NEWS,09.03.2013

Obama reaching out to Republicans

US President Barack Obama says he's reaching out to lawmakers from both parties in hopes of untangling the gridlock that has stymied progress on budget issues in Washington.In his weekly radio and internet address, Obama said on Saturday that he's talking with Republicans about ways to replace the automatic spending cuts that took effect on 1 March. He said immigration reform and gun control are other areas where he's hopeful Democrats and Republicans can find common ground.Obama said that even though unemployment fell to 7.7% last month, expanding the economy is still his top priority.In the Republican address, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama says he's worried that Senate Democrats will unveil a budget next week that won't curb the nation's debt. He's insisting that lawmakers balance the federal budget.

Fiery funeral for Venezuela's Chavez

Hugo Chavez was lauded as a modern-day reincarnation of Latin American liberator Simon Bolivar at a fiery, foot-stomping state funeral on Friday, hours before his handpicked successor was sworn in as acting president over the fierce objections of the opposition.Nicolas Maduro took the oath of office in the National Assembly before ruling party legislators, dignitaries and a boisterous crowd of sympathisers that chanted "Chavez lives! Maduro carries on!" Holding up a tiny blue-bound booklet of Venezuela's 1999 constitution in his right hand, Maduro pledged his "most absolute loyalty" to Chavez.He broke into tears as he spoke of his mentor during a strident acceptance speech that included numerous attacks on the United States, capitalist elites and the international media.Maduro also claimed the allegiance of Venezuela's army, calling it "the armed forces of Chavez" as he pumped his fist in the air, a gesture that was reciprocated by the defense minister watching from the gallery. Critics have voiced increasing concern about the overt support the military has shown to the ruling party since Chavez's death despite a ban on the army's participation in politics.The opposition largely boycotted the swearing-in, calling it unconstitutional. Henrique Capriles, Maduro's likely opponent in presidential election that must be called within 30 days, spoke condescendingly of the former bus driver and union leader, referring to him as "boy" and accusing him of "shamelessly" lying to the country.At Chavez's state funeral earlier in the day, Maduro stood before an assemblage of presidents, princes and left-wing glitterati, speaking in a booming voice over the flag-draped casket in a ceremony that at times smacked of a political rally."Here we are, Comandante, your men, on their feet," Maduro shouted, government officials rising behind him. "All your men and women ... loyal until beyond death."The funeral began with Venezuela's national youth orchestra singing the national anthem, led by famed conductor Gustavo Dudamel. A government-allied congressman later belted out cowboy songs from Chavez's native Barinas state.The streets outside the military academy took on a carnival atmosphere, with military bands launching into marches and an expanse of supporters wearing the red of Chavez's socialist party. Street vendors sold paper replicas of the presidential sash, which many people in the line slipped over their shoulders.Throngs watched the ceremony on huge monitors under the blazing sun. A line of people waiting to see Chavez's body stretched 2km, but the viewing was halted as the funeral got under way.In the funeral hall, more than 30 political leaders including Cuba's Raul Castro, Spanish Crown Prince Felipe de Borbon, and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood at attention before Chavez's flag-draped coffin, which was closed for the ceremony.Maduro announced on Thursday that the government would embalm Chavez's body and put it on permanent display, a decision that touched off strong passions on both sides.

Venezuela waits for election details

Venezuela on Saturday was awaiting a key ruling from the nation's elections commission about details of a vote to replace Hugo Chavez, including a possible date for the poll.The constitution mandates that elections be called within 30 days of Chavez's 5 March death, though some have speculated the country will not be ready to organise a vote in that time frame.The National Election Commission scheduled an announcement amid increasingly strident rhetoric on both sides of this politically polarised country.Chavez's boisterous, passionate state funeral on Friday often felt like a political rally for his anointed successor, Nicolas Maduro, who eulogised him by pledging eternal loyalty and vowing to never be defeated.Maduro was sworn in as interim leader late on Friday, delivering a strident speech that took shots at the US, the media, international capitalism and domestic opponents he often depicted as treacherous. He claimed the allegiance of Venezuela's army, referring to them as the "armed forces of Chavez", despite the fact the military is barred from taking sides in politics.The opposition has denounced the transition as an unconstitutional power grab, and likely standard-bearer Henrique Capriles said his side was studying its strategy for the vote, which will be held in the shadow of the government's efforts to immortalise Chavez.Since his death, the former paratrooper has been compared to Jesus Christ and early 19th century Venezuelan liberator Simon Bolivar, and the government announced that his body would be embalmed and put on eternal display.Venezuelan television on Saturday showed a long line of people still filing by Chavez's glass-topped coffin, which has been on display since on Wednesday. Many had waited through the night for a brief glimpse of their former leader.In his acceptance speech on Friday, Maduro warned the opposition not to boycott the vote."That would be a grave error," he said.Opposition figures have said they are concerned about the vote's fairness, particularly given the public vows of allegiance to Chavez from senior military officials. Capriles lost to Chavez in 7 October elections, but he garnered 45% of the vote.A boycott of 2005 legislative elections was widely seen as disastrous for the opposition. It let Chavez's supporters to win all 167 seats, allowing him to govern unimpeded by any legislative rivals.In the streets on Saturday, many Venezuelans said they expected the opposition to take part in the poll, which will decide the president for the next six years."They will be present, yes, they will take part in the election," said Benito Villalba, a 62-year-old retiree who said he would vote for Maduro.

Catholics ready election of new pope

Fire-fighters on Saturday installed the top of the Sistine Chapel chimney that will signal to the world that a new pope has been elected, as the Vatican took measures to definitively end Benedict XVI's pontificate.While construction workers prepared the interior of the frescoed Sistine Chapel for Tuesday's start of the conclave, officials elsewhere in the Apostolic Palace destroyed Benedict's fisherman's ring and the personal seals and stamps for official papers.The act, coupled with Benedict's public resignation and pledge of obedience to the future pope, is designed to signal a definitive end of his papacy so there is no doubt in the church that a new pope is in charge.The developments all point toward the momentous decision soon to confront the Catholic Church: Tuesday's start of the conclave to elect a new pope to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and try to solve the numerous problems facing the church.The Vatican outlined the timeline for the balloting and confirmed that the bells of St Peter's Basilica will ring once a pope has been elected. But Vatican officials also acknowledged that there is some uncertainty about the whole endeavour, given the difficulties in discerning the colour of smoke that will snake out of the Sistine chimney - black if no pope has been elected, white if a victor has emerged.Vatican spokesperson, the Reverend Federico Lombardi, laughed off concerns, saying that some "suspense" was all part of the beauty of the process."We're not going to send out text messages or SMS messages, you'll have to come and see," another Vatican spokesperson, the Rev Thomas Rosica, said.For the sixth day, cardinals met behind closed doors to discuss the problems of the church and once again they discussed the work of the Holy See's offices "and how to improve it", according to Lombardi.The Holy See's internal governance has been the major constant in these days of discussion, an indication that the revelations of corruption, political infighting and turf battles exposed by the leaks of papal documents last year are casting a very big shadow over this conclave.While the cardinals ponder their choices, preparations for the vote continue.On Saturday, a handful of fire-fighters climbed onto the Sistine Chapel's roof and installed the top of the chimney. Inside Michelangelo's frescoed masterpiece, construction workers staple-gunned the felt carpeting to the false floor that has been erected over the chapel's stone floor.The false floor both evens out the steps of the chapel and hides the jamming equipment that has been installed to prevent any cellphone or eavesdropping devices from working. And in fact, on Saturday, cellphones had no reception in the chapel.For such an important decision, the Sistine chimney is an awfully simple affair: A century-old cast iron stove where the voting ballot papers are burned, with a copper pipe out the top that snakes up the Sistine's frescoed walls, out the window and onto the chapel roof.After years of confusion about whether the smoke was black or white, the Vatican in 2005 installed an auxiliary stove where fumigating cases are lit. The smoke from those cases - black or white - joins the burned ballot smoke out the chimney.

Screaming crowds greet Kim on frontline

North Korean television broadcast emotional scenes on Friday of cheering soldiers and their young families greeting leader Kim Jong-Un as he visited a frontline unit that shelled the South in 2010. With tensions surging on the Korean peninsula, Kim said the North's military was "fully ready to fight a Korean style all-out war," as he visited two islands close to the disputed maritime border on Thursday, state media said.Footage of the visit showed him being greeted by chanting troops who were held back as they surged towards him. Their families brought their children to meet him, with one woman encouraging her daughter forward for a hug.At the end of the trip, the soldiers ran down to the beach and waded chest deep into the freezing water clutching at Kim's motor launch as it moved away. The tour coincided with an outpouring of vitriol from Pyongyang over UN sanctions imposed for its nuclear test last month, with the North threatening pre-emptive nuclear strikes on the US and its allies, and vowing to rip up peace pacts with South Korea.Speaking to troops stationed on the islands, Kim said the slightest provocation would result in his immediate order for a "great advance" along the entire frontline with the South, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.On Mu island he inspected artillery units that shelled the nearby South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in November 2010, killing four people and triggering an exchange of fire that sparked fears of a full-blown conflict.State television showed Kim inspecting the craters left by South artillery shells on the island in what he described as the "most gratifying" battle since the end of the Korean War in 1953.The television footage showed him with binoculars looking across at Yeonpyeong Island and apparently discussing target selection with the artillery officers."He reconfirmed in detail reinforced fire power strike means and targets of the enemy deployed on five islets," including Yeonpyeong island and "defined the order of precision strikes" on those targets, KCNA said.Kim was accompanied on his tour by top members of the North Korean leadership, including political commissar Choe Ryong-Hae and Defence Minister Kim Kyok-Sik.

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.

NEWS,05. AND 06.03.2013

Prince to boycott Forbes billionaires list

Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, the richest man in the Arab world, is to boycott Forbes magazine's global billionaires list claiming that it underestimates his wealth, his Kingdom Holding Company announced Tuesday.Forbes' recently issued billionaires list puts Alwaleed at 26th place, with a net worth of $20bn.A statement posted on the company's website said that "Prince Alwaleed has taken this step as he felt he could no longer participate in a process which resulted in the use of incorrect data and seemed designed to disadvantage Middle Eastern investors and institutions."It said Forbes was using "differing standards of proof for different individuals and organizations resulting in an arbitrary and confusing set of standards that seems demonstrably biased against the Middle East".The Kingdom Holding Company statement included a recommendation for the rival Bloomberg Billionaires List which puts Alwaleed in 16th place worldwide and pegs his wealth at $28bn.An article posted on Forbes' website hit back at Alwaleed, saying that "Of the 1 426 billionaires on our list, not one ... goes to greater measures to try to affect his or her ranking".Forbes writer Kerry Dolan added that "former Alwaleed executives have been telling me that the prince, while indeed one of the richest men in the world, systematically exaggerates his net worth by several billion dollars".

EU delays bank bonus ban

European Union governments on Tuesday delayed a decision on controversial bank bonus caps after Britain offered hope of an overall deal if given more time to negotiate.EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to take another look at plans to cap bonuses at the same amount as is paid in a fixed annual salary, or twice that sum if shareholders approved the payment.British Finance Minister George Osborne told his peers during a public debate on Tuesday that "we can’t support the proposal currently on the table".However, he added, that "if we make progress in the next couple of weeks ... I would hope that the finance minister of the largest financial centre in Europe can support (an amended legislative text) wholeheartedly". The European Parliament is planning to vote in April on the accord drawn up with the Irish EU presidency which introduces new internationally agreed legislation to strengthen banks and make them better able to withstand any future crisis.Parliament insisted that a cap on bank bonuses be included at the same time so as to satisfy public anger over the issue.After last week's accord was worked out, Switzerland voted on Sunday strongly in favour of sharp curbs on executive pay, widely blamed for the excessive risk-taking which contributed to the 2008 global financial crisis.The new regulations called Basel III primarily tighten up bank capital requirements. They were due to take effect this January but next year now seems the most likely.Britain is home to some three quarters of the EU's finance industry and London has long maintained that bonus and salary caps would make Europe's banking sector uncompetitive.Osborne said, however, that he accepted and understood public anger at exorbitant remuneration that brought banks and then governments to their knees in the last five years.He told his counterparts that Britain was "absolutely clear that more and more of the pay paid to bankers should be tied to long-term performance".He pleaded that banking excesses had already been curbed, arguing that "bonuses in London are today 80% less than at the height of the irresponsibility in the banking system".And he warned that the plans agreed by the EU's Irish chair and the Parliament would leave taxpayers exposed once more."It will push salaries up, it will actually make it more difficult to claw back bonuses when things go wrong," Osborne said.An official said negotiations would now centre on how to steer permissible incentives more towards the long-term, with extra safeguards enabling "clawbacks" when things go wrong.Osborne won crucial backing during the meeting from Germany's Wolfgang Schaeuble, who said the "broad concensus" of support around the table was adequate but not sufficient."I think if we could achieve (an agreement) in the final decision, not only a qualified majority, it would be better" than isolating London in another backs-to-the-wall vote, he reasoned.Ireland's Michael Noonan, summing up, said officials and the European Parliament would work further on the proposed caps and timescales for banks to apply them."We will try to iron these out in the coming weeks," said Noonan.

BoE boss urges government to break up RBS

Bank of England governor Mervyn King said on Wednesday that the British government should split the Royal Bank of Scotland into "good" and "bad" bank divisions to return it more quickly to the private sector.King argued that state-rescued RBS needed a "decisive restructuring" in comments before the Parliamentary commission on banking standards, which was set up to report on professional standards and culture in Britain's banks.The BoE chief told lawmakers that RBS was holding the wider economy back, and added that it was "not beyond the wit of man" to split RBS into a "good" and "bad" bank to ensure it would aid recovery and boost lending."The lessons of history is that we should face up to it - it's worth less than we thought and we should accept that and get back to finding a way to create a new RBS that could be a major lender to the UK economy," said King, who will be replaced as the central bank's head by Canadian Mark Carney in July.RBS, which remains 81% state-owned after a vast state bailout, had last week posted a net loss of almost £6.0bn (€6.9bn, $9.0bn) for 2012. That was the bank's fifth successive annual loss.The lender was rescued at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008 with £45.5bn of taxpayers' cash.RBS chief executive Stephen Hester had insisted on Thursday last week that its return to the private sector was on track and could be completed within two years.However, King said on Wednesday that it was "nonsense" to think the government could run the bank at arm's length, adding that he had discussed the matter with Finance Minister George Osborne."Time has passed and aside from reducing the balance sheet, nothing has been achieved - we haven't managed to get it into the private sector," noted the BoE chief."It would be much better to accept that it should have been a temporary period only, and the longer this goes on, the more difficult it becomes."RBS was plagued last year by compensation payouts for mis-selling, Libor rate-rigging fines and a vast accounting charge.Losses after taxation widened to £5.97bn last year, compared with a shortfall of £1.997bn in 2011.RBS was sunk by its badly-timed consortium takeover of Dutch bank ABN Amro at the top of the market in 2007, just before the financial crisis struck.

US wasted billions in Iraq

After invading Iraq ten years ago, the United States spent $60bn on a vast reconstruction effort that left behind few successes and a litany of failures, an auditor's report said on Wednesday. The ambitious plan to transform the country after the fall of Saddam Hussein has been marked by half-finished projects and crushed expectations, according to the final report of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart Bowen.The aid effort was plagued by in-fighting among US agencies and an improvised "adhocracy" approach, with no one clearly in charge of a massive investment that was supposed to put Iraq on a stable footing, said the report to Congress."Management and funding gaps caused hundreds of projects to fall short of promised results, leaving a legacy of bitter dissatisfaction among many Iraqis," it said.Some of the reconstruction money was stolen, with a number of US military officers and contractors now imprisoned for fraud, while other funds remain unaccounted for to this day, it said.Of $2.8bn in Iraqi oil revenues handled by the US Defence Department, officials could not produce documents accounting for the use of about $1.7bn, including $1.3bn in fuel purchases, it said.The lengthy report highlighted some of the worst examples of mismanagement and graft and included interviews with senior Iraqi and US officials who mostly regretted the outcome of the reconstruction programme."The level of fraud, waste, and abuse in Iraq was appalling," Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, was quoted as saying.She was "especially angry when she learned that some reconstruction money found its way into the hands of insurgent groups," the report said.Both Iraqi and US officials agreed that the Americans ignored the advice of Iraqis or never bothered to consult them before launching costly projects, with sometimes disastrous results.The litany of failures included a new police academy with raw sewage leaking through ceilings, a subcontractor charging $900 for a control switch valued at seven dollars and a project to build large prison in Diyala province that was eventually abandoned, despite an investment of $40m.

Memorable Chavez quotes

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died on Tuesday at the age of 58, was a garrulous public speaker whose words enchanted followers and angered foes. Here are some memorable phrases:

- "Comrades, regrettably, for now the goals we set were not achieved."

On 4 February 1992 when the then paratrooper lieutenant colonel took responsibility for the failure of a coup against Venezuelan president Carlos Andres Perez.

- "Marisabel, tonight I will give you what is yours."

On 14 February 2000 to his wife Marisabel Rodriguez, whom he later divorced.

- "Cuba is the sea of happiness. That's where Venezuela is going."

On 8 March 2000 as he received Cuban volunteer workers. Cuba's retired leader Fidel Castro was a key political ally of Chavez, who regarded him as "a father".

- "ALCA, ALCA... al carajo [Go to hell]!"

On 4 November 2005 on the sidelines of the Summit of the Americas in the Argentina as he opposed the creation of the US-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas, known by the Spanish acronym ALCA.

- "You are a donkey, Mr Danger."

On 19 March 2006 in his weekly television show Hello President, referring to then US president George W Bush, whom he also described as "a coward", "a killer", "a [perpetrator of] genocide" and "a drunk".

- "Yesterday, the devil was here. Right here, and it still smells of sulfur."

On 20 September 2006 in a speech to the UN General Assembly again referring to Bush, who had addressed the assembly a day earlier.

- "Don't mess with me, Condoleezza. Don't mess with me, girl."

On 19 February 2006, responding to then US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, who days earlier had slammed Venezuela as a threat to regional democracy and a "sidekick" of Iran.

- "Go to hell, shitty Yankees!"

On 11 September 2008, during a fiery speech as he expelled the US ambassador in Caracas in solidarity with Bolivia, which had taken a similar action days earlier.

- "I want to be your friend."

On 18 April 2009 to US President Barack Obama during the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago.

- "We will live and will win!"

On 30 June 2011 after he was diagnosed with cancer, dropping his gloomier slogan: "Socialist fatherland or death."

- "You have a pig's tail, a pig's ears, and you snort like a pig. You are a pig."

On 16 February 2012 to opposition rival Henrique Capriles ahead of the October presidential election.

- "Give me your crown of thorns, Christ, give it to me, so that I bleed; Give me your cross, 100 crosses, and I will carry them for you. But give me life, because I still have things to do for my people and my country. Don't take me yet."

On 5 April 2012 during a mass for his health during cancer treatment.

- "Choose Maduro as president of the republic. I am asking you this from all my heart."

On 8 December 2012 urging countrymen to vote for Vice President Nicolas Maduro in the next election should he become incapacitated as he revealed that he needed more cancer surgery.

- "We have arrived again to the Venezuelan motherland... Thank you, God. Thank you, my beloved people... I am holding on to Jesus Christ and trust my doctors and nurses... As always, see you in victory. We will live and we will win."

On 18 February breaking a weeks-long period of silence to announce his return to Venezuela after a final trip to Cuba for treatment.

Venezuela says goodbye to Chavez

Throngs of Venezuelans crowded the streets of Caracas on Wednesday, many clad in red, waving flags and weeping in a final goodbye to late president Hugo Chavez as he was taken through the capital. Some watched from apartment windows, others climbed fences to get a better view and many held up smartphones to take pictures of the flag-draped coffin adorned with flowers. Many shouted "I love you Chavez!""Viva my comandante! We love you Chavez," exclaimed Hector Carrasquel, 40, who came from Tejeria, west of Caracas, for the procession."I'm here to say my final goodbye to my president. There will never be another Chavez. He is the greatest man that this fatherland gave us," said Jose Gregorio Conde, 34, an education worker."I couldn't sleep all night thinking about what happened," he said outside the Caracas military hospital where Chavez lost his battle to cancer on Tuesday at the age of 58.A guard in red uniform led the procession, holding a sword, as Vice President Nicolas Maduro and other officials marched toward the military academy where Chavez will lie in state until Friday. "What can I say, I am very sad," said Isabel Febres, who cried as she stared at a photo of Chavez with his presidential sash.Many had spent the night outside the hospital while others arrived early under the Caribbean sun. Some read the official daily Ciudad Caracas, whose headline read "Onward to victory, always, Comandante Chavez!""I love him," said Iris Dicuro, 62, who came from the north-eastern city of Puerto La Cruz and wore a shirt with the words "Forward Comandante”. "I want to bid farewell because he was a good man who gave everything to the poor.""He did well for me. I am healthy thanks to him, for the Cuban doctors that he brought here," she said, referring to one of the many oil-funded social programs he brought to impoverished neighbourhoods.Amid the grief, many were sure that Chavez's 14-year legacy would continue and that they would vote for Maduro, his chosen successor, in elections expected to take place within 30 days."God willing, we will continue the last wishes of my president and we will vote for Maduro. We can't allow everything to be lost. What he did, giving us education, new homes, food, he did so much," said Mairis Briceno, 21, wearing a red shirt with an image of Chavez hugging and elderly woman and the words "love with love pays off”.Aldemar Castro, a 29-year-old bricklayer, said that if Chavez hand-picked Maduro, "it is because he knows that he can do something good for Venezuela.”

UN holds minute's silence for Chavez

The United Nations' main human rights forum observed a minute's silence on Wednesday for the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez whose record it has often criticised over the years.The UN Human Rights Council has voiced repeated concerns about freedom of expression, lack of independence of the judiciary, restrictions on activists, and arbitrary detentions in Venezuela under Chavez who died on Tuesday.The ambassador of Cuba which has declared three days of mourning for its ally Chavez - led diplomats in Geneva in observing the minute's silence."On behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean states, we wish to express our deep solidarity with the people and government of Venezuela, particularly the family members and friends of Commandante Chavez," Ambassador Anayansi Rodriguez Camejo said."Chavez was key in Latin America's advance towards its second independence. He worked tirelessly not only for his people, but for the betterment of the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean," she said.Under Chavez, Venezuela achieved most of the ambitious UN targets for improving health and education, known as the Millennium Development Goals, Cuba's envoy said."Chavez has not died, he didn't enter history yesterday, he entered history a decade ago when he began the Bolivarian Revolution and the struggle for real Latin American integration," she said.Poland's Remigiusz Achilles Henczel, who holds the Council's rotating presidency, said: "We reiterate on behalf of the Council our condolences to the people and government of Venezuela at the death of Hugo Chavez."Venezuela became one of the council's 47 members this year, under a system where member countries are selected by the UN General Assembly. Western states expect it to vote along similar lines of Cuba on issues such as Syria and North Korea, now that its Caribbean ally is no longer a member.The Council, which is holding its main annual four-week session, on Tuesday discussed cases of arbitrary detention, including that of Venezuelan judge Maria Lourdes Afiuni Mora.Afiuni has been held since December 2009 and was raped in detention, independent UN experts said last month. She was jailed after allowing the release of a businessman charged with subverting currency controls, saying his pre-trial detention was longer than generally allowed under Venezuelan law."Judge Afiuni's situation is an emblematic case of reprisal for having co-operated with one of the UN's human rights organs," Margaret Sekaggya, UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders, said in a 14 February statement.Venezuela's delegation on Tuesday denounced her "fraudulent activities and refusal to appear before the court".

NEWS,03.03.2013

Minister: ECB must do more for jobless

A French official says the European Central Bank is shirking its responsibilities toward Europe's unemployed.Industrial Recovery Minister Arnaud Montebourg's comments go against a custom that politicians not meddle in the ECB's work.Montebourg told Europe 1 radio Sunday: "It's not dealing with growth. It's not taking care of the unemployed. It's not taking care of the European people. And it has a duty to do so."He called on ECB President Mario Draghi to buy the debt of European countries. The ECB has a program to do just that - but countries must first agree to reforms.Montebourg also said the bank is keeping the euro strong, which is hurting exports. "What I am asking (Draghi) is to give us the weapons to fight unfair offshoring."

Thailand to end domestic ivory trade

Thailand will end its domestic ivory trade, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra announced on Sunday, promising legislation that could help the country avoid international trade sanctions after criticism by environmental groups.The announcement of legislation to end the ivory trade came at the opening ceremony of a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) conference in Bangkok."This will help protect all forms of elephants including Thailand's wild and domestic elephants and those from Africa," Yingluck said in a statement.The CITES conference runs until March 14.Environmental groups such as World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and TRAFFIC, which monitors the wildlife trade, have been calling for CITES to sanction Thailand, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo for their part in the illegal ivory trade.Thailand is accused by conservation groups of fuelling the already rampant slaughter of African elephants and trade in their ivory through lax enforcement and regulation of its legal domestic market, which the country has never publicly committed to curbing before.The largely unregulated market is ideal for laundering illegal African ivory into its system before being sold on, environmental groups say.Groups said it was not clear how Thailand would go about ending its domestic trade, nor how long it would take."Prime Minister Shinawatra now needs to provide a timeline for this ban and ensure that it takes place as a matter of urgency, because the slaughter of elephants continues," said Carlos Drews, head of WWF's delegation to CITES.Thailand is the largest illegal ivory market in the world behind China with much of the ivory being bought by foreign tourists, the WWF says.

China targets 15% of satellite market

China is looking to increase its share of the global commercial satellite launching business, targeting a 15% share by 2020, a leading space program official said Saturday.China hopes to increase its market share by establishing strategic alliances with major launch services providers and satellite manufacturers, along with developing its own technology, the deputy head of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, Liang Xiaohong, told the official Xinhua News Agency.China has just 3% of the market now, but the goal laid out by Liang points to its ambitions to become a major player in space, just one decade after becoming only the third country after the US and Russia to launch a man into space.Elsewhere in the Xinhua interview, Liang said China's first solid-fuel rocket that could be launched on short notice would be ready to make its first flight by 2016.China has a well-developed range of Long March rockets for use in commercial launches, all of which now mainly burn liquid fuel that must be pumped in just prior to launch. Solid fuel rockets can be kept in storage, then fired when needed, making them ideal for military use in launching ballistic missiles.Liquid-fueled rockets are generally considered best-suited for launching large payloads, while solid rockets are used for placing smaller satellites weighing less than 2 tons into low Earth orbit."The development of the Long March 11 will greatly improve China's capabilities to rapidly enter space and meet the emergency launching demand in case of disasters and emergencies," Liang was quoted by Xinhua as saying.On Friday, China's space program said it would send three astronauts to its orbiting space station this summer as part of preparations to establish an even larger permanent presence above Earth.The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft, which will likely include one female astronaut, will spend two weeks aboard the Tiangong 1, where the trio will spend two weeks conducting tests of the station's docking system and its systems for supporting life and carrying out scientific work.Two Chinese spacecraft, one of them manned, have docked already with Tiangong 1 since it was launched in September 2011.The station is to be replaced in around 2020 with a permanent space station that will weigh about 60 tons, slightly smaller than NASA's Skylab of the 1970s and about one-sixth the size of the 16-nation International Space Station.

Iran buying time - Netanyahu

Renewed international efforts to negotiate curbs on Iran's disputed nuclear programme have backfired by giving it more time to work on building a bomb, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.His remarks on the inconclusive 26-27 February meeting between Iran and six world powers signalled impatience by Israel, which has threatened to launch preemptive war on its arch-foe, possibly in the coming months, if it deems diplomacy a dead end.Senior US diplomat Wendy Sherman flew in to brief Israel about the Kazakh-hosted talks, in which Tehran, which denies seeking nuclear arms, was offered modest relief from sanctions in return for halting mid-level uranium enrichment.There was no breakthrough. The sides will reconvene in Almaty on 5-6 April after holding technical talks in Istanbul."My impression from these talks is that the only thing that is gained from them is a buying of time, and through this time-buying Iran intends to continue enriching nuclear material for an atomic bomb and is indeed getting closer to this goal," Netanyahu told his cabinet in remarks aired by Israeli media.Extrapolating from UN reports on Iran's enrichment of uranium to 20% fissile purity, a short technical step from weapons-grade, Netanyahu has set a mid-2013 "red line" for denying the Islamic republic the fuel needed for a first bomb.Iranian media reported on Sunday the country was building around 3 000 new advanced enrichment centrifuges, a development that could accelerate the nuclear project.The prospect of unilateral Israeli strikes, and the likely wide-ranging reprisals by Iran and its regional allies, worries Washington, which wants to pursue diplomacy as it winds down costly military commitments abroad.In an attempt to make their proposals more palatable to Tehran, the United States and five other world powers appeared to have softened previous demands in Almaty - for example regarding their requirement that the Iranians ship out their stockpile of the higher-grade uranium.A senior Israeli official said that while the Netanyahu government had hoped for a tougher line by the so-called P5+1, it was resigned to awaiting the results of this round of talks."At the end of the day, what matters is that the Iranians end their enrichment, whether it's through shutting down their facilities or through more nuanced technical safeguards," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.The official would not comment on how or if the latest diplomacy had affected the readiness of Israel, which is widely assumed to have the region's only nuclear arsenal, to go to war.Iran may have warded off that threat by turning some of its 20% pure uranium into fuel rods for a research reactor.The international standoff and shifting timelines are expected to dominate US President Barack Obama's trip to Israel later this month. The Israelis urge a tougher posture on Iran from their ally, which has a hefty military presence in the Gulf and says it is poised to use force as a last resort.Israel's dovish president, Shimon Peres, sounded more upbeat after meeting Sherman last Thursday. Peres said he had "total faith in the Obama administration, in its commitment and its actions in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons".Obama's Israel visit has been overshadowed by local politics too, given the rightist Netanyahu's failure so far to build a new coalition government after he narrowly won a 22 January ballot.Appealing to potential party allies to rally to him in the name of national security, Netanyahu told his cabinet: "To my regret this is not happening, and in the coming days I will continue my efforts to unify and galvanise forces ahead of the major national and international challenges that we face."

Iran building 3 000 advanced centrifuges

Iran is building about 3 000 advanced uranium-enrichment centrifuges, Iranian media reported on Sunday, in a development likely to add to Western concerns about the Islamic state's disputed nuclear programme.Iran announced earlier this year that it would install the new-generation centrifuges at its Natanz uranium enrichment plant, but Sunday's reports in Iranian agencies appeared to be the first time a specific figure had been given.Iranian media on Sunday paraphrased Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, as saying Iran was producing 3 000 new-generation centrifuges."The final production line of these centrifuges has reached an end and soon the early generations of these centrifuges with low efficiency will be set aside," Abbasi-Davani said, according to the Fars news agency.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said earlier this year that 180 so-called IR-2m centrifuges and empty centrifuge casings had been put in place at the facility near the town of Natanz in central Iran. They were not yet operating.If launched successfully, such machines could enable Iran to speed up significantly its accumulation of material that the West fears could be used in a nuclear weapon. Iran says it is refining uranium only for peaceful purposes.

Iran frees 14 journalists - report

Iran has freed 14 journalists working for reformist papers who were arrested in January and accused of co-operating with a "Western-linked network", the reformist Shargh newspaper reported on Sunday.The newspaper said the journalists were released from jail after posting bail, while four others were still behind bars.At the time of their arrest in late January the intelligence ministry said in a statement that the journalists belonged to "one of the biggest media networks" linked to the West.Their network, the statement said, was established by the BBC and operates "in co-operation with several Western governments".The ministry said their goal was to "exploit what they learned during the sedition period" after the 2009 presidential election, which Iran accuses the West and Western media, including the BBC, of inciting.The election, which returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power despite reformist opposition candidates alleging fraud, triggered protests which were met by a bloody regime crackdown.Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International criticised the arrests, urging Iran to free the journalists.But the intelligence ministry dismissed such calls.Tehran deems as hostile the Persian services of various international media, including the BBC Persian, the Voice of America and Radio Farda - a US-funded Prague-based Persian radio.According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 45 journalists were in Iranian prisons at the start of December 2012.The journalists work for various reformist outlets such as Shargh, Arman, Bahar and Etemad newspapers, the Aseman weekly, as well as the ILNA news agency.Shargh identified the freed journalists as Pouria Alami, Emily Amraei, Javad Daliri, Milad Fadaei, Narges Jodaki, Soleiman Mohammadi, Akbar Montajabi, Pejman Mousavi, Motahareh Shafiey, Hossein Yaghchi, Fatemeh Sagharchi, Reyhaneh Tabatabaee, Keyvan Mehregan and Pejman Mousavi.The report also added that Sasan Aghaei, Nasrin Takhayori, Ehsan Mazandarani, and Saba Azarpeyk are still behind bars.

Chavez 'working during chemotherapy'

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is still in charge and mulling political, social and economic policies even as he receives a new round of chemotherapy, his vice president said on Saturday.Vice President Nicolas Maduro said that the 58-year-old socialist leader, who is convalescing in seclusion at a Caracas military hospital, sent "guidance" to his Cabinet as recently as Friday."He is staying informed and in charge as the chief who was ratified by our people various times," Maduro said at an event broadcast on state-run television.The opposition says the government is lying about Chavez's condition and doubts Maduro's claim that Chavez held a five-hour meeting with his cabinet on February 22, giving orders in writing because a tracheal tube hinders his speech.But Maduro repeated that the meeting took place. He insisted that the president sent more instructions the next day with Science Minister Jorge Arreaza, his son-in-law, before giving more guidance on Friday.The leftist leader's chosen successor Maduro showed a dossier containing "political, social and economic actions" that Chavez has requested "to continue strengthening the economy to face the economic war of the parasitic bourgeoisie".The "central document" will be sent to Chavez, he said, adding that the government was "respecting his treatment, we are not acting in an invasive way in his treatment."Chavez, who was first diagnosed with cancer in the pelvic region June 2011, underwent a fourth round of surgery in Cuba in December. The government has never disclosed the exact nature, location and severity of the cancer.Maduro revealed for the first time late Friday that Chavez began a new cycle of chemotherapy in January and decided to return to Caracas last month to continue a "more intense" phase of treatment.Chavez was in "good spirits" but fighting for his life, Maduro said as he rejected growing rumours about the president's health.One of Chavez's daughters, Maria Gabriela, responded on Saturday to the publication online of a picture of her looking sad at the mass."Sadness? I can't be happy when my dad is sick! But I continue to cling to my God," she wrote on Twitter."At the next mass I will have to dance and laugh! I always thought that a mass was something serious! People are very crazy," she wrote.The once omnipresent leader has not come out in public in almost three months. Only four pictures were released, on February 15, showing him in his Havana hospital bed, smiling with his two daughters.Around 50 university students have spent every night this week chained to each other in the middle of a Caracas streets, demanding that the government "tell the truth" about Chavez.The government has accused the opposition and "fascist" foreign media of spreading rumours about Chavez to destabilise the nation sitting atop the world's largest proven oil reserves."We want to see Chavez recover and healthy, and we want him to be in peace, doing the treatment that needs to be done," said Foreign Minister Elias Jaua."Those who don't want Chavez to recover are those who use blackmail, criminal pressure, miserable pressure that we will not cede to," Jaua said.Maduro, meanwhile, accused opposition leader Henrique Capriles of "conspiring" against Venezuela during trips to the United States and Colombia, and warned him not to "violate the rule of law".He said Capriles, the Miranda state governor who lost to Chavez in the October presidential election, had met with "paramilitaries" in Colombia and was now in the United States.The vice president said Capriles travelled to Miami and New York this weekend and was planning to meet Roberta Jacobson, the US State Department's top official for Latin America.

NEWS,19.02.2013

Italy Elections 2013: Nearly A Third Of Population Undecided Or Will Not Vote, According To Final Poll

Five days before national elections almost a third of Italians have yet to decide who to vote for or are considering not voting at all, a survey showed on Tuesday, highlighting uncertainty over the outcome. The poll in Corriere della Sera daily showed the proportion of Italians undecided or tempted to abstain has declined from 51.5 percent in December but remains at a significant 27.7 percent less than a week before the vote on Sunday and Monday. Final polls on Feb. 8, before a legal black-out period set in, indicated that the centre-left Democratic Party would win a lower house majority but will need to form a coalition with outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti's centrist grouping. Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right alliance was about 6 percentage points behind the frontrunners. But the hefty proportion of undecided voters means the outcome is still unpredictable and the final days of campaigning will be crucial. Publication of polls is illegal in the two weeks leading up to the Feb. 24-25 election but analysts are permitted to reveal data on likely participation rates. Most of the undecided are middle-aged housewives or pensioners with relatively low education levels, mainly living in the south of Italy, and with little interest in politics, pollster Renato Mannheimer of the ISPO institute said. "More than half of those who are currently undecided or potential abstainers say they can't place themselves on the right or the left," Mannheimer told the Milan daily. He added it was likely that many people who were yet to decide would probably not vote, based on past electoral trends. But historical participation rates suggest about 5 million people, or 10 percent of voters, will make up their minds in the last few days, swayed by last-minute promises from party leaders regardless of their place on the political spectrum, he said. Many polls over the last year have shown Italians disenchanted with a political class clinging to its privileges as the euro zone's third biggest but chronically uncompetitive economy descended deeper into crisis.

China Suspected Of Hacking Attacks Against The U.S.

A secretive Chinese military unit is believed to be behind a series of hacking attacks, a U.S. computer security company said, prompting a strong denial by China and accusations that it was in fact the victim of U.S. hacking. The company, Mandiant, identified the People's Liberation Army's Shanghai-based Unit 61398 as the most likely driving force behind the hacking. Mandiant said it believed the unit had carried out "sustained" attacks on a wide range of industries. "The nature of 'Unit 61398's' work is considered by China to be a state secret; however, we believe it engages in harmful 'Computer Network Operations'," Mandiant said in a report released in the United States on Monday. "It is time to acknowledge the threat is originating in China, and we wanted to do our part to arm and prepare security professionals to combat that threat effectively," it said. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the government firmly opposed hacking, adding that it doubted the evidence provided in the report. "Hacking attacks are Trans national and anonymous. Determining their origins is extremely difficult. We don't know how the evidence in this so-called report can be tenable," spokesman Hong Lei told a daily news briefing."Arbitrary criticism based on rudimentary data is irresponsible, unprofessional and not helpful in resolving the issue."Hong cited a Chinese study which pointed to the United States as being behind hacking in China. "Of the above mentioned Internet hacking attacks, attacks originating from the United States rank first. "China's Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to faxed questions about the report. Unit 61398 is located in Shanghai's Pudong district, China's financial and banking hub, and is staffed by perhaps thousands of people proficient in English as well as computer programming and network operations, Mandiant said in its report.The unit had stolen "hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organisations across a diverse set of industries beginning as early as 2006", it said.Most of the victims were located in the United States, with smaller numbers in Canada and Britain. The information stolen ranged from details on mergers and acquisitions to the emails of senior employees, the company said.The 12-storey building, which houses the unit, sits in an unassuming residential area and is surrounded by a wall adorned with military propaganda photos and slogans; outside the gate a sign warns members of the public they are in a restricted military area and should not take pictures. There were no obvious signs of extra security on Tuesday. "ECONOMIC CYBER ESPIONAGE" Some experts said they doubted Chinese government denials of military involvement in the hacking. "The PLA plays a key role in China's multi-faceted security strategy, so it makes sense that its resources would be used to facilitate economic cyber espionage that helps the Chinese economy," said Dmitri Alperovitch, chief technology officer and co-founder of CrowdStrike, one of Mandiant's competitors. Though privately held and little known to the general public, Mandiant is one of a handful of U.S. cyber-security companies that specialise in attempting to detect, prevent and trace the most advanced hacking attacks, instead of the garden-variety viruses and criminal intrusions that befoul corporate networks on a daily basis. But Mandiant does not promote its analysis in public and only rarely issues topical papers about changes in techniques or behaviours. It has never before given the apparent proper names of suspected hackers or directly tied them to a military branch of the Chinese government, giving the new report special resonance. The company published details of the attack programmes and dummy websites used to infiltrate U.S. companies, typically via deceptive emails. U.S. officials have complained in the past to China about sanctioned trade-secret theft, but have had a limited public record to point to. Mandiant said it knew the PLA would shift tactics and programmes in response to its report but concluded that the disclosure was worth it because of the scale of the harm and the ability of China to issue denials in the past and duck accountability.The company traced Unit 61398's presence on the Internet including registration data for a question-and-answer session with a Chinese professor and numeric Internet addresses within a block assigned to the PLA unit and concluded that it was a major contributor to operations against the U.S. companies. Members of Congress and intelligence authorities in the United States have publicised the same general conclusions: that economic espionage is an official mission of the PLA and other elements of the Chinese government, and that hacking is a primary method. In November 2011, the U.S. National Counterintelligence Executive publicly decried China in particular as the biggest known thief of U.S. trade secrets. The Mandiant report comes a week after U.S. President Barack Obama issued a long-awaited executive order aimed at getting the private owners of power plants and other critical infrastructure to share data on attacks with officials and to begin to follow consensus best practices on security.Both U.S. Democrats and Republicans have said more powerful legislation is needed, citing Chinese penetration not just of the largest companies but of operations essential to a functioning country, including those comprising the electric grid.

Chavez returns to Venezuela from Cuba

 

President Hugo Chavez returned to Venezuela early Monday after more than two months of treatment in Cuba following cancer surgery, his government said, triggering street celebrations by supporters who welcomed him home while he remained out of sight at Caracas' military hospital. Chavez's return was announced in a series of messages on his Twitter account, the first of them reading: "We've arrived once again in our Venezuelan homeland. Thank you, my God!! Thank you, beloved nation!! We will continue our treatmen there. "They were the first messages to appear on Chavez's Twitter account since Nov.1."I'm clinging to Christ and trusting in my doctors and nurses," another tweet on Chavez's account said. "Onward toward victor always!! "Vice President Nicolas Maduro said Chavez arrived at 2:30 a.m. and was taken to the Dr.Carlos Arvelo Military Hospital in Caracas. Chavez's return came fewer than three days after the government released the first photos of the president in more than two months, showing him looking bloated and smiling alongside his daughters. The government didn't release any additional images of Chavez upon his arrival in Caracas, and unanswered questions remain about where he stands in a difficult and prolonged struggle with an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer. Chavez was re-elected to a new six-year term in October, and his inauguration, originally scheduled for Jan. 10, was indefinitely postponed by lawmakers in a decision that the Supreme Court upheld despite complaints by the opposition. Some speculated that with Chavez back, he could finally be swornin. Hundreds of Chavez supporters celebrated his return in downtown Caracas, chanting his name and holding photos of the president in Bolivar Plaza. Supporters also gathered outside the hospital. "I want to see my president," said Alicia Morrow, a seamstress who stood outside the hospital on the verge of tears. "I've missed him a lot because Chavez is the spirit of the poor. "Chavez's precise condition and the sort of cancer treatments he is undergoing remain a mystery, and speculation has grown recently that he may not be able to stay on as president. The Venezuelan Constitution says that if a president dies or steps down, a new vote must be called and held within 30days. The 58-year-old president hasn't spoken publicly since he left for Cuba on Dec. 10. He underwent his fourth cancer-related surgery on Dec. 11, and the government says that he is now breathing through a tracheal tube that makes talking difficult.

Israeli leader brings dovish rival into coalition

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday added his first coalition partner as he works to build a new government, agreeing to bring in a dovish rival to oversee contacts with the Palestinians in what could signal a new approach to peacemaking by the hard line leader. Under the deal, former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will serve as justice minister in the next Israeli government, in charge of peace efforts with the Palestinians. Livni, who led negotiations during the last substantive round of peace talks four years ago, has a good relationship with Palestinian President Mohmoud Abbas and favours a softer line than Netanyahu. Standing alongside Livni at a news conference Tuesday evening, Netanyahu vowed to make a serious attempt to reach peace under his next government. He said bringing in Livni, who has been a fierce critic, was part of his goal of forming a "wide and stable" government. "We need a Palestinian partner and I hope we will find a Palestinian partner who will take seriously Israel's security needs and that will be willing to end the conflict once and for all. Today Israel outstretches its hand to peace once again," he said. Netanyahu, who has come under heavy criticism, both at home and abroad, for the deadlock in peace efforts during his previous term, has promised to take a more aggressive approach under his next government. But he has given no details on whether he is prepared to make any new concessions, and it remained unclear whether Livni's addition to his Cabinet would be enough to lure the Palestinians back to negotiations. "What is important is the policies that will be adopted and implemented by the incoming Israeli government," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top adviser to Abbas. He said that if Netanyahu stuck to his policies of building settlements on occupied land, "it's better for Livni to search for another mission." As foreign minister, Livni served as the chief negotiator with the Palestinians under former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. While both sides have said they made great progress during that time, the talks collapsed in late 2008 and have remained virtually frozen since Netanyahu took office early the following year. The Palestinians have refused to negotiate with Netanyahu while he continues to build Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, areas captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim both areas, along with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, for their future state. The Palestinians also want negotiations to resume from the point where they broke off under Olmert and Livni. Olmert has said he offered a near total withdrawal from the West Bank and shared control over Jerusalem. Netanyahu has said these concessions were far too generous and that negotiations should begin without any preconditions. He also has claimed that even when he imposed a partial freeze on settlement construction, the Palestinians did not enter substantive negotiations. But after four years of deadlock, the international community has grown impatient with the Israeli leader. In a sign of the international disapproval, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly voted in November in favour of an independent Palestinian state in all of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza. Although largely symbolic, the vote signified an international endorsement of key Palestinian demands on future borders. With President Barack Obama scheduled to visit in late March, Netanyahu is eager to present a new face to the international community. Livni's addition to his Cabinet is a step in that direction. In addition to her good working relationship with the Palestinians, Livni is well known and well respected around the world, and has appeared on lists of the world's most influential women compiled by magazines like Forbes and Time.