CAIRO, Egypt (AP) — Massive boulders crashed down on an impoverished shantytown Saturday on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital, killing at least 24 people, authorities said. Frantic residents dug by hand to try to reach any survivors.

At least eight boulders, some the size of small houses, peeled away from the towering Muqattam cliffs outside Cairo and buried some 50 homes in the sprawling Manshiyet Nasr slum, one of the shantytowns ringing Africa’s most populous city.

It was the latest disaster to stir public anger at a government accused by many of neglect. A lawmaker representing the area said that despite warnings that the cliff face could collapse, the government failed to deliver on promises to relocate residents.

The collapse occurred in the early morning, when most residents were still sleeping after waking earlier to eat ahead of the daytime fast of Islam’s holy month of Ramadan.

A security official said 35 people were injured and many people are believed to be under the hundreds of tons of rock that fell. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

“My whole family is underneath the rock,” sobbed Anwar Ragab by phone to The Associated Press as he watched a body being pulled from under the rock. “I don’t know what to do, I can’t do anything — I just want my children back.”

One young boy pulled from the rubble, 6-year-old Mustafa Ibrahim, regained consciousness in a hospital, shouting, “Where is my mother, where is my father?” His parents and three brothers were killed.

Read more on CNN.com

written by Andrew

Preşedintele rus Dmitri Medvedev şi cel georgian Mihail Saakaşvili au semnat două texte diferite ale acordului de pace negociat în august de Franţa, a declarat vineri un oficial rus sub acoperirea anonimatului, confirmând astfel declaraţiile ministrului de Externe Serghei Lavrov.

“ÃŽn versiunea rusească, textul evocă securitatea Abhaziei ÅŸi Osetiei de Sud“, a declarat pentru AFP oficialul citat, sub acoperirea anonimatului.

“ÃŽn documentul transmis lui SaakaÅŸvili, aceasta este prezentată drept (securitatea) «în» Abhazia ÅŸi «în» Osetia de Sud. Nu este acelaÅŸi lucru”, a adăugat el.

PrepoziÅ£ia joacă un rol semnificativ în acest document, deoarece ea poate influenÅ£a definiÅ£ia “zonelor de tampon” citate de armata rusă în Georgia, apreciază oficialul.

Rusia a creat zone de tampon în jurul republicilor separatiste georgiene proruse Abhazia şi Osetia de Sud, argumentând că vrea să prevină o nouă ofensivă georgiană împotriva acestor regiuni. Occidentul vrea ca forţele ruse să se retragă din teritoriile controlate de Tbilisi.

Åžeful diplomaÅ£iei ruse Serghei Lavrov a declarat, de asemenea, miercuri, că textul acordului de pace prezentat de preÅŸedintele francez Nicolas Sarkozy omologului său georgian conÅ£ine mai multe “inadvertenÅ£e”.

Citeste tot articolul pe mediafax.ro

written by Andrew

Jucătorii Bogdan Lobonţ şi Gabriel Tamaş au arunctat cu pietre şi i-au înjurat pe ziraiştii care îi însoţeau pe componenţii naţionalei în timp ce se plimbau în Grădina Botanică din Cluj-Napoca, înaintea meciului cu Lituania, din preliminariile Cupei Mondiale din 2010.

Componenţii naţionalei României au ieşit, sâmbătă, înainte de prânz, la o plimbare în Grădina Botanică din Cluj Napoca, unii dintre ei arătându-se iritaţi de prezenţa reprezentanţilor mass-media. Dinamoviştii Lobonţ şi Tamaş şi antrenorul cu portarii Gabriel Boldici au fost extrem de nervoşi când i-au văzut pe jurnalşti, reproşându-le acestora, pe un ton injurios, că îi filmează şi fotografiază.

“Tricolorii” s-au intersectat în parc ÅŸi cu două mirese, iar după aproximativ o oră s-au întors la hotel, nu înainte ca unii dintre ei să le atragă din nou atenÅ£ia jurnaliÅŸtilor să nu îi mai filmeze.

Partida România - Lituania, din prima etapă a Grupei a VII-a de calificare la CM-2010, va avea loc sâmbătă, de la ora 21.00, la Cluj-Napoca, pe Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu.

Sursa: mediafax

written by Andrew

Întâlnirea preşedintelui Traian Băsescu cu Papa Benedict al XVl-lea, desfăşurată, sâmbătă, la Castelul Gandolfo, s-a încheiat după aproximativ 25 de minute.

Convorbirile dintre şeful statului român şi Suveranul Pontif au fost tete-a-tete timp de 15 minute, în biblioteca privată a Suveranului Pontif .

Conform programului soţia şefului statului urma să participe şi ea la întrevedere după aceea, iar preşedintele Traian Băsescu să prezinte Papei delegaţia oficială română.

La sosirea la Castelul Gandolfo, Băsescu a fost întâmpinat de prefectul Casei Pontificale, Monseniorul James Michael Harvey şi de gentilomii Papei.

Şeful statului a acordat, vineri, în prima zi a vizitei la Roma, un interviu cotidianului Avvenire, în care a declarat că partea română este recunoscătoare Sfântului Scaun pentru modul cum abordează problematica legată de libera circulaţie a persoanelor. De asemenea, şeful statului a mulţumit, vineri, cu ocazia participării la un Te Deum oficiat de preoţi greco şi romano-catolici români la Colegiul Pio Romeno, Papei Benedict al XVl-lea pentru faptul că a ridicat Biserica Greco-Catolică din România la grad de Arhiepiscopie majoră.

Traian Băsescu declara, la plecarea spre Italia, că unul dintre palierele de discuţie cu Papa este legat de politica de consolidare a relaţiilor României cu ţări catolice.

Citeste tot articolul pe mediafax.ro

written by Andrew

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Bush administration is poised to withdraw an agreement with Russia on nuclear trade as punishment for Russia’s military action last month against U.S. ally Georgia, a State Department source said Friday.

The pact, known as the 123 Agreement, would clear the way for more trade of nuclear goods, along with services and technology, between the United States and Russia. Both countries had accepted the agreement, but it is awaiting congressional approval.

But as early as next week President Bush could deep-freeze the agreement, withdrawing it from congressional deliberations, the source said.

Russia analyst Jon Wolfsthal at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington noted that the 123 Agreement has been having trouble winning approval on Capitol Hill and said, “I think they are making a virtue out of a necessity.

“It was unlikely Congress was going to approve the agreement this year,” he said. “It was too tempting a target for the administration not to pull it back.”

In general, Wolfsthal said, the administration needs to move carefully, signaling to Russia that its behavior in Georgia is unacceptable but that cooperation on mutual issues such as Iran and combating terrorism should continue.

“We have to be careful to calibrate our actions,” he said.

The United States is frustrated that Russia is dragging its feet on the Georgia cease-fire agreement brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Read more on CNN.com

written by Andrew

WASHINGTON (CNN) – When you see people at the office using such Internet sites as Facebook and MySpace, you might suspect those workers are slacking off.

But that’s not the case at the CIA, the FBI and the National Security Agency, where bosses are encouraging their staff members to use a new social-networking site designed for the super-secret world of spying.

“It’s every bit Facebook and YouTube for spies, but it’s much, much more,” said Michael Wertheimer, assistant deputy director of national intelligence for analysis.

The program is called A-Space, and it’s a social-networking site for analysts within the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.

Instead of posting thoughts about the new Avenged Sevenfold album or Jessica Alba movie, CIA analysts could use A-Space to share information and opinion about al Qaeda movements in the Middle East or Russian naval maneuvers in the Black Sea.

The new A-Space site has been undergoing testing for months and launches officially for the nation’s entire intelligence community September 22.

“It’s a place where not only spies can meet but share data they’ve never been able to share before,” Wertheimer said. “This is going to give them for the first time a chance to think out loud, think in public amongst their peers, under the protection of an A-Space umbrella.”

Wertheimer demonstrated the program to CNN to show how analysts will use it to collaborate.

“One perfect example is if Osama bin Laden comes out with a new video. How is that video obtained? Where are the very sensitive secret sources we may have to put into a context that’s not apparent to the rest of the world?” Wertheimer asked.

Read more on CNN.com

written by Andrew