This spring was the first breeding attempt by a couple of shags in our country. On March 20 SOVON volunteer Sander Lilipaly saw on a breakwater at Neeltje Jans in Zeeland, a pair of adult shags in a great cormorant colony. The breeding effort ultimately did not produce young shags.
17th-century English naturalist John Ray reported that “shags” nested in the Zevenhuizen marshes in the interior of the Netherlands. However, that is improbable, as shags are real seabirds; contrary to cormorants which nest inland as well.
So, probably, this really is the first ever shags’ nesting attempt in the Netherlands.
Posted By Steve LeVine Sunday, July 1, 2012 – 11:08 AM Share
ExxonMobil confirms that it has filed to bid on a group of Afghanistan oilfields containing an estimated 1 billion barrels of oil and gas, an instant validation of one of the riskiest resource plays on the planet. If the company’s application proceeds, it could set up a battle of colossals, since the state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. and India’s ONGC have also filed to bid, I have been told.
The tender deadline was yesterday to file an expression of interest. Company spokesman Alan Jeffers told me that the filing is among Exxon’s global search for new hydrocarbon opportunities. The filings are to be made official after a government meeting Wednesday at which applications will be vetted.
The Exxon filing is surprising because until now the Afghan natural resource play, while rich, has been perceived as highly speculative, a place for the most daring wildcatters, in addition to regional state-owned companies such as CNPC, which won the first Afghan oil tender last year. The reason is both security — no one knows whether a 30- 40-year project would endure since Afghanistan has been at almost constant war for more than three decades — and the lack of infrastructure. Namely, how do you get the oil and gas to the market? Majors of the scale of Exxon rarely pursue such ventures, preferring for wildcatters to prove them out, then seek to buy in with their deep pockets.
Potential for a mining boom splits factions in Afghanistan: here.
Afghanistan aid conference signals indefinite foreign occupation: here.
Dozens of men and women took to the streets of Kabul today to protest against the recent public murder of an Afghan woman accused of adultery whose killing was captured on video: here.
Afghan authorities are investigating former Afghan Surgeon General Zia Yaftali after reports of patient abuse at a U.S.-backed military hospital in Kabul, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday: here.
An Afghan prison chief was jailed for 16 years on Tuesday for raping a teenage girl, a rare show of justice for women in a country where they are suffering increased violence and offered scant protection from the law: here.
Afghan Women’s Shelters, A Lifeline For Many, Face Uncertain Future: here.
Close to the entrance, a roe deer walking quietly between the trees. While a nuthatch called.
A bit further, great spotted woodpecker sound.
On the biological field, owned by conservation organization Natuurmonumenten, non-grain flowers do not have to be scared that pesticides will kill them. Quite some cornflowers flowering between the rye.
The Pentagon’s budgeting of $40 million for a fiber-optic cable from Florida to the US naval base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba is an indication of plans to maintain the infamous detention camp indefinitely: here.
Former Guantanamo Bay inmate David Hicks demanded a full investigation into his jailing following a landmark US court decision today: here.
Still, the Gulf Daily News, a pro-dictatorship paper from Bahrain, writes:
Bahrain takes part in crucial Paris meeting
Posted on » Saturday, July 07, 2012
PARIS: Bahrain took part in the third ministerial meeting of the Friends of Syria, held in the French capital yesterday.
Bahrain’s Ambassador to France Dr Nasser Al Balooshi headed the kingdom’s delegation on behalf of Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.
The meeting, in which more than 100 countries took part, aimed at providing support for the Syrian people to ensure their right to self-determination. …
Activation of Kofi Annan’s initiative, holding those responsible for crimes against the Syrian people, providing support for the democratic opposition, enhancing humanitarian relief and commitment to back Syrians during the transitional and reconstruction periods topped the agenda of the meeting.
Participants agreed to hold the next meeting in Morocco.
Bahrain: Terrorising citizens into submission: here.
A prominent Bahraini human rights activist has been sentenced to three months in jail over comments on social networking websites, his lawyer says: here. And here. And here.
Prominent Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab [JURIST report] was sentenced to three months in prison on Monday in connection to comments he posted on his Twitter page in June: here. And here.
From Angry Arab’s chief correspondent on Bahrain: “The arrest of Nimr AlNimr is having repercussions on Bahrain. The extent of these repercussions remain to be seen. I believe that there are already small protests in Bahrain denouncing his arrest”: here.
A profile of some of the leading lights amongst the Syrian opposition provides a devastating exposé of their intimate connections with the US, British and French intelligence services and with top US neo-cons: here.
