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http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/3225/aboriginal-dreaming-story-leads-meteorite-crater
SYDNEY: An Australian Aboriginal dreaming story has helped experts uncover a meteorite impact crater in the outback of the Northern Territory.
Duane Hamacher, an astrophysicist studying Aboriginal astronomy at Sydney's Macquarie University, used Google Maps to search for the signs of impact craters in areas related to Aboriginal stories of stars or stones hitting the ground.
One story, from the folklore of the Arrernte people, is about a star falling to Earth at a site called Puka. This led to a search on Google Maps of Palm Valley, about 130 km southwest of Alice Springs. Here Hamacher discovered what looked like a crater, which he confirmed with surveys in the field in September 2009.
Cosmic impact
The crater is 280 m in diameter and about 30 m deep. Magnetic and gravitational data collected from the site show the crater is bowl-shaped below the surface and was likely caused by a meteorite a few metres in diameter.
"There is no other way to explain this than as a cosmic impact," said Hamacher. "It couldn't have been erosion and there is no volcanic activity in the area."
Macquarie University co-worker, Craig O'Neill, added that a tiny amount of 'shocked quartz' had also been found at the site. "These were very rare, but only form if a rock has experienced a shock blast like that from a nuclear bomb or meteorite impact," he said.
The research is described in papers Hamacher is preparing for submission to the journals Archaeoastronomy and Meteoritics and Planetary Science.
Crater spotting
Despite the link to the dreaming story, weathering and the absence of meteorite fragments suggest that the crater is millions of years old and humans could not possibly have witnessed the event, Hamacher said.
Another crater at Gosse's Bluff, 170 km west of Alice Springs, is 140 million years old, and is also the subject of an Arrernte dreaming story about a "cosmic baby" which fell to Earth.
Instead, Hamacher thinks Arrernte Aborigines may have learned to recognise craters from more recent impacts and then deduced the origin of the Palm Valley and Gosse's Bluff craters. One more recent example of craters created by an impact are the Henbury craters, 70 km from Palm Valley and just 4,000 years old.
He noted that his theory is speculation and the presence of the Palm Valley crater near to the origin of the Arrernte story could simply be a coincidence.
Hamacher's comparison of known craters and Aboriginal stories about cosmic impacts have not yet uncovered conclusive evidence that meteorite impacts have been witnessed and incorporated into oral tradition.
But he has found documented evidence of the Henbury craters being referred to as "chindu china waru chingi yabu" by Aboriginal elders, which he said roughly translates as "Sun walk fire devil rock".
Sacred stories
The Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory notes in its 2002 management plan for the Henbury craters, that it is aware of related mythologies, but cannot share them, because they are considered sacred and secret by the Aboriginal custodians of the site.
Hamacher said that he thinks it is possible that a direct link will be found and that further research into dreaming stories could help uncover new meteorite impact sites. He hopes to return to the area to talk to Aboriginal elders about their stories.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Somali Pirates Hijack 80+ Ships in Past 2 Years, UN-Backed Govt.
http://www.buffalonews.com/260/story/907140.html
Somali pirates seize tanker, cargo ship
By JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press Writer
Updated: December 29, 2009, 12:44 PM /
Striking into the heavily patrolled Gulf of Aden, Somali pirates seized a British-flagged chemical tanker - the first merchant vessel to be hijacked there in nearly six months, the same day that a ship was taken by brigands in the Indian Ocean, officials said Tuesday.
The double hijacking late Monday shows that, a year after an international naval armada began deploying off Somalia to protect shipping, piracy remains a problem. Monday's attacks occurred more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) apart, indicating the wide range of territory prowled by pirates and underscoring the difficulty of policing such a large area. Cmdr. John Harbour, the spokesman for the European Union's anti-piracy force, said the seizures were likely only a coincidence and not coordinated because several pirate bands operate in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
"Most of the time we are able to disrupt them, but sadly they were successful taking two ships at once. It's not the first time they've taken two ships at once," Harbour said. EU officials believe about 1,000 Somalis are involved in the piracy trade.
Somali pirates have hijacked more than 80 ships in the past two years, with many of the hijackings earning the pirates multi-million-dollar ransoms.
Resolving the hijacking of the British-flagged tanker could be complicated because the crew is comprised of nine nationalities, Harbour said.
With the latest hijackings, pirates now hold 12 vessels and 263 crew members, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A top official from Somalia's weak, U.N.-backed government urged the international community to pursue pirates in their havens on land.
"We have reiterated so many times that pursuing pirates on land is crucial to any military response," said Somali Information Minister Dahir Gelle. "
The U.K.-flagged tanker St James Park was the first merchant vessel to have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in nearly six months, Choong said. He said the ship issued a distress message Monday. A fishing boat was taken in the gulf earlier this month.
Lt. Cmdr. Corey Barker of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain said the guided missile cruiser USS Chosin responded to the alarm from the British tanker but that it came after pirates had already taken control of the ship.
"The first indication we got that the ship was pirated was that alert beacon," Barker said. "It's basically a panic button, a silent alarm."
Barker said the Chosin, the flagship for a U.S.-led anti-piracy task force in the region, was the nearest coalition ship to the British vessel. He estimated it was about 25 to 30 minutes away when the distress call came in.
Merchant vessels passing through the heavily patrolled corridor check in upon entry and then are tracked on their journey through, he said.
The St James Park had set sail from Tarragona, Spain, and was headed for Tha Phut, Thailand, Harbour said. The tanker has 26 crew members from the Philippines, Russia, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland, India and Turkey, he said.
Three hours after the St James Park was hijacked a Panamanian-flagged carrier with 19 crew members was seized by pirates off the southern coast of Somalia. The ship is managed in Greece.
Greece's Merchant Marine Ministry said the Navios Apollon was carrying fertilizer from the U.S. to India. It was taken 240 nautical miles northeast of Seychelles, it said. The crew was comprised of one Greek and 18 Filipinos.
In another development, pirates released the Singapore-flagged container ship Kota Wajar on Monday, the EU Naval Force said. The vessel was hijacked in mid-October in the Indian Ocean with a crew of 21 on board.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991 as regional warlords vie for power, and impoverished young men have increasingly taken to piracy in recent years in hopes of a big ransom payoff.
The latest incidents brought the number of attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia to 214 this year, with 47 vessels hijacked, Choong said. That compares to 42 successful attacks out of 111 attempts in 2008, before the EU Naval Force deployed in the Gulf of Aden in December 2008.
Pirates anchor their captured crafts off Somalia's shore near the pirate strongholds of Haradhere and Hobyo. International forces can't rescue the vessels without risking the lives of the crew, leaving negotiated ransoms as the only safe means of resolution.
Somali pirates seize tanker, cargo ship
By JASON STRAZIUSO
Associated Press Writer
Updated: December 29, 2009, 12:44 PM /
Striking into the heavily patrolled Gulf of Aden, Somali pirates seized a British-flagged chemical tanker - the first merchant vessel to be hijacked there in nearly six months, the same day that a ship was taken by brigands in the Indian Ocean, officials said Tuesday.
The double hijacking late Monday shows that, a year after an international naval armada began deploying off Somalia to protect shipping, piracy remains a problem. Monday's attacks occurred more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) apart, indicating the wide range of territory prowled by pirates and underscoring the difficulty of policing such a large area. Cmdr. John Harbour, the spokesman for the European Union's anti-piracy force, said the seizures were likely only a coincidence and not coordinated because several pirate bands operate in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
"Most of the time we are able to disrupt them, but sadly they were successful taking two ships at once. It's not the first time they've taken two ships at once," Harbour said. EU officials believe about 1,000 Somalis are involved in the piracy trade.
Somali pirates have hijacked more than 80 ships in the past two years, with many of the hijackings earning the pirates multi-million-dollar ransoms.
Resolving the hijacking of the British-flagged tanker could be complicated because the crew is comprised of nine nationalities, Harbour said.
With the latest hijackings, pirates now hold 12 vessels and 263 crew members, said Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
A top official from Somalia's weak, U.N.-backed government urged the international community to pursue pirates in their havens on land.
"We have reiterated so many times that pursuing pirates on land is crucial to any military response," said Somali Information Minister Dahir Gelle. "
The U.K.-flagged tanker St James Park was the first merchant vessel to have been hijacked in the Gulf of Aden in nearly six months, Choong said. He said the ship issued a distress message Monday. A fishing boat was taken in the gulf earlier this month.
Lt. Cmdr. Corey Barker of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Bahrain said the guided missile cruiser USS Chosin responded to the alarm from the British tanker but that it came after pirates had already taken control of the ship.
"The first indication we got that the ship was pirated was that alert beacon," Barker said. "It's basically a panic button, a silent alarm."
Barker said the Chosin, the flagship for a U.S.-led anti-piracy task force in the region, was the nearest coalition ship to the British vessel. He estimated it was about 25 to 30 minutes away when the distress call came in.
Merchant vessels passing through the heavily patrolled corridor check in upon entry and then are tracked on their journey through, he said.
The St James Park had set sail from Tarragona, Spain, and was headed for Tha Phut, Thailand, Harbour said. The tanker has 26 crew members from the Philippines, Russia, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Poland, India and Turkey, he said.
Three hours after the St James Park was hijacked a Panamanian-flagged carrier with 19 crew members was seized by pirates off the southern coast of Somalia. The ship is managed in Greece.
Greece's Merchant Marine Ministry said the Navios Apollon was carrying fertilizer from the U.S. to India. It was taken 240 nautical miles northeast of Seychelles, it said. The crew was comprised of one Greek and 18 Filipinos.
In another development, pirates released the Singapore-flagged container ship Kota Wajar on Monday, the EU Naval Force said. The vessel was hijacked in mid-October in the Indian Ocean with a crew of 21 on board.
Somalia has not had an effective central government since 1991 as regional warlords vie for power, and impoverished young men have increasingly taken to piracy in recent years in hopes of a big ransom payoff.
The latest incidents brought the number of attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia to 214 this year, with 47 vessels hijacked, Choong said. That compares to 42 successful attacks out of 111 attempts in 2008, before the EU Naval Force deployed in the Gulf of Aden in December 2008.
Pirates anchor their captured crafts off Somalia's shore near the pirate strongholds of Haradhere and Hobyo. International forces can't rescue the vessels without risking the lives of the crew, leaving negotiated ransoms as the only safe means of resolution.
China rules out new U.N. sanctions on Iran for now
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6045E720100105
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China's U.N. ambassador on Tuesday dashed Western hopes for a swift agreement on a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, saying the issue requires more "time and patience."
World | China
"This is not the right time or right moment for sanctions because the diplomatic efforts are still going on," Chinese envoy Zhang Yesui told reporters.
He said senior foreign ministry officials from China, Russia, the United States, Britain, France and Germany would meet later this month to discuss Iran's nuclear activities, which Western powers suspect are aimed at developing atomic weapons, not generating electricity as Tehran insists.
"The efforts aimed at diplomatic negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue still need some time and patience," said Zhang, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month.
"Trying to bridge differences and finding a settlement through diplomatic efforts -- there's still space for such efforts," he said through an interpreter.
Tehran already has been hit with three rounds of U.N. sanctions for refusing to comply with demands that it halt sensitive nuclear activities. The United States and its allies have said it is time for a fourth round of sanctions, but diplomats in New York say Russia and China are resisting.
U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, asked by reporters in Washington about Zhang's statement, said, "This is not a static situation," and added that "views can change."
China did not schedule a meeting on Iran during its council presidency. A Western diplomat told reporters on condition of anonymity that it was unlikely a new sanctions resolution against Iran would be passed in the first two months of 2010.
Other council diplomats have said it might take until June at the earliest to come up with a package of sanctions that would be acceptable to Russia and China.
"Zhang's remarks confirm what we'd already suspected was the case -- that it's going to take a long time to convince the Chinese," a Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
IRAN IGNORES DEADLINE
President Barack Obama has offered Iran the possibility of deeper engagement with the United States if it cooperates on removing fears about its nuclear program and on other issues. This reversed the policy of Obama's predecessor George W. Bush, who had advocated isolating and punishing Iran.
Obama had given Iran until the end of 2009 to respond to his overtures and to an offer from the six powers of economic and political incentives in exchange for a suspension of Iran's nuclear enrichment program. Iran ignored the deadline.
China and Russia, like Britain, France and the United States, have veto power on the 15-nation Security Council and could block any new sanctions resolution against Iran. China and Russia have lucrative commercial ties to Iran.
So far, punitive steps have focused on Iran's nuclear and missile programs, imposing asset freezes and travel bans on individuals and firms linked to them, including banks that provide financing.
Originally, the United States, Britain, France and Germany had favored tougher new sanctions that would target Iran's energy sector but diplomats said Russia and China made clear they would never support such steps.
U.S. officials, congressional aides and diplomats said last month they feared broad-based sanctions against Iran could undermine the country's protest movement and pressed instead for measures targeting the Iranian leadership.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday the United States believed new sanctions were necessary to pressure Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to curb Tehran's nuclear programs without hurting ordinary people.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - China's U.N. ambassador on Tuesday dashed Western hopes for a swift agreement on a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, saying the issue requires more "time and patience."
World | China
"This is not the right time or right moment for sanctions because the diplomatic efforts are still going on," Chinese envoy Zhang Yesui told reporters.
He said senior foreign ministry officials from China, Russia, the United States, Britain, France and Germany would meet later this month to discuss Iran's nuclear activities, which Western powers suspect are aimed at developing atomic weapons, not generating electricity as Tehran insists.
"The efforts aimed at diplomatic negotiations on the Iranian nuclear issue still need some time and patience," said Zhang, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month.
"Trying to bridge differences and finding a settlement through diplomatic efforts -- there's still space for such efforts," he said through an interpreter.
Tehran already has been hit with three rounds of U.N. sanctions for refusing to comply with demands that it halt sensitive nuclear activities. The United States and its allies have said it is time for a fourth round of sanctions, but diplomats in New York say Russia and China are resisting.
U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, asked by reporters in Washington about Zhang's statement, said, "This is not a static situation," and added that "views can change."
China did not schedule a meeting on Iran during its council presidency. A Western diplomat told reporters on condition of anonymity that it was unlikely a new sanctions resolution against Iran would be passed in the first two months of 2010.
Other council diplomats have said it might take until June at the earliest to come up with a package of sanctions that would be acceptable to Russia and China.
"Zhang's remarks confirm what we'd already suspected was the case -- that it's going to take a long time to convince the Chinese," a Western diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
IRAN IGNORES DEADLINE
President Barack Obama has offered Iran the possibility of deeper engagement with the United States if it cooperates on removing fears about its nuclear program and on other issues. This reversed the policy of Obama's predecessor George W. Bush, who had advocated isolating and punishing Iran.
Obama had given Iran until the end of 2009 to respond to his overtures and to an offer from the six powers of economic and political incentives in exchange for a suspension of Iran's nuclear enrichment program. Iran ignored the deadline.
China and Russia, like Britain, France and the United States, have veto power on the 15-nation Security Council and could block any new sanctions resolution against Iran. China and Russia have lucrative commercial ties to Iran.
So far, punitive steps have focused on Iran's nuclear and missile programs, imposing asset freezes and travel bans on individuals and firms linked to them, including banks that provide financing.
Originally, the United States, Britain, France and Germany had favored tougher new sanctions that would target Iran's energy sector but diplomats said Russia and China made clear they would never support such steps.
U.S. officials, congressional aides and diplomats said last month they feared broad-based sanctions against Iran could undermine the country's protest movement and pressed instead for measures targeting the Iranian leadership.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday the United States believed new sanctions were necessary to pressure Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to curb Tehran's nuclear programs without hurting ordinary people.
(Additional reporting by Andrew Quinn in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Venezuela's Chavez threatens to kick out carmakers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8429427.stm
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has told car companies they must share their technology with local businesses or leave the country.
Mr Chavez gave the ultimatum to Toyota, Ford, General Motors and Fiat during a public address.
If the demand isn't met, he said: "I invite you to pack up your belongings and leave. I'll bring in the Russians, the Belorusians, the Chinese."
Venezuela has nationalised most of the oil, metal and coffee industries.
Mr Chavez attacked Toyota in particular, saying it was not producing enough four-wheel drive vehicles, which are used for public transport, and ordered an investigation.
So far, the carmakers have not responded.
Last year, car plants in Venezuela produced 135,042 cars and trucks.
Currency controls in Venezuela mean the industry is struggling to get enough money to import parts and pay off debts.
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has told car companies they must share their technology with local businesses or leave the country.
Mr Chavez gave the ultimatum to Toyota, Ford, General Motors and Fiat during a public address.
If the demand isn't met, he said: "I invite you to pack up your belongings and leave. I'll bring in the Russians, the Belorusians, the Chinese."
Venezuela has nationalised most of the oil, metal and coffee industries.
Mr Chavez attacked Toyota in particular, saying it was not producing enough four-wheel drive vehicles, which are used for public transport, and ordered an investigation.
So far, the carmakers have not responded.
Last year, car plants in Venezuela produced 135,042 cars and trucks.
Currency controls in Venezuela mean the industry is struggling to get enough money to import parts and pay off debts.
UK and US to fund anti-terror police unit in Yemen
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8437757.stm
Britain and the US are to join forces to tackle the "evolving threat" from Islamist groups in Yemen and Somalia, Downing Street has announced.
Officials said the UK and the US would jointly fund a counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen in the wake of an alleged bomb airline attack over Detroit.
Barack Obama has sent his top Middle East general to meet Yemen's president.
The US president has alleged that the Christmas Day bomb suspect was trained by a Yemen-based al-Qaeda offshoot.
Gen David Petraeus - who is responsible for US Middle East and Central Asian operations - reportedly said the US was keen to support Yemen's fight against al-Qaeda.
On Saturday, Mr Obama for the first time publicly accused an offshoot of al-Qaeda, based in Yemen, over the alleged attempt by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up an airliner over Detroit.
'Terror incubator'
A statement from No 10 said Downing Street and White House officials had discussed "increased UK-US working" in a series of phone calls since the alleged failed plot on Christmas Day.
Mr Brown has called Yemen "both an incubator and potential safe haven for terrorism" and said it presented "a regional and global threat".
The UK is one of Yemen's leading donors and is already helping to train counter-terrorism officials in the country.
The increased assistance from both the UK and US will include support for the Yemeni coastguard operation.
Downing Street told the BBC: "This is a decision reached after discussion with the Yemeni government and the White House.
"The details are still to be worked out but this will build on the work already being done by the UK to help the Yemeni government combat terrorism."
Gen David Petraeus flew to Yemen to discuss stepping up co-operation between the two countries in the fight against al- Qaeda, according to the Yemeni state news agency.
It says Gen Petraeus met President Ali Abdallah Saleh in the capital Sana'a and handed over a letter from President Obama.
The BBC's world affairs correspondent Caroline Hawley said there had been growing concern for some time about al-Qaeda exploiting Yemen's troubles to establish a safe haven in the country's ungoverned spaces.
"But the failed bomb attack last week has put the international spotlight on the Arab world's poorest country," she added.
On Tuesday, Yemen's Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi told the BBC that Yemen had the will and ability to deal with al-Qaeda, but needed more support from the West.
"We need more training," he said.
"We have to expand our counter-terrorism units and this means providing them with the necessary training, military equipment, ways of transportation - we are very short of helicopters."
In Somalia, the prime minister and president believe a larger UN peacekeeping force is required.
Somalia has not had a functioning central government since 1991.
Rival Islamist factions are battling forces loyal to the weak UN-backed government, which controls only small parts of the capital Mogadishu.
One of these groups, al-Shabab, is viewed by the Americans as al-Qaeda's proxy in Somalia.
Security review
The Downing Street statement set out Mr Brown's other intentions:
• Have the evolving threat from Yemen and Somalia placed on the agenda for the EU General Affairs Council in January
• Push for stronger action on Yemen from the Financial Action Task Force
• Discuss further the UK's response to the suspected bomb plot at a special meeting of the National Security, International Relations and Development committee (NSID)
The alleged bomber, Mr Abdulmutallab, who is now in US custody, is accused of trying to detonate a bomb on a flight as it came in to land.
The 23-year-old allegedly attempted to ignite explosives stored in his underpants. He had flown from Accra in Ghana to Lagos in Nigeria, where he boarded a flight to Amsterdam before changing planes for Detroit.
The mid-air drama on 25 December has sparked a worldwide aviation security review.
Both Mr Obama and Mr Brown have ordered urgent reviews of airport security, with UK officials expected to report back with preliminary findings "in days".
The prime minister has pledged to "move quickly" to improve security wherever necessary and suggested new technologies such as full body scanners may become more widely used at UK airports.
He has also called a summit in London to discuss radicalisation in Yemen.
No 10 said the 28 January event had support from Washington and the European Union, and Mr Brown aimed to attract Saudi Arabia and Gulf states.
On Saturday, Mr Obama for the first time publicly accused an offshoot of al-Qaeda over the alleged plot.
In his weekly radio and video address posted on the White House website, Mr Obama said: "We know that [Mr Abdulmutallab] travelled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies.
"It appears that he joined an affiliate of al-Qaeda, and that this group, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America."
The group said it was behind the alleged attack in an internet statement last week.
Britain and the US are to join forces to tackle the "evolving threat" from Islamist groups in Yemen and Somalia, Downing Street has announced.
Officials said the UK and the US would jointly fund a counter-terrorism police unit in Yemen in the wake of an alleged bomb airline attack over Detroit.
Barack Obama has sent his top Middle East general to meet Yemen's president.
The US president has alleged that the Christmas Day bomb suspect was trained by a Yemen-based al-Qaeda offshoot.
Gen David Petraeus - who is responsible for US Middle East and Central Asian operations - reportedly said the US was keen to support Yemen's fight against al-Qaeda.
On Saturday, Mr Obama for the first time publicly accused an offshoot of al-Qaeda, based in Yemen, over the alleged attempt by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up an airliner over Detroit.
'Terror incubator'
A statement from No 10 said Downing Street and White House officials had discussed "increased UK-US working" in a series of phone calls since the alleged failed plot on Christmas Day.
Mr Brown has called Yemen "both an incubator and potential safe haven for terrorism" and said it presented "a regional and global threat".
The UK is one of Yemen's leading donors and is already helping to train counter-terrorism officials in the country.
The increased assistance from both the UK and US will include support for the Yemeni coastguard operation.
Downing Street told the BBC: "This is a decision reached after discussion with the Yemeni government and the White House.
"The details are still to be worked out but this will build on the work already being done by the UK to help the Yemeni government combat terrorism."
Gen David Petraeus flew to Yemen to discuss stepping up co-operation between the two countries in the fight against al- Qaeda, according to the Yemeni state news agency.
It says Gen Petraeus met President Ali Abdallah Saleh in the capital Sana'a and handed over a letter from President Obama.
The BBC's world affairs correspondent Caroline Hawley said there had been growing concern for some time about al-Qaeda exploiting Yemen's troubles to establish a safe haven in the country's ungoverned spaces.
"But the failed bomb attack last week has put the international spotlight on the Arab world's poorest country," she added.
On Tuesday, Yemen's Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi told the BBC that Yemen had the will and ability to deal with al-Qaeda, but needed more support from the West.
"We need more training," he said.
"We have to expand our counter-terrorism units and this means providing them with the necessary training, military equipment, ways of transportation - we are very short of helicopters."
In Somalia, the prime minister and president believe a larger UN peacekeeping force is required.
Somalia has not had a functioning central government since 1991.
Rival Islamist factions are battling forces loyal to the weak UN-backed government, which controls only small parts of the capital Mogadishu.
One of these groups, al-Shabab, is viewed by the Americans as al-Qaeda's proxy in Somalia.
Security review
The Downing Street statement set out Mr Brown's other intentions:
• Have the evolving threat from Yemen and Somalia placed on the agenda for the EU General Affairs Council in January
• Push for stronger action on Yemen from the Financial Action Task Force
• Discuss further the UK's response to the suspected bomb plot at a special meeting of the National Security, International Relations and Development committee (NSID)
The alleged bomber, Mr Abdulmutallab, who is now in US custody, is accused of trying to detonate a bomb on a flight as it came in to land.
The 23-year-old allegedly attempted to ignite explosives stored in his underpants. He had flown from Accra in Ghana to Lagos in Nigeria, where he boarded a flight to Amsterdam before changing planes for Detroit.
The mid-air drama on 25 December has sparked a worldwide aviation security review.
Both Mr Obama and Mr Brown have ordered urgent reviews of airport security, with UK officials expected to report back with preliminary findings "in days".
The prime minister has pledged to "move quickly" to improve security wherever necessary and suggested new technologies such as full body scanners may become more widely used at UK airports.
He has also called a summit in London to discuss radicalisation in Yemen.
No 10 said the 28 January event had support from Washington and the European Union, and Mr Brown aimed to attract Saudi Arabia and Gulf states.
On Saturday, Mr Obama for the first time publicly accused an offshoot of al-Qaeda over the alleged plot.
In his weekly radio and video address posted on the White House website, Mr Obama said: "We know that [Mr Abdulmutallab] travelled to Yemen, a country grappling with crushing poverty and deadly insurgencies.
"It appears that he joined an affiliate of al-Qaeda, and that this group, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, trained him, equipped him with those explosives and directed him to attack that plane headed for America."
The group said it was behind the alleged attack in an internet statement last week.
Somali charged over attack on Danish cartoonist, Ireland's New Blasphemy Laws
A Somali man has been charged with trying to kill a Danish artist whose caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed sparked riots around the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8437652.stm
Related - Ireland's Blasphemy Law Goes Into Effect - highlights:
The new law, which was passed in July, means that blasphemy in Ireland is now a crime punishable with a fine of up to €25,000 (£22,000).
It defines blasphemy as "publishing or uttering matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters sacred by any religion, thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion, with some defences permitted".
The justice minister, Dermot Ahern, said that the law was necessary because while immigration had brought a growing diversity of religious faiths, the 1936 constitution extended the protection of belief only to Christians.
Michael Nugent, chair of an Irish atheist group, said that it would challenge the law through the courts if it were charged with blasphemy.
Nugent said: "This new law is both silly and dangerous. It is silly because medieval religious laws have no place in a modern secular republic, where the criminal law should protect people and not ideas. And it is dangerous because it incentives religious outrage, and because Islamic states led by Pakistan are already using the wording of this Irish law to promote new blasphemy laws at UN level.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/01/irish-atheists-challenge-blasphemy-law
Somali charged over attack on Danish cartoonist, Ireland's New Blasphemy Laws
A Somali man has been charged with trying to kill a Danish artist whose caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed sparked riots around the world.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8437652.stm
Related - Ireland's Blasphemy Law Goes Into Effect - highlights:
The new law, which was passed in July, means that blasphemy in Ireland is now a crime punishable with a fine of up to €25,000 (£22,000).
It defines blasphemy as "publishing or uttering matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters sacred by any religion, thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion, with some defences permitted".
The justice minister, Dermot Ahern, said that the law was necessary because while immigration had brought a growing diversity of religious faiths, the 1936 constitution extended the protection of belief only to Christians.
Michael Nugent, chair of an Irish atheist group, said that it would challenge the law through the courts if it were charged with blasphemy.
Nugent said: "This new law is both silly and dangerous. It is silly because medieval religious laws have no place in a modern secular republic, where the criminal law should protect people and not ideas. And it is dangerous because it incentives religious outrage, and because Islamic states led by Pakistan are already using the wording of this Irish law to promote new blasphemy laws at UN level.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/01/irish-atheists-challenge-blasphemy-law
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