calculate ailey

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Explosion at Mexican oil giant Pemex offices kills 14

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A powerful explosion rocked the Mexico City headquarters of state-owned oil giant Pemex on Thursday, killing at least 14 people, injuring 100 and trapping others inside.

The blast battered the lower floors of the downtown tower, throwing debris into the streets and sending frightened workers running outside.

It was not yet clear what caused the explosion, the latest in a series of safety problems to hit Mexico's national oil monopoly. Media reports said the incident occurred when machinery apparently exploded. An ambulance service official at the scene, who asked not to be named, said it was caused by a gas leak.

Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said the blast killed at least 14 people and injured 100. As evening fell, dozens of employees were believed to be still trapped inside, and rescue workers at the scene said the death toll at the Pemex skyscraper could keep rising.

Mauricio Parra, a paramedic at the scene, said he believed at least 20 had died and that 100 could be trapped inside.

Police quickly cordoned off the building, and television images showed the explosion caused serious damage to the ground floor and blew out windows on the lower floors of the tower.

"The place shook, we lost power and suddenly there was debris everywhere. Colleagues were helping us out of the building," witness Cristian Obele told Mexican television.

Some people at the scene said the blast came from a neighboring building, also part of the Pemex facilities.

Pemex said initially its headquarters had been evacuated because of a problem with its electricity supply. It then said there had been an explosion, but did not say what caused it.

Helicopters buzzed around the building and lines of fire trucks sped to the entrance, while emergency workers ferried injured people through wreckage strewn on the street.

"Now we are in rescue mode and looking for people and for bodies," Osorio Chong said.

Search-and-rescue dogs were sent into the skyscraper, a Mexico City landmark more than 50 floors high and sporting a distinctive "hat" on top.

DEADLY ACCIDENTS

President Enrique Pena Nieto said via Twitter he "deeply regretted" the deaths and he headed to the scene of the blast.

Gloria Garcia, 53, a Pemex worker not in the building during the explosion, came to see if she could track down her son, who works in one of the floors hit.

"I'm calling his phone and he's not answering," Garcia said, weeping as she called repeatedly on her phone. "Nobody knows anything. They won't let me through. I want to see my son whatever state he's in."

Plaster fell from the ceiling of the basement, and the situation at the Pemex tower was dangerous, a spokesman for local emergency services said.

Pemex has experienced a number of deadly accidents in recent years and lesser safety problems have been a regular occurrence. In September, 30 people died after an explosion at a Pemex natural gas facility in northern Mexico.

More than 300 were killed when a Pemex natural gas plant on the outskirts of Mexico City exploded in 1984.

Eight years later, about 200 people were killed and 1,500 injured after a series of underground gas explosions in Guadalajara, Mexico's second biggest city. An official investigation found Pemex was partly to blame.

Alberto Islas, a security analyst at consultancy Risk Evaluation, said the explosion at the Pemex offices was another blot against the company's safety record.

"We've seen this time and again at Pemex. They don't have a well-integrated policy," Islas said, noting it would probably take several hours before investigators would be able to determine the cause of the explosion.

Pemex, a symbol of Mexican self-sufficiency since the oil industry was nationalized in 1938, has been held back by inefficiency and corruption and by the burden it shoulders of providing about a third of federal tax revenues.

Pena Nieto has pledged to open up the company to more private investment to improve its performance.

(Additional reporting by Krista Hughes, Cyntia Barrera, Gabriel Stargardter and Liz Diaz; Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Kieran Murray and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/explosion-rocks-mexican-oil-giant-pemexs-offices-one-001146719.html

joe paterno memorial service taco bell breakfast menu ener1 national chocolate cake day epstein joshua komisarjevsky barney frank

Friday, February 1, 2013

Gay-rights backers wait for their Jackie Robinson

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver answers questions Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013, in New Orleans, regarding anti-gay remarks he made during Super Bowl media day Tuesday. Culliver apologized for the comments he made to a comedian, saying "that's not what I feel in my heart." The 49ers are scheduled to play the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game on Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver, seated at top, answers questions Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013, in New Orleans, regarding anti-gay remarks he made during Super Bowl media day Tuesday. Culliver apologized for the comments he made to a comedian, saying "that's not what I feel in my heart." The 49ers are scheduled to play the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game on Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver (29) takes a seat to answer questions Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013, in New Orleans, regarding anti-gay remarks he made during Super Bowl media day Tuesday. Culliver apologized for the comments he made to a comedian during an interview, saying "that's not what I feel in my heart." The 49ers are scheduled to play the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL Super Bowl XLVII football game on Feb. 3. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Brendon Ayanbadejo has heard from many players who applaud his support of gay marriage ? some of them teammates, others from the opposing side of the line.

Then, just days before the biggest game of the year, he received a striking reminder of the macho attitudes that still prevail in the NFL.

San Francisco cornerback Chris Culliver said he wouldn't welcome a gay player on his team. Even though he quickly backtracked, the comments underscored what Ayanbadejo already believed:

The league is still a long way from embracing its first openly gay player.

"It's going to take a very courageous person to come out," said Ayanbadejo, a backup linebacker and special teams ace for the Baltimore Ravens.

Culliver apologized Thursday, maintaining that what he said during an interview with comedian Artie Lange during Super Bowl media day ? videotaped and posted on the Internet ? were not his true beliefs.

"That's not what I feel in my heart," the defensive back said.

But Ayanbadejo (EYN'-beh-day-joe), who stirred debate this season by backing a gay-rights amendment in his adopted state of Maryland, estimates that at least half the NFL's players would agree with what Culliver said, at least privately.

Responding to a series of crude questions from Lange, Culliver said the 49ers didn't have any gay players, and if they did those players should leave. "Can't be with that sweet stuff," he said, seemingly unaware that his comments would ever get back to San Francisco and the Bay Area, home to a large gay community.

"I'm sorry if I offended anyone. They were very ugly comments," Culliver said. "Hopefully I will learn and grow from this experience and this situation. I love San Francisco."

Whether he was honestly expressing his true feelings or trying to limit the damage, the comments prompted plenty of discussion about a larger issue: Is the NFL ? or any major pro sport in the U.S. ? ready to accept a player who comes out?

Several retired athletes have acknowledged their homosexuality after their careers were over. But no one has revealed it while actually suiting up, no doubt mindful of the divisiveness it might cause in the locker room.

"I'd say 50 percent of the people (in the NFL) think like Culliver. I'd say 25 percent of the people think like me. And 25 percent of the people are religious. They don't necessarily agree with all the things I agree with, but they're accepting," Ayanbadejo said. "So it's a fight. It's an uphill battle."

For Ayanbadejo, taking a strong stand on heated issues is just part of his makeup. The 36-year-old grew up in northern California ? less than an hour from the 49ers current training facility ? and learned at an early age from his family to treat all people with tolerance and respect. He remembers marveling at the skill of Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis, then finding out later he was gay.

"I thought it was awesome he could go out there and do his thing," Ayanbadejo said. "No matter who you are or what you're doing, if you're doing something you love, you should be able to do that and express who you are."

That's why he thought it important to come out in support of gay marriage in Maryland, an issue that put him at odds with a vocal state lawmaker who opposed the measure. The amendment was passed by the voters in November, and Ayanbadejo was pleasantly surprised that a number of players ? even from other teams ? gave him a pat on his back.

Of course, there were others who didn't agree ? many of them in his own locker room. Safety Bernard Pollard is among those who doesn't support gay marriage, though he insisted it doesn't affect his relationship with Ayanbadejo.

"Everybody's entitled to their own opinion," Pollard said. "Ayanbadejo has taken a position to back everything that's going on there (in Maryland). There's a lot of guys that disagree.

"But, you know, we can all disagree, and be perfectly fine. He knows I don't back what he's doing. I don't stand for it. But at the same time, that doesn't take away from us being teammates. I still respect him as a man. I'm never going to demean him. He's never going to demean me. He's got his thing, and I've got mine."

Ayanbadejo was asked what kind of player ? and person ? it would take to be the first openly gay athlete in the NFL. He said it would have to be someone along the lines of Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in baseball and, coincidentally, would have been 94 on Thursday.

"If you're an amazing player, acceptance is going to come a lot easier," the Ravens linebacker said. "People would be like, 'Man, I didn't know gay people were such amazing athletes.' Uh, yeah, it's not that farfetched. But some people think like that."

San Francisco safety Donte Whitner, another strong supporter of gay rights, said a number of factors would have to be lined up perfectly before a gay player could make the call to come out.

"It depends on what team he's on, what market he's in and the character of the guys in the locker room," he said. "The character of the guys in the locker room is important. You can feel a lot more comfortable about coming out if there's guys in there to back you up."

Interestingly enough, considering it was a teammate who stirred up the issue during Super Bowl week, Whitner said the 49ers would probably be one of the most accepting squads.

"I believe there would be no issues with our team," he said. "I believe San Francisco would probably be the best city to do it in."

Niners CEO Jed York said he needs to become a leader on the issue of gay rights. After the Super Bowl, he intends to set up a meeting between Culliver and members of the LGBT community in the Bay area.

"I can't force anybody to think or to act the way that I want them to," York said. "But what I can do is give them the opportunity to experience other cultures, other communities."

While Ayanbadejo praised the efforts of NFL executives like York, as well as the backing he received from his own team on the gay-marriage issue, the first player to come out will surely face plenty of obstacles.

"I think it would be tough," 49ers receiver Randy Moss said. "That person would get ridiculed and just beat up verbally. I don't know if they'd be able to handle it."

But Moss said it's time ? past time, really ? for everyone in the NFL to acknowledge that gay players have always been part of the league. And, he added, to realize they're not going to hide their true feelings forever.

"It's not going anywhere," Moss said. "We're all the same people. What is it ? a 16th of an inch of our skin color ? that separates us from one another? I don't really look at gays in sports as a problem. We just need to accept it and move on."

___

AP Sports Writers Janie McCauley, Howard Fendrich and Barry Wilner contributed to this report.

___

Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-31-FBN-Super-Bowl-Gay-Rights/id-fa77fe600864438584ea3b62cff019df

Rupert Sanders bachelorette penn state Ernie Els Teen Choice Awards 2012 Aurora victims usher

PFT: Falcons lobbying Gonzalez for one more year

2011 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony

Getty Images

If you?re like most NFL fans I?ve heard from in the last few weeks, you probably think Michael Strahan deserves to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame tomorrow. And same with Larry Allen, Jonathan Ogden, Warren Sapp, Jerome Bettis, Cris Carter and, depending on your preferences, a few more players and maybe a coach and an owner.

But they can?t all get into the Hall of Fame.

We won?t find out until Saturday afternoon who will be included in the Hall of Fame?s Class of 2013, but we can already say with absolute certainty that the selection committee?s decision will be controversial, that some fans will be angry, some feelings will be hurt, and few people will endorse all the selections. That?s because the Hall of Fame?s rules mandate that 10 of the 15 modern-era finalists have to be excluded: A maximum of five modern-era candidates can make it.

So if you want to say who you?d include, you first have to name 10 of these 15 men whom you would exclude: Larry Allen, Jonathan Ogden, Warren Sapp, Michael Strahan, Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Cris Carter, Andre Reed, Will Shields, Charles Haley, Kevin Greene, Aeneas Williams, Bill Parcells, Eddie DeBartolo Jr. and Art Modell.

Personally, if I could only choose five of those men to make it into the Hall of Fame, I?d probably go with Strahan, Allen, Ogden, Shields and Parcells. That means I?d exclude Sapp, Bettis, Brown, Carter, Reed, Haley, Greene, Williams, DeBartolo and Modell.

That does not mean I don?t think any of those 10 deserve to make it. It simply means that under the Hall of Fame?s rules, which mandate that at least 10 of the 15 finalists are kept out every year, those are the 10 finalists I?d keep out. (The two senior nominees, Curley Culp and Dave Robinson, are considered separately.)

I think there are problems with the Hall of Fame selection process: I?d like to see more transparency and a more diverse array of voices in the discussion than we currently get with the 46-member selection committee meeting behind closed doors every year on the day before the Super Bowl. But I don?t blame the selection committee for the controversy that?s sure to break out on Saturday evening. That controversy is a guaranteed result of a simple fact: Only five men can be chosen from a list of finalists that includes more than five worthy Hall of Famers.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/31/falcons-lobbying-tony-gonzalez-for-one-more-year/related/

Michael Clarke Duncan Nazanin Boniadi Deval Patrick Dedication 4 labor day college football scores khan academy

How many polar bears to harvest in Canada's Hudson Bay?

Discussions over the polar bear population in Canada's Southern Hudson Bay have been postponed.

Representatives from the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and the eastern Arctic territory of Nunavut were supposed to get together in Inukjuak, Que., two weeks from now to discuss setting a total allowable harvest for the area.

But the meeting could now be months away.

"The Nunavik Marine Board have just identified to us that they will be postponing the meeting until a further date because the report from the aerial surveys from 2011 [from the Ontario coastline] and the one for 2012 that happened off Quebec are not ready yet," said Drikus Gissing, the Director of Wildlife Management with the Nunavut Government.

Gissing said the final report on the surveys won't be available until at least the end of March. That means the meeting likely won't be held until late spring or summer.

He said a voluntary quota of 60 bears shared between the three regions will be maintained until a total allowable harvest is established.

The number of polar bears in the region has been hotly debated, especially after a large harvest near Inukjuak in 2011.

Sanikiluaq is the only Nunavut community which hunts Southern Hudson Bay polar bears. It has a quota of 25 bears for this year.

Early survey results suggest population is stable

Preliminary results from polar bear surveys in Southern Hudson Bay suggest the population is stable.

The Government of Ontario conducted an aerial survey along its coastline more than a year ago, and last fall, the Nunavut government teamed up with Quebec to survey the islands off Nunavik's coast.

Officials are now putting together that information to determine a sustainable hunt for the region.

"What is encouraging is that the preliminary results indicate that the population is about the same number as it was in 2006, so it seems to have been stable even with this increased harvest that we had two years ago from Quebec, which is really encouraging," said Gissing.

This story is posted on Alaska Dispatch as part of?Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organizations.

Source: http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/how-many-polar-bears-harvest-canadas-hudson-bay

Boy Meets World elizabeth taylor cam newton danielle fishel FedEx Gabriel Aubry halle berry

Survey - DIY Home Improvement, Remodeling & Repair Forum

How much can I expect to spend on gas furnace maintenance each year? The Web does not seem to be too forthcoming with this answer but $500/yr (for a contract) may be too high.

TIA

Last edited by Wuzzat?; Yesterday at 05:22 PM.

Source: http://www.houserepairtalk.com/f8/survey-15486/

toysrus how to carve a turkey ipad 2 wal mart happy thanksgiving Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade 2012 Turkey Cooking Times

Deforestation triggers carbon collapse of tropical peatlands

Jan. 30, 2013 ? Deforested tropical peatlands are haemorrhaging carbon from deep within their peat soils, with consequences for the release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, according to new research by The Open University and partners, published January 31 in Nature.

Tropical peatlands, with their high water tables and low decomposition rates, form vast stores of organic carbon tens of metres thick. Most of it is found in Indonesia, where the natural swamp forests (also home to endangered animal species such as orangutans) are increasingly being destroyed by deforestation, drainage and fire, to make way for agriculture, in particular oil palm for biofuels and food.?

Dr Sam Moore, lead author of the study and former Open University PhD student, explained: ?We measured carbon losses in channels draining intact and deforested peatlands, and found it is 50 per cent higher from deforested swamps, compared to intact swamps. Dissolved organic carbon released from intact swamps mainly comes from fresh plant material, but carbon from the deforested swamps is much older ? centuries to millennia ? and comes from deep within the peat column.?

Deforestation of Asian peat swamps is an important source of carbon dioxide emissions globally and its emission may be larger than previously thought. Carbon dating shows that the additional carbon lost from deforested swamps comes from peat which had been securely stored for thousands of years. Carbon lost from the drainage systems of deforested and drained peatlands is often not considered in ecosystem exchange carbon budgets, but the research team found it increased the estimated total carbon loss by 22 per cent.??

Changes in the water cycle seem to be the principal driver of this increase in carbon loss.? Much of the water falling as rain would normally leave the ecosystem through transpiration in vegetation, but deforestation forces it to leave through the peat, where it dissolves fossil carbon on its way.

Dr Vincent Gauci, Senior Lecturer in Earth Systems and Ecosystem Science at The Open University, and corresponding author said: ?Essentially, ancient carbon is being dissolved out of Asian peatlands as they are increasingly being turned over to agriculture to meet global demands for food and biofuels. This has led to a large increase in carbon loss from Southeast Asian rivers draining peatland ecosystems - up by 32 per cent over the last 20 years, which is more than half the entire annual carbon loss from all European peatlands.? The destruction of the Asian peat swamps is a globally significant environmental disaster, but unlike deforestation of the Amazon, few people know that it is happening?.?

The authors concluded that their results increase the urgency for protecting these ecosystems from ongoing destruction for oil palm and other uses.?

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Open University, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Sam Moore, Chris D. Evans, Susan E. Page, Mark H. Garnett, Tim G. Jones, Chris Freeman, Aljosja Hooijer, Andrew J. Wiltshire, Suwido H. Limin, Vincent Gauci. Deep instability of deforested tropical peatlands revealed by fluvial organic carbon fluxes. Nature, 2013; 493 (7434): 660 DOI: 10.1038/nature11818

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/lhXsUs_UvjQ/130130132326.htm

grammys album of the year grammy red carpet grammy award winners the band perry grammy awards whitney houston autopsy

Israel airstrike hits Syria arms convoy

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israeli jets bombed a convoy near Syria's border with Lebanon early on Wednesday, sources told Reuters, apparently targeting weapons destined for Hezbollah in what some called a warning to Damascus not to arm Israel's Lebanese enemy.

Syrian state television accused Israel of bombing a military research centre, at Jamraya between the capital and the nearby border, but Syrian rebels disputed that, saying their forces had attacked the site. No source spoke of a second Israeli strike.

"The target was a truck loaded with weapons, heading from Syria to Lebanon," said one Western diplomat, echoing others who said the convoy's load may have included anti-aircraft missiles or long-range rockets. Several sources ruled out the presence of chemical weapons, about which Israel has also raised concerns.

Diplomatic sources from three countries told Reuters that chemical weapons were believed to be stored at Jamraya, and that it was possible that the convoy was near the large site when it came under attack. However, there was no suggestion that the vehicles themselves had been carrying chemical weapons.

The overnight raid followed warnings from Israel that it was ready to act to prevent the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad leading to Syria's chemical weapons and modern rockets reaching either his Hezbollah allies or his Islamist enemies.

A source among Syrian rebels said an air strike around dawn (0430 GMT) blasted a convoy near the border: "It attacked trucks carrying sophisticated weapons from the regime to Hezbollah," the source said, adding that it took place inside Syria.

Syrian state television said two people were killed in a dawn raid on a military site at Jamraya, which lies in the 25-km (15-mile) strip between Damascus and the Lebanese border. It described it as a scientific research centres "aimed at raising the level of resistance and self-defence".

It did not mention specific retaliation but said "these criminal acts" would not weaken Syria's support for Palestinians and other groups engaged in "resistance" to Israel.

Several rebel sources, however, including a commander in the Damascus area, accused the authorities of lying and said the only attacks at Jamraya had been mortar attacks by insurgents.

A regional security source said Israel's target was weaponry given by Assad's military to fellow Iranian ally Hezbollah:

"This episode boils down to a warning by Israel to Syria and Hezbollah not to engage in the transfer of sensitive weapons," the source said. "Assad knows his survival depends on his military capabilities and he would not want those capabilities neutralised by Israel - so the message is this kind of transfer is simply not worth it, neither for him nor Hezbollah."

With official secrecy shrouding the event, few details were corroborated by multiple sources. All those with knowledge of the events - from several countries - spoke anonymously.

There was no comment from the Israeli government nor Hezbollah. Israel's ally the United States declined all comment. A Lebanese security source said its territory was not hit, though the army reported a heavy presence of Israeli jets through the night after days of unusually frequent incursions.

Such a strike or strikes would fit Israel's policy of pre-emptive covert and overt action to curb Hezbollah and does not necessarily indicate a major escalation of the war in Syria.

It does, however, indicate how the erosion of the Assad family's rule after 42 years is seen by Israel as posing a threat.

Israel this week echoed concerns in the United States about Syrian chemical weapons, but its officials say a more immediate worry is that the civil war could see weapons that are capable of denting its massive superiority in airpower and tanks reaching Hezbollah; the group fought Israel in 2006 and remains a more pressing threat than its Syrian and Iranian sponsors.

Israeli officials have said they feared Assad may be losing his grip on some chemical weapons, including around Damascus, to rebel groups which are also potentially hostile to Israel. U.S. and European security sources told Reuters they were confident that chemical weapons were not in the convoy which was bombed.

Wednesday's action could have been a rapid response to an opportunity. But a stream of Israeli comment on Syria in recent days may have been intended to limit surprise in world capitals.

The head of the Israeli air force said only hours before the attack that his corps, which has an array of the latest jet bombers, attack helicopters and unmanned drones at its disposal, was involved in a covert "campaign between wars".

"This campaign is 24/7, 365 days a year," Major-General Amir Eshel told a conference on Tuesday. "We are taking action to reduce the immediate threats, to create better conditions in which we will be able to win the wars, when they happen."

JETS OVER LEBANON

In Israel, where media operate under military censorship, broadcasters immediately relayed international reports of the strike. Channel Two television quoted what it called foreign sources saying the convoy was carrying anti-aircraft missiles.

Israeli jets routinely fly over Lebanon and there have been unconfirmed reports in previous years of strikes on Hezbollah arms shipments. An attack inside Syria could be diplomatically provocative, however, since Assad's Iranian ally said on Saturday that it would view any strike as an attack on itself.

There was no immediate comment on the incident from Tehran, which Israel views as its principal enemy and with which it is engaged in a bitter confrontation over Iran's nuclear programme.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, set for a new term after an election, told his cabinet that Iran and turmoil in Arab states meant Israel must be strong: "In the east, north and south, everything is in ferment, and we must be prepared, strong and determined in the face of all possible developments."

The Israeli military confirmed this week that it had lately deployed two batteries of its Iron Dome rocket-interceptor system to around the northern city of Haifa, which came under heavy Hezbollah missile fire during a brief war in 2006.

Israel's refusal to comment on Wednesday is usual in such cases; it has, for example, never admitted a 2007 air strike on a suspected Syrian nuclear site despite U.S. confirmation of it.

By not acknowledging that raid, Israel may have ensured that Assad did not feel obliged to retaliate. For 40 years, Syria has offered little but bellicose words against Israel. A failing Assad administration, some Israelis fear, might be tempted into more action, while Syria's Islamist rebels are also hostile to Israel and could present a threat if they seize heavier weapons.

Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom said on Sunday that any sign that the Syrian army's grip on its presumed chemical weapons stocks was slipping could trigger Israeli intervention.

But Israeli sources said on Tuesday that Syria's advanced conventional weapons, much of it Russian-built hardware able to destroy Israeli planes and tanks, would represent as much of a threat to Israel as chemical arms in the hands of an enemy.

Hezbollah fighters and the Syrian army have close relations and, while Damascus may have been reluctant to hand over key parts of its own arsenal to its Lebanese allies, some analysts suggest that if Syrian or Hezbollah commanders fear hardware is about to fall into rebel hands they might try to move it across the border - possibly even without formal government approval.

On Wednesday, Israel's Shalom would not be drawn on whether Israeli forces had been in action in the north, but described the country as part of an international coalition seeking to stop spillover from Syria's two-year-old insurgency.

Recalling that President Barack Obama had warned Assad of U.S. action if his forces used chemical weapons, Shalom told Israel Radio: "The world, led by President Obama, who has said this more than once, is taking all possibilities into account.

"Any development ... in a negative direction would be something that needs stopping and prevention."

LEBANON WAR

During the 2006 war in Lebanon, Israel's air forced faced little threat, though its navy was taken aback when a missile hit a ship. Israeli tanks suffered losses to rockets, and commanders are concerned Hezbollah may get better weaponry.

In what might have been a sign of seeking to reassure major powers, Israeli media reported this week that the country's national security adviser was despatched to Russia and military intelligence chief to the United States for consultations.

Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London saw any strike on Wednesday as intended to deliver a signal rather than heralding a major escalation from Israel.

"The Israelis are sending a message not just to Hezbollah but also to Assad's forces that they have no wish to get dragged in, but chemical weapons and certain types of missiles are a red line for them, and that regime forces ought to signal, in turn, to Hezbollah that they should proceed with caution," he said.

Worries about Syria and Hezbollah have sent Israelis lining up for government-issued gas masks in recent days. According to the Israel post office, which is handling distribution of the kits, demand roughly trebled this week.

"It looks like every kind of discourse on this or that security matter contributes to public vigilance," its deputy director Haim Azaki told Israel's Army Radio. "We have really seen a very significant jump in demand." (Additional reporting by Dominic Evans in Beirut, Myra MacDonald in London, Mark Hosenball in Washington, Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman and Reuters bureaux; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by David Stamp)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/israel-hits-target-syria-border-area-sources-121656050.html

sheryl sandberg superbowl recipes super bowl kick off chili recipes carlos condit diaz vs condit super bowl 2012 kickoff time