yemen nuke power

Yemen signs deal to build nuclear power plants to generate electricity?By FAGR QASSIM ALIAssociated Press WriterSAN'A, Yemen (AP) _ The Yemeni government on Monday signed anagreement with a U.S. energy company to build nuclear power plantsover the next 10 years to generate electricity, official said.Yemen's plan to build plants to generate 5,000 megawatts of energyfollows similar announcements made by other Arab Gulf and Middle Eastcountries to develop peaceful nuclear energy programs."The energy issue is a very important issue, and it is the main forcethat drives our developments," said Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Mujurat a ceremony after the signing of the agreement with Houston-basedPowered Corporation.Yemen, one of the poorest countries in Arab world, is looking to buildnuclear plants to generate electricity and to desalinate sea water inorder to meet the needs of its urban population and boost thecountry's industrial development, government officials said.The Gulf Arab country hopes to diversify and expand its energyresources due to declining oil production. Yemen produces 330,000barrels a day, down from 480,000 barrels few years ago."We are going for a build, own and operate model," said Mustafa YahiaBahran, Electricity and Energy Minister, referring to a plan that hasthe company that builds the plants also owning and operating them. Theprojects will abide by international regulations in compliance withguidelines set by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, officials said.Bahran said the project will also attract foreign investment and bringYemen closer to meeting the requirements needed for a full membershipin the Gulf Cooperation Council.The association of energy-rich Arab states in the Persian Gulfincludes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain,Qatar and Oman.The GCC as well as Jordan, Egypt and Turkey in recent months haveannounced that they were interested in developing peaceful nuclearprograms.Iran's progress in building its nuclear facilities has sparked a rushamong Arab countries to look at programs of their own, raising thepossibility of a dangerous proliferation of nuclear technology in thevolatile region.The United States accuses Iran of secretly trying to develop nuclearweapons. Iran denies the claims and says its program is for peacefulpurposes including developing electricity.

egyptian press

Officials: 3 Egyptian journalists sentenced to prison for spreadingfalse judiciary news?By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGDAssociated Press WriterCAIRO, Egypt (AP) _ A Cairo court on Monday sentenced the editor andtwo journalists of an opposition newspaper to two years in prison forallegedly publishing false news about the country's judiciary.The court also ordered Anwar el-Hawary, the outspoken editor ofAl-Wafd daily newspaper, Mahmoud Ghalab and Amir Salem, to pay 5,000Egyptian pounds (US$894, €633.46) in bail and a 2,001 Egyptianpound(US$358, €253.67) fine, a judiciary official said on condition ofanonymity because he was not allowed to speak to the press.El-Harawy said he did not publish false information and will appealthe sentence."The regime's stupidity has no limits. It's unbelievable," el-Hawarytold the Associated Press in a phone interview. "The war they arewaging against us (journalists), they will lose it no matter what theydo, and we will win it even without effort."In January, Al-Wafd, which serves as a mouthpiece for the oldestEgyptian political party under the same name, published a story thatquoted Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei insulting Egyptian judges,especially reformists judges, during a meeting of Egypt's upper houseof parliament. The minister denied he made the comments, and 12lawyers filed a lawsuit against the three journalists in April.Judge Medhat Fawakeh, who issued Monday's sentence, urged the Egyptianpress council to activate code of honor for journalists urging them tobe more professional. The judge said freedom of the press was"enjoying its best time" under President Hosni Mubarak, Egypt'sofficial news agency MENA quoted him as saying.Monday's sentencing comes after four editors of tabloid-stylenewspapers were sentenced earlier this month to a year in prison fordefaming Mubark and his ruling National Democratic Party in variousarticles.One of the four editors also will be put on trial in a separate caseover his paper's recent reports questioning the health of Mubark, whois 79 years old. His trial opens Oct. 1.Journalists, activists and human rights group have complained of a newcrackdown on the freedom of the press after a few years of relativeopenness.Mubarak has ruled Egypt for more than a quarter century and has nodesignated successor, resulting in periodic scares over his health andthe future of the country.Under pressure both at home and by the U.S. Bush administration _Mubarak surprised his country in February 2005 by saying he wouldchange the constitution to allow Egypt's first multi-candidatepresidential elections.He won re-election in September 2005, defeating 10 other candidatesamid charges of voter fraud and intimidation. In follow-upparliamentary elections, however, the Muslim Brotherhood _ thecountry's most powerful opposition group _ stunned the government witha strong showing.Perhaps because of that, Mubarak's regime began sharply pulling back:hundreds of Brotherhood members have been arrested since then, and 40of their leaders are standing trial in a military court. Scores ofactivists were arrested last year for supporting reformist judges whoblew the whistle over vote rigging in 2005 elections.In an editorial in Monday's Washington Post, columnist Jackson Diehlcriticized the recent press arrests and jail sentencings."The press has survived even as Mubarak moved methodically to crushother nascent center of opposition in the past 18 months, includingliberal political parties, a movement of judges seeking greaterindependence for the courts, and the Muslim Brotherhood," Diehl wrote."But this month, irritated by press speculation about his failinghealth, the 79-year-old president turned on the newspapers," he said.

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why not allow palestinian refugees the right to by land in lebanon?

while you're at it, why not remove all limits on their right to work?