NEWS,07.03.2013

N Korea threatens US with nuclear strike

 

North Korea threatened a "pre-emptive" nuclear strike against the United States and any other aggressors on Thursday as the UN Security Council prepared to vote on new sanctions against the isolated state.A foreign ministry spokesperson also warned that a second Korean war was "unavoidable," with both the United States and South Korea refusing Pyongyang's demands to cancel a large-scale joint military exercise next week."Now that the US is set to light a fuse for a nuclear war, our revolutionary armed forces... will exercise the right to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors," the spokesperson said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).In the past, the North has threatened attacks on US forces in South Korea and also claims to possess long-range missiles capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to the continental United States.The latest threat came two days after the North Korean military announced it would rip up the 1953 armistice agreement ending the Korean War - a move that would theoretically pave the way for a resumption of hostilities.Tensions have escalated sharply on the Korean peninsula in recent days, ahead of the UN Security Council vote and the annual US-South Korean military exercise scheduled to begin on Monday.The Security Council is expected to adopt a resolution tightening the UN sanctions screws on North Korea after its widely condemned nuclear bomb test last month.Amounting to one of the toughest sanctions regimes ever ordered by the United Nations, the resolution also threatens "further significant measures" if the North stages a new nuclear test or rocket launch.

New sanctions a punishment for N Korea

The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday for tough new sanctions to punish North Korea for its latest nuclear test, a move that sparked a furious Pyongyang to threaten a nuclear strike against the US. The vote by the UN's most powerful body on a resolution drafted by North Korea's closest ally, China, and the US sends a powerful message that the international community condemns the ballistic missile and nuclear tests - and repeated violation of Security Council resolutions.Immediately before the vote, an unidentified spokesperson for Pyongyang's foreign ministry said the North will exercise its right for "a pre-emptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors" because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.It appeared to be the most specific open threat of a nuclear strike by any country against another.Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the US. It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for several crude nuclear devices.The new sanctions are aimed at reining in North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes by making it more difficult for Pyongyang to finance and obtain material for these programmes, tracking illegal diplomatic activity and intensifying inspections of cargo to and from the country. In a measure targeted at the reclusive nation's ruling elite, the resolution bans all nations from exporting expensive jewellery, yachts, luxury automobiles and racing cars to the North.After the 15-0 vote, US Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters, that "taken together, these sanctions will bite and bite hard”.Responding to Pyongyang's nuclear strike threat, she said, "North Korea will achieve nothing by continued threats and provocation."She urged North Korea's leaders to heed President Barack Obama's call to follow the path of peace. If it doesn't, she said, the Security Council is committed in the resolution to take further measures.China's UN Ambassador Li Bao Dong said the top priority now is to "bring down the heat" and focus on diplomacy and restarting the six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.In North Korea, Army General Kang Pyo Yong told a crowd of tens of thousands that North Korea is ready to fire long-range nuclear-armed missiles at Washington."Intercontinental ballistic missiles and various other missiles, which have already set their striking targets, are now armed with lighter, smaller and diversified nuclear warheads and are placed on a standby status," Kang said. "When we shell [the missiles], Washington, which is the stronghold of evils.... will be engulfed in a sea of fire."AccusationsThe statement by the North Korean foreign ministry spokesperson was carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.It accused the US of leading efforts to slap sanctions on North Korea. The statement said the new sanctions would only advance the timing for North Korea to fulfil previous vows to take "powerful second and third countermeasures" against its enemies. It hasn't elaborated on those measures.The statement said North Korea "strongly warns the UN Security Council not to make another big blunder like the one in the past when it earned the inveterate grudge of the Korean nation by acting as a war servant for the US in 1950."North Korea demanded the Security Council immediately dismantle the American-led UN Command that's based in Seoul and move to end the state of war that exists on the Korean Peninsula, which continues six decades after fighting stopped because an armistice, not a peace treaty, ended the war.In anticipation of the resolution's adoption, North Korea earlier in the week threatened to cancel the 1953 cease-fire that ended the Korean War.ThreatsNorth Korean threats have become more common as tensions have escalated following a rocket launch by Pyongyang in December and its third nuclear test on 12 February. Both acts defied three Security Council resolutions that bar North Korea from testing or using nuclear or ballistic missile technology and from importing or exporting material for these programmes.The US and other nations worry that North Korea's third nuclear test pushed it closer to its goal of gaining nuclear missiles that can reach the US. The international community has condemned the regime's nuclear and missile efforts as threats to regional security and a drain on the resources that could go to North Korea's largely destitute people.The UN resolution identifies three individuals, one corporation and one organization that will be added to the UN sanctions list. The targets include top officials at a company that is the country's primary arms dealer and main exporter of ballistic missile-related equipment, and a national organisation responsible for research and development of missiles and probably nuclear weapons.The success of a new round of sanctions could depend on enforcement by China, where most of the companies and banks that North Korea is believed to work with are based.Nuclear test condemnedThe UN resolution condemns the latest nuclear test "in the strongest terms" for violating and flagrantly disregarding council resolutions, bans further ballistic missile launches, nuclear tests "or any other provocation," and demands that North Korea return to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. It also condemns all of North Korea's ongoing nuclear activities, including its uranium enrichment.But the resolution stresses the council's commitment "to a peaceful, diplomatic and political solution" and urged a resumption of six-party talks.According to the resolution, all countries would now be required to freeze financial transactions or services that could contribute to North Korea's nuclear or missile programmes.To get around financial sanctions, North Koreans have been carrying around large suitcases filled with cash to move illicit funds. The resolution expresses concern that these bulk cash transfers may be used to evade sanctions. It clarifies that the freeze on financial transactions and services that could violate sanctions applies to all cash transfers as well as the cash couriers.The resolution also bans all countries from providing public financial support for trade deals, such as granting export credits, guarantees or insurance, if the assistance could contribute to the North's nuclear or missile programmes.It includes what a senior diplomat called unprecedented new travel sanctions that would require countries to expel agents working for sanctioned North Korean companies.The resolution also requires states to inspect suspect cargo on their territory and prevent any vessel that refuses an inspection from entering their ports.And a new aviation measure calls on states to deny aircraft permission to take off, land or fly over their territory if illicit cargo is suspected to be aboard.

US gun safety measures face first votes

President Barack Obama's prospects for winning near-universal background checks for gun purchases seemed shaky on Thursday as Congress faced its first votes on curbing firearms since December's deadly shootings at a Connecticut school. The shootings of 20 children ages 6 and 7 turned gun safety into a leading national issue, though many of Obama's proposals are opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and many Republicans who point to the Constitutional guarantee of the right to bear firearms.The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee had four bills on its agenda on Thursday.Besides expanding background checks, the measures would ban assault weapons and ammunition magazines carrying more than 10 rounds, make gun trafficking and the purchase of firearms for people barred from owning them federal crimes, and provide more money for schools to buy video cameras and other safety equipment.All four measures were expected to pass the committee. But their fate when the full Senate considers them, probably in April, was less certain.In addition, gun safety supporters say the Senate will have to approve legislation with strong bipartisan support to boost their chances of success in the Republican-led House of Representatives. Republican leaders there have said they won't act until the Senate produces legislation.Expanding background checks is the cornerstone and most popular part of Obama's effort to rein gun violence. They are now mandated only for sales by the nation's 55 000 federally licensed gun dealers, not for private sales between individuals, like those at gun shows or online.An AP -GfK poll in January found 84% favoured requiring background checks at gun shows. Other proposed gun curbs were supported by just over half the public.

13-hour speech doesn't stop CIA vote

He spoke for 13 hours straight, but a Republican senator's attempt to block confirmation of President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the CIA over questions about the possible use of unmanned drones against US citizens, ended early on Thursday. Senator Rand Paul, a son of former Libertarian presidential candidate Ron Paul and a possible candidate himself in 2016, started just before midday on Wednesday by demanding that Obama or his attorney general issue a statement assuring that drones would not be used in the US to kill terrorism suspects who are citizens.His marathon performance energised his colleagues, who stepped up to support him by reading tweets and Shakespeare. But Paul finally ceded the floor shortly after midnight.A confirmation vote on the CIA pick, John Brennan, had been pushed for Wednesday before Paul started speaking. Brennan now serves as Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser in the White House.The vote on Brennan is now possible later this week.Paul said he recognised that he can't stop Brennan from being confirmed. But he said the nomination was the right vehicle for a debate over the government's ability to conduct lethal operations against suspected terrorists. Drones have become the centrepiece of the Obama administration's campaign against al-Qaeda suspects."No president has the right to say he is judge, jury and executioner," Paul said.The filibuster, as the rarely used delaying tactic is known, is the latest challenge to Obama's cabinet picks that need confirmation by the Democrat-controlled chamber. So far, only Senator John Kerry's nomination for secretary of state was approved without problem.Not all Republicans were enthusiastic about Paul's performance. Senator Lindsey Graham said the prospect of drones being used to kill people in the US was "ridiculous”.Congressman Mike Rogers, the chairperson of the House Intelligence Committee, said it is unconstitutional for the US military or intelligence agencies to conduct lethal counter-terrorism operations in the US against citizens. Suggesting they can or might, Rogers said, "provokes needless fear and detracts attention from the real threats facing the country”.Expanded use of dronesPaul read from notebooks filled with articles about the expanded use of drones. Senate rules say a senator has to remain on the floor to continue to hold it, even though he can yield to another senator for a question.Paul snacked on candy at the dinner hour while continuing to speak. Well-wishers with privileges to be on the Senate floor shook his hand when he temporarily turned the speaking over to his colleagues.Republican Senator Ted Cruz read Twitter messages from people eager to "Stand With Rand”. As the night went on, Cruz an insurgent Republican with strong backing from the conservative tea party movement, read passages from Shakespeare's "Henry V" and lines from the 1970 movie "Patton," starring George C Scott.The record for the longest individual speech on the Senate floor belongs to former Senator Strom Thurmond, who protested for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.Paul ended his lengthy speech by saying he was tempted to try to break Thurmond's record, but he needed to use the bathroom."I discovered that there are some limits to filibustering, and I'm going to have to go and take care of one of those in a few minutes," Paul said.Lethal force inappropriateAttorney General Eric Holder, the country's top lawyer, came close to making the statement Paul wanted earlier in the day during an exchange with Cruz at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, according to Paul.Cruz asked Holder if the Constitution allowed the federal government to kill a US citizen on US soil who doesn't pose an imminent threat. Holder said the situation was hypothetical, but he did not think that in that situation the use of a drone or lethal force would be appropriate.Cruz criticised Holder for not simply saying "no" in response.In a letter sent on Tuesday to Paul, Brennan said the CIA does not have authority to conduct lethal operations inside the US.Holder told Paul in a 4 March letter that the federal government has not conducted such operations and has no intention of doing so. But Holder also wrote that he supposed it was possible under an "extraordinary circumstance" that the president would have no choice but to authorise the military to use lethal force inside US borders. Holder cited the attacks at Pearl Harbour in 1941 and on 11 September 2001, as examples.If confirmed, Brennan would replace Michael Morell, the CIA's deputy director who has been acting director since David Petraeus resigned in November after acknowledging an affair with his biographer.

Cuba gives Chavez hero's send-off

Cuba's leaders gave Hugo Chavez a send-off fit for one of their own on Thursday, with huge crowds turning out to pay homage to the late Venezuelan leader in the Revolution Plaza in Havana and Santiago. Cuban President Raul Castro, dressed in military uniform, placed a wreath before an image of Chavez, who died on Tuesday after a long struggle with cancer, in the ceremony in Santiago, 900km southeast of Havana.Cuba's new number two, Miguel Diaz-Canel, led another mass turnout at Havana's vast Revolution Plaza, the iconic public square from which revolutionary leader Fidel Castro used to address the Cuban people.Other events memorialising Chavez were to take place in plazas across Cuba on Thursday, an honour typically reserved for only historic leaders of the Cuban revolution.In this case, tradition was set aside to remember a crucial oil-rich ally whose largesse has kept the communist-ruled island economically afloat during his 14-year-rule.During his illness, Chavez was treated almost exclusively in Cuba where his cancer was first detected in June 2011. He underwent four rounds of surgery, chemo and radiation therapy before returning home for the last time 18 February.After his death in Caracas, the Cuban government declared that "Chavez is also Cuban" and was hailed as a "true son" of Fidel Castro.Cuban flags were lowered to half mast over the colonial fortresses of Morro and La Cabana overlooking Havana's harbour, and the government ordered three days of mourning.On Friday, when Chavez is buried in Venezuela, his passing will be marked here with a 21-gun salute.

Berlusconi sentenced to year in jail

An Italian court on Thursday sentenced former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to a year in prison over the publication of leaked transcripts from a police wiretap in a newspaper that he owns.Berlusconi, who faces two more verdicts this month for tax fraud and having sex with an underage prostitute, can appeal the conviction which would suspend the sentence under Italian law.Italian sentencing guidelines indicate that people aged over 75 and with sentences of less than two years do not have to actually go to prison.Berlusconi, a billionaire media tycoon, is aged 76."I am disappointed and concerned because I am convinced that the proof was insufficient, contradictory or missing," Berlusconi's lawyer Piero Longo told reporters after the hearing."I was not expecting a conviction," he said.Demonstration plannedFabrizio Cicchitto, a leading member of Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, said: "The plan to eliminate Silvio Berlusconi through the justice system is now so obvious that it is dangerous for democracy.""We will our voices heard loud and strong on democracy and the need for justice that is fair and worthy of a civilised country," he said.The party is preparing a demonstration later this month against a justice system that Berlusconi frequently portrays as left-wing and biased.Berlusconi stood accused of violating secrecy laws after his Il Giornale daily published transcripts in 2005 that were widely seen as an attempt to discredit a senior member of the centre-left Democratic Party ahead of elections in 2006.The leaks were about the attempted takeover of BNL bank by insurance giant Unipol.Berlusconi's brother Paolo, editor of Il Giornale, was sentenced to two years and three months.Verdict expectedBerlusconi also faces a verdict possibly as early as 18 March in a trial in which he is accused of having sex with a then 17-year-old prostitute when he was prime minister and then abusing the power of his office by putting pressure on police to release her from custody.A verdict in his appeal trial against a tax fraud conviction from last year in which he was also sentenced to a year in prison is also expected around 23 March.Italian court dates are often changed at the last minute and Berlusconi's lawyers have tried to slow down all the trials, invoking "legitimate impediment" because of his duties as an MP.