test for rebublish

test for rebublish

MUBARAKS RESPOND TO BARADEI EMERGENCE

MUBARAKS RESPOND TO BARADEI EMERGENCE

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak addresses a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the chancellery in Berlin on March 4.

CAIRO: Both President Hosni Mubarak and his son Gamal have spoken recently about the emergence of former IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei as a potential political opponent.

Mubarak was in Germany for medical tests and was asked about whether he considered ElBaradei a national hero, to which he responded that Egypt “does not need a new hero.”

He added that ElBaradei was welcome to join a party to become a presidential candidate or run as an independent, but must adhere to the constitution.

“If he wants to join a party, he could choose whichever one he wants,” Mubarak told reporters during a visit to Germany, reported AP. “If he wants to be a candidate for that party [at the presidential elections], he could do that. If he wants to stand as an independent candidate, he could do that,” he said.

“The only thing is that he must respect the constitution,” he said,

It is the constitution that ElBaradei is trying to change, claiming that it unfairly impedes most candidates from being eligible for a presidential election. Currently the constitution stipulates that any viable candidate must be either in a party that has existed for five years or secure a certain amount of signatures from both houses and the municipalities to run as an independent.

On Thursday protestors stood outside the Judicial Administrative Court in Alexandria as the court inside heard the appeal of the Ayez Haqy (I Want My Rights) movement against the refusal of government bureaus to allow them to give power of attorney to ElBaradei to call for constitutional change.

Head of the policies committee of the ruling National Democratic Party Gamal Mubarak said during a meeting with students at Luxor University that political life should be based on parties more than any independent candidate.

Gamal said, “Talk of change by reforming education, health and the economy are just general statement, more important is to get into the details of how to implement it.”

Asked about lack of judicial oversight on elections, no longer mandatory due to the amendment of Article 88 of the constitution, Gamal said, “Don’t forget that every candidate has the right to have representatives inside the poll stations, in addition to the monitoring of Egyptian civil society.”

ElBaradei has caused a stir in Egyptian politics by calling for constitutional change and alluding that he might consider a presidential bid if conditions were right. He has also formed the National Association for Change with a coalition of opposition movements including the Muslim Brotherhood.

Torture in Somalia

Torture in Somalia

After the Supreme Court heard an hour of technical arguments Wednesday about whether foreign officials may be sued in the United States over torture claims, one of the plaintiffs in the case stood on the steps outside and recalled what had happened to him in Somalia in the 1980s.

“They destroyed my entire tribe,” Bashe Abdi Yousuf said of the regime of Maj. Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre. “I was tortured — waterboarded and put in electric shock.”

Mr. Yousuf, now an American citizen living in Georgia, explained why he and others sued Mohamed Ali Samantar, who served as minister of defense and prime minister in the Siad Barre regime and now lives in Virginia.

“He is the highest ranking one alive,” Mr. Yousuf said. “Secondly, he’s here.”

Inside the courtroom, the justices wrestled with two laws that seemed to point in different directions. The Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 allows lawsuits against individuals said to have committed torture under the authority of a foreign nation. But the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 bars suits against foreign states and their “agencies or instrumentalities.”

Most of the argument concerned whether that last phrase included current or former officials.

Patricia A. Millett, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said that allowing the immunity law to override the one allowing torture suits would render the latter “a very empty statute.”

Justice Antonin Scalia made the opposite point, saying, “I think it’s a pretty empty statute as well to interpret the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to immunize the Department of Defense but not the secretary of defense.”

Justice Stephen G. Breyer suggested that it would be an odd legal system that would require a lawsuit against a foreign government to be dismissed but allow the same suit to proceed once the plaintiff listed the names of the officials involved.

“This act is only good against a bad lawyer?” he asked. “Because any good lawyer would simply fill in the right names.”

Mr. Samantar has called the accusations in the lawsuit baseless. His lawyer, Shay Dvoretzky, said on Wednesday that Mr. Samantar had worked on behalf of his government “in the midst of what was effectively quelling a secessionist insurgency.”

Deputy Solicitor General Edwin S. Kneedler sided with the plaintiffs in urging the court to reject Mr. Samantar’s statutory immunity argument. But he said Mr. Samantar may still be immune from suit under common law principles, depending on the position taken on that by the State Department.

Justice Scalia said he was troubled by that approach. “I find it much more acceptable to have the State Department say that a particular foreign country should be let off the hook,” he said, “than I do to leave it up to the State Department whether an individual human being shall be punished or not.”

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg asked Mr. Kneedler what the State Department’s position was on whether Mr. Samantar deserved the common-law immunity he had been describing.

Mr. Kneedler would not answer. “We are not addressing that here,” he said.

The argument also touched on broader themes.

“One nation’s courts cannot sit in judgment of another nation’s acts,” Mr. Dvoretzky said. “U.S. courts are not the ultimate arbiters of foreign law.”

Justice Scalia made a similar point in an exchange with Mr. Kneedler.

“A few years ago, a Spanish magistrate allowed a lawsuit to proceed, as I recall, against our secretary of defense,” he said. Justice Scalia appeared to be referring to an inquiry opened last year by a Spanish judge into accusations that six former Bush administration officials had violated international law by giving legal cover to torture at the United States prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

“It’s up to the Spanish government to assert that that suit should not proceed, and if it doesn’t, it’s perfectly O.K.?” Justice Scalia asked.

Mr. Kneedler responded that whether such a suit was proper “would depend on the circumstances.”

Before the argument in the case, Samantar v. Yousuf, No. 08-1555, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. welcomed Lord Phillips, the president of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Perhaps in recognition of the visit, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy asked a question concerning a 2006 decision of the House of Lords. That decision barred a suit against Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials by people who said they had been tortured there.

SHEHATA AFTER ENGLAND DEFEAT

SHEHATA AFTER ENGLAND DEFEAT

CAIRO: Egypt manager Hassan Shehata believes the 3-1 defeat to England can mark the beginning of a new stage for the team, while sounding his frustration at the second-half slip.

Egypt failed to preserve their 1-0 lead at Wembley following a terrific first-half display as they were downed by England's substitutes after the break.

But Shehata hopes his side can learn from their defeat to the European giants.

"I think a match against England at Wembley can be the start of a new phase for us," the Egypt boss told FilGoal.com.

"It is a very useful experience and hopefully we can make it happen again in the future."

Concentration

Shehata blamed the second-half lapse to the lack of concentration from some players, but refused to give any names.

"The performance was awful starting from the 50th minute. Some players lost concentration and started to play individually," he added.

It is the third time that Egypt had slumped to a friendly defeat after clinching the African Cup of Nations under Shehata's management.

The seven-time African champions were downed 2-0 in Spain after their CAN 2006 triumph on home soil, before losing by the same score-line to Argentina in Cairo two years later.

Benjamin Netanyahu. Wanted man in Dubai

Dubai's police chief plans to seek the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of Israel's spy agency over the killing of a Hamas leader in the emirate, Al Jazeera television reported.

Dahi Khalfan Tamim "said he would ask the Dubai prosecutor to issue arrest warrants for ... Netanyahu and the head of Mossad", the television said. It did not give details.

Tamim has said he is "almost certain" Israeli agents were involved in the killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh at a Dubai hotel in January, calling for Mossad's boss, Meir Dagan, to be arrested if it is proved responsible.

Tamim said on Monday Mossad had "insulted" Dubai and Western countries whose fraudulent passports were used by suspects in the assassination. 

Dubai has asked the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to look into prepaid cards issued by the Meta Financial Group's MetaBank which the suspects used, a UAE newspaper said.

Citing an FBI source, The National newspaper said the investigation would look into any Israeli involvement in the killing. "Thirteen of the 27 suspects used prepaid MasterCards issued by MetaBank, a regional American bank, to purchase plane tickets and book hotel rooms," the newspaper said, quoting Dubai police.

MetaBank said it followed proper procedures when it issued the cards.

Authorities told the bank that the suspects appeared to have used stolen passports to get employment with US companies, MetaBank said in a statement on Tuesday. The companies paid the employees with prepaid cards issued by MetaBank and other banks.

MetaBank said it had launched its own review of the matter, and had so far found that it followed all bank and regulatory requirements.

The suspects authorities had identified were not on any list that would indicate their identities were fraudulent, it said.

The UAE, a US-allied Arab state that backs the Palestinian drive for an independent state and an end to Israeli occupation, has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

Members of the hit squad used fraudulent passports from Britain, Ireland, Germany, France and Australia. Residents of Israel with the same names as the suspects, holding dual nationalities, have said their identities appear to have been stolen.

The passport abuse has drawn criticism from the European Union, and some of the governments involved have summoned the Israeli ambassadors to their countries to protest

THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS

Triggered by the rise in commodity prices, water scarcity and the high demand for food security, experts expressed the necessity for a series of policy reforms and investment flows to improve the efficiency of water management and food production in the Middle East.

Prince Turki Bin Talal Al Saud, chairman of the board of trustees of the Saudi Arabian Mentor Arabia Foundation, expressed the urgency to address the pressing issues of water supply, global warming and pollution, which will eventually lead to a global water crisis.

"Only through a strict political stance that calls for the efficient allocation of water resources and the collaboration between nations will this eventual water crisis be averted," Prince Turki said Monday during a session entitled “Scenarios Series: How much water do you eat?” at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East.

“The world will face a big challenge,” Mahmoud Abu Zeid, Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation said. By the year 2025, food demand will increase by 70-90 percent and the amount of water consumption will double due to the expected population increase.

“We are not using water efficiently, we have to improve water use and productivity [to face this crisis],” Abu Zeid said. He called on all groups of society to work together, as well as the involvement of all stakeholders and the private sector through public-private partnerships (PPPs) to make better use of water.

Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin backed his colleague’s concerns, saying “we are facing a full-blown crisis and we have to have a better understanding of it.”

Mohieldin believes that the solution is to identify financial investments that are willing to finance crops and agriculture.

Since agriculture uses up to 80 percent of water, people must know the value of water through vigorous awareness campaigns.

When this notion is instigated in farmers, “agriculture will be shifted to an economic aspect rather than a social one,” said Raed Abu Al Saud, Jordan’s minister of water and irrigation.

Saudi Arabia boasts that it has passed several agricultural reforms to tackle their water shortage problem. “We target to increase crops per less drops, through green houses and drip irrigation,” said Saudi Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation Fahd Bin Abdulrahman Bin Sulaiman Balghunaim.

“The increase in food prices is a blessing in disguise as it shifts attention to the importance of agriculture,” Balghunaim said. Therefore, nations should support UN organizations to reach farmers around the world to increase productivity using minimal water supplies.

While Egypt’s water crisis may be delayed because of its access to the Nile River, Jordan’s present situation is “not promising,” Al Saud said. He expects that soon water will become a political issue, especially for countries sharing the same water sources.

“This is not a simple issue, it is a complex emergency,” said Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company.

He also agreed said that the private sector should realize its responsibility and adopt a framework for preserving water. Coca-Cola has vowed to reduce water consumption, return all useable water to nature and reduce the levels of pollution in their operations, he added.

Mohieldin assured that Egypt has already established several PPPs, as well as revived agri-finance with local banks in the agriculture and water management domains. However, he warned that all reforms and regional efforts will not yield results if “we keep applying the policies we have today,” he said.

The establishment of a water pricing system is necessary to ensure that people understand the importance of water. “[We need to] stop bad subsidies to enable us to do our job properly,” Mohieldin said.

Rotana deal

News Corp will purchase 9.9% of Rotana shares, Rotana board chairman Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal announced on Tuesday (February 23rd).

Under the agreement, News Corp will buy $70 million worth of newly issued shares of Rotana, while retaining the right to double its shares to 18.18% during the 18 months after the transaction is completed.

The deal enhances the presence of News Corp in the Arab region and expands Rotana's access to other parts of the world.

The announcement came during a press conference at the offices of Kingdom Holding Company in Riyadh, attended by Prince Alwaleed and News Corp Chairman and CEO of Europe and Asia James Murdoch.

The Kingdom Holding Company has owned almost 7% of News Corp's Series B Ordinary shares since 2005.

"We are pleased with this alliance with News Corp, as it is one of the largest companies in global media," said Prince Alwaleed. "It is a company with a track record at the global level. And this investment will strengthen this alliance and will support Rotana's strong place in the region and widen its access to Arabs in all parts of the world."

"Our investment in Rotana will expand our presence in the region, which has a young and growing population and where GDP growth is set to outstrip that of more developed economies in the years ahead," Murdoch said.

"Rotana is a leading player in the Middle East and we look forward to working together," he added.

The alliance followed a series of meetings between the parties, including a visit by Murdoch to Riyadh in 2008.

The Riyadh visit culminated in an agreement between Rotana Media Group and Fox International Channels to offer Fox Movie Channel to Arab viewers through the Rotana Group channels package.

After signing an agreement with Rotana and the Walt Disney Company for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Fox International Channels announced the addition of the Fox Series Channel to viewers in the Middle East and North Africa in 2009.

Rotana has the largest collection of Arab films and is the leading Arabic music production company with the largest collection of Arabic songs. It also has a television network and a radio network currently under expansion.

Suzan Tamim murder

An Egyptian court Thursday revoked the death sentence previously handed down to an Egyptian business tycoon and an ex-policeman convicted of killing Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim in Dubai and ordered their retrial.

In Focus: Suzan Tamim

Relatives of Hesham Talaat Mustafa, one of Egypt’s leading real-estate developers, and Mohssen Al Sukkari, an ex-state security police officer, reacted with jubilation when Adel Abdel Hameed, the Chief Judge of the Cassation Court, Egypt’s highest judicial authority, announced that their appeals against the death sentence, were accepted. He ordered their retrial at an appeal court.

The Moustafa was sentenced to death last May after being convicted of paying a retired Egyptian police officer Mohsen Al Sukkary $2 million to kill 30-year-old Suzanne Tamim, while she was in Dubai in July 2008, Associated Press adds from Cairo.

Al Sukkary will be retried as well.

The case captivated Egyptians as it involved a member of an elite often viewed as above the law.

Many had wondered if the 50-year-old real estate mogul tied to President Hosni Mubarak's son, Gamal, and an influential member of the ruling party, would get away with murder in a region where the rich are often thought to be immune.

The court decision to retry the case is certain to raise charges that Moustafa's influence will keep him from the gallows.

Moustafa, a member of parliament's upper house, the Shura Council, was also a member the ruling party's policies committee, which the younger Mubarak chairs.

Tamim rose to stardom in the late 1990s on the force of her good looks and voice, but then hit troubled times, separating from her Lebanese husband-manager, who filed a series of lawsuits against her.

Tamim and Moustafa met in the summer of 2004 at a Red Sea resort, according to transcripts of Moustafa's interrogation that were widely published in Egyptian newspapers.

Al Sukkary, the former security officer, said in the transcripts in the trial that Moustafa was "always with Tamim," that he kept a hotel suite for her, and that he took her around in his private jet.

During interrogations, Moustafa said he broke up with his former lover Tamim after his mother opposed the couple's marriage plan. Moustafa comes from a religiously conservative Muslim family.

According to Dubai investigators, el-Sukkary stalked Tamim to her apartment in the swanky Dubai Marina complex and entered using an ID of the management company from which she had recently bought her place.

Blood-soaked clothes were found dumped outside the building, and police say the killer's face was captured on security camera footage.

Al Sukkary was arrested Aug. 2008 in Egypt. Dubai police traveled to Cairo to present their evidence against him but then turned their attention to Moustafa.

Egypt declined to extradite Moustafa to the United Arab Emirates, insisting he be tried at home. That move was initially read by many Egyptians as opening the door for a slap on the wrist for Moustafa, who built a real estate empire of luxury hotels and resorts and was a leading force behind the pricey Western-style suburbs that ring Cairo. 

Gold demand in the Middle East

The World Gold Council issued a report Wednesday (February 17th) which indicated that the demand for gold in the Middle East fell by 32% in the fourth quarter of 2009. The world demand for gold also dropped by 11% in 2009 because industrial demand and jewellery demand declined.

Egypt and the UAE experienced the biggest slump in gold jewellery demand in the Middle East with the UAE falling by 32% and Egypt by 35%.

The report also said that Exchange-Traded Fund demand for gold rose by 85% in 2009 compared with 2008 on the strength of an exceptional first quarter but was lower for the following quarters of the year.

In Dubai on Tuesday, Philipp Lotter, senior vice-president of credit rating agency Moody's in the Middle East, advised Dubai World to sell more assets in order to make it easier to restructure its $22 billion debt.

Lotter also said that Istithmar, the investment arm of Dubai World, had sold some of its real estate assets, including properties in London and the "W" Hotel in New York by the end of 2009.

Sultan Bin Saeed al-Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, said on Monday, that the UAE economy is expected to grow by about 3% in 2010.

Al-Mansouri indicated that the growth rate will be between 2.5 and 3 percent, expressing his optimism regarding the future. He had previously announced in December that the UAE economy would expand by 3.2 percent in 2010.

In Saudi Arabia, Dr. Abdullah Al-Quwaiz, the Saudi ambassador to Bahrain and former general manager of Gulf International Bank, spoke during an economic forum Sunday (February 14th) at the Dammam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The event focused on the ability of Saudi financial institutions to withstand the global economic crisis. Al-Quwaiz said that Saudi banks enjoy a high level of liquidity, most of which comes from customer deposits. He indicated that the capital adequacy of these banks was above 16.7% in 2009.

Statistics compiled by Moody's and Standard & Poor's published recently indicate that the capital ratios of the top 45 banks in the world do not reach 8%.

In Syria, the Kuwait Investment Company which is listed on the stock exchange revealed Monday that it intends to enter the private banking sector following completion of studies in the field.

The announcement follows a similar one made by the Egyptian investment bank, H C Securities & Investment, which said it was also planning to enter the Syrian banking market.

The Syrian parliament approved a draft law allowing foreign investors to own up to 60% of the capital of any private banking institution in Syrian financial markets. The law aims to encourage foreign investment and attract more capital from the Gulf in particular.

In Bahrain, the Central Bank of Bahrain announced on Tuesday that it intends to introduce tighter limits on banks' credit and investment exposure. The Central Bank plans to introduce an upper limit on commitments to underwriting securities or syndicated loans of 30% of banks' capital for a period of 90 days.

The bank, which oversees financial activities in Bahrain, also said it plans to introduce tighter regulations on banks' exposure to directors and associated companies. The aggregate limits on this will fall to 25% from 40% for conventional banks, while it will also tighten the limits for Islamic banks.

In Lebanon, the Finance Ministry indicated Tuesday (February 16th) that it selected BLOM Bank, Fransa Invest Bank and BNP Paribas to manage a refinancing of medium-term Eurobonds maturing in March, which is being issued under the Republic of Lebanon's Global Medium Term Note Program. Moody's, a credit rating agency, raised Lebanon's rating to B2/B/B.

Is Your Life Being Monitored?

It could be

It connects you to the world, but your cell phone could also be giving anyone from your boss to your wife a window into your every move.  The same technology that lets you stay in touch on-the-go can now let others tap into your private world — without you ever even suspecting something is awry

The new generation

Long gone are the days of simple wiretapping, when the worst your phone could do was let someone listen in to your conversations.  The new generation of cell phone spying tools provides a lot more power.

Eavesdropping is easy.  All it takes is a two-minute software install and someone can record your calls and monitor your text messages.  They can even set up systems to be automatically alerted when you dial a certain number, then instantly patched into your conversation.  Anyone who can perform a basic internet search can find the tools and figure out how to do it in no time.

But the scarier stuff is what your phone can do when you aren’t even using it.  Let’s start with your location.

Simple surveillance

You don’t have to plant a CIA-style bug to conduct surveillance any more.  A service called World Tracker lets you use data from cell phone towers and GPS systems to pinpoint anyone’s exact whereabouts, any time — as long as they’ve got their phone on them.

All you have to do is log on to the web site and enter the target phone number.  The site sends a single text message to the phone that requires one response for confirmation.  Once the response is sent, you are locked in to their location and can track them step-by-step.  The response is only required the first time the phone is contacted, so you can imagine how easily it could be handled without the phone’s owner even knowing.

Once connected, the service shows you the exact location of the phone by the minute, conveniently pinpointed on a Google Map.  So far, the service is only available in the UK, but the company has indicated plans to expand its service to other countries soon.

Advanced eavesdropping

So you’ve figured out where someone is, but now you want to know what they’re actually doing.  Turns out you can listen in, even if they aren’t talking on their phone.

Dozens of programs are available that’ll turn any cell phone into a high-tech, long-range listening device.  And the scariest part?  They run virtually undetectable to the average eye.

Take, for example, Flexispy.  The service promises to let you “catch cheating wives or cheating husbands” and even “bug meeting rooms.”  Its tools use a phone’s microphone to let you hear essentially any conversations within earshot.  Once the program is installed, all you have to do is dial a number to tap into the phone’s mic and hear everything going on.  The phone won’t even ring, and its owner will have no idea you are virtually there at his side.

Recover deleted text messages (SMS) and last dialed numbers from any SIM cards and smart cards

Did you know that with the help of a simple, inexpensive device, anyone with access to your phone could read your private text messages (SMS), even if you have deleted them previously? This device can even recover contacts and a good number or previously dialed numbers.

Legal loopholes

You might be asking how this could possibly be legal.  Turns out, it isn’t – at least, not in the ways we just described.  Much like those fancy smoking devices designed “for tobacco use only,” the software itself gets by because of a disclaimer saying it doesn’t endorse any illegal use.

I did a little digging with our friends from Flexispy.  You won’t find it on the flashy front page, but buried a bit further in the site, the company says you’re fine to use their program only “on a phone that you own, for protecting your children,” or for purposes like “archiving data.”  It’s a bit of a contrast from the bold suggestions of “uncover[ing] employee espionage,” “catch[ing] cheating husbands,” and “bug[ging] meeting rooms” that fill the company’s materials.  After a little more explanation, their answer as to the legality of the service ends with a broad statement: “Please consult a qualified lawyer in your country for the correct answer to this question.”

Let me make it easier for you: Once you get into listening in to private conversations without either party’s consent, you’re treading rough water that could sweep you straight into jail.  Whether it’s an employee or a spouse on the receiving end of your mission, neither federal nor state privacy laws take violations lightly in America.  Getting caught could cost you several years behind bars, among other serious penalties.

Detecting and protecting

Finding spyware on your phone isn’t easy.  There are dozens of bug detectors available from surveillance companies, but the only true fix is taking your phone to your provider and having them wipe it out altogether.  That will restore the factory settings and clear out any hidden software that’s running on your phone.

Security experts say there may be some subtle signs your phone is invaded:

You seem to have trouble shutting it off, or it stays lit up after you’ve powered down.

The phone sometimes lights up when you aren’t making or receiving a call, or using any other function.

You regularly hear odd background noises or clicks when you’re on the phone.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do to safeguard your cell just yet.  I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until we see McAfee-style programs to firewall your phone and keep intruders out.  For now, though, the only sure-fire form of protection is to keep a close guard on your phone.  Don’t accept Bluetooth connections unless you know what they are.  Most important, make sure no one has access to install something when you aren’t watching.  Otherwise, they may soon be watching you when you least expect it.

Avatar

The most expensive and technically ambitious film ever made

Cameron  had to wait15 years  until visual effects capabilities to his imagined world

The King of the World sets his sights on creating another world entirely in "Avatar," and it's very much a place worth visiting. The most expensive and technically ambitious film ever made, James Cameron's long-gestating epic pitting Earthly despoilers against a forest-dwelling alien race delivers unique spectacle, breathtaking sights, narrative excitement and an overarching anti-imperialist, back-to-nature theme that will play very well around the world, and yet is rather ironic coming from such a technology-driven picture. Twelve years after "Titanic," which still stands as the all-time B.O. champ, Cameron delivers again with a film of universal appeal that just about everyone who ever goes to the movies will need to see.

Cameron reportedly wrote the story, if not the full script, for "Avatar" at least 15 years ago but decided he had to wait until visual effects capabilities advanced sufficiently to credibly render his imagined world and its inhabitants. On this fundamental level, the picture is a triumph; it's all of a piece, in no way looking like a vague mish-mash of live-action, CGI backdrops, animation, performance capture and post-production effects. On top of that, the 3D is agreeably unemphatic, drawing the viewer into the action without calling attention to itself. The third dimension functions as an enhancement, not a raison d'etre, so the film will look perfectly fine without it. (When it opens domestically on Dec. 15, approximately 2100 screens will feature 3D, with another 1200 in 2D.)

Then there's the appearance of the indigenous Na'vi clan. In the wake of the still photographs, trailers and 15-minute appetizer offered up by Fox in recent months, a certain wait-and-see reaction could be felt that raised mild doubts about how physically appealing the protagonists would be. But once they're introduced in the context of the picture, these blue-skinned, yellow-eyed creatures quickly become captivating, even sexy, with their rangy height, slim and elongated bodies and skimpy wardrobe, and the grace and dexterity with which they move.

A few more lines of exposition might have helped explain why, in the year 2154 (according to the press notes), Earthlings, represented exclusively, for some reason, by the United States armed forces, need to travel light years away to Pandora to mine a precious mineral that will help rescue the planet from ecological disaster. (Does the U.S. now rule the world? Or is this nation, exclusively, concerned about the environment? Is it the only country left? Or is it simply the best villain for global consumption?)

After the death of his identical-twin scientist brother, wheelchair-bound former Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) takes his place to become an Avatar, a hybrid being that combines human DNA with that of the Na'vi; achieving the Avatar status occurs under lab conditions, with the subject experiencing his or her alternate state as if in a dream. The official hope is that negotiations can help persuade the natives to move aside and allow further exploitation of their land, although hawkish mission commander Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) enlists the gung ho Jake's help as his personal military spy.

Early glimpses of the intergalactic spaceship, weightless crew members and Avatars floating in liquid-filled cylinders are mere teasers for the wonders awaiting on Pandora itself. Unlike most sci-fi and action films, which seem compelled by formula to kick off with a slam-bang opening and then punctuate things with more mayhem every 20 minutes or so, "Avatar" more gently escorts the viewer into its new world while utilizing a classical three-act structure.

Unavoidable Vietnam vibes emanate from the scenes of futuristic choppers descending upon the verdant jungles and mountainsides of Pandora, a land filled with exotic insects, giant airborne reptiles and birds, dinosaur-like beasts and fearsome, dog-like attack animals. Separated from his scientific companion and fellow Avatar Grace (Sigourney Weaver) and stranded at night, Jake is rescued from becoming a midnight snack by Na'vi warrior Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), who subsequently shows the interloper around and very gradually warms to him as he demonstrates an aptitude for native ways.

Cameron's extensive experience on deep-water ocean dives, which resulted in a couple of Imax 3D documentaries, no doubt influenced the glowing, luminous nature of some of the plant life and floating seeds that waft through the environment's atmosphere, while the grander landscapes offer staggering vistas of places that are perhaps most reminiscent of South America, just as the Na'vi most strongly call to mind the natives of the Americas in their customs and tribal manners. For their language, which is extensively spoken with subtitled translation, Cameron had a professor, Paul Frommer, invent a tongue of more than 1,000 words from scratch, although Neytiri, among others, has previously learned pretty good English from Grace.

Although the young Na'vi males resent him, Jake learns quickly and earns his stripes by successfully piloting a giant flying banshee. After three months, however, just as the colonel is ready to send his young charge back home, Jake crosses over and, inspired by his intimacy with Neytiri, goes native. It's "A Man Called Horse" all over again, with Jake, believing he can help the clan repel the invaders, taking up the role of a resistance leader against overwhelming odds.

Final stretch is devoted to the ferocious battle between the Earthly maurauders, with their huge airborne battleships and mighty arsenal, and the nearly naked home team, armed mostly with bows and arrows. Despite the latter fighting on friendly terrain, the mismatch is just too great, and the way things pan out strikes the one somewhat discordant dramatic note in the picture, resulting in a bit of final-reel deflation; surely, a more complex but believable climax and aftermath could have been found.

Thematically, the film also plays too simplistically into stereotypical evil-white-empire/virtuous-native cliches, especially since the invaders are presumably on an environmental rescue mission on behalf of the entire world, not just the U.S. Script is rooted very much in a contemporary eco-green mindset, which makes its positions and the sympathies it encourages entirely predictable and unchallenging.

On an experiential level, however, "Avatar" is all-enveloping and transporting, with Cameron & Co.'s years of R&D paying off with a film that, as his work has done before, raises the technical bar and throws down a challenge for the many other filmmakers toiling in the sci-fi/fantasy realm. The lead team from Weta in New Zealand as well as the numerous other visual-effects and animation firms involved have done marvelous and exacting work, a compliment that extends to every other craft and technical contribution on view.

Playing a grunt in a crewcut before his transformation, Worthington is tough, gruff and assertive as the genetic pioneer turned insurrectionist, while Saldana proves her mettle as yet another kickass Cameron heroine. Lang, already seen to great advantage this year in "Public Enemies," is a relentless militarist par excellence, while Weaver, looking great wearing a Stanford T-shirt, no doubt a personal touch by the alum, is wonderfully authoritative as a scientist so unimpeachable that she can get away with smoking on board an intergalactic spaceship.