| Africa | ||
| Nigeria cities in lockdown after deadly riots | ||
Soldiers and police patrol empty streets of Kaduna and Damaturu after days of violence left at least 100 people dead.
Last Modified: 20 Jun 2012 18:25
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Boko Haram claimed suicide attacks at three churches in Kaduna state on Sunday, which killed at least 16 people [EPA]
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| Soldiers and police are patrolling the empty streets of two Nigerian cities after three days of violence left at least 101 people dead, with some residents still unable to return home. The violence between Sunday and Tuesday in Kaduna and Damaturu in Nigeria's north has led to round-the-clock curfews in both areas and raised fears of further reprisal attacks. Some in the northeastern city of Damaturu have been stranded and unable to access food since Monday when a shootout between suspected Boko Haram fighters and soldiers led authorities to impose a ban on movements. The gun battles, which killed at least 40 people, have stopped but the curfew remains in place, said Patrick Egbuniwe, police commissioner of Yobe state, where Damaturu is the capital. "So far we have four dead policemen, two soldiers and 34 insurgents," he said. An auto mechanic in the city said he has not been home since the fighting started. "I have been in my workshop since Monday," Gambo Bakanike told AFP news agency. "We have an open well from which we can get our drinking water, but we have run out of food." Hospital staff stranded A senior hospital official said he and his staff have also been stranded since Monday. "There is water but we don't have any food. Our families can't bring us anything because of the curfew," said the official who asked to remain anonymous. West of Yobe in Kaduna state, residents remained indoors after three days of religion-fueled violence that killed at least 61 people. Boko Haram claimed suicide attacks at three churches in the state on Sunday, which killed at least 16 people and sparked reprisal violence by Christian mobs who burned mosques and targeted their Muslim neighbours, killing dozens.
National police spokesman Frank Mba said he was "confident the curfew would be relaxed soon," insisting that the police have enough men in Kaduna "to manage any eventuality". Nasiru Abdullahi, who lives in the Tadun Wada area where some of the latest rioting took place, said residents were observing the curfew. "People are indoors. It's quiet everywhere and troops are patrolling the streets," he said. Burned vehicles and destroyed shops were visible around Kaduna city on Tuesday, according to an AFP reporter who toured the city with the military. Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday condemned those "spilling the blood of innocent people". "I hope all parts of society will collaborate in not taking the road of reprisals," Benedict said during a weekly general audience. The Boko Haram insurgency has worsened in recent months, with Sunday attacks on churches in the majority Muslim north a near weekly occurrence. Worsening violence The criticism directed at President Goodluck Jonathan over what some call his befuddled response to the worsening violence has also grown sharper in recent days. "Since these terrorist acts began, nothing the president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has done has been reassuring that the end to this spate of bombings and gun attacks is in sight," the Christian Association of Nigeria said. A major oil workers union in Africa's largest crude producer also issued harsh criticism of the government. "Governments are put in place to solve problems, not to join the populace in lamenting about them," the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria said in a statement. It told Jonathan's administration "to wake up to its primary responsibility i.e. the security and welfare of the people". Boko Haram has killed more than 1,000 people in Africa's most populous country since mid-2009. |
Τετάρτη 20 Ιουνίου 2012
Nigeria cities in lockdown after deadly riots
Mars Odyssey Mission Status Report
Orbiter Out of Precautionary 'Safe Mode'
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above Mars' south pole in this artist's concept illustration. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October 24, 2001. Image credit: NASA/JPLJune 19, 2012
Mars Odyssey Mission Status Report
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has been taken out of a protective status called safe mode. Remaining steps toward resuming all normal spacecraft activities will probably be completed by next week.
Odyssey resumed pointing downward toward Mars on Saturday, June 16, leaving the Earth-pointed "safe mode" status that was triggered when one of its three primary reaction wheels stuck for a few minutes on June 8, Universal Time (June 7, Pacific Time). Mission controllers put the orbiter's spare reaction wheel into use in control of Odyssey's orientation while pointed downward, or nadir.
"Attitude control in nadir pointing is being maintained with the use of the replacement wheel, and the suspect wheel has been taken out of use," said Odyssey Project Manager Gaylon McSmith of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Controllers will continue characterizing the performance of the replacement wheel in coming days while assessing which other activities of the spacecraft, besides nadir pointing, can be performed reliably with reaction-wheel control of attitude. The spacecraft can also use thrusters for attitude control, though that method draws on the limited supply of propellant rather than on electricity from the spacecraft's solar array.
In returning to full service, Odyssey will first resume its communication relay function for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, and then will resume the orbiter's own scientific observations of Mars. As a priority, activities will resume for preparing Odyssey to serve as a communications relay for NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission.
Like many other spacecraft, Odyssey uses a set of three reaction wheels to control its attitude, or which way it is facing relative to the sun, Earth or Mars. Increasing the rotation rate of a reaction wheel inside the spacecraft causes the spacecraft itself to rotate in the opposite direction. The configuration in use from launch in 2001 until three days ago combined the effects of three wheels at right angles to each other to provide control in all directions. The replacement wheel is skewed at angles to all three others so that it could be used as a substitute for any one of them.
Odyssey has worked at Mars for more than 10 years, which is longer than any other Mars mission in history. Besides conducting its own scientific observations, it serves as a communication relay for robots on the Martian surface. NASA plans to use Odyssey and the newer Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as communication relays for the Mars Science Laboratory mission during the landing and Mars-surface operations of that mission's Curiosity rover.
Odyssey is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft. JPL and Lockheed Martin collaborate on operating the spacecraft. For more about the Mars Odyssey mission, visit: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey .
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has been taken out of a protective status called safe mode. Remaining steps toward resuming all normal spacecraft activities will probably be completed by next week.
Odyssey resumed pointing downward toward Mars on Saturday, June 16, leaving the Earth-pointed "safe mode" status that was triggered when one of its three primary reaction wheels stuck for a few minutes on June 8, Universal Time (June 7, Pacific Time). Mission controllers put the orbiter's spare reaction wheel into use in control of Odyssey's orientation while pointed downward, or nadir.
"Attitude control in nadir pointing is being maintained with the use of the replacement wheel, and the suspect wheel has been taken out of use," said Odyssey Project Manager Gaylon McSmith of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Controllers will continue characterizing the performance of the replacement wheel in coming days while assessing which other activities of the spacecraft, besides nadir pointing, can be performed reliably with reaction-wheel control of attitude. The spacecraft can also use thrusters for attitude control, though that method draws on the limited supply of propellant rather than on electricity from the spacecraft's solar array.
In returning to full service, Odyssey will first resume its communication relay function for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, and then will resume the orbiter's own scientific observations of Mars. As a priority, activities will resume for preparing Odyssey to serve as a communications relay for NASA Mars Science Laboratory mission.
Like many other spacecraft, Odyssey uses a set of three reaction wheels to control its attitude, or which way it is facing relative to the sun, Earth or Mars. Increasing the rotation rate of a reaction wheel inside the spacecraft causes the spacecraft itself to rotate in the opposite direction. The configuration in use from launch in 2001 until three days ago combined the effects of three wheels at right angles to each other to provide control in all directions. The replacement wheel is skewed at angles to all three others so that it could be used as a substitute for any one of them.
Odyssey has worked at Mars for more than 10 years, which is longer than any other Mars mission in history. Besides conducting its own scientific observations, it serves as a communication relay for robots on the Martian surface. NASA plans to use Odyssey and the newer Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as communication relays for the Mars Science Laboratory mission during the landing and Mars-surface operations of that mission's Curiosity rover.
Odyssey is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft. JPL and Lockheed Martin collaborate on operating the spacecraft. For more about the Mars Odyssey mission, visit: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey .
3 Years of Amazing Auroras Captured on Video
Chad Blakley spent 2000 hours over the last three years photographing auroras in Abisko National Park in Sweden. Editor Thomas Malkowicz compiled time-lapses of thousands of still images to create this truly epic video for www.lightsoverlapland.com.
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