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VIDEO: Libyans rejoice at Gadhafi's death

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Libyans erupted in euphoria Thursday after longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was killed by revolutionary forces who were finally able to overrun his hometown.

Gadhafi had himself declared "King of Kings" of Africa. But Thursday, he appeared bloody and lifeless in grisly cell phone images broadcast across the world.

Libyans took to the streets to celebrate the end of a brutal era, to mark the historic day that the former strongman, once thought of as untouchable, was gone. They sighed relief that after many months of fierce fighting, the war was over. They had won what had been dubbed one of the Arab Spring's most improbable uprisings.

Mahmoud Jibril, the chairman of the executive board of the National Transitional Council, declared Gadhafi dead.

Also killed Thursday were Gadhafi's son Mutassim and the chief of intelligence, Abdullah al-Senussi, said Anees al Sharif, a spokesman for the National Transitional Council's military arm in Tripoli.

A video broadcast on the Al Jazeera Arabic network showed fighters surrounding an injured, blood-smeared Gadhafi and hoisting him onto the back of a truck. Another video showed an apparently dead Gadhafi with what appears to be a wound to his head.

A photograph distributed by the news agency Agence France-Presse also appeared to show Gadhafi covered in blood.

Revolutionary fighters attacked the house in Sirte where Gadhafi was hiding, Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam told CNN. Gadhafi was shot while trying to flee.

"Col. Gadhafi is history," Shammam said.

Gadhafi's body was taken to Misrata, said Mahmoud Al Nacoua, the Libyan ambassador to Britain.

The confirmation of Gadhafi's death by Libya's new leadership came after hours of conflicting reports as to the deposed leader's status.

When those reports first reached U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she reacted with one word: "Wow."

She said the end of Gadhafi would "add legitimacy and relief to the formation of a new government."

Abubaker Saad, who was a Gadhafi aide for nine years, said it didn't really matter whether he was dead or alive -- as long as he was no longer a fugitive.

"As long as he was on the run, he represented a very ominous danger to the Libyan people," Saad told CNN. "He represented a very ominous danger ... to the idea of the democracy in Libya."

Saad said he never saw Gadhafi sleep in the same place two nights in a row.

"This man has been doing it for 42 years. He has experience in hiding," Saad said. "So I am thrilled to see the Libyan fighters in Sirte (were) able to kill him or capture him."

NATO said it will convene for a meeting to discuss ending its operation in Libya, a senior NATO official told CNN.

"It will be very soon, perhaps next day or two," the official said.

Adm. James Stavridis, supreme allied commander of NATO, is looking at "key pieces of intelligence" to make that recommendation. That will include assessing whether the revolutionary fighters control Sirte, which NATO believes they do, and whether Gadhafi loyalists can mount any significant counterstrike.

Earlier, NATO aircraft struck two pro-Gadhafi military vehicles in the vicinity of Sirte.

Libyans, who have been waiting for months for Gadhafi's demise, erupted in deafening celebrations on a historic day. They knew to be quiet under Gadhafi, but they were anything but on Thursday.

Even before confirmation of his death, a cacophony of celebration could be heard in Tripoli as ships and cars blared their horns and shots were fired into the air.

It's a great moment," said Shammam, the information minister. "I've been waiting for this moment for decades, and I'm thanking God that I'm alive to see this moment."

Gadhafi ruled Libya with an iron fist for 42 years after seizing power in a bloodless coup against King Idris in 1969, when he was just an army captain.

By the end of his rule, he claimed to be "King of Kings" of Africa, a title he had bestowed upon him in 2008.

But a February uprising evolved into civil war that resulted in ousting the strongman from power.

Gadhafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, for alleged crimes against humanity, had not been seen in public in months.

"I think today is a day to remember all of Col. Gadhafi's victims," said British Prime Minister David Cameron. "People in Libya today have an even greater chance of building themselves a strong and democratic future."

World leaders sounded encouragement for a new Libya but cautioned that the road ahead will hardly be easy.

"In the coming days, we will witness scenes of celebration, as well as grief for those who lost so much," said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "Yet let us recognize, immediately, that this is only the end of the beginning. The road ahead for Libya and its people will be difficult and full of challenges."

Source: CNN

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Mubarak Trail: Hosni Mubarak in Cairo Ahead of Trial

Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, 83, was flown by air ambulance from a Red Sea hospital in Sharm el-Sheik to a Police Academy located on the outskirts of the capital Cairo, early Wednesday ahead of his trial.

The former Egyptian leader faces charges of corruption and killing protesters.

Despite reports of Mubarak 'deteriorating health surfacing in the last months and fears he would try and avoid the trial, one of his lawyers Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram the former president would be present in court.

A Sinai official confirmed Wednesday Mubarak had left the Sharm el-Sheik Hospital.

Egyptians are eager to see the leader they ousted brought to justice after years of repression.

While analysts have pointed out that a conviction in the trial could carry the death penalty, many are still doubtful that the leader will be convicted.

Mubarak's two sons Gamal and Alaa, former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly and six police officials also face trial, while Mubarak's close friend and business man Hussein Salem is being tried in absentia after he fled to Spain.

After announce that the former leader would face justice, more than 750 lawyers volunteered to defend him, proving how influent the former president still is and have said they would form a human shield to protect the him upon his arrival in court, amid fears of violent clashes.

Mubarak will have 50 lawyers representing him in the courtroom, with prominent attorney Farid el-Deeb leading the defense team.

Security for the trial has been greatly increased and the other defendants are expected to be driven to the courtroom from Cairo's Tora Prison, with about 5,000 soldiers and officers backed by 50 tanks and armoured vehicles deployed along the route, the interior ministry said.

About 1,100 police officers surrounded the academy's outer fence, which was reinforced with barbed wire, the ministry said.

Thousands of pro- and anti-Mubarak activists were expected outside the building as relatives of many of the 846 people killed and 6,000-plus injured in anti-Mubarak clashes with Egyptian security forces said they will be present.

No one will be allowed inside the courtroom except 600 people with permits, including civil rights lawyers and a small number of the families who relatives were killed by the security forces have been allowed to attend as well.

Only Egyptian State TV will be allowed to broadcast the trial, officials said.

According to Deputy Justice Minister Mohammed Munie all the defendants, including Mubarak, will sit inside an iron cage, during the trial and a bed will to be made available for Mubarak if needed, the interior ministry said.

SOURCE:  http://uk.ibtimes.com/ 

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Don't Feel Stupid Anymore!

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NY-born twin friars die on same day at age 92

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Identical twins Julian and Adrian Riester were born seconds apart 92 years ago. They died hours apart this week. The Buffalo-born brothers were also brothers in the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor. Professed friars for 65 years, they spent much of that time working together at St. Bonaventure University, doing carpentry work, gardening and driving visitors to and from the airport and around town.

"It was fun to see them, just quiet, gentle souls," Yvonne Peace, who worked at the St. Bonaventure Friary for nearly 21 years, said Friday.

They died Wednesday at St. Anthony Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., Brother Julian in the morning and Brother Adrian in the evening.

Both died of heart failure, said Father James Toal, guardian of St. Anthony Friary in St. Petersburg, where the inseparable twins lived since moving from western New York in 2008.

"It really is almost a poetic ending to the remarkable story of their lives," St. Bonaventure spokesman Tom Missel said. "Stunning when you hear it, but hardly surprising given that they did almost everything together."

Julian and Adrian Riester were born Jerome and Irving on March 27, 1919, to a couple who already had five daughters. They took the names of saints upon their ordination in the Catholic church.

"Dad was a doctor and he said a prayer for a boy," Adrian once said, according to St. Bonaventure. "The Lord fooled him and sent two."

After attending St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, the brothers were turned away by the military because of their eyesight, the university said. One had a bad left eye, the other a bad right eye.

Eventually they joined the friars of Holy Name Province in New York City. They received separate assignments before reuniting at the seminary at St. Bonaventure from 1951 to 1956. After serving parishes in Buffalo for 17 years, they returned to St. Bonaventure in 1973 and spent the next 35 years there.

They had separate rooms in the friary but one telephone extension that rang into both, Peace recalled. It was usually the more talkative Adrian who answered, though Julian possessed a quiet authority. They never said who was born first.

"Brother Julian was like the big brother. Brother Adrian would defer to him," Peace said. "They picked up one of our friars at the airport one time and the friar said, `Can I take you to dinner?'

"Brother Adrian looked at Brother Julian and said, `We aren't going to dinner?' `No, we'll go home,'" Peace said. "So that was it. No discussion, no contradicting. `No, we aren't going today.'"

Funeral services are scheduled for Monday at St. Mary Our Lady of Grace Church in St. Petersburg. Afterward, the brothers' bodies will be flown to Buffalo and buried Wednesday at St. Bonaventure Cemetery, across the street from the university.

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The 1,700-year-old Christian monastery hidden deep in Egypt's desert

Ain Soukhna, Egypt (CNN) -- On the day when much of the world was marking Christmas, I traveled with friends to a remote location deep in the Eastern desert in Egypt. Nestled in an oasis within the Red Sea Mountains is one of the world's oldest inhabited monasteries: The Coptic Orthodox St. Anthony's Monastery.

Festivities here were still some ways off; Christmas in the Eastern Orthodox tradition falls 13 days after the western one.

The founders of this monastery were disciples of St. Anthony the Great, widely considered to be the Father of Monasticism because he initiated Christian monastic life as we have come to understand it today.

Our guide was Father Ruwais Antony who helped us understand how this 4th century monastery made Egypt the origin for a movement that spread throughout Palestine, Mesopotamia, Persia and ultimately Europe.

The story goes that St. Mark, one of Jesus Christ's 12 apostles, arrived in Alexandria to spread the word. In a city rife with various schools of thought and religious beliefs, St. Mark was confronted with philosophers who were convinced his teachings were at odds with their own beliefs.

To defend his beliefs, St. Mark founded a theological school, teaching Christianity from a philosophical point of view. He lived a life modeled after Jesus and attracted many converts who ultimately became disciples.

These were the first monks.

The disciples followed a way of life that consisted of prayer, reflection, and fasting -- all elements of an ascetic way of life, but not in total isolation.

They lived and practiced their ideals close to their communities and families, and in the next century these ideas spread throughout Egypt.

Next, Father Ruwais sent us hiking up a winding staircase that would take us to St. Anthony's hermitage.

St. Anthony the Great was born in Upper Egypt to a family with considerable wealth but was inspired to adopt an ascetic lifestyle after coming into contact with the disciples.

In an effort to be closer to God, he chose to isolate himself for more than 40 years in a primordial landscape that is now the location for St. Anthony's Monastery.

At the summit, surrounded by stunning views of the desert and the Red Sea, is the cave's entrance and inside, a very narrow, dark, 10-meter pathway leading to a small shrine to St. Anthony. Small pieces of paper with prayers written on them were pushed into every crevice.

The monastery itself has five churches, a mill, and a water spring.

It was St. Anthony's church that left the most indelible impression. At the end of the 15th century, Bedouins managed to occupy the church and painted over frescoes dating from the 6th century. They were painstakingly restored in 1996 by Italian conservators.

One of the more extraordinary paintings Father Ruwais pointed out depicted the Virgin Mary breastfeeding the baby Jesus.

Father Ruwais went on to explain that it is believed St. Anthony's remains are buried beneath the main altar, so every Sunday afternoon the monks honor him by holding a candle and singing for him.

At the end of our tour Father Ruwais said his wish was for people to come closer to God, to hold the ideal in their heart, not just in words.

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Who Will Inherit Elizabeth Taylor's Estate?

Although Elizabeth Taylor just died on Wednesday, wild rumors are already flying about who will inherit her vast fortune, estimated to be worth between $600 million and $1 billion, with over $150 million in jewelry alone. The day after the actress's death,dailymail.co.uk reported on Ms. Taylor's rocky final years - she suffered from a myriad of illnesses; insisted that everyone call her "Dame Elizabeth," not "Liz," including close friends; and surrounded herself with gay companions, including personal assistant Tim Mendelson, manager Jason Winters, and hairdresser José Eber, who were "completely devoted" to making her happy. She also spent hours with her Maltese dog, Daisy, who slept on a silk cushion next to the ailing actress. Aside from this, Ms. Taylor was survived by four children, Michael and Christopher Wilding, Lisa Todd, and Maria Burton, and 10 grandchildren, and founded two charities, American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR)and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

With so many potential beneficiaries, who will inherit Dame Elizabeth's estate? According todailymail.co.uk, Taylor's children believe that their mother's Last Will will be filed for probate as early as this week and manager Jason Winters will be a major beneficiary of the estate, along with amfAR and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. Stay tuned for updates.

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GHADAFI'S GIRLS

Gadhafi’s days are numbered and he has sworn to fight till the end. As per their beliefs he will go to heaven and be blessed with 72 virgins. But wait he already has more virgins than that!!!

Gaddafi is already having his own version of heaven on earth by having an entourage of female supposedly virgin body guards that live and will die for him. What is up with that?

His argument on creating female fighters is that if women are trained and taught the art of 

combat they can better protect themselves and not be victims like those in other war torn 

Arab countries.

His female body guards known as The Amazonian Guard are killing machines. They are trained 

to protect him and die for him. They also take a vow of chastity and apparently many young 

women are dying to take on this role. As a matter of fact one got killed saving his life  http://xqno.com/binb

when his convoy was attacked by assasins by throwing herself in the line of fire

So even if Gadaffi doesn't see his dream of being the first leader of a United States of 

Africa, atleast he has seen his heaven on earth.

For sure, some of these ladies are real stunners, but they'll stun you, too or "knock you 

out... if you mess with their supreme leader. Some wear lipstick, jewelry, polished nails, 

even high heels.

Gaddafi is in safe hands . These virgins can kick a$$...

The Libyan leader's female guards are trained to kill.

Muammar Gaddafi fears flying over water, prefers staying on the ground floor and almost never travels without his trusted Ukrainian nurse, a “voluptuous blonde,” Galina Kolotnytska.

Qadhafi relies heavily on his long-time Ukrainian nurse, Galyna Kolotnytska, who has been described as a "voluptuous blonde." (LAST BOTTOM PICTURE)

Ukrainian nurse, Galyna Kolotnytska,

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Japan Tsunami - Japanese officials will test food, seawater to determine health risks

People line up for radiation screening at Koryama in Fukushima prefecture on Monday

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japanese officials' concerns over food contamination expanded beyond the country's borders Tuesday as tests detected radiation in ocean water offshore.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that high levels of radioactive substances were found in seawater near the plant, but said that the results did not represent a threat to human health.

"There should be no immediate health impact. If this situation continues for a long period of time, some impact can occur," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters.

The impact such radiation could have on marine life was unclear. Japanese authorities were scheduled to measure radioactivity in waters around the plant on Tuesday and Wednesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

Earlier seawater radiation monitoring detected levels of iodine-131 that were 126.7 times higher than government-set standards, the electric company said on its website. Its monitors detected cesium-134, which has a half-life of about two years, about 24.8 times higher than the government standards. Cesium-137 was found to be 16.5 times higher than the standard.

The electric company detected these levels in seawater 100 meters (328 feet) south of the nuclear power plant Monday afternoon. Radioactive particles disperse in the ocean, and the farther away from the shore a sample is taken, the less concentrated the contamination should be.

Because of the huge amount of dilution that happens in the ocean, there's not much chance of deep-water fish being tainted, said Murray McBride, a professor at Cornell University who studies soil and water contamination.

"I think the ocean can handle that a lot better than the physical environment and population centers," said Jim Walsh, an international security expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a CNN consultant. "We don't want any of this to happen, but better it go out to sea than stay in Japan."

Winds have largely blown radioactive material emitted by the plant offshore since an earthquake and tsunami crippled cooling systems at the plant March 11.

But tests have detected contamination of food grown near the plant.

The Japanese government has banned the sale of raw milk from Fukushima Prefecture, where the plant is located, and prohibited the sale of spinach from neighboring Ibaraki Prefecture after finding levels of radioactive iodine and cesium higher than government standards, the country's health ministry reported.

And officials in Fukushima halted the distribution of locally grown vegetables outside the prefecture.

The government has also banned sales of spinach and milk from parts of Gunma and Tochigi Prefectures, according to the prime minister's office.

On Tuesday Edano said contamination had not been detected in other agricultural products.

"The products which are being grown in these areas are being monitored and the monitoring will continue," he said.

He urged consumers to "try not to panic," noting that the government had stopped shipments of any farm products they believed could be contaminated.

Edano has stressed that officials believe the levels of radiation in food -- while above the legal standards -- do not pose any immediate health risk, saying they were mostly dangerous only if consumed repeatedly over one's lifetime.

On Monday a spokesman for the World Health Organization said short-term exposure to food contaminated by radiation from Japan's damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant poses no immediate health risk.

Tests have also detected radiation in tap water.

On Monday, authorities in the village of Iitake urged residents to avoid drinking tap water that tests showed contained more than three times the maximum standard of radioactive iodine.

Water in other jurisdictions showed lesser signs of contamination, although far below levels of concern under Japanese law, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency website. The U.N. agency said it had received reports from Japan's government that six out of 46 samples tested positive for the iodine-131 radioactive isotope.

Iodine and cesium isotopes are byproducts of nuclear fission in reactors such as the ones damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Honshu, Japan's main island. Although iodine-131 has a radioactive half-life of eight days, cesium-137's half-life is about 30 years.

The decision to prohibit produce sales is another potentially devastating blow to a part of northeast Japan hit by the earthquake, tsunami and other potential fallout from the Fukushima plant.

Edano has said farmers will be compensated for revenue lost by the restrictions.

"Primarily this is due to the nuclear reactor accident, so we assume (Tokyo Electric Power Company) will be held responsible for compensation. The government might take some supplementary action," he said.

Fukushima ranks among Japan's top producer of fruits, vegetables and rice. Ibaraki, south of Fukushima, supplies Tokyo with a significant amount of fruits and vegetables and is Japan's third-largest pork producer.

For radiation to be an issue for rice, the contamination would have to be more severe and prolonged that what has been seen so far, said McBride, the Cornell University professor.

Soil contamination was a huge issue around Chernobyl, but the radiation emitted from the Fukushima Daiichi plant isn't anywhere near that level, he said.

"We're not at that stage; that's the scenario you have to consider if contamination gets severe enough," McBride said.

source:

CNN's Jo Kent, Steven Jiang, Martin Savidge, Paul Ferguson, Thom Patterson, Matt Smith and Elizabeth Landau contributed to this report.

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Workers see some success at nuclear plant as cooling efforts continue

Tokyo (CNN) -- Workers began to see some success in their battle to cool down reactors at the quake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant Sunday, but Japanese officials said they may need to release additional radioactive gas into the air.

The plant's owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co., said electricity was being supplied to a switchboard in reactor No. 2.

But officials said they were monitoring reactor No. 3 to determine whether to release gas to reduce mounting pressure in the containment vessel -- the steel and concrete shell that insulates radioactive material inside.

Power company officials said pressure was higher than previous readings -- but stable -- Sunday afternoon. And Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the pressure increase did not require "an immediate release of the air at this moment."

Still, "even in the best scenario, there will be a lot of bumps ahead," Edano told reporters as he assessed the situation at the plant in a briefing Sunday.

There are six reactors at the nuclear plant, where workers have been struggling to stave off a full meltdown since a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami knocked out cooling systems.

Workers have injected steam to release pressure in previous operations.

The dual disasters, which struck March 11, devastated much of northeastern Japan. On Sunday, the country's national police said 8,450 people were confirmed dead, 2,701 were injured and 12,909 remained missing as search efforts continued. In Miyagi prefecture alone -- one of the hardest-hit areas -- police said the death toll could climb to 15,000.

Amidst the gloom came a ray of hope Sunday when medical officials in the Miyagi city of Ishinomaki said they had rescued an 80-year-old grandmother and her 16-year-old grandson, who had been trapped inside their house for nine days.

Police were searching for survivors in the vicinity, Kadonowakimachi, in the southern part of Ishinomaki near the coast. The boy manged to crawl through the rubble onto the roof, the Ishinomaki police department said.

A relative had reported the two missing on March 13, police said.

In Fukushima, authorities have evacuated about 200,000 people from a 20-kilometer (12-mile) area surrounding the plant, but the crisis there has sparked concern across the country.

Very small amounts -- far below the level of concern -- of radioactive iodine have been detected in tap water in Tokyo and most prefectures near the Fukushima plant.

The government has banned the sale of raw milk from Fukushima Prefecture due to the radiation level found in samples exceeding levels set by law.

The prefecture has also restricted sales of vegetables grown in the area, saying they can only be sold within the prefecture, the country's Health Ministry announced Sunday.

The Japanese government has also banned the sale of spinach from neighboring Ibaraki Prefecture due to radiation levels over government limits, the country's Health Ministry announced late Sunday.

Edano said the contaminated milk detected in Fukushima prefecture had not been distributed or sold.

On Saturday, officials said tainted milk was found 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the plant, and spinach was collected as far as 100 kilometers (65 miles) to the south, almost halfway to Tokyo.

A person who consumed the tainted food continuously for a year would take in the same amount of radiation as a single CT scan, Edano said Saturday. That's about 7 millisieverts, or double what an average person in an industrialized country is exposed to in a year, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"Even if you consume the spinach in question for a long time, it will not pose an immediate threat to your health," Edano said Sunday.

At the plant itself, workers from the power company and firefighters helping douse reactors with water are taking on the risk of far greater radiation exposure.

Firefighter Yasuo Sato told reporters his family was well aware of the risk -- and proud that he was taking it.

When he sent a text message to his wife telling her he was heading to the troubled nuclear plant, he said her reply was simple: "Please become a savior for Japan."

Six members of an emergency crew working to restore electricity at the plant have been exposed to more than 100 millisieverts of radiation per hour.

Officials say regaining electrical power could bring cooling systems back online -- a key step in curbing the further emission of radioactive material and preventing a full nuclear meltdown. A meltdown occurs when nuclear fuel rods get so hot that they melt the steel and concrete structure containing them, spilling out into the air and water with potentially deadly results.

The earthquake and tsunami Friday knocked out regular and backup cooling systems at the plant.

It was unclear whether the cooling system in reactor No. 2 was working after power was restored Sunday.

The plan is to get power up and running for the Numbers 1, 3 and 4 reactors soon. Cooling systems at the Numbers 5 and 6 reactors -- the least-troublesome of the group -- have already been restored, Kyodo News said.

Japan's nuclear agency said workers were spending about five hours installing electrical cables Sunday before water spraying operations resumed. Radiation levels at the plant declined during that operation, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.

On Saturday, authorities set up a new system to spray seawater continuously on the troubled reactors for extended periods of time. Previously, firefighters, soldiers and electric company workers had manually done the same in brief intervals to avoid prolonged radiation exposure.

Water was directed at the No. 3 reactor's spent fuel pool on Saturday in order to cool it and prevent the emission of more radioactive material into the atmosphere. Authorities have also started spraying the No. 4 reactor and continued efforts there Sunday.

Speaking during a trip to Brazil on Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama said, "The people of Japan are some of our closest friends, and we will pray with them, stand with them, and rebuild with them until this crisis has passed."

source: CNN NEWS

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