TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed Wednesday to fight on "until victory or martyrdom" and called on residents of the Libyan capital and loyal tribesmen across his North African nation to free Tripoli from the "devils and traitors" who have overrun it.
The broadcast came a day after hundreds of Libyan rebels stormed Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya fortress-like compound in the capital but found no sign of the longtime leader. On Monday, the rebels entered Tripoli, pouring into the Mediterranean metropolis of some 2 million people in their thousands in a stunning breakthrough. They claim to control 80 percent of Tripoli.
Tuesday's ransacking of Bab al-Aziziya, long the nexus of Gadhafi's power, marked the effective collapse of his 42-year-old regime. But with Gadhafi and his powerful sons still unaccounted for — and gunbattles flaring across the nervous city — the fighters cannot declare victory.
In an address given from an unknown location and broadcast on the Al-Ouroba TV, Gadhafi asked: "Why are you letting them wreak havoc?" The Syria-based satellite station is owned by Iraqi dissident Mishaan Jibouri and has been supporting Gadhafi as well as Syria's embattled leader Bashar Assad.
Sounding subdued and without his usually fiery rhetoric, Gadhafi said he would fight "the aggression with all strength until either victory or death."
The channel earlier quoted the Libyan leader as saying he had left the Bab al-Aziziya compound in a "tactical move" after 64 NATO airstrikes reduced it to rubble.
Gadhafi's chief government spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, also managed to get word out in a phone interview with the same station, promising "we will be back to take Tripoli back."
The 69-year-old Libya leader has routinely addressed his supporters from state Libyan television, but the rebels have taken the channel off the air on Tuesday.
In Brussels, a NATO official said warplanes continued to strike overnight at pro-Gadhafi forces near Tripoli.
"We did see remnants of the pro-Gadhafi forces moving heavy equipment and we took action," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to standing rules. "It shows that we are ever present over Libya, and we will maintain this presence as long as necessary."
The rebel leadership, based in the eastern city of Benghazi, tried to assert civilian control despite continued uncertainty.
Mahmoud Jibril, deputy chairman of the National Transitional Council, was traveling to France and was to meet with French President Nicolas Sarkozy Wednesday evening, according to Sarkozy's office. A statement said talks will focus on "the situation in Libya and the international community's actions to support the political transition to a free and democratic Libya."
France was the first country to recognize Jibril's government and has been a driver of NATO's bombing campaign against Gadhafi's forces.
The breach of Bab al-Aziziya on Tuesday after hours of fierce fighting with Gadhafi loyalists in the area was a new high for the rebels in what has been an emotional roller coaster since they moved into Tripoli on Sunday night. It began with euphoria and claims that they had taken over most of the city with little resistance. The first night they partied in Green Square, a major symbol of the regime where Gadhafi supporters had held almost nightly rallies throughout the uprising. And it seemed Gadhafi rule was teetering on the brink of collapse.
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, there was a shocking setback. The rebels had claimed that they arrested Gadhafi's son and heir apparent, Seif al-Islam. It was confirmed by the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands, which has charged him and his father with crimes against humanity.
But inexplicably, Seif al-Islam showed up at the hotel where foreign journalists are staying under the close watch of regime minders in the early morning hours of Tuesday. He giddily took reporters on an eerie drive in the middle of the night to see hundreds of pro-regime gunmen around Bab al-Aziziya and at least a hundred more lined up outside, where guns were being handed out to volunteers.
The rebels waited hours to explain, saying word of his capture had come from secondhand reports from some rebels that were never confirmed and had been leaked to journalists. But in an indication that the announcement of his arrest might have been a ruse calculated to demoralize the regime, Jibril, the deputy chairman of the National Transitional Council, said the reports had some political and military benefits.
"About 30 officers and soldiers surrendered when they heard the news, which helped us take over Bab al-Aziziya swiftly," he said. "And 11 countries recognized the (rebels') National Transitional Council after receiving news of his arrest."
By Tuesday morning, it looked like the capital might descend into bloody urban warfare, with sporadic gunfire in many parts of the city before the rebels move into Bab al-Aziziya.
In other parts of the capital, the rebels said they were also in control of state television. They raised their tricolor flag on the top of the building. Rebels claimed they also control the airport.
Government forces, however, were still holding out at the nearby Rixos hotel where dozens of foreign journalists were being prevented from leaving by armed government enforcers.
In Tripoli's Green Square, hundreds of rebels celebrated the storming of Bab al-Aziziya, dancing and clapping and waving the red, green and black rebel flag and firing celebratory gunfire in the air.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Straight from the desk of GLU
Folks,
I m not a fan of this man and don’t know him from Adam, but I know common sense when I see it.
What do these mean?
“Utility Services and Accra Plains Irrigation Project.”
“Toll Road Project”
Come oooon!! These people cannot even tell us how much money has been collected on the Toll Roads and Bridges to date!!
Like the NHIL started long ago by the NDC to cater to improving the hospitals, clinics and heath facilities, it has become another fraud!! They collect the money but can’t account for it!!
SHAME!!
Gabby was even generous in saying the external debt as of Dec. 2008 was $4 Billion. No. According to the Bank of Ghana reports, Ghana has an accumulated debt of $8.1 Billion as of that time and earlier this year a report indicated it was then $13.5 Billion.
President Mills, I am sad to say, ought to take a closer look at some of these things as they reflect his leadership. Period!
It does not need a genius to put on a piece of paper, in a table, Project title, number of miles or description, Amount budgeted or loan procured, so that people can see through and compare.
The LAUNDRY LIST budgeting must stop!!
We are not children anymore. We can list and itemize what we want to buy, how much each will cost, and this is as honest as they come. If you are buying a product or services, and list it twice and put in numbers, as Otchere is saying here, it makes it suspect.
Folks, please those close to the President, can you advice this man to be a little more vigilant with these things. It makes me so sad as educated people we wait till some EU intelligence unit or some American Strategic Services (CSIS) or other such institutes, will make tables of our Economic and other indices, and they even exclude unemployment data, which is not important to them, but is a critical measure of our economic progress.
It really hurts when the world outside looks at us as children in a candy store when we borrow so much money, don’t even calculate what the monthly or annual payment requirement will be on these loans, and simply sign on them!! How does the President select these people and who are they? Or shall I say who born them on this earth!!
Stupidity in human organizations has a way of blowing up in people’s faces one day,, and I am listening and watching on CNN what is happening in Libya!! So sad!! Nobody ever thought Gadhafi would end up like this. A few months ago I advised on this forum, which I know does not go to Libya, and some of you were saying why should the West go and support the rebels, etc, etc. Okay.
I said the best way was for the man to give room for the expressed dissatisfaction of his people – have some kind of elections and local council control, change in management of the nation and as an old man, simply to build a long term sustainable form of government! No!! Not an African leader! Ghanaians in power think they are book-smart, so they created a document called a constitution and gave all powers to one man, the President, and think they have a democracy. Then they go out borrowing from the West, and knowing that their terms will be over by the time the loans are due! Road Projects, Water projects, electricity projects, all abandoned after a person’s term is over!!
One cannot stop having hope. When Mills came in, with all the goodwill and prayers of some of us to see him succeed, instead of finding out what went wrong, solving the problems, learning from the past, he also sat down finding new loans!! From $8.1 Billion in accumulated debt in Jan.2009, today is almost $20 Billion!! And electricity transformer for some of our most affluent areas is waiting for years!! God forgive these African leaders!! One day! It will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!! As the man from Galilee once said.
Come ooooooon!!!!!
Black Man!!
Where is the light!! Where is the hope!!!
Dr. Kwaku A. Danso (At Livermore, California, USA)
Lic. Real Estate Broker & Financier
East Legon-Accra, Ghana & Livermore, California, USA
President - Ghana Leadership Union (NGO), Moderator-GLU and GLF Forums.
I m not a fan of this man and don’t know him from Adam, but I know common sense when I see it.
What do these mean?
“Utility Services and Accra Plains Irrigation Project.”
“Toll Road Project”
Come oooon!! These people cannot even tell us how much money has been collected on the Toll Roads and Bridges to date!!
Like the NHIL started long ago by the NDC to cater to improving the hospitals, clinics and heath facilities, it has become another fraud!! They collect the money but can’t account for it!!
SHAME!!
Gabby was even generous in saying the external debt as of Dec. 2008 was $4 Billion. No. According to the Bank of Ghana reports, Ghana has an accumulated debt of $8.1 Billion as of that time and earlier this year a report indicated it was then $13.5 Billion.
President Mills, I am sad to say, ought to take a closer look at some of these things as they reflect his leadership. Period!
It does not need a genius to put on a piece of paper, in a table, Project title, number of miles or description, Amount budgeted or loan procured, so that people can see through and compare.
The LAUNDRY LIST budgeting must stop!!
We are not children anymore. We can list and itemize what we want to buy, how much each will cost, and this is as honest as they come. If you are buying a product or services, and list it twice and put in numbers, as Otchere is saying here, it makes it suspect.
Folks, please those close to the President, can you advice this man to be a little more vigilant with these things. It makes me so sad as educated people we wait till some EU intelligence unit or some American Strategic Services (CSIS) or other such institutes, will make tables of our Economic and other indices, and they even exclude unemployment data, which is not important to them, but is a critical measure of our economic progress.
It really hurts when the world outside looks at us as children in a candy store when we borrow so much money, don’t even calculate what the monthly or annual payment requirement will be on these loans, and simply sign on them!! How does the President select these people and who are they? Or shall I say who born them on this earth!!
Stupidity in human organizations has a way of blowing up in people’s faces one day,, and I am listening and watching on CNN what is happening in Libya!! So sad!! Nobody ever thought Gadhafi would end up like this. A few months ago I advised on this forum, which I know does not go to Libya, and some of you were saying why should the West go and support the rebels, etc, etc. Okay.
I said the best way was for the man to give room for the expressed dissatisfaction of his people – have some kind of elections and local council control, change in management of the nation and as an old man, simply to build a long term sustainable form of government! No!! Not an African leader! Ghanaians in power think they are book-smart, so they created a document called a constitution and gave all powers to one man, the President, and think they have a democracy. Then they go out borrowing from the West, and knowing that their terms will be over by the time the loans are due! Road Projects, Water projects, electricity projects, all abandoned after a person’s term is over!!
One cannot stop having hope. When Mills came in, with all the goodwill and prayers of some of us to see him succeed, instead of finding out what went wrong, solving the problems, learning from the past, he also sat down finding new loans!! From $8.1 Billion in accumulated debt in Jan.2009, today is almost $20 Billion!! And electricity transformer for some of our most affluent areas is waiting for years!! God forgive these African leaders!! One day! It will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!! As the man from Galilee once said.
Come ooooooon!!!!!
Black Man!!
Where is the light!! Where is the hope!!!
Dr. Kwaku A. Danso (At Livermore, California, USA)
Lic. Real Estate Broker & Financier
East Legon-Accra, Ghana & Livermore, California, USA
President - Ghana Leadership Union (NGO), Moderator-GLU and GLF Forums.
Quake rocks Washington area
MINERAL, Va. (AP) — A 5.9 magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia forced evacuations of all the memorials and monuments on the National Mall in Washington and rattled nerves from South Carolina to Martha's Vineyard, the Massachusetts island where President Barack Obama is vacationing.
A District of Columbia fire department spokesman said there were numerous injuries, no reports of serious injuries or deaths.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was half a mile deep and centered near Louisa, Va., about 40 miles northwest of Richmond. Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Charleston, S.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated.
Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in the same county as the epicenter were automatically taken off line by safety systems around the time of the earthquake, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Dominion-operated power plant is being run off of four emergency diesel generators, which are supplying power for critical safety equipment. Hannah said the agency was not immediately aware of any damage at nuclear power plants in the Southeast.
Obama and many of the nation's leaders were out of town on August vacation when the quake struck at 1:51 p.m. EDT. The shaking was felt on the Martha's Vineyard golf course as Obama was just starting a round.
At the Pentagon in northern Virginia, a low rumbling built and built to the point that the building was shaking. People ran into the corridors of the government's biggest building and as the shaking continued there were shouts of "Evacuate! Evacuate!"
The U.S. Park Service evacuated and closed all National Mall monuments and memorials. At Reagan National Airport outside Washington, ceiling tiles fell during a few seconds of shaking. Authorities announced it was an earthquake and all flights were put on hold.
Amtrak said its trains along the Northeast Corridor between Baltimore and Washington were operating at reduced speeds and crews were inspecting stations and railroad infrastructure before returning to normal.
In New York, the 26-story federal courthouse in lower Manhattan began swaying and hundreds of people were seen leaving the building. Court officers weren't letting people back in.
More than 12 million people live close enough to the quake's epicenter to feel shaking, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The agency said this quake was in the yellow alert category for economic damage, meaning there was potential for local damage but it would add up to far less than 1 percent of the country's gross domestic product.
East Coast earthquakes are far less common than in the West, but they tend to be felt over a broad area. That's because the crust is not as mangled and fractured, allowing seismic waves to travel without interruption.
"The waves are able to reverberate and travel pretty happily out for miles," said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough.
The Virginia quake came a day after an earthquake in Colorado toppled groceries off shelves and caused minor damage to homes in the southern part of the state and in northern New Mexico. No injuries were reported as aftershocks continued Tuesday.
In Charleston, W.Va., hundreds of workers left the state Capitol building and employees at other downtown office buildings were asked to leave temporarily.
"The whole building shook," said Jennifer Bundy, a spokeswoman for the state Supreme Court. "You could feel two different shakes. Everybody just kind of came out on their own."
In Ohio, where office buildings swayed in Columbus and Cincinnati and the press box at the Cleveland Indians' Progressive Field shook. At least one building near the Statehouse was evacuated in downtown Columbus.
In downtown Baltimore, the quake sent office workers into the streets, where lamp posts swayed slightly as they called family and friends to check in.
A District of Columbia fire department spokesman said there were numerous injuries, no reports of serious injuries or deaths.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake was half a mile deep and centered near Louisa, Va., about 40 miles northwest of Richmond. Shaking was felt at the White House and all over the East Coast, as far south as Charleston, S.C. Parts of the Pentagon, White House and Capitol were evacuated.
Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station in the same county as the epicenter were automatically taken off line by safety systems around the time of the earthquake, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The Dominion-operated power plant is being run off of four emergency diesel generators, which are supplying power for critical safety equipment. Hannah said the agency was not immediately aware of any damage at nuclear power plants in the Southeast.
Obama and many of the nation's leaders were out of town on August vacation when the quake struck at 1:51 p.m. EDT. The shaking was felt on the Martha's Vineyard golf course as Obama was just starting a round.
At the Pentagon in northern Virginia, a low rumbling built and built to the point that the building was shaking. People ran into the corridors of the government's biggest building and as the shaking continued there were shouts of "Evacuate! Evacuate!"
The U.S. Park Service evacuated and closed all National Mall monuments and memorials. At Reagan National Airport outside Washington, ceiling tiles fell during a few seconds of shaking. Authorities announced it was an earthquake and all flights were put on hold.
Amtrak said its trains along the Northeast Corridor between Baltimore and Washington were operating at reduced speeds and crews were inspecting stations and railroad infrastructure before returning to normal.
In New York, the 26-story federal courthouse in lower Manhattan began swaying and hundreds of people were seen leaving the building. Court officers weren't letting people back in.
More than 12 million people live close enough to the quake's epicenter to feel shaking, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The agency said this quake was in the yellow alert category for economic damage, meaning there was potential for local damage but it would add up to far less than 1 percent of the country's gross domestic product.
East Coast earthquakes are far less common than in the West, but they tend to be felt over a broad area. That's because the crust is not as mangled and fractured, allowing seismic waves to travel without interruption.
"The waves are able to reverberate and travel pretty happily out for miles," said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough.
The Virginia quake came a day after an earthquake in Colorado toppled groceries off shelves and caused minor damage to homes in the southern part of the state and in northern New Mexico. No injuries were reported as aftershocks continued Tuesday.
In Charleston, W.Va., hundreds of workers left the state Capitol building and employees at other downtown office buildings were asked to leave temporarily.
"The whole building shook," said Jennifer Bundy, a spokeswoman for the state Supreme Court. "You could feel two different shakes. Everybody just kind of came out on their own."
In Ohio, where office buildings swayed in Columbus and Cincinnati and the press box at the Cleveland Indians' Progressive Field shook. At least one building near the Statehouse was evacuated in downtown Columbus.
In downtown Baltimore, the quake sent office workers into the streets, where lamp posts swayed slightly as they called family and friends to check in.
"It's over" cry rebels as Gaddafi HQ overrun
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Joyful Libyan rebels overran Muammar Gaddafi's Tripoli bastion on Tuesday, seizing weapons and loot and destroying symbols of a 42-year dictatorship they declared was now over as they set about hunting down the fallen ruler and his sons.
"It's over! Gaddafi is finished!" yelled one fighter over a cacophony of celebratory gunfire across the Bab al-Aziziya compound, from where Gaddafi orchestrated eccentric defiance of Western powers and disdain for his own people for four decades.
"It's over! Gaddafi is finished!" yelled one fighter over a cacophony of celebratory gunfire across the Bab al-Aziziya compound, from where Gaddafi orchestrated eccentric defiance of Western powers and disdain for his own people for four decades.
Nigeria launches monitoring satellites
Nigeria has successfully launched two satellites into space, which will be used for a variety of tasks, including security, agriculture and disaster monitoring.
NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X were launched on Wednesday from the rocket launch base in Yasny, Russia, the Nigerian government said in a statement. The launch was originally scheduled for July 7. The satellites can be used for forestry, mapping, disaster monitoring, military applications and security, amongst other functions.
"I congratulate our nation for this new chapter in our transformational efforts as we strive for self-reliance," President Goodluck Jonathan said. "Let me congratulate the resourceful Nigerians who made this history possible."
"Data from the satellites will help enhance food security in Nigeria through mapping of farmlands, providing advice to farmers on drought, when and how to plant their crops, soil quality and (to) monitor their crops to ensure they have high yields," Frank Chizea, project manager for the launched satellites, told AFP.
"We can use data collected from the satellites to monitor the activities and movements of criminals, smugglers, militants, oil bunkerers (thieves), movement of goods, arms and equipment within and across our borders," he said.
Both satellites were built at Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) in Guildford, UK, under contract with the Nigerian National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA). NigeriaSat-X was designed and built by Nigerian engineers and scientists. A total of 26 Nigerian engineers participated in the project, working on the satellite for 18 months throughout the design and test phases, according to Africa Science News.
NigeriaSat-2 will generate high resolution imagery that will be used to map the entire country every four months and enhance food security through monthly crop monitoring, and provide data for urban planning.
Nigeria has for years been pursuing its own satellites and in 2003 launched the still-operational SSTL-built NigeriaSat-1. In May 2007 the US$257 million Nigeria Communications Satellite NIGCOMSAT was launched in China with the aim of providing phone, Internet and broadcast services. However, it later failed in orbit.
A replacement satellite, NIGCOMSAT R, is said to be 75% complete and is expected to be launched at the end of this year. This should help save Nigeria around US$450 million spent every year on purchasing bandwidth from Europe and America, Africa Science News reports Minister of Science and Technology, Ita Ewa, as saying.
According to This Day newspaper, the construction and launch of the satellites cost N17.42 billion (US$112 million).
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