Pebble, the popular smartwatch that raised more than $10 million on Kickstarter, is looking to venture capital to help it transition from a side project to a more traditional company. … Read More
‘Counterproductive’: UN General Assembly votes to condemn Assad’s forces in Syria war
The 193-member world body voted on Wednesday to pass the Qatari-drafted resolution condemning Syrian government forces and the “gross violation” of human rights in the country.The final vote tally: 107 in favor, 12 against and 59 abstentions. Russia, China, Syria, Iran and North Korea were among 12 countries to oppose the resolution, while South Africa, India and Brazil were among the dozens who abstained.The draft resolution further welcomes the establishment of the Syrian National Coalition “as effective representative interlocutors needed for a political transition.”The document noted “the wide international acknowledgment” that the main opposition group is the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding and therefore cannot be enforced. The last Arab-sponsored General Assembly resolution regarding Syria was approved by an vote of 133-12 with 31 abstentions last August. UN diplomats said the decline in support for Wednesday’s resolution showed growing concern about the nature of Syria’s fractured opposition fighting against the president of Bashar Assad.Speaking before the vote, Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja’Afari said it was contradictory for the resolution to be tabled under the Assembly’s agenda item on “prevention of armed conflict.” Ja’Afari argued that the resolution would in fact escalate violence by legitimizing the provision of weapons to “terrorists” in Syria and “by recognizing one faction of the opposition as the Syrian people’s legitimate representative.” He further said Al-Qaida-linked terrorists who had committed “unprecedented savage crimes and human rights violations” were operating in Syria thanks to the “involvement of intelligence agencies of well-known States.” He concluded that Syria was in favor of “Syrian-led national dialogue” which would adhere to the will of “the great majority of the Syrian people.”Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin had sent letters in the run-up to the vote urging all member states to vote “no” on the new resolution. He called it “one-sided and biased” as well as “counterproductive” in light of the agreement reached between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Moscow last week to convene a follow-up international peace conference on a political transition in Syria.The Arab group decided to seek approval of a wide-ranging resolution on Syria in the General Assembly, where there are no vetoes, to express “international outrage” at the more than 2-year conflict which has claimed the lives of more than 70,000 people.The draft strongly condemns what it characterized as the continued escalation in the Syrian regime’s use of heavy weapons, including indiscriminate shelling from tanks and aircraft, as well as the use of ballistic missiles, cluster munitions and other weapons against populated areas.It further expressed “grave concern at the threat by the Syrian authorities to use chemical or biological weapons, as well as at allegations of reported use of such weapons,” demanding that Syria “strictly observe” international laws prohibiting the use of such weapons.While the draft resolution put the onus of chemical weapon’s use on Damascus, the United Nations independent commission of inquiry on Syria said earlier this month that no evidence had been uncovered implicating the Syrian government in a chemical weapon attack.In an interview to Swiss-Italian television, the lead commission member Carla Del Ponte revealed that the “investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals and, according to their report of last week which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated.”However, rather than government forces, Del Ponte concluded: “This was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities.” … Read More
Israeli PM meets with President Putin for Syria-dominated talks
Israel is expected to address the issue of possible Russian plans to sell advanced air defense systems to Damascus. Moscow stated on Friday that there were no such plans, however, S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems could still be shipped to Syria under an existing contract. For its part, the Kremlin has voiced concerns over plans to extend a no-fly zone into Syrian airspace following airstrikes allegedly carried out by Israeli war planes inside Syria last week.“Unfortunately, such destructive ideas resurface periodically, but no one thinks about the consequences,” said Genardy Gatilov, Deputy Russian Foreign Minister. He also stressed decisions regarding Syria could only be taken by the UN Security Council and that any other actions were a breach of international law. The Israeli PM’s visit comes off the back of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent visit to Moscow, during which he emphasized the US commitment to the Geneva communiqué which calls all sides of the conflict to the negotiating table. The UK Prime Minister also held talks in Russia agreeing to work in tandem with Russia to bring the two-year conflict raging in Syria to an end. Last year’s Geneva accord saw the international community come to an agreement on a plan for power transition in Syria. Following the meeting, however, differing interpretations of the plan led to yet more disagreements among the international community. In the latest attempt to encourage a diplomatic solution to the conflict Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and John Kerry agreed last week to organize talks that would bring together the Syrian opposition and government. The Syrian government said on Tuesday that it needed more information on the proposed conference before it could decide on its participation. The French government also voiced its reservations over the new plan, doubting that the meeting will be held anytime soon. They said at the very earliest the conference would happen at the end of May. Previous attempts to coerce the opposition into talks with the government have been fruitless. Rebels have called for the immediate step-down of President Assad, while the government condemns opposition forces as terrorists.‘Israel shooting itself in the foot?’ Israel’s strikes on Syrian territory allegedly targeting weapons convoys headed for Hezbollah in Lebanon drew sharp condemnation from Damascus, which branded them as an act of war. Furthermore, President Assad invited Palestinian fighters over the border into Syria to fight against Israel.“Israel gives itself permission to attack other countries but does not accept any other country doing the same to it. This strike cannot be legitimate and Israel should be judged in international courts,” said Jaber Bassal from Israeli political party Hadash to RT correspondent Paula Slier. Despite international condemnation there is widespread support in Israel for the strikes inside Syria. Hamad Awidat, a local journalist in Israel told RT that the violence would not stop at Syria and will lead to a spillover of the violence.“After they are finished killing the Syrian people they go ahead to Haifa, to Nazareth, to Tel Aviv and to Jerusalem,” Awidat said. Israeli officials have not yet confirmed or denied to have been behind the airstrikes in spite of widespread international condemnation that the attacks where a breach of international law. … Read More
‘Pakistani government can’t guarantee election safety’
RT: Almost daily we’ve seen deadly bomb blasts targeting political party offices and candidates. Can the security forces guarantee voter safety tomorrow at the polling stations?Eugene Puryear: I think they most certainly can’t guarantee that. I mean, they’ve been deploying a massive amount of people up to 600,000 security personnel. But we’ve seen over the past period of the campaign and even before that, that the Pakistani government has not been able to offer security solutions that are definite in any way in any part of the country.RT: Why couldn’t the government postpone the polls?EP: Obviously, postponing the polls for the Pakistani government would be a major setback. This is the first democratic transition, which the country will actually have. And I think ultimately going forward with the polls is an important part of showing, in fact democracy in Pakistan is a real thing and certainly there is only a caretaking government in place now. And so to not extend what would essentially be an undemocratic technocratic force.RT:The Taliban’s been making a huge effort to undermine the vote. Do you think they’ve been effective? EP:I think the Taliban has certainly done quite a bit to destabilize the election. I think that the most successful thing in terms of their campaign has been the fact, that both candidates have discussed the issue of severing the security relationship with the US, which at least in part is very central to the struggle of the Taliban inside Pakistan and what they are looking to do. So, how much they will impact the average voter in their ability to come out – we’ll just have to see on Saturday. But certainly their policies and their military campaign has, at least so it seems, affected the way the issues have been debated by the major parties.RT:The leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-N party which is expected to clinch victory, promises to pullout of the US war on terror, should it take power. How realistic is this? EP:I think potentially it could be done. And certainly Sharif, when he was a Prime Minister before, presided over the two nuclear tests that resulted in a significant downgrading of relations with the US and economic sanctions. So, Sharif can claim that he has the fortitude to stand up to the US, but given the significant amount of support inaugurated for Pakistan, I mean I believe there’s a hundred million dollars provided by the US just to help Pakistan secure their nuclear arsenal. Obviously the ability from Pakistan to gain lending from the IMF, it will require a tremendous amount of effort, because Pakistan will have to refocus and rebalance both its economic and its security policies almost 180 degrees from what they have been since 2001, when Pakistan was more or less brought in from the code by the US. So, certainly it’s possible, but either party and certainly whether Sheriff will really have the 42 and the desire to carry this through – I think is yet to be seen.RT:Meanwhile a Pakistani court has declared US drone strikes in the country illegal. Will that message be considered across the Atlantic? EP:I think it is a message that will certainly be considered across the Atlantic. It’s a sign of a growing opposition in Pakistan and to a lesser degree in Yemen, in fact even inside the US against the US drone policy. And certainly to have such a high court say that the US drone strikes should end immediately just continues to add fuel to a fire that is raging around the world about its secretive illegal criminal campaign being waged by the United States government. Obviously, they have no intention of stopping their drone campaign, but certainly I think it has to be an item of interest for them. … Read More
‘Capital of torture’: Bahraini Shiite majority demands democratic rule
The frustrated mob held up signs that read: “Manama, capital of torture,” and waved the national flag.“Torture is a practice rooted in the security agencies,” in Bahrain, the main Shiite opposition bloc Al-Wefaq said in a statement. It added that these practice were “embedded in the security doctrine – corrupt and hostile to the citizens.” The organization also highlighted the rift between Sunni-ruled monarchy and Shiites saying “a political majority demanding a democratic transition and a hard core dictatorship that refuses any change and respond to the popular will.” The demonstration comes just days after the start of the international campaign under the title “Bahrain capital of torture.” On Wednesday, Bahrain Forum for Human Rights in Beirut announced the details of the international campaign against torture in prisons on the island.It also accused the authorities of arresting 120 people during the period between 16 – April 22. Human rights delegates condemned the use of force on citizens and the media blackout on the repression. Also on Wednesday, the parliament in Bahrain was presented with a bill that would impose further restrictions on demonstrations. The new law would require organizers to submit a warranty check of more than $50,000 before holding a rally. It would also allow any resident to block a petition.In late April, Bahrain has unilaterally cancelled a United Nations mission to Manama to assess the country’s progress in eliminating torture.In 2011, a government-commissioned report found evidence of torture and human rights violations committed by the government forces committed during an uprising that year.Bahrain – home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet – is ruled by a Sunni monarchy, while over 75 percent of the population is Shia. In February 2011, thousands of protesters swarmed the streets of Bahrain’s capital Manama, demanding democratic reforms and the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa. The island’s monarchy asked for Saudi Arabian troops to contain the violence, which according human rights groups’ estimates has resulted in at least 80 deaths. … Read More
Microsoft to Adobe: People not ready to give up on stand-alone software
Adobe recently announced that it's no longer going to sell stand-alone versions of Creative Suite or its individual components, instead choosing to offer the software as part of cloud subscription packages only. Microsoft started offering something similar with Office 365, but unlike Adobe, the company feels that the transition needs… … Read More
Internet blackout severs Syria from Web – reports
Google announced that its services in the country were offline at 9:45pm local time (1845pm GMT) on Monday. The Internet giant’s transparency report published on its website showed a huge fall in activity.The blackout rendered most Syrian websites inaccessible according to reports, although some websites that are based abroad can still be accessed. Dan Hubbard, Chief of Technology at Umbrella Security Labs, wrote in a blog post that“Syria seems to have largely disappeared from the Internet,” citing statistics on outbound Web traffic from Syria.“Effectively, the shutdown disconnects Syria from Internet communication with the rest of the world,” he wrote, adding it was still unclear what had caused the blackout. Hubbard also referenced a similar internet blackout in Syria last November.The Syrian government has denied it was involved in last year’s countrywide Internet outage, and accused the opposition of responsibility. Following the blackout, hacktivist group Anonymous slammed Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government for cutting the country off from the Internet, and pledged to bring down state websites.“Government of Syria cuts country’s Internet access – anonymous goes on warpath,” the group wrote on Twitter. Opposition factions often use social media to upload videos and images of massacres they claim were perpetrated by government forces.The violence in Syria has shown no signs of relenting in recent weeks. The international community has stepped up negotiations to push for a solution to the conflict in response to the rising conflict.Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry met in Moscow on Tuesday to discuss the conflict. They emphasized their continuing commitment to ending the violence that has plagued the country for over two years.Both referenced the importance of last year’s Geneva Communiqué, which drew up a plan for a peaceful political transition in Syria. Lavrov stressed that the opposition had not yet made any indication it was committed to the Geneva Communiqué, nor had they named representatives to negotiate on behalf of the opposition.An international conference will be held at the end of May as a follow-up to last year’s Geneva Accord. … Read More
