Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan (IRIN) – Much of Dawood Boy’s village in northern Afghanistan is empty.

More than 1,000 families from Alburz in Balkh Province abandoned it four to six months ago after a drought affecting nearly half the country left 2.8 million people in need of food assistance, according to the World Food Program.

The drought destroyed the crops Boy had planted, killed his livestock which no longer had animal feed, and left his family without seeds for next season.

“We lost everything,” he told IRIN.

Now he, his two wives and 11 children live on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif, some 85 kilometers away, in rented homes without water or electricity.

In this community, families displaced by the drought live four or five to a home, with only a tarpaulin covering the mud floor, and sheets covering the holes meant for windows. Young children walk around barefoot in sub-zero temperatures and do not go to school.

In each family one man tries to find casual work in the city. If he is lucky, he earns 200 Afghanis a day (US$4) with which to feed his entire family. Newly arrived families received tarps and blankets from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), as well as a three-month food ration, but some say they are still very much in need.

Their situation is unlikely to change for the better in the near future. Boy says he and his people are happy to return to Alburz in Chimtal District to cultivate, but do not have seeds to plant. Unless they get their hands on some in the next few weeks, they will lose next year’s harvest too.

“We will remain vulnerable,” Boy said, from inside one of the low-ceiling mud homes in the neighborhood. “It is a cycle we cannot change… We are really confused and don’t know what to do.”

IOM says more than 6,000 families – 42,000 people – have been displaced across Afghanistan due to the 2011 drought. Those who stayed behind are in many cases more vulnerable, because they do not have the means to relocate and pay rent. But the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says it is concerned some displaced farmers could end up in what the deputy head of the Afghanistan office, Joseph Inganji, calls a “vicious circle”.

Given that the planting season is almost over, if they do not receive seeds “right now,” they will have no crops to harvest come summer, leaving them without a livelihood to return home to, and in need of assistance. They could then form part of the increasingly protracted displacements across the country.

There are already more than 450,000 people displaced by conflict in Afghanistan, of whom 289,000 have been displaced for more than one year, according to the UN, putting a stress on government and aid agencies in a country already heavily dependent on international aid.

Seed distributions

The Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other aid agencies have distributed some 1,450 tons of seeds to people affected by the drought in Balkh Province, one of the most affected, according to government and FAO officials. FAO plans to distribute at least another 100 tons as soon as it can assure the quality of the fertilizer.

But none of those distributions have specifically targeted displaced people.

The government distributed improved wheat seeds (which produce higher yields than traditional seeds from the market), as well as rice and wheat with which to make flour, to 15,000 drought-affected farmers still living on their farms, Kateb Shams, head of the provincial agriculture department, told IRIN.

FAO distributed packages of seeds and fertilizer at a subsidized price, reaching 10,000 families, including those displaced people who met the criteria of owning land, according to Ahmad Zia Aria, head of the FAO office in Mazar-i-Sharif, covering the northern region. But even 2,000 Afghanis ($41) may be too much for some of the displaced who can barely afford their rent. FAO plans to reinvest the proceeds of the seeds into drought-affected communities.

Other agencies, like ActionAid, have focused on vulnerable families, including women-headed households in drought-hit areas.

Seeds are available for purchase from private companies, but FAO lacks the budget to buy more seeds and would not be able to procure and distribute them in time, Aria said.

Aid agencies warn that seed distribution at a time of desperation is tricky. To cope with their lack of income and food, farmers may sell their agricultural equipment or eat seeds instead of planting them. Seed distribution should thus be accompanied by food to carry them over until the harvest, and livestock to help rebuild livelihoods, OCHA said, as well as assistance to physically relocate.

ha/eo/cb

– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

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East Haven, CT, United States (AHN) – Four police officers in a southern Connecticut town, including the head of the police union, have pleaded not guilty to allegations they assaulted, unlawfully arrested and violated the civil rights of Hispanics, as well as intimidated other officers who tried to cooperate with a federal probe. The charges follow a U.S. Justice Department report that East Haven police engaged in a practice of discrimination against Latinos.

David Cari, Dennis Spaulding, Sgt. John Miller and Jason Zullo appeared in court late Tuesday after being arrested without incident earlier that day. All except for Zullo were released after posting bonds as high as $300,000.

According to prosecutors, the four officers harassed and conspired to threaten Hispanic residents and Latino-owned businesses in East Haven. They allegedly conducted unreasonable searches and seizures and used unreasonable force on unarmed victims who were either cooperating or not resisting the police.

Some victims were said to have been assaulted while handcuffed. The victims include Hispanics and undocumented aliens who were vulnerable and unlikely to report the civil rights violations.

Federal officials cited a February 2009 incident in which the officers allegedly conducted an unlawful search of a vehicle parked outside a Hispanic-owned grocery store. Under the leadership of Miller, who heads the local police union, Cari and Spaulding allegedly illegally arrested the Rev. James Manship, a vocal supporter of Hispanics and pastor of the St. Rose of Lima Church.

According to the indictment, the officers proceeded to illegally search the store’s backroom to confiscate video recording equipment. They later conspired to cover up the unlawful arrest of Manship, with Cari drafting various versions of an arrest report and Spaulding intimidating other religious leaders and witnesses.

Manship, whose congregation is predominantly Latino, was taking a video of the search in the grocery store when he was arrested. His video as well as security camera footage of the officers searching the grocery store to seize video equipment can both be seen on YouTube.

The federal indictment cites 30 clear acts of civil rights violations by the four officers. These include intimidating other police department employees who they believed were cooperating with the federal probe, which began after Manship’s arrest.

After the U.S. Justice Department launched its investigation, the image of a rat was posted on the bulletin board of the local police union, with the message, “You know what we do with snitches?”

The four officers have all been put on administrative leave with pay. Each is charged with one count of conspiracy against civil rights, which carries as much as 10 years in prison.

Miller, Spaulding and Zullo are also charged with one count of use of unreasonable force, which may result in a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Cari and Spaulding have been each charged with one count and two counts, respectively, of deprivation of rights for making illegal arrests. The two officers also face charges of obstruction of a federal investigation for making false police reports to cover up unlawful arrests.

Spaulding has been described in local reports as the most aggressive of the group.

“The four police officers charged today allegedly formed a cancerous cadre that routinely deprived East Haven residents of their civil rights,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice Fedarcyk said in a statement on Tuesday. “The public should not need protection from those sworn to protect and serve.”

Hispanics account for less than 5 percent of the population in East Haven, according to a government profile on the East Haven website. Residents in the town have been quoted in local reports expressing optimism their rights would finally be protected. But they were also dismayed by comments from East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo.

“Our officers are innocent until proven guilty. We stand behind our officers and the police department,” the mayor told the Hartford Courant.

Asked by WPIX what he planned to do for the Hispanic community that night after the arrests, Maturo said, “I might have tacos when I go home. I’m not quite sure yet.”

The mayor later apologized for his remark, telling the New Haven Register, “I gave a not in-depth answer, and it came off wrong. Sorry I made the comment.”

Early Tuesday, Justice Department officials held a press conference and called the charges against the officers “troubling.” The agency is continuing its investigation of the East Haven police department.

Preliminary findings the FBI released in December include traffic stop statistics with a “disproportionate” amount of Latino drivers targeted, and the use of “non-standard and, in some cases, unacceptable” reasons for stops of Hispanics that were not used on non-Hispanic drivers.

In response to the federal findings, Maturo early this month created a new advisory committee to “serve as the backbone of a network” consisting of businesses, community leaders and government agencies, with the aim of “determin[ing] how we can help our police department address the current areas of concern.”

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Detriot, MI, United States (AHN) – The Hyundai Elantra was named North American Car of the Year Monday by a panel of independent automotive journalists at the Detroit auto show, while the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque was named the North American Truck of the Year.

The Elantra beat the Ford Focus and the Volkswagen Passat to claim the coveted title “car of the year.”

The Evoque beat out the BMW X3 and the Honda CR-V.

The Elantra, designed at Hyundai’s California studio, is a compact vehicle that gets 40 miles per gallon on the highway.

The Evoque was selected for its changes that SUVs and crossovers are going through as auto manufacturers adapt to more stringent fuel economy standards. A luxury SUV, the vehicle gets 28 miles per gallon on the highway.

Before today’s awards were announced, domestic automakers had won 10 North American Car of the Year awards, European automakers had won four and Japanese automakers three. This is Hyundai’s second win.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Even if you prefer Ford, BMW, Mercedes or Volkswagen, if you are an American taxpayer, you are cheering the news.

General Motors, one-third of whose shares are owned by U.S. taxpayers, sold 9,025,942 vehicles in 2011, up 7.6 percent from 2010. The number was good enough to place GM on top as the world’s largest automaker.

GM beat out Volkswagen, which sold just over 8 million cars in 2011. Toyota, which took the top spot from GM in 2009, has yet to report figures, but its production was severely hampered by the tsunami in Japan and the massive floods in Thailand.

Even more impressive, and better, is that General Motors is now making money and showing a profit, unlike in years when GM reigned king of automakers, but was an unprofitable leader.

In the first nine months of 2011, GM earned $8.47 billion, compared to the $6.17 billion earned in the same time period in 2010.

Driving the recovery for GM was its Chevrolet brand, helped by its popular Cruze compact car.

GM received a $50 billion bailout from the U.S. government two years ago. Shares of GM have lagged since its IPO, when shares were priced at $33. They are currently trading 26 percent lower, near $25 per share. Shares of GM would have to reach $53 per share before the U.S. government could sell just to break even.

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Santa Fe, NM, United States (AHN) – New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez plans to push for the approval of a bill denying driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, an effort Democrats will have to oppose quickly during the legislature’s 30-day session.

Giving her state of the state speech before lawmakers on Tuesday, Martinez declared that she would once more seek to repeal a 2003 law that allows license to be issued to undocumented foreign nationals.

“If we’re going to tell New Mexicans we’re serious about securing the border, we must stop giving driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants,” the Republican said as she convened the year’s regular session.

State Rep. Andy Nunez introduced a bill early last year requiring foreign nationals to provide a Social Security number in license applications, making it more difficult to obtain the ID from the Motor Vehicle Division. Under current law, immigrants can substitute their individual taxpayer identification number instead of a Social Security number.

Nunez, a retired educator who left the Democratic party last year to become an independent, plans to introduce the same bill he previously filed by the end of the week. “It’s identical to what I introduced last year,” he told the Alamogordo Daily News.

The state legislature meets for 30 days during even-numbered years. Both the House and the Senate are controlled by Democrats.

The bill Nunez introduced last year failed at the House committee level but was passed by the full chamber, 42-28, after an unusual move to put the measure to a floor vote. In the Senate, the measure passed by a 25-16 vote but with attached amendments removing provisions requiring a Social Security number from foreign applicants.

New Mexico is one of only three states that issue driver’s license to illegal immigrants, the others being Washington and Utah. Martinez, who is in her first term, has said this has threatened security in her state.

“Our state has become a destination spot for people from other states and around the world who wish to receive an official government-issued ID card,” she said last summer.

Following the failure of Nunez’s bill in the legislature, the governor had introduced a program requiring foreign nationals with state driver’s licenses to personally verify their residency in New Mexico. Announcing her program, she called the old law allowing undocumented immigrants to have licenses “irresponsible.”

More than 85,000 foreign nationals without a Social Security number have been issued New Mexico driver’s licenses since the law was passed, according to Martinez. Crime rings have been caught abusing the license application system, including a Chinese organization dismantled in August after obtaining state licenses for 62 illegal immigrants for $1,500 each.

National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest advocacy group for Hispanics, has said restricting illegal immigrants from being issued licenses would result in more unlicensed drivers since undocumented foreign nationals would still have to drive to work despite not having a license.

According to the group, such legislation would also deny licenses to foreign nationals given temporary protected status and other individuals who are authorized to live in the United States but do not have a Social Security number.

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Gaza City, Palestinian Territory Omar Ghraieb / The Media – For years, it was a dusty, often garbage-strewn asphalt ribbon winding along Gaza City’s otherwise beautiful Mediterranean coast. Today, it’s a construction site, with heavy equipment plowing sand into position, digging tunnels and laying pipes.

But if the plans proceed on schedule, Al-Rashid Road, popularly known as the Beach Road, will be transformed into a scenic seaside promenade, or corniche, in the style that has made the meeting between land and sea in places like Beirut, Alexandria and Nice tourist attractions and a gathering place for their residents.

That prospect has brought smiles to everyone from beachgoers to property owners, who are looking forward to seeing the value of their land rise. But not everyone is happy. Many have been displaced by the construction and complain they haven’t been adequately compensated. Archeologists say the building indirectly threatens to destroy Gaza’s irreplaceable heritage.

The fact that the authorities can even contemplate a project like the corniche says a lot about how much Gaza has recovered economically in the past three years. Israeli trade sanctions that remain include construction materials like cement, but thanks to large-scale smuggling through tunnels under the border with Egypt, Gaza’s government can move ahead with concrete-heavy projects like the corniche.

The United Nations estimates that in September alone some 90,000 tons of cement came through the tunnels, nearly 10 times as much as through the Israeli border.

Sami Abu Hamdah, one of the project supervisors, talks enthusiastically about the corniche and its surrounding infrastructure, which will cut a swath of 40 meters (130 feet) over two kilometers (1.2 miles), as well as plans to extend it deeper into the city in the next phase.

The narrow asphalt strip will be widened to a grand boulevard helping to ease the traffic congestion. Sidewalks along both sides of the street will be widened and a seafront promenade 11 meters across will run along the length of the beach. Parking areas are being built for visitors as well as a series of tunnels that will deliver beachgoers to the seashore away from the noise and cars of the street.

Mugani says that negotiations are under way with the electric company to bury the power lines that now obstruct the Mediterranean view. Trees and shrubbery, watered by an automated irrigation system, will take their place. Meanwhile, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) is extending water and sewage pipes in a $20 million project funded by the German Bank of Development.

Once this phase is done, says Mugani, officials have ambitious plans to turn large parts of the city side of Beach Road into parks and gardens that will encourage tourism projects in Gaza.

But widening the road and adding new attractions has to come at a cost, and Abu Mahmoud Al-Ara’ir is one of the people paying it.

More than a decade ago he squatted on a piece of shorefront property, building a small house out of simple materials and fencing off the area around it with pieces of plastic and wood. The fence has come down as Abu Mahmoud is undertaking a strategic retreat in the face of warnings from the city to surrender all his property.

“After all, I don’t own this land and the municipality isn’t even obliged to compensate me according to the law,” he told The Media Line. “But the fact that I have been living here for the past 11 years makes me the owner, I think, even if I don’t have ownership papers or actually paid for it.”

Not all of the area’s residents are taking their loss with such equanimity. While the beachfront would normally be desirable real estate, many of those living in the area are poor.

Interviewed by The Media Line, many expressed the view that they should be entitled to squatters’ rights and that even if the authorities compensate them with other land, they don’t have the money to build themselves new homes on it. “Don’t we have the right to accept or refuse or even choose the location or compensation? Why can’t they just leave us alone and do this project somewhere else?” asks one.

Gaza’s municipal government is not sympathetic. In a statement issued in response to the complaints of angry beachfront residents, it said: “Ninety percent of these ‘owners’ don’t actually own their land. They took it and built simple houses on it over the last 10 years. The governments left them there because they had no place to live and the lands weren’t needed. So we aren’t obliged to offer compensation.”

The authorities said that any compensation, either cash or land in the Beach refugee camp, is entirely voluntary on their part. Pal-Tel Development, which won the $3.5 million contract to build the corniche, says it is the city’s responsibility to deal with residents.

As if these feuds aren’t enough, the Tourism and Antiques Ministry in Gaza has come out against the plan to give displaced residents land in the Beach Camp, saying they have archeological remains of an ancient port from the Roman era.

“These lands are the location of very important archeological sites. Excavations were conducted on this site from 1995 till 2005 by the French School of Antiques and Excavation,” says Hayam Al-Bittar, the head of the ministry’s museums department. “We should be doing our best to protect this site, not to offer it as compensation for people to build on it who don’t appreciate their heritage and history.”

She has vowed to file a complaint to the cabinet and, if all else fails, will resign from her position. “Not on my watch,” Hayam warns. “We will not rest until we ensure the safety of this location.”

The United Nations Education and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) and the French School of Antiques and Excavation are backing her, but an informal survey of Gazans about the corniche and its impact finds little concern about the damage to the archeological remains. Some express the view that the money being invested on the promenade could be better spent.

But just as many say the corniche is a good investment in the image of Gaza, which has suffered at the hands of Israel’s economic blockade, periodic fighting and what many say is misrule by the Islamic movement Hamas since it seized control almost five years ago. But for property owners who get to stay, the corniche is an unmitigated blessing.

“I’ve heard some people aren’t content and I’m sorry for them,” Hisham Skeik, owner of a piece of a nearby property, told The Media Line. “As for me, the price of my land will double because of the Gaza corniche. I couldn’t be happier.”

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Gaza City, Palestinian Territory Omar Ghraieb / The Media – For years, it was a dusty, often garbage-strewn asphalt ribbon winding along Gaza City’s otherwise beautiful Mediterranean coast. Today, it’s a construction site, with heavy equipment plowing sand into position, digging tunnels and laying pipes.

But if the plans proceed on schedule, Al-Rashid Road, popularly known as the Beach Road, will be transformed into a scenic seaside promenade, or corniche, in the style that has made the meeting between land and sea in places like Beirut, Alexandria and Nice tourist attractions and a gathering place for their residents.

That prospect has brought smiles to everyone from beachgoers to property owners, who are looking forward to seeing the value of their land rise. But not everyone is happy. Many have been displaced by the construction and complain they haven’t been adequately compensated. Archeologists say the building indirectly threatens to destroy Gaza’s irreplaceable heritage.

The fact that the authorities can even contemplate a project like the corniche says a lot about how much Gaza has recovered economically in the past three years. Israeli trade sanctions that remain include construction materials like cement, but thanks to large-scale smuggling through tunnels under the border with Egypt, Gaza’s government can move ahead with concrete-heavy projects like the corniche.

The United Nations estimates that in September alone some 90,000 tons of cement came through the tunnels, nearly 10 times as much as through the Israeli border.

Sami Abu Hamdah, one of the project supervisors, talks enthusiastically about the corniche and its surrounding infrastructure, which will cut a swath of 40 meters (130 feet) over two kilometers (1.2 miles), as well as plans to extend it deeper into the city in the next phase.

The narrow asphalt strip will be widened to a grand boulevard helping to ease the traffic congestion. Sidewalks along both sides of the street will be widened and a seafront promenade 11 meters across will run along the length of the beach. Parking areas are being built for visitors as well as a series of tunnels that will deliver beachgoers to the seashore away from the noise and cars of the street.

Mugani says that negotiations are under way with the electric company to bury the power lines that now obstruct the Mediterranean view. Trees and shrubbery, watered by an automated irrigation system, will take their place. Meanwhile, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) is extending water and sewage pipes in a $20 million project funded by the German Bank of Development.

Once this phase is done, says Mugani, officials have ambitious plans to turn large parts of the city side of Beach Road into parks and gardens that will encourage tourism projects in Gaza.

But widening the road and adding new attractions has to come at a cost, and Abu Mahmoud Al-Ara’ir is one of the people paying it.

More than a decade ago he squatted on a piece of shorefront property, building a small house out of simple materials and fencing off the area around it with pieces of plastic and wood. The fence has come down as Abu Mahmoud is undertaking a strategic retreat in the face of warnings from the city to surrender all his property.

“After all, I don’t own this land and the municipality isn’t even obliged to compensate me according to the law,” he told The Media Line. “But the fact that I have been living here for the past 11 years makes me the owner, I think, even if I don’t have ownership papers or actually paid for it.”

Not all of the area’s residents are taking their loss with such equanimity. While the beachfront would normally be desirable real estate, many of those living in the area are poor.

Interviewed by The Media Line, many expressed the view that they should be entitled to squatters’ rights and that even if the authorities compensate them with other land, they don’t have the money to build themselves new homes on it. “Don’t we have the right to accept or refuse or even choose the location or compensation? Why can’t they just leave us alone and do this project somewhere else?” asks one.

Gaza’s municipal government is not sympathetic. In a statement issued in response to the complaints of angry beachfront residents, it said: “Ninety percent of these ‘owners’ don’t actually own their land. They took it and built simple houses on it over the last 10 years. The governments left them there because they had no place to live and the lands weren’t needed. So we aren’t obliged to offer compensation.”

The authorities said that any compensation, either cash or land in the Beach refugee camp, is entirely voluntary on their part. Pal-Tel Development, which won the $3.5 million contract to build the corniche, says it is the city’s responsibility to deal with residents.

As if these feuds aren’t enough, the Tourism and Antiques Ministry in Gaza has come out against the plan to give displaced residents land in the Beach Camp, saying they have archeological remains of an ancient port from the Roman era.

“These lands are the location of very important archeological sites. Excavations were conducted on this site from 1995 till 2005 by the French School of Antiques and Excavation,” says Hayam Al-Bittar, the head of the ministry’s museums department. “We should be doing our best to protect this site, not to offer it as compensation for people to build on it who don’t appreciate their heritage and history.”

She has vowed to file a complaint to the cabinet and, if all else fails, will resign from her position. “Not on my watch,” Hayam warns. “We will not rest until we ensure the safety of this location.”

The United Nations Education and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) and the French School of Antiques and Excavation are backing her, but an informal survey of Gazans about the corniche and its impact finds little concern about the damage to the archeological remains. Some express the view that the money being invested on the promenade could be better spent.

But just as many say the corniche is a good investment in the image of Gaza, which has suffered at the hands of Israel’s economic blockade, periodic fighting and what many say is misrule by the Islamic movement Hamas since it seized control almost five years ago. But for property owners who get to stay, the corniche is an unmitigated blessing.

“I’ve heard some people aren’t content and I’m sorry for them,” Hisham Skeik, owner of a piece of a nearby property, told The Media Line. “As for me, the price of my land will double because of the Gaza corniche. I couldn’t be happier.”

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Manama, Bahrain Arieh O’Sullivan (The Med – In a move aimed at appeasing critics calling for a boycott of Bahrain’s Formula 1 Grand Prix, organizers of the race circuit have announced they are reinstating employees who had been dismissed for supporting the anti-government protests.

Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al-Khalifa, chief executive of the Bahrain International Circuit, said they were giving the fired workers their jobs back as part of “national reconciliation” efforts.

Management of the race circuit has already been in touch with the fired staff and a press statement said they hoped to see them returning “as soon as possible.” The statement did not specify how many employees had been dismissed or reinstated.

“The Bahrain International Circuit, and in particular the Formula 1 Grand Prix, is of huge significance to our country, acting as a strong unifier, given the support it receives from all sections of Bahrain society,” Al-Khalifa said in a statement to The Media Line. “I now look forward to working with all BIC colleagues to ensure that we continue to provide world class track events, which every citizen of Bahrain can be proud to support.”

The statement came days after The Media Line reported calls of pressure by rights activists in Bahrain to boycott the high-profile Formula 1 race in protest over the continued deterioration of human rights in the Gulf kingdom.

Bahrain had been dropped from the 2011 calendar following protests from Formula 1 teams and drivers in response to widespread civil unrest last February and March. But by September Bahrain was able to win back a spot on this year’s racing schedule, a boost for the country’s key tourism industry and a vote of confidence in the government. The Formula 1 Grand Prix is slated to take place on April 22.

“That will be disappointing to all those people who were killed and injured in the uprising that was calling for democracy and human rights that is why I urge all the teams, the drivers, the mechanics, those people who are working close with Formula One to boycott it,” Nabeel Rajab, president for Bahrain Center for Human Rights, told The Media Line.

Rajab said many Bahrainis working for Formula 1 in the past had been detained and tortured and he hoped their international colleagues would show solidarity with them by refusing to come to Bahrain.

“This is the wrong message to send to my government. My government committed a lot of crimes against humanity. And coming to Bahrain at this point of time when you have hundreds of political prisoners, you have people whose have been tortured and whose houses have been raided and mosques have been demolished and at the same you have Formula 1 coming to Bahrain, that is the wrong message, a negative message. Bahraini people will be upset by it. And I hope those teams will boycott it,” Rajab said.

Reached by The Media Line, a spokesman for the Bahrain International Circuit, which hosts the high-profile race, countered that the race was an important contributor of the country’s economy.

“The Bahrain Grand Prix forms a fundamental part of the local economy. It is supported by an overwhelming majority of people from all sections of society in Bahrain and represents a symbol of national unity,” the spokesman told The Media Line. “We will now work tirelessly to ensure that the race is a great success.”

He acknowledged that an independent report commissioned by the King of Bahrain that uncovered human rights violations and made recommendations to correct them was a “milestone” for the kingdom.

Bahrain reportedly paid around $39.2 million in hosting fees for last year’s scrapped three-day race. Bahrain International Circuit said that the last time the race was held, in 2010, it had generated more than $295 million and created over 400 jobs. It was also one of the most popular auto races on the F1 calendar, drawing over 100,000 spectators and recording the second highest worldwide television audience of all races for that year.

No comment was immediately available from Formula 1. But in November, Bernie Ecclestone, Formula One’s chief executive officer, told British media that the race would take place as scheduled unless “something terrible happens to stop us.”

When the premier Formula 1 race was first hosted by Bahrain in 2004, it put the Middle East firmly on the map of auto racing. Often regarded as the world’s most widely followed motor sport, more than half a billion people tuned into Formula 1 races last year.

Bahrain has been the only Gulf country to be swept up in the Arab Spring turmoil. It is a tiny, oil-poor country, but is of key concern to its neighbors and to the U.S., which bases the Navy’s Fifth Fleet there. It is located in the waters between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Its mixed population of Sunnis and Shiites makes it a flashpoint in the sectarian cold war between the two Muslim sects.

Thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets in February and March last year demanding curbs on the power of the ruling Al-Khalifa family and an end to perceived discrimination. King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa imposed martial law and brought Saudi and the United Arab Emirates forces into the country to crack down on demonstrators.

But the severity of the crackdown – which left about 60 dead and led to the arrest of some 1,400 people, many of them still in prison – has left many Bahrainis feeling alienated and disillusioned. Small-scale clashes between police and mostly Shiite demonstrators have persisted on an almost daily basis.

King Hamad has recently agreed to implement some gestures of political reform following an independent commission that found police used excessive force against anti-government protesters.

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Los Angeles, CA, United States (AHN) – Hollywood is known for its plastic, such as the kind found in credit cards, implants and reconstructive surgery.

But the Kardashian gals are set to take La-La land plastic to a new level. Sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloe are set to be immortalized as friends of the acclaimed doll, Barbie, according to a report in US Weekly.

The limited edition dolls would reflect the girl’s measurements and are expected to be outfitted in Kardashian designed ensembles.

Kim has already taken the friendship with the world’s most recognizable doll seriously, and tweeted over the holidays, “Merry Christmas Barbs! I’m sure we’ll be seeing lots of each other. Shopping soon.”

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Toledo, Ohio, United States (AHN Sports) – The ARCA Racing Series finalized its six open testing periods over nine days Thursday and the test includes a stop at Mobile International Speedway in Alabama.

The drivers and teams of ARCA will test at Mobile on Jan. 13 as the series prepares for ARCA’s first race at the venue on March 10.

ARCA will then head to Daytona International Speedway for the season opener before returning to Mobile in the series’ 60th Anniversary Season.

Talladega Superspeedway, which will host its 50th ARCA race this season, will have a pair of testing days on April 17-18 in preparation for the May 4 ARCA event there.

ARCA will head to Michigan International Speedway on May 22 to prepare for a June 15 race and three days later the teams will visit Chicagoland Speedway on June 18 for a test. ARCA will race at Chicagoland on Saturday, July 21.

Kansas Speedway will host ARCA’s season finale and teams will test there on Oct. 2. The race will be on Oct. 19.

Daytona International Speedway will host an open test for the 2013 season Dec. 14-16.

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