السيسي يجري مداخلة تليفونية مع برنامج مصري على الهواء

أجرى الرئيس المصري عبد الفتاح السيسي أول مداخلة تليفونية مع برنامج مصر على الهواء. وقام السيسي بمداخلة تليفونية مع برنامج القاهرة 360 على قناة القاهرة والناس ليعلن تلبية دعوة وجهت له على الهواء من اللاعب منعم سعد الدين، لاعب منتخب مصر لكرة السلة لذوي الاحتياجات الخاصة الحضور افتتاح دورة الألعاب الرياضية للمعاقين. ووعد الرئيس المصري اللاعب بالحضور، وامتدت مداخلته التليفونية لنحو 15 دقيقة أبدى السيسي خلالها دعمه لذوي القدرات الخاصة، على حد وصفه.

NASA's deep space capsule poised for second launch bid

NASA's deep space capsule poised for second launch bid

Cape Canaveral (AFP) - NASA counted down Friday to its second try at test-launching the deep space Orion capsule on its first journey into orbit, after wind gusts and rocket problems delayed Thursday's attempt.

Related Stories

    TSX nears seven-week high as miners, TransCanada advance Reuters

    Rocket woes delay deep space Orion launch until Friday AFP

    NASA scrubs Orion launch; will try again Friday Associated Press

    Mexicano Delgado dice que cubano Toirac hizo boxeo correlón en JCC Notimex

    Carlos Villagrán acude a dar el último adiós a “Chespirito” Notimex

The unmanned four-hour flight aims to test crucial systems like the heat shield and parachute splashdown on a spacecraft that could one day transport humans to an asteroid, the Moon or Mars.

The window for liftoff aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida opens at 7:05 am (1205 GMT) and lasts for two hours, 39 minutes.

Early Friday, clouds and rain lingered over the area but conditions could clear up by launch time, according to weather officer Kathy Winters.

"Current weather conditions at Cape Canaveral are observed red because of cumulus clouds and precipitation over the launch site," said the update on NASA's Orion blog at 4:49 am (0949 GMT).

"The good news is that both of those violations are expected to clear in about an hour."

View gallery

Photographers set up before a scheduled attempt at launching the United Launch Alliance Delta IV roc …

The launch is the first in more than 40 years of a US spacecraft intended to carry humans beyond the Moon. It has reinvigorated a US human exploration program that has been stagnant for more than three years since the last American space shuttle carried a crew of astronauts to the International Space Station.

The 30-year shuttle program ended in 2011, leaving the United States no other option but to pay Russia to carry astronauts on its Soyuz capsules to the orbiting research lab at a cost of $71 million per seat.

- Two loops -

Friday's launch attempt will propel the Orion capsule into two loops around the Earth.

The first orbit is to be about as high as the International Space Station, which circles at an altitude of about 270 miles (430 kilometers), but the second would soar 15 times higher, to an apogee of 3,600 miles above the Earth.

Then, the spacecraft is supposed to plunge into the waters off San Diego, California to be retrieved by the US Navy.

An analysis of sophisticated sensors on the capsule should let NASA know if the temperature inside remained survivable for a potential crew, even as the spacecraft itself heated to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,200 Celsius) during its re-entry to Earth's atmosphere at a velocity of 20,000 miles per hour.

Potential future missions for Orion, which can fit four people at a time, include a trip to lasso an asteroid and a journey to Mars by the 2030s.

NASA has already spent $9.1 billion on Orion and the powerful rocket meant to propel it with crew on board, the Space Launch System (SLS).

Another unmanned test flight is slated for 2018. The first Orion test flight with people on board is scheduled for 2021, when total costs are projected to reach $19-22 billion.

United Launch Alliance chief operating officer Dan Collins said he was confident that the sluggish fuel valves that delayed Thursday's launch attempt could be resolved in time for Friday morning's bid.

"We're going to make sure we have a happy rocket, and we're going to send Orion off on a successful mission," Collins told reporters.

About $370 million dollars in equipment is at stake in Friday's launch.

Lady Gaga reveals rape as teenager

Lady Gaga reveals rape as teenager

New York (AFP) - Lady Gaga has revealed that she was raped as a teenager and said that it took her years of therapy to acknowledge and start to recover from the trauma.

"I don't want to be defined by it," the pop star said. "I'll be damned if somebody is going to say that every creatively intelligent thing I ever did is all boiled down to one dickhead that did that to me."

Lady Gaga, 28, said that the rape took place when she was 19 and that she has gone through years of therapy. She did not go into detail but said that the aggressor was 20 years older than her.

"It happens every day. It's really scary and it's sad and it didn't affect me as much right after as it did about four or five years later," she told radio host Howard Stern.

"I didn't tell anybody -- I didn't even tell myself for the longest time," she said. "Then I was like, you know what, all this drinking and all this nonsense, you have to go to the source, otherwise it won't go away."

The singer, who later became known for her gaudy outfits and outspoken social commentary, said that she did not report the rape. She said she saw her aggressor once more when she ran into him at a store and that she became "paralyzed by fear."

Lady Gaga revealed the rape as she discussed her song "Swine" from her 2013 album "Artpop." She performed the song at this year's South by Southwest festival, where she rode a mechanical bull in a suggestive fashion and had a collaborator vomit on her.

"The song is about rape. This song is about demoralisation," Lady Gaga said in her radio interview Tuesday.

"I want this chick to throw up on me in front of the world, so that I can tell them, you know what? You could never, ever degrade me as much as I could degrade myself and look how beautiful it is what I do."

New York (AFP) - Lady Gaga has revealed that she was raped as a teenager and said that it took her years of therapy to acknowledge and start to recover from the trauma.

"I don't want to be defined by it," the pop star said. "I'll be damned if somebody is going to say that every creatively intelligent thing I ever did is all boiled down to one dickhead that did that to me."

Lady Gaga, 28, said that the rape took place when she was 19 and that she has gone through years of therapy. She did not go into detail but said that the aggressor was 20 years older than her.

"It happens every day. It's really scary and it's sad and it didn't affect me as much right after as it did about four or five years later," she told radio host Howard Stern.

"I didn't tell anybody -- I didn't even tell myself for the longest time," she said. "Then I was like, you know what, all this drinking and all this nonsense, you have to go to the source, otherwise it won't go away."

The singer, who later became known for her gaudy outfits and outspoken social commentary, said that she did not report the rape. She said she saw her aggressor once more when she ran into him at a store and that she became "paralyzed by fear."

Lady Gaga revealed the rape as she discussed her song "Swine" from her 2013 album "Artpop." She performed the song at this year's South by Southwest festival, where she rode a mechanical bull in a suggestive fashion and had a collaborator vomit on her.

"The song is about rape. This song is about demoralisation," Lady Gaga said in her radio interview Tuesday.

"I want this chick to throw up on me in front of the world, so that I can tell them, you know what? You could never, ever degrade me as much as I could degrade myself and look how beautiful it is what I do."

Barcelona lifted by Iniesta return before derby

Barcelona lifted by Iniesta return before derby

MADRID (Reuters) - Barcelona have been boosted by the successful return from injury of talismanic playmaker Andres Iniesta as they prepare to host city rivals Espanyol in La Liga on Sunday.

Iniesta played for the first time since damaging a calf muscle at the end of October in Wednesday's 4-0 King's Cup last-32, first leg victory at third-tier Huesca.

The Spain international, captaining the side in the absence of most of Barca's rested regulars, bossed the game and scored a splendid goal reminiscent of his dramatic effort at Chelsea in 2009 that sent Barca through to the Champions League final.

The ball was played to him from the left across the top of the penalty area and his first-time shot arrowed into the top corner to make it 2-0 in the 16th minute.

"When you try a shot from outside the area sometimes it goes in," the self-effacing Iniesta, a hero to Spain fans for his extra-time winner in the 2010 World Cup final, told reporters.

"I managed a good strike, although for me the most important thing was the overall feeling which makes me positive," added the 30-year-old.

Iniesta can provide extra creativity in attack for second-placed Barca as they seek to keep pace with leaders Real Madrid, who are two points clear at the top after 13 matches and host Celta Vigo on Saturday.

A win for Carlo Ancelotti's men at the Bernabeu will extend their club-record winning streak to 18 matches.

La Liga returns to action on Saturday less than a week after a Deportivo La Coruna supporter was killed in fighting between fan groups known as "ultras" near the stadium before the club's match at champions Atletico Madrid last weekend.

Police will be on high alert for Atletico's match at Elche and Deportivo's game at home to Malaga on Saturday.

The Spanish government, football authorities and clubs have vowed to banish "ultras" from stadiums and their surroundings and Atletico have cut ties with their main group, the "Frente Atletico".

David Moyes, the new coach of Real Sociedad, will be looking to maintain the Basque club's improved form since he took over last month when they play at Villarreal on Sunday

Ten Indian soldiers, police dead in attack on camp in Kashmir

Ten Indian soldiers, police dead in attack on camp in Kashmir

 URI, India (Reuters) - Militants sneaked into an Indian military camp in Kashmir on Friday, killing 10 soldiers and police in their bunkers, the worst losses for security forces in more than a year in the Himalayan territory claimed by Pakistan.

Several hours later, a gun battle broke out in Srinagar, the state capital where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due next week on a campaign tour for a state election.

A spate of attacks in recent weeks coinciding with elections to Jammu and Kashmir's state legislature is testing Modi's resolve to deal firmly with security threats while he focuses on reviving economic growth.

It also adds to India's worst fears that Pakistan-based militants will turn their attention to Kashmir as most foreign forces complete a withdrawal from Afghanistan this month.

The latest attack took place in Kashmir's Uri sector near the heavily militarized border with Pakistan just days before it holds the vote in the staggered elections.

The militants cut through a wire fence around the small artillery camp and then fired rocket-propelled grenades at the security force men in their bunkers, an army officer said.

He said six militants were killed in the gun battle that lasted several hours.

The state's chief minister, Omar Abdullah, said the attack "once again shows the desperate levels militants will go to disrupt peace and normalcy".

Tens of thousands of people, weary of decades of strife and lack of development, have voted in the state election that ends this month.

Modi's Hindu nationalist party is making its most serious bid yet to win power in the state, banking on votes in the Hindu-majority Jammu region, and Buddhist Ladakh. It is also capitalizing on the rise of independents and splits elsewhere in Muslim-majority Kashmir.

Security forces launched an operation to flush out militants from a part of Srinagar on Friday, police said, triggering a clash in which one militant was killed.

Modi is expected to address a rally at a cricket stadium in Srinagar next week. A rare such appearance for a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the hotbed of a 25-year revolt against Indian rule.

Separatists have called for an election boycott and urged the Indian government to hold talks with Pakistan to resolve the 67-year old dispute.

Muslim Pakistan maintains that Kashmir should have been included in its territory when British-ruled India was partitioned into independent India and Pakistan in 1947. India rejects that.

(Reporting by Fayaz Bukhari; Writing by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Robert Birsel)

US calls on Russia to calm turbulence in Ukraine

US calls on Russia to calm turbulence in Ukraine

LONDON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that Russia could rebuild its relations with the West "if it simply helps to calm turbulent waters" on its border with eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists are fighting with Kiev forces.

Speaking in Basel, Switzerland at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Kerry called on Moscow to uphold an earlier cease-fire agreement, which calls for withdrawing its support for the separatists in Ukraine and persuading them to release hostages. The U.S. and European Union have imposed sanctions on some Russians and separatists as punishment for their actions.

"The U.S. and countries that support Ukraine's sovereignty and rights do not seek confrontation," Kerry said. "It is not our design or desire that we see a Russia isolated through its own actions."

"No one gains from this confrontation," Kerry said.

The secretary met briefly — and separately — with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Georgian Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili. The United States and Russia are partners in the OSCE.

In his opening remarks, Kerry publicly cited "hundreds of Russian soldiers who fight and die" in Ukraine - alluding to what the U.S. says is proof of Moscow's direct involvement in the fighting. U.S. officials believe an estimated 400 Russian troops have been killed in Ukraine this year.

In their private half-hour meeting, Kerry and Lavrov spoke briefly about the situation in Ukraine, and Kerry urged Lavrov to have Moscow "return to serious discussions" for a cease-fire, a senior State Department official who sat in on the discussion told reporters.

Lavrov did not respond to a reporter's question about the Russian troop deaths in Ukraine.

OSCE has sought to help broker an enduring cease-fire in eastern Ukraine, where it's believed Moscow is supporting the separatists with weapons and troops in their quest to secede from Ukraine's central government.

Kerry called it a "very turbulent year" and noted that when the 57-state OSCE met last year, Ukraine protesters were in the throes of demanding a new government in Kiev.

"They were warmed by a simple desire — to live in a country with an honest government," Kerry said at the start of the OSCE meeting. Over the last year, however, the fledgling leadership in Kiev has been beset by separatists in the eastern provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, and has seen the Crimea region vote to secede.

Kerry said Kiev has been "tested by external aggression" yet still is "casting off the shackles of repression and opening a new and promising chapter in their nation's history."

In his annual state-of-the-nation address Thursday in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the annexation of Crimea, describing it as Russia's spiritual ground. But he offered no insight into what Russia's next actions in eastern Ukraine could be.

In Switzerland, Ukraine's Klimkin said, "We're still working on a real, sustainable cease-fire." He added that Kiev had delivered on "all the points" from the cease-fire agreement, and said, "Now it's about Russia."

Western sanctions, ruble crash hit Russians hard

Western sanctions, ruble crash hit Russians hard

Yes, we have no oysters: Sanctions, ruble crash hit Russian wallets as prices rise

MOSCOW (AP) -- Oyster Bar built a thriving business serving mollusks to well-heeled Muscovites. Then came Western sanctions, and the restaurant was forced to rechristen itself this fall. Today, it serves up burgers and pizza under a new name: No Oyster Bar.

Co-owner Ilya Sokhin said a Russian ban on European oyster imports hit hard, and the average check at his restaurant — a sleek new building in the famous Gorky Park — has more than halved.

Russia's economy has been battered this year by uncertainty over the conflict in Ukraine, the falling price of oil, Western sanctions and retaliatory Russian import bans. Poor and middle-class Russians are increasingly challenging government insistence that a 40 percent drop in the value of the ruble — now worth a record low of 54 to the dollar — will affect mainly the rich.

Approval ratings have so far remained high for President Vladimir Putin, who has staked the reputation on Russia's reemergence as an economic powerhouse after the turbulent 1990s. But Putin, who will give his annual state of the nation address on Thursday, faces growing anger from middle-class families and even poorer Russians as their quality of life declines.

Mikhail Antonov, a 27-year-old manager at a children's goods store, had saved up this year to drive with friends from Moscow to Germany, and spend a week visiting Christmas markets and the countryside. But the 30,000 rubles he has saved up have gone from being worth 670 euros ($830) at the start of the year to less than 450 euros ($560) today, and he has canceled the trip.

"This would have been my first trip abroad and my girlfriend and I had saved up," he said. "Now because of the situation in Europe and Ukraine, everything has gotten more expensive and our savings have been reduced to nothing."

According to Vladimir Kantorovich, vice president of Russia's Tour Operator Association, travel abroad for the winter holidays is down 30 percent, and trips to Europe have fallen about 50 percent. On Wednesday, Russia's flagship airline, Aeroflot, hiked its ruble-denominated prices by 15 percent.

Olga Kupriyanova, a 35-year-old law professor at Moscow State University, says her family of four feels the pinch particularly when it comes to putting food on the table. Inflation is estimated to reach 10 percent by early next year, and food is rising fastest. According to the Federal Statistics Service, chicken costs 27 percent more than it did last year, pork 25 percent, and the beloved staple of buckwheat 48 percent. Russians on average spend about 30 percent of their income on food, compared with 6.7 percent in the United States.

"We've started to economize on food, but nonetheless because of rising prices our expenses have grown by about 10 percent," said Kupriyanova, who has replaced red meat with chicken and cut most cheese and fish out of the family's diet.

Russia's economic woes stem from a trifecta of problems. First, oil and gas exports, which finance half of Russia's budget, have been hit by the plummet in world markets: the global price of crude oil has fallen some 25 percent since the summer. Renaissance Capital analyst Oleg Kouzmin says if prices stay there, Russia could see its economy shrink by 3 percent next year.

Second, Russia's banks, which were slapped with sanctions this summer as a response to Moscow's role in Ukraine, have to pay off $90 billion in external debt before the end of 2015, which is becoming harder by the day as the ruble loses value. The central bank had tried to support the ruble but after spending $29 billion in October alone it gave up and floated the currency last month.

Finally, Russia banned Western meat, dairy, vegetables and fruit this summer in response to the sanctions, helping drive the steep spike in prices.

On Tuesday, Russia's economic development ministry revised its economic forecast for 2015, predicting a drop of 0.8 percent instead of 1.2 percent growth. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has said the sanctions are costing Russia $40 billion a year, and falling oil prices another $90-$100 billion.

Politicians and state-run television have pushed a narrative that only the rich will be affected by the depreciation of the ruble. But slowing growth and rising inflation have affected average Russians like Kupriyanova and Antonov, who both earn less than the average Moscow salary of 50,000 rubles a month, now worth about $925.

"Politicians are trying to make the best of the situation, but this attacks low-income households more than middle- and high-income households," said Konstantin Sonin, an economist at Moscow's Higher School of Economics. "They spend more on consumption and food, and they are the most vulnerable."

Putin's ratings remain high, with a recent poll by the independent Levada Center showing over 50 percent of Russians would vote for him if elections were held tomorrow. But he is coming under increasing pressure to act.

One joke making the rounds on Russian social media: "What do Putin, the price of oil, and the ruble have in common? They'll all hit 63 next year."