Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, captured looking rail-thin, sickly, in new photos

 

Cached:  http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/03/18/2011-03-18_steve_jobs_surfaces_shocking_photos_show_gaunt_apple_ceo_but_hint_he_may_be_maki.html

BY Ethan Sacks
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, has been captured looking sickly and shockingly thin in a series of new photographs.

Pictures surfaced Thursday of the rail-thin Apple chairman – his black sweatshirt hanging loosely over his lanky frame – walking into a Los Angeles restaurant to meet a friend for lunch the day prior.

The 56-year-old Jobs announced in January that he was taking a leave of absence from the company in order to deal with health issues. Though he has not disclosed the nature of his ailment, it is widely assumed he is battling cancer; Jobs survived a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004, and underwent a liver transplant five years later.

Jobs’ ongoing health battles are a hot topic in tech circles and on Wall Street. When he took a year-long leave in 2008 and 2009 to have the liver transplant, the price of Apple stock dropped more than 20 percent, only to spike upon his return to the company.

Apple stock is down nearly four percent in the past two days, having dropped over 13 points.

The new photographs of Jobs come some two weeks after he took the stage at Apple’s unveiling of the iPad2 in San Francisco – shortly after a report from the National Enquirer that quoted doctors saying he had just weeks to live.

“We’ve been working on this product for a while, and I just didn’t want to miss today,” Jobs told the cheering audience during the March 2 event.

Despite his health woes, Jobs has vowed to return to the company which he turned into an industry power and revitalized with the introductions of the iPhone and iPad.

Just this week he sent a memo to Apple employees in Japan pledging the company’s support following the devestating earthquake and tsunami.

“Our hearts go out to you and your families, as well as all of your countrymen who have been touched by this tragedy,” he wrote.

WENN.com. A gaunt-looking Steve Jobs is photographed Wednesday as the Apple CEO met a friend for lunch in a Palo Alto restaurant.

WENN.com. Steve Jobs has been on a health-related leave of absence since January.

Libya: Obama tells Gaddafi to withdraw or face UN-backed air strikes

Cached:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/18/libya-obama-gaddafi-un-strikes

• Ewen MacAskill in Washington, Patrick Wintour, Ian Black in Tripoli, and Nicholas Watt

• guardian.co.uk, Friday 18 March 2011 20.38 GMT

Barack Obama stressed his country would not dominate the UN-backed coalition. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Muammar Gaddafi has been handed a “non-negotiable ultimatum” by Barack Obama to accept an immediate ceasefire, pull back from Libyan rebel strongholds and permit humanitarian assistance – or face the full onslaught of UN-endorsed air strikes.

In an attempt to reassure Middle East opinion and his own domestic audience, Obama said the US would help to co-ordinate a no-fly-zone, but not lead an operation that will include French, British and Arab jets.

The US president issued his warning after Gaddafi’s foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, claimed he would accept a ceasefire in the wake of the UN security council resolution passed late on Thursday night authorising “all necessary measures short of an occupation force” to protect civilians.

In a stark message, Obama said: “Muammar Gaddafi has a choice. The resolution that was passed lays out very clear conditions that must be met. The United States, the United Kingdom, France and Arab states agree that a ceasefire must be implemented immediately.”

He said this meant:

• All attacks against civilians must stop.

• Gaddafi must stop his troops from advancing on the rebel stronghold Benghazi, and pull them back from Ajdabiya, Misrata and Zawiya.

• Gaddafi must establish water, electricity and gas supplies to all areas.

• Humanitarian assistance must be allowed to reach the people of Libya.

“Let me be clear: these terms are not negotiable. These terms are not subject to negotiation. If Gaddafi does not comply with the resolution the international community will impose consequences and the resolution will be enforced through military action.”

David Cameron warned: “We will judge him [Gaddafi] by his actions and not by his words. What is absolutely clear is the UN security council resolution said he must stop what he is doing – brutalising his people. If not, all necessary measures can follow to make him stop.”

The next stage of the international response will be co-ordinated at an emergency conference in Paris, including Cameron, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, and the leading Arab states that have formed an ad hoc coalition to reverse the Gaddafi advance.

It is likely French and British fighter jets will be flying over Libya by Saturday night unless Gaddafi produces more convincing evidence that he has pulled back. Some as yet unidentified Arab states will join the air enforcement.

Cameron said he had already ordered British Tornado and Typhoon fighter jets to be deployed to bases in the region, along with air-refuelling equipment.

The prime minister said: “This is not another Iraq. There will be no foreign occupation of Libya.” He maintained that military action would be in the national interest. “If Gaddafi’s attacks on his own people succeed, Libya will become once again a pariah state, festering on Europe’s border, a source of instability, exporting strife beyond her borders. A state from which literally hundreds of thousands of citizens could seek to escape, putting huge pressure on us in Europe.

“We cannot stand back and let a dictator whose people have rejected him kill his people indiscriminately. To do so would send a chilling signal to others.”

Cameron revealed that he had given his cabinet time to read legal advice from the attorney general, Dominic Grieve, setting out why a no-fly zone and other actions will be lawful. The cabinet was also addressed by the chief of the defence staff, Sir David Richards.

A summary of the legal advice will be handed to MPs on Monday when they will be asked to vote on a substantive motion to support military action.

Cameron won wide praise in the Commons, including support from the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, for his role in securing diplomatic support for a no-fly zone after it looked as if Britain and France were going to be left isolated. But the prime minister has been ambiguous about the extent to which his aim is to remove Gaddafi from power, and still faces questions on how long British pilots will have to police a no-fly zone if a political impasse emerges on the ground.

He said: “It is almost impossible to envisage a future for Libya that includes him [Gaddafi]. It is not in our national interest for this man to lead a pariah state on the southern banks of Europe with all the problems that that could entail.”

But he also accepted that the UN resolution did not endorse regime change. “The UN resolution is not about choosing the government of Libya. That is an issue for the Libyan people.”

Obama stressed that the US would not dominate this UN-backed coalition. He said: “I also want to be clear about what we will not be doing. The United States is not going to deploy ground troops into Libya. We are not going to use force to go beyond a well defined goal: specifically the protection of civilians in Libya.”

The Pentagon, in a statement, said Libya has about 30 missile sites, mainly spread along the coast, and that they posed a “significant threat to US and Nato aircraft”.

The French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, said everything was ready to launch military strikes, and that a ceasefire would need to cover the whole country.

The announcement of a ceasefire was dismissed by a rebel commander in the anti-Gaddafi stronghold of Benghazi, who accused the Libyan leader of bluffing.

Khalifa Heftir told reporters: “Gaddafi does not speak any truth … All the world knows that Muammar Gaddafi is a liar. He and his sons, and his family, and all those with him are liars.”

Tripoli said it had asked Malta and Turkey to help monitor the ceasefire.

Reports continued of fighting in Misrata, a key port between the capital and Benghazi. Officials in Tripoli were tight-lipped about the details of the ceasefire. The decision seemed based on hopes that it would sow division inside the UN. There was little evidence of any wish to engage in real dialogue with the Benghazi rebels.

Libyan state media all but ignored the ceasefire, continuing its stream of patriotic programmes and announcements, playing clip after clip of pro-Gaddafi demonstrators declaring their support for the leader. Tripoli seemed calm but tense throughout the day, with police patrol cars visible in unusual numbers in the centre of the city as officers checked identity cards. Several explosions to the west added to an already jumpy mood.

Qatar Lines Up Behind U.N. Push

online.wsj.com

 

Cached:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703512404576208312973386744.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

 

By MARGARET COKER

Qatar, the wealthy Gulf nation that is home to the al-Jazeera Arab news network that has been seen as an early champion of international intervention to stop bloodshed in Libya, is the first Arab nation to officially announce its participation in the United Nations-backed no-fly zone.

“Qatar decided to take part in the international efforts aimed at stopping the bloodshed and protecting civilians in Libya,” according to a statement published by the official Qatar News Agency early Friday. The statement didn’t specify what role Qatar would take in the expected military operations.

United Nations and European diplomats have said over the past few days that they understood the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Jordan were among the Arab League members prepared to take part in enforcing the U.N. Security Council resolution against Libya’s central government, marking the first time since the 1993 Iraq war that such a wide array of Arab nations would be participating in a military offensive.

A stepped up Arab military role comes on the heels of what has already been an active—if quiet—humanitarian role that many Arab Gulf countries have launched over the past few weeks.

Qatar, for example, has chartered commercial ferries to help evacuate third-country nationals, including 2,500 Egyptian workers, stranded in Libya during the fighting.

The peninsula Gulf nation, as well as the United Arab Emirates, has assisted with logistics and fund raising to airlift multiple tons of medical supplies for Libyan civilians living in parts of the country free of central government rule, according to people familiar with the situation. Egypt, which shares a long border with Libya, has already taken on a more active role in the Libyan conflict by allowing shipments of arms to reach Libyan rebels, according to U.S. and Libyan rebel officials.

The Libyan crisis comes at a time of great frustration among many of Washington’s long-term Arab allies, especially in the Gulf, for what many here see as America’s bungling of the Iraq war, security crises in Lebanon and Yemen and the more recent wave of prodemocracy demonstrations endangering their long-established right to rule. Perceived U.S. policy failures have added sway to small but vocal camps within Gulf government policy circles who have been advocating more pro-active Arab strategies to solve Arab problems.

Arab intervention in the Libya conflict “would reflect favorably on the concerned governments, and reduce mounting frustration amongst Arabs of seeing their governments weak and indecisive in resolving Arab problems,” says Riad Kahwaji the chief executive of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.

The timing of the Libyan threat also coincides with a recent arms buildup by many Arab rulers that has been aimed primarily at giving the small, oil-rich Sunni states of the Gulf an extra bulwark of defense beyond the traditional U.S. defense umbrella against what is viewed as a strengthening and menacing threat from Shiite-led Iran.

Sunni Gulf rulers have become some of the world’s most prolific weapons buyers in the last half decade, in part due to their and Washington’s desire to help curb the growing influence of Iran in the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Late last year, the Pentagon notified Congress of a proposed $60 billion sale to Saudi Arabia for advanced fighter jets and attack helicopters. That deal, which would be the largest in U.S. history, comes on the heels of multiple other multibillion-dollar sales in the last five years to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Gulf defense experts and retired Arab military officials say that these three oil-rich nations have trained and valuable military assets to bring to the U.N. mission in attack, supply and transport roles.

Last year, Qatar deployed its C-17 transport planes for humanitarian relief missions to Haiti and Chile, giving its pilots real-world training in such missions, according to Qatari officials. Meanwhile, Jordanian and UAE special forces and medical units have increased their battle readiness through long-term deployments in Afghanistan in recent years.

It is still unclear what role specific Arab nations will be taking, and officials from the UAE, Qatar and Saudi were not immediately available to comment on the matter. The Gulf nations’ close interaction and training with U.S. forces also stationed in the region could make it easier for military units to interact and communicate in the Libyan mission, according to retired military officials.

These officials say that Arab military assets that could possibly deployed by willing nations to a Libyan mission include the following:

— The UAE air force has at least two squadrons of fighter jets, including F-16 and Mirage planes, which could be deployed for use, as well as Apache and Chinook helicopter crews that could take part in search-and-rescue missions.

— Saudi Arabia could provide intelligence and support operations from its AWACS surveillance aircraft and refueling tanker planes.

— Qatar and the UAE have fleets of C-17 and C-130 transport planes that could help ferry supplies and troops to the theater of operations.

— Egypt also has two F-16 squadrons and a mission-ready air base at Marsa Matrouh in the western side of the country, near the Libyan border, which could be used as a staging ground for Libyan operations.

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Vietnam congratulates Lao National Party Congress

Cached:  http://english.vietnamnet.vn/en/politics/6046/vietnam-congratulates-lao-national-party-congress.html

VietNamNet Bridge – The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee has sent a congratulatory message to the 9th National Congress of the Lao People’s Revolutionary Party (LPRP), affirming support and belief in the Lao revolutionary cause.

The 9th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party opens in Vientiane yesterday, March 17. — KPL/VNA/VNS Photo

The CPV Central Committee on behalf of the Vietnamese Party and people expressed its pleasure with the great, comprehensive and historically significant achievements recorded by the Lao fraternal people after 25 years of the renovation process and five years of implementation of the 8^th Congress Resolution, saying they unceasingly increased the Lao revolution’s strength and raised the prestige and position of Laos in the international arena.

“The successes reaffirm the correct and creative policy of the LPRP, a party unyielding to all difficulties and challenges, striving for the goal of national independence, for a strong and rich country and people’s happiness, for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress in the world,” the message said.

The 9^th national congress of the DPRP is an important event of the Lao Party, State and people, marking a new stage of development of the Lao revolution, mapping out guidelines to continue increasing the national great solidarity bloc and unity in the entire Party. It raises the role and the capacity of the leadership, organises the successful implementation of the renovation process, striving to bring the country out of underdevelopment by 2020, creating a premise for industrialisation and modernisation of the country as it develops strongly towards socialism.

“Being a close friend and comrade of the Lao party and people of tribes, we always provide support and strongly believe that under the leadership of the DPRP, the Lao fraternal people will continue to obtain new and greater achievements in their national renovation, successfully implementing the Resolution of the 9^th National Party Congress, and building Laos into a state of peace, independence, democracy, unity and prosperity,” it affirmed.

In its message, the CPV Central Committee described the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Laos, fostered by the late President Ho Chi Minh, the late President Kaysone Phomvihane and generations of leaders of the two parties, states and peoples as an element of the success of the revolutionary cause of each country.

“The Vietnamese Party, State and people will spare no effort to join hands with the Lao Party, State and people to treasure and bring the special relations to a new height, for the benefit of people in each country, for peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world,” the message said.

The CPV Central Committee took this opportunity to express its deep gratitude to the Lao Party, State and people for their valuable support and assistance to their Vietnamese counterparts during the struggle for national liberation, reunification in the past as well as during the doi moi (renewal) process, and the present national construction and defence.

VNN/VNA/VOV

New road threatens tiger breeding area in Laos

 

Cached:  http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/news/new-road-threatens-tiger-breeding-area-in-laos

18th March 2011

Laos' tigers are under threat (Reed Kennedy)

Conservationists fear a new road running through a tiger breeding area will harm the country’s fragile tiger population

A new road project in Laos will run through the nation’s only protected area inhabited by breeding Indo-Chinese tigers, according to local media.

With just two dozen tigers left in Laos, conservationists fear the road through Nam Et Phou Louey National Park will harm the already fragile tiger population, according to local newspaper, Vientiane Times.

However, local officials said the road is necessary to improve access to remote villages and alleviate poverty in the region.

They also claimed the road would aid conservation efforts in the park by allowing authorities to stop illegal logging and poaching.

Chris Wright, senior programmes officer at wildlife charity Born Free, said: “The presumption that this new road will aid conservation efforts is ill-informed and very worrying.

“It is widely accepted that increasing transport links to and through previously inaccessible areas of forest has a detrimental impact, as it vastly improves the logistical conditions for logging and hunting.”

Laos was one of the signatories of last year’s Global Tiger Summit, which aims to double tiger numbers by 2022.

“This proposal contradicts the pledges made by the government of Laos at last year’s forum, at which it was agreed by all Tiger Range countries that core tiger breeding areas, such as Nam Et Phou Louey National Park, should be inviolate,” said Chris.

The Indo-Chinese tiger, also found in Thailand, Burma, southern China, Cambodia and Vietnam, is smaller and darker than Bengal tigers found mainly in India.

Recent estimates of the endangered sub-species have ranged from 350 to 1,000 individuals.