Emirates to add 50 new planes worth $18 billion
Jet maker Boeing says deal biggest single order in dollar terms in history
11/13/2011 – AP

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai’s fast-growing airline Emirates kicked off the region’s biggest airshow Sunday with an order for 50 Boeing 777s, which the U.S.-based aircraft maker described as its biggest single order in dollar terms in history.

The list price for the deal is $18 billion, but airlines typically negotiate discounts for large orders.

Although the Gulf airlines are the among the world’s most ambitious in expanding their fleets and routes, a deal the size of the Emirates contract had not been expected at the airshow because of the large backlog of planes already on order for Emirates and rivals such as Abu Dhabi-based Etihad and Qatar Airways.

The deal, announced by Emirates chairman and CEO Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, is for an extended-range version of the 777-300. Emirates already has 95 777s in service, which is the most of any carrier.

Chicago-based Boeing Co. said the deal is the largest single aircraft order in dollar terms in its history.

“It sustains a lot of jobs in the United States — several thousand,” said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Before Sunday’s order, Emirates already had 40 of the planes booked. That means it now has nearly as many of the twin-aisle planes on order as it already operates.

Emirates is the Middle East’s largest carrier. It is owned by the government of Dubai, which is recovering from a debt-fueled financial crisis that came to a head two years ago.

Its young fleet also includes Airbus A330s, A340s and the double-decker A380.

Bahraini activists rally across Manama , Slams Arab League’s Double Standard
JafriaNews – 13 November, 2011

JNN 13 Nov 2011 : Bahraini activists have held new anti-regime protests across the capital Manama against the ruling Al Khalifa family, and Arab League’s Double Standard on Syria and Bahrain , Press reports.

The demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday in the face of continued crackdown by Saudi-backed Bahraini forces on peaceful protests in the Persian Gulf island.

They shouted slogans against the regime and its allies, including Saudi Arabia, which has been heavily contributing to Manama’s suppression of the popular uprising it has been facing since February. In the eastern village of Ma’ameer, regime forces stormed a house and detained a young boy. Meanwhile, a teenage girl was rearrested in spite of her deteriorating health condition.

The 17-year-old Ashwaq al-Magabi, who suffers from sickle cell anemia, was first detained among dozens of women during a protest in a Manama mall in October.
According to local sources, scores of people have been killed, some while in custody, and hundreds more arrested during the campaign of suppression.
Bahrainis demonstrate against Arab League silence on Manama’s deadly crackdown, as the League met to vote on several anti-Syria moves, Press TV has learned.

Protesters gathered in front of the AL headquarters in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Saturday, demanding the body to adopt a clear stance on the brutal suppression of Bahrainis. They also held banners saying that the Saudi-backed Al Khalifa regime has suppressed thousands of pro-democracy protesters. …more

Struggle for Bahrain: An Interview with Alaa Shehabi
15 November, 2011 – Shia Post

Alaa Shehabi (AS): I am Alaa Shehabi from Bahrain. I am a lecturer, economist, and writer by day. I am also the wife of a political detainee. My husband is called Ghazi Farhan, he is a businessman, completely apolitical.

A month after the Saudis invaded, he was arrested from his office car park. On that day, 12 April, he came home for lunch and played with our baby and then drove back to his office. I did not hear from him again. I went online and read on Twitter that Ghazi Farhan has been successfully arrested—someone from the intelligence network was tweeting about it, bragging about it. It was a very big shock. He was not expecting it; he was the guy that stayed away from this. He knows that politics is trouble in this part of the world, so he was not involved in any activism.

I am sure they went after my husband because of his relationship to me. I come from a strong opposition background, my father is an opposition activist in the United Kingdom. I was very active and I have never been quiet about my views. I think they knew of me so they selected one of us. I have seen his interrogation notes and I appear in most of them. It was punishment by proxy.

So, Ghazi was held for the next fifty days and then suddenly appeared in a military tribunal at the end of May. He was charged with participating in the protests. The technical term is “participating in an illegal assembly consisting of more than five persons,” and he was also charged with spreading false information. And then in a matter of ten minutes, he was sentenced to three years in prison. It has been seven months since he was convicted. It has been a very difficult time for my family personally. But I would like to emphasize that in the prison he is in, he is one of at least five hundred people who have been arrested, charged, and convicted because of their participation or involvement in the political uprising. …more

Bahraini Premier calls for fast-track reforms
Manama: Mon, 14 Nov 2011

His Royal Highness Prime Minister of Bahrain, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, yesterday urged ministers to fast-track implementation of National Dialogue recommendations.

Yesterday’s Cabinet session, which he chaired, discussed an update on 10 draft laws endorsing a set of 15 recommendations, which were referred to the legislative authority. They include the draft laws on the press, child, labour in the private sector and audio-visual media.

The Cabinet was also updated on draft laws reflecting 25 other recommendations.

Ministries are also putting in place legal tools to implement 16 other recommendations. HRH the Premier instructed ministries to fast-track draft laws in co-ordination with the follow-up committee and the legal jurisprudence authority. …source

Gulf arms sales vital for U.S. companies
Nov. 15, 2011 – UPI

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 15 (UPI) — The Pentagon’s reported plan to sell the United Arab Emirates nearly 5,000 bunker-buster bombs to counter Iran is part of a move to strengthen Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf as the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq nears completion.

But it’s also a lifesaver for U.S. defense contractors who’re having to rely on exports to keep assembly lines running because of hefty cuts in military spending at home after the feeding frenzy of the post-Sept. 11 era.

“The defense industry is coming to the end of what many of its senior figures regard as a golden decade,” The Financial Times reported in a September assessment of the sector.

“Ten years ago, in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. government began a huge injection of cash into the Pentagon budget.

“Over the course of the decade, the U.S. annual defense budget has doubled in cash terms to reach nearly $700 billion in 2010.

“The profits of the U.S. defense industry have quadrupled over that period,” the FT reported. “The country has come to dwarf all other nations in the amount it spends on military equipment.

“Now, however, the tap has been turned off and defense companies in the United States — as well as in Europe — face more challenging times.

“Some senior executive in the industry believe Congress will take out up to $1,000 billion from the core Pentagon budget over the next decade,” the business daily said.
…more

Bahraini teachers’ appeal going ahead
14 Nov 2011 – BCHR

Jalila al-Salman, former vice-president of the Bahrain Teachers’ Association (BTA), was released on 1 November following her re-arrest in October. Her appeal and that of her colleague Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb, former president of the BTA, is on 11 December.

Jalila al-Salman was first arrested on 29 March. She was held in prison for over five months. During that time, she alleges, she was subjected to ill-treatment and verbal abuse. She was released on bail on 21 August, but sentenced by the National Safety Court of First Instance, a military court, on 25 September to three years in prison. She was not present in court at the time. She was rearrested on 18 October and subsequently released on bail on 1 November pending an appeal hearing. Her colleague Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb was tried and sentenced by the same court to 10 years in prison. He remains in prison, having been detained since his arrest. Both were convicted of using their positions to call for a strike by teachers, halting the educational process, inciting hatred of the regime, attempting to overthrow the ruling system by force, possessing pamphlets and disseminating fabricated stories and information, among other charges.

Both made appeals against their sentences, which will be heard by the High Criminal Court of Appeal on 11 December. Her lawyer has reportedly said he will ask the appeal court also to lift an outstanding travel ban on Jalila al-Salman. Amnesty International believes Mahdi ‘Issa Mahdi Abu Dheeb and Jalila al-Salman have not used or advocated violence. They appear to have been targeted solely for their leadership of the BTA and for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. As civilians they should not have been tried and sentenced by a military court. …more

War: The Wrong Jobs Program
By Mark Engler, November 15, 2011

More than 40 years ago, long before anyone had ever heard of Barack Obama, before the collapse of Bear Stearns, and before contemporary debates about bailouts and debt ceilings, two authors, Paul Baran and Paul Sweezy, considered a tricky problem. In times of downturn, the government must spend to stimulate the economy. Yet getting the political establishment to agree on one particular program of spending seemed nearly impossible.

Baran and Sweezy phrased the conundrum as a question: “On what could the government spend enough to keep the system from sinking into the mire of stagnation?”

After assessing the political realities that steer America’s power elite, they could find only one response. It was not what typically comes to mind when we think of economic stimulus or government-led job creation.

Their answer: “On arms, more arms, and ever more arms.”

The authors did not approve of military spending as a strategy of economic development. But, even at the very outset of the Cold War, they saw the deep hold that it had on decision-makers in Washington, DC.

We can see the continuing hold it has today. This fall, responding to high and persistent unemployment, President Obama called for a federal jobs act. Among its measures, the act proposed investment in schools and infrastructure. Conservative opponents responded with cries of derision. The critics charged that the plan “doubles down on a failed government stimulus strategy.” It means “adding more money to the same broken system” they said. Finally, they insisted, “It comes to a point that you can’t keep borrowing in a futile attempt to stimulate the economy when the increased debt itself is weakening the economy.” …more

Hezbollah denies Al-Khalifa’s accusations
Nov 15th, 2011 – By shiapost

Retorting to accusations made by Bahrain MPs that Hezbollah was involved in a recently busted “terrorist cell” in Manama, Hezbollah denied on Monday having ties “to an alleged cell in Bahrain”.

Hezbollah said in its statement that the alleged terrorist cell might be “one of the fabrications [weaved] by the Al-Khalifa authoritarian regime in Bahrain,” in reference to Bahraini King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa.

Those accusations “are not true and baseless,” the statement read.

The allegations are part of “an unsuccessful attempt made by the Al-Khalifa regime to blackout the real popular and peaceful revolution staged by patient and oppressed Bahraini people, amid the silence of international community and the suspected disregard of Arab League,” Hezbollah added.

Hezbollah stressed in its statement that such a silence of hostility “will not deter the people of Bahrain from continuing the project of its legitimized struggle until the achievement of its noble and national objectives.” …more

Reports Say U.S. Continued Detainee Transfers to Known Torturers
October 31, 2011 – Human Rights First

Washington, DC – Human Rights First today voiced concern about reports that the United States had long been transferring detainees captured by U.S. forces in Afghanistan to the Afghan intelligence agency, the NDS, which has a well-documented history of torture and other forms of detainee abuse. These reports are a signal that – despite repeated assurances to the contrary – the United States remained complicit in the illegal practice of torture after it knew or should have known of abuses in the Afghan facilities to which detainees were sent.

“Numerous times in my conversations with Pentagon and civilian officials in Afghanistan and Washington, I was assured that the United States does not transfer detainees to the NDS where there is a substantial risk of torture,” said Human Rights First’s Gabor Rona. “Those assurances were apparently false.”

According to Human Rights First, the transfer of anyone to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subject to torture is a violation of the United Nations Convention Against Torture, to which the United States is a party. U.S. funding and support for Afghan security services known to engage in torture is also a violation of the Leahy amendment, a measure that requires the U.S. Departments of Defense and State to ensure recipients of U.S. security assistance are not engaged in torture or other human rights abuses. …more

FBI Report Shows Sharp Incline in Anti-Muslim Violence
November 14, 2011 – Human Rights First Continuance of Bush Crusader mentality

Washington, DC – The Federal Bureau of Investigations today released its annual data on hate crime in the United States for 2010. According to the data, the most comprehensive annual record of hate crime in the United States, most categories of hate crime increased slightly from 2009 levels. The sharpest increase came in the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes, up a staggering 50% from 107 in 2009 to 160 in 2010.

“After hate crime declined in 2009, it’s disturbing to see it rise again in 2010. The rise anti-Muslim violence is particularly significant. Human Rights First has long maintained that anti-Muslim violence, as well as other forms of hate crime, must be viewed and responded to as a serious violation of human rights. The U.S. Government can and must do more to confront these abuses,” said Human Rights First’s Paul Legendre.

According to LeGendre, one important step to combat all hate crime violence would be for the U.S. government to enhance police reporting of hate crime. In 2010, only 13% of all participating law enforcement agencies reported even a single hate crime in their jurisdictions – a shortcoming that LeGendre notes “undoubtedly masks the true extent of hate crime in the United States.”

To speak with LeGendre or for more information about anti-Muslim violence and other forms of hate crime in the United States and globally, please contact Brenda Bowser Soder at bowsersoderb@humanrightsfirst.org or 202-370-3323. …source

Clinton urges Saudi, Bahrain to embrace Arab Spring
By Bloomberg – 8 November 2011 rhetoric

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying that the US has a role in democracy movements that continue to roil the Middle East, urged Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to embrace reform and Syria to accept protesters’ demands.

“These revolutions are not ours – they are not by us, for us, or against us, but we do have a role,” Clinton said in remarks to the National Democratic Institute, a democracy support organization based in Washington. “Fundamentally, there is a right side of history. We want to be on it. And without exception, we want our partners in the region to reform so that they are on it as well.”

Clinton addressed skepticism in both the Arab world and at home about US motives and commitments since the Arab Spring began with a Tunisian fruit vendor’s protest self-immolation in December 2010.

Developments in the months since then have raised the possibility of Islamic groups gaining political power in Egypt, highlighted differences in the way the US has approached protest movements in places like Bahrain and Syria and drawn questions about US opposition to unilateral Palestinian attempts to gain recognition. …more

[cb editor: The terror cell plot makes no sense for one simple reason, there is nothing to be gained politically by Iran or anyone in opposition to the attacks that were supposedly planned. The ones that do have something to gain are the Saudi’s, Israel and the al Khalifa regime. This Saudi hatched plot has all the making of the ludicrous plot of Iran agents planning an assassination in the US. – WTF?]

Bahrain: Alleged terror cell had high Iran links
November 13, 2011 – Yahoo News – AP

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — An alleged Iranian-linked terror cell had contact with the Tehran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and planned attacks against high profile sites, including Saudi Embassy and a Gulf causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, authorities in Bahrain claimed Sunday.

The allegations from Bahrain’s public prosecutor seek to strengthen charges of ties between the suspected underground group and Iran. Bahrain’s Sunni leaders have accused Iran of encouraging Shiite-led protests that erupted in February on the island kingdom.

The report in the Bahrain News Agency, however, gave no further information on the suspects or other details to back up the allegations. …more