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set to reignite fuel protests with Amman

2012-12-01T07:10:00.003-08:00

Jordan - Amman

Activists say they are set to reignite nationwide fuel protests with an Amman rally on Friday as counter-

protesters announced a series of “retaliatory measures”.

In a so-called “popular uprising for reform”, the National Front for Reform (NFR) is scheduled to hold a rally in the commercial district of Jabal Hussein, projected to be the single largest demonstration since the outbreak of protests earlier this month against the government’s decision to lift fuel subsidies.

The NFR has stressed that slogans during the march between the Firas and Interior Ministry circles, will be restricted to “regime reform” .

Over 40 political parties, professional associations and protest coalitions are scheduled to join the NFR, an independent coalition of pro-reform parties and activists, headed by former premier and intelligence chief Ahmed Obeidat.

The Muslim Brotherhood has pledged a “strong showing” on Friday, in response to security services’ arrest of some 45 members for their alleged roles in the recent spate of protests that left over 70 people injured and killed one citizen.

Meanwhile, counter-protesters are organising a series of rallies across the capital, with four separate marches planned to the site of the NFR demonstration.

In a press statement issued on Wednesday, the Youth Coalition for Loyalty and Allegiance announced that it would launch marches from downtown Amman and the east Amman neighbourhood of Jabal Nuzha to converge on Firas Circle in Jabal Hussein.

Under the slogan “Enough Destruction, Enough is Enough,” activists plan to hold a “mass motorcade” of 60 buses carrying counter-protesters from the outlying governorates towards the Interior Ministry Circle to express their “allegiance to His Majesty the King”.

In its statement, the coalition said it would deploy “rapid response teams” if NFR rally participants’ slogans “cross any red line” or call for “the overthrow of the regime”.

The coalition warned that regardless of security procedures, they will mobilise “four teams of 22 persons” each to “respond swiftly from within the march itself” if participants raise any slogans deemed offensive.

Security officials have announced a series of measures to separate the opposing rallies, including closing down all roads leading to the Interior Ministry Circle — a major junction that links Amman with the northern governorates — and establishing buffer zones between the protests.

Meanwhile, independent activists plan to take to the streets in several cities across the country to protest against the decision to lift fuel subsidies.

Under the slogan “Save the Homeland from Rising Prices,” grass-roots popular movements are organising a series of marches in Tafileh, Karak, Maan, Irbid, Aqaba and Salt.

The decision to lift fuel subsidies, which was announced on November 13, led to prices of 90-octane gasoline rising by 15 per cent, diesel and kerosene by 33 per cent and gas cylinders by 53 per cent.

vote recognises state of Palestine

2012-12-01T07:09:00.003-08:00

The United Nations voted overwhelmingly Thursday to recognize a Palestinian state, a long-sought victory for the Palestinians but an embarrassing diplomatic defeat for the United States.

The resolution upgrading the Palestinians' status to a non-member observer state at the United Nations was approved by a more than two-thirds majority of the 193-member world body — a vote of 138-9, with 41 abstentions.

A Palestinian flag was quickly unfurled on the floor of the General Assembly, behind the Palestinian delegation. Jubilant Palestinians, who crowded around outdoor screens and television sets to watch the vote hugged, honked and set off fireworks in celebration.

Real independence, however, remains an elusive dream until the Palestinians negotiate a peace deal with the Israelis, who warned that the General Assembly action will only delay a lasting solution. Israel still controls the West Bank, east Jerusalem and access to Gaza, and it accused the Palestinians of bypassing negotiations with the campaign to upgrade their UN status.

The United States immediately criticised the historic vote. "Today's unfortunate and counterproductive resolution places further obstacles in the path peace," UN Ambassador Susan Rice said.

And US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the vote "unfortunate" and "counterproductive."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the General Assembly shortly before the vote "defamatory and venomous," saying it was "full of mendacious propaganda" against Israel.

Abbas had told the General Assembly that it was "being asked today to issue the birth certificate of Palestine." Abbas said the vote is the last chance to save the two-state solution.

After the vote, Netanyahu said the UN move violated past agreements between Israel and the Palestinians and that Israel would act accordingly, without elaborating what steps it might take.

Just before the vote, Israel's UN ambassador, Ron Prosor, warned the General Assembly that "the Palestinians are turning their backs on peace" and that the UN can't break the 4,000-year-old bond between the people of Israel and the land of Israel.

The vote had been certain to succeed, with most of the member states sympathetic to the Palestinians. Several key countries, including France, this week announced they would support the move to elevate the Palestinians from the status of UN observer to non-member observer state.

Thursday's vote came on the same day, Nov. 29, that the UN General Assembly in 1947 voted to recognize a state in Palestine, with the jubilant revelers then Jews. The Palestinians rejected that partition plan, and decades of tension and violence have followed.

The vote grants Abbas an overwhelming international endorsement for his key position: establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, the territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. With Netanyahu opposed to a pullback to the 1967 lines, this should strengthen Abbas' hand if peace talks resume.

The overwhelming vote also could help Abbas restore some of his standing, which has been eroded by years of standstill in peace efforts. His rival, Hamas, deeply entrenched in Gaza, has seen its popularity rise after an Israeli offensive on targets linked to the Islamic militant group there earlier this month.

Israel has stepped back from initial threats of harsh retaliation for the Palestinians seeking UN recognition, but government officials warned that Israel would respond to any Palestinian attempts to use the upgraded status to confront Israel in international bodies.

The Palestinians now can gain access to UN agencies and international bodies, most significantly the International Criminal Court, which could become a springboard for going after Israel for alleged war crimes or its ongoing settlement building on war-won land.

However, in the run-up to the UN vote, Abbas signaled that he wants recognition to give him leverage in future talks with Israel, and not as a tool for confronting or delegitimizing Israel, as Israeli leaders have alleged.

Amman rally peacefully

2012-12-01T07:07:00.001-08:00

A mass pro-reform rally ended peacefully in Amman on Friday after counter-protestors suspended a series of rival demonstrations.

In a so-called Friday “popular uprising for reform,” some 7,000 activists converged on the Interior Ministry Circle in Amman to call for urgent political reforms and protest a recent government decision to raise fuel prices.

During the rally, organised by the independent coalition National Front for Reform, participants called on t Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour to resign over what they described as “failed policies.”

Participants also called on the authorities to release dozens of protestors detained during a series of violent demonstrations over fuel prices last month that left over 70 people injured and resulted in millions of dinars in damage to government property.

In a break from protestors’ recent provocative calls for “regime change,” rally-goers urges instead for “regime reform,” chanting “reform and change has to come.”

Addressing rally-goers, Front leader and former prime minister Ahmad Obeidat called on Amman to implement “widespread reform” and curb corruption, which he described as the “root cause” of the country’s economic woes.

”We demand the combating of corruption as this is the main reason behind the bankruptcy of the state…the dominance of the corrupt has robbed the citizens of their right to live in dignity,” Obeidat said, addressing the crowd.

Friday’s rally also witnessed a large showing by the Muslim Brotherhood, Jordan’s largest political movement, which has been largely absent form the streets since the onset of fuel price protests last month.

In a speech to participants, Former Brotherhood Overall Leader Salam Falahat warned of a “popular uprising” should the government refuse to turn back on its decision to lift fuel subsidies.

Activists also called on the government to delay the upcoming parliamentary elections and overhaul the Elections Law, which they declared as “constitutionally invalid” and “undemocratic.”

Friday’s demo came amid heavy security presence, with the authorities blocking off all roads leading to the Interior Ministry Circle and Faras Circle in Jabal Hussein.

Friday was also marked by the absence of counter-protestors, who late Thursday decided to suspend planned rival demos at the site of the Front’s rally.

In a statement late Thursday, the so-called Youth Coalition for Loyalty and Allegiance announced took the decision in a bid to “preserve national security” and prevent potential clashes between rival activists.

Also on Friday, dozens of activists hit the streets in the southern cities of Karak, Tafileh and Maan in protest of the fuel price hike.

The Amman rally marked the largest single demonstration since the outbreak of nationwide protests over the November 12 decision, which led to an immediate 33 per cent rise in fuel prices and a near doubling in heating and cooking gas costs.

The government has refused to go back on the measure, claiming that the cutting of JD800 million in annual fuel subsidies was necessary to avert a “financial crisis.

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2012-06-07T18:26:00.001-07:00

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Established diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Israel in May / May 1948

2012-05-31T10:42:00.003-07:00

Established diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Israel in May / May 1948, it should be noted that the Soviet Union voted in the fall of 1947 to the decision to partition Palestine into two states. The severed ties between Moscow and Tel Aviv in 1953 and again in 1956, and cut off relations in June 1967 because of the refusal of Israel to cease fire in the Six-Day War with the Arabs. And resumed contacts at the consular level in 1987. As witnessed in 1991 restored diplomatic relations between Israel and the Soviet Union.

Israel and living more than one million who are descended from the Soviet Union, which is an important factor in bilateral relations. Came the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Israel in April / April 2005 an important step in promoting Israeli-Russian relations .. It was Ehud Olmert to visit Russia twice in 2007 in the working visit.

In 2-3 Ioaao / July visited Moscow Tzipi Livni, Israeli Foreign Minister and First Deputy Prime Minister. And visited the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Israel in October / October 2005 and September / September 2006 and June 2007. During his visit to Israel in March / March 2008 treaty was signed the abolition of visas between Russia and Israel, which helped a lot in increasing the number of Russian tourists visiting Israel. He visited Israel in 2007 about 200 thousand tourists. But in 2008 the number rose to nearly 380 thousand tourists. Despite the entry into force of the treaty but did not appear in the September / September only.

Cooperation in the field of trade and economic

Governing the Israeli-Russian relations in the field of trade and economic agreement signed between the Russian and Israeli governments on April 27 / April 1994. Under this agreement granting each of the two Russian and Israeli system the maximum advantage in trade and the formation of joint Russian-Israeli trade and economic cooperation. And has signed cooperation agreements between the governments of scientific and technical cooperation in the agricultural sector, health, medicine and the abolition of double taxation and cooperation in the field of maritime transport.

The Committee considered the joint Russian-Israeli cooperation on trade and economic in its sixth meeting held in November 2006 in the state and prospects of bilateral relations in various fields.

And shows the annual growth of commodity exchange between the two sides to increase the size of the Israeli-Russian relations in the field of trade and economy. The volume of commodity exchange has not increased in 1991 for $ 12 million. As he arrived in 2006 to $ 1.9 billion.

Among the main trends of Russian-Israeli cooperation can be said of research space, transportation, information technologies and communication technologies, agriculture, industry and private business sector in diamonds and diamond treatment on metals and implicitly. It is worth mentioning that the percentage of 45-55% of the total Israeli export back to the untreated diamonds. And operates oil and its derivatives have an important place in the field of energy cooperation (the proportion of 30-40% of the total Russian exports to Israel). One of the most futuristic projects may be a project of supplying Russian natural gas to Israel. And is in talks on this matter between the company "Gazprom", Russian and Israeli side.

And show the Israeli side to attract attention to the Russian capital to carry out the projects in the field of Israeli infrastructure, transport and construction.

And includes goods imported from Israel in total, machinery, equipment and communication equipment and telephone and wireless telegraphy implicitly and medical devices (the proportion of 45-60% of the total import Israeli) and products of chemical industry, food and pharmaceuticals.

Joint ventures in space, transportation and communication

Signed between the two space agencies, Russian and Israeli on August 31 / August 1994, a memorandum of understanding that would regulate cooperation in space between the two sides. The Russian space rocket "Resurs -01" in the June 1998 release of the Israeli small satellite

"Tejsat -2". Either in the month of December 2000 stood Russian rocket launch Israeli satellite "Aarhus - A 1." In 2003 and 2006 was the launch of satellites Alsnaaan Alasaraúalan others, "Amos 2" and "Aarhus - P-1" by Russian rockets.

Also develop cooperation between Russian and Israeli companies in the field of transportation and communication, including the expansion of production thanks to modern communication services in Russia and the modernization of traditional communication Russian and Israeli Altknoloajabiat application's communication by satellite in Russia. Has been reached a tentative agreement on the organization of cooperation between the two sides in the field making techniques and systems that provide medical services from a distance.

Scientific cooperation

Work is under way to set up mechanisms for financing and the completion of joint projects in the field of scientific research and design.

Has been established with the Russian government Akadah innovations in late 2005, the center of cooperation between Russia and Israel in the field of innovations.

It was in June 2006 signed a memorandum of cooperation in science and technology industrial innovations between the Federal Agency for science and innovation and the Russian Scientific Research Center of Israel.

Cooperation in the field of manufacture and processing of agricultural materials

Have been accomplished a number of projects in the agricultural sector, including the updating of complex greenhouses and the expansion of factory poultry and organizing the production of cheese in the compound of dairy and meat boycott of Moscow. Either in the city of Nizhny Novgorod Russian are there is an update lab mini private Bantg food, juice and food intensive. And established the provinces of Moscow, Leningrad and Samara, Russian mini-labs for the treatment of chicken meat and Indian parents.

French historian .. And a different look to Gaza in new author

2012-05-31T10:41:00.001-07:00

French historian .. And a different look to Gaza in new author

A French historian Jean-Pierre Filho after several visits to Gaza, a book recently published in Paris, which he addressed the city's position in the formation of Palestinian history and its importance in solving the central Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This was the subject of the interview before the envoy channel "Russia Today".

The following is a transcript of the interview

Q - Why did you decide to go to Gaza and to write its history?

C - I am a historian and professor in Paris. Since 30 years old and I am interested in this subject, and noted that it did not address the manner in which you have made. Gaza was always treated as if on the margin, as if they are secondary, what I have sent a surprise, because the Gaza Strip on the contrary. It was in the heart of Palestinian history since the Nakba. In Gaza, the movement originated in the Gaza militants was born the nucleus of the Fatah movement in Gaza, the resistance against the Israeli occupation of 67 is the strongest, and continued for four years. In Gaza, Hamas was born in Gaza, the first intifada broke out in Gaza, Palestinian Authority, have stabilized. And from there began divorce persists between Hamas and Fatah, and this is the date on which you want to Osrdh taking Gaza in the heart of events.

Q - What Akchwtm in Gaza?

C - the first parts of the whole of Palestinian history I was not aware of the size of their importance. For example, the start of the winter of 1948 was more terrible than the others talked about. There are those who died of hunger and there are those who died from the cold and all this has disappeared even from the relatively more severe novels. There is also the aspect of resistance to the occupation of the first fifty-six and seven and fifty, were very strong and included all the elements of resistance, ranging from the Baathists to Islamists. There is also the way in which withstood the Strip for four years through a strong battle against the Israelis to one year and seventy and then fell because of the attack, which involved a large and Sharon is the one who shattered.

Q - Do you think that the West know the truth of Gaza?

C - I think there are a lot of preconceived ideas and stereotypes about Gaza which prevents the vision of truth, and that tried to collect these form the historical truth. Mainly in Gaza, as in other regions, an overwhelming majority of people want to live a normal life, and they are not fighters and activists, and even these people have a sense of a strong national, because the date made in Gaza sense of patriotism Filstunaih stronger than elsewhere, it is a closed area I say that the possession of the Palestinian flag in Gaza seems to automatically more than other regions, because it is the only land of historic Palestine that were not previously is not an Israeli and not Jordanian.

Q - If you want to send a letter today to the west, what is this letter?

C - my message is very simple. Gaza first .. Gaza must begin a peace process if we are honest .. We must not delude ourselves.

In Gaza, must lay the foundations of this peace, because there is no problem and the problem of the limits of settlements there. We have problems with respect and equality in dealings between Israeli and Palestinian peoples and that's what should work on it and I think that this test will be to achieve a genuine and real.

Q - Do you think that the Palestinians and Israelis to accept the existence of each other?

C - I think that in all cases, there is no other alternative for this coexistence. Does not necessarily mean having a lot of good feelings shared, but only to recognize that there is no place other than this place is divided among them.

Russian political analyst: the situation in Syria is very serious

2012-05-31T10:36:00.001-07:00

Russian political analyst: the situation in Syria is very serious

Said Alexei Malashenko, a political analyst in an interview with the channel "Russia Today" The military intervention against Syria in a difficult moment for the United States of America, which entered the stage of the presidential election.

The following is the full text of the interview:

Q - Mr. Malashenko Washington talked about that all options are open, including work outside the authority of the Security Council .. Does this mean that he could see a military strike against Syria, similar to what happened in Kosovo to avoid a Russian veto of China?

C - I think that a military strike for the Americans against the Syrian regime is a serious matter to President Obama, especially since the presidential election, waiting for him, so it is no fault of them will commit in foreign policy will be critical to the U.S. administration.It could be argued that the Americans would not risk taking it, but there are other countries willing to do so, such as France and some Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and I think that Syria has a strong and important in the Middle East, compared to other countries Klibia are close to the existing conflicts in the Middle East, so I think that chaos will be deployed in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Fbstin and other countries, of course, in the case of launching a military strike.

Q - In case of failure of the Annan plan .. What is the future situation in Syria and the region in general?

C - I do not know what will happen in case of failure of the Annan plan, but I think it failed, and do not exist at present, and the time is not in favor of the team Annan and is not enough, and I think they will have to take into account the opinion of the opposition, but the fate of this plan is unknown in the event of failure.

Q - What role can be played by Russia at this critical time to resolve the crisis peacefully Syrian?

C - Russia tried for a long time to help resolve the crisis in the Syrian regime and Syrian ally, did not abandon him, and at the same time, Russia was unable to make it flexible Bashar al-Assad to reach a compromise acceptable to everyone. And I would say half a year ago could have been talking about compromise, but the situation is getting worse now and just wonder what can be found a way out of the crisis, the Syrian, but if you think Bashar al-Assad of Syria to leave Russia, I think because he Ststqublh ally.

Q - French President and German Chancellor confirmed that they will work to change the position of Vladimir Putin of the Syrian crisis What are the chances that their success?

C - I think there is a chance to persuade Vladimir Putin to change his point of view the direction of the Syrian crisis. If not changed, then it will increase unit, but if Russia simple change of its position, the Syrian President will show the kind of flexibility and dialogue with the opposition and I think that Bashar al-Assad is the main player in resolving the crisis in his country, and at the same time, Russia's interests and Alaqlat with the West and I think that Russia's position may change, and gradually approaching the situation from the west.

Chinese Foreign Ministry: We believe that the mediation efforts of Kofi Annan'ssettlement of the situation in Syria is effective

2012-05-31T10:34:00.003-07:00

AFP
Chinese Foreign Ministry: We believe that the mediation efforts of Kofi Annan'ssettlement of the situation in Syria is effective
Said the official spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Liu, Maine on Thursday, May 31that China believes that the mediation efforts of Kofi Annan's envoy to the United Nations and the League of Arab States to Syria effectively.

This came Altsrich during a brief news conference held by Liu and Maine in Beijing.

Liu, Maine, "The Chinese side believes that the situation in Syria at the moment is stillcomplex and very tense, he said, adding:" But at the same time, we believe that the mediation efforts of Kofi Annan's effective and we have to give him more confidence andsupport. "

He explained that he should not be expected that the efforts made by the envoy of the United Nations and the League of Arab States to Syria will allow to solve the problem in the short term.

The Chinese diplomat said: "I think that the mediation efforts of Kofi Annan can not gowithout obstacles, and there could be setbacks and complications, but we must not losefaith and patience."

Min Liu called the international community to support efforts of the United Nations and itsspecial envoy to resolve the situation in Syria.

Syrian official: Hula massacre committed by anti-government elements and targeting of action against the state refused to

2012-05-31T10:34:00.000-07:00

Syrian official: Hula massacre committed by anti-government elements and targeting of action against the state refused to

Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry into the massacre of Brigadier-General Qassim al-Hula Jamal Suleiman

The Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry into the massacre of Brigadier-General Qassim al-Hula Jamal Suleiman that preliminary investigations showed that the armed groups against the government is committed Hula massacre last week that killed 108 people. The official Syrian news conference on May 31 / May that the goal of the perpetrators was to encourage foreign military intervention in the country.

According to Solomon that the Commission investigate the Syrian government has shown that victims are the families refused to oppose the government and was at odds with the armed groups, pointing out that many of the victims were relatives of a member of the Syrian Parliament.

Brigadier-General Syrian: "The initial investigation to document witnesses and by the eyewitnesses of the massacre witnessed this directly," pointing out that "the operation's goal is to abolish the armed entire state."

Continued: "We have gathered some 800 armed came from nearby areas of Rastan and others, have used heavy weapons through them. The main objective of the attack point arc and a point of Clock Tower, has groups who came from out of town to liquidate families with no income in the Syrian crisis" . He explained that "the elements of the security forces did not leave the premises Tmrzakha, but defended their positions and this could be ascertained. And through the images show that the massacre took place by sharp objects, not fragments from artillery fire, which means that what happened is the filter directly." He continued: "It was noted that a large number of victims are children and that the killing of children does not achieve the goal of security forces, but that the goal of armed groups. It was found that all the victims of the families of the Pacific was at odds with the armed groups did not pretend to day against the regime in Syria" . Solomon pointed out that "the first goal of the relatives of the massacre was a member of the Council of the Syrian revenge on him, and expanded to include the families of the massacre and other groups."

He noted that the "massacre Hula fall within the Arab plan, which aims to suggest the existence of civil war in Syria," stressing that "these preliminary results and the investigation continues."

Economy trumps

2012-05-24T03:23:00.001-07:00

Economy trumps

In a Nanos survey, Canadians singled out the economy as the top long-term priority

The health of Canada’s economy is first and foremost in the minds of Canadians, according to a new online poll.

Nearly 40 per cent of respondents said "strengthening Canada’s economic union" was the most important long-term policy priority for the federal government to focus on, according to a Nanos survey.

The online poll was conducted between May 10 and May 12 and asked 1,000 Canadians which of five different priorities was the most important to them. Nanos said the policy priorities were taken directly from Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s official website.

Respondents chose from the following priorities:

Strengthening Canada’s economic union.
Cracking down on gun, gang and drug crime.
Improving food and product safety regulations.
Asserting our sovereignty in the Arctic.
Rebuilding the Canadian Armed Forces.

Crime came in second place, with nearly a quarter of those surveyed (23.4 per cent) saying a crackdown on gun, gang and drug crime was their top priority.

The third most important priority for Canadians was food and product safety, at just under 22 per cent, with Arctic sovereignty and rebuilding the military coming in at about eight and seven per cent, respectively.

Last year, a similar poll that used a different methodology — a random telephone survey — revealed that only about 26 per cent of respondents singled out the economy as the top priority. Crime was the highest-ranking priority in that survey, at just over 33 per cent.

Regionally, numbers in the 2012 survey were quite similar, with the economy ranking first in every region. In Quebec, concern for product safety ranked second among respondents at just over 27 per cent, while 21 per cent singled out fighting crime as an important priority. Concern for rebuilding the military in Quebec did not even reach one per cent
.

Samsung Chromebox coming

2012-05-24T03:21:00.003-07:00

The world at large may still be wondering if Chrome OS is ready for prime time, but that’s not stopping Samsung from taking a second kick at the can. Their Chromebox has made an early appearance on TigerDirect’s website, and it looks to be arriving soon with a $330 price tag.

What does that get you? Not much for an OS, of course. Chrome OS is still little more than a bootable version of Google Chrome, though the introduction of the Aura window manager and an increasing number of offline-friendly Chrome Web Apps are steadily making it feel more and more like a traditional desktop operating system.

Hardware-wise, Samsung is offering up a dual-core Celeron chip clocked at 1.9GHz, which is a big improvement over the 1.66GHz Atom N570 in the Series 5 Chromebook. It’s also packing twice as much RAM (4GB DDR3), a 16GB SSD for local storage, six USB 2.0 ports, and an SD card expansion slot. Wi-Fi connectivity is built in, as is an Ethernet port, and video outputs abound — there are two Display Ports and one DVI connector.

The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook didn’t exactly sell like hotcakes, but Chrome OS is starting to get more attention from schools. The Chromebox might just be a good fit, with a small footprint, low price point, strong security and manageability, and few (if any) moving parts — which should allow schools to get plenty of use out of the hardware. They’re also low-power machines, and that would help drive down energy costs for institutions, too.

And who knows…maybe Google and Samsung are finally planning to out some sort of hardware subscription plan for customers who use Google Apps? It might be even easier to justify a lab full of Chromeboxes if there’s a low, low monthly fee.

More at Engadget

Google finally lets Blogger users earn money with AdSense

2012-05-24T03:20:00.003-07:00

If you maintain your own blog hosted on Google’s free blogging service dubbed Blogger, you will be delighted that the search giant has finally paired its AdSense advertising engine with the blogging service. Although Google started rolling out AdSense on Blogger last week, it took some time for the new advertising feature to propagate through the Blogger engine. It appears that new monetizing options are now available in all user accounts on Blogger.

Enabled through the new Monetize tab found in your blog or the main Dashboard, the feature lets you apply for a new AdSense account or simply pair your Blogger blog to an existing AdSense account. You can also choose to place ads on several predetermined positions in your blog determined by a chosen template. Thanks to the AdSense API, the Monetize feature also shows you ad revenue in real time, right inside the Blogger web interface.

Google warned users that “new applications may take a few days to process.” The search monster also said that not every site will be approved, advising bloggers to check if they are eligible for an AdSense account. While the long overdue addition of Google’s money-making ad engine arrives in times of freezing economy, don’t expect that your blog will pull you out of financial troubles. Typically, you need 100,000 page views monthly to earn anywhere between $100 and $500 on ad revenue – at best. As you can imagine, the search monster milks a significant portion of advertising money that flows through the service.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty

2012-05-23T19:35:00.001-07:00

:52 PM

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivers the federal budget today

Tonight Amanda Lang and Evan Solomon break down the budget and what it means for you. It's expected to include some significant cuts following other provincial governments which have also scaled back. So, are we living in an age of austerity? We put that question to you, tonight.

New video has surfaced in the Trayvon Martin story. The 17-year-old was killed last month by a neighbourhood watchman, George Zimmerman. Zimmerman said he had no choice but to shoot after Martin bashed his head into the concrete and broke his nose. But the new video suggests differently. It shows Zimmerman being brought into the police station for questioning later that night. There doesn't appear to be blood on his clothes, or cuts on his face. Tonight we're asking if we'll ever know what really happened that night.

And on a day where the federal government clamps down on spending, Montreal students hit the streets to protest a tuition hike. We'll take you to the protests tonight and find out what this fight is really about.

Canadian Everest victim warned

2012-05-23T19:34:00.001-07:00

Canadian Everest victim warned

Tour company will attempt to recover Shriya Shah-Klorifine's body

A Toronto woman who died on Mount Everest did not heed warnings for her to turn back, according to the Nepalese tour company who organized her expedition.

Ganesh Thakuri, a guide with Utmost Adventure Trekking, said Shriya Shah-Klorifine, who died on Everest this past Saturday, encountered increased traffic on the mountain, where between 250 and 300 climbers were attempting to reach the summit.

Due to poor weather conditions in the week before the climb, sherpas had only been able to secure one safety rope on the mountain.

"There was only one rope, so there was lots of traffic," said Thakuri. "Sometimes there was lots of traffic, we had to wait 2½ hours for the traffic to pass the route."

Thakuri said he encouraged Shah-Klorifine to turn back and try again for the summit another time but the Canadian climber was too determined to fulfill her dream.

"Myself, I asked her to go back and try next year or some other year," he said. "But she didn’t listen."

Her decision to push on would prove fatal. On her descent, Shriya Shah-Klorifine, 33, ran out of oxygen bottles and died.

Overcrowding, inexperience a common Everest problem

Sam Wyatt and Steve Curtis, two Vancouver-based climbers who successfully made the summit trek on May 19, were climbing on the north side of Everest and saw the clog of climbers, which included Shah-Klorifine, venturing up the south side.

Even though the north side was less crowded, Juan Polodied, a Spanish climber on Curtis and Wyatt’s expedition, died while trying to reach the summit.

"When someone shows up on the mountain and doesn't have their gear together and doesn't know if their crampons fits their boots, they shouldn't be on Everest," said Curtis. "That was the case with Juan when he showed up."

Reports say sherpas working with Utmost Adventure Trekking will attempt to recover Shah-Klorifine’s body from the mountain later this week but poor weather conditions could make recovery difficult.

Canadian climber Sandra Leduc, who was forced to turn back on May 19 but plans to make another attempt at the summit this weekend

People gather at the start of a protest to mark the 100th day of a students strike in Montrea

2012-05-23T19:32:00.003-07:00

People gather at the start of a protest to mark the 100th day of a students strike in Montreal

Mark is hosting live from downtown Montreal tonight where he's covering the student tuition strike. Joining him is student protest organizer Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Quebec's Immigration and Cultural Communities Minister to explain just what has changed since the strike began, and where it will go from here.

And, today marks one year since the deadly twister devastated the city of Joplin, Missouri. Mark reconnects with one search volunteer who was on the streets immediately after the tornado hit.

Tune in at 8 p.m. ET on CBC News Network.

Two women show their inked fingers after casting their votes in Cairo

2012-05-23T19:32:00.001-07:00

Two women show their inked fingers after casting their votes in Cairo. Photo by Fredrik Persson/AP

In one of the deadliest weekends ever on Mount Everest four climbers were killed due to overcrowding. But even after this there are hundreds more lining up to scale the rocky peaks. Tonight Mark asks one climber why he risked everything to make it to the top five times.

And, one year after Egyptians overthrew the government, they're heading to the polls in the first free presidential elections in the country's history. After fighting for so long for the freedom to elect their leader, will democracy live up to their expectations? We check in with one Egyptian-Canadian in Cairo about how he views the future of Egypt.

Plus, it's day 101 of the student protests in Montreal and there's no signs of letting up. Thousands of protesters clogged the downtown core last night and by the time the sun rose 100 were arrested in the demonstrations. Politicians say they want to talk with student leaders, but are they ignoring a bigger message being sent from the streets?

Shareholders sue Facebook

2012-05-23T19:31:00.001-07:00

Shareholders sue Facebook over botched IPO

Facebook is facing a lawsuit from angry shareholders and multiple probes from regulators over the disappointing handling of its initial public offering last week.

In a suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan late Tuesday, a group of Facebook shareholders are suing the Menlo Park, Calif.-based company, claiming insiders were selectively given secret information about the company's true financial projections from underwriters, while retail investors and other investment houses were left in the dark.

"The revised figures were only passed along to some investors who were therefore able to make profits by selling their IPO shares Friday while shares were on the rise," New York law firm Levi & Korsinsky alleges in the suit.

Facebook executives are shown ringing the bell to open Nasdaq trading on Friday. The shares have sunk since opening to the public last week. (Reuters)

Morgan Stanley, the investment bank that shepherded the company through its highly publicized initial stock offering last week, is also facing a regulatory probe from the self-policing Financial Industry Regulatory Authority over whether or not the bank selectively withheld information about a negative analyst report ahead of the IPO.

FINRA head Rick Ketchum said the question is "a matter of regulatory concern" for his organization and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Similarly, the top securities regulator for Massachusetts, William Galvin, said his office will subpoena the company to pursue its own investigation of whether Morgan Stanley divulged to only some clients that one of its analysts had cut his revenue estimates for the social media giant.

The bank said late Tuesday that it "followed the same procedures for the Facebook offering that it follows for all IPOs," referring to initial public offerings of stock. It said that its procedures complied with regulations.

The questions about the role played by Morgan Stanley, the lead underwriter for the deal, add to the confusion surrounding Facebook's IPO. In the most hotly anticipated stock debut in years, the offering raised $16 billion for the social networking company, valuing it at $104 billion.

"Who would have thought that Morgan Stanley's greatest coup could be their downfall," David Kaufman of Westcourt Capital Corp. in Toronto told CBC News. "One of the fascinating stories in all this is what effect this will have on other Nasdaq-listed tech companies, or other IPOs in the pipeline."

Shares in the Nasdaq itself have dropped more than $2, or 10 per cent, from where they were before Facebook's IPO on Friday, as negative fallout from the underwhelming debut — and a lengthy trading delay on Friday while the exchange struggled to process an order backlog — is dragging on shares.

Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld told shareholders of the exchange's parent company that "clearly we had mistakes within the Facebook listing."

After briefly trading above $42, the IPO plummeted through the trading day on Friday, closing at the IPO price of $38 after a furious defence of the level by lead underwriter Morgan Stanley. Trading Monday and Tuesday saw the shares fall below the $31 level before a slight rebound Wednesday had the stock trading just north of $32.

Some brokerages were still sorting out the aftermath of the trading delay on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, our clients continue to feel the effects of this in some cases," said Stephen Austin, a spokesman for Fidelity Investments, one of the country's largest brokerages. Fidelity was still waiting for some Facebook stock orders that it placed on Friday to be executed. Fidelity's systems had performed normally, Austin said.

Reuters reported Tuesday that a Morgan Stanley analyst, Scott Devitt, cut his estimate for Facebook's revenue this year to $4.85 billion from more than $5 billion earlier. The news agency reported it was unclear whether Morgan Stanley had told only select clients about the reduced estimate.

Reuters reported that the analyst cut his figures for Facebook while the company's executives, including founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, were shopping the stock to potential investors in the weeks ahead of the IPO, a process known in investing as a road show.

Filing said shift to mobile might limit revenue growth

Morgan Stanley, in its statement, did not specifically address which clients might have been told about a reduced estimate from one of its analysts. It said that "a significant number" of analysts, including those from other firms underwriting the stock issue, had reduced their estimates for Facebook to reflect publicly available information about the company.

That was a reference to a May 9 regulatory filing in which Facebook said a shift by many Facebook users toward mobile devices might limit its revenue growth. Social media companies have struggled to make as much money as they would like from mobile advertising. Advertising accounts for more than 80 per cent of Facebook's overall revenue.

Morgan Stanley also said that revised analyst views were taken into account in setting the stock offering price at $38 per share. Facebook, working with Morgan Stanley, first set a range of $28 to $35 for the offering price, then raised the range to $34 to $38 before setting it at $38 on the night before the IPO.

Reports suggest Facebook's chief financial officer, David Ebersman, along with Morgan Stanley decided to increase the size of the offering by 25 per cent early last week. Selling too many shares at too high a price has the appearance or trying to let insiders cash out at the public's expense. That perception is what has led to the heightened regulatory scrutiny.

"A little understanding of who sold their own shares should have been the signal that something wasn't right," Kaufman said.

When the stock started trading Friday, it jumped several dollars, but quickly fell back toward $38. It never crossed below that level on its first day, and outside analysts said that was probably because Morgan Stanley, eager to avoid the embarrassment of a first-day decline in the stock price, had rushed in with thousands of buy orders at $38.

A spokesman for Facebook Inc., which is based in Menlo Park, Calif., said late Tuesday that the company had no comment.

The SEC had already said on Friday that it was looking into problems surrounding the IPO. On Tuesday, the agency's chairman, Mary Schapiro, said: "I think there is a lot of reason to have confidence in our markets and in the integrity of how they operate, but there are issues that we need to look at specifically with respect to Facebook."

Canadian Pacific

2012-05-23T19:29:00.001-07:00

Canadian Pacific Railway strike leads to 2,000 layoffs

Federal labour minister gives notice of legislation in case talks don't work out

Canadian Pacific Railway workers went on strike Wednesday just after midnight. Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt says she's got back-to-work legislation ready to go to Parliament if the workers and management can't reach a deal.

clean-up begins as Japanese tsunami debris bombards Alaskan

2012-05-23T08:19:00.001-07:00

MONTAGUE ISLAND, Alaska – An "unprecedented" surge in debris from last year's Japanese tsunami is washing up on Alaska's coastline, environmentalists said Tuesday as they embarked on a major cleanup operation.

Floating material including buoys and Styrofoam has washed up on Montague Island, about 120 miles southeast of Anchorage, in volumes that clearly suggest a wave of debris from the 2011 disaster, AFP reported.

The March 11, 2011, tsunami killed more than 15,000 people and washed parts of cities out to sea.

"The debris found on initial surveys of the island showed an absolutely unprecedented amount of buoys, Styrofoam and other high floating debris," said Patrick Chandler of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.

He said debris from Asia has been washing up on Alaska shores for years, but "we have never seen the amount we see now. In the past we would find a few dozen large black buoys, used in Japanese aquaculture, on an outside beach cleanup. Now we see hundreds."

The large-scale clean-up will begin Thursday and take 12 days.

Millions of tonnes of debris are expected to wash up in the coming months and years from the Japanese quake. Researchers in Hawaii have developed computer models to forecast where and when it could come ashore.

A large black float with Japanese lettering, believed to be from the tsunami, was found in January on a beach in Northern California's Humboldt County, The Wall Street Journal reported, with that discovery followed by similar finds by beachgoers in Washington and Oregon.

So far, officials have confirmed tsunami debris in only a few instances. In April, a soccer ball that washed up in Alaska and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that came ashore in its storage container in British Columbia were both confirmed as having come from the tsunami.

On April 5, an unoccupied fishing trawler that U.S. officials said was cast adrift by the tsunami was sunk by a Coast Guard vessel after it entered Alaskan waters and posed a potential navigation hazard.

21-year-old man to suspected murder of California girl Sierra LaMar say

2012-05-23T08:18:00.001-07:00

Authorities said Tuesday they have DNA evidence linking a 21-year-old man to the suspected kidnapping and murder of a California girl in what officials called a "purely random" crime.

Police arrested and charged Antolin Garcia-Torres late Monday in the disappearance of 15-year-old Sierra LaMar, who was last seen March 16 leaving her home in Morgan Hill.

Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said at a Tuesday news conference that Garcia-Torres' DNA was found inside a bag belonging to LaMar. The bag was discovered by investigators within a two-mile radius of the girl's home not long after she disappeared.

Smith said authorities have strong evidence to indicate LaMar was murdered, though her body has not been recovered. She declined to elaborate on the kind of DNA evidence that was found inside the bag.

"It’s my belief this was purely random," Smith said. "We believe that this is the worst kind of crime -- a stranger abduction of a young girl."

Garcia-Torres, who also lives in Morgan Hill, was arrested Monday at a nearby Safeway store where he is an employee, Fox affiliate KTVU reported. He was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on one count of murder and one count of kidnapping in connection with LaMar's disappearance.

Garcia-Torres is the owner of the red Jetta that authorities seized last month in their investigation. Smith said Tuesday that authorities also have "physical evidence linking Sierra to his vehicle."

Smith also said that Garcia-Torres had been under 24-hour surveillance at both his home and the Safeway store since March. He was questioned by police Monday for more than two hours, according to KTVU.

Smith also revealed that Garcia-Torres is a suspect in three other assaults on women in the Morgan Hill area. Forensic evidence links Garcia-Torres to at least one of them, Smith said. The alleged assaults occurred about three years ago.

But the family of Garcia-Torres thinks police have the wrong man. His mother, Laura Torres, told the Associated Press that he asked him before his arrest if he had anything to do with LaMar's disappearance, and he said he had not seen or had contact with her.

LaMar, a sophomore at Sobrato High School, has not been seen or heard from since she left her home on the morning of March 16. Authorities believe she was abducted while walking to a school bus stop.

The girl's cellphone was recovered shortly after her disappearance about three-quarters of a mile from her home after police tracked its electronic ping. Police said the last text LaMar sent out was shortly before 7 a.m. the day she disappeared, and it was not a distress text.

The teen's bag also was discovered a couple of miles from her home. A pair of her pants and shirt were found neatly folded inside the Juicy brand bag.

"It was that clothing that was really instrumental in identifying the suspect," Smith said.

The girl's mother, meanwhile, said Tuesday that she is not giving up hope that her daughter will be found alive.

"We continue to pray until she is found," Marlene LaMar said at Tuesday's news conference. "Our search is not going to end. As a mother I'm hopeful. Her body has not been found and that gives me hope."

Click for more from KTVU.com

Photoshop fail shows Chinese officials lack

2012-05-23T08:10:00.002-07:00

Photoshop fail shows Chinese officials lack hover craft

Officials from this Chinese province aren't actually inspecting the road. (Yuhan Government Website)

They floated like butterflies, now they are being stung -- for a second year running.

Eleven months after officials in China were ridiculed for some of the worst Photoshop efforts on record, they are at it again.

The Zhejiang Hangzhou Yuhang local government was the butt of jokes around the internet Wednesday, after publishing pictures on their website of officials "floating" over a new landscaping project.

The terrible quality of the work includes one man's legs blending into bushes -- so it looks like he is partly buried in the ground -- and another man hovering above a brick pathway.

It suggests Photoshop skills in China have not developed at all over the past year. In June 2011, pictures on the Huili County website showed officials inspecting a newly completed highway.

Those pictures included a trio of officials hovering over the road and made the local government a laughing stock when the photos went viral.

The cut-and-paste quality of the pictures was made worse by the fact the officials did actually inspect the road but the website decided to use the badly Photoshopped pictures instead.

The Huili County government apologized for the photos and later took them down, but it was all too late.

The picture inspired countless parodies, including mock-ups showing the men on the moon, at the final of 2006 soccer World Cup and surrounded by dinosaurs.

Woman claims she was fired

2012-05-23T08:08:00.002-07:00

Woman claims she was fired for being 'too hot'

Hot 100 Named: So who is 2012's ?

2012-05-23T08:06:00.005-07:00

Maxim's Hot 100 Named: So who is 2012's lucky winner?

Brooklyn Decker, JWoww and Bar Refaeli all made the Top 100. (Reuters)

Maxim's Hot 100 list was revealed on Tuesday, and among the list of the country's sexiest gals are a few surprises!

A cartoon character comes in at #85. Lois Griffin from 'Family Guy" beat out 15 flesh and blood ladies

Pippa Middleton was the only royal on the list, but couldn't crack the Top 80.

Miley Cyrus (#68) beat Sophia Vergara (#71) by three slots. (Really?)

Stephen Colbert crashed the all-female party, landing at #69. (Thank you, write-in vote.)

#38 Kelly Kelly has the same first and last names. (Just sayin'.)

Jennifer Love Hewitt made the Top 20 again, but just by the skin of her, well...

And finally ... not a single Victoria's Secret model made Maxim's Top 10 this year. (Law of diminishing returns?)

Check out the gals who round out the Top 10, and see who sits alone atop Maxim Mountain.

Click for our Maxim Top 10 Countdown.

US Headed for 'Fiscal Cliff,' Analysts Warn Congress

2012-05-23T08:05:00.001-07:00

CBO says US likely to fall off 'fiscal cliff' if Bush-era tax cuts allowed to expire

WASHINGTON – A new government study released Tuesday says that allowing Bush-era tax cuts to expire and a scheduled round of automatic spending cuts to take effect would probably throw the economy into a recession.

The Congressional Budget Office report says that the economy would shrink by 1.3 percent in the first half of next year if the government is allowed to fall off this so-called "fiscal cliff" on Jan. 1 -- and that the higher tax rates and more than $100 billion in automatic cuts to the Pentagon and domestic agencies are kept in place.

There's common agreement that lawmakers will act either late this year or early next year to head off the dramatic shift in the government's financial situation. But if they were left in place, CBO says it would wring hundreds of billions of dollars from the budget deficit that would "represent an additional drag on the weak economic expansion."

CBO projected that the economy would contract by 1.3 percent in the first half of 2013, which would meet the traditional definition of a recession, which is when the economy shrinks for two consecutive quarters.

"Such a contraction in output in the first half of 2013 would probably be judged to be a recession," CBO said.

The economy would rebound at a 2.3 percent growth rate in the second half of the year, however, under CBO projections.

At issue is the full expiration of two rounds of major tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration and automatic spending cuts on the Pentagon and domestic programs that are scheduled to take effect as punishment for the failure of last year's deficit "supercommittee" to produce a deficit-cutting agreement last year.

Last summer's debt and budget agreement imposed almost $1 trillion in cuts to agency budgets over the coming decade and required automatic cuts -- dubbed a sequester in Washington-speak -- of another $1 trillion or so over the coming decade.

The CBO study came as Capitol Hill is hopelessly gridlocked over spending and taxes in advance of the fall elections. The White House and top Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada say they will refuse to act on the expiring tax cuts and automatic spending cuts unless Republicans show greater flexibility on raising taxes.

"If Republicans want to walk away from the bipartisan spending cuts agreed to last August, they will have to work with Democrats to replace them with a balanced deficit reduction package that asks millionaires to pay their fair share," Reid said in a statement.

Republicans are pressing to deal with the problem now. But they're not showing any more flexibility on tax increases.

"You can call this a fiscal cliff. You can call it Taxmageddon as others have done," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "Whatever you call it, it will be a disaster for the middle class. And it will be a disaster for the small businesses that will be the engine of our economic recovery."

The results of the elections will have a lot to do with the ultimate solution, but several top lawmakers predict the current Congress will punt the issue into 2013 for the newly-elected Congress and whoever occupies the White House to deal with.

"CBO observes that simply extending all of our current tax and spending policies will produce unsustainable deficits and debt, which will also send the economy into decline," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the top Democrat on the Budget Committee. "We need to act and we must do so in a balanced way."

CBO is the respected nonpartisan agency of Congress that produces economic analysis and estimates of the cost of legislation.

Pakistani doctor who helped US in bin Laden

2012-05-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

PESHAWAR, Pakistan – A Pakistani doctor who helped the U.S. track down Usama bin Laden was sentenced to 33 years in prison on Wednesday for conspiring against the state, officials said, a verdict that is likely to further strain the country's relationship with Washington.

Shakil Afridi ran a vaccination program for the CIA to collect DNA and verify bin Laden's presence at the compound in the town of Abbottabad where U.S. commandos killed the Al Qaeda chief last May in a unilateral raid. The operation outraged Pakistani officials, who portrayed it as an act of treachery by a supposed ally.

Senior U.S. officials have called for Afridi to be released, saying his work served Pakistani and American interests. But many Pakistani officials, especially those working for the country's powerful spy agency, do not see it that way.

"He was working for a foreign spy agency. We are looking after our national interests," said a Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the agency's policy.

Afridi's conviction comes at a sensitive time because the U.S. is already frustrated by Pakistan's refusal to reopen NATO supply routes to Afghanistan. The supply routes were closed six months ago in retaliation for American airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Afridi was detained sometime after the May 2, 2011, raid, but the start of his trial was never publicized.

He was tried under the Frontier Crimes Regulations, or FCR, the set of laws that govern Pakistan's semiautonomous tribal region. Human rights organizations have criticized the FCR for not providing suspects due process of law. There is no right to legal representation, to present material evidence or cross-examine witnesses.

The verdict was handed down by a Khyber government official in consultation with a council of elders, according to Nasir Khan, a government official in the Khyber tribal area, where the doctor was arrested and tried.

As well as the prison term, Afridi was ordered to pay a fine of about $3,500 and will spend an additional three and half years in prison if he does not, Khan said.

Afridi can appeal the verdict to the FCR commissioner within a period of two months, said Iqbal Khan, another Khyber government official.

The U.S. operation that killed bin Laden severely strained ties with Pakistan. The Pakistani government kicked out U.S. military trainers and limited counterterrorism cooperation with the CIA.

The relationship got even worse in November when the U.S. killed the 24 Pakistani soldiers at two posts along the Afghan border, an attack that Washington said was an accident but the Pakistani army insisted was deliberate.

Pakistan immediately retaliated by closing the NATO supply routes and kicking the U.S. out of a base used by American drones. Before the attack, the U.S and other NATO countries fighting in Afghanistan shipped about 30 percent of their nonlethal supplies through Pakistan. Since then, the coalition has used far more expensive routes through Russia and Central Asia.

The U.S. has pressed Pakistan to reopen the supply line, but negotiations have been hampered by Washington's refusal to apologize for the attack and stop drone strikes in the country as demanded by Pakistan's parliament. Many observers view the latter demand with skepticism because elements within Pakistan's government and military have supported the attacks in the past.

The latest drone strike took place Wednesday, when two missiles hit a compound in Datta Khel Kalai village in the North Waziristan tribal area, killing four suspected militants, said Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The U.S. does not discuss the cover CIA drone program in Pakistan in detail.

The Obama administration has expressed regret for the attack on Pakistan's troops, but is not willing to tender an apology out of concern that it could open the president up to attacks by Republicans angry at Pakistan's lack of cooperation on the Afghan war.

Despite its disagreements with the U.S., Pakistan appeared close to reopening the supply routes last week, prompting NATO to invite President Asif Ali Zardari to a major summit earlier this week in Chicago. But negotiations have faltered on Pakistan's demand for much higher transit fees, and the U.S. made its frustration clear at the summit.

President Barack Obama refused to meet one-on-one with Zardari and did not mention Pakistan in the list of countries he thanked in his speech Monday for helping get war supplies into Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, a Senate panel approved a foreign aid budget for next year that slashes U.S. assistance to Pakistan by more than half and threatens further reductions if it fails to open the NATO supply routes.

American lawmakers are also frustrated by suspicions that Pakistan is aiding militants who use its territory to attack U.S. troops in Afghanistan -- allegations Islamabad has rejected. There is also lingering resentment over the fact that bin Laden was found hiding deep inside Pakistan.

But the U.S. cannot afford to turn its back on Pakistan entirely.

Pakistan is seen as vital to negotiating a peace deal with the Afghan Taliban and their allies given the country's historical ties with the militants.

The Pakistani government is also keen to repair relations with the U.S., partly to receive over a billion dollars in American aid it needs to fill out its budget as it looks ahead to national elections scheduled for 2013. But patching up ties is politically sensitive in a country where anti-American sentiment is rampant.