NEWS,14.04.2012.

North Korea's rocket launch failure an embarassment

 

North Korea said its much hyped long-range rocket launch failed, in a very rare and embarrassing public admission of failure by the hermit state and a blow for its new young leader who faces international outrage over the attempt.The isolated North, using the launch to celebrate the 100th birthday of the dead founding president Kim Il-sung and to mark the rise to power of his grandson Kim Jong-un, is now widely expected to press ahead with its third nuclear test to show its military strength.

"The possibility of an additional long-range rocket launch or a nuclear test, as well as a military provocation to strengthen internal solidarity is very high," a senior South Korean defense ministry official told a parliamentary hearing.The two Koreas are divided by the world's most militarised border and remain technically at war after an armistice ended the Korean War in 1953.The United States and Japan said the rocket, which they claimed was a disguised missile test and the North said was to put a satellite into orbit, crashed into the sea after travelling a much shorter distance than a previous North Korean launch.Its failure raises questions over the impoverished North's reclusive leadership which has one of the world's largest standing armies but cannot feed its people without outside aid, largely from its only powerful backer, China."(There is) no question that the failed launch turns speculation toward the ramifications for the leadership in Pyongyang: a fireworks display gone bad on the biggest day of the year," said Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations.In a highly unusual move, the North, which still claims success with a 2009 satellite that others say failed, admitted in a state television broadcast seen by its 23 million people that the latest satellite had not made it into orbit.The failure is the first major and very public challenge for the third of the Kim dynasty to rule North Korea just months into the leadership of a man believed to be in his late 20s."It could be indication of subtle change in the North Korean leadership in how they handle these things, something that may be different from the past," said Baek Seung-joo of the Korea Institute of Defense Analyses a thinktank affiliated with South Korean Defence Ministry."I mean it would have been unthinkable for them to admit this kind of failure in the past, something that could be seen as an international humiliation. The decision to have come out with the admission had to come from Kim Jong-un."Embarrassingly, the rocket flew for just a few minutes covering a little over 100km to explode over a sea separating the Korean peninsula and China, far less than the last rocket in 2009 that travelled 3,800km, alarming Japan which it over-flew.The launch is in breach of United Nations Security Council sanctions and drew condemnation from the United States, Russia, South Korea and Japan.But North Korea looks to have avoided the threat of fresh UN sanctions - which neighbor Japan is pushing for - after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that at talks with his Chinese and Indian counterparts they had agreed new sanctions would do nothing to help resolve the situation.Regional powers are worried that the North is using launches to perfect technology to enable it to build a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the United States.North Korea has repeatedly defended its right to launch rockets for what it says are peaceful purposes and may have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the failed launch.China, the North's main backer, again appealed for "calm", although its failure to dissuade Pyongyang from undertaking the launch despite propping up the ailing and impoverished state, showed the limitations of its diplomacy, analysts said."North Korea's provocative action threatens regional security, violates international law and contravenes its own recent commitments," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.The North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, said the first stage fell into the sea west of South Korea and the remainder was deemed to have failed."No debris fell on land," NORAD said. "At no time were the missile or the resultant debris a threat."

Chavez vows to knock out rivals despite tiring treatment

 

Feisty Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez acknowledged today that radiation treatment for cancer was wearing him down, but he vowed to squash his opponents in October's presidential election.Ramping up the political rhetoric at a huge rally to mark the 10th anniversary of his return to power after a brief coup, Chavez said three sessions of radiation therapy in Cuba had taken their toll.But he was more combative than usual, vowing to win the October 7 "by a knock-out," repeatedly denouncing his opponents as upper-class "bourgeoisie losers," and launching a new anti-coup force that would prevent any repeat of the events of 2002."I continue to recover from the surgery. The radiation has an impact on my body, it has some impact on my physical strength, but I am doing well. We will be alright, thank God," he told tens of thousands of supporters clad in red T-shirts in honor of his ruling Socialist Party.Chavez, 57, said his doctors had not decided whether he was fit to attend a summit of the hemisphere's leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, this weekend in Colombia.If he did attend, it would only be for a few hours before continuing on to Havana for a fourth session of radiation treatment. This time, he told the rally from the balcony of the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, he would spend the whole week in Cuba - longer than his recent trips.The president said he wanted to avoid "coming and going."His frequent visits to a tightly guarded hospital on the Communist-led island means he is taking himself off the political stage for much of the time, just as the opposition's candidate Henrique Capriles pushes on with a national campaign.The political temperature has heated up with the coup anniversary. All week, state TV has played video of the dramatic events of April 11-13, when big marches by both sides clashed in the streets around Miraflores and about 20 people died.Chavez was ousted from power for two days until giant demonstrations by his supporters, and allies in the military, returned him to power in a saga that has taken on almost religious overtones for some passionate "Chavistas."A decade later, they still fume at the illegality of how he was ousted from office. It is also an emotional date for some in the opposition who had a brief taste of long-sought power and a sense of what a post-Chavez Venezuela might feel like.Others in the opposition were happy to see him replaced, if only temporarily, but remain upset by how it happened.Chavez routinely accuses his political foes of plotting another attempt to seize power by force."Prepare yourselves to receive the biggest and most crushing defeat," he said as the crowd cheered.He gave very few details of the new anti-coup force he launched today, but his fiery comments set the stage for a bitterly contested election.They follow threats he made recently to nationalize private banks and any other local businesses that he said were supporting the opposition in its "violent plan" to topple him."We will make them repent forever," he said last month.While he has a solid 13 percentage point lead over Capriles in the most recent poll published last month, many Venezuelans remain undecided and Chavez faces his toughest electoral challenge.His illness has cast further doubt over the future of the man who has dominated politics in South America's biggest oil exporter during his 13 years in office.Very little is known about Chavez's health, including the type of cancer he is battling. He has undergone three operations in Cuba in less than a year and rumors persist that he is more ill than he has admitted.

NEWS,13.04.2012.

Russia rebukes North Korea for rocket launch

 

Russia has criticised North Korea for its rocket launch, saying that Pyongyang had defied the UN Security Council and that neighbouring powers all opposed it. Russia had urged Pyongyang not to conduct the launch, warning it would violate a UN Security Council resolution regardless of its purpose and complicate efforts to revive six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear programme."UN resolutions contain concrete calls not to conduct such launches, and this is the shared approach of ... Russia, China, the United States, South Korea and Japan," the Interfax news agency quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying."These five (nations) are united in their position," said Lavrov, who was meeting the Chinese and Indian foreign ministers in Moscow today.Lavrov, whose country is a Group of Eight member along with six Western states and Japan, joined G8 foreign ministers in a statement condemning the launch and saying they were ready to consider measures in response.China's initial reaction sounded less critical, calling for calm and restraint from all sides.North Korea admitted its much hyped long-range rocket failed to deliver a satellite into orbit today while US and South Korean officials said it crashed into the sea a few minutes after launch.Regional powers have said that what North Korea has described as the launch of a weather satellite, months after Kim Jong-un succeeded his father as the leader of the reclusive state, is a disguised test of a long-range ballistic missile."UN Security Council Resolution No. 1874 demands that the DPRK (North Korea) refrain from any launches using ballistic rockets. This applies to both military and civilian launches," Interfax quoted an unnamed Russian diplomat as saying.Russia, which shares a short border with North Korea - Moscow's client in the Soviet era - called on Pyongyang last month to refrain from the launch, expressing serious concern and calling for restraint from all sides.Russia has often balanced criticism of North Korea's nuclear activities and its missile launches with calls on other major powers to refrain from belligerent actions against Pyongyang, which it says can be counterproductive.A permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia is displeased when nations defy council resolutions, and North Korean missile tests have sparked concern among Russians living on the country's Pacific coast in the past.The UN Security Council was to meet today to discuss a possible condemnation of the launch, but Western diplomats said China was not expected to support new sanctions.Russia has been a participant in six-party talks with Pyongyang last held three years ago and hosted the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il last August in Siberia, but has less influence on Pyongyang than China.McCully said the launch had violated the UN Security Council Regulations and had undermined efforts to build peace and stability in the region."It is a major disappointment following their recent agreement with the United States to put a moratorium on long-range missile launches," he said.  "The New Zealand government strongly urges North Korea to abide by its obligations under UN Security Council resolutions, cease its provocations, and take steps to denuclearise." 

Cancer hasn't dimmed Hugo Chavez's electoral hopes

With less than six months left until Election Day, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has hardly hit the campaign trail. Instead, he has been consumed with his fight against cancer, repeatedly traveling to Cuba for treatment and publicly vowing to defeat his illness. While cancer would end the presidential ambitions of many politicians, Chavez's struggle against the disease has in fact become his main rallying cry. Cancer could serve as a political asset if his health holds through the October vote, and that's the big "if" hanging over Venezuelan politics. Last week, Chavez offered his starkest outlook yet as he wept while holding hands with his parents at a Mass and then pleaded to Jesus Christ to give him more life. "Give me your crown, Christ," Chavez said in live footage broadcast nationwide. "Give me your cross, 100 crosses. I'll carry it, but give me life because there are still things left for me to do for these people and for this homeland. Don't take me away yet." Chavez said later that he has faith in a "miracle" as he undergoes radiation therapy in Cuba following two surgeries that removed tumors from his pelvic area. So far, what appears to be a serious life-or-death crisis hasn't dented his political support. To the contrary, one recent poll showed Chavez with a lead of 14 percentage points over rival Gov. Henrique Capriles. The poll by the firm Datanalisis had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. Chavez has managed to hold on to support even while his main image has been that of an ailing president climbing or descending airplane stairs on his frequent flights to and from Cuba for treatment. On top of that, many Venezuelans are supporting him despite 25-percent inflation and one of the worst homicide rates in the world. Information Minister Andres Izarra, one of Chavez's key aides, said on Monday that the president won't be out campaigning door-to-door like his rival because "he doesn't need to." Izarra also said Chavez's spirits are being lifted by his supporters. "That love of the people, it's arisen like a balsam, like part of his medicine, like part of his treatment to completely recover," Izarra said during a televised speech. On Friday, Chavez is expected to rally his supporters on the 10th anniversary of his return to power after a short-lived 2002 coup, and he has drawn a parallel between his cancer fight and his survival during that coup, when he was restored to the presidency amid large pro-Chavez street protests. "At that time, the love of the people rescued Chavez from the edge of death," Izarra said. "This time the love of the people is also rescuing Chavez from a particular health situation, in which if it weren't for that love, I'm sure his ailments would perhaps be greater." Eduardo Gamarra, a Latin American studies professor at Florida International University in Miami, said compassion elicited by Chavez's illness "has naturally played to his advantage in the electoral process." "Not only President Chavez but certainly his supporters and certainly the people handling his political campaign are taking full advantage of it. And I think it would be crazy for them not to do so," Gamarra said. Chavez's illness also presents a challenge for the opposition, Gamarra said, because it might appear "cold and callous" to attack a seriously ill leader. For both sides in Venezuela's divided political landscape, Chavez's illness has the potential to be a game-changer. The subject of what would happen if Chavez were to die is taboo among his political allies, as leaders of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela insist that Chavez will be their candidate and that there is no backup plan. In the meantime, Chavez is adeptly using the uncertainty to once again cast himself as the protagonist in a larger narrative, at times evoking his own tragic hero, 19th century independence leader Simon Bolivar, who survived an assassination attempt and then resigned the presidency amid failing health. Bolivar was 47 when he died, and historians have generally cited tuberculosis as the cause. At a televised meeting this week, Chavez, 57, said the independence leader had been "left without people, left without soldiers." "What a painful end," Chavez said. In speeches and rallies, Chavez has regularly shouted the slogan: "We will live and we will win!" It appears to be both his personal mantra and his political bet. The odds of that bet remain unclear. Since he announced his diagnosis last June, Chavez has kept secret specifics about his illness such as the type of cancer and the precise location of the tumors that have been removed. Some medical experts say based on Chavez's accounts, it's very possible his cancer could come back yet again. "The tumor is recurrent, and to us that indicates that his chances for a cure are minimal because in cancer care, the best treatment is the first treatment," said Dr. Julian Molina, an oncologist at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Rochester, Minnesota. He noted that Chavez underwent surgery for a second tumor in February, indicating that his chemotherapy was ineffective. Other medical experts say that depending on the type and grade of Chavez's cancer, the outlook might not be so grim. Given Chavez's treatment regimen, he could have a soft-tissue sarcoma, said Dr. Steve Hahn, professor of radiation oncology at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. "It's not necessarily pessimistic," Hahn said. "If he had a low-grade sarcoma, then he really has very little chance of it spreading elsewhere and the radiation, if it prevents it from coming back in the pelvis ... that should pretty much hopefully be the end of the story for him, end of the story meaning control of his disease." Chavez's face has at times appeared puffy during his cancer treatments, and in September he acknowledged taking steroids along with other medications. Doctors say steroids can be prescribed as an anti-nausea medication to cope with the effects of chemotherapy and can help increase appetite and energy levels. Molina noted that excessive steroids use can spur side effects such as fluid retention, mood swings and increased blood pressure. "It's always possible that they gave him a short course of steroids, he felt good, and then he requested that, you know, keep on this. It's very hard when you're a president and you have the powers to say 'this is what I want to do,'" Molina said. The dearth of hard information about Chavez's illness, as well as the fluctuations in his tone and appearance, have fueled speculation and rumors about Chavez's health in the Venezuelan media and on the street. Chavez, for one, has urged political allies not to waste time responding to the gossip. Chavez communicated with the nation on Wednesday through several messages on his Twitter account while finishing his latest round of radiation treatment in Cuba. "I'm putting on my combat boots!" one of the messages read. "Wait for me!!" That night, Chavez made yet another homecoming at Caracas' airport, smiling as he descended the airplane stairs next to one of his daughters and saying he was doing well. He appeared vigorous as he chatted with aides at the presidential palace and reminisced about the 2002 coup during a televised talk that ended nearly an hour after midnight. Chavez's legions of supporters have shown intense loyalty to their hero, regularly gathering at government-organized events to pray for his health. On a downtown Caracas avenue, lampposts have been festooned with banners showing a healthy Chavez smiling and wearing the red beret of his years as an army paratrooper, along with the slogan: "Onward Commandant!" At one recent pro-Chavez rally outside the presidential palace, Magalys Martinez said she's optimistic Chavez can overcome his illness. "He very much wants to live," said Martinez, herself a cancer patient. "For this illness, what he needs to have is ambition to live." Another supporter at the rally, 63-year-old Bernarda Mena de Palacios, said she's thankful to Chavez for a government-run education program that helped her earn her high school diploma. "We're praying for the president," she said. "I have faith he's going to come out victorious. We can't lose a president like him."

NEWS,12.04.2012.

North Korean missile crisis: Will Pyongyang defy the world?

Fighter jets roared through the skies over downtown Pyongyang on Thursday as the world watched to see whether North Korea would defy international warnings and launch a long-range rocket over the Yellow Sea. The five-day window for the launch of a rocket mounted with an observation satellite opened on Thursday as North Koreans woke to details about developments at a Workers' Party conference where leader Kim Jong Un ascended to top posts and brought with him a new generation of officials. His father, Kim Jong Il, was granted the posthumous title of "eternal general secretary" at the special one-day party conference on Wednesday. The immortalisation of the late leader provided a glimpse into how North Korea will handle the nation's second hereditary succession and indicates he will be honored much in the same way his father, Kim Il Sung, was made "eternal president" following his 1994 death.Footage on state TV Thursday showed Kim Jong Un seated at the front of the conference with white statues of his grandfather and a new statue of his father in his trademark khaki work ensemble, one arm on his hip. There was no word on Thursday morning on the timing of the controversial launch, which the North has said will take place sometime between Thursday and Monday. In 2009, a similar launch from an east coast site took place on the second day of a five-day window. The United States, Japan, Britain and others say the launch would constitute a provocation and would violate UN Security Council resolutions banning North Korea from developing its nuclear and missile programs.
Experts say the Unha-3 carrier is similar to the type of rocket that could be used to fire a missile mounted with a nuclear warhead to strike the US or other targets.

 Software engineer's job best, reporter's fifth worst

A reporter's job figures among the ten worst professions, alongside the likes of butchers, waiters and dishwashers, as per a new study by the US-based consultancy CareerCast, which has named a software engineer's occupation as the best for the year 2012.The annual study has ranked a total of 200 jobs from best to worst on the basis of five core criteria such as physical demands, work environment, income, stress and hiring outlook.It mostly covered the jobs in the US and is based on data from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics and other government agencies.Among the ten worst jobs, the study has named a newspaper reporter's occupation at the fifth position, after that of a lumberjack, dairy farmer, enlisted military soldier and oil rig worker.Others in the ten worst jobs for 2012 include waiter/waitress, meter reader, dishwasher, butcher and broadcaster."As the digital world continues to take over and provide on-demand information, the need for print newspapers and daily newscasts is diminishing. To be sure, both jobs once seemed glamorous, but on-the-job stress, declining job opportunities and income levels are what landed them on our worst Jobs list," the report noted.The study has also listed out ten most stressful jobs and none of these occupations figure in the list of ten best jobs.CareerCast has ranked enlisted soldier, firefighter, airline pilot, military general, police officer, event coordinator, public relations executive, senior corporate executive, photo-journalist and taxi driver among the most stressful jobs.On the other hand, job of a software engineer has topped the list in the best jobs category, followed by actuary, human resources manager, dental hygienist and financial planner.Software engineers earn a median income of more than $ 88,000 with few physical demands and minimal stress, it noted.The report further said that those in the top categories earn between $ 68,000 to $ 104,000 annually.

NEWS,11.04.2012.

North Korea starts fuelling long-range rocket

Impoverished North Korea rejected international protests over its planned long-range rocket launch and said today that it was injecting fuel "as we speak", meaning it could blast off as early as tomorrow.If all goes to plan, the launch, which North Korea's neighbours and the West say is a disguised ballistic missile test, will take a three-stage rocket over a sea separating the Korean peninsula from China before releasing a satellite into orbit when the third stage fires over waters near the Philippines.Regional powers also worry it could be the prelude to another nuclear test, a pattern the hermit state set in 2009."We don't really care about the opinions from the outside. This is critical in order to develop our national economy," said Paek Chang-ho, head of the satellite control centre at the Korean Committee of Space Technology.Once the refuelling has been completed, the North Koreans will have to inject chemicals into the rocket and these chemicals cause corrosion, which means the firing could come tomorrow, at the start of a five-day window announced already by Pyongyang.Weather conditions on the Korean peninsula also appear to favour a launch tomorrow or Saturday, according to meteorological reports from Japanese television."The likelihood of a launch (tomorrow) is the greatest," said Francis Yoon, a professor of engineering at South Korea's Yonsei University and an expert on rocket technology.The launch of the Unha-3 rocket, which North Korea says will merely put a weather satellite into space, breaches UN sanctions imposed to prevent Pyongyang from developing a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead.James Oberg, a former rocket scientist with the US space shuttle mission control who is in North Korea, said the rocket was not a weapon, but "98% of a weapon", requiring more technology, although not much.

 This is the third long-range rocket test by North Korea. It claims that its second succeeded in putting a satellite into orbit in 2009, although independent experts say it failed.The firing coincides with the 100th birthday celebrations of the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung, whose grandson, Kim Jong-un, now rules. Kim Il-sung died in 1994.It will also follow today's annual Workers' Party Congress which is expected to appoint Kim Jong-un as Secretary General of the Workers' Party of Korea, the top post held by his late father, Kim Jong-il.Paek, briefing foreign journalists in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, declined to comment on the launch date."And as for the exact timing of the launch, it will be decided by my superiors", Paek said.South Korea, which remains technically at war with the North after their 1950-53 conflict ended with a truce rather than a peace treaty, warned Pyongyang it would deepen its isolation if it went ahead with the launch.Security sources in Seoul, citing satellite images, have said that North Korea, which walked out of "six-party" disarmament talks three years ago, is also preparing a third nuclear test following the launch, something it did in 2009 and a move bound to trigger further condemnation and isolation.South Korea holds parliamentary elections today, although the rocket does not appear to have been a major issue with voters more concerned about job security.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that history pointed to "additional provocations" from North Korea after the launch, an apparent reference to a nuclear test."This launch will give credence to the view that North Korean leaders see improved relations with the outside world as a threat to their system," she told cadets at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland."And recent history strongly suggests that additional provocations may follow."She also called on China to do more to ensure regional stability.China, impoverished North Korea's only major ally, yesterday reiterated its pleas for calm and said it had "repeatedly expressed its concern and anxiety about the developments".

NEWS,10.04.2012.

North Korea readies for controversial rocket launch

 

Isolated and impoverished North Korea says it is ready to go ahead with its proposed long-range rocket launch in a move that has sparked immediate condemnation from South Korea and Russia and a plea from China, its main ally, for calm.The launch of the Unha-3 rocket, which North Korea says will merely put a weather satellite into space, breaches UN sanctions imposed to prevent Pyongyang from developing a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead."We are expecting to complete the assembly by today," said Ryu Kum-chol, vice director of the space development department of the Korean Central Space Committee."The launch of Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite is the gift from our people to our great leader, comrade Kim Il-sung, on the occasion of his 100th birthday, so this cannot be a missile test," he added.The launch, due between Thursday and next Monday, will coincide with the anniversary celebrations of the country's founder and North Korea says that it is its sovereign right to launch the rocket.The West says it is a disguised ballistic missile test by a country which walked out of so-called six-party disarmament talks three years ago.South Korea, which remains technically at war with the North after their 1950-53 conflict ended with a truce, not a treaty, warned Pyongyang it would deepen its isolation if it went ahead with the launch.Security sources in Seoul, citing satellite images, have said that North Korea is also preparing a third nuclear test following the rocket launch, something it did in 2009, a move bound to trigger further condemnation from the West."It is disappointing that the North is forcing its people to endure sacrifices with this provocative action and is bringing isolation and sanctions to itself from the international community," the South's Unification Ministry said in a statement. Russia, a former backer of North Korea which has boosted economic ties with Pyongyang recently, condemned the launch."We consider Pyongyang's decision to conduct a launch of a satellite an example of disregard for UN Security Council decisions," state-run news agency RIA quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich as saying.The rocket will bisect a sea that separates South Korea and China and its flight path will take it towards the Philippines where a second stage of the rocket is due to come down in waters close to the archipelago.China, which backs North Korea economically and diplomatically, reiterated its pleas for calm and said it had "repeatedly expressed its concern and anxiety about the developments", Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a press briefing in Beijing.The prospect of a North Korean rocket launch has alarmed Japan, which was overflown by an earlier rocket and said it would shoot it down if it crossed its airspace."If North Korea launches a missile, Japan will consider the next step in cooperation with international society including the UN Security Council," Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said.Airlines have re-routed flights to avoid the rocket's path.

France's economy grinding to a halt

France's economy posted no growth in the first quarter and there are no signs of a strong recovery in activity in the coming months, according to a Bank of France survey today.In its monthly report, the Bank of France indicated that the euro zone's second largest economy avoided a recession, after it grew by 0.2% in the fourth quarter.However, it said that activity was likely to remain stable in the coming months, a picture confirmed by soft manufacturing data today from the INSEE national statistics office.The Bank of France said that its business sentiment indicator for industry was unchanged in March at 95, a 3-month low it reached in February.It noted that industrial activity improved, with rises in pharmaceuticals and chemicals, transport equipment and hi-tech goods. "Forecasts suggest that activity will remain stable in the short term," the bank said.Economists said that w ith fiscal tightening across Europe weighing on external demand for French goods and with rising domestic unemployment likely to peak next year above 10%, it was no surprise the growth outlook was weak."The figures are a little bit disappointing," said Michel Martinez, economist at Societe Generale in Paris, who forecasts modest 0.5% growth in France for the year as a whole."They are in line with the cyclical picture of the French economy which stalled in the fourth- and the first-quarter and where the recovery will be weak," he said. "You cannot have a tough fiscal adjustment over two years and expect strong growth at the same time."President Nicolas Sarkozy, who trails his Socialist rival in polls ahead of next month's crucial presidential runoff, has made cutting France's deficit a top priority. His government cut the deficit to 5.2% of GDP last year, below its target of 5.7%, and has pledged to balance the budget by 2016.The Bank of France said industrial capacity utilization was unchanged in March and remained below its long-term average. Order books were close to normal levels while inventories were slightly above target.For the services sector, meanwhile, the business sentiment level was also unchanged at 93, while the Bank of France said activity here had grown at a faster pace on the back of transport and engineering.In a separate survey, INSEE said that manufacturing output fell by 1.2% in February after slipping a revised 0.1% in January.For industry as a whole, output increased by 0.3%, in line with economists' forecasts, helped by a rise in gas and electricity consumption amid a cold snap.Industrial output rose a revised 0.2% in month-on-month in January, in line with the euro zone average."Industrial production has been on a downward slope since mid-2011," wrote Fabrice Montagne, an economist at Barclays Capital."We will need to see stronger signs in terms of business sentiment, demand and competitiveness before we can expect a clear upswing in the French industrial sector," he said.Economists said that the data confirmed the picture of an economy in the doldrums."Today's industrial production data support our forecast for flattish GDP in the first quarter," wrote Tullia Bucco, an economist at Unicredit in Milan.Insee had also forecast last month that France's 2 trillion euro economy would post no growth in the first quarter.For the last three months as a whole, manufacturing output fell by 1.1%. It stood 1.6% below its level of a year earlier.Hit by the closure of the Petit-Couronne plant, owned by insolvent oil refiner Petroplus, refining activity plunged by 13% in February.The Purchasing Managers' index (PMI) data last week showed the biggest decline in factory activity for 33 months in March, after briefly stabilizing in February.

NEWS,09.04.2012.

Police investigate racially-charged comments in Oklahoma shootings

 Alvin Lee Watts and Jacob Carl England are seen in a combination of undated pictures released by Tulsa County Sheriff's Office 

Authorities were investigating racially charged comments on the Facebook page of a suspect in the shootings of five black people in Tulsa.Police arrested two white men on Sunday morning, two days after the shootings killed three people in a mostly black Tulsa neighborhood.There was no connection between the victims and the suspects and without a motive, talk of hate crime charges was premature, authorities said."You could look at the facts of the case and come up with would appear to be a logical theory, but we're going to let the evidence take us where we want to go," Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan to old reporters on Sunday."I certainly couldn't make that determination right now."Roommates Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 32, were arrested in the early Friday shootings.Authorities say they don't know which one pulled the trigger, but are charging both.Shortly before the killings, England had lamented on his Facebook page that two years had passed since his father was killed by a black man, whom he referred to with a racial slur."I'm gone in the head," England wrote.Watts, England's roommate, offered words of support to his friend in response to the posting.Investigators are unsure to what extent the killing of England's father played a role in the shootings, said Tulsa Police Major Walter Evans.Among the dead was one woman, identified as Dannaer Fields, 49, and two men, Bobby Clark, 54, and William Allen, 31.The two wounded men, who were not identified, were expected to survive.Oklahoma authorities have said the suspects will likely face state murder charges.A handgun was recovered when the pair was arrested at a home in Turley, a small town north of Tulsa about four miles from the home they shared.A white pickup truck, similar to that described by a witness, was recovered about 10 miles from the suspects' house, police said.The vehicle had been burned, they said.Sometime after the shootings, England posted another Facebook comment complaining: "people talking (expletive) on me for some (expletive) I didn't do it just mite be the time to call it quits ... I hate to say it like that but I'm done if something does happen tonight be ready for another funeral later."Tulsa City Councilman Jack Henderson said he believed the two suspects simply had a grudge against black people.If that proves to be true, he said, he hopes prosecutors pursue twin charges of murder and committing a hate crime."I think that's probably what will happen," said Henderson, the only black member of the Tulsa City Council and whose northside district is where the shootings took place.Before the arrests, some residents worried about whether it was safe to attend church on Easter Sunday, Henderson said.Police had few clues in the shootings and pleaded for help from the public on Saturday afternoon."We were desperate for leads," Jordan said.About 10 of the 40 telephone tips received proved helpful, Jordan said.

 

Renegade North Korean rocket is ready to go

North Korean space officials have moved all three stages of a long-range rocket into position for a controversial launch. The country has vowed to go ahead with the launch in defiance of international warnings against violating a ban on missile activity.Yesterday foreign news agencies were allowed a look at preparations under way at the coastal Sohae Satellite Station in the northwest of the country.North Korea announced plans last month to launch a communications satellite using a three-stage rocket during mid-April celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korean founder Kim Il-sung.Engineers said the satellite would orbit Earth and send back data for weather forecasts and crop surveys.The US, Japan, Britain and other nations have urged North Korea to cancel the launch, warning that firing the rocket would violate UN resolutions and North Korea's promise to refrain from engaging in nuclear and missile activity.North Korea maintains the launch is meant to display its scientific achievement.Experts say the Unha-3 rocket scheduled for liftoff between April 12 and 16 could test long-range missile technology that might be used to strike the US and other targets.

North Korea has tested two atomic devices, but is not believed to have mastered the technology needed to mount a warhead on a long-range missile.Yesterday, reporters were taken by train to North Korea's new launch pad in the hamlet of Tongchang-ri in North Pyongan province, about 50km south of the border town of Sinuiju along North Korea's west coast.All three stages of the rocket were seen in position at the launch pad, with fuelling due to begin soon, satellite station general manager Jang Myong Jin said during a tour of the Tongchang-ri facilities.He said preparations were on track for liftoff and that international space, aviation and maritime authorities had been advised.Japan and South Korea said they were prepared to shoot down any parts of the rocket that threatened to fall in their territory - a move North Korea's Foreign Ministry warned would be considered a declaration of war.

NEWS,08.04.2012.

North Korea planning third nuclear test - report

North Korea, pressing ahead with a rocket launch in defiance of a UN resolution, is reportedly preparing a third nuclear weapons test, a move bound to scare neighbours and infuriate the West.South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified intelligence source as saying North Korea was "clandestinely preparing a nuclear test" at the same location as the first two.The source added that workers in the destitute North had been seen in commercial satellite images digging a tunnel in the northeastern town of Punggye-ri, Kilju County, in addition to existing mines believed to have been used for tests in 2006 and 2009."We have confirmed the (mining) work is coming to its final stage," the source was quoted as saying.The satellite imagery showed piles of earth and sand at the entrance of the tunnel, Yonhap said.North Korea, which three years ago pulled out of six-party disarmament talks on its nuclear programme, agreed in February to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches in return for food aid, opening the way to a possible resumption of the negotiations.But that has all since unravelled with the North's rocket launch planned for this month, probably between Thursday and the following Monday. The North says it is merely sending a weather satellite into space, but South Korea and the United States say it is a ballistic missile test.Two previous launches of the long-range missile have failed, but Washington says the North's missile programme is progressing quickly and that the American mainland could come under threat within five years.US President Barack Obama last month called on North Korea to curb its nuclear ambitions or face further international isolation.He said North Korea could be hit with tighter sanctions if it goes ahead with the launch, but experts doubt China will back another UN Security Council resolution against it.China, Japan and South Korea, three of the "six parties" along with the United States and the two Koreas, on Sunday expressed concern over the planned launch.The foreign ministers of the three countries, ending their annual meeting with a joint news conference in the coastal Chinese city of Ningbo, largely stuck to established positions."China expresses our concern for the development of the situation and urges all relevant parties to take into consideration the bigger picture and think long-term," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said.Obama has urged China to use its influence to rein in North Korea instead of "turning a blind eye" to its "deliberate provocations".Japan and South Korea reiterated warnings that Pyongyang would face international consequences if it went ahead with the launch."I made it clear that the international community needs to make rigorous responses against North Korea's violation of its obligation as a member country in the world community," South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan said.Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said the launch would roll back progress Pyongyang has made in talks with various countries, including with the United States, which has suspended the planned food aid.

Chavez boosts minimum wage ahead of election

President Hugo Chavez hiked Venezuela's minimum wage by almost a third as the ailing socialist leader aimed to solidify his political base among the poor and win re-election in October.Chavez is flying back and forth for cancer treatment in Cuba, fueling doubts about his future and removing himself from the daily political debate as his rival, state Governor Henrique Capriles, pushes ahead with a national campaign tour.But the 57-year-old president has managed to maintain a strong lead over the opposition candidate in most recent opinion polls, based on his enduring emotional connection with Venezuela's poor majority - and heavy state spending."In the 1980s and 90s, the minimum wage was basically frozen, then inflation went through the roof... we've been working on this for several weeks," Chavez said, unveiling the pay hike during a televised cabinet meeting hours before leaving for Havana and a third round of radiation therapy.Ahead of the October 7 presidential election, his government has launched many projects, or "missions", including one that aims to build hundreds of thousands of homes, and others that provide cash handouts to the elderly and to poor families with children.The 32.25% pay increase will take effect in two stages, on May 1 and Sept 1, and will bring the minimum monthly wage to about US$475 at the official exchange rate.Looking reasonably well and speaking with a strong voice, Chavez said almost 4 million workers would benefit.Very little is known about Chavez's condition, including what type of cancer he is suffering. He has undergone three operations in less than a year and says he is recovering well, but rumors persist that he is more ill than has been admitted.During an emotional speech at a pre-Easter Mass on Thursday with his family looking on from the congregation, the president wept and called on God to spare his life.Given that Chavez is out of the Venezuela for several days each week at the moment, he appears to be at pains to show that he remains in full control of the government and is working hard ahead of the vote on October 7.