Turkish Students in Washington D.C. to Design "Future's City"

Students of a private school founded by Turkish-
businessmen in the U.S. capital of Washington D.C. have been awarded first place at a competition encouraging youngsters to design the "city of future".

Students of Pinnacle Academy were awarded first place at the "Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area Future City Competition" and they were qualified to represent their region at the "2010 Future City
Competition National Finals" to be held between February 13 and 17.

Seventh grade students Selin Altintas, Nurbanu Simsek, Zehra Yilmaz and Madina Khurishanova were ranked the first at regional level thanks to their project "Yeshilist".

The students, working under the guidance of their teacher Hatice Evci and architect Emre Ozkan, developed an imaginary city that will cover the long-term accommodation needs of people who may lose their houses during a possible earthquake.

Using the Sim City4 Deluxe PC game, students founded a cyber city near Istanbul's Catalca region of Turkey and prepared a digital version as well as a three-dimensional model the city.

In front of a jury comprising of engineers and architects, Pinnacle Academy's team made a written and oral presentation to introduce their dream city.

With their project "Yeshilist", students of the academy will now compete at the national finals to be held at the Congress building in February.

Winners of the national finals will be awarded with a one-week trip to the Space Camp in Alabama, officials said.

Source:turkishweekly.net/

D.C. budget czar fathers child out of wedlock

Apparently, being in charge of the nation’s budget isn’t all work. Proving that even a busy man can find time to play, White House budget director Peter R. Orszag, who recently announced his engagement to an ABC correspondent, has now confessed to fathering what The New York Post termed a “love child” with his former girlfriend, Greek shipping heiress Claire Milonas.

The birth of the child, Tatiana Zoe, on Nov. 17 had gone unreported until the Post ran a story Wednesday accusing Orszag of dumping Milonas in favor of ABC News correspondent Bianna Golodryga. The 31-year-old reporter announced the engagement Dec. 29 on “Good Morning America.”

‘Thrilled and happy’
The Post story prompted Milonas and Orszag to put out a joint statement that suggested there was no bitterness over the end of their relationship.

“We were in a committed relationship until the spring of 2009. In November, Claire gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Although we are no longer together, we are both thrilled she is happy and healthy,” the statement read.

Orszag, at 41 the youngest member of President Barack Obama’s cabinet, is divorced since 2005, with two children from his previous marriage.

“Does this have anything to do with his job? No, I don't think so,” Washington Post columnist Amy Argetsinger told NBC News for a story by Norah O’Donnell. “It makes you wonder how he manages to get everything done, but he clearly is very good at managing his time.”

Orszag is known as a brilliant policy wonk who first worked for President Clinton’s economics team. He got his bachelor’s degree in economics at Princeton before earning his doctorate in economics from the London School of Economics.
As director of the Office of Management and Budget, he is in charge of drafting and selling the president’s budget.

Wonk appeal
In Washington, nerds like Orszag are sexy, Argetsinger told NBC News. “Washington is a city of wonks, and he is a very eligible wonk himself. He has a kind of nerdy, sexy Washington appeal. Rahm Emmanuel said that he made nerdy sexy,” she said.

Even the president has made fun of Orszag’s nerdiness, calling him a “propeller head” and joking about him at the annual White House correspondents’ dinner.

TODAY
Peter Orszag is engaged to be married to ABC financial correspondent Bianna Golodryga.


“ABC is planning a show called ‘Dancing With the Czars.’ TLC has one called ‘Jon & Kate Plus Peter Orszag,’ ” Obama quipped at the event.

Friends of Orszag say he broke up with Milonas eight months ago, before he knew she was pregnant. He met Golodryga in May at the correspondents’ dinner.

The ABC correspondent explained the attraction by saying Orszag is “tall, dark and he could say ‘Golodryga’ and spell it after our first date. That is a winner in my book.”

Source:today.msnbc.msn.com/

Barack Obama vows Guantanamo closure but halts Yemen transfers

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he has suspended transfers of freed Guantanamo Bay inmates to Yemen following the Christmas Day airliner attack, but renewed his vow to close the notorious prison.

The administration is under intense pressure from domestic critics not to send more detainees back to Yemen, because of fears they will slip back into extremism in the Arab nation where Obama says the thwarted bombing was planned.

His decision whipped up further uncertainty over his drive to close the detention center in Cuba. Obama had demanded the closure of the facility within a year of taking office, but the deadline will slip later this month.

"Given the unsettled situation, I've spoken to the attorney general and we've agreed that we will not be transferring additional detainees back to Yemen at this time," Obama said in a televised statement.

But the president sent an immediate message to critics who oppose his decision to close Guantanamo and many people abroad who support it, saying he was determined to follow through on his promise.

"Make no mistake. We will close Guantanamo prison, which has damaged our national security interests and become a tremendous recruiting tool for al-Qaida," Obama said.

"In fact, that was an explicit rationale for the formation of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula," Obama said, naming the Yemen-based group that he has blamed for training and alleged bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

It was not clear how long the suspension of transfers mentioned by Gibbs would last.

But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the decision will increase the number of prisoners from the camp that could be moved to the Thomson Correctional Center in Illinois that has been selected by the administration to hold Guantanamo Bay inmates.

As recently as Sunday, Obama's top anti-terrorism official John Brennan said that the United States would continue to repatriate Guantanamo Bay detainees to Yemen, "at the right time and the right pace and in the right way."

Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader in the Senate, has consistently argued that Obama is wrong to attempt to close Guantanamo Bay, and said the Christmas Day attack exposed contradictions in his decision.

"Given the determined nature of the threat from al-Qaida, it made little sense to transfer detainees from the secure facility at Guantanamo back to Yemen," McConnell said.

"Guantanamo remains the proper place for holding terrorists, especially those who may not be able to be detained as securely in a third country.

"The president should revisit the reasoning behind his decision, made on his first day in office ... particularly now that the administration has recognized that it has no choice but to detain some foreign fighters indefinitely."

Close to half of the 198 detainees left at Guantanamo Bay are from Yemen.

Seven Yemeni detainees have already been sent home by the Obama administration, including six in December. Several others were repatriated during George W. Bush's administration.

A high-level Obama administration task force is working to determine the fate of the remaining prisoners at Guantanamo, including some of the most wanted terror suspects.

Some inmates will face trial before military or civilian courts and others will be detained indefinitely because they are considered too dangerous to release but cannot be tried because evidence against them is scant or tainted.

Three US senators warned last week of a possible security disaster if Washington transferred detainees back to Yemen without guarantees from Sanaa that they will not return to the battlefield.

The senators -- including Republican John McCain, defeated by Obama in the 2008 presidential election -- said Said Ali al-Shihri, whom they described as "AQAP's longstanding deputy," was held in Guantanamo but released in

Source:indiatimes.com/