the center of the country. At the village of Abu Shusha near Kibbutz Gezer - in the Ramle area - there were four female prisoners - one of whom was raped a number of times. And there were other cases. Usually more than one soldier was involved. Usually there were one or two Palestinian girls. In a large proportion of the cases the event ended with murder. Because neither the victims nor the rapists liked to report these events- we have to assume that the dozen cases of rape that were reported- which I found are not the whole story. They are just the tip of the iceberg.- during Al Nakba - Palestinians were murdered raped and ethnically cleansed from their villages. According to Israeli historian Ilan Pappe - In a matter of seven months 531 villages were destroyed and 11 urban neighborhoods emptied.- Palestinians were forced into were forced out of Palestine and into neighboring countries - i.e. Lebanon Syria and Jordan - where they lived in refugee camps. Many were also sent to camps in West Bank and Gaza Strip. Most Palestinian towns were demolished and taken by the newly established Israeli government to make room for new Jewish immigrants. Old Palestinian infrastructures as well as many ruins dating back from the Canaanites Romans Greeks Crusaders Arabs and Ottoman Turks were completely destroyed. This signified the end of historical Palestine and the birth of modern-day Israel. Al Nakba marked the beginning of the Palestinian refugee crisis. Al Nakba destroyed a thriving and diverse Palestinian society and scattered them into diaspora. According to the UNRWA - the number of registered Palestinian refugees today is approximately 4.5 million. These refugees are dispersed throughout the world - many of which are still living in poverty-stricken refugee camps. Today the situation keeps worsening and thousands die from malnutrition - contaminated water - or scarce medical supply. Israel has since refused to allow Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and has refused to pay them compensation as required by UN Resolution 194 which was passed on December 11 1948. Historically the Israeli government Israeli schools and Israeli historians have denied that Al Nakba has occured. However The New Historians - a loosely-defined group of Israeli historians - have recently published information recognizing the Al Nakba tragedy and controversial views of matters concerning Israel - particularly events concerning its birth in 1948. Much of their material comes from recently declassified Israeli government papers. Leading scholars in this school include Benny Morris - Ilan Pappe - Avi Shlaim - and Tom Segev. Many of their conclusions have been attacked by other scholars and Israeli historians - who continue deny Al Nakba even occured.

Occupy Calgary draws several hundred protesters Hundreds of people drummed, chanted and protested issues ranging from income disparity, capitalism and corporate politics to homelessness and fiat currency during “Occupy Calgary.” They began their protest at the foot of the locked glass doors of downtown Bankers Hall on Saturday afternoon. After about two hours, a crowd estimated to be between 300 and 500 people marched to Olympic Plaza, where several vowed to camp out over the weekend. Police said there were no arrests. The demonstrators had remained peaceful. Following similar protests in cities across Canada, the Occupy Wall Street movement is drawing thousands of people across the world to set up campsites in urban parks. It began in New York in September; when protesters began a sit-in at Zuccotti park to object to Wall Street’s role in the 2008 financial collapse. “There’s a high disparity between the rich and the poor in Calgary,” said SAIT journalism student Sarah Pynoo, 19. “We’re one of the richest cities in North America, but we have enormous homelessness problems. “And there are thousands of people living below the poverty line and that’s worrying.” The protest was rich with signs, flags and even a few raging grannies. One cardboard sign, painted in a dark silhouette of a mouse, featured a red mouth with the sign “corporate politics eats people.” Some protesters tried to draw awareness to investment fraud issues in Alberta. Others on 9/11 truth, a return to the gold standard, and mainstream media bias.

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood says its candidate Mohamed Morsi will face former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq in the country’s presidential run-off election. Morsi is in the lead with 25.3 percent of the vote, followed by Shafiq with 24.9 percent. Official results from the electoral body are expected to be announced on Tuesday. The two candidates will compete in a run-off election on June 16 and 17. Electoral commission officials said that turnout was around 43 percent over the two days of voting on Wednesday and Thursday. Press TV has conducted an interview with Yahia Ghanem, editor at the al-Ahram newspaper, to hear his opinion on this issue. The following is a rough transcription of the interview. Press TV: Trying to understand these results specially Shafiq he did not do that well in his campaigning. How did he come up to this second place, finish at this point which is not really finished, it is unofficial results, what is your reaction to that? Ghanem: Well if you talk, if you ask about the reactions I believe that partly it was a shock for a lot of number of the Egyptians whereas it was a pleasant surprise of course for some others. So I believe that as much as Egypt and the Egyptians have been showing strong signs of being united, a united house in their march towards democracy, when it comes to the results of the first round of the elections they started showing strong signs of a house divided in terms of this splinter between Shafiq which is considered to be a remnant of the former regime and Dr. [Morsi], the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood. Press TV: In terms of who came out to vote we are looking at two large majorities, 60 percent saying to be from the urban areas which are farmers and then of course we are looking at the percentage of the youth in the country which is said to be 50 percent below the age of 30. But it does not seem like these results are indicating that which some are saying the silent majority came out. Do you see it that way? Ghanem: Say it again please. Press TV: The silent majority, do you think they were the ones that came out, tilting some of the voting in terms of the results we are seeing right now? Ghanem: I am not quite sure if I understood your question... Press TV: The silent majority of Egyptians is what I am getting at, did they come out, the ones who did not come out to vote for the parliamentary elections maybe came out this time to vote? Ghanem: Well, I believe that there was a large percentage of absence from the voters because everybody expected actually a higher percentage, everybody expected that the Egyptians would break the record that they scored during the first stage of the last parliamentary elections but unfortunately it did not happen. And I believe that there are reasons behind such absence and such reluctance of that large number of voters to practice and to exercise the right in voting the first civilian elected president but I believe that a large number of the youth who actually participated and spot the revolution, also they were reluctant to participate in these elections and I observed that while I was touring the polling stations, I believe that there were reasons actually behind such reluctance, such as the way the military council ran the whole show during the last 16 months and specially running that presidential election show. Press TV: And of course one of the biggest troubles and challenges Yahia Ghanem is the constitution and the presidential powers. When is that going to be resolved? Ghanem: I believe we still have to go for quite a while after the elections to sort out this issue of the right in constitution and specially that issue of writing the constitution. But personally speaking I believe that this issue have been made an issue by certain parties with interest to complicate things in Egypt because writing constitution is not that problem actually and they complicated the whole thing by inciting all different kinds of society, all the [structure] in society to claim the right of being represented in this committee and to share or to take part in writing the constitution. No constitutions in the world are being written that way. It is up to the specialists, the lawmakers or the professors of constitutional law to write the constitution as in many or in all the countries in the world and then for the establishing committee to discuss and to review that draft constitution but of course it does not make any sense for all representatives of all the sectors of the society and the [structure] of the society to take part in writing the constitution. It is funny and it is not true of course.

Lito Borello has a deep, interesting political history of battling imperialist moves in Argentina. A former Coordinator of Urban Policies in the City of Buenos Aires and current head of the social and political organization \"Los Pibes\" -aligned with the administration of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner-, Lito Borello defines the recent move by the United States Congress calling for sanctions against Argentina over its increasing ties with Iran \"a new threat of Washington\" against countries\' sovereign decisions.

Syrian people have held rallies to show solidarity with president Bashar al-Assad. The rallies were held in the capital Damascus and the town of Nabak. Similar demonstrations have frequently taken place during the past couple of years. Foreign-backed insurgents have repeatedly fired mortar shells and carried out bombings in urban and rural areas where they suspect people support the Damascus government. The attacks have caused heavy casualties.

6TH International Congress on Health in Emergencies and Disasters in Tehran. Top professors and scientists in the area of disaster control and related fields from United States, France, Finland, Sweden and Norway attended the event to share their knowledge with Iranian counterparts and colleagues. The Congress analyzed the important role of health services including psychology after any disaster. The Head of Physical Rehabilitation Programs Health Unit at International Committee of Red Cross was at the event. He shared his professional opinion on Iran and its capability to manage disasters. Iranian professors at this event talked about response time in time of emergency. They said Iran needs to improve in this area. Recently two of Iran\'s Northern provinces were hit by heavy snow and as a result electricity was cut off. For a few days many people were trapped. The head of Iran National Disaster Management Organization used the opportunity to talk about the latest natural disaster in Iran and how it is being dealt with. According to officials 86 percent of Iran\'s urban population lives on earthquake fault lines and 70 percent of natural disaster damages during the past decades have been caused by floods.

[13 May 2014] Row between Pakistan\'s ISI, media continues - English