All Things News

Straight from The Independent: “Seasoned polar scientists believe the chances of a totally ice-free North Pole this summer are greater than 50:50 because the normally thick ice formed over many years at the Pole has been blown away and replaced by huge swathes of thinner ice formed over a single year.

This one-year ice is highly vulnerable to melting during the summer months and satellite data coming in over recent weeks shows that the rate of melting is faster than last year, when there was an all-time record loss of summer sea ice at the Arctic.

“The issue is that, for the first time that I am aware of, the North Pole is covered with extensive first-year ice – ice that formed last autumn and winter. I’d say it’s even-odds whether the North Pole melts out,” said Dr Serreze.

Each summer the sea ice melts before reforming again during the long Arctic winter but the loss of sea ice last year was so extensive that much of the Arctic Ocean became open water, with the water-ice boundary coming just 700 miles away from the North Pole.”

Straight from the Debka File: “DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources report that the three-man International Atomic Energy Agency team which inspected the El Kibar site bombed by Israel last September, returned to Vienna Wednesday, June 25, with soil and building materials samples gathered secretly without Syrian knowledge. From the Syrians they received different samples said to have been collected at a site which they insisted was a military facility under construction.

During their four days in the country, Olli Heinonen, IAEA deputy director and leading negotiator with the Iranian authorities, and his team interviewed Syrian army officers and men presented by Damascus as having been employed at the facility. They denied it was a nuclear reactor and possessing nuclear credentials themselves. But, according to DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources, the inspectors countered with their own list of officers, scientists and technicians – not only Syrians, but also Iranians and North Koreans employed in building the facility.

The Syrian side denied this and refused the inspectors permission to interview people on their list.

Last week, British, German and Israeli publications released new information from Israeli intelligence sources according to which the El Kibar reactor was intended to be a component of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s use of plutonium in its weapons projects was to be concealed by having it produced in Syria.

Wednesday, June 25, the London daily, the Guardian, quoted an adviser to Israel’s national security council as saying: “The Iranians were involved in the Syrian programme. The idea was that the Syrians produce plutonium and the Iranians get their share. Syria had no reprocessing facility for the spent fuel. It’s not deduction alone that brings almost everyone to think that the link exists” – implying that Israel had evidence.

DEBKAfile adds: War tensions between Israel and Iran have shot up in the last few days on the strength of reported Israeli preparations for an attack on Iran’s nuclear installations. By linking Syria’s destroyed reactor to Iran’s nuclear program, Israeli officials were saying in effect that the attack on an Iranian nuclear installation had already taken place …in Syria.”

Straight from Fox News: “Barack Obama told a group of Florida donors Friday night that Republicans will try to make voters afraid of him, and suggested they would use his race to scare up votes for John McCain.

Apparently girding for a nasty general election fight, the Illinois senator has in recent days predicted that independent GOP groups are waiting in the wings to attack him, and said his presumptive GOP rival is already “fear-mongering” when it comes to foreign policy.

But his comments Friday night in Jacksonville, Fla., seemed to reflect elevated concerns that his campaign to be the first black president would run headlong into political race baiters.

“We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run. They’re going to try to make you afraid,” Obama said at the fundraiser. “They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black? He’s got a feisty wife.”

The crowd of supporters cheered, and Obama added: “We know the strategy because they’ve already shown their cards. Ultimately I think the American people recognize that old stuff hasn’t moved us forward. That old stuff just divides us.””

Yeah, I think that perhaps you’ve shown us all your card too; there’s a picture of it to the left of this blog post…

Straight from the Debka File: “DEBKAfile’s military sources report powerful explosions rocked Sderot Tuesday, June 24, for the first time in the six days since the Israel-Hamas truce went into effect last Thursday. One injured civilian and three shock victims were treated. At least one missile landed in the backyard of a Sderot house causing heavy damage, a second outside Kibbutz Shear Hanegev.

They were claimed by the Iran-backed Jihad Islami, which vowed to avenge the deaths of two of its operatives, one a senior operations planner, in the West Bank town of Nablus earlier in the day. They were killed by troops of the crack Duvdevan unit troops while resisting arrest.

Israeli PM Olmert condemned the attack as serious breach of the ceasefire, while Hamas claimed it was still bound by the deal.

Our sources report that both the Jihad Islami and Hamas have taken violent action to demonstrate that the Gaza truce does not tie their hands on the West Bank.

Hamas’ military wing claimed the shooting attack on five Israel hikers in a wadi north of Ramallah last Friday, June 20, in which three were injured. Monday after midnight, a mortar shell was fired from Gaza at the Karni goods crossing.

Our counter-terror sources also interpret the surge of Palestinian attacks cutting short an agreed ceasefire after less than a week as a signal to Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak – who held talks in Sharm al-Sheik Tuesday – that they are not the ones calling the shots on the ground for the Hamas-ruled the Gaza Strip.”

Straight from the Debka File: “US Pentagon sources report that more than 100 Air Force F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuver over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece in the first week of June. The maneuver included helicopters used for rescuing downed pilots and refueling tankers. They flew 1,440 km, roughly the distance between Israel and the Iranian uranium enrichment plant at Natanz.

Israel officials declined to comment on the exercise, the IDF saying only that the air force trains regularly for various missions in order to meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel. But the US sources said the scope of the Israeli exercise guaranteed it would be noticed by American and other foreign intelligence agencies, primarily to send a signal to the US, Europe and Iran that Israel was prepared and able to act militarily if diplomatic efforts failed to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons advances.

One Pentagon official said: “They rehearse it, rehearse it and rehearse it, so that if they actually have to do it, they’re ready. They’re not taking any options off the table.”

DEBKAfile’s military sources add that only on Tuesday, June 17, the chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazy commented to the Knesset foreign affairs and security committee: “Beside the actions and sanctions against Iran, it is important we remain ready for any options.”

Those sources interpreted the Ashkenazy’s typically understated remark as a hint that Israel must be ready for a possible war with Iran in the near future. This conflict could erupt on three additional fronts, Syria, Hizballah and Hamas. Those sources suggest that the scenario he hinted at would silence the many domestic critics of the ceasefire with Hamas and the Israeli military’s passivity in the face of Hizballah’s massive rocket buildup and Hamas’ escalating aggression.

Of interest too is the probable motive behind the US defense department’s leak to the world media of the Israel Air Force maneuver and its presentation as an exercise to simulate an attack on Iran. According to DEBKAfile’s informants, US defense secretary Robert Gates is adamantly opposed to American military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities and even more so to Israel going it alone, which this publicity was intended to pre-empt.”

Straight from the Debka File: “The offer came from Iran’s ambassador to Syria, Sayyed Ahmed Moussavi, who stressed in an interview that to boost Iranian-Syrian relations Iran will pass on its “experiences with nuclear power” to Syria. He cited July 7 as the date for their officials to meet.

DEBKAfile’s military sources say Iran’s willingness to defy its obligations under the non-proliferation treaty by offering a nuclear capability to Syria across the border from Israel brings Tehran’s threat to wipe Israel off the map much closer to home. It is a mark of contempt for Washington and the US-led Western sanctions which failed to halt Iran’s uranium enrichment and nuclear missile warhead projects.

DEBKAfile’s military sources describe this as an extremely menacing security development for Israel and a painful body blow for America’s policies and standing.

The menace posed to Israel by Iran’s nuclear weapons project and its leaders’ threats has increased manifold. Tehran’s offer would integrate Israel’s hostile neighbor in its uranium enrichment and nuclear missile warhead projects.

Moussavi said: As part of boosting our bilateral relations, Iran will pass on its experiences with nuclear power to Syria. “Islam has taught us to pass on our knowledge and we can pass our experience to Syria if it wants it,” he said.

Our Middle East sources report that Syrian president Bashar Assad was forewarned of the ambassador’s earthshaking statement before he set off Tuesday for a five-day visit to India. They attribute Iran’s nuclear generosity to two causes:

1. The weekend discussions between Presidents George W. Bush and Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris on ways of detaching Assad from his ties with Tehran.

2. Syria’s indirect peace talks with Israel via Turkey and he prospect of Israeli concessions.

Seeing what was going on, Tehran decided enough was enough and it was time to tighten the leash on the Syrian president in case he was tempted to start thinking about quitting the Iranian orbit.”

First it was workers in Obama’s Houston campaign office, and now James Burge, an Ohio judge, confirms that the connection doesn’t exist solely in Texas. While Mr. Burge rails against Ohio’s use of lethal injection, it appears as though he doesn’t mind hanging a photo of a ruthless, brutal, torturing murder on his wall. Barack must be so proud!

Straight from the Debka File: “Under cover of a barrage of more than 50 missiles, mortars and rocket, Hamas made three attempts to breach the Gaza border fence for major suicide bombings, the last one late Thursday, June 12. They sent a bulldozer to ram Netiv Ha’asara, a bomb car to crash the border fence and gunmen on foot to blow up the Erez crossing. Israel ground and air units foiled them all.

Israeli locations from Ashkelon in the north down to Shear Hanegev, Kibbutz Nir Oz and Sderot were struck by 20 missiles, one Grad rocket and more than 35 mortar shells. A woman was injured at Kibbutz Yad Mordecai. Sirens warned people under attack to stay in indoors, as fires blazed and explosions erupted – one close to the Barzilai regional hospital in Ashkelon.

The first Hamas attempt to blow up Israeli military guard posts at the Erez crossing was mounted early Thursday as the Israeli defense ministry’s political coordinator Amos Gilead traveled to Cairo to hand over Israel’s acceptance of the Egyptian formula for a truce in Gaza.

They were intercepted and at least one was killed by Israeli ground and air fire.

Wednesday, Israel’s security cabinet approved the decision by prime minister Ehud Olmert and defense minister Ehud Barak to accept a ceasefire with Hamas (called “a lull”), instead of launching the large-scale military operation needed to finally relieve southwestern Israel of daily Palestinian missile, rocket and mortar attacks. Hamas greeted that decision with the heaviest Palestinian barrage in months.

Its spokesman replied to an Israeli demand with derision: The captive soldier Gilead Shalit will be released as part of truce accord only in Israel’s dreams. Hamas PM Ismail Haniya said: “Ariel Sharon is neither alive nor dead a fate all Israel’s leaders will share.”

The population is preparing further protest action, accusing the Olmert government of cowardice, sacrificing their security for self-serving political ends and risking the loss of the Negev, the southern half of Israel.”

Straight from East Bay Business Times: “Gamers in California and Washington, D.C., have sued Electronic Arts Inc. over what they call “blatantly anticompetitive conduct” in its football gaming niche.

The suit against Redwood City-based EA (NASDAQ:ERTS) says after early competition in football games between EA and Take-Two Interactive Inc., EA cut the price of its Madden 2005 game from $49.95 to $29.95.

“Electronic Arts could have continued to compete by offering a lower price and/or a higher quality product,” the suit said. “Instead, Electronic Arts quickly entered into a series of exclusive agreements with the only viable sports football associations in the United States: the National Football League, the Arena Football League, and NCAA Football.”

The suit says EA raised the price of Madden 2006 by 70 percent.

The plaintiffs have requested a class action and want restitution and damages for buyers of EA football game since August of 2005.”

Digg Comments

Check out the demo video of the new Backbreaker Football game.

Straight from Fox News: “Jack Lucas, who at 14 lied his way into military service during World War II and became the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor, died Thursday in a Hattiesburg, Miss., hospital. He was 80.

Lucas had been battling cancer. Ponda Lee at Moore Funeral Service said the funeral home was told he died before dawn.

Jacklyn “Jack” Lucas was just six days past his 17th birthday in February 1945 when his heroism at Iwo Jima earned him the nation’s highest military honor. He used his body to shield three fellow squad members from two grenades, and was nearly killed when one exploded.

“A couple of grenades rolled into the trench,” Lucas said in an Associated Press interview shortly before he received the medal from President Truman in October 1945. “I hollered to my pals to get out and did a Superman dive at the grenades. I wasn’t a Superman after I got hit. I let out one helluva scream when that thing went off.”

He was left with more than 250 pieces of shrapnel in his body and in every major organ and endured 26 surgeries in the months after Iwo Jima.

He was the youngest serviceman to win the Medal of Honor in any conflict other than the Civil War.

“By his inspiring action and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice, he not only protected his comrades from certain injury or possible death but also enabled them to rout the Japanese patrol and continue the advance,” the Medal of Honor citation said.

In the AP interview, written as a first-person account under his name, he recalled the months he spent in a hospital.

“Soon as I rest up, I imagine I’ll run for president,” the story concluded. “Ain’t I the hero, though?”

Big for his age and eager to serve, Lucas forged his mother’s signature on an enlistment waiver and joined the Marines at 14. Military censors discovered his age through a letter to his 15-year-old girlfriend.

“They had him driving a truck in Hawaii because his age was discovered and they threatened to send him home,” said D.K. Drum, who wrote Lucas’ story in the 2006 book “Indestructible.”

“He said if they sent him home, he would just join the Army.”

Lucas eventually stowed away aboard a Navy ship headed for combat in the Pacific Ocean. He turned himself in to avoid being listed as a deserter and volunteered to fight, and the officers on board allowed him to reach his goal of fighting the Japanese.

“They did not know his age. He didn’t give it up and they didn’t ask,” Drum said.

Born in Plymouth, N.C., on Feb. 14, 1928, Lucas was a 13-year-old cadet captain in a military academy when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

“I would not settle for watching from the sidelines when the United States was in such desperate need of support from its citizens,” Lucas said in “Indestructible.” “Everyone was needed to do his part and I could not do mine by remaining in North Carolina.”

After the war, Lucas earned a business degree from High Point University in North Carolina and raised, processed and sold beef in the Washington, D.C., area. In the 1960s, he joined the Army and became a paratrooper, Drum said, to conquer his fear of heights. On a training jump, both of his parachutes failed.

“He was the last one out of the airplane and the first one on the ground,” Drum said.

He was diagnosed with a form of leukemia in April and spent his last days in the hospital with family and friends, including his wife, Ruby, standing vigil.”

Straight from the Debka File: “The new weapon, of the type used by the Lebanese Hizballah against northern Israel, was fired for the first time by Palestinians from Gaza Tuesday, June 3. It landed on open ground in Shaar Henegev.

The newly smuggled weapon carries a 8 kg payload – bigger than the Qassam missile with about the same 9 km range – drastically escalates the Hamas-led war against the southwestern Israeli population. For the first time, the Palestinian terrorists have acquired a weapon launched from a vehicle.

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that weapons consignments, including increasingly advanced systems, continue to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip from Iran and Sudan for Hamas and its terrorist allies.

The consignments are dropped from freighters into smugglers’ boats in the Suez Canal and unloaded on the Sinai coast. The Egyptian police are performing better now in intercepting illicit weapons deliveries, but their work is seriously impeded by the fact that some of the officers are bribed by the smugglers for their collaboration.”