Who's NOT a pretty boy, then? Nelson, the baby parrot, who could be the ugliest bird in the world

By Simon Tomlinson

He has a face that only a mother could love.

But sadly for poor Nelson, his didn't.

The parrot chick, who must surely be a contender for the ugliest bird in the world, was rejected by his parents after he hatched.

However, he can at least take some comfort in the knowledge that he will one day grow up to be an attractive Kea parrot.

Nelson, who has been described as looking like a cross between an alien and a roast chicken, was born last month at Bergzoo in Germany.

As such, the youngster is now being cared for around the clock by staff and spent the first four weeks of his life in an incubator.

Keas are large parrots native to the alpine regions of New Zealand that are known for their intelligence and curiosity.

Adults are mostly olive-green with a brilliant orange flash under their wings.

But his looks won't last forever...



Ugly no longer: Nelson will eventually blossom into a beautiful Kea parrot like this one

N.Korean Missile Platform 'Came from China'

The mobile platform that transported what looked like an intercontinental ballistic missile in Sunday's military parade in Pyongyang was probably imported from China. A government source here said it looks very similar to platforms from a Chinese maker of special vehicles.

The mobile platform was about 20 m long and had 16 wheels. According to sources, a Chinese company that manufactures specialized mobile launchers for ICBMs and multiple launch rocket systems for the People's Liberation Army produced and exported eight 16-wheelers known as the WS-51200 between 2010 and 2011.

That would mean Beijing may be in violation of a UN Security Council resolution banning shipments of weapons to the North. UN Security Council Resolution 1874 prohibits North Korea from launching long-range projectiles using ICBM technology and bans other countries from dealing in such weapons and related technology with the North.



This handout picture, taken by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) on Apr 13, 2012 shows
debris scattering inside a fuel spent pool at the unit three reactor building of the Fukushima Dai-ichi
nuclear power plant at Okuma town in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan

TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo Electric Power Co has released dramatic images taken by an underwater camera showing major damage at a spent fuel storage pool at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Photos show a 35-tonne crane, set to straddle over the pool, which may have dropped due to a hydrogen explosion three days after the tsunami and earthquake on March 11 last year, Tepco said when it released the images on Friday.

Twisted fragments from iron frames of the No.3 reactor building were also seen in the 11.8-metre-deep pool.

It was the second time Tepco released underwater images from inside the reactor building. There are six reactors at the plant and the No. 3 unit is among three which have suffered meltdowns after the quake-tsunami disaster.

Israeli TV report shows air force gearing up for Iran attack, says moment of truth is near

‘IAF expects losses, and knows it can’t destroy entire Iranian program’

By Greg Tepper

A major Israel TV station on Sunday night broadcast a detailed report on how Israel will go about attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities in the event that diplomacy and sanctions fail and Israel decides to carry out a military strike.

The report, screened on the main evening news of Channel 10, was remarkable both in terms of the access granted to the reporter, who said he had spent weeks with the pilots and other personnel he interviewed, and in the fact that his assessments on a strike were cleared by the military censor.

No order to strike is likely to be given before the P5+1 talks with Iran resume in May, the reporter, Alon Ben-David, said. “But the coming summer will not only be hot but tense.”

In the event that negotiations fail and the order is given for Israel to carry out an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, “dozens if not more planes” will take part in the mission: attack and escort jets, tankers for mid-air refueling, electronic warfare planes and rescue helicopters, the report said.

Ben-David said the Israel Air Force “does not have the capacity to destroy the entire Iranian program.” There will be no replication of the decisive strikes on Iraq’s Osirak reactor in 1981 or on Syria in 2007, he said. “The result won’t be definitive.” But, a pilot quoted in the report said, the IAF will have to ensure that it emerges with the necessary result, with “a short and professional” assault.

Ben-David said that if negotiations break down, and Iran moves key parts of its nuclear program underground to its Qom facility, the IAF “is likely to get the order and to set out on the long journey to Iran.”

“Years of preparations are likely to come to realization,” he said, adding that “the moment of truth is near.”

Ben-David interviewed several squadron leaders, pilots and other officers. He noted that some of the IAF personnel, “it is likely, will not return from the mission.” An officer named Gilad said it would be “naive” to think there would be no losses.

The IAF is said to be worried about the advanced anti-aircraft systems that Russia has sold to countries in the region, the report said. Among those systems, the SA 17 and 22 in Syria and Iran present a challenge.

According to the report, it’s the older versions of the F-15 that can fly further than any other plane in Israel’s arsenal, and this puts them on the front line of any potential attack.

One pilot said in the report that the F-15 “is a plane with a very wide range of operation — a combination of relatively energy-efficient engines, and significant flightworthiness regarding weapons and fuel.”

The IAF has a full-sized unmanned plane, the “Eitan,” that is said to be able to fly to Iran, the report indicated. “This plane can do all that is required of it when the order is given,” a pilot said, without elaboration.

The attack, the report said, would presumably trigger a war in northern Israel, with missile attacks (presumably from the Iranian-proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon). “There will be no tranquility and peace anywhere in Israel,” Ben-David said.

This could be the first full-scale war the IAF has fought in nearly 30 years, the report stated.

Pilots had already been told where their families would be moved, away from their bases, for safety, the report said.

Suleiman Warns Against War with Israel if Brotherhood Wins

Egypt's former intelligence chief warns that a Muslim Brotherhood win in the presidential elections will lead to war with Israel.
By Elad Benari

A day after he was barred from the Egyptian presidential race, the country’s former intelligence chief warned Sunday against a win by the extreme Muslim Brotherhood.

Former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who was appointed by ex-President Hosni Mubarak as vice president in the dying days of his administration, was one of ten candidates who were barred from running in the May election on Saturday.

The Presidential Elections Commission (PEC) excluded Suleiman allegedly on the basis of the geographical distribution of the signatures on his candidacy registration, according to the daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.

The regulations call for a candidate's application to include a minimum of 1,000 signatures from 15 separate governorates in order to qualify for the race.

On Sunday, according to a report on IDF Radio, Suleiman expressed his fear that Israel will have to invade the Sinai Peninsula if the Muslim Brotherhood ends up winning the presidential election.

The report cited an interview Suleiman gave to an Egyptian newspaper and in which he said, “I fear that incorrect judgments will push us into confrontations with Israel. The Sinai may become an area from which rockets are fired into Israel and the parties may be drawn into war.”

The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood named Khayrat el-Shater, its chief strategist and financier, as a candidate for president earlier this month, despite earlier pledges to stay out of the race.

The Brotherhood, outlawed during the Mubarak regime, already controls about half of the seats in parliament.

Shater, however, was also disqualified from the race along with Suleiman. Shater, released from prison in March 2011, was disqualified on the basis of a law stating candidates can only run for office six years after being pardoned or freed.

Meanwhile, terrorism is already on the rise in the Sinai Peninsula, as has been the case since Mubarak’s ouster. On Sunday, two Egyptian soldiers were killed and two others were wounded by radical Salafi Islamist terrorists in the region.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu commented earlier this month that the region is rapidly becoming a “rocket launching pad for terrorists,” in addition to having already become a hideout for terror cells. Israel is building a security barrier in an effort to deter attacks.

Suleiman told the Egyptian newspaper he intends to appeal the decision reject his candidacy.

Suleiman was given 48 hours to appeal the decision.