DC officials investigate after 9 shot, 3 dead

WASHINGTON – A drive-by shooting killed three people and wounded six others in the nation's capital and three were arrested, officials said.
A gunman sprayed bullets "into a crowd" Tuesday night, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said.
The shootings of six men and three women happened around 7:30 p.m. around the 4000 block of South Capitol Street in the southeastern part of the city, said D.C. Police Department spokesman Officer Hugh Carew. Fire Department spokesman Pete Piringer says all were in their 20s and 30s, except for one teenager.
One victim died at the scene, one was dead on arrival at the hospital, and the third died in the operating room, said Carolyn Hammond, spokeswoman for Washington Hospital Center. She said a fourth person was in critical condition late Tuesday.
Three people were arrested and a weapon was recovered, according to police who said they had no motive. The Washington Post reported that police pursued a van from the scene, aided by a helicopter.
Four D.C. officers were slightly injured while chasing a suspect's vehicle into neighboring Prince George's County in Maryland, authorities said.
The neighborhood is near a water treatment plant and Bolling Air Force Base. Sections of southeastern D.C. have problems with crime, though surprised neighbors told local media that the area was not a bad place to live and wasn't dangerous.
Washington reported 143 homicides last year, the fewest in nearly 50 years.
AP ASSOCIATE NEWS:54 mins ago

Bicycle bomb kills 8 in southern Afghanistan

KABUL – A bomb concealed on a bicycle killed at least eight people Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, as the Pentagon's top military officer said NATO forces hope to reverse the Taliban's momentum in the south with an upcoming offensive in Kandahar.
The bomb went off in the Nahr-e-Sarraj district just north of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, police said. It exploded near people who gathered to receive free vegetable seeds provided by the British government as part of a program to encourage them not to plant opium poppy, provincial government spokesman Daoud Ahmadi said.
NATO said more than 35 civilians were wounded in the blast, and its forces were helping Afghan authorities control the scene. An investigation into the blast was under way, the alliance's statement said.
Kamaluddin, the deputy provincial police chief who uses only one name, initially said 17 people had died in the attack, but the death toll was later revised to eight. He said the higher original figure had resulted from a miscommunication.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The acting provincial head of agriculture, Ghulam Sahki, said it could have been the work of drug dealers trying to stop the alternative crop program. NATO and the Afghan government hope poppy farmers in the south where most of the world's opium is grown will adopt legal crops instead given cash incentives and programs like the seed distribution. The narcotics trade helps fund the Taliban insurgency.
A recent NATO operation in the Helmand town of Marjah, south of Lashkar Gah, struck at the heart of the Taliban opium business. NATO, U.S. and Afghan forces took control of the town in a three-week offensive in February and early March but face a fearful and mistrustful population as they work to set up a functioning government.
In Kabul, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Wednesday the operation in Marjah was moving forward successfully and that an upcoming offensive in and around the main southern city of Kandahar would be key to stopping the Taliban's growing influence in the south.
Kandahar remains the spiritual heartland of the insurgency. Mullen told reporters it would military's main focus going into the summer when the operation there kicks into high gear.
"It is a cornerstone in reversing the momentum for the Taliban," Mullen said.
He said that about half of the 30,000 new troops promised by President Barack Obama have yet to arrive and said most of those will be headed to Kandahar city and the surrounding province.
As in Marjah, the Kandahar offensive will focus on winning over the population and installing government as quickly as possible, he said.
But Mullen stressed that Kandahar will be more difficult to take and hold because of the size of the city — about a half million in the urban area and another half million in the area around it — and the entrenched Taliban presence.
"Kandahar is not Marjah, we understand that. It is a much bigger challenge and in that regard has much greater potential to achieve this goal of reversing the momentum," Mullen said.
Seizing control of Kandahar would help to put the Afghan government in a position of strength to pursue reconciliation talks with insurgents, Mullen said.
But, he said, those talks would be premature right now.
"This must be done from a position of strength," Mullen said, adding: "I don't think we're in that position of strength right now."
Mullen said that a number of power brokers and foreign governments wield influence in the Kandahar area. Mullen said he was briefed Tuesday about "a significant shipment of weapons" for insurgents from Iran into Kandahar "not too long ago." He declined to provide further details.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ 12 min ago

Obama to allow oil drilling off Virginia coast

WASHINGTON – In a reversal of a long-standing ban on most offshore drilling, President Barack Obama is allowing oil drilling 50 miles off Virginia's shorelines. At the same time, he is rejecting some new drilling sites that had been planned in Alaska.
Obama's plan offers few concessions to environmentalists, who have been strident in their opposition to more oil platforms off the nation's shores. Hinted at for months, the plan modifies a ban that for more than 20 years has limited drilling along coastal areas other than the Gulf of Mexico.
Obama was set to announce the new drilling policy Wednesday at Andrews air base in Maryland. White House officials pitched the changes as ways to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil and create jobs — both politically popular ideas — but the president's decisions also could help secure support for a climate change bill languishing in Congress.
The president, joined by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, also was set to announce that proposed leases in Alaska's Bristol Bay would be canceled. The Interior Department also planned to reverse last year's decision to open up parts of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. Instead, scientists would study the sites to see if they're suitable to future leases.
Obama is allowing an expansion in Alaska's Cook Inlet to go forward. The plan also would leave in place the moratorium on drilling off the West Coast.
In addition, the Interior Department has prepared a plan to add drilling platforms in the eastern Gulf of Mexico if Congress allows that moratorium to expire. Lawmakers in 2008 allowed a similar moratorium to expire; at the time President George W. Bush lifted the ban, which opened the door to Obama's change in policy.
Under Obama's plan, drilling could take place 125 miles from Florida's Gulf coastline if lawmakers allow the moratorium to expire. Drilling already takes place in western and central areas in the Gulf of Mexico.
The president's team has been busy on energy policy and Obama talked about it in his State of the Union address. During that speech, he said he wanted the United States to build a new generation of nuclear power plans and invest in biofuel and coal technologies.
"It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development," he warned.
Obama also urged Congress to complete work on a climate change and energy bill, which has remained elusive. The president met with lawmakers earlier this month at the White House about a bill cutting emissions of pollution-causing greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020. The legislation would also expand domestic oil and gas drilling offshore and provide federal assistance for constructing nuclear power plants and carbon sequestration and storage projects at coal-fired utilities.
White House officials hope Wednesday's announcement will attract support from Republicans, who adopted a chant of "Drill, baby, drill" during 2008's presidential campaign.
The president's Wednesday remarks would be paired with other energy proposals that were more likely to find praise from environmental groups. The White House planned to announce it had ordered 5,000 hybrid vehicles for the government fleet. And on Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department are to sign a final rule that requires increased fuel efficiency standards for new cars.

Suicide blasts in southern Russia kill 12

MAKHACHKALA, Russia – Two suicide bombers including one impersonating a police officer killed at least 12 people and injured 18 others in the southern Russian province of Dagestan on Wednesday, officials said. Nine police officers were among the dead.
The blasts in the North Caucasus region came two days after a twin suicide bombing tore through the Moscow subway system, killing 39 and wounding scores. Dagestan borders Chechnya, where Russian troops have fought two full-scale wars against separatist rebels in the past 15 years.
In Wednesday's attacks, a suicide bomber detonated explosives in the town of Kizlyar near Dagestan's border with Chechnya, when police tried to stop the bomber's car, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said in televised comments.
"Traffic police followed the car and almost caught up — at that time the blast hit," Nurgaliyev said. He said the deadly cargo was headed for the center of Kizlyar. There was a school and law enforcement building nearby.
As investigators and residents gathered at the scene of the blast, a second bomber wearing a police uniform approached and set off explosives, killing the town's police chief among others, Nurgaliyev said.
The Moscow subway bombings shocked a country that had grown accustomed to such violence being confined to a restive southern corner such as Dagestan — and marked the return of terrorism to the everyday lives of Muscovites after a six-year break.
The North Caucasus provinces of Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia are prone to more frequent attacks, hosting an active separatist Islamist insurgency that government forces are struggling to contain. Police are the frequent target because they represent federal law enforcers — the separatists' ideological enemy.
The violence continues despite Kremlin efforts to stem it. President Dmitry Medvedev, who recently said the separatists had spread through the region "like a cancerous tumor," earlier this year appointed a deputy prime minister to oversee the troubled region.
Rebels from the North Caucasus, which includes Dagestan and Chechnya, were blamed for masterminding the Moscow attack, but no claims of responsibility have been made. Speculation has been rife that the attacks were retaliation for the recent killing of high-profile separatists in the North Caucasus by police. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed late Tuesday to drag the organizers "out of the sewer."
Monday's subway bombings, carried out by two women, were the first terrorist attacks in Moscow since 2004. They have shaken a city that has been insulated from the violence still raging in the restive southern corner of the country.
The first blast struck the Lubyanka station in central Moscow, beneath the headquarters of the Federal Security Service or FSB, the KGB's main successor agency. The FSB is a symbol of power under Putin, a former KGB officer who headed the agency before his election as president in 2000.
About 45 minutes later, a second blast hit the Park Kultury station on the same subway line, which is near the renowned Gorky Park. In both cases, the bombs were detonated as the trains pulled into the stations and the doors were opening.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic

Akunyili Splits Senate Over Miniterial Nomenies

There was a rowdy session in the Senate on Monday as senators were sharply divided over the screening of former Minister of Information and Communication, Professor Dora Akunyili.

Trouble started in the Senate when Senate Chief Whip, Senator kanti Bello accused her of working against ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua and the unity of the nation.

Bello is from Katsina, the home state of the ailing President and was at the forefront of the agitation in the Senate against confirming Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President.

Akunyili, one of the ministerial nominees sent by Acting President Jonathan to the Senate for clearance is perceived by some elements in the north as having worked against the ailing President at the peak of agitations for his removal on account of his ill health.

The former minister incurred the wrath of the north when she presented a memo at the Executive Council of the Federation seeking it to discuss the health of the President to enable it vote on the matter in line with section 144 of the constitution.

Section 144. (1) (a) of the 1999 constitution provides that “The President or Vice-President shall cease to hold office, if by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of all the members of the executive council of the Federation it is declared that the President or Vice-President is incapable of discharging the functions of his office

Some senators from the north had since her nomination mounted pressure on the Acting President to replace her with Senator Joy Emordi whose election was annulled by the Appeal Court.

That agitation however fell on deaf ears as Jonathan still retained her in the list.

Senator Bello at the screening accused the former minister of betraying the Yar’Adua family who he said, she was so close to, to the extent she prepared meals for the President’s wife.

He also charged Akunyili of being a member of the same cabal she had accused of trying to hijack the administration in the absence of the President adding that he thought Akunyili was “a patriot and a nationalist”.

Bello’s outburst triggered reactions from other lawmakers resulting in an uproar in the Senate.

First to attack Bello in defense of Akunyili was Senator Lee Maeba who described his outburst as un-parliamentary.

That position was sustained by Senate President David Mark who also called Bello to order.

Aggrieved senators rejected motion by Senate Leader Teslim Folarin to extend the time of sitting beyond six o clock in the evening to enable Senate conclude screening of the 14 nominees listed for Monday.

However, responding, Professor Akunyili who had no apologies insisted that her action was nationalistic and patriotic adding that she has nothing against the President.

Insisting that she had in no way betrayed the President, Akunyili stressed that she is still loyal to the President and only introduced the memo in the best interest of the nation.

She also debunked the allegation that she cooked for the first lady describing that as false.

Maintaining that she has always been nationalistic, Akunyili recalled that while she was the Director General of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), she did not spare drug barons most of who were from her part of the country.

Meanwhile in his own presentation, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Adetokunbo Kayode, who was screened before Akunyili also justified the ‘doctrine of necessity’ employed by the National Assembly to clear Jonathan as acting President.

He said that was the right thing to do at the time to move the nation forward.

Nigerian Makes FBI Most Wanted List For Stealing $44m

The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI has added a Nigerian, Mr. Tobechukwu Enyinna Onwuhara, 30, to its list of ‘Most Wanted Fugitives.’

According to a report on America’s Most Wanted, the Bureau said ‘Tobechi Onwuhara is a criminal mastermind’ who in less than three years stole $44 million dollars from banks in the United States using sophisticated methods including stealing bank customer’s personal information, Home Equity Lines of Credit details and account numbers.

FBI agents say Onwuhara was born in Houston and sent to live with his wealthy Nigerian father, Prince Doris Onwuhara who the Bureau say is a ‘well-known con man who made a fortune from the notorious Nigerian 419 scheme’ before returning to the United States when he reached his teenage years in 1999.

Having settled in the southern state of Texas, he got a job with US lender, Capital One Financial Corporation where authorities believe he gained insider knowledge on how to work the US financial system.

His first brush with the law happened in April 2002 when he was arrested by Lewisville city police in Lewisville, Texas after police got a tipoff that he may be using stolen identification to steal money from credit card accounts. When police raided his apartment, they found stolen credit card account numbers, fake driver’s licenses and materials used to forge identification.

Same year in December in the western state of Seattle, FBI said ‘Onwuhara walked into a local bank and tried to max out the cash withdrawal limit on a stolen credit card’ but fled the bank when he sensed trouble. He was said to have jumped into a waiting car driven by a friend of his, Abel Nnabue and they led Seattle police on a high-speed chase but were eventually caught when they tried to flee on foot.

Both men were charged, convicted and sentenced to two years in a Seattle prison but spent only eight months of their sentence for good behaviour.

After their release, they relocated to Texas and went low for a while until sometime in 2005 when the real estate market was at an all time high and Home Equity Lines Of Credit loans became available. Though it was harder to steal from Home Equity Lines of Credit, Onwuhara and his co-conspirators found a way around it.

FBI say Onwuhara painstakingly researched home owners credit reports to see if they opened home lines of credit accounts and how much they had available. At this time in the real estate market, it was very common to find homeowners with $300, 000 - $ 400, 000 in home equity.

Onwuhara impersonated such homeowners after learning their passwords and home phone numbers through extensive research.

The Nigerian acquired multiple prepaid phone lines and wireless internet cards to prevent anyone from successfully tracing their numbers. He then also signed up to a spoofing service which allowed a home owner’s number appear on the bank representative’s caller ID when he called a bank to request a wire transfer from the account to a home owner’s regular checking account before the funds are eventually wired to accounts in Asia and then the monies would go to a Hawala in Africa.

‘Hawalas’ are funds transfer systems that are not regulated instead, they operate on trust. ‘Brokers or Hawalanders would take a cut and then transfer the money to an African Bank, eventually returning to a US bank,’ according to America’s Most Wanted.

Most of the funds returning to the United States came through accounts belonging to Precious Matthews or one of the other conspirators.

Investigators say Onwuhara made most of the calls himself but when an account belonged to a female, he would get his girlfriend, Precious Matthews to make the call while other co-conspirators would be delegated other duties including finding new home owners with equity in their homes.

According to FBI records, Onwuhara and his crew had stolen more than $20 million dollars before the bureau were notified of the scam and by the time the FBI penetrated their well-organized syndicate and learned their identity, they had stolen an additional $20 million dollars.

To learn their identity, the FBI contacted Verizon Wireless, a prepaid wireless company after it learned they were using prepaid internet services provided by the company to log into bank accounts and were able to obtain surveillance videos of three men paying for the service at one of the provider’s stores.

In the spring of 2008, the FBI got a break when they also found out that Onwuhara was using a spoofing service and they contacted the provider who made more than 1500 audio recordings available to them. As expected, most of the recordings were conversations between Onwuhara and various bank representatives, but unfortunately for Onwuhara someone from his crew had also used the phone to call a pharmacy pretending to be a doctor and ordered a prescription for Tobechi Onwuhara. This was a huge lead for the FBI. When they ran Onwuhara’s name, there was a match in their database where they found out he had been arrested before for bank fraud.

When they matched his photo with the surveillance videos obtained from the telecommunications company, they believed they had their man.

Gradually, they started their investigations and tried to learn the identity of his co-conspirators. This was when they discovered that Onwuhara had left Miami for Nigeria with a brief stopover in New York.

The FBI waited for Onwuhara and his travelling companions to return to the country and decided to stop him at the airport after he had rerouted his ticket several times.

The Bureau said they wanted him to believe he was being questioned as a possible terrorist and he fell for it by giving them information that eventually linked him to the fraud.

Before August 1, 2008, FBI agents already knew Onwuhara and his girlfriend, Matthews lived in their $5000 a month mansion near Miami in Florida. As they were making their way to a Florida casino with their crew on that day, agents and local police decided they had enough evidence to take them in. While they were effecting their arrest, agents realized that Onwuhara had entered the casino and believed Matthews sent a text message to him that they were being arrested and he managed to get away.

Authorities say they have not been able to track him down since.

FBI said before they took the gang down, Onwuhara would spend about $50, 000 a night in a strip club up to three times in a week and usually stayed at various five star hotels whenever he made his frequent travels.

Onwuhara according to the Bureau has stashed cash abroad and also shipped many luxury cars to Nigeria- all paid for in cash.

They believe he is hiding in either Canada; Miami, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia; or New Jersey.

His co-conspirators have been sentenced to various jail terms:

Henry ‘Uche’ Obilo, 30, Miami: Sentenced to 88 months in prison.

Abel Nnabule, 34, Dallas: Sentenced to 54 months on Jan. 30, 2009.

Precious Matthews (Onwuhara’s girlfriend): Sentenced to 51 months on Feb. 13, 2009.

Brandy Anderson, 31, Dallas, Sentenced to two years of supervised probation and 40 days of community confinement on Feb. 20, 2009.

Ezenwa Onyedebelu, 21, Dallas, Sentenced to 37 months on Feb. 27, 2009.

Daniel Orjinta, 43, Nigeria: Sentenced to 42 months on March 06, 2009.

Paula Gipson, 34, Dallas, Sentenced to 15 months on September 04, 2009.
http://thewillnigeria.com/breaking

Landlord Sent To Kirikiri Over Illegal Eviction!

A Lagos landlord, Nwachukwu Sunday Edemi, 49, has been sent to the Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons, Apapa, Lagos by the Ejigbo Magistrate’s Court for allegedly evicting his tenant illegally.

He was remanded in prison custody because he could not meet the bail conditions after he was arraigned before the court for stealing properties worth millions of naira belonging to Mrs. Victoria Kate Ahunmunde, his tenant.

The landlord, whose house is located at 9, Kola Ogundeji Street, Idimu, Lagos was alleged to have broken into his tenant’s flat and threw out her properties and rented the house to another tenant.

His action was reported to the police and he was arrested and charged with illegal entry, stealing and breach of public peace.

P.M.NEWS gathered that the landlord carried out the illegal act when the woman travelled. The three-count charge is contrary to sections 390, 413, 411, 412, 440 and 451 of the Criminal Code, Cap,C.17, Vol.2, Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge and Magistrate M.B. Folami granted him bail in the sum of N5 million with two sureties.

The matter has been adjourned till 21 April, 2010 while the accused was remanded in prison, pending when he will meet the bail conditions.

We have Not Declared James Ibori Wanted – EFCC Source

I AM NOT ON THE RUN - IBORI.......... PHOTO: FORMER DELTA STATE GOVERNOR, CHIEF JAMES IBORI.

San Francisco, March 29, (THEWILL) – Former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori is not being sought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and has not been declared wanted officially or otherwise by the anti-graft agency, a top EFCC personnel told THEWILL in a conference call from Abuja on Monday night.

The source who asked not to be named said a Nigerian newspaper report that said the commission was seeking to interrogate Ibori on his involvement in an alleged use of 528 million units of Delta State government owned Oceanic Bank Plc shares as collateral to secure a loan for a private company with ties to him from Intercontinental Bank Plc, and subsequent disposal of the shares to offset the balance of the loan, was inaccurate.
Pressed further, the source acknowledged that the commission had received an initial petition on Ibori on the matter many months ago before another was filed some weeks ago, he said the commission was yet to conclude its investigations on the allegations hence could not have declared the former governor wanted.
"What I am telling you is the EFCC official position on the Ibori/Delta State shares petition. The newspaper report you mentioned is inaccurate. The commission has not invited Ibori for questioning, we have not written him any letter of invitation on the matter, if we had, you know I would tell you," the source said.
Further checks by THEWILL through sources close to the governor revealed that Ibori has been in Abuja since the weekend and up till the time of filing in this report today, overseeing his affairs from the nation’s capital. The EFCC is also headquartered in Abuja.
The former governor was highly criticized for his role in frustrating Acting President Goodluck Jonathan’s ascension to the top of the Presidency. Ibori and Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva were arrowheads of the movement that worked in union with members of President Yar’Adua’s kitchen cabinet ‘cabal’ to ensure that Jonathan did not become Acting President. They were comfortable with maintaining the status quo until the ailing Yar’Adua resumed duties as President.
Recall the THEWILL broke the story that Ibori spearheaded the campaign to ensure that Yar’Adua was not removed from office on account of his ailment.
Ibori is known to be a major backer and financier of President Yar’Adua’s 2007 presidential campaign that eventually brought Yar’Adua to power.
There have been speculations that the Acting President may go after Ibori to punish him for his opposition. Our Presidency sources have consistently debunked talks that the Presidency may go after Ibori following his position. Pundits however believe Jonathan may use the latest allegation against Ibori as a political tool, to pay back Ibori.
THEWILL put a call through to the former governor on his cell phone to see if he had cutoff communication as claimed in the newspaper report. The governor was on the other end after a few seconds. We told him we were investigating a report on his alleged ‘disappearance’ and that he also cutoff communication following investigations by the EFCC into a petition against him by some Deltans including a former Minister of Information and PDP chieftain, Chief Edwin Clark.
"You called me and I am speaking to you now. Your number is even blocked and I took the call, please how have I cut off communication?," the former governor asked.
When asked to confirm his location, Ibori said, "I am still in Abuja."
Chief Ibori was a two-term governor of Delta State from 1999-2007 and was last quarter, acquitted in a highly contentious court ruling by a Federal High Court in Asaba, on multiple corruption and money laundering charges.

NIGER DELTA: Two Kidnapped Oil Workers Found Dead

DELTA STATE POLICE COMMISSIONER ALHAJI YAKUBU ALKALI.

Warri, Delta March 22 (THEWILL) - As security remains an issue unsolved in the Niger Delta originating from agitations due to a long marginalization of Niger Deltans by the Nigeria government, reports of kidnapping, vandalization of oil facilities and other related criminal activities have continued to dominate national discourse.

THEWILL has learnt that two workers of National Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Benin City, Edo State, Messrs. Danjuma Bashir and Malabu Ahmad, believed to have been kidnapped since March 13, have been found dead in a bush at Mosogar area of Delta State.
Unconfirmed report claimed that an un-identified contractor with the company was also kidnapped last Wednesday and his fate currently hangs in the balance.
Sources say that their remains were found on Saturday morning by a joint search team of Police, State Security Service and workers put in place by Edo State government.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), the union to which the deceased workers belonged, in a swift reaction, described the kidnap and subsequent murder of the workers as not only shocking, but a renewed act of criminality against oil workers that would not be tolerated.
The victims were said to have left Benin separately for the Delta State University, Abraka but never got there. They were stopped and taken by suspected gunmen who drove heading towards Delta State. Although it could not be ascertained whether they were driven away in their own cars or not, a source, however, lamented that all efforts to trace them proved abortive until they were found dead in the bush over a week later.
Police authorities are investigating but no persons have been arrested.http://thewillnigeria.com/breaking/3973-NIGER-DELTA-Two-Kidnapped-Oil-Workers-Found-Dead.html

Beijing set to overtake Heathrow this year

Beijing set to overtake Heathrow this year
By Doug Newhouse, 29 March 2010

According to estimates by the respected Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) is 'on track' to become the world's largest passenger handling airport in the world by as early as 2012 and this year it could overtake London Heathrow Airport in total passenger numbers.

Drawing on ACI passenger numbers and statistics from BCIA, CAPA says that Beijing handled 65m passengers in total in calendar year 2009 - a 16.8% increase - and this was just behind Heathrow's total of 66m (-1.5%), but still some way off Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, which handled 88m (-2.3%) last year.

But CAPA notes that the growth rate at Beijing - China's largest airport - has been spectacular, with passenger traffic up by 170% from the 2001 total of 24.2m passengers and it notes significantly that BCIA was the only airport in the top ten to show any growth in 2009. In fact, BCIA's total traffic has only fallen once in the last decade from 27.2m in 2002 to 24.3m in 2003 because of the SARs outbreak.

However, such impressive growth comes at a price and CAPA says that if recent trends are maintained, Beijing will again be operating close to its design capacity and the pressure will be on for officials to progress the much-delayed second Beijing airport project.

Meanwhile, CAAC recently reported that China's airports handled 174m passengers in 2009, a 16.8% year-on-year increase, of which 87.5% were domestic passengers and CAPA's analysis shows that 14 mainland Chinese airports reported annual passenger traffic of more than 10m in 2009, with all the major airports (with annual passengers of plus-5m) reporting solid year-on-year growth.

Drawing on its own data and statistics from various other sources, CAPA said: "The smaller airports of Chengdu, Changsha, Sanya, Harbin and Guiyan reported growth of above 30%. Beijing was also the fastest growing of the nation's five largest airports (i.e. Guangzhou, Shanghai Pudong, Shanghai Hongqiao and Shenzhen), driven by strong year-on-year growth in 1H2009, off a weaker base in 1H2008.http://www.trend-news.com

New York State: Unemployment Information

NYS Unemployment Information

NYS Unemployment Information: Forget the memories of New York as the crowd of trade and finance United States, even the world, because in this year's maternity nickname is the "New York City's Largest NYS Unemployment in the United States".

As a report released by the Council of the Mayor A United States on Saturday (18/1), mentions only five metropolitan areas in the U.S. who will be free of the NYS Unemployment Information this year.

New York is expected to become the city which has the largest NYS Unemployment when thousands of jobs evaporate from Wall Street trading floor. Financial companies to cut the number of employees as the debts piled so. Even some other companies, such as Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. had already fallen in September.http://www.moratmarit.com

Barack Obama Makes Surprise Stop in Afghanistan

President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Sunday for a firsthand look at the 8-year-old war he inherited and dramatically escalated.

After an overnight flight from Washington, the president landed in Afghanistan for a stay of just a few hours, all in darkness. He flew by helicopter from Bagram Air Field to the capital, where he was greeted at the presidential palace by Afghan leader Hamid Karzai, given just an hour's notice of Obama arrival. A military honor guard stood at attention as Obama walked across red carpets.

It was Obama's second stop in a war zone as commander in chief, coming about a year after a similarly secretive trip to Iraq.

The Afghanistan trip was intended to let Obama tell Karzai that he must crack down on corruption and cut the flow of money from poppy production and drug trafficking that is sustaining the insurgency. The U.S. also wants Karzai to halt cronyism and rewards for warlords in government hiring and to create an effective, credible judicial system.

"This is something that simply has to be done," said Obama's national security adviser, Jim Jones. "Both presidents have to be on the same wavelength."

The White House insisted that Karzai's Cabinet participate in most of the meetings with Obama, making the point that Karzai must work with his ministers.

This trip, its secrecy forced by security concerns, was an extraordinary capstone to a momentous week in Obama's presidency. He achieved the most ambitious domestic policy initiative in decades with a historic health care overhaul and scored first major foreign policy achievement with a significant new arms control treaty with Russia.

In December, Obama ordered 30,000 additional forces into the fight against an entrenched Taliban insurgency that seeks to retake the control of Afghanistan that the militant group lost when the U.S. invaded in 2001. Those new U.S. troops are still arriving and most are expected to be in place by summer, for a full force of roughly 100,000 U.S. troops. There were about 34,000 when Obama took office.

The trip came just two days after a threatening new audio message from al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, believed to be hiding along the ungoverned border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The White House made no advance announcement of the visit, which officials said had been long desired by the president but delayed by weather and other logistical obstacles.

Obama had gone Friday afternoon to the presidential retreat at Camp David, Md., from which unnoticed departures are easier because of its secluded mountain location. The small contingent of White House aides and media allowed on the trip were sworn to secrecy, and the White House allowed details of Obama's activities on the ground to be reported only after they were under way.

The president's plane landed under a clear sky, with only a few wispy clouds and an almost full moon. Obama was greeted by the American ambassador, Karl Eikenberry. No flash photography was allowed while his arrival was kept secret.

It was Obama's second visit to Afghanistan; the first was in 2008 when, as a presidential candidate and U.S. senator, he joined an official congressional delegation.

In addition to talks with Afghan leaders, Obama planned to meet with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. military commander, and the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry. He also was to speak with American troops.

At least 945 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count. The number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan has roughly doubled in the first three months of 2010 compared to the same period last year as Washington has added tens of thousands of additional soldiers to reverse the Taliban's momentum.

The war is unpopular with a majority of Americans, especially progressives in the base of Obama's Democratic Party. This was reflected in Obama's new Afghanistan strategy. He combined the large buildup - his second to the Afghanistan force in less than a year as president - with a call to start bringing troops home in July 2011, just a year after the full contingent is in place.

Lately, Obama's approval ratings on his handling of Afghanistan have ticked up, to 57 percent in a March AP-GfK poll, from 49 percent in January. But the challenge ahead is daunting: justify his escalation with clear progress against the Taliban, and in building up and training Afghan army and police forces so they can begin taking over security responsibilities.

Last month, a major offensive was launched to retake the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in Helmand province.

The Marjah campaign routed most Taliban fighters from a town they once controlled, without a high casualty toll for U.S. troops and the Afghan security forces fighting alongside them. Military officials have praised the results, but cautiously.

With fighting still raging across Afghanistan, and any successes still fragile and reversible, the war is not yet considered at a turning point. The key part of Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan - turning ordinary Afghans away from the Taliban by bringing in development and installing effective government - has barely begun.

The next big military operation for the U.S. and NATO troops is being planned for Kandahar. The large city is the spiritual home of the Taliban insurgency. While it is not now under the Taliban flag, the insurgents are a constant presence.

This year has brought potentially positive news for the war.

Pakistan recently arrested Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar - second in the Taliban only to Mullah Mohammed Omar - and other key members of the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan's government has not regularly taken on that group and has allowed it to have virtual safe haven within Pakistan. There also are doubts about whether the arrests represent Pakistan's desire to better help the U.S. or to further its own interests.

Obama's talks with Karzai come as Washington's relationship with the Afghan leader has soured. Particularly since last year's flawed presidential elections, concerns about corruption and ineffectiveness in Karzai's central government have mounted. The U.S. and Western allies have demanded, with little success, broad reforms and proof that Karzai would - and could - shake off his ties to warlords and regional powerbrokers.

One topic expected to come up was Karzai's plan for a three-day peace "jirga," or conference, in late April or early May. Looking a way to end the war, Karzai has invited Taliban participation.

Bombs kill 5 at house tied to Iraq Sunni candidate

BAGHDAD – Several bombs exploded Sunday near a house linked to a prominent Sunni figure who ran in this month's parliamentary elections in Iraq, killing five people and wounding 26 others, a police official said.

The attack adds to fears of post election violence as the bitter election rivals enter what are expected to be drawn out talks on forming the next government that will rule Iraq as U.S. troops leave by the end of 2011.

Sunday's blasts took place in the town of Qaim, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west of Baghdad and on the border with Syria, the police official said.

The first bomb, planted at a house under construction, went off at 7 a.m. in a busy area of Qaim. As onlookers gathered, four more bombs hidden in trash littered around the site detonated, causing the casualties.

The official said the house belongs to a brother of Sheik Murdhi Muhammad al-Mahalawi, a Sunni candidate who ran on the Iraqiya list led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, the top vote-getter in the March 7 balloting.

Neither al-Mahalawi's brother nor any construction workers were at the site when the bombs went off, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media.

Initially, the official had said the house belonged to al-Mahalawi but later both he and a family member said it belonged to the candidate's brother, Turki.

The family member, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fears for personal safety, said two of al-Mahalawi's cousins, who live next door, died in the blasts.

The win in March 7 parliamentary elections by Allawi's secular bloc, which got 91 seats, two seats more than Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's group, reflected an extraordinarily close race.

Allawi's road to regaining the premiership is not certain. Al-Maliki angrily denounced the election outcome and his supporters have vowed to fight the results.

Allawi's Iraqiya coalition drew on support from Sunnis frustrated with the Shiite-dominated government, which they say has incited sectarian tensions and is too closely aligned with neighboring Iran.

Since both al-Maliki and Allawi's blocs are far short of the 163 seat majority needed to form a government alone, a Shiite religious coalition and the U.S.-allied Kurds are likely to be kingmakers in any future government.

In a worrying sign of the sectarian tensions the elections have stirred up, a Sunni leader in a Baghdad neighborhood who on Friday night celebrated Allawi's win by passing out candy to well-wishers was killed by a sniper Saturday morning, police and hospital officials said.

At the Sunni leader's funeral on Sunday, members of his militia known as Sons of Iraq walked alongside mourners bearing the casket, which was draped in an Iraqi flag, firing gunshots into the air.

Later Sunday, a roadside bomb targeted an Iraqi army patrol in a Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad, killing one soldier and wounding five others, police said.

After the names of the candidates elected for the 325-seat parliament are published in daily newspapers, political blocs have three days to appeal the results. The results will not be final until certified by the Supreme Court.
http://www.ap.org/

Georges St-Pierre defeats Dan Hardy to retain UFC welterweight title

Georges St-Pierre defeats Dan Hardy to retain UFC welterweight title
The Canadian improves to 20-2 with his seventh consecutive championship defense, earning a unanimous decision. Shane Corwin knocks out Frank Mir to earn interim heavyweight belt.

NEWARK, N.J. - Georges St-Pierre methodically defeated challenger Dan Hardy in a unanimous five-round decision in the main event of UFC 111 and retained his welterweight championship Saturday night.

St-Pierre, from Montreal, won his seventh straight title defense and improved to 20-2 in his UFC career.

"I made a lot of mistakes that I'm not happy with," St-Pierre said. "I wanted to fight him on the ground where I am the strongest and I know he's the weakest. But he was a lot tougher than I thought he was.

"I wanted to finish the fight in an impressive way, but I didn't. I will work with my trainers and come back stronger and better. I can't make mistakes like that."

Hardy, from Nottingham, England, dropped to 23-7 overall. It was Hardy's first title fight.

"I might lack the technical skills and I might lack the strength," Hardy said. "But the one thing I have is that I'm never going to quit. I don't give up. I never give up. I don't know the meaning of tapping out."

St-Pierre, fighting for the first time in eight months after undergoing abdominal surgery, took control of the bout with a double-leg takedown within the first 10 seconds.

Earlier, undefeated Shane Carwin knocked out former champion Frank Mir at 3:28 of the first round to win the UFC interim heavyweight title.

Although St-Pierre had never wrestled in high school or college, he utilized his superior wrestling skills throughout the fight and was never seriously challenged or hurt by Hardy.

Hardy, sporting a red Mohawk haircut, remained on his back for most of the first round and was almost driven to submission with a ferocious arm bar, but Hardy escaped and got to his feet in the closing seconds of the period.

In the second round, St-Pierre used a single-leg to get Hardy to his back again, holding control for most of the round.

Hardy did gain a reversal and put St-Pierre to his back, but managed nothing from it, as St-Pierre quickly escaped.

In the fourth round, St-Pierre almost got Hardy to submit with another arm bar, but Hardy managed to work his way out of the hold, sending the bout to the fifth and final round.

St-Pierre maintained control, totally dominating his opponent. Although Hardy never threatened, he did not submit.

Carwin, a former college football player and wrestler at Western State in Colorado, controlled the bout from the beginning and eventually got to Mir with two powerful left-handed uppercuts, knocking him to his knees.

Carwin then pummeled Mir with a series of 27 unanswered punches, forcing referee Dan Miragliotta to stop the fight.

Carwin and Mir were the undercard to the main event between St-Pierre and Hardy.

Carwin improved to 12-0 as a professional and has now earned the right to take on champ Brock Lesnar sometime this summer.

Lesnar is recovering from emergency surgery after a hole was found in his intestines due to a bacterial infection. Carwin had two bouts with Lesnar canceled due to Lesnar's illness. Lesnar was standing outside the cage when the fighters entered the octagon Saturday night.
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/sports/boxing

DR Congo Rebel Massacre Uncovered

Evidence of the massacre of at least 321 people in Democratic Republic of Congo has been uncovered by the BBC.

The killings took place last December but have not previously been reported.

Fighters from the notorious Lord's Resistance Army raided several villages in a remote part of north-eastern DR Congo, killing and abducting children.

Human Rights Watch says this is one of the worst massacres carried out by the LRA, whose fighters roam across several countries after spreading from Uganda.

The rebel leaders initially claimed to be fighting to install a theocracy in Uganda based on the Biblical Ten Commandments, but they now sow terror in Sudan and Central African Republic, as well as DR Congo.

In the latest attack, the rebels hacked to death villagers and made others carry looted goods. Some 250 people were abducted.

Jean-Claude Singbatile, 17, was captured with a group of friends and spent days carrying bags of salt.

"As we marched, the LRA killed people - two at one village, three at the next and then four at the next," he told the BBC.

"They wanted to kill me, but the leader said I should be kept alive, as they needed strong soldiers."

Eventually, one of the rebels warned him that he would also be killed and should take his chance and run for it.

"He warned me because he is an Azande, like me," said Jean-Claude, referring to his ethnic group.

Posing as soldiers

The United Nations had heard rumours that an attack was to be launched around Christmas, and reinforced their troops in the area.

But they were deployed to towns like Dungu and Niangara rather than the remote villages where the killings finally took place.

On 13 December, a contingent of LRA rebels crossed the Uele river, before arriving at a market in the village of Mabanga Ya Talo.

Dressed in military uniforms, they pretended to be Congolese soldiers who had spent months in the forests and asked local people for food and other goods.

They then asked people to carry the goods back to where they had crossed the river, and when the villagers refused, the rebels turned on them.

Adults were attacked, captured, imprisoned in huts, then taken out and made to act as porters.

Anyone who was unable to keep up with the pace of the forced march was "left behind" - a euphemism for being tied up and battered to death with wooden stakes or killed with machetes and axes.

Those who refused or tried to escape were also brutally killed.

It was a pattern repeated in villages all the way to Tapili, some 45km (30 miles) away.

Shallow grave

Lt Jeanvier Bahati, a Congolese army commander in the Tapili area, was one of the first to arrive at the massacre site and helped to bury the dead.

"I saw with my own eyes 268 dead bodies, because we buried them - there was no-one else to do it," he said.


Jacques Akoba, a Red Cross volunteer, said he buried seven bodies in a shallow grave 2km south of Mangada, along with nine skulls he found by the side of the road.

"We were scared as we were burying them, but the son of our chief was among them, so we felt we had to give them a burial," he said.

Human Rights Watch, working with local groups, has verified 321 deaths - but other activists have given far higher estimates.

Witnesses say the stench of death hung over the area for weeks.

Children were a particular target of the LRA.

At least 80 were taken by force - boys to become fighters, girls to be used as sex slaves by LRA combatants.

Quite why they killed so many of their victims is a mystery.

Fear remains

"We don't understand what their strategy really is, but they clearly like killing, like destroying things," said Father Joseph Nzala, the Catholic priest at Tapili.

Many villagers are still too frightened to go home, and they continue to live in a makeshift camp on the edge of Niangara.

Soldier in Tapili
Soldiers now patrol in Tapili, where many people died

Local people question why the UN, Congolese and Ugandan forces do not co-operate more closely to halt the LRA, who have now returned to their camps north of the Uele river.

Ugandan army commanders claimed they had all but eradicated the LRA after launching a joint operation with South Sudanese and Congolese troops in December 2008.

With logistical and intelligence support from the US, the operation was meant to kill LRA commanders, including its leader, Joseph Kony.

But the attack failed to achieve its aims and the LRA dispersed, attacking churches and villages during Christmas 2008.

Uganda continues to maintain substantial forces on Congolese territory, sometimes conducting joint patrols with the army.

The Congolese soldiers receive support from UN troops who have a number of small peacekeeping bases in the area.

But Anneke van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch said the massacre provided "clear evidence" of the LRA's ongoing capabilities.

"Rather than ignoring the facts, the governments of the region and UN peacekeepers should co-ordinate their efforts to protect civilians and develop a comprehensive strategy to resolve the LRA problem once and for all," she said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk

Sunk South Korea naval ship Cheonan 'split in half'

Sunk South Korea naval ship Cheonan 'split in half'
Marine looks through binoculars
South Korea has not given up all hope of finding survivors

The force of Friday's mysterious explosion which sunk a South Korean naval ship appears to have split the vessel's hull in two, officials say.

The two halves are lying on the sea bed but bad weather has prevented military divers from reaching the wreckage.

Forty-six sailors are missing and rescue workers say it is unlikely that anyone could have survived three days in the near-freezing water.

The cause of the explosion on the 1,200-tonne Cheonan remains unclear.

The BBC's John Sudworth in Seoul says several possibilities have been suggested:

* an accidental onboard explosion
* a blast caused by hitting rocks or sea mines
* or a deliberate outside attack.

The naval patrol vessel sank near the disputed maritime border with North Korea but military officials say there is no indication the North was involved.

Fifty-eight sailors, including the captain, were rescued from one of the South's worst sea disasters.

Some rescue-workers say it is still possible that some people could have survived in air-pockets inside the ship, although the water in the Yellow Sea is about 4C.

After visiting the disaster site, Defence Minister Kim Tae-young said: "The vessel appeared to have been split into half," reports South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Although the waters are fairly shallow, the exact location of the wreckage has not yet been located, according to defence ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae.

Navy and coast guard vessels, as well as air force planes, are still scouring the area near South Korea's Baeknyeong Island.

A group of 80 family members have sailed around the crash site and watched the rescue efforts, the AP news agency reports.

But some relatives are accusing the navy of a cover-up, saying the ship was in need of repair.Earlier, the ship's rescued captain has been recounting what happened.

"There was the sound of an explosion and the ship keeled to the right. We lost power and telecommunications," Yonhap quoted Choi Won-il as saying.
Map

"I was trapped in the cabin for five minutes before my colleagues broke the window in and let me out. When I got out, the stern had disappeared."

A number of the crew jumped into the water, Yonhap said.

"Yells and screams filled the air," witness Kim Jin-ho, a seaman who was on a local passenger ship bound for Baeknyeong, told cable news channel YTN.

"Marines on deck were desperately shouting: 'Save me!"'

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak convened an emergency meeting of security officials and said all possible causes for the sinking would be investigated.

He ordered the military to focus on rescuing the sailors.

There were initial reports that another South Korean ship had fired shots toward an unidentified vessel, but officials later speculated the target had been a flock of birds.

The incident comes at a time of tension between the two Koreas. International talks aimed at ending the communist North's nuclear ambitions have been stalled for months.

North and South Korea are still in a official state of war because the 1950-53 Korean War ended only in a truce.

Since then, they have fought three bloody skirmishes in the Yellow Sea.

In January, North Korea fired about 30 artillery shells not far from Baeknyeong. South Korea fired 100 warning shots in response, but no injuries were reported.

South Korea recognises the Northern Limit Line, drawn unilaterally by the US-led United Nations Command to demarcate the sea border at the end of the Korean War. The line has never been accepted by North Korea. http://news.bbc.co.uk

Download "YouTube- spartacus blood and sand Episode 10 Party Favors Preview.FLV" with Keep Tube!

Download "YouTube- spartacus blood and sand Episode 10 Party Favors Preview.FLV" with Keep Tube!

Harmless Creature Killed Because of Superstition

The 4- to 6-pound animal is believed to creep into the houses of villagers and use its peculiarly long middle finger to lance the hearts of sleeping victims, according to Discovery News.

Natives of Madagascar often kill harmless aye-ayes over fears of what the animal represents.

For that reason, locals often kill the harmless animals on sight. Along with the loss of habitat caused by deforestation, superstition is a major reason the aye-aye is now considered to be at risk. Aye-aye population estimates range from 1,000 to 10,000.

Found only on Madagascar, aye-ayes are nocturnal primates that tend to live high in the trees of the rain forest, where they build nests of leaves and twigs. They use their long middle fingers to extract insect larvae from tree bark, according to National Geographic.

Some locals believe the legend that the appearance of an aye-aye -- which does not seem to fear the presence of human beings -- is a sign that a villager will soon die.

The animal, the largest nocturnal primate in the world, is now officially protected by law, but that often does not protect the aye-aye from residents convinced of its evil nature.

Children in the West, however, best know the aye-aye from the character Maurice in the animated "Madagascar" films.
:http://www.aolnews.com

Kentucky Crash:11 People killed when truck, church were Burnt

MUNFORDVILLE, Ky. - A truck crossed a Kentucky interstate median and slammed head-on into a Mennonite church van headed to a wedding, killing 11 people, state police said Friday.

State police Trooper Charles Swiney said two children survived the crash with the tractor-trailer on northbound Interstate 65.

A pastor for the family in the van said they were Mennonites on their way to a wedding in Iowa. Authorities say the truck driver, who was from Alabama, was also killed.

Officials say the tractor-trailer crossed the median and struck the van head-on around 5:30 a.m. CDT near Munfordville, about 75 miles south of Louisville.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was dispatching a team to investigate the crash.

Pastor Leroy Kauffman with the Marrowbone Christian Brotherhood in Burkesville, about 55 miles southeast of the crash site, says the two surviving children were taken to a nearby hospital.

Joe Middleton, a supervisor at Caverna Memorial Hospital in Horse Cave, said two survivors from the accident were taken there and released around 10 a.m.

He couldn't confirm their identities or injuries due to privacy laws, but said it was his understanding they were the only two survivors of the crash.

Kauffman said there were three young children on board ages 1, 3 and 5. He said the father was an assistant pastor at the church and there was also a couple on board the van who were engaged to be married, although they were traveling to someone else's wedding.

"They had a July wedding planned but they won't need that now," Kauffman said. "They'll have a wedding in heaven I guess."

He said the family's house burned down in December and they had just moved into a new home built by church members.

"We're experiencing a lot of heartache and a lot of sadness, but with that a hope," Kauffman said. "We know where these people are going, they were all saved Christians and walking with the Lord."

The crash is one of the most deadly traffic accidents in recent Kentucky history. On May 14, 1988, 27 people were killed in a fiery bus crash caused by a drunken driver going the wrong way on Interstate 71 in Carroll County. That bus was owned by the First Assembly of God church in Radcliff and was filled with youths returning from an amusement park....
http://www.latimes.com/news

Ben 10: Ultimate Alien.

Fans around the globe are preparing themselves for Ben 10: Ultimate Alien that will debut in Sping 2010 and bring a whole new range of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien toys along with it. Forget about the plot, this Ben 10: Ultimate Alien preview is all about the toys you can buy from the new series.
Ben 10: Ultimate Alien

The new series from the Cartoon Network is the sequel to Ben 10: Alien Force and pits Ben 10 and his team against a totally new range of foes. The plot will show how Ben 10 reacts to be being a superstar after his identity is revealed. He is now 16 and it’s been a year since he defeated Vilgax. All eyes will be on the Ben 10: Ultimate Alien merchandise though and here’s a run down of the new action figures in the Ben 10 TV Show.

The Aliens will become an instant fan favourite and Ben 10 action figures will be available for Terraspin, Water Hazard, Amphibian, Nanomech, Ultimate Swampfire, Ultimate Humongousaur, NRG, Ultimate Spidermonkey, Ultimate Cannonbolt, Ultimate Echo Echo, Ultimate Big Chill and Armodrillo.

But the big money is sure to be on the new vehicles with Ben 10 getting a new car, The DX Mark 10 while Kevin will be piloting the Mecha Vehicle. Both are purple and green and look incredible slick. There is a also a return for the Rustbucket, everyone’s favourite trust mobile home.

Pictures of the Ben 10: Ultimate Alien toys are circulating the internet and it is only a matter of time before the cartoon returns to our TV Screens. The series is bound to be another smash and viewers and collectors are dying to get their hands on all the Ben 10 toys they can.
source:breakingnewsandsport.com

Web site for Ohio appliance rebates jammed

Appliance shoppers were experiencing a few problems today as Ohio’s $10.4 million appliance rebate program got under way at 8 a.m.

The program requires customers to go online or call a toll-free phone number to reserve their rebate, ranging from $100 to $250 for new Energy Star-rated refrigerators, clothes washers, dishwashers and gas and electric water heaters.

Within the first hour of the program, some visitors to the web site, www.OhioApplianceRebate.com, got a message saying it was experiencing high volume and that they should be patient and try again later. Callers to the toll-free number, 1-888-686-8896. were getting a recorded message telling them to go online to get a rebate reservation.

Beverly Price of Green Township said she doesn’t have access to a computer. “I tried twice on the phone line and all I got was the recorded message,” she said.

Jim Recker of Recker & Boerger Inc. appliance stores, said some customers were having difficulty getting through, but “if you keep trying, you’ll get in. So far so good.”

State officials administering the program expanded computer and call center capacity to handle the expected heavy volume of applicants for the rebates. A spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Development said the problems were caused by the heavy volume of applicants and urged consumers to be patient.

Jeff Howell, manager of the Sears store at Tri-County Mall, said his store, which opened at 6 a.m. was having few problems getting through to the Web site.

“We processed four or five transactions for customers within the first 10 minutes,” he said.

As of 10 a.m., state officials said Ohio's appliance rebate Website had received 22,339 hits, and 6,422 rebate reservations had been made. A total of 228 purchases were completed.

Bethany Close, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Development, which is administering the program, said a heavy volume of applicants at 8 a.m. caused some problems for people getting through but the site was operating and rebate reservations are being recorded.

She also advised consumers trying to get through on the toll-free number to keep trying. Initially callers were getting only a recorded message referring them to the website, but she said call center operators were picking up reservations.

As of mid-morning, Ohio still had $9.5 million of the $10.4 million in rebate funds still available.
source://news.cincinnati.com