NEWS,22.07.2013

Japan's Abe says he will focus on economy

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, fresh from a strong election victory, vowed on Monday to stay focused on reviving the stagnant economy and sought to counter suspicions he might instead shift emphasis to his nationalist agenda.
The victory in parliament's upper house election on Sunday cemented Abe's hold on power and gave him a stronger mandate for his prescription for reviving the world's third-biggest economy.
At the same time, it could also give lawmakers in his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), some with little appetite for painful but vital reforms, more clout to resist change.
"If we retreat from reforms and return to the old Liberal Democratic Party, we will lose the confidence of the people," Abe told a news conference on Monday.
He emphasized that his priority remains proceeding with his "Abenomics" programme of hyper-easy monetary policy, government spending and economic reform, describing it as the cornerstone of other policy goals.
"It is not easy to overcome 15 years of deflation," Abe said.
"It is a historic project. We will concentrate on that. We won't be able to strengthen the financial base for social security without a strong economy. The same goes for security and diplomacy."
Abe's LDP and its coalition partner, New Komeito, won 76 of the 121 seats contested. Along with seats that weren't up for election, the bloc now has a commanding 135 seats in the 242-seat upper chamber.
The win also raises the chances of a long-term Japanese leader for the first time since the reformist Junichiro Koizumi's rare five-year term ended in 2006.
It also ends a parliamentary deadlock that began in 2007 when Abe, then in his first term as premier, led his party to a humiliating upper house defeat that later forced him to resign. The LDP remains short of a majority on its own.
Ever since Abe stormed back to power with a big win in a December lower house poll, some - including Japanese businesses with a big stake in the matter - have worried the hawkish leader will shift focus to the conservative agenda that has long been central to his ideology.
That agenda includes revising the post-war pacifist constitution, strengthening Japan's defence posture and recasting Tokyo's wartime history with a less apologetic tone.
Despite the hefty win, Abe's mandate was undercut by low voter turnout, with 52.61% of eligible voters casting ballots, more than 5 percentage points below the turnout in the last upper house poll in 2010. That could keep up pressure to stay focused on the economy.
"Three faces"
For now, many experts suggest, Abe will stick with economic matters as he tries to beef up his so-far disappointing economic reform plans. He also confronts a decision on whether to go ahead with raising the 5% sales tax to 8% next April, part of a planned doubling by October 2015 aimed at reining in Japan's massive public debt.
"My understanding is that Abe-san has three faces: Abe as right-wing, Abe as a pragmatist, Abe as the economic reformer," said Shinichi Kitaoka, president of the International University of Japan.
"He has been showing the third face so far and will try to do the same after the election."
Still, Abe is moving towards security policy changes that mark a big shift in a country that has prided itself on pacifist ideals even as it built up a military bigger than Britain's.
Abe reiterated on Monday that he wants to debate changing a self-imposed ban on exercising the right of "collective self-defence", or aiding an ally under attack.
The ban means Japan would be unable to intercept an enemy missile fired at a US navy ship, Abe noted, which he said would call into question the US alliance itself.
Abe's government is also reviewing the possibility of acquiring a preemptive strike capability and creating a Marine force to protect remote islands such as those at the core of a territorial row with China.
One clue to how Abe intends to proceed on the touchy topic of wartime history will be whether he visits the Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, where Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal are also honoured, on the emotive Aug. 15 anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War Two.
A pilgrimage to the shrine would outrage China, where bitter memories of Japan's past militarism run deep, and upset Washington, which fears a further fraying of Tokyo's already fraught relations with its neighbours.
Abe moved quickly to improve ties with China and South Korea at the start of his first 2006-2007 term but it is unclear whether he will repeat that success in his second.
He has since taken a tougher stance towards Beijing, but reiterated on Monday his "door is always open" to diplomacy.
Ties between China and Japan have been seriously strained by territorial rows and feuds over wartime history.
Concerns are simmering about the risk of an unintended clash near disputed isles in the East China Sea where Japanese and Chinese vessels have been playing a cat-and-mouse game for months.
"In that environment, something could go wrong," said Michael Green, Japan Chair at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "That's the Black Swan."
Abe again said he wants to revise the 1947 constitution, drafted by US occupation forces after Japan's defeat and not altered since, although he made clear that was a long-term goal.
Conservatives see the constitution as not only restricting Japan's right to defend itself but as responsible for eroding traditional mores such as duty to the state.
The LDP and smaller parties that also favour revising the constitution failed to obtain the two-thirds majority required in both houses before a constitutional revision can be put before the government in a referendum.
The LDP's coalition partner is cautious about changing the charter's signature war-renouncing Article 9 which, if taken literally, bans maintenance of armed forces.
Sunday's election also left many wondering about the future of a competitive two-party democracy in Japan.
The opposition Democratic Party of Japan, which surged to power in 2009 only to be ousted last year, suffered its worst drubbing since its founding in 1998. 

Japan ruling party wins elections

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won an overwhelming victory in elections for the upper house of parliament, recapturing control of the chamber, final returns showed on Monday.

The conservative LDP won 65 seats and its ally, the New Komeito, captured 11 seats in Sunday's voting. The ruling coalition had needed 63 for a majority.

"I must respond to people's hopes that I will bring about [an economic recovery] that they can actually feel," the premier said on Sunday night.

Abe, who took office in December, promoted aggressive monetary easing to prop up the economy and appealed to voters to support his economic policies as he vowed to pull the country out of 15 years of deflation.

On Sunday, the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan grabbed only 17 seats, its worst showing in an upper house election since its foundation in 1996, while the Japanese Communist Party made significant leaps, winning 8 seats, the biggest number since 1998.

"It is a crucial step forward for us to take the offensive" against the LDP, JCP leader Kazuo Shii told a news conference.

"Citizens are concerned that the LDP will go out of control," he said.

In the 2007 upper house elections, the LDP led by then-premier Abe suffered a crushing defeat, losing a majority for the first time in its history.

The upper house has elections for half of its 242 seats every three years, and this year 433 candidates competed for the 121 seats.

Voter turnout in Sunday's elections was estimated at 51.57%, the lowest since the 1995 race, according to a tally by the Kyodo news agency.

Detroit not banking on Fed help - city

Detroit must dig itself out of the hole it created and cannot wait to see if the federal government will come to its rescue, the city's emergency manager said on Sunday.
Kevyn Orr, charged with guiding the collapsed Motor City out of the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history, said any outside assistance would be "great" but he is not banking on it.
"Hope is not a strategy from my perspective. I can't plan on the basis of what may or may not happen or what help may or may not come," Orr said on "Fox News Sunday."
"We are not expecting the cavalry to come charging in," he said. "We have to fix it because we dug the hole."
Detroit filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, setting the stage for a costly court battle with creditors and opening a new chapter in the long struggle to revive the cradle of America's auto industry.
If approved by a federal judge, the bankruptcy would force Detroit's thousands of creditors into negotiations with Orr to resolve an estimated $18.5bn in debt.
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said he was talking to officials in Washington about what they could do to help.
"I'm not sure exactly what to ask for. I mean, money is going (to) help, no doubt about that, but how much?" Bing said on ABC's "This Week."
The mayor has had no executive authority since Orr's appointment as emergency manager in March.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder told CBS' "Face the Nation" the city's problems had been 60 years in the making and he saw no prospect of a federal or state bailout.
Detroit has been hit hard by the move away from industrial manufacturing in America since the 1950s, its problems compounded by chronic mismanagement and a dwindling population. Retirees now far outnumber active workers among the city's 700 000 residents, and unfunded pension liabilities are a key source of its problems.
After the economic collapse of 2008, Washington injected billions of dollars into automakers General Motors and Chrysler as the first step of a quick bankruptcy process. But the federal government made no promises this time.
Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday said it was unclear whether Washington could help.
Steven Rattner, who led the auto industry restructuring in 2009, said it would be a mistake for Michigan and the federal government not to provide funds for the city.
"America is just as much about aiding those less fortunate as it is about personal responsibility. Government does this in so many ways; why shouldn't it help Detroit rebuild itself?" Rattner wrote in an opinion piece Friday in The New York Times.
The bankruptcy led investors to dump the city's municipal bonds on Friday but Orr deflected criticism that it will be hard for investors to lend the city money again.
"The reality is, they are going to look at the credit rating of a rehabilitated city. And if that city is capable, they're going to make rational decisions because they are financial institutions," Orr said on the Fox programme.

"After some time, after this little kerfuffle, we'll be back in business."

Biden on visit to fire up US-India ties

US Vice President Joe Biden was due in India on Monday at the start of a four-day visit designed to revive momentum in flagging diplomatic ties and fire up bilateral trade.
Biden, the first vice president to visit India in three decades, will meet senior leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi before heading to the financial hub Mumbai to deliver a keynote speech on the economy.
In an interview published in Monday's Times of India newspaper, Biden said the world's two biggest democracies had a "tremendous capability to work together" but should be doing more.
He also emphasised that he wanted to see an acceleration in bilateral trade, which he said was on track to meet $100bn this year.
Emerging market
"The United States has welcomed India's emergence and both nations have profited from it," the vice president said.
"India's rise as a global economic power is one of the most powerful stories of the 21st century," he added.
The announcement of Biden's visit was made during a trip to India last month by Secretary of State John Kerry, who sought to assuage Indian fears about the aftermath of next year's withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
India, which has spent more than two billion dollars of aid in Afghanistan, fears any return of the Taliban, hard-line Islamists who were strong allies of Pakistan before being toppled in 2001.
Nascent talks between the US and Taliban were due to start last month after the Islamists opened an office in Doha, but they collapsed before even getting off the ground.
Renounce violence
In his meeting with Indian leaders, Biden is expected to reiterate that the US will not back any peace process involving the Taliban unless they renounce violence.
"If the Taliban are to have any role in Afghanistan's political future, they will need to break ties with al-Qaeda, stop supporting violence and accept the Afghan constitution as part of the outcomes of any negotiated peace settlement," he told the Times of India.
"We strongly support the role India has played in Afghanistan, leveraging its economic strength to improve Afghanistan's economy ...in projects that will help to ensure our common goal of a stable and prosperous future for the Afghan people," he added.
Biden will fly on Wednesday to Mumbai where he is expected to hold a roundtable with business leaders and press for stronger intellectual property protection.
While bilateral trade has grown in recent years, there is still widespread frustration among US business leaders over what they see as unfair trading practices.
Among the points of contention is India's championing of generic drugs - which advocates say save lives in poor nations - despite protests from Western drug firms.
India in turn has been alarmed by proposals in the US Congress to curb visas for high-tech workers.
Insecurities
India's Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Commerce Minister Anand Sharma were both in Washington last week to pitch for investment and discuss India's readiness to open talks on a bilateral investment treaty.
"Economic engagement in both trade and investment, though robust, is well below potential, given the opportunities a growing economy like India offers and the opportunities in the largest economy of the United States," Sharma said.
Biden will be the most senior administration official to visit India since President Barack Obama visited in 2010.
While the US has been among the world powers calling for India to be given a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, observers detect a sense of drift in ties.
"India is a natural ally of the US but... relations require greasing occasionally because insecurities have crept in, especially on the Indian side," Subhash Agrawal, of the Delhi-based think tank India Focus, told AFP.
Biden will head from India to Singapore on Thursday, where officials say he will tackle tensions over the disputed South China Sea.

NEWS,24.06.2013

Iraq oil exports dip on weather, sabotage

Iraq's oil exports fell in May as poor weather hits its southern ports and saboteurs blew up a pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, the oil ministry said on Sunday.
Iraq exported 76.9 million barrels of oil, equivalent to an average rate of 2.48 million barrels per day (bpd), representing a five percent decline from daily export levels in April.
Average oil prices were $97.23 (€74.10) per barrel, meaning the country took in $7.477 billion from crude sales in May.
"There was a small reduction in exports during the month because of bad weather in the southern ports, and sabotage to the pipeline between Kirkuk and Ceyhan in Turkey," ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said in a statement.
Militants have repeatedly targeted the export pipeline which runs through northern Iraq, sometimes killing members of the oil police and the facilities protection service.
At least two attacks hit the pipeline in May.
Iraq is dependent on oil exports for the lion's share of its government income, and is seeking to dramatically ramp up its sales in the coming years to fund reconstruction of its battered infrastructure.
Officials are aiming to increase production capacity to nine million bpd by 2017. Oil output currently stands at 3.4 million bpd.
Earlier this month, Iraqi officials unveiled an ambitious energy strategy that aims to raise $6 trillion from oil and gas sales by 2030.

Snowden's HK exit shows Chinese anger

Officially, admitted leaker Edward Snowden was able to leave Hong Kong because US authorities made a mistake in their arrest request, but the semiautonomous Chinese city also indicated displeasure over Snowden's revelation that the former British colony had been a target of American hacking.

Beijing, meanwhile, says it had nothing to do with allowing the former National Security Agency contractor to fly to Russia on Sunday. But analysts believe the move was orchestrated by China to avoid a prolonged diplomatic tussle with the US over his extradition.

Snowden slipped out of Hong Kong on an Aeroflot flight to Moscow and was expected to transit through Cuba and Venezuela en route to possible asylum in Ecuador. His journey illustrates how the United States finds itself with few friends as it tries to apprehend the former CIA technician, who disclosed information on top-secret surveillance programmes.

Snowden, who had been hiding in Hong Kong for several weeks, had also revealed to a local newspaper details about the NSA's hacking of targets in Hong Kong. The revelations ratcheted up tensions between Washington and Beijing, which for months has been trying to counter US accusations that its government and military are behind computer-based attacks against America.

The Hong Kong government said it allowed Snowden to leave because the US request to provisionally arrest Snowden did not comply with legal requirements. At the same time, however, it mentioned that it asked the US for more information on the hacking, suggesting the issue played some role in its decision.

While Hong Kong has a high degree of autonomy from the rest of China, experts said Beijing orchestrated Snowden's exit to remove a minor irritant in Sino-US relations.

Heading off a crisis

"The central government had to have intervened since this is an issue of international relations and national security," said Shen Dingli, director of the Centre for American Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University.

Ultimately, Shen said, China compromised by deciding to neither grant Snowden protection nor hand him over as the US requested. That approach has the advantage of heading off a crisis in relations with the US and demonstrating to Washington that Beijing values the overall relationship over any advantage it might gain from keeping Snowden, Shen said. He said handing Snowden over would have been an unpopular move within China.

The Global Times, published by the ruling Communist Party, said in an editorial that Snowden "has performed a service" by uncovering "the sordid tale of how the US government violates the rights of its citizens and conducts cyber spying throughout the entire world".

China's Foreign Ministry distanced itself from any role in Snowden's departure from Hong Kong, saying the territory had the right to make its own decision.

"We have read reports but got no details. We will continue to follow up on relevant developments," spokesperson Hua Chunying was quoted as saying Sunday by the official Xinhua News Agency.

Hua said Beijing had "always respected" Hong Kong's ability to deal with such matters through its robust legal system.

Beijing might be calling the shots

Writing on the ministry's website, Hua also raised the issue of cybersecurity.

"We are gravely concerned about the recently disclosed cyberattacks by relevant US government agencies against China," she wrote. "It shows once again that China falls victim to cyberattacks. We have made representations with the US."

Hong Kong lawmaker and lawyer Albert Ho said he suspects authorities in Beijing were calling the shots.

He said his firm had been representing Snowden in an effort to clarify his legal situation with the government. Snowden wanted to know what his circumstances would be like in the event he was arrested and whether he would be able to leave the city if he wanted. Ho said an intermediary who claimed to represent the government relayed a message to Snowden saying he was free to leave and should do so.

Ho said he didn't know the identity of the intermediary and wasn't sure whether the person was acting on Hong Kong's or Beijing's behalf.

"The entire decision was probably made in Beijing and Beijing decided to act on its best interests," Ho told reporters. "However, Beijing would not want to be seen on stage because it would affect Sino-US relations. That's why China has somebody acting in the background."

Computer access

Under Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the city is allowed a high degree of autonomy from mainland Chinese authorities until 2047, although Beijing is allowed to intervene in cases involving defence and foreign affairs. The city has its own legal and financial system, a holdover from the British colonial rule that ended in 1997.

Ho also revealed a few more details about Snowden's life in hiding in Hong Kong, saying he had been living in a "private place" after he was forced to check out of the hotel where he was staying once he was discovered by journalists.

"Most of the time he did not leave the place where he was living, though once or twice he changed locations," Ho said.

"He only left at night, very carefully. He didn't want anyone to see him. He was very cautious."

Ho said Snowden lived in a "very small place. Fortunately he had a computer. He could contact anyone in the world".

Obama: US will apprehend Snowden legally

President Barack Obama said on Monday the United States was using all appropriate legal channels to apprehend fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden, who fled Hong Kong and landed in Moscow.

"What we know is that we are following all the appropriate legal channels and working with various other countries to make sure that the rule of law is observed," Obama told reporters at the White House.
The president then deferred to the US justice department, as American authorities seek to persuade Russia to expel Snowden, and not let him flee elsewhere, likely to asylum in Ecuador.
Earlier the White House warned that the decision to let Snowden leave Hong Kong has damaged efforts to rebuild trust in US-China relations, and said it expected Russia to hand him over.

Nuke terror - more talk, less action

More than 100 states meeting next week will warn of the threat of nuclear terrorism but without deciding on any concrete new steps to counter the danger, a draft ministerial statement showed on Monday.
The document, which member states of the UN nuclear agency have been negotiating since March, looked unlikely to satisfy those who advocate stronger international action to ensure that potential nuclear bomb material does not fall into the wrong hands.
Still, Vienna-based diplomats said it would form a basis for future measures to improve global nuclear security, and stressed that the responsibility was mainly national.
To get all countries on board, "you are not going to have a document as ambitious" as some may have wanted, one envoy said.
Analysts say radical groups could theoretically build a crude but deadly nuclear device if they have the money, technical know-how and the amount of fissile material needed.
They say groups such as al-Qaeda have been trying to get the components for such a nuclear bomb. Obtaining weapons-grade fissile material - highly enriched uranium or plutonium - poses their biggest challenge, so keeping it secure is vital, both at civilian and military facilities, experts and officials say.
Experts describe the threat of a crude fissile nuclear bomb technically difficult to manufacture and requiring hard-to-obtain bomb-grade uranium or plutonium, as a "low probability, high consequence act" that is, with the potential to cause massive harm to life and property.
On the other hand, a "dirty bomb", where conventional explosives are used to disperse radiation from a radioactive source, is a "high probability, low consequence act" with more potential to terrorise than cause large loss of life.
Diplomats say many countries regard nuclear security as a sensitive political issue that should be handled primarily by national authorities, and this was clearly reflected in the language of the ministerial statement.
Radiological terrorism
The statement, to be formally adopted at a 1 - 5 July conference hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said substantial progress has been made in the past few years to strengthen nuclear security, but that more is needed.
Ministers "remain concerned about the threat of nuclear and radiological terrorism and other malicious acts or sabotage related to facilities and activities involving nuclear and other radioactive material", said the document, obtained by Reuters.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano told Reuters last week that he saw "persistent risks" of nuclear terrorism. The information the UN watchdog receives about illicit nuclear-related trafficking may be the "tip of the iceberg", he said.
The international nuclear security regime "is not sufficiently robust" to protect against this kind of threat, an expert group said in a report this year.
An apple-sized amount of plutonium fashioned into a nuclear bomb and detonated in a highly populated urban area could instantly kill or injure hundreds of thousands of people, the Nuclear Security Governance Experts Group said.
"Preventing one of the world's major threats deserves bold action and new thinking," they added.
One of them, former Danish ambassador to the IAEA John Bernhard, said on Monday he believed the UN agency should have both more powers and resources to help enhance nuclear security.
US President Barack Obama last week said he would host a summit in 2016 on securing such materials and preventing nuclear terrorism. He put on such a summit in 2010, a second was held in Seoul in 2012 and a third will be in The Hague next year.
Unlike those meetings, attended by leaders from around 50 countries, next week's conference in Vienna is open to all members of the 159-nation IAEA, which says it expects officials from some 112 countries as well as 20 organisations.

Pakistan to try Musharraf for treason

Pakistan's new government said on Monday it would put former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on trial for treason, charges punishable by death or life imprisonment.

The retired general, who returned from four years of self-imposed exile in March, has been under house arrest at his villa on the edge of Islamabad since 19 April.

Any trial could put the civilian government at loggerheads with the powerful army, which vehemently opposes the prospect of its former chief facing the courts in Pakistan.

It also threatens to sabotage the chances of a quiet deal that Musharraf's legal team had hoped would allow the 69-year-old to win bail and quietly leave the country.

Once the most powerful man in the country, Musharraf faces a slew of charges relating to his 1999-2008 rule after seizing office from then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who won landmark elections in May.

"Musharraf's actions came under the purview of high treason," Sharif told parliament.

"He should face trial... and will have to answer for his guilt before the court," he added.

‘Unwarranted’ charges

Attorney General Munir Malik delivered the same statement on behalf of the government in the Supreme Court. A treason trial can be initiated only by the state.

"Those who aided or abetted holding the constitution in abeyance will also be brought to justice," Malik said.

Pakistan's highest court has for months been hearing a petition from lawyers demanding that Musharraf be tried for subverting the constitution by imposing emergency rule and sacking judges in 2007.

Judge Jawad Khwaja ordered the attorney general to inform the court on Thursday about the precise steps required to bring those guilty of treason to justice.

Musharraf's office accused the Sharif government of "demonstrating recklessness" in pursuing "unwarranted" treason charges, which it warned could destabilise the country.

"The former president has served Pakistan with selfless devotion and perseverance. The people of Pakistan will not tolerate this circus, which is primarily meant to create a diversion," it said.

‘Pandora’s box’

On Saturday, Islamist gunmen dressed as police killed 10 foreign tourists and a Pakistani at a remote base camp in the Himalayas, an unprecedented attack on mountaineers and the worst attack on foreigners in around a decade.

Musharraf's defence lawyer told reporters that putting Musharraf on trial would open "Pandora's box" in the country, which sits on the frontline of al-Qaeda and Taliban violence.

"Those who were collaborators are equally responsible, they should also be put on trial," Ahmed Raza Kasuri told reporters outside the Supreme Court.

"Whatever he did was in the interest of the state. I am confident, God willing, he will be exonerated," he said.

Pakistan's 11 May elections marked the first time that a democratically elected civilian government has served out a full five years in office and handed over at the ballot box.

It was an astonishing comeback for Sharif, who was deeply unpopular as prime minister in 1999 and whose replacement by Musharraf was widely welcomed.

Constitution violations

In April, a caretaker government guiding Pakistan through the elections refused to initiate the trial against Musharraf, saying it was beyond its mandate and up to the new government.

Sharif did not mince his words.

"Musharraf violated the constitution twice. He overthrew an elected government in 1999 and put everything into jeopardy. He sacked judges and imprisoned them," said Sharif.

"We will follow the process of law and all political forces will be taken into confidence," he added.

The two main opposition parties, Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by politician Imran Khan welcomed Sharif's remarks.

"This house should have another resolution against all dictators so that no one can cast an evil eye on this house," said Syed Khurshid Shah, PPP opposition leader in the national assembly.

House arrest

PTI's Shah Mehmood Qureshi said his party would support the prime minister on "every move towards supremacy of the constitution and law".

Musharraf faces three other cases dating back to his rule.

He has won bail for sacking judges and over the 2007 murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, but remains under house arrest over the 2006 killing of a Baluch rebel leader.

On Monday, courts in south-western province Baluchistan adjourned until 10 July a petition seeking to move the Baluch trial to Islamabad for security reasons and the hearing on the killing to 15 July, lawyers said.

Musharraf is serving his house arrest at his luxury villa in the upmarket suburb of Chak Shahzad on the edge of Islamabad. He is currently barred from leaving the country.

NEWS,22.6.2013

9/11 victim identified 12 years later

A 43-year-old woman killed in the 11 September attacks in New York has been identified, bringing the total number of identified victims to 1 636, authorities said on Friday.
"The identification was made by retesting of remains recovered during the original recovery" in World Trade Center debris, said Ellen Borakove, a spokesperson for the office of the chief medical examiner.
She said the office will not release the woman's name at the request of the family.
A total of 2 753 people were reported missing in the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, when al-Qaeda hijackers flew two airliners into the Twin Towers.
A third plane was flown into the Pentagon, while a fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field after its passengers tried to overpower the hijackers.
To date, only 59% of the New York victims have been identified and no trace has been found of the remaining 41%.
A new search for human remains was launched near the site in April after a piece of plane wreckage was found stuck between two buildings. But no new remains were found.

Snowden extradition could take years

Attempts to extradite ex-intelligence technician Edward Snowden, charged with espionage by US authorities, will result in a protracted legal battle in Hong Kong that could last years, experts said on Saturday.
Hong Kong, a former British colony that retained a separate legal system when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, has a long-standing extradition treaty with the US, but Beijing has the potential to veto any ruling.
However Beijing has appeared to distance itself from any decision on the possible extradition of Snowden, who is in hiding in the southern Chinese city after blowing the lid on vast US surveillance programmes targeting phone calls and Internet traffic.
Hong Kong officials remained tight-lipped on Saturday as to whether they will hold Snowden a day after Washington charged the former CIA contractor with espionage, theft and "conversion of government property".
Hong Kong lawmaker Alan Leong said that if local authorities proceed with extradition, it could result in a lengthy legal battle.
"If every appeal opportunity is taken, I suppose the process will last between three and five years" at the very least, he told AFP.
The case could possibly drag "through at least the magistrates' court, the Court of Appeal and the Court of Final Appeal. So, at least three levels of (Hong Kong) courts," he said.
Snowden can claim fears of political persecution and ask for political asylum, which will buy him time, said Christopher Gane, the dean of law school of Chinese University of Hong Kong.
"If the court decides this man cannot be sent back, this is the end of it. He can't be sent back," he told AFP.
"But if the court decides he could be sent back, it is still up to the Hong Kong chief executive to decide whether to do so. This is when all kinds of possible considerations can come in," Gane said.
Experts have claimed that Snowden is testing Hong Kong's civil liberties under its "one country, two systems" framework by retreating to the former British colony.
Snowden has exposed details on vast US surveillance operations, leaking documents that appear to show huge quantities of private telephone and Internet data, such as emails and call records, have been scooped up with little or no judicial oversight.
The revelations have embarrassed US President Barack Obama's administration, which was forced to defend US intelligence agencies practice of gathering huge amounts of telephone and Internet data from private users around the world.
Snowden has warned more leaks were on the way, declaring: "Truth is coming and it cannot be stopped."

Brazilian president breaks silence

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff vowed to battle corruption while improving government services as she acknowledged the anger that has led to vast, sometimes violent protests across Latin America's largest country.

Friday's nationally broadcast 10-minute address ended Rousseff's much-criticised silence in the face of demonstrations that have roiled the nation for more than a week, and were projected to continue on Saturday.
She said she planned to soon meet with leaders of the protest movement, governors and the mayors of major cities. But it remained unclear who could represent the massive and decentralised groups of demonstrators taking to the streets, venting anger over a range of grievances, including woeful public services despite a high tax burden.
Rousseff said that her government would create a national plan for public transportation in cities. Officials in many cities have already backed down from the hike in bus and subway fares that set off the protests. She also reiterated her backing for a plan before congress to invest all oil revenue royalties in education and a promise she made earlier to bring in foreign doctors to areas that lack physicians.
"I want institutions that are more transparent, more resistant to wrongdoing," Rousseff said in reference to complaints of deep corruption in Brazilian politics, which is emerging as a focal point of the protests. "It's citizenship and not economic power that must be heard first."
Marxist rebel
The leader is a Marxist rebel who fought against Brazil's 1964-1985 military regime and was imprisoned for three years and tortured by the junta, and she pointedly referred to earlier sacrifices made to free the nation from dictatorship.
"My generation fought a lot so that the voice of the streets could be heard," Rousseff said. "Many were persecuted, tortured and many died for this. The voice of the street must be heard and respected and it can't be confused with the noise and truculence of some troublemakers."
Edvaldo Chaves, a 61-year-old doorman in Rio's upscale Flamengo neighbourhood, said he found the speech convincing.
"I thought she seemed calm and cool. Plus, because she was a guerrilla and was in exile, she talks about the issue of protests convincingly," Chaves said. "I think things are going to calm down. We'll probably keep seeing people in the streets but probably small numbers now."
But Bruna Romao, an 18-year-old store clerk in Sao Paulo, said Rousseff's words probably wouldn't have an impact.
"Brazilians are passionate," she said. "We boil over quickly but also cool down fast. But this time it's different, people are in full revolt. I don't see things calming down anytime soon."
Some 1 million anti-government demonstrators took to the streets nationwide Thursday night to denounce everything from poor public services to the billions of dollars spent preparing for next year's World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
Protests continue
The protests continued Friday, as about 1 000 people marched in western Rio de Janeiro city, with some looting stores and invading a $250 million arts centre that remains empty after several years of construction. Police tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas as they were pelted with rocks. Police said some in the crowd were armed and firing at officers.
Other protests broke out in the country's biggest city, Sao Paulo, where traffic was paralyzed but no violence was reported, and in Fortaleza in the country's northeast. Demonstrators were calling for more mobilizations in 10 cities on Saturday.
With Pope Francis scheduled to visit Brazil next month, the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops issued a statement expressing "solidarity and support for the demonstrations, as long as they remain peaceful."
"This is a phenomenon involving the Brazilian people and the awakening of a new consciousness," the Catholic leaders said in the statement. "The protests show all of us that we cannot live in a country with so much inequality."
Rousseff had never held elected office before she became president in 2011 and remains clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight. A career technocrat and economist, she was helped into the presidency by her mentor, the tremendously popular former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Marlise Matos, a political science professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, said before Rousseff spoke that officials need to take stronger action.
"The government has to respond, even if the agenda seems unclear and wide open," she said. "It should be the president herself who should come out and provide a response. But I think the government is still making strategic calculations to decide how to respond. What I'd like to see as a response is a call for a referendum on political reform. Let the people decide what kind of political and electoral system we have."
Social media buzzing
Social media and mass emails were buzzing with calls for a general strike next week. However, Brazil's two largest nationwide unions, the Central Workers Union and the Union Force, said they knew nothing about such an action, though they do support the protests.
A Thursday night march in Sao Paulo was the first with a strong union presence, as a drum corps led members wearing matching shirts down the city's main avenue. Many protesters have called for a movement with no ties to political parties or unions, which are widely considered corrupt here.
The unrest is hitting the nation as it hosts the Confederations Cup soccer tournament, with tens of thousands of foreign visitors in attendance.
Carlos Cardozo, a 62-year-old financial consultant who joined Friday's protest in Rio, said he thought the unrest could cost Rousseff next year's elections. Even as recently as last week, Rousseff had enjoyed a 74 percent approval rating in a poll by the business group the National Transport Confederation.
"Her paying lip service by saying she's in favour of the protests is not helping her cause," Cardozo said. "People want to see real action, real decisions, and it's not this government that's capable of delivering."

Calgary to be shut for days after flood

Southern Alberta braced for more disruption on Saturday from floods that have killed at least two people, forced about 100 000 people from their homes and blacked out the centre of Canada's oil capital, Calgary.
Communities to the south and east of Calgary were put on high alert as the flood waters moved across the region. But with rainfall easing up, authorities were hopeful that the worst might now be over.
"It's morning in Calgary! Sunny, water levels are down, and our spirit remains strong," Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said on Twitter. "We're not out of this, but maybe have turned (the) corner."
The floods followed some 36 hours of unusually heavy rainfall - some communities received six months of their normal rainfall in less than two days.
Evacuations started on Thursday, both in Calgary and in smaller cities across the south of the province. Utility Enmax switched off power to central Calgary late on Friday afternoon lest water damage its downtown facilities.
Calgary was unable to say how much it would cost to repair flooded homes and rebuild roads and bridges washed away by the murky brown floodwater.
But the floods are already shaping up to be significantly worse than those of 2005, which caused C$400 million in damage after three big storms struck in a single week.
The bulk of the evacuations were in Calgary, a city of 1.1 million that is home to Canada's biggest energy companies, with up to 100 000 people ordered to leave their homes. The city urged drivers to stay off the roads, and warned people not to get too close to the raging rivers.
Canada's oil producing region, way to the north of the city, was not affected, although some agricultural regions were flooded, with likely damage to crops that include wheat and canola.
"A lot of Albertans have faced disasters the likes of which the majority of us could never imagine," Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths told a news conference.
The bodies of two men were found near High River, Alberta, a town of 13,000 located about 60 km (37 miles) south of Calgary. Police said two other people were missing.
In Calgary authorities said the Bow and Elbow Rivers had crested and water levels were expected to drop over the next few days. But the Bow was still flowing at around five times its normal rate on Saturday.
Mandatory evacuation orders remained in place in more than 20 parts of Calgary including the downtown core.
Nenshi said downtown, where many of Canada's oil companies have their headquarters, could be off limits until Wednesday.
Moving home
A spokesman for Imperial Oil, Canada's second-largest producer and refiner, said the company was working on plans to maintain essential operations, including allowing employees to work from other locations.
Shorcan Energy Brokers, which provides live prices for many Canadian crude grades, operated out of Toronto on Friday rather than at its usual Calgary base, although no trades in either Western Canada Select heavy blend or light synthetic crude from the oil sands took place.
Net Energy Inc, the other main Calgary crude broker, was closed on Friday and no trading took place.
Bruce Burrell, director of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency, said there was still a chance of another surge in the Bow and Elbow rivers, but city authorities hoped people could move back to their communities as water levels fell.
Many roads and bridges remained closed, and residents were urged to conserve drinking water because treatment plants are taking more time to process the sludgy water.
The parts of Calgary under water included the grounds of the annual Calgary Stampede, which is due to start on July 5.
Burrell said the city would be working hard to restore Stampede Park in time for the rodeo, but it was not a priority.