Volcanic activity may cause Africa to split in 2

Saturday, November 21, 2009 11:05 PM

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Wednesday, November 04, 2009

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP) - Volcanic activity may split the African continent in two owing to a recent geological crack in north-eastern Ethiopia, researchers said yesterday.

The 60-kilometre (35-mile) split in the desolate Afar region, which was the result of two volcanic eruptions in September 2005, has enabled scientists to further examine the earth's tectonic movements, said a report published in the Geophysical Research Letters.

"The significance of the finding is that a huge magnetic deformation can happen within a few days like in oceans," Atalay Arefe, an Ethiopia-based university professor who was part of the study, told AFP in an interview.

Researchers say faults and fissures, which normally occur deep down on the ocean floor, are the main processes by which continents gradually break off from each other.

They cite Africa, which underwent a similar phase when it split from America millions of years ago.

"Normally, such phenomena happens beneath the ocean, which is inaccessible, expensive and very difficult to make experiments. But in Afar, it's quite a natural laboratory for us to carry those out," Atalay explained.

Atalay, who was part of an international group of scientists who have been undertaking studies since the eruptions, said the event indicated what was likely to happen in the mainland.

"The ocean's formation is happening slowly, likely to take a few million years. It will stretch from the Afar depression (straddling Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti) down to Mozambique," he said.

The Afar region, known for its salt mines and active volcanoes, is one of the lowest and hottest places on the planet.

Czech president ratifies EU reform treaty

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus reluctantly endorsed the European Union's crucial reform treaty yesterday, ending his efforts to block the proposed pact and paving the way for it to finally enter into force.

Klaus, who has been highly sceptical of increasing the EU's powers, signed the Lisbon Treaty at the Prague Castle at 3:00 pm (1400 GMT), hours after his nation's Constitutional Court ruled that the document was in line with the country's constitution.

Klaus has been tirelessly attacking the document, claiming it would hand too much power to European Union institutions in Brussels. He was awaiting the Brno-based court's ruling before deciding whether to endorse it.

"I expected the decision of the Constitutional Court and respect it," Klaus told reporters yesterday afternoon, but added he vehemently disagrees with the verdict.

"The Czech Republic will cease to be a sovereign state", once the treaty enters into force, he said.

Klaus was the last obstacle to the full ratification of the treaty, which is designed to transform Europe into a more unified and powerful global player. The charter, which was bogged down in negotiations for almost a decade, has been ratified by all other 26 EU nations.

European leaders welcomed news of the signing.

"President Klaus' decision marks an important and historic step for all of Europe," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement.

"Today is a day when Europe looks forward, when it sets aside years of debate on its institutions and moves to take strong and collective action on the issues that matter most to European citizens: security, climate change, jobs and growth."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel noted during a speech to the US Congress in Washington that, with the new treaty, the EU "will become stronger and more capable of acting, and so a strong and reliable partner for the United States".

"On this basis, we can build stable partnerships with others, above all with Russia, China and India," she added.

Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who has worked to seal the Lisbon Treaty under the Swedish EU presidency, said he would call for an EU summit as soon as possible.

Klaus' "signature ends a far too long period of institutional focus within the EU", Reinfeldt said in a text message sent from Washington. "It opens up for a more democratic, transparent and efficient Union."

Earlier in the day, the Constitutional Court's chief judge, Pavel Rychetsky, said the Lisbon Treaty "does not violate the (Czech) constitution" and that all formal obstacles for ratification "are removed".

In Brussels, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he was "extremely pleased" with the court's verdict.

US Democrats face setbacks in elections

WASHINGTON, USA (AP) - President Barack Obama's Democrats faced the possibility of symbolic setbacks as voting began yesterday to elect governors in the states of New Jersey and Virginia.

Beyond the immediate outcome of the elections, results in those races and a handful of other contests nationwide will go under the microscope as the nation's political class looks for clues about the future direction of the country, chances that Obama's Democrats will retain power in the 2010 midterm vote or signs of a resurgence among wobbly Republicans.

Traditionally, midterm voting works in favour of the party out of power as the president hits the mid-way point in his term and voters begin feeling dissatisfaction with their representation in Congress.

In the few races of consequence this year, late polls in New Jersey showed incumbent Democratic Gov Jon Corzine in a too-close-to-predict race against Republican Chris Christie, a former prosecutor, despite a series of campaign appearances for Corzine by Obama.

Corruption in state government and highest-in-the-nation state taxes have dragged down Corzine, who also hasn't been helped by his past background as chairman and chief executive officer of Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs.

Republicans have not won statewide in New Jersey in a dozen years, and a victory would sting the president in a state he carried a year ago.

Democrats appear more certain to face disappointment in Virginia, where Obama won the presidential vote last year to become the first Democrat to do that since 1964. The incumbent governor, Tim Kaine, is also chairman of the Democratic National Committee, but was barred by a state term-limit law from seeking re-election.

Democrat Creigh Deeds trails Republican Bob McDonnell in polls by double digits. Obama also campaigned for Deeds, but as his support buckled, the White House began saying it had done all it could and pointing to polls that showed the Democrat's likely loss would not reflect on the president's popularity.

"The results of these elections tend to be over-read," former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said yesterday on NBC's Today. "These are local races. There's 18,000 lifetimes between now and next November."

In other races, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was expected to cruise to a third term. Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Detroit, and Pittsburgh also were also electing mayors.

A special election in New York state's 23rd congressional district promised to be interesting. There potential 2012 Republican presidential aspirants - the most conservative among them - have been lining up behind a third-party candidate, Doug Hoffman, who is running under the banner of New York's Conservative Party.

His heavyweight Republican backing from the likes of Sarah Palin, last year's Republican vice-presidential candidate; Republican Minnesota Gov Tim Pawlenty; and former Tennessee Sen Fred Thompson, led Republican state Assemblywoman Dierdre Scozzafava to suspend her campaign abruptly and endorse her Democratic opponent, Bill Owens.

Until Scozzafava dropped out, the race pitted conservatives against the moderate wing of the Republican Party. Hoffman painted Scozzafava as too liberal, specifically noting her support of abortion rights and same-sex marriage. He told voters that she was not the kind of Republican they want representing their interests in a Democratic-led Congress.

The White House suggested those developments show that hard-liners are taking over the Republican Party, and the trend will affect the 2010 elections. On Monday, presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs predicted, "This is a model for what you'll see throughout the country."

Voters also will decide ballot measures in a number of states.

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