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If you haven't yet planned the brunch or picked out the flowers or
at least mailed the card, then consider what follows the only
motivation you should need. In short, mothers have it tough.
Changes in American culture have liberated women in many ways. Mom
is now free to do all the chores moms have been doing for generations -
such as wiping snot off kids' noses, cleaning the house and handling
all the family's finances and social plans – and now she can work a day
job or feel guilty for not having one, too.
Mom deals with all this, studies show, with less help and as much pain and stress as ever. Consider:
5. Mom Feels More Pain
Any man worth his salt realizes Mom deserves a lifetime of foot rubs
for one simple reason: childbirth. She made you. And yeah, it hurt like
hell. But that's not all. Women suffer more pain than men across the
board, studies find.
And it's not just “that time of the month” pain. We're talking about a lifetime of suffering.
A study out last week found that among people over 65, women suffer 2.5 times more disabilities than men of the same age. Among the most common chronic conditions: painful arthritis.
Even sex, which gloriously led to your conception and which ought to
be the ultimate respite, can be painful for women. About 15 percent of
women experience recurring genital pain during intercourse. Almost no men do.
4. Mom Gets No Help
In the old days, mothers had tremendous help raising kids and
keeping house. It was, literally, a family affair, with grandparents
and children working daily, willingly or otherwise, to take the load
off women burdened with small children.
Today's mom has a lot less help
with childrearing and housecleaning, a study in 2006 found. Sure,
fathers are pitching in, but you know how that goes. “Honey, the game's
on. I'll finish the vacuuming tomorrow.”
In 1880, 24 percent of mothers lived with a female age 10 or older
who didn't go to school and didn't work outside the house. By 2000,
that number was 5 percent.
3. You Are Mostly Your Mother's Child
Yeah, sure, your genes are half from Mom, half from Dad. But for some reason, scientists recently learned, Mom's genes have a greater effect on what you become.
One stark example: While you were in the uterus, if your mother had
a very stressful experience, you'll be at greater risk for anxiety
disorders. And a new study on rats, out last month, indicates that your
mother's diet during pregnancy affected your genes.
More surprising, studies are showing that what your mother ate when
she was a child, the toxins she was exposed to, and other experiences
before and during pregnancy affect how the genes she passes on to you
actually get expressed in your body.
Another study, reported this year in the journal Child Development,
shows a profound impact of nurturing by mothers in the early years,
too. A child who has a strong relationship with Mom during preschool
years tends to form closer friendships in grade school, the research revealed.
2. You, Child, Are Depressing
Raising kids never ends. And no matter how hard you try to be a good
kid, the challenge – and the heartache and frustration that comes with
it – sticks with Mom forever.
A new study finds 94 percent of adult children and their parents report some level of tension
in the relationship. But it's the parents who feel the most strain,
particularly about the finances and housekeeping prowess of their grown
children.
Yes, Mom and Dad both stress out to raise their children. Parents
have significantly higher levels of depression child-free adults, and
the problem gets worse when the kids move out, according to a 2006
study in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.
1. Mom Needs a Break
To be fair, Dad takes a beating, too. But the evidence is clear: Mom
has it worse. Whether you agree with that or not, here's the No. 1
reason you should do something nice for your mother on Sunday: She's
crying out for a break.
Women have less free time and feel more rushed than men, studies have found. A study out just this week found U.S. men report 40 minutes more leisure time every day than women (in Italy, it's an 80-minute spread).
A startling study in 2005 found nearly 20 percent of working women take a vacation only once every 6 years, and nearly a quarter get one only once every two to five years.
In response, twice as many working women as men said in 2007 that they wanted to cut back on work hours, even if it means a pay cut.
—
Robert Roy Britt is the Editorial Director of Imaginova. In this column, The Water Cooler, he looks at what people are talking about in the world of science and beyond.
Original Story: 5 Scientific Reasons Mom Deserves Mother's Day
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DETROIT – For General Motors Corp., the task at hand is so difficult that experts say a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is all but inevitable.
To remake itself outside of court, GM must persuade bondholders to swap 27 billion in debt for 10 percent of its risky stock. On top of that, the automaker must work out deals with its union, announce factory closures, cut or sell brands and force hundreds of dealers out of business — all in three weeks.
“I just don’t see how it’s possible, given all of the pieces,” said Stephen J. Lubben, a professor at Seton Hall University School of Law who specializes in bankruptcy.
GM, which has received 15.4 billion in federal aid, faces a June 1 government deadline to complete its restructuring plan. If it can’t finish in time, the company will follow Detroit competitor Chrysler LLC into bankruptcy protection.
Although company executives said last week they would still prefer to restructure out of court, experts say all GM is doing now is lining up majorities of stakeholders to make its court-supervised reorganization move more quickly.
“If we need to pursue bankruptcy, we will make sure that we do it in an expeditious fashion. The exact strategies I’m not getting into today, but we’ll be ready to go if that’s required,” Chief Executive Fritz Henderson said last week.
The threat of bankruptcy, however, may be just a negotiating ploy to pull reluctant bondholders into the equity swap deal. In Chrysler’s case, some secured debtholders resisted taking roughly 30 cents on the dollar for what they were owed, but most gave in after they were identified in court documents.
Henderson, who took over in March when the government ousted Rick Wagoner, said last week there’s still time to get everything done by the deadline, although he conceded it will be difficult to meet a government requirement that 90 percent of its thousands of bondholders agree to the stock swap.
The biggest obstacle to GM restructuring out of court appears to be its bondholders, who have been reluctant to sign on to the stock swap when the government and United Auto Workers union would get far more stock in exchange for debts owed by GM.
GM has proposed issuing 62 billion new shares, 100 times more than the 611 million now offered publicly.
Even though the U.S. government has agreed to back up GM and Chrysler new-car warranties, potential car buyers already view GM as if it’s in bankruptcy, reflected by the company’s steep revenue drop in the latest quarter, Lubben said. On Thursday, GM posted a 6 billion first-quarter loss and said its revenue dropped plunged by nearly half, largely because bankruptcy fears scared customers away from showrooms.
“I don’t think anyone is buying cars from a company who is wringing their hands about a potential bankruptcy for the past year or so,” he said.
Under Chapter 11, a company can stay in operation under court protection while sheds debts and unprofitable assets to emerge in a stronger financial position.
At this point, GM needs to resolve the uncertainty and get in and out of bankruptcy as quickly as possible, Lubben said.
The company is talking with the UAW and Canadian auto workers unions about concessions, including getting the UAW to take roughly 39 percent of its stock in exchange for half of the 20 billion GM must pay into a union-run trust that will take over retiree health care payments next year.
About 50 percent of the stock would go to the government for its loans. GM said last week it would need another 2.6 billion in May and 9 billion more for the rest of the year, bringing the total to 27 billion.
One percent would go to current shareholders, with bondholders getting the other 10 percent.
Bondholders are reluctant to take the deal because the government and UAW are getting far bigger stakes in the company, said Kevin Tynan, an industry analyst for Argus Research in New York.
“When you look across at what the union is getting and what the government is getting, to expect them to take 10 percent is just unrealistic,” he said.
Cutting dealers also remains a huge hurdle, with GM hoping to shed 2,600 of its 6,246 dealerships by 2010.
But dealers are protected by state franchise laws, and trying to shed them outside of bankruptcy would result in either millions of dollars in payments or multiple lengthy lawsuits, Lubben said.
“That means you’ve got to negotiate with each one of those dealers individually.”
Also, GM on Friday told its major parts suppliers that it would move up payments due on June 2 to May 28.
Company spokesman Dan Flores said it was being done to help the suppliers at a critical time, but he denied that the payments were pulled ahead of a potential June 1 bankruptcy filing.
GM has begun to temporarily close 13 assembly plants for up to 11 weeks through mid-July in an effort to control inventory. With Chrysler plants also shut down during its bankruptcy proceedings, parts suppliers will soon have no income and could go under.
It would help speed up GM’s stay in bankruptcy court if it could pull together big blocks of stakeholders to agree on reducing debt or changing other stakes, said Robert Gordon, head of the corporate restructuring and bankruptcy group at the Clark Hill PLC law firm in Detroit.
During its quest for government aid, GM executives said bankruptcy would severely cut their sales, with research showing that people would shy away from GM vehicles for fear that warranties would not be backed and parts would not be available.
Tynan said the executives now can’t change their story, even though they likely know that bankruptcy is inevitable.
“They’re sort of morally obligated to say ‘we’re intent on doing this outside of bankruptcy,’” he said. “But at the end of the day, they just want the magnitude of the restructuring to get done.”

LOS ANGELES – “Star Trek” beamed itself up to the top of the box office, earning 76.5 million in its opening weekend.
Paramount Pictures had estimated that the movie would make about 50 million for the weekend, but figured that strong reviews helped carry it to the bigger opening.
Director J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the beloved sci-fi franchise made 72.5 million from Friday through Sunday, plus 4 million just in pre-midnight screenings Thursday, the studio said Saturday. That cumulative figure includes a record 8.2 million in IMAX showings.
“Star Trek,” which reveals the back stories of Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock and the rest of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, is an unusual blockbuster that pleased critics, too, receiving 96 percent positive reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes Web site.
“Last year ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Iron Man’ both were embraced by critics as incredible filmmaking as well as big action-adventure movies. This one has been even better reviewed,” said Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore. “You look at the level of critical response and the audience reaction, we definitely feel like the movie is set to play into Memorial Day and into the summer.”
Moore said he expected the movie, which had a 140 million budget, should gross over 200 million total this summer, even with competition like “Terminator: Salvation” coming on May 21 and “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” arriving in theaters July 15.
Abrams got it right, he said, by appealing to both hardcore “Star Trek” fans as well as moviegoers who may not have been familiar with the 1960s television series and the many movies and TV spin-offs it spawned. It stars Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock, and features an appearance by Leonard Nimoy as an older version of the half-Vulcan, half-human Spock.
“It just shows you how talented he is and what a great movie he made,” Moore said.
“Star Trek” also beat the 6.3 million record “The Dark Knight” set in its opening weekend on IMAX screens last year.
“The DNA of this movie and the DNA of the `Star Trek’ franchise work perfectly together and are very much a complement to what IMAX has accomplished,” said Greg Foster, chairman and president of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “IMAX was a company that had a sort of older-school, older-fashioned approach to things and we hipped it up and reinvented ourselves, if you will. That’s precisely what J.J. Abrams and Paramount did with ‘Star Trek.’”
The fact that the “Star Trek” haul improved from 26.8 million on Friday to 27.4 million on Saturday is a good sign, said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com.
“Sometimes you will see a movie drop big-time,” Dergarabedian said. “What this ‘Star Trek’ is going to have is legs, a rare commodity in this world where every week there’s a new blockbuster.”
As expected, last week’s top film, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” came in at No. 2 with 27 million. The prequel to the “X-Men” franchise, starring Hugh Jackman as the mutant who slices and dices his enemies with his metal claws, has made nearly 129.6 million in two weeks.
“It’s the same weekend drop as (‘X-Men: The Last Stand’), the last one. That tends to be what fan-based movies do,” said Chris Aronson, senior vice president of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox. “To have 130 million in the first 10 days is sensational. We think we withstood the attack of ‘Star Trek,’ if you will, and will settle into a long, successful run.”
The week’s other new wide release, the stoner comedy “Next Day Air,” came in at sixth place with 4 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. “Star Trek,” 72.5 million.
2. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” 27 million.
3. “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,” 10.45 million.
4. “Obsessed,” 6.6 million.
5. “17 Again,” 4.4 million.
6. “Next Day Air,” 4 million.
7. “The Soloist,” 3.6 million.
8. “Monsters vs. Aliens,” 3.4 million.
9. “Earth,” 2.5 million.
10. “Hannah Montana: The Movie,” 2.4 million.
___
On the Net:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___
Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Vantage are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney’s parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.

Zuma calms markets with new cabinet
By Joseph Winter
BBC News, Pretoria
South Africa’s new President Jacob Zuma has taken the bold step of replacing the world’s longest-serving finance minister in his first announcement since being sworn in on Saturday.
But, if anything, Mr Zuma has made the widely respected Trevor Manuel even more powerful, by naming him head of the new national planning commission in the president’s office, as he announced his new cabinet.
The new commission will draw up the entire government strategy, Mr Zuma said.
And he has moved to avoid a repeat of the market jitters when Mr Manuel announced his resignation last year – only to be immediately reappointed – by naming his successor as Pravin Gordhan.
“He is an excellent choice,” Chris Hart, chief economist at Investment Solutions, told the BBC.
Although Mr Zuma has always denied planning to change economic tack, he owes his position to massive support among poor black South Africans.
He also enjoyed the full backing of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the trade union grouping Cosatu.
Financial pressure
This led some analysts to predict that President Zuma would be less business-friendly than his long-time rival, former President Thabo Mbeki, and that he might succumb to pressure from his supporters to massively increase state spending.
Mr Hart thinks the markets will not be fazed by the nomination of Mr Gordhan, who until now has headed the South African Revenue Service, where he has increased income and made the administration more efficient.
“He is quite capable of standing up to any ‘loonyness’ in terms of economic policy,” said Mr Hart.
But Mr Zuma will be under pressure from millions of poor South Africans to have a bit of “loonyness” – if that means more government jobs and spending on things like better schools and provision of water, housing and electricity.
“He knows the poor of this country – we are hoping for a lot from him,” South African resident Nkompela Xolile told the BBC shortly before Mr Zuma took the oath of office on Saturday.
They take heart from the fact that Mr Zuma grew up in poverty and started out herding goats in his village of Nkandla.
Following the SACP’s support for his candidacy, Mr Zuma did name its leader Blade Nzimande as higher education minister.
“He will try to influence economic policy,” said Mr Hart.
But asked about the direction of economic policy, Mr Zuma said that it would be reviewed by the new team and he did not want to “jump the gun”.
After announcing the cabinet, Mr Zuma warned his new team: “We will not tolerate laziness or incompetence.”
And he appointed a new “cabinet enforcer” in his office – Collins Chabane – to evaluate and monitor the performance of the rest of the cabinet.
The appointment of Mr Chabane and Mr Manuel means the new president has moved to concentrate more power in his office.
Various wives
But the soap opera of Mr Zuma’s various wives refuses to go away.
On Saturday, he had his first wife Sizakele Khumalo at his side, while his two other spouses were also present at the inauguration ceremony.
There had been speculation that Mr Zuma may be unable to include his ex-wife, outgoing Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, in his cabinet. Relations between the pair are described as “frosty”.
Instead she has been moved sideways, to the still powerful position of home – not domestic – affairs.
It might be that on South African mothers’ day, he did not want to spark a row with the mother of four of his at least 18 children.
Mr Zuma’s first wife accompanied him on inauguration day
South Africa has the world’s biggest HIV pandemic, with some 5.5 million people carrying the Aids virus.
So some will be alarmed that Mr Zuma has moved to change his health minister.
Barbara Hogan was appointed last year to widespread acclaim following years of antagonism between her predecessor and Aids activists.
But Mr Zuma dismissed suggestions that his appointment of Aaron Motsoaledi was “strange” and said he had a lot of experience at provincial level.
He also noted that he had not sacked Ms Hogan, merely switched her to public enterprises.
Comrade in arms
In the long term, the most significant appointment apart from Mr Gordhan, could be that of Tokyo Sexwale.
Like Mr Zuma and Nelson Mandela, Mr Sexwale was imprisoned on Robben Island for his role in the fight against white minority rule.
After the end of apartheid in 1994, he became the influential premier of the Gauteng Province which includes Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria.
He then left politics to concentrate on his extensive business affairs.
Although he has been given the lowly post of minister of human settlements, his return to politics means he is already being talked about as a future president.
Especially as Mr Zuma, 67, has said he will only serve one five-year term.
Asked by the BBC what would be the first thing he would do in office, Mr Zuma replied: “Drink a cup of rooibos tea, with honey and lemon.”
And then, it’s down to work for Mr Zuma and his team.

Source:BBC

Man Utd 2-0 Man City
By Mandeep Sanghera
Manchester United moved a step closer to retaining the Premier League title after beating rivals Manchester City.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s deflected free-kick put United ahead after wrong-footing keeper Shay Given, who got a hand to the ball but could not keep it out.
Carlos Tevez struck the City woodwork before powering in a 20-yard strike off the post to extend United’s advantage.
Robinho wasted City’s best chance when he shot wide from eight yards as the home side eased to victory.
United had gone into the game having seen Liverpool draw level with them at the Premier League summit with a win at West Ham on Saturday.

Rafael Benitez’s side were hoping the pressure would produce a wobble from the Old Trafford side but, instead, United’s pace, power and passing was too much for City.
United have a habit of timing their good form for the end of season run in and, even though this was their 62nd match of the season, they showed little sign of letting the league title slip from their grasp.
The hosts quickly set about City and Ronaldo teed up Ji-Sung Park, who dragged his angled shot wide of the far post.
United had slipped into their slick passing game and it did not take long for their pressure to be rewarded with a goal after City midfielder Vincent Kompany lost possession.
United broke and a back-tracking Stephen Ireland fouled Berbatov to leave Ronaldo to score from the type of 25-yard free-kick he excels at.
Robinho tried to respond for City when the ball broke kindly for him just outside the United area only for the Brazilian to shoot wide.
Too many of City’s passes were going awry and left their defence straining as they gave United the chance to continually launch attacks.
Tevez almost made them pay when he shifted inside and curled a strike which came off the angle of the woodwork.
But the Argentine made no mistake when Berbatov sublimely controlled a long Darren Fletcher ball and squared the ball for him to smash in a shot off the inside of the post.
City came out with more ambition after the break and Robinho had a great chance to pull one back.
He latched on to a Nigel de Jong through ball and showed excellent control only to shoot horribly wide from eight yards.
That was a rare chance for a City side who were unable to exert any concerted pressure on a resolute United defence led by the towering presence of Nemanja Vidic.

United were even able to step off the gas and conserve some energy ahead of playing again on Wednesday against Wigan.
Martin Petrov did force United keeper Edwin van der Sar into a full-length diving save to turn his shot round the post, while at the other end Tevez again hit the post, this time with a close-range header.
The only slight on United’s win was the angry reaction of Ronaldo to being substituted but they now need four points from their remaining three games – with the others against Arsenal and Hull – to clinch the title.
Man Utd:
Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva, Vidic, Evans (O’Shea 71), Evra, Ronaldo (Scholes 58), Fletcher, Giggs, Park (Rooney 58), Berbatov, Tevez.
Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Neville, Carrick, Nani.
Booked:
Fletcher.
Goals:
Ronaldo 18, Tevez 45.
Man City:
Given, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Bridge, Elano, Ireland, Kompany, De Jong (Petrov 73), Robinho (Evans 89), Caicedo (Bojinov 63).
Subs Not Used: Hart, Zabaleta, Fernandes, Berti.
Booked:
Ireland.
Att:
75,464
Ref:
Chris Foy (Merseyside).
BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match:
Man Utd’s Carlos Tevez (8.50 on 90 minutes).
Please note that you can still give the players marks out of 10 on BBC Sport’s Player Rater after the match has finished.

Source:BBC

UN aid chief sees hope in Darfur
By Andrew Harding
BBC News, Darfur
Two months after key international aid agencies were expelled from Sudan, the UN is cautiously optimistic about the humanitarian situation in Darfur.
Visiting the region, the UN’s emergency relief co-ordinator said there was no hard evidence that more people had died because of the disrupted aid effort.
However, John Holmes said the situation remained fragile.
In March, 13 foreign aid agencies were expelled after Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, was indicted for war crimes.
No one is claiming that Darfur is on the mend.
As we arrived in the middle of a sandstorm at a makeshift camp outside the town of al-Fasher, a lorry packed with fleeing civilians drove in.
The families onboard spoke of heavy fighting nearby in the past few days.
Some 40,000 people have sought refuge in the camp this year alone.
But John Holmes, the UN’s senior humanitarian official, was keen to point out that, despite the recent expulsion of key international aid agencies, the humanitarian situation had not deteriorated as dramatically as many had feared.
The UN and the Sudanese government have filled many gaps.
Mr Holmes said there was “no hard evidence” that anyone had died because of the expulsion of aid agencies.
“I think most of the life-saving gaps have been met but of course some services have been reduced in some places so you can’t exclude that there have been extra deaths. But we have no evidence of that at the moment,” Mr Holmes told the BBC.
Unpredictable
The dramatic expulsion of 13 foreign aid agencies followed the announcement that Sudan’s president was being indicted by the International Criminal Court.
The impact in Darfur has been serious.
But Mr Holmes said that recently there had been signs of much greater flexibility from the Sudanese authorities.
Privately, other UN officials went further, arguing that the operating environment had actually improved, and welcoming the fact that the Sudanese government was being forced to take more of a role in the relief effort.
Still, Darfur remains a dangerously unpredictable place – plagued by conflict, with no comprehensive peace deal in sight, and with a third of the population unable to go home.

Source:BBC

UNION MANTARO, Peru – The last town on a rutted dirt road in Peru’s most prolific cocaine-producing highland valley, Union Mantaro has no police post, no church and no health clinic. Its 600 people lack running water and electricity.
Until January, makeshift huts of wood and plastic housed scores of refugees from a government offensive against a small but lethal band of drug-funded rebels, revitalized remnants of the fanatical Shining Path guerrilla movement.
Most have since returned to outlying mountain villages as the rebels frustrated the army’s campaign against them, killing 33 soldiers and wounding 48 since the military arrived in August. The rebel death toll is unknown.
The army’s setbacks — the narcotics trade does not appear to have been dented — are more than a worrisome embarrassment for the central government in faraway Lima. Critics say President Alan Garcia needs to act fast or risk greater instability.
Peru’s cocaine trade — No. 2 after Colombia’s — is booming after a 1990s drop-off. The government calls the insurgents who’ve used it to rearm ideologically bankrupt, but peasants who have coexisted with them don’t necessarily agree. At least not publicly.
The gateway to the Shining Path’s jungle-draped stronghold, Union Mantaro is a bumpy two-day drive down the Andes’ eastern slopes from the provincial capital of Ayacucho, where the movement was born nearly three decades ago.
Along the road into the Apurimac and Ene valley, women and children dry coca leaves on long canvas beds in front of half-built, brick homes. A pro-coca political party has painted the leaf on wooden shacks in villages so poor that parents must chip in to pay teachers’ salaries.
Coca production soared in this rugged region just 100 miles from the world-renowned Machu Picchu ruins as migrants more than doubled its population to some 240,000 in little more than a decade.
Growing the crop, a mild stimulant widely chewed in the Andes, is legal in Peru, but authorities say nine-tenths of it goes to the illegal manufacture of cocaine.
“Politicians in Lima don’t know what’s going on in these communities. If they did, they would know the solution to the problem isn’t more soldiers,” says Marisela Quispe, a government worker who keeps track of victims of political violence.
Experts say the rebel group — Sendero Luminoso in Spanish — now has some 400 well-armed fighters in two separate groups. The larger contingent moves with ease in the lush mountains flanking this valley.
It has spies in every village, allies forged through the drug trade who immediately send word when soldiers head out on patrol, says army Maj. Chirinos Carlos Rivera. His 150 soldiers are based downriver from Union Mantaro.
The locals, says Quispe, see no alternative to drug trade.
Behind the trappings of a narco-economy — 4×4 pickups and well-stocked agrochemical stores — the valley is poor. More than half the people live on less than 2 a day.
Union Mantaro has long been a drug trade hub. Before the army arrived, guerrillas shouldering AK-47s and Galil assault rifles routinely filed into town to buy supplies, and attracted migrants by offering free land to coca growers.
“They gave you a hand in clearing the jungle, handed out supplies and food, maybe a hatchet. All to help you start out,” says Abran Rojas, 27, a coca farmer who arrived in 2006.
He settled in Pampa Aurora, a village of 60 people a six-hour walk above Union Mantaro along a prime smuggling route. He said 10 to 20 smugglers would file past carrying cocaine-filled backpacks a few times a week, accompanied by rebels clad in crisp, dark-blue or green uniforms.
Then came the army offensive.
Soldiers shot and killed four people in one village in September, says Norberto Lanilla, a lawyer representing the victims’ relatives.
“They called us terrorists and collaborators. After the killings we had a week to grab what we could and leave,” Rojas said of the soldiers.
Defense Minister Antero Florez defended the soldiers, saying anyone living in the rebel-dominated mountains should be considered an insurgent.
Rojas and other refugees deny they are collaborators. But they say it’s best to avoid contact with the military.
“The soldiers try to use you quickly, for information, as guides. But if you guide, ‘Los Tios’ don’t forgive. They kill,” Rojas says. The rebels are known as “Los Tios,” Spanish for the uncles.
The government says the repackaged Shining Path differs little from the far larger leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in the neighboring Andean nation. It says they are simply militarized drug gangs.
Rojas and other refugees from Pampa Aurora aren’t so sure. They say the Shining Path fighters appear to have a political agenda and sit peasants down every few weeks for lectures.
“They tell you the government has forgotten the poor. That our rights are stomped on by the rich, the police, the military,” he said.
It took some persuading, though, to get 33-year-old Obertino Coro to return to Pampa Aurora four years ago, he said.
In 1984, he fled the village after watching guerrillas hack his father, an ex-soldier, and two other men to pieces, then burn the village to the ground. The three men had joined a militia formed to fight Sendero.
Coro returned after running into rebels in the jungle who told him they now reject using violence against civilians.
Which does not mean the new Sendero tolerates military collaborators. It recently hauled away a member of a pro-government militia when it turned back a group of peasants trying to return to Pampa Aurora.
He has not been heard from since.
“They’re wolves in sheep’s clothes,” says Wagner Tineo, chief coordinator of the region’s militias, which he said have waned due to government inattention.
Not since the 1990s, under then-President Alberto Fujimori, has the government provided the militias with weapons.
Fujimori, whose presidency ended in scandal, was convicted last month and sentenced to 25 years in prison for killings and other military abuses committed during his decade in power. Nearly 70,000 people were killed from 1980-2000 as security forces and Sendero rebels routinely killed those suspected of collaborating with the enemy side.
The movement faded after the 1992 capture of Sendero founder Abimael Guzman, but in recent years remnants evolved into a cocaine-processing and smuggling mafia.
The Apurimac and Ene valley produces more than a third of Peru’s coca crop, which the United Nations estimated at 53,700 hectares for 2007 — the highest in a decade.
The United States gave Peru 61.3 million in anti-drug aid last year — though the manual eradication and crop substitution it funds are farther north in the Upper Huallaga valley, where police have had success against the smaller Shining Path band.
Gen. Alcardo Moncada Novoa, the army commander for the Apurimac and Ene region, says his troops have it tough by contrast: The rebels “know the terrain and have been in the area for 20 years.”
On April 9, rebels killed 15 soldiers in an ambush, some blown sideways off a mountain by dynamite. The rebels didn’t spare their wounded commander.
“The captain was still alive and they finished him off with machete blows and rocks. They destroyed his skull,” the newsmagazine Caretas quoted survivor Sgt. Jose Huaman Silva as saying.
The military alone can’t defeat the insurgents, say officials in the region. They say the bureaucracy that has hindered development must be surmounted.
A project due to finally bring electricity all the way to Union Mantaro was launched in 2003. And the government has promised to improve the road — and even extend it to Pampa Aurora.
A paved road promised since the 1990s, on which public bidding has yet to begin, would finally let residents deliver cacao, coffee and jungle fruits to market in Ayacucho.
But even with the road, simple economics favors the cocaine trade. Currently, coca is harvested four times a year in the valley and sells for 3.30 per kilo while coffee and cacao yield one crop a year and 1.25 to 1.50 a kilo.
Gen. Moncada says battling Sendero and destroying drug labs aren’t enough.
“Controlling the trade in cocaine’s chemical precursors would be the first true advance against drug trafficking in the region,” he said.
At a narcotics police checkpoint in Machente, a village on the main road into the valley, a captain showed Associated Press journalists a register of materials used in cocaine production that have passed into the conflict zone.
In the first week of April alone, 18,000 kilograms of calcium hydroxide, a compound also called slaked lime with various legitimate uses, and 12,000 gallons of kerosene transited the post.
People here say kerosene is not used in homes in the valley, and on April 30, President Alan Garcia decreed a national ban on its sale, calling it a key step in undercutting cocaine production.
It will be a minimum of three months before the ban takes effect.

WILMINGTON, Ohio – Comedian Jay Leno is taking his tour to southwest Ohio to boost morale in a region wracked by layoffs.
The “Tonight Show” host is putting on two free shows expected to draw thousands of people to the Roberts Centre in Wilmington on Sunday.
The city of about 12,000 residents has drawn national attention as a vivid example of the economic struggles of small U.S. communities during the recession. The main presidential candidates discussed its plight last year.
About 8,000 workers were employed at the Wilmington Air Park a year ago when DHL Express announced it was pulling out, and about 3,500 remain.
Wilmington Mayor David Raizk (RESK) says at least half of them will lose their jobs when DHL leaves this summer.

Gasquet admits failed drugs test
Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Richard Gasquet has admitted testing positive for cocaine, but insists he will clear his name.
The 22-year-old, who could face a two-year ban from the sport, failed the test at the Miami Masters in March.
“The test of the B sample submitted at the end of March 2009, confirmed the positive result of the A sample taken on the same day,” said the Frenchman.
“I want to prove my innocence and will explain myself at an appropriate time.”
Gasquet, who reached the Wimbledon semis in 2007 and has a career-high ranking of seventh, said he had submitted himself to an independent test and that a hair analysis “showed no trace of cocaine”.
In a statement released earlier on Sunday, the French Tennis Federation said it was “very surprised” by the news.
“If confirmed according to official proceedings, it would be very sad for Richard Gasquet, for tennis in general and for French tennis in particular, whose image would be tarnished,” read the FFT statement.
“At this stage, the FFT does not wish to make further comments because it is down to the anti-doping authorities, within the International Tennis Federation (ITF), to assess such a case and it is not for the FFT to intervene.
“The FFT will follow with great attention the developments of this case, avoiding making hasty judgements and is anxious to leave the player to organise his defence for the international tennis bodies.
“If the facts are correct, however, this would be particularly unfortunate in light of all the efforts of the FFT in terms of deterring athletes (from using banned substances).”
Gasquet has been regarded as the brightest young talent in French tennis since turning professional in 2002.
He ended his debut season as the youngest player to finish in the top 200 in the world rankings, and was also the youngest to qualify for an ATP Masters at Monte Carlo.
Gasquet has won five singles titles and more than US4m (2.7m) in prize money during his career.

Source:BBC

LOS ANGELES – “Star Trek” beamed itself up to the top of the box office, earning 76.5 million in its opening weekend.
Paramount Pictures had estimated that the movie would make about 50 million for the weekend, but figured that strong reviews helped carry it to the bigger opening.
The studio said director J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the beloved sci-fi franchise made 4 million just in pre-midnight screenings Thursday — plus a record 8.2 million in IMAX showings.
“Star Trek,” which reveals the back stories of Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock and the rest of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, received 96 percent positive reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes Web site.

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Jeremy Mayfield was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR on Saturday for failing a random drug test, becoming the first driver to violate a toughened new policy that went into effect this season.
Mayfield tested positive for a banned substance last weekend at Richmond International Raceway.
“In my case, I believe that the combination of a prescribed medicine and an over the counter medicine reacted together and resulted in a positive drug test,” Mayfield said in a statement. “My doctor and I are working with both Dr. (David) Black and NASCAR to resolve this matter.”
Black is the CEO of Aegis Sciences Corp. in Nashville, Tenn., which runs NASCAR’s testing program.
NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter would not reveal what banned substance Mayfield used, but Hunter said it was not an alcohol-related offense.
“There is no place for substance abuse in our sport,” Hunter said.
NASCAR also suspended two crew members for failed tests at Richmond.
Tony Martin, a crew member for the car John Andretti drove last weekend at Richmond, and Ben Williams, a crew member for the Nationwide Series car Matt Kenseth drove last weekend, were both suspended indefinitely.
Mayfield, who is driving a car this season he owns himself, failed to qualify for Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race at Darlington Speedway.
Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon said Mayfield’s suspension shows how serious NASCAR is about its new testing policy.
“I think it’s very unfortunate for Jeremy, but it’s going to send a big message through this garage area to make sure we are treating this sport as professionally as it deserves to be,” Gordon said. “There are too many guys out there and you know somebody is going to make a mistake. We’ve heard of other instances outside of the Cup series. I think it’s just very unfortunate for the sport, for Jeremy, for everybody.
“It definitely puts a black eye on it. We’ll take the blows and move on.”
NASCAR said Mayfield was randomly tested last Friday in Richmond. The Aegis lab discovered the positive “A” sample Tuesday and notified Mayfield. Two days later, the lab told NASCAR of the failed test.
Mayfield, who participated in both of Friday’s practice sessions at Darlington, asked Friday for his backup “B” sample to be tested. That, too, came back positive, and he was told by Aegis officials Saturday afternoon.
Black said he spoke with Mayfield, who can return to NASCAR only after he completes a “path for reinstatement” that’s tailored to each individual. The process, which can include rehab, varies depending on the substance.
The suspension, which cannot be appealed, applies to Mayfield’s roles as owner and driver of the No. 41 Toyota. Although the car can race next week at Lowe’s Motor Speedway with another driver, Hunter said it cannot be entered with Mayfield as the owner.
The 39-year-old driver said in his statement that an interim owner and a temporary replacement driver would be announced early next week.
Andretti, who finished 32nd in last week’s race at Richmond, said he’s not worried that the driver next to him might be driving impaired and applauded NASCAR’s tougher drug policy.
“I think it’s a great thing that they (NASCAR) do,” Andretti said from Indianapolis, where he’s preparing for the Indy 500 later this month. “And whoever they catch and confirm, so there’s no mistake, shame on them.”
Just days after the Daytona 500, one of Mayfield’s crew members became the first person punished under NASCAR’s new drug policy for a failed test. Mayfield fired Paul Chodora after he was suspended.
Mayfield, a two-time qualifier for the Chase for the championship, has five Cup victories in 433 career starts, but none since 2005 at Michigan. He was fired by Evernham Motorsports in late 2006 and bounced around until this season, when he formed Mayfield Motorsports.
He threw the team together in less than a month but made headlines as the underdog who raced his way into the season-opening Daytona 500. But he made just four of the next 10 races, and is currently 44th in the Cup standings.
NASCAR announced a new, tougher drug policy last September. The guidelines were strengthened in part because of former Truck Series driver Aaron Fike’s admission that he had used heroin — even on days he raced.
Under the new rules, all drivers and crew members were tested before the season began. Random tests are scheduled throughout the year, and at least four drivers are tested each weekend. Hunter said the drivers are selected through an automated computer program.
___
AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer in Charlotte, N.C., and Associated Press Sports Writer Mike Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

NEW YORK – As far as Wall Street is concerned there is no bad news anymore.
At least for now, traders are seeing news about longtime trouble spots like banking and unemployment in a strictly positive light.
Surging bank stocks have lifted the Standard & Poor’s 500 index a dizzying 37.4 percent since early March, when the benchmark for many mutual funds and other investments skidded to a 12-year low. The index is still down 40.6 percent from its high in October 2007.
“We trust the rally,” said Chris Hyzy, chief investment officer at US Trust. He said the rapid climb since March 9 is justified because investors are no longer running from worries about a possible depression.
On paper, U.S. stocks have gained nearly 2.9 trillion in value since the rally started.
The latest fuel for the ascent came from news that job losses slowed in April and that big banks don’t need as much capital as some investors had feared.
The Labor Department said employers cut 539,000 jobs last month — the fewest in six months and much fewer than analysts had expected.
Bank shares surged after the government released report cards on the nation’s 19 largest financial institutions. With the “stress tests” results out and easing fears about the stability of banks, investors could check another item off their list of worries.
“Getting past the stress tests was a milestone,” said Jim Dunigan, managing executive of investments for PNC Wealth Management. “That was a cloud hanging over our head for the past several months. The good news is there were no surprises.”
The dissipating worries sent the Dow charging higher by 164.80 points, or 2 percent, to 8,574.65. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 21.84, or 2.4 percent, to 929.23, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 22.76, or 1.3 percent, to 1,739.00.
For the week, the Dow is up 4.4 percent, trimming its losses for 2009 to only 200 points, or 2.3 percent. It was the eighth gain for the index in nine weeks. The S&P 500 index jumped 5.9 percent, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 1.2 percent after logging bigger gains in recent weeks than other indicators.
Bank stocks drove Friday’s advance. Investors were relieved that 10 of the 19 companies will need to raise about 75 billion in new capital as a buffer against losses if the economy worsens.
“If anything, the market is reading this more as a sign of approval than a bad sign for the weaker banks,” said Jim Sinegal, equity analyst at Morningstar.
Citigroup Inc. rose 21 cents, or 5.5 percent, to 4.02, and Bank of America Corp. rose 66 cents, or 4.9 percent, to 14.17. Regional bank Fifth Third Bancorp soared 3.14, or 59 percent, to 8.49.
The KBW Bank Index, which tracks 24 of the nation’s largest banks, jumped 12.1 percent.
Though analysts believe many challenges remain, the market has demonstrated an ability to maintain its gains, putting in its best two-month performance in nearly 35 years.
“Every economic report, every earnings release is going to continue to paint a picture of an economy that is on the mend and that is going to form the foundation for this rally, which I think is sustainable,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank.
Even the battered labor market has been showing signs of moderation. On Thursday, the government said new applications for unemployment benefits fell unexpectedly last week to the lowest level in 14 weeks.
But unemployment often continues to creep higher after recessions end so analysts focused on the drop in job losses in April. The government said Friday that the unemployment rate climbed to 8.9 percent in April — the highest level since 1983. And economists said government hiring of temporary workers for the 2010 census helped blunt the job losses.
“The news is never all good when you’ve hit bottom,” said Alan Skrainka, chief market strategist at Edward Jones. “But that doesn’t change our view that the rate of decline is slowing.”
Many market watchers are encouraged.
Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist for brokerage Charles Schwab & Co., said during the week that the recession might already have ended.
Even rising energy prices have been a good sign because traders are betting that an improving economy will require more resources.
Oil rose 1.92 to settle at 58.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday and gasoline futures closed at their highest levels since November.
That helped energy stocks. Chevron Corp. gained 2.40, or 3.5 percent, to 70.38, while Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 1.87, or 2.7 percent, to 70.80.
In other trading, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 18.88, or 3.8 percent, to 511.82 and is now up 2.5 percent for the year.
About six stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 7.9 billion shares compared with 8.7 billion shares traded Thursday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. Gold prices slipped.
Overseas, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.4 percent, Germany’s DAX index rose 2.3 percent, and France’s CAC-40 added 1.9 percent. Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0.5 percent.
____
The Dow Jones industrial average closed the week up 362.24, or 4.4 percent, at 8,574.65. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 51.71, or 5.9 percent, to 929.23. The Nasdaq composite index rose 19.80, or 1.2 percent, to 1,739.00.
The Russell 2000 index, which tracks the performance of small company stocks, rose 12.37, or 2.5 percent, for the week to 511.82.
The Dow Jones U.S. Total Stock Market Index — which measures nearly all U.S.-based companies — ended at 9,509.08, up 510.35, or 5.7 percent, for the week. A year ago, the index was at 14,121.06.

ATLANTA – The Cleveland Cavaliers were actually being challenged. Finally, LeBron James had seen enough. James scored 47 points in his best game yet of these playoffs, leading the Cavaliers to the brink of their second straight postseason sweep with a 97-82 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.
“He took the ball, put it in his hands and said he was going to score for us, so I told him, ‘OK,’” Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. “I just told everybody else, ‘Let’s defend.’”
Back home after two blowout losses in Cleveland, the Hawks put up their best fight of the series. It didn’t matter, not against King James. They now find themselves just one defeat away from calling it a season, the Cavaliers pushing out to another 3-0 lead after breezing past Detroit in the opening round.
Cleveland kept up its dominating run through the playoffs, setting an NBA record with its seventh straight double-figure win to eclipse the mark set by the 2004 Indiana Pacers. The only solace for the Hawks: They stopped Cleveland’s streak of 20-point playoff wins at three.
The Hawks were only down 47-46 at the halftime, and they surged back into their first second-half lead of the series with a 13-0 run in the third quarter. But Zaza Pachulia got ejected for arguing a foul call — acting as though he might attack the officials — and Atlanta faded away down the stretch.
James eclipsed his previous high in these playoffs of 38 points vs. the Pistons, and finished just one off his best playoff performance ever, a 48-point night against Detroit while leading Cleveland to its first trip ever to the NBA finals.
They appear to be on the way again, especially with the league’s MVP leading the way.
James hit a running 13-footer to send the Cavaliers to the final period with a 72-65 lead. If the Hawks had any thoughts of a comeback, James quickly erased them.
He hit a jumper near the courtside seat and slapped his hands in delight with just over 8 minutes remaining. On Cleveland’s next possession, James stood out near the half-court line, barking instructions at his teammates. Delonte West and Zydrunas Ilgauskas both popped out to set picks, and James weaved his way through the Atlanta defense before pulling up to launch a floater just off the foul lane.
Nothing but net.
James repeated the same drill from the opposite side, only this time he cut along the baseline, drawing virtually every Atlanta player his way, before dumping off to a wide-open Ilgauskas under the basket. The Hawks had no choice but to hack the big man as he went up to shoot, stopping the layup but sending him to the foul line.
“LeBron was just out of his mind tonight,” Atlanta’s Josh Smith said.
Indeed, while James was a virtual one-man show, he kept his teammates involved by dishing out eight assists. If that wasn’t enough, he led Cleveland to a dominant performance on the boards, 46-23, with a game-high 12 rebounds.
Finally, with 44 seconds remaining, James’ work was done. He went off to a big ovation from the smattering of Cleveland fans who hung around to chant, “MVP! MVP! MVP!”
James has been incredibly efficient in this series, playing 108 minutes and scoring 108 points.
Atlanta was hardly in position to challenge the Cavaliers, who had the league’s best record during the regular season (66-16). When factoring in that three starters — Joe Johnson, Al Horford and Marvin Williams — were hurting, there seemed little chance of Atlanta challenging the Cavaliers.
But they did for nearly three quarters. Though Pachulia’s ejection seemed to take any life out of the raucous crowd — and the home team. The Hawks were outscored 31-17 after the emotional Georgian was tossed.
“I thought it was an offensive foul,” Pachulia said. “Maybe I overreacted.”
Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
James was 15 of 25 from the field, went 5 of 10 outside the 3-point arc (even banking in one), and wound up making more free throws — 12 of 16 — than the entire Hawks’ team attempted (7 of 11).
“He’s not the MVP for nothing,” Pachulia said. “He’s the best player in the league. He knows when to push the gas. That’s what he did.”
Johnson, who didn’t decide until game time that he was healthy enough to play, led the Hawks with 21 points. Smith added 18 and Flip Murray 17.
Ilgauskas scored 14, West had 12 and Mo Williams 11 for the Cavaliers.
Notes:@ Horford played more than 35 minutes on his gimpy ankle but wasn’t much of a factor. He had six points and four rebounds. Williams played only 13 1/2 minutes and scored four points. … There were plenty of celebrities in the sellout crowd of 20-143, including rappers T.I., Nelly and Young Jeezy, as well as producer Jermaine Dupree.

ISLAMABAD, PakistanPakistani forces have killed as many as 200 Taliban militants in the past day in the Swat and Shangla areas, the military said Sunday.
Pakistan has launched a massive military operation against the Taliban in the Swat Valley.
CNN could not verify the account, because journalists are barred from the region. The military blamed the Taliban for injuring civilians as the offensive entered its third week. “Indiscriminate mortar firing and planting of IEDs [improvised explosive devices] in the streets and roads by the miscreants in the populated areas of village Thana, Malakand and Mingora, resulted into civilian casualties,” the military said in a statement. The military eased a curfew on the region, allowing civilians to flee the fighting between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. (7 p.m. Saturday and 4 a.m. Sunday EDT). The United Nations refugee agency warned Friday of a “massive displacement” of civilians as the military wages its campaign with helicopter gunships, tanks and artillery. Watch as CNN’s Ivan Watson tours a refugee camp »
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In the last few days, an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 Pakistanis have fled the military operation, according to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Ron Redmond, citing provincial government data. Another 300,000 Pakistanis were on the move or expected to flee the fighting. At least two soldiers were killed Sunday, and another died of wounds he suffered on Friday, the military statement said. Watch why civilians have backed the Taliban to survive »
The military has been releasing regular reports saying it has killed Taliban militants in the region, but it has produced little evidence of the successes it claims. Journalists have not been permitted to observe the offensive and the army has not shown the bodies of the dead militants. It is also not clear what effect the offensive is having on the overall fight against the Taliban in the region, as fears grow that they could threaten the stability of Pakistan, a nuclear-armed power and key U.S. ally.
Source:CNN

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) –
More than 100,000 civilians were expected to flee Pakistan's battle-torn northwest on Sunday, after the government eased a curfew so people could escape a military onslaught against the Taliban.
Aid agencies fear a humanitarian disaster as security forces pound insurgent hideouts in the scenic Swat valley, a former ski-resort northwest of Islamabad torn apart by a two-year insurgency by the Islamist hardliners.
Up to 500,000 desperate people are already believed to have left their homes in Swat and nearby Lower Dir and Buner districts, the United Nations refugee agency has said, crowding into hastily-set up camps.
With the government unable to provide transport for the panicked diaspora, witnesses said people were grabbing what they could and streaming into thousands of vehicles or setting off on foot with their meagre belongings.
“I have just 4,000 rupees (50 dollars) cash and some clothes. I must leave today. It is like a doomsday here in Mingora,” said 24-year-old Asifa as she stood at the bus stop in Swat's main town with her three children.
“There is nobody to help me. It is everybody for themselves. I am willing to sit even on the roof of the bus, but there is no place.”
The easing of the curfew began at 6:00 am (0000 GMT) in Swat and Malakand, and has been extended to 3:00 pm because of the numbers trying to flee, a military official said.
“We expect more than 100,000 people will quit their homes at different places in Swat today,” local administration chief Khushhal Khan told AFP.
The government has said it was bracing to cope with half a million people displaced by the fighting.
“The crisis threatens to be the largest man-made humanitarian disaster in Pakistan's post-independence history,” the British-based charity Muslim Aid said in a statement on Sunday.
Information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Saturday appealed to the international community to help Pakistan cope with the flood of refugees.
“The situation at the camps is very worrisome because the weather is hot and people are facing many difficulties,” Hussain told a news conference.
“It is very difficult to control sentiments while seeing children crying in the camp,” he added.
Thousands of Pakistani troops backed by warplanes and helicopter gunships are involved in the massive operation against Taliban and extremist fighters in the area, where jet fighters were pounding suspected rebel hideouts.
Khan said the government had made no arrangements for the transportation of the more than 100,000 civilians expected to flee Sunday, but had set up five more camps in North West Frontier Province where the displaced will be lodged.
Pakistani security forces mounted operations across three districts late last month after the hardline Taliban advanced to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of Islamabad, despite a February ceasefire with the rebels.
Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani said Saturday that the army would minimise civilian casualties while the government would look after the displaced, but people streaming out of the area say homes have been hit with many killed.
Pakistan's military says they have killed nearly 200 militants since Friday, although the death tolls could not be confirmed independently because of the ongoing military operation.
“Militants are using houses of civilians as bunkers for engaging security forces,” the military said, adding that insurgents were “harassing” the civil population and were “intensely involved in looting and arson” in Mingora.
The fighting has sunk the controversial February deal between the government and an Islamist hardliner that aimed to put three million people under sharia law in a bid to end the Taliban uprising.
Critics in Washington said the deal emboldened the Taliban and have welcomed the renewed military offensive, which also has broad public support.

WASHINGTON (AFP) –
The Hubble space telescope, the object of NASA's fifth and last servicing mission next week, is a veritable time machine that has revolutionized humankind's vision and comprehension of the universe.
Put into orbit at an altitude of 600 kilometers (360 miles) by the shuttle Discovery on April 25, 1990, Hubble has transmitted more than 750,000 spectacular images and streams of data from the ends of the universe, opening a new era in astronomy.
But the telescope, the fruit of a collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency, had a troubled start and did not become operational until three years after its deployment.
Its lense in effect had to be fixed because of a flaw in its shape, a sensitive operation that was not carried out until 1993 in the first shuttle-borne service mission, which installed corrective lenses.
From that time on Hubble has transmitted stupefying images of supernovas, gigantic explosions that marked the death of a star and revealed mysterious black holes in the center of virtually all galaxies.
Thanks to these observations, delivered with 10 times the clarity of the most powerful telescopes on Earth, astronomers have been able to confirm that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate and to calculate its age with greater precision as an estimated 13.7 billion years.
The universe's accleration is the result of an unknown force dubbed dark energy that constitutes three-quarters of the universe and counter-balances the force of gravity.
The rest of the cosmos is composed of five percent visible matter and about 20 percent shadow matter or anti-matter.
Among the other discoveries credited to Hubble figures the detection of the first organic molecule in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star and the fact that the process of formation of planets and solar systems is relatively common in our galaxy, the Milky Way.
Hubble also has observed small proto-galaxies that were emitting rays of light when the universe was less than a billion years old, the farthest back in time that a telescope has been able to peer so far.
The two new instruments that will be installed by astronauts on the shuttle Atlantis will enable Hubble to look out in time as far as 600 to 500 million years after the universe's birth with a big bang, according to NASA.
“If we are successful HST (Hubble) will be more powerful and robust than ever before and will continue to enable world class science for at least another five years and overlap with (its successor) the James Webb Space Tlescope/JWST,” said Ed Weiller, associate director of NASA's research programs.
Closer to home, Hubble has observed radical changes in the direction of Saturn's winds and revealed that Neptune has seasons. The telescope also has examined mysterious lightning flashes on Jupiter and taken astonishing pictures of Mars.
This list of startling scientific discoveries have made Hubble “truly an icon of American life,” said Weiller.
“I maintain that if the average American knows only one science project, one science instrument, I bet it's Hubble,” he said.
“Hubble has become a standard in any astronomy book in many languages,” he added.

Los Angeles (E! Online) –
At least one Calfornia wildfire will be put out on Monday.
Shanna Moakler and Keith Lewis, codirectors of the Miss California U.S.A. pageant, are holding a press conference Monday morning to announce the fate of controversial crown holder Carrie Prejean.
Officials are in talks with the 21-year-old beauty queen's reps to determine whether she should keep the coveted tiara due to possible contract violations stemming from public appearances with same-sex marriage opponents and for failing to disclose sexy underwear ads taken as a teen.
In what could point to which way they're leaning, Tami Farrell, first runner-up in the Miss California contest, will also attend Monday's press conference.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump, co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization, will hold a press conference in New York to discuss the scandal. He will reportedly decide if Prejean will be stripped of her title as first runner-up in the 2009 Miss U.S.A pageant, which was held April 19.
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New audit plan for MPs’ expenses

An independent auditing body is to be set up to validate MPs’ expenses claims following months of damaging stories.
Senior Labour MP Sir Stuart Bell said MPs would be asked to approve the body, made up entirely of independent people.
The Sunday Telegraph has published more details, largely of Labour ministers’ expenses claims under the controversial second homes allowance.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said MPs faced “a challenge and wake-up call” that the system needed to change.
Sir Stuart said an independent audit body – separate from the Commons fees office which agrees the claims – would be set up to analyse “every claim that is made”.
‘Lost confidence’
BBC political correspondent Ben Wright said currently the fees office is overseen by a committee made up of MPs and independent people – who in turn are overseen by the National Audit Office.
The new body would be entirely independent and cost about 600,000 a year to run. He said the final plan would be put to Parliament for approval on Monday.
Sir Stuart told the BBC: “We will .. create a new body, a different body that will be separate and I would hope that once this body is created and is up and running it will then be hived off to the private sector to another firm, so there is an entire arm’s length between members of Parliament and those who are dispersing amounts under allowances.”
He said MPs had “lost the confidence of the public and we need to get that back”.
It comes as the Sunday Telegraph publishes a series of new revelations about MPs, including nearly 500,000 claimed by Sinn Fein MPs, who do not take their seats in Parliament – and public money paid to the Conservative former minister John Gummer to have moles removed from his country estate.
‘Wake-up call’
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears also faced questions about the sale of her designated second home – a London flat on which she claimed expenses – after it emerged she had not paid capital gains tax on the sale as it was her “main residence”.
Speaking outside her Salford home, she said she had “complied with the rules of the House, the rules of the Inland Revenue” but added: “I understand entirely why the public hates this. The system is wrong, it needs to be changed.”
Both she and another minister, Andy Burnham, called for the public to be involved in setting up a new, tighter system.
Mr Burnham – whose own claims have been examined by the Telegraph – told Sky News: “It can’t look like a solution has been stitched up in Westminster. I think there has to be some public endorsement.”
Meanwhile Mr Miliband told the BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: ” “What we are seeing this weekend … is a challenge and a wake-up call to politicians about the systems that we have in place.”
He said: “Of course it needs to be reformed. I take my responsibility as an MP that we didn’t reform it earlier.”
Millions of receipts backing up all MPs’ expenses claims under the second homes allowance were due to be published in July after a long campaign by journalists and a Freedom of Information campaigner.
But details have been leaked to the Telegraph – which has been publishing selected excerpts over the last few days.
It has concentrated largely on Labour ministers, but says it will publish details of other parties’ claims next week.
Conservative defence spokesman Liam Fox said he was not worried as every MP would have to answer for themselves.
But he told the BBC: “The trouble is that politicians have tended to say ‘we were only acting within the rules’ but the public think the rules themselves are wrong and go way beyond the legitimate needs of people who have to be in London to represent their constituents in Parliament.”

Source:BBC

JERUSALEM – An Israeli government plan to develop parks, hiking trails and tourist sites in east Jerusalem will permanently change the landscape of the contested city and cement Israel’s hold there, an Israeli group charged in a report released Sunday ahead of the pope’s visit to the city.
The government has undertaken an ambitious eight-year plan that will dramatically alter the “holy basin” — the sensitive area in and around the Old City that is home to sites holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims, according to the Israeli group, Ir Amim, which works for coexistence in Jerusalem.
The government has largely kept the plan secret, not soliciting input from the city’s Christians and Muslims or opening it to objections from the public, the group charges.
“It’s being done in a way that is opaque, with no public knowledge, without coordination with the churches or with the Muslim Waqf, in the precise opposite of transparent terms,” Daniel Seidemann, the Israeli attorney who founded Ir Amim, said Sunday. The Waqf is the custodian of Islamic holy sites in the city.
The park plan could destabilize Jerusalem and is “an act of colossal irresponsibility,” Seidemann said.
The Israeli government says the new development will benefit all of Jerusalem’s residents. An official in the prime minister’s office noted that under Israeli control, people of all faiths have had access to their holy sites in the city.
“The government will continue to develop Jerusalem, development that will benefit all of Jerusalem’s diverse population and respect the different faiths and communities that together make Jerusalem such a special city,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity pending a formal statement from the government.
The Jerusalem mayor’s office had no immediate comment.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, including the Old City, in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it, a move not recognized by the international community. Palestinians hope to make east Jerusalem the capital of their future state. Jerusalem, with the conflicting claims to the city, is the most intractable issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The report came ahead of Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to the Holy Land and to Jerusalem, beginning Monday. His visit could focus a spotlight on the dispute over the city. Palestinian activists have said they hope to use the papal visit to draw attention to their claims against Israel, including demolitions of Palestinian homes and construction of Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem.
“Jerusalem cannot be the monopoly of one religion or one state,” said Anglican Rev. Naim Ateek, a Palestinian activist. “We hope that the voice of his holiness the Pope is that Jerusalem must be shared.”

BOSASSO, Somalia (Reuters) –
Somali pirates said on Sunday they had received a $2-million (1.3-million pound) ransom for the release of a British-owned vessel and its 16 Bulgarian crew.
Pirate attacks, fueled by large ransoms, have continued almost unabated despite the presence of an armada of foreign warships patrolling the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
“We got a $2 million ransom for the release of the British-owned ship,” pirate Mohamed Saleh, from the Somali coastal village of Eyl, told Reuters on Sunday.
“A helicopter brought the money.”
The 32,000-tonne bulker, Malaspina Castle, was released on Saturday after being captured more than a month ago. Its Italian operator paid the ransom, according to Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry, which gave no details on the amount.
Analysts say the only way to stop bandits on the high seas is to resolve Somalia's political crisis on land where pirates profit from lawlessness as Islamist-led rebels fight government troops and African Union peacekeepers.
(Reporting by Abdiqani Hassan; Writing by Jack Kimball; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Sri Lankan officials on Sunday disavowed rebel claims that government troops had indiscriminately shelled a no-fire zone, killing many civilians Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Sri Lankan troops are trying to take the last areas held by Tamil Tiger rebels.
The accusations came after the government announced Thursday that it had “re-demarcated” the no-fire zone to encompass a new area 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) long and 1.5 kilometers (0.9 mile) wide. Earlier, the zone had encompassed more than 6 square kilometers (3.7 square miles). The zone had been designated to protect civilians trapped by fighting between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels. More than 2,000 were “feared dead,” many of them women and children, after government shelling, according to the rebel Web site Tamilnet.com. The exact number of victims had yet to be tallied, the site said. But a government official told CNN that there was no shelling in the no-fire zone during that time. CNN could not independently verify the accounts, because the government does not allow members of the news media independent access to areas where it is fighting the rebels.
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On Friday, a group of independent U.N. experts urged the U.N. Human Rights Council to investigate what it called a “critical” situation in Sri Lanka. “There is good reason to believe that thousands of civilians have been killed in the past three months alone, and yet the Sri Lankan government has yet to account for the casualties, or to provide access to the war zone for journalists and humanitarian monitors of any type,” U.N. expert Philip Alston said in a statement issued in Geneva, Switzerland. Government troops have closed in on rebel forces in a shrinking section of the country’s north, and civilians have been caught in crossfire. Accounts vary widely about how many have been trapped. As recently as last week, a military spokesman put the number at 10,000 to 15,000 civilians, while Tamilnet.com said, “reliable reports … put it to more than 120,000.” More than 196,000 people have fled the battle zone, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for an independent state in Sri Lanka’s northeast since 1983. As many as 70,000 people have been killed since the civil war began, and the group has been declared a terrorist organization by the European Union and more than 30 countries, including the United States.
Source:CNN

Diamonds are a miner’s best friend
Diamond prospectors and smugglers are drawn to a remote jungle in Venezuela, in the hope of finding a stone that could transform their lives. Paying them a visit, the BBC’s Will Grant got a glimpse of their dangerous lifestyle, and a society outside the law.
After several hours travelling in a 4X4 along treacherous mountain roads, we turned the final corner and suddenly the dense forest gave way to a wasteland.
Years of gold and diamond mining, using heavy machinery and powerful water hoses, have stripped the mountain of its tree cover and left a lamentable sight in its place.
Mounds of silt and sediment run-off have accumulated in thick islands in the Caroni River, as waterways of silvery, mercury-filled slurry snake their way down the face of the denuded hillside.
But in the ruins of the forest a community has settled.
A couple of kilometres further and we reach the tiny village of El Polaco – surely one of the most extraordinary places I have ever seen in Latin America.
Mining co-operative
There is something about the distant promise of unimaginable riches amid the poverty, which creates a sense of the surreal in El Polaco.
A dozen or so randomly arranged tin shacks around a nominal village square in which pigs, chickens and stray dogs root around for food.
Yet some of the shacks have satellite television dishes nailed to the roof.
Almost all of the miners’ homes are painted with pro-government slogans or the logo of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.
The mining co-operative members were clearly supporters of President Chavez, despite the illegality of what they are doing.
We are greeted by a slightly drunken group of men sitting in the shade drinking beer, who grunt their greetings in a mixture of Spanish and Portuguese.
For these men, the idea of finding that single diamond or seam of gold which would change their lives for ever and make them wealthy beyond their wildest dreams spurs them on to live in such a poor and isolated spot in the middle of jungle.
Diamond search
I am taken up to the mine by a barefoot young lad called Freddy, who takes time out from distributing the fruit he has picked with his friends to show me the way.
As we splash through the foul smelling water, I ask Freddy whether he has always lived in the village.
“No,” he says with a hint of defiance. “I’m on holiday. I study in Santa Elena,” – a town several hours away where the more successful miners send their children to school.
The mine itself is little more than a clearing by the river, in which the miners are tearing into the soft sediment with a high powered hose.
The run-off is channelled into a series of muddy pools, in which men are sieving though the sediment for flecks of gold, or more importantly, diamonds.
The men are dressed in trainers or wellington boots. Most of the children are barefoot. Freddy’s father, the foreman, is called Jon Jairo or “Guaco”.
“In the mines we all know each other by our nicknames. These guys probably don’t even know I’m called Jon Jairo. But if you ask ‘Who’s Guaco?’ they’ll say, ‘He’s the guy with the bad arm’.”
Guaco does indeed have a bad arm. It is still in plaster, grubby and stained from the mine.
He tells me that it was crushed by a boulder, shattering all the bones and tendons, and almost leading the doctors to amputate it.
“I haven’t worked for nine months,” he says ruefully. “Fortunately, I’m part of a co-operative and I could do other jobs. But if I was an artisan miner and worked independently, I don’t know how I would have been able to provide for my family.”
Perilous conditions
Working alongside Guaco’s team is one of the artisans he mentioned. “Payarito” is a tall, black man with a thick moustache and a welcoming smile.
Like many others, Payarito hopes to find a gem that will transform his life.
He is sporting no more than a yellow vest and a baseball cap to protect himself from the perilous conditions in which he works.
How does he differ from the others? I work separately, he says, and I go through the material they have already checked, looking for diamonds.
“Do you declare what you find to the authorities”, I ask him. “No, no. Artisans don’t declare their production,” Payarito says.
“Maybe if the government discuss it and change the rules, we’ll have to pay taxes on what little we find, but for now we don’t bother.”
Just then, as Payarito is explaining how he works on the margins of the law, a huge chunk of the mountain comes away in three or four boulders, weighing at least a tonne each.
The rubble crumbles just metres from where we’d been standing, an all too timely reminder of how Jon Jairo came to be in plaster.
As we pause to watch the men sift the sediment in the pools below and smoke their cigarettes, they begin to rub mercury into the silt with their fingers to attract the tiny gold nuggets held inside the slurry.
The water is poisoned here, and it is clear there is unlikely to be any regulation of this mine in terms of environmental or labour controls any time soon.
Ruffling his son’s hair, Jon Jairo sums up the situation with the characteristic understatement of a miner.
“This life is very hostile,” he says. “In the city, people think it’s just a question of coming up here and you’ll find diamonds. But we live almost like cavemen.”
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Source:BBC

UN aid chief sees hope in Darfur
By Andrew Harding
BBC News, Darfur
Two months after key international aid agencies were expelled from Sudan, the UN is cautiously optimism about the humanitarian situation in Darfur.
Visiting the region, the UN’s emergency relief co-ordinator said there was no hard evidence that more people had died because of the disrupted aid effort.
However, John Holmes said the situation remained fragile.
In March, 13 foreign aid agencies were expelled after Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, was indicted for war crimes.
No one is claiming that Darfur is on the mend.
As we arrived in the middle of a sandstorm at a makeshift camp outside the town of al-Fasher, a lorry packed with fleeing civilians drove in.
The families onboard spoke of heavy fighting nearby in the past few days.
Some 40,000 people have sought refuge in the camp this year alone.
But John Holmes, the UN’s senior humanitarian official, was keen to point out that, despite the recent expulsion of key international aid agencies, the humanitarian situation had not deteriorated as dramatically as many had feared.
The UN and the Sudanese government have filled many gaps.
Mr Holmes said there was “no hard evidence” that anyone had died because of the expulsion of aid agencies.
“I think most of the life-saving gaps have been met but of course some services have been reduced in some places so you can’t exclude that there have been extra deaths. But we have no evidence of that at the moment,” Mr Holmes told the BBC.
Unpredictable
The dramatic expulsion of 13 foreign aid agencies followed the announcement that Sudan’s president was being indicted by the International Criminal Court.
The impact in Darfur has been serious.
But Mr Holmes said that recently there had been signs of much greater flexibility from the Sudanese authorities.
Privately, other UN officials went further, arguing that the operating environment had actually improved, and welcoming the fact that the Sudanese government was being forced to take more of a role in the relief effort.
Still, Darfur remains a dangerously unpredictable place – plagued by conflict, with no comprehensive peace deal in sight, and with a third of the population unable to go home.

Source:BBC

COLOMBO, Sri LankaA British news team that had been detained by Sri Lankan authoritiesafter producing a report about the alleged abuse of Tamilshas left the country.
Protesters demonstrate in front of British Parliament in support of Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka.
The Channel 4 news team, which was detained on Saturday, is heading back to its base in Bangkok, ITN senior news management said Sunday. ITN produces Channel 4′s news programs. The team’s news report, aired Tuesday on Channel 4, chronicled the abuse of Tamils in internment camps in the city of Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka, where fighting has raged between the government and rebels. The report alleged that “dead bodies were left where they fell, shortages of food and water, and sexual abuse,” ITN said. The government denied the claims and arrested Channel 4 Asia Correspondent Nick Paton-Walsh, a cameraman and a producer. The Sri Lankan government’s news Web site reported that P.B. Abeykoon, the controller general of immigration and emigration, said officials had discovered that Paton-Walsh had consistently filed fabricated stories and had tarnished the country’s image. Watch reaction to allegations of abuse by the military » The Web report said Paton-Walsh’s visa had been canceled. Channel 4 said the teamwhich had been in the country with valid visas and had been reporting there independently for a couple of weekshad been told to leave.
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“ITN stands by its original report and the conduct of its journalists,” the network said Sunday. Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting for an independent state in Sri Lanka’s northeast since 1983.
As many as 70,000 people have been killed since the civil war began, and the group has been declared a terrorist organization by the European Union and more than 30 countries, including the United States. Tamil Tiger rebels have been pinned down by Sri Lankan government troops in a small section of the country’s north, and civilians trapped in the crossfire have been trying to flee.
Source:CNN