Saudi might soon set minimum marriage age

Saudi might soon set minimum marriage  age

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia is edging closer to setting a minimum age for marriage, a Justice Ministry official was quoted as saying     on Wednesday, following international criticism of cases of child brides.  

"The ministry has adopted a clear stance on under-age marriages and the issue was raised to the regulators," Mohammed al-Babetein, head of the Justice Ministry's marriages department, was quoted as saying in the daily al-Madina newspaper.  

"It supports setting unified regulations to deal with such practices, which will ensure the safety of young girls," he said.  

Babetein said the ministry was still in discussions over what age the limit should be set at, al-Madina reported.  

Last May the consultative Shoura Council, which advises the government on new laws, was reported in the local press as recommending the introduction of a minimum marriage age but there have been no concrete reports of further progress.  

Strong winds disrupt air,road traffic in Turkey

Strong winds disrupt air,road traffic in Turkey

ISTANBUL: Strong winds forced authorities to temporarily close bridges across the Bosphorus strait dividing the European and Asian sides of Istanbul on Wednesday, and Turkish Airlines suspended dozens of international and domestic flights.   

Traffic across the two Istanbul bridges was staggered in order to reduce risks of an accident, while high winds blowing through western and central Turkey caused havoc on the roads in
other cities.   

The winds kicked up a dust storm in the capital Ankara, while a motorcyclist was reported killed in the Aegean province of Denizli.   

Istanbul's fire department was flooded with calls from residents alarmed as high winds tore the roofs off buildings. Television images showed a collapsed unfinished building at a
construction site in the city.   

Turkey's flagship carrier Turkish Airlines also cancelled 43 domestic and international flights scheduled for Thursday due to the weather conditions.

Dramatic last flight for Discovery space shuttle

Dramatic last flight for Discovery space shuttle

WASHINGTON: Piggybacking aboard a Boeing 747, the space shuttle Discovery made a dramatic flyover of Washington Tuesday before touching down near its final resting place, a museum outside the US capital.


Riding atop a modified plane kept by NASA specifically for transporting space shuttles, Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, just after sunrise for its last journey in the skies.
Then the shuttle, which first flew in 1984, circled over the US capital for about an hour before landing at Dulles International Airport as crowds whistled and cheered, and some onlookers fought back tears.
Tourists wearing shorts on a sunny spring day gathered along the National Mall near the Washington Monument, staring skyward to catch a glimpse of the storied white and black shuttle, which appeared scuffed and grubby from its 39 journeys into space.
Office workers clustered at windows or climbed onto rooftops to see the aircraft and shuttle as they soared low over the US capital's historic landmarks.
Outside the Pentagon, a throng of military officers and civilian employees watched the shuttle fly a final time, reveling and applauding as it made two low passes over the building, escorted by a T-38 fighter jet.
Traffic slowed on some of Washington's major roadways as drivers pulled over to gape at the skies, according to some shuttle spotters who reported what they were seeing on the microblogging site Twitter.
"It's like sending someone from your family to go live somewhere else," said NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, a mission specialist on Discovery's final flight, STS-133.
"Discovery's leaving home and starting a new life."

A ceremony to mark the official induction of the Discovery will be held on Thursday at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, outside the US capital in suburban Chantilly, Virginia.
Discovery flew its last mission to space in February and March of last year, on a 13-day trip to the International Space Station.
It is the oldest and most traveled craft in the US collection of three space-flying shuttles -- also including Endeavour and Atlantis -- and one prototype, the Enterprise, which never flew in space.
Two other shuttles were destroyed in flight. Challenger disintegrated shortly after liftoff in 1986 and Columbia broke apart on re-entry to Earth in 2003. Both disasters killed everyone on board.
Discovery spent a total of 365 days in space, and flew nearly 149 million miles (241 million kilometers), NASA's mission control said.
Discovery was the first of the three shuttles to retire last year. Endeavour began its final trip to space in April and the 30-year US program ended after Atlantis returned to Earth for the last time in July 2011.
Russia is now the only nation capable of sending astronauts to space aboard its Soyuz capsules.
Private US companies are competing to be the first to fill the gap left by the shuttles' retirement, with SpaceX set to attempt its first unmanned cargo mission to the ISS on April 30.
A flyover by the shuttle Enterprise is set for April 23 over New York City, NASA said.
The Enterprise, which had been a centerpiece attraction at the Udvar-Hazy Center, part of the Smithsonian museums, until Discovery was assigned to take its place, will pass by the Statue of Liberty and other landmarks, NASA said.
Enterprise is to go on display at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

Top Republicans in Congress finally back Romney

Top Republican in congress finally back Romney

WASHINGTON: They didn't come with a flourish or in a much-plugged TV appearance, but endorsements by the top two Republicans in the US Congress finally arrived Tuesday for Mitt Romney, the party's all-but-certain nominee.

Sensing the inevitability of a Romney victory in the battle to see which Republican squares off against President Barack Obama, House Speaker John Boehner ended his neutrality, saying he'd be "proud" to help him win the November election.
"It's clear now Mitt Romney is going to be our nominee," Boehner told reporters following a bruising, months-long nominations race.
"And I will be proud to support Mitt Romney and do everything I can to help him win."
A few hours later, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell followed suit.
"I support governor Romney for president of the United States," McConnell told reporters.
"He's going to be the nominee," he said, noting how the party "is in the process of unifying behind him."
Two weeks ago McConnell described Romney as an "outstanding" nominee who could prevent an Obama re-election.
But he had stopped short of a direct endorsement at the time, arguing that people in Wisconsin, Maryland and the US capital Washington, which were voting that week, did not need his help in choosing their candidate.
Romney won all three of those contests, and with his main challenger Rick Santorum dropping out of the race, it became clear that Romney was going to be the nominee.
"We're all behind him, and looking forward to the fall campaign which is actually underway," McConnell said Tuesday.
"I think it's going to be an incredibly close and hard-fought race."
Democrat Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader who spoke minutes after McConnell, seamed to revel in the campaign ahead as he made light of McConnell's endorsement, quipping to reporters: "I'm supporting the winner of the next election in November -- Barack Obama!"
Boehner had previously taken a neutral stance in the Republican race, citing fair opportunities for each candidate and his role as chairman of the national convention in late August, but his backing of Romney was now clear.
"Mitt Romney has a set of economic policies that can put Americans back to work, and frankly, contrast sharply with the failed economic policies of President Obama," said Boehner, who has repeatedly clashed with the White House incumbent on economic policy.
Several other leading party figures in Congress, including House majority leader Eric Cantor and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, had thrown their support behind Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, weeks ago.
Distinctly absent in Romney's endorsement column, however, is Santorum himself, and that could prove difficult down the road for Romney as he seeks to win over skeptical core conservatives like evangelical voters who supported Santorum more than Romney.
The religious ex-senator from Pennsylvania made no mention of Romney in his speech announcing his capitulation, leading to speculation there was bad blood between the rivals, who frequently clashed during the campaign.
Although two other candidates, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and Libertarian congressman Ron Paul, remain in the Republican race, neither has a real chance of winning.
Romney has this month switched his campaign focus to attacking Obama rather than other Republican contenders, a move that has become more pronounced since last week's withdrawal by Santorum.
On Tuesday Romney, campaigning in Santorum's home state of Pennsylvania, earned the endorsement of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, who said Romney "will restore fiscal sanity to Washington by cutting spending, lowering taxes, and reforming entitlements."
Corbett made waves in March when he backed a controversial mandatory ultrasound bill in his state, advising women who did not want to see a sonogram image of the fetus before an abortion to "close your eyes."

US eases Myanmar restrictions for NGOs

US eases Myanmar restrictions for NGOs

WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday eased financial restrictions to allow US-based non-governmental groups to operate in Myanmar, putting into place an incentive to encourage democratic reforms.
The Treasury Department said that it would no longer bar financial transactions in the country formerly known as Burma if the money is going toward projects that "meet basic human needs" or promote democracy.
Such projects include assistance to internally displaced people, English-language schools as well as delivery of clothes, food and medicine. The move also lets US missionaries spend money in the heavily Buddhist nation.
The actions were in line with an April 4 announcement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who sought to reward reformers who permitted by-elections swept by the long-repressed opposition.
In a statement Tuesday to celebrate Myanmar's Thingyan new year, Clinton said that the once isolated country "has taken important steps on an historic new path toward democracy and economic development."
"As you build a brighter future filled with new opportunities, the United States will continue to work with you to strengthen mutual understanding and trust between our two countries and peoples," she said.
The April 1 by-elections saw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning democracy activist who had spent most of the past two decades under house arrest, win a seat in the military-dominated parliament.
The order issued by the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control made clear that restrictions would remain in place against individuals in Myanmar seen as responsible for repressing democracy or violating human rights.
President Barack Obama's administration has promised to offer step-by-step incentives to Myanmar as President Thein Sein carries out reforms that few would have considered possible a little more than a year ago.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said that the United States was also moving ahead to implement the other steps announced earlier this month by Clinton.
Clinton, who paid a landmark visit to Myanmar in December, promised on April 4 to quickly appoint an ambassador to the country to restore full diplomatic relations for the first time in more than two decades.
Clinton also pledged a wider lifting of financial restrictions on Myanmar that could allow US investment in select areas and potentially bring credit cards into the country, one of the few where MasterCard, Visa and American Express are never accepted.
Aung Din, a former political prisoner who heads the US Campaign for Burma advocacy group, said he supported Tuesday's action on non-governmental groups but was concerned about a larger easing of sanctions.
Easing the ban on financial services "may allow the cronies and the military to be able to use US dollars in their transactions," he said.
Noting that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy will have only a sliver of seats in parliament, Aung Din said the United States needed to use sanctions carefully to ensure that national elections slated for 2015 are truly free and competitive.
US officials have said that they are refocusing sanctions to target institutions such as the military, seen in Washington as one of the biggest impediments to reform due to participation in abuses and ethnic conflict.
The US action comes one day after Australia said it would lift travel and other restrictions against President Thein Sein and more than 200 other people in Myanmar. The European Union is also expected to ease sanctions this month.
In the United States, the removal of most sanctions would require approval by Congress.