Mali Tuaregs seize two Islamist leaders fleeing French strikes

KIDAL, Mali (Reuters) - Tuareg rebels in northern Mali said on Monday they had captured two senior Islamist insurgents fleeing French air strikes toward the Algerian border, and France pressed ahead with its bombing campaign against al Qaeda's Saharan desert camps.

Pro-autonomy Tuareg MNLA rebels said they had seized Mohamed Moussa Ag Mohamed, an Islamist leader who imposed harsh sharia law in the desert town of Timbuktu, and Oumeini Ould Baba Akhmed, believed to be responsible for the kidnapping of a French hostage by the al Qaeda splinter group MUJWA.

"We chased an Islamist convoy close to the frontier and arrested the two men the day before yesterday," Ibrahim Ag Assaleh, spokesman for the MNLA, told Reuters from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. "They have been questioned and sent to Kidal."

France has deployed 3,500 ground troops, and warplanes and armored vehicles in its three-week-old Operation Serval (Wildcat) in Mali which has broken the Islamists' 10-month grip on northern towns, where they imposed sharia law.

Paris and its international partners want to prevent the Islamists from using Mali's vast desert north as a base to launch attacks on neighboring African countries and the West.

The MNLA, which seized control of northern Mali last year only to be pushed aside by better-armed Islamist groups, regained control of its northern stronghold of Kidal last week when Islamist fighters fled French airstrikes into the nearby desert and rugged Adrar des Ifoghas mountains.

The Tuareg group says it is willing to help the French-led mission by hunting down Islamists. It has offered to hold peace talks with the government in a bid to heal wounds between Mali's restive Saharan north and the black African-dominated south.

"Until there is a peace deal, we cannot hold national elections," Ag Assaleh said, referring to interim Malian President Dioncounda Traore's plan to hold polls on July 31.

Many in the southern capital Bamako - including army leaders who blame the MNLA for executing some of their troops at the Saharan town of Aguelhoc last year - strongly reject any talks.

French special forces took the airport in Kidal on Tuesday, reaching the most northern city previously held by the Islamist alliance. Though the MNLA says it controls Kidal, a Reuters reporter in the town saw a contingent of Chadian troops - part of a U.N.-backed African mission being deployed to help retake northern Mali - backing up French special forces there.

TARGETING REBEL BASES, DEPOTS

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said warplanes were continuing bombing raids on Islamists in Mali's far north to destroy their supply lines and flush them out of remote areas.

"The objective is to destroy their support bases, their depots because they have taken refuge in the north and north-east of the country and can only stay there in the long-term if they have the means to sustain themselves," Fabius said.

"The army is working to stop that," he told French radio.

Jets attacked rebel camps on Sunday targeting logistics bases and training camps used by the al Qaeda-linked rebels near Tessalit, close to the Algerian border.

French President Francois Hollande made a one-day trip to Mali on Saturday, promising to keep troops in the country until the job of restoring government control in the Sahel state was finished. He was welcomed as a savior by cheering Malians.

The rebels' retreat to hideouts in the remote Adrar des Ifoghas mountains - where Paris believes they are holding seven French hostages - heralds a potentially more complicated new phase of France's intervention in its former colony.

"We are still in the same war, but we're entering a new battle," said Vincent Desportes, a French former general and now associate professor at Science-Po university in Paris.

"We will look to gradually wear out and destroy the terrorists that are sheltering in the Ifoghas. It's now a war of intelligence (services), strikes and probably action by special forces in the background."

Hollande said on Saturday that Paris would withdraw its troops from Mali once the landlocked West African nation had restored sovereignty over its territory and a U.N.-backed African military force could take over from the French soldiers.

Drawn mostly from Mali's West African neighbours, this force is expected to number more than 8,000. But its deployment has been badly hampered by shortages of kit and airlift capacity and questions about who will fund the estimated $1 billion cost.

Fabius said French soldiers may soon pull back from Timbuktu. Its residents had celebrated their liberation from the Islamists, who had handed down punishments including whipping and amputation for breaking sharia law.

The rebels also smashed sacred Sufi mausoleums and destroyed or stole some 2,000 ancient manuscripts at the South African-sponsored Baba Ahmed Institute, causing international outcry.

"A withdrawal could happen very quickly," Fabius said. "We're working towards it because we have no desire to stay there for the long-term.

(Additional reporting by John Irish in Paris, Daniel Flynn in Dakar and David Lewis in Timbuktu; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Jon Boyle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mali-tuaregs-seize-two-islamist-leaders-fleeing-french-113645468.html

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King's skull found under parking lot in England

Scientists today revealed that a skeleton discovered under a car park in Leicester is that of King Richard III.

Researchers sensationally discovered a skull under the social services car park in September while hunting for the former king's final resting place.

They had previously said there was 'strong circumstantial evidence' to suggest the bones are those of the 15th-century monarch, but experts were finally able to disclose the results of much-anticipated tests on the remains today.

The skeleton had a metal arrowhead lodged in its spine, along with other injuries matching those which Richard III sustained when he was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.

The remains also had signs of 'battle trauma' and scoliosis - the spinal condition which gave the medieval monarch his infamous hunched back.

Richard III was the last English monarch to die in battle, after being defeated by an army led by Henry Tudor.

Historical records state that his body was taken 15 miles to Leicester, where it was displayed as proof of his death before then being buried in the Franciscan friary.

Experts today said that in making the 'momentous' find, they had 'unlocked a 500-year-old mystery'.

They revealed their findings this morning in front of almost 150 journalists from around the world.

Initial examinations showed the bones to be those of an adult male and the remains were said to be in a good condition.

A team led by bioarchaeology lecturer Dr Jo Appleby carried out months of skeletal analysis on the bones - including CT scans.

There were cheers from media who had gathered from around the world as the announcement was made at the University of Leicester this morning.

Dr Jo Appleby said the skeleton was found in good condition with its feet missing in a grave.

Its hand were crossed over the front of the pelvis and there was no evidence of a coffin or shroud found with the skeleton.

Dr Appleby said: "The skull was in good condition, although fragile, and was able to give us detailed information about this individual.

"It has been CT scanned at high resolution in order to allow us to investigate interesting features in as much detail as possible.

"In order to determine whether this individual is Richard III we have built up a biological profile of its characteristics.

"We have also carefully examined the skeleton for traces of a violent death."

DNA taken from the skeleton has been analysed and compared with that of Michael Ibsen, a descendant of Richard III's family.

Radiocarbon tests and genealogical studies have also taken place.


Richard III's demise was dramatised by Shakespeare, who had the king calling out "a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse" before he was killed on the battlefield.

The remains were also subjected to DNA tests and compared against the genetic profile of one of Richard III's living relatives.

Furniture maker Michael Ibsen, from London, is a direct descendent of the king's sister, Anne of York and provided a sample to be used in testing.

The dig which unearthed the remains centred around a car park in Leicester City Centre which was used by social workers.

Historical documents said that it was the site of the Grey Friars church, and that Richard's body was taken there following his death.

Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/richard-iii--leicester-car-park-skull-is-that-of-medieval-monarch-100132929.html

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French army launches more strikes in northern Mali

A Malian soldier walks in the street after arriving in a convoy at the military base in Timbuktu, Mali, Saturday Feb. 2, 2013. French President Francois Hollande visited the fabled city for two hours, twenty days after the start of operation Serval. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

A Malian soldier walks in the street after arriving in a convoy at the military base in Timbuktu, Mali, Saturday Feb. 2, 2013. French President Francois Hollande visited the fabled city for two hours, twenty days after the start of operation Serval. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

French President Francois Hollande speaks at Independence Place in central Bamako, Mali Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. The French president was greeted by thousands of cheering supporters as he visited the embattled city of Timbuktu earlier Saturday, making a triumphant stop six days after French forces parachuted in to liberate the fabled city from the radical Islamists occupying it.(AP Photo/Thomas Martinez)

French President Francois Hollande, center left, joins hands with his Malian counterpart Dioncounda Traore, at Independence Place in central Bamako, Mali Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. The French president was greeted by thousands of cheering supporters as he visited the embattled city of Timbuktu earlier Saturday, making a triumphant stop six days after French forces parachuted in to liberate the fabled city from the radical Islamists occupying it. (AP Photo/Thomas Martinez)

French President Francois Hollande, with Mali's President Dioncounda Traore, second from left, at his side, gives an address at Independence Place in central Bamako, Mali Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013. The French president was greeted by thousands of cheering supporters as he visited the embattled city of Timbuktu earlier Saturday, making a triumphant stop six days after French forces parachuted in to liberate the fabled city from the radical Islamists occupying it.(AP Photo/Thomas Martinez)

PARIS (AP) ? French troops launched airstrikes on Islamic militant sites around Kidal and Tessalit in Mali's far north, just a few hours after a triumphant visit by France's president, defense officials said Sunday.

French planes pounded extremist training camps as well as arms and fuel depots from Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday, according to French army Col. Thierry Burkhard.

"It was an important aerial operation to the north of the town Kidal and in the Tessalit region where we targeted logistical depots and Islamist training camps ... some 20 sites," said Burkhard.

"Here, there's still various Islamist groups like the MUJAO, and Ansar Dine," he said. The Islamic extremist group the Movement for Unity and Oneness of the Jihad, is known as MUJAO.

The aerial assaults come three weeks after France unilaterally launched a military intervention to stem the advance of the al-Qaida-linked fighters in Mali. Since then French troops have succeeded in ousting the rebels from the three main northern cities they occupied, including the fabled city of Timbuktu.

The continued attacks also came hours after French President Francois Hollande left Mali. On Saturday, he visited Timbuktu to a liberator's welcome. Thousands of people stood elbow-to-elbow behind a perimeter line in downtown Timbuktu, hoisting the homemade French flags they had prepared for Hollande's arrival to the northern desert city that French troops liberated last week after 10 months of control by al-Qaida-linked groups.

He then flew to Bamako, the capital, where he spoke before boarding a plane back to Paris. He stressed the successes of the French intervention, but warned that threats of extremism will continue.

"Terrorism has been rejected. It has been chased, but not yet beaten," Hollande said.

France has said that it eventually wants to hand over responsibility for the mission to the Malian army and other African counterparts.

In an interview with the Sunday's French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hubert Tieman Coulibaly, expressed the government's hope that the French military operation carry on until the Islamists have no more weapons left.

"Faced with seasoned fighters whose arsenal must be destroyed, we wish the mission to continue," Coulibaly said. "Especially given how important the aerial dimension is."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-02-03-AF-Mali-Fighting/id-e7edac87bf5d4b96a872720e8dba2d28

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APNewsBreak: Feds: Warming imperils wolverines

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) ? The tenacious wolverine, a snow-loving carnivore sometimes called the "mountain devil," could soon join the list of species threatened by climate change ? a dubious distinction putting it in the ranks of the polar bear and several other animals the government says will lose crucial habitat as temperatures rise.

Federal wildlife officials Friday proposed Endangered Species Act protections for the wolverine in the Lower 48 states. That's a step twice denied under the Bush administration, then delayed in 2010 when the Obama administration said other imperiled species had priority.

It likely means an end to trapping the animals for their fur outside Alaska.

But federal officials said they won't use the animal's status as a means to regulate greenhouse gases blamed in climate change. And other human activities ? from snowmobiling and ski resorts to timber harvest and ? would not be curtailed because they do not appear to be significant threats to wolverines, officials said.

There are an estimated 250 to 300 wolverines in the contiguous U.S., clustered in small, isolated groups primarily in the Northern Rockies of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Washington. Larger populations persist in Alaska and Canada.

Maxing out at 40 pounds and tough enough to stand up to grizzly bears, the animals will be no match for anticipated declines in deep mountain snows female wolverines need to establish dens and raise their young, scientists said.

In some areas, such as central Idaho, suitable habitat could disappear entirely, officials said.

Yet because those losses could take decades to unfold, federal wildlife officials said there's still time to bolster the population, including by reintroducing them to the high mountains of Colorado.

"This is a species there is still time to do something about," said Mike Thabault, ecological services director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's mountain-prairie region.

Wildlife advocates, who sued to force the government to act on the issue, said the animal's plight should be used by the Obama administration to leverage tighter restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions.

As with the polar bear, the government is sidestepping that thorny proposition with the wolverine, and said in Friday's proposal that listing the animal as threatened "will not regulate greenhouse gas emissions."

Thabault said the agency would be on tenuous scientific grounds if it tried to draw a link between specific emission sources and impacts on wolverines.

Advocates expressed disappointment, with Noah Greenwald from the Center for Biological Diversity saying the administration "should not be exempting greenhouse gas emissions from the Endangered Species Act."

A Washington, D.C., attorney, John Martin, who represented the energy industry during litigation over polar bears, said he expects no change in the administration's policy against using endangered wildlife to regulate emissions.

Friday's proposal also allows Colorado's wildlife agency to reintroduce an experimental population of wolverines that eventually could spill into neighboring portions of New Mexico and Wyoming.

It would shut down wolverine trapping in Montana, the only one of the Lower 48 states where the practice is still allowed an annual quota of five animals.

This year's trapping season was blocked by a state court order, but Montana officials hoped to restore trapping next year.

Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks spokesman Ron Aasheim said the state will review the federal proposal and had not settled on a response.

Once found throughout the Rocky Mountains and in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range, wolverines were wiped out across most of the U.S. by the 1930s due to unregulated trapping and poisoning campaigns, said Bob Inman, a wolverine researcher with the Wildlife Conservation Society.

In the decades since, they have largely recovered in the Northern Rockies but not in other parts of their historical range.

While reintroducing the animals further south might seem counterintuitive, Inman said Colorado's abundance of 14,000-foot mountains would make it well suited as a refuge for the animals as warmer temperatures set in at lower elevations.

Only one wolverine currently inhabits the state, a male that wandered down several years ago from northern Wyoming's Teton Range, about 500 miles away. Inman said Colorado has enough high-mountain territory to support up to 100 more of the animals.

"That's like a 30 percent increase in their population size," he said.

Any reintroduction into Colorado would require approval from state wildlife commissioners and the Legislature, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton said.

Representatives of the state's ski and agriculture industries in the past have raised concerns that bringing wolverines back could hurt their industries. Hampton said no decision has been made and it could take years to work out all the details.

Other areas where wolverines once roamed also could serve as future refuges.

Those include portions of Utah, Oregon's Cascade Range, Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, said Shawn Sartorius, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service based in Montana.

___

Online:

http://1.usa.gov/UJUwb0

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-feds-warming-imperils-wolverines-134916931.html

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'He gave us our morale, our pride'

Ed Koch campaigning for mayor on the subway in September 1980 with Bess Myerson, who was running for U.S. Senate??

NEW YORK?Greenwich Village, with its historic brownstones and close proximity to Washington Square Park?one of the city?s most famous public spaces?has long been considered one of Manhattan?s most sought-after addresses.

But 35 years ago, the area, despite also housing New York University, wasn?t so nice. The park was the epicenter of New York?s growing drug trade?with dealers and their customers conducting illicit transactions from morning until night. The park?s famous arch?modeled after Paris? Arc de Triomphe and a future backdrop to films including ?When Harry Met Sally??was covered in racist graffiti. And the ground was so littered with broken shards of glass that people in the neighborhood joked it was like living near an old bottling company.

?It was a disaster,? Joan, a 65-year-old Manhattan resident who declined to give her last name, recalled as she strolled through the now-pristine park Friday morning with her Labrador retriever, Charlie. ?People avoided this place. You couldn?t walk through here without being scared, even during the day.?

It was a sentiment that defined New York at the time, as the city sat on the brink of bankruptcy and faced down a crime epidemic unlike any in its history. The summer of 1977 might have been the era's low point: Residents were on edge over a series of murders committed by a serial killer known as the Son of Sam, and New York was plunged further into chaos after a citywide power blackout prompted massive looting and riots throughout Brooklyn and the Bronx.

But that fall, Ed Koch, a wisecracking congressman and Greenwich Village resident known for his unbridled candor, won the city?s mayoral election?in part by promising he would bring New York back from the brink. That New Yorkers now live in one of the safest and most successful cities in in the world is in large part due to Koch having been one of the city?s greatest champions.

?He gave us back our morale, our pride,? Jack Lebewohl, whose family runs the 2nd Avenue Deli, one of the city?s oldest dining establishments, told Yahoo News.

The former mayor?who served three terms from 1978 to 1989, and who died Friday at age 88 of congestive heart failure?came to power in an era few would consider a golden age for New York.

Not only was the city in dire financial straits, but a bailout request from the federal government had been denied by President Gerald Ford and members of Congress. That prompted the New York Daily News to run one of its most famous headlines ever: ?Ford to the City: Drop Dead.?

The rampant crime and the turbulent feel of the city was captured in films like Martin Scorcese?s ?Taxi Driver,? in which production was repeatedly interrupted by the sirens of police cars responding to crime reports around Times Square and Hell?s Kitchen, where the movie was largely filmed.

In kicking off his bid for mayor, Koch spoke not just of restoring the city?s financial standing but of trying to change the city?s scary image. And he took that message to average people. He spent hours riding the subway throughout the five boroughs asking for votes?shaking hands in subway cars often covered from floor to ceiling in graffiti.

?How?m I doing?? Koch would ask, again and again, soliciting advice from people.

After winning the election, Koch immediately moved to hold municipal spending down and worked to restore the city?s credit. Using the funds he did have, Koch poured money into capital projects, like refurbishing city streets and other infrastructure such as subways and bridges. He also backed efforts to restore the city?s park system, visiting public spaces like Washington Square Park and Central Park, vowing to rid them of crime and restore them to their original grandeur.

Koch also focused on up-and-coming neighborhoods like the Lower East Side, where he put more police officers on the ground to push back on prostitution and drug dealing that had come to rule the streets, and pushed for more economic development.

?When he was inaugurated in '78, it was a welcome change,? said Robert Albinder, a general manager at Katz?s Delicatessen, who has worked at the Lower East Side deli for more than 30 years. ?He was somebody who was looking to deal with the crises that we were having, but he also just gave you a better mood. He rejuvenated the city. You started seeing a lot of improvement in people?s attitudes and businesses coming back.?

He added, "Of course, it took a long time. It wasn?t something that happened overnight. But from his term on, the city changed for the better.?

Koch did not have a perfect tenure at City Hall. While his first and second term was helped by the city?s economic turnaround under his watch, Koch?s third term in office was dominated by scandal. Many of his top aides were caught up in corruption scandals?though Koch himself was never implicated in wrongdoing.

Koch also publicly feuded with critics who trashed the mayor's slow response to the AIDS crisis in New York. (Associates later said he was wary of being too vocal about AIDS amid public whispers about his sexuality.) The mayor also had a poor relationship with African American leaders in the city. He lost his bid for re-election in 1989 after a year of racial tensions in the city, including over the case of five black teenagers accused of raping a woman jogging in Central Park.

But even those who disagreed with some of Koch's moves in the mayoral office have praised him as being an unabashed champion of New York City. In a statement Friday, activist Jesse Jackson, who publicly feuded with Koch, praised him as someone who had "helped a lot of people."

?Not everyone will agree with me, but he was a unifier," said the 2nd Avenue Deli's Lebewohl. "He worked to bring the city together and get it moving again. He left the city better than he had found it. New York wouldn't be what it is without him."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/ed-koch-legacy-safer-cleaner-york-214858122--politics.html

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Ex-adviser to Mass. gov is new US senator

BOSTON (AP) ? As Massachusetts' newest U.S. senator settles into his temporary job in the post previously held by Democrat John Kerry, attention is turning to a special election this summer when voters will pick Kerry's successor.

Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick appointed William "Mo" Cowan, his former chief of staff, on Wednesday to serve until June in the post left vacant by Kerry's confirmation as the nation's next secretary of state.

Given Congress' "fiscal cliff" agreement Jan. 1 and automatic spending cuts expected in March, Cowan said he backed a balanced approach to the nation's money problems that include some cuts and new revenues.

"I don't think anyone believes it's in the best interests to do straight across-the-board cuts," Cowan said, adding that such cuts would have "significant impact" on Massachusetts.

Some of the cuts could target grants to the state's highly regarded universities and research facilities.

Cowan will hold the office until voters decide June 25 on Kerry's successor. Already the race to fill Kerry's seat is shaping up.

Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who lost his Republican re-election bid to Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren in November, is "leaning strongly" toward running in the special election, according to Republican officials. They spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share internal discussions.

Democratic Congressman Edward Markey of Malden has announced he's running for the seat, and U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch of Boston, also a Democrat, is expected to announce his candidacy during a tour Thursday of the state. Kerry is among several leading Democrats who are backing Markey.

Cowan, 43, stepped down last month as chief of staff, a post he assumed in 2010 after previously serving as Patrick's chief legal counsel.

Patrick lauded Cowan for helping manage the state through the recession, and said Cowan had earned the respect of people throughout government.

"In every step, he has brought preparation, perspective, wisdom, sound judgment and clarity of purpose," Patrick said in announcing Cowan's appointment at a Statehouse news conference.

Patrick and Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray said the affable Cowan ? who eschewed his trademark bowtie for the announcement in favor of a traditional suit and necktie ? also brings a certain amount of "cool" to the job.

Cowan will be Massachusetts' second African-American senator. Edward Brooke, a Republican, served two terms from 1967 to 1979.

Cowan grew up in North Carolina and graduated from Duke University and from Northeastern University's law school. He was a partner in the prominent Boston law firm of Mintz Levin before going to work for Patrick, the state's first black governor.

Cowan noted Wednesday that his mother, who is recuperating in North Carolina after knee-replacement surgery, was a child of the segregated South who raised him and his sisters alone after his father died when Cowan was a teen.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said he believes President Barack Obama will be encouraged by Cowan's appointment, which coincides with a record number of female senators this year, "because he believes that diversity adds to the quality of debate."

In the days leading up to the selection, Patrick said he would consider diversity in his choice of interim senator. He also insisted the interim appointment be someone with no interest in holding the job permanently. And Cowan said Wednesday he had no intention of running for any elected office in the future.

"This is going to be a very short political career," he joked.

Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, who recently retired after more than three decades in the House, had been the only person to publicly express interest in the interim post and Patrick had acknowledged that Frank was among those he had considered.

Cowan's appointment marked the second time that Patrick has selected an interim U.S. senator. In 2009, following the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, Patrick named Paul Kirk, a Democratic party operative and Kennedy family friend, to serve until a January 2010 special election, which Brown won.

Under Massachusetts law prior to 2004, governors appointed a senator to serve until the next regularly scheduled state election. The Democratic-controlled Legislature changed the law after Kerry became the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee to block then-Gov. Mitt Romney from appointing a Republican in case Kerry won the election.

Kerry's resignation from the Senate takes effect Friday, making Warren the state's senior senator despite having been in the Senate for only a few short weeks herself.

___

Associated Press writers Steve Peoples and Steve LeBlanc in Boston and Nedra Pickler in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-adviser-mass-gov-us-senator-075622629--election.html

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Vermont Adaptive Partners with United States Association of Blind ...

The United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) in partnership with Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports will host its largest gathering of skiers who are blind and visually impaired at its Sixth Annual Winter Ski Festival in Killington, Saturday, Feb. 9 and Sunday, Feb. 10 at Pico Mountain. Up to 30 athletes with visual impairments will be given the opportunity to learn to ski or race in the sports of Alpine and Nordic skiing, while spending a weekend in the Green Mountains of Vermont. Athletes will be attending from New England states, and as far south as Florida and North Carolina and west to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The event is open to all ages, all abilities and all ski levels. Trained guides and instructors are provided by Vermont Adaptive, the largest year-round disabled sports non-profit organization in Vermont, which is committed to empowering individuals with disabilities.

This year, a group of five Veterans will join the festivities. The USABA Military Sport Program works to enhance the lives of disabled Veterans and Service Members who are blind or visually impaired and to accelerate their rehabilitation process through sport, physical activity, and recreation; as well as assist in the integration of those individuals back into their local community. Mark Lucas, USABA?s executive director said, ?USABA is extremely pleased to partner with Vermont Adaptive to provide an opportunity for skiers who are blind and visually impaired. Now in its sixth year, the event has really expanded with meet-and-greet receptions, Alpine and Nordic skiing sessions, a banquet, and a biathlon demonstration using a sonar laser rifle.?

In addition, six athletes from Vermont were awarded scholarships for their winning essays from a contest held by the Vermont Division of the Blind and Visually Impaired and Vermont Adaptive. Applicants had to write about how sports and recreation help other aspects of their lives and how they would help spread the word to other people about the importance of sports through the programs of Vermont Adaptive and USABA.

Grant funding for this program is awarded by U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, through funding provided by Veteran Affairs. The grants are provided to facilitate the growth of Paralympic-sport programming for disabled Veterans and disabled members of the Armed Forced.

For more information, visit http://www.usaba.org or contact: Mark Lucas at USABA at: (719) 352-9134 or Tom Alcorn at VASS: (802) 353-7584.

Since its founding in 1976, the United States Association of Blind Athletes, a community-based organization of the United States Olympic Committee, has reached more than 100,000 blind individuals. The organization has emerged as more than just a world-class trainer of blind athletes, it has become a champion of the abilities of Americans who are legally blind.For more information, please visit our Web site: www.usaba.org.

Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports is the largest year-round disabled sports non-profit organization in Vermont offering the most diverse program opportunities and unique, specialized equipment. Vermont Adaptive promotes independence and furthers equality through access and instruction to winter and summer sports and recreational opportunities. For more information, visit www.vermontadaptive.org.

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Tags: adaptive skiing, disabled skiing, disabled sports, disabled travel, United States Association of Blind Athletes, Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports

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