WHO may be poised to declare flu pandemic

By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization has called an emergency meeting of experts on Thursday to discuss the spreading H1N1 flu outbreak, in a sign the U.N. agency may be poised to declare a pandemic.
WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, who consulted health officials in affected countries on Wednesday, was drawing up her own evaluation ahead of the meeting set to begin at midday (1000 GMT), a spokesman said.
"She is looking for some detailed epidemiological explanation for what is going on," WHO spokesman Dick Thompson told Reuters. "She is making her own assessment based on information gathered today and running it by the Emergency Committee tomorrow."
Thompson declined to say whether the WHO would declare a full-blown pandemic after the closed-door talks, saying he did not want to prejudge the experts' recommendations.
Chan had sought further information from some countries to clarify news reports that they were detecting sustained transmission of the new virus in the community, and not just imported cases, he said.
WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said the expert committee would consult "on the state of the outbreak." The strain, which emerged in April in Mexico and the United States, has spread widely in places including Australia, Britain, Chile and Japan.
The agency said on Tuesday it was on the verge of declaring the first influenza pandemic in more than 40 years, but wanted to ensure countries were well prepared to prevent a panic over the disease, widely known as swine flu.
Chan, a former health director in Hong Kong, has previously consulted the group of international experts before raising the alert level.
Confirmed community spread in a second region beyond North America would trigger moving to phase 6 -- signifying a full-blown pandemic -- from the current phase 5 on the WHO's 6-level pandemic alert scale.
GEOGRAPHIC SPREAD
There have been 27,737 cases reported in 74 countries to date, including 141 deaths, according to the WHO's latest tally.
Keiji Fukuda, acting WHO assistant director-general, told reporters late on Tuesday that a move to phase 6 would reflect the geographic spread of the new disease.
"It does not mean that the severity of the situation has increased or that people are getting seriously sick at higher numbers or higher rates than they are right now," he said.
"One of the critical issues is that we do not want people to 'over-panic' if they hear that we are in a pandemic situation," Fukuda told reporters at the time.
The WHO wants to avoid causing undue alarm over a virus that has been largely mild in most countries, while warning it could still mutate into a more virulent form. Continued...
Source: Reuters

U.N. powers agree on draft North Korea sanctions

N Korea "not a target for attack"
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By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - World powers on Wednesday agreed to expand sanctions to punish North Korea for its recent nuclear test and weapons program, as Russia said it expected the North to launch another provocative missile test.
The draft U.N. sanctions resolution, written by the United States and endorsed by the four other permanent Security Council members, plus Japan and South Korea, was discussed at a closed-door meeting of the 15-nation Security Council.
"If all goes well we're expecting a vote on the resolution on Friday," a U.N. diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Delegations will now send the draft to their capitals to see if it is acceptable.
The agreement ended more than two weeks of closed-door negotiations. The United States, Britain, France, Japan and South Korea all demanded tough sanctions against Pyongyang for its May nuclear test but Russia and China held out for a milder resolution to avoid provoking North Korea.
The draft "condemns in the strongest terms" North Korea's nuclear test last month and "demands that (it) not conduct any further nuclear test or any launch using ballistic missile technology."
The end result reflected compromises to satisfy Chinese and Russian objections. Beijing and Moscow had opposed language in earlier drafts requiring countries to inspect North Korea ships carrying suspicious cargo that might violate a partial U.N. trade and arms embargo.
In the latest version, the Security Council "calls upon" states to inspect such vessels on the high seas but does not demand it. However, the draft resolution would require countries to deny fuel to any suspicious North Korea ships and direct them to dock at "an appropriate and convenient port."
NEW MISSILE LAUNCH?
North Korea has angered the region and countries beyond in the past few weeks with missile launches, threats to attack the South and a nuclear test, prompting U.S. and South Korean forces to raise a military alert on the peninsula to one of its highest since the 1950-53 Korean War.
Cranking up tension, Russia's military said it had information on plans for another missile launch.
"We have certain information about the type and characteristics of the missile. However, we do not have accurate data on the timing," Interfax news agency quoted a senior military source as saying.
The United States has also been pushing for a mandatory expansion of financial sanctions against Pyongyang. Another compromise with Russia and China led to the resolution urging, but not requiring, states to avoid new financial deals with North Korea except for humanitarian or development projects.
The resolution also expands a partial U.N. arms embargo to ban the export of all weapons by North Korea but allows Pyongyang to continue purchasing small arms, provided such sales are reported to the United Nations.
"This sanctions regime, if passed by the Security Council, will bite, and bite in a meaningful way," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told reporters.
Rice added that a total ban on North Korean arms exports, as called for in the draft, would cut off a significant source of revenue for Pyongyang. Continued...
Source: Reuters

French submarine begins Airbus black box search

Crash search moves, forensics begin
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By Gerard Bon
PARIS (Reuters) - A French submarine with advanced sonar equipment began searching on Wednesday for the flight recorders of an Air France airliner that crashed into the Atlantic last week, the French military said.
The nuclear-powered submarine Emeraude was sent to the area to hunt the "black box" recorders, which may help explain the disaster and which are believed to lie on the ocean floor.
Investigators face a long search for clues to what went wrong when the Airbus A330 jet disappeared on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris killing all 228 people on board, French military spokesman Christophe Prazuck said.
"Up to now, the time frame for the search for victims and debris has been of the order of days or a week. Here, at the very least, it's going to be of the order of weeks or months," he told LCI television.
The Air France flight is believed to have run into trouble when it hit a violent storm midway over the Atlantic Ocean and potential problems with speed sensors have become one of the focal points of the inquiry.
But other causes have not been ruled out and on Wednesday, the web site of the French weekly L'Express said that two potentially suspect names had been identified on the passenger list by French intelligence services.
It said the names "correspond to people known for their links to Islamist terrorism," but a French military spokesman said he could not confirm the report.
Authorities have seen no credible claims of responsibility and have said the crash was unlikely to have been caused by an attack but they have not excluded one entirely.
SEARCH
In the search zone, where scattered pieces of debris including a large section from the aircraft tail have been recovered, vessels are trying to comb a rugged area of the ocean floor, thousands of meters below the surface.
Prazuck said searchers had taken two weeks to locate the black box recorders after the crash of a Boeing 737 at Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt in 2004, despite much easier conditions.
"That aircraft crashed very close to the coast, there was no doubt about where the accident happened and it took 15 days to recover the black box," he said. "Here the accident happened 1,000 kilometers from the coast. The situation is very complex."
He said the Emeraude was searching an area of 36 square kilometers and the search zone would be changed daily.
If the recorders are found, miniature submarines from the Pourquoi Pas, a French exploration and survey ship also deployed to the area, could be used to bring them in.
Brazilian military search teams have recovered 41 bodies and moved some of them to the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha off Brazil's northeastern coast, which is being used as a base for the search operations. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Mousavi camp waging velvet revolution: Iran Guards

By Dominic Evans and Fredrik Dahl
TEHRAN (Reuters) - A senior Revolutionary Guard accused President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's pro-reform opponents on Wednesday of waging a "velvet revolution" in Iran, at the climax of a bitter presidential election campaign.
The comments were a further escalation in a war of words after Ahmadinejad, facing a strong challenge from former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi, accused his rivals of using Hitler-style smear tactics and said they could face jail.
The campaign has shown up divisions among leading figures in the Islamic Republic, between backers of the hardline incumbent and more moderate advocates of detente with the West, whose supporters have spilled on to the streets for boisterous rallies.
"The presence of supporters of Mirhossein Mousavi on the streets are part of the velvet revolution," said Yadollah Javani, head of the Guards' political office, using a term used to describe the 1989 non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia.
Mousavi's supporters, dressed in his green campaign color, have taken to the streets of Tehran for nightly rallies, waving flags and banners and shouting anti-Ahmadinejad slogans.
There have been sporadic clashes in the capital but the campaign for Friday's election has been largely peaceful.
"Using a specific color for the first time by a candidate in this election shows the start of a velvet revolution project," Javani said in comments published on the Guards' website on Wednesday.
Describing the moderates and reformists as "extremists," Javani said they were "trying by launching a psychological media war to announce themselves as winner of this election."
Iran often accuses Western powers of seeking to undermine the Islamic state through a "soft" or "velvet revolution" with the help of intellectuals and others inside the country.
"HITLER'S METHODS"
Mousavi and two other candidates running against Ahmadinejad say he has lied about the state of the economy which is suffering from high inflation and a fall in oil revenues from last year's records.
In a speech in Tehran on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad said his rivals had broken laws against insulting the president and they could face jail. Insulting senior officials is a crime in Iran punishable by a maximum two-year jail sentence.
"Such insults and accusations against the government are a return to Hitler's methods, to repeat lies and accusations ... until everyone believes those lies," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted him as saying.
Ahmadinejad has accused Mousavi's supporters, including former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, of corruption. Rafsanjani responded angrily, calling on the Islamic Republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to rein in Ahmadinejad.
Mousavi says Ahmadinejad has isolated Iran with his vitriolic attacks on the United States, his combative line on Iran's nuclear policy and his questioning of the Holocaust. Continued...
Source: Reuters

U.S. urges allies to stick with Afghan mission

By Andrew Gray and Reed Stevenson
VALKENBURG, Netherlands (Reuters) - The United States urged its NATO allies on Wednesday to remain engaged in the war in Afghanistan, even as Washington takes on a more dominant role by sending tens of thousands of extra troops.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, visiting the Netherlands for talks with counterparts whose countries also have forces in southern Afghanistan, drew a parallel between the Afghan war and Allied efforts to defeat Nazi Germany in World War Two.
Speaking after visiting a U.S. war cemetery near the town of Maastricht, Gates echoed remarks by President Barack Obama last week in Normandy about the "clarity of purpose" of the allies in that conflict.
"Today we're engaged in another war, waged with a clarity of purpose similarly, one that once again requires great sacrifice by the United States, the Netherlands and all members of the coalition trying to help a proud people rebuild their nation after decades of war," he said.
"It is a mission whose importance cannot and should not be underestimated, for it is critical to the security of both Europe and the United States."
For years, Washington has urged its allies to contribute more troops, civilian reconstruction experts and aid to the fight against the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
Many have been reluctant, however, to make major new commitments, saying their forces are overstretched and citing public opposition to greater involvement in the war.
That has prompted the United States to take on the lion's share of a new push against a resurgent Taliban. It is adding more than 30,000 troops this year, with most deploying in the south, scene of the worst insurgent violence.
INTERNATIONAL COALITION
Gates said he would tell the other ministers with troops in southern Afghanistan that their support would remain vital.
"I will be emphasizing ... the continuing high importance of our partners staying with us and keeping this truly an international coalition, battling the Taliban in Afghanistan," he told reporters.
Two of the other main troop contributors in southern Afghanistan, the Netherlands and Canada, are due to pull out in the next few years.
The Dutch are committed until the end of 2010 and their prime minister said in January it would be "extraordinarily problematic" to keep a force of the current size -- about 1,800 -- there for any longer than that.
Canada's military mission in southern Afghanistan is due to end in 2011.
The Dutch general who commands NATO forces in southern Afghanistan said the buildup of U.S. troops there should be completed before the Afghan presidential election on August 20. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Russia ready for nuclear-free world, Putin says

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he was in favor of a world free of nuclear weapons if other countries were willing to pursue the same goal.
Speaking at a joint news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Putin said: "Why do we need nuclear weapons? If other nuclear states are ready for (a nuclear-weapons-free world), we are too."
U.S. President Barack Obama set out his vision for ridding the world of nuclear arms in April, declaring the United States was ready to lead steps by all states with atomic weapons to reduce their arsenals.
Obama is due in Russia next month for talks with President Dmitry Medvedev on a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expires on December 5.
Before his visit, the two sides are trying to narrow their differences. Moscow has said it wants to link the nuclear talks to U.S. plans, which it strongly opposes, to deploy an anti-missile shield in central Europe.
Steinmeier, speaking before meetings with Medvedev, Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, urged Russia to work constructively with Obama to reduce nuclear arms stockpiles.
"We need all sides to be constructive, Russia needs to be constructive," said Steinmeier, the Social Democrats' candidate for chancellor in Germany's September 27 election.
Steinmeier called on Russia to work toward easing tension with Georgia. The two countries fought a five-day war last year after Georgia attempted to retake its breakaway, pro-Russian region of South Ossetia.
Tension has remained high since Russia crushed the Georgian military and, over the objections of the United States and Europe, recognized South Ossetia and a second breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent countries.
(Reporting by Hans-Edzard Busemann; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

Source: Reuters

U.N. powers agree to draft sanctions on N.Korea

N Korea "not a target for attack"
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By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Seven key countries agreed to a draft U.N. resolution on North Korea on Wednesday, ending weeks of wrangling over a plan to expand sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test and weapons program.
The draft resolution, penned by the United States and endorsed by the five permanent Security Council members, plus Japan and South Korea, was being discussed at a closed-door meeting of the 15-nation Security Council.
"If all goes well we're expecting a vote on the resolution on Friday," a U.N. diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The agreement ended more than two weeks of closed-door negotiations that pitted five powers demanding tough sanctions against Pyongyang for its May nuclear test -- United States, Britain, France, Japan and South Korea -- against Russia and China, which argued against harsh penalties for North Korea.
The draft resolution, obtained by Reuters, "condemns in the strongest terms" North Korea's nuclear test last month and "demands that (it) not conduct any further nuclear test or any launch using ballistic missile technology."
The end result reflected the compromises arrived at to satisfy the objections of China and Russia. Beijing and Moscow had opposed language in earlier drafts requiring countries to inspect North Korea vessels carrying suspicious cargo that might violate a partial U.N. trade and arms embargo.
In the latest version, the Security Council "calls upon" states to inspect such vessels but does not require it. However, the draft resolution would require countries to deny fuel to any suspicious North Korea vessels.
'WATERED DOWN'
The United States had also been pushing for a mandatory expansion of financial sanctions against Pyongyang. But the resolution "calls upon" states not to enter into new financial commitments with North Korea except for humanitarian or development projects.
The resolution also expands the partial arms embargo against Pyongyang to ban the export of all weapons by North Korea but allows Pyongyang to continue purchasing small arms, provided such sales are reported to the United Nations.
The council would also require the North Korea sanctions committee to update its list of companies aiding Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs within 30 days. There are currently three North Korean firms on the list.
Several diplomats said the latest text, which could undergo further adjustments before it is approved by the full council, was a watered-down version of an initially tough draft resolution aimed at expanding the sanctions imposed on Pyongyang after its first nuclear test in October 2006.
Until recently, those sanctions had been widely ignored and unenforced. The new draft resolution urges countries to implement the 2006 sanctions spelled out in resolution 1718.
Chinese envoy Liu Zhenmin made clear to reporters that Beijing, the nearest North Korea has to a major ally, was satisfied with the draft resolution.
"I hope countries will endorse the text," he said. Continued...
Source: Reuters

UK Lords reject secret evidence on terrorism suspects

By Luke Baker
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's highest court, the House of Lords, ruled against the government on Wednesday in a sensitive case involving the use of secret evidence to justify imposing home curfews on terrorism suspects.
Nine law lords unanimously upheld an appeal by three men who argued it was against their human rights to be subject to control orders, a form of house arrest, based on secret evidence they are not privy to and cannot challenge in court.
"A trial procedure can never be considered fair if a party to it is kept in ignorance of the case against him," wrote Nicholas Phillips, Britain's most senior law lord, in issuing the lengthy judgment.
"If the wider public are to have confidence in the justice system, they need to be able to see that justice is done rather than being asked to take it on trust."
The decision does not overturn the use of control orders, introduced by the government in 2005 and which allow terrorism suspects to be kept under curfew for up to 16 hours a day, but it does call into question a central element of the policy.
The orders have been used to restrict the movements of individuals the authorities suspect of involvement in terrorism, but against whom they lack sufficient evidence to mount a trial.
Human rights and justice organizations say they violate fundamental rights and freedoms, running the risk of turning Britain into a police state, with suspects placed under tight surveillance without knowing what they have done wrong.
Because the orders rely on secret information collected by the security services that cannot be made public, they also presume guilt without evidence being presented and without it being able to be challenged in court.
GOVERNMENT DISAPPOINTED
The cases of the three men -- a British-Syrian, an Iraqi and a joint British-Libyan national -- will now return to the High Court for review. It is the second time the House of Lords has ruled against control orders, 17 of which are in force.
The government said it was "extremely disappointed" by the ruling and would consider it carefully.
"Protecting the public is my top priority and this judgment makes that task harder," Home Secretary (interior minister) Alan Johnson said in a statement.
"We introduced control orders to limit the risk posed by suspected terrorists whom we can neither prosecute nor deport. All control orders will remain in force for the time being and we will continue to seek to uphold them in the courts."
Since their introduction, control orders have been used relatively sparingly, with a total of 38 people subjected to them. Seven of those have absconded while under watch.
Rights campaigners said the law lords' decision could mark a turning point in the use of secret evidence in control orders. Continued...
Source: Reuters

U.S. troop build-up in Afghanistan on track: NATO

VALKENBURG, Netherlands (Reuters) - The influx of thousands of extra U.S. troops to southern Afghanistan should be complete before a presidential election in Afghanistan set for August, the NATO commander in the region said on Wednesday.
The United States is adding more than 30,000 troops to its force in Afghanistan this year, with the overwhelming majority expected to be deployed to the south, scene of the worst insurgent violence.
"Our goal is to have the influx complete before the elections on the 20th of August," said Mart de Kruif, chief of the southern command of international forces deployed there.
"That means that we'll have the equipment in, we'll have the people in, and that people are adapted to the circumstances in Afghanistan," De Kruif told reporters.
"This will lead to a significant increase of the operational tempo we have and you'll also see a significant spike in the amount of incidents in the next couple of months because we will put a lot of pressure on the insurgents, he said.
"We will go into areas where we've never been before," added De Kruif, who commands about 28,000 troops in the south including the provinces of Uruzgan and Kandahar.
Violence in Afghanistan has grown even as the number of foreign troops has increased this year, reaching its worst levels since U.S.-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban's Islamist government in late 2001.
Defense ministers from the eight countries with forces in southern Afghanistan, including U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, are meeting near Maastricht in the Netherlands before a NATO meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
The Netherlands has deployed about 1,800 troops, most in the province of Uruzgan, to Afghanistan and in April hosted an international conference on the future of the war-torn country.
De Kruif added that logistical support in the south was "overall, on schedule."
Defense ministers from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Romania, Denmark and Estonia are also attending the two-day meeting in the Netherlands.
(Reporting by Reed Stevenson and Andrew Gray; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Source: Reuters

Car bomb rips through south Iraq market, 33 killed

By Muhanad Mohammed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb ripped through a crowded market in southern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least 33 people and prompting angry protests by residents about the failure to protect them, officials and witnesses said.
Police swiftly locked down Al-Bathaa, a Shi'ite Muslim town 30 km (20 miles) west of Nassariya that has seen little violence, while hospital officials appealed for help from neighboring cities to cope with the wounded.
Colonel Aziz al-Atabi, media director for the Iraqi army's 10th division, said 33 people were killed and 70 wounded. The governor of Nassariya blamed the attack on al Qaeda.
Pictures posted online by local journalists showed the charred wreck of a car the bomb was planted in, burned body parts and bloodstained rags among vegetables strewn on the floor.
High school teacher Hussein Salim said the market was supposed to be guarded by the police. He said he rushed to the scene and helped gather body parts, some of which had been blown onto the roof of nearby homes.
"How could the car enter the market? It was crowded with people ... The police neglected their job," he said. "I saw five children and six women among the dead."
Salim said angry locals protested when the area's police chief and Talib al-Hassan, the Nassariya governor, arrived on the scene, prompting the governor's bodyguards to open fire.
Al-Hassan told Reuters they had only fired in the air.
"As the explosion was big, some people gathered at the scene to watch or look for their loved ones. The security forces shot in the air to disperse them and save their lives," he said.
"We accuse al-Qaeda. The area is open and there are many roads leading to it. We have little clues about the accused. The security forces are working to get precise information."
Al-Hassan gave a lower toll of 19 killed and 65 wounded, and said he had replaced the Al-Bathaa police chief.
U.S. military helicopters hovered overhead after the blast.
The sectarian bloodshed and insurgency unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion has fallen sharply across Iraq since its peak in 2006/07, and the Shi'ite Muslim south has tended to be one of the quietest areas.
But insurgents, including Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, who view Shi'ites as heretics, continue to carry out devastating car and suicide bomb attacks.
Analysts say violence is likely to rise ahead of parliamentary elections next January, which will pit not just Shi'ite parties against once dominant Sunnis and minority Kurds, but also against rival Shi'ite groups. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Army repels Taliban in NW Pakistan after hotel blast

Cameras record deadly Pakistan bomb
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By Robert Birsel
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan launched a new operation against Taliban fighters in the northwest on Wednesday, a day after an attack on a luxury hotel in Peshawar killed at least nine people, including two foreign U.N. workers.
Taliban militants have stepped up attacks in cities since the army launched a campaign in April to clear Taliban fighters from a stronghold in Swat and other parts of northwest Pakistan.
More than 1,300 militants and 105 soldiers have been killed in Swat, and the army's resolve has heartened U.S. officials, who have been worried that nuclear-armed Pakistan could slide into chaos unless the Taliban's advance weren't stopped.
With the Swat offensive in its closing stages, the military said on Wednesday it had launched an operation in Bannu, 150 km (94 miles) southwest of Peshawar, after up to 800 militants slipped into the district.
"Gunships, artillery and ground troops are being used in the operation," a military official said on condition of anonymity, but he had no details on militant casualties.
Bannu lies at the gateway to the Waziristan tribal region, another Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold, and the Islamist fighters aimed to raise havoc in other parts of the northwest, according to a military statement.
The attack on Peshawar's Pearl Continental, a hotel frequented by VIPs and foreigners visiting the capital of North West Frontier Province, will inevitably reinforce concerns over insecurity in Pakistan.
Less than a third of the hotel's 150 rooms were occupied, but the blast blew out all the windows, and caused several walls and a section of floors to collapse on the front side.
U.N. agencies issued statements saying five workers, including a Serbian man, a Philippine woman and three Pakistanis, were among those killed in the assault on the Pearl Continental,
Qazi Jameel, a senior police official, told Reuters that nine people were killed in the Peshawar hotel attack, and rescuers were still looking for more victims.
The toll excludes dead militants and people still missing. Some officials gave higher tolls. A British and a Nigerian man, and a German woman were among more than 60 wounded.
Pakistan's decision to opt for military action in Swat has been helped by a shift in public opinion. That support might ebb if the welfare of some 2.5 million people displaced by the conflict in the northwest is mishandled.
The United Nations is heavily involved in relief efforts and about a dozen U.N. staff were staying at Pearl Continental.
SECURITY BREACH
Militants had shot their way into the forecourt and exploded a truck bomb in front of the lobby, evoking nightmarish memories of the attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad last September that killed 55 people. Continued...
Source: Reuters

North Korea faces new sanctions, may test missile

N Korea "not a target for attack"
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By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - Russia has information on North Korean plans to launch a ballistic missile but does not know when it will take place, Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian military source as saying on Wednesday.
The news comes as South Korea's defense minister said the North's recent moves were linked to leader Kim Jong-il's succession plans, and as world powers at the United Nations edged toward an agreement on how to punish Pyonyang.
North Korea has angered the region and beyond in the past few weeks with missile launches, threats to attack the South and a nuclear test, prompting U.S. and South Korean forces to raise a military alert on the peninsula to one of its highest since the 1950-53 Korean War.
Cranking up tension, Russia's military said it had information on plans for another missile launch.
"We have certain information about the type and characteristics of the missile. However, we do not have accurate data on the timing," Interfax news agency quoted a senior military source as saying.
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee, meanwhile, linked the North's threats and flurry of military activity to Kim Jong-il paving the way for his son to succeed him.
"Kim Jong-il is bloodshot in the eyes trying to build a succession plan to pass on power by creating tension ... while ignoring the desperate plight of his starving people and the impoverished state of the economy," he said in an address to troops, according to a military aide on Wednesday.
"The North Korean regime is an unethical, irresponsible and inhumane group which puts its own survival ahead of the lives and happiness of the people."
LAWMAKERS BRIEFED ON SUCCESSION
South Korean lawmakers said they were briefed by the South's spy agency and told the North's leaders have started the groundwork that would allow Kim's youngest son, Swiss-educated Jong-un, to take over power.
Analysts said the show of military strength might help leader Kim, 67, divert attention from an faltering economy that has only grown worse under his rule and also boost support after a suspected stroke about a year ago raised questions over his iron grip on power.
His economy could take another hit as the United States and Japan have pushed for strong sanctions to punish North Korea for its nuclear test, but China and Russia have been cautious about provoking Pyongyang by imposing more sanctions.
North Korea appeared to be ready to ratchet up tensions by firing a long-range missile that could reach U.S. territory and mid-range missiles capable of striking anywhere in the South and most of Japan, officials said.
North Korean state media said the state would press on with boosting its nuclear deterrence to counter what it saw as hostile moves by a nuclear-armed United States.
The U.S. special envoy on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, said in New York that the United States will do what is necessary for the security of its allies but has no plans to invade the North or overthrow its government by force. Continued...
Source: Reuters

French submarine begins black box crash search

Air France bodies arrive in Brazil
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By Gerard Bon
PARIS (Reuters) - A French submarine with advanced sonar equipment began searching on Wednesday for the flight recorders of an Air France airliner that crashed into the Atlantic last week, the French military said.
The nuclear-powered submarine Emeraude was sent to the area to hunt the "black box" recorders, which may help explain the disaster and which are believed to lie on the ocean floor.
Investigators face a long search for clues to what went wrong when the Airbus A330 jet disappeared on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris killing all 228 people on board, French military spokesman Christophe Prazuck said.
"Up to now, the time frame for the search for victims and debris has been of the order of days or a week. Here, at the very least, it's going to be of the order of weeks or months," he told LCI television.
The Air France flight is believed to have run into trouble when it hit a violent storm midway over the Atlantic Ocean and potential problems with speed sensors have become one of the focal points of the inquiry.
But other causes have not been ruled out and on Wednesday, the web site of the French weekly L'Express said that two potentially suspect names had been identified on the passenger list by French intelligence services.
It said the names "correspond to people known for their links to Islamist terrorism," but a French military spokesman said he could not confirm the report.
Authorities have seen no credible claims of responsibility and have said the crash was unlikely to have been caused by an attack but they have not excluded one entirely.
SEARCH
In the search zone, where scattered pieces of debris including a large section from the aircraft tail have been recovered, vessels are trying to comb a rugged area of the ocean floor, thousands of meters below the surface.
Prazuck said searchers had taken two weeks to locate the black box recorders after the crash of a Boeing 737 at Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt in 2004, despite much easier conditions.
"That aircraft crashed very close to the coast, there was no doubt about where the accident happened and it took 15 days to recover the black box," he said. "Here the accident happened 1,000 kilometers from the coast. The situation is very complex."
He said the Emeraude was searching an area of 36 square kilometers and the search zone would be changed daily.
If the recorders are found, miniature submarines from the Pourquoi Pas, a French exploration and survey ship also deployed to the area, could be used to bring them in.
Brazilian military search teams have recovered 41 bodies and moved some of them to the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha off Brazil's northeastern coast, which is being used as a base for the search operations. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Gaddafi in first visit to ex-colonial power Italy

By Philip Pullella and Deepa Babington
ROME (Reuters) - Libya's Muammar Gaddafi began his first visit to former colonial power Italy on Wednesday, brazenly wearing a picture of a legendary resistance hero whom Italian occupiers hanged in 1931.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi welcomed Gaddafi on a trip Rome hopes will close a painful chapter in the two countries' past.
The visit by Gaddafi, his first to Italy since taking power in a 1969 coup, is one of the few in the West since economic sanctions were lifted after Libya vowed to stop sponsoring terrorism.
Rome has pulled out all the stops for Gaddafi, whose North African country supplies a quarter of Italy's oil and is a source of much-needed capital for Italian companies amid the global financial crisis.
A $5 billion reparations deal last year paved the way for the visit.
But, to the chagrin of some of the Italian hosts, Gaddafi arrived with a picture pinned to his chest that was a stark reminder of Italy's past as a repressive colonial power.
To the right of a battery of multi-colored insignia on his military jacket was a picture of Libyan resistance hero Omar Al-Mukhtar in chains alongside his Italian captors.
And just for good measure Gaddafi brought along al-Mukhtar's son, now an elderly man who had to be helped off the plane by a bevy of security men and who later sat in a wheelchair on the tarmac while national anthems were played.
"A long, painful chapter with Libya has been closed," Berlusconi told reporters at the airport before Gaddafi, who carried a black baton under his left shoulder, went to a state lunch with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.
"I praise this generation of Italians for having resolved the issues of the past with great courage," Gaddafi told reporters.
A DARK COLONIAL PAST
Italy ruled Libya from 1911 to 1943 in a hugely expensive exercise without ever being able to control the country fully. Gaddafi has repeatedly lambasted Italy over colonial rule, but the two nations have long maintained close business ties.
Libya has been increasingly flexing its financial and political muscle on the world stage since international sanctions were lifted in 2003.
Gaddafi is also set to address Italy's business community, which is looking for signs that Libya will continue to funnel its petrodollars into Italian companies after high-profile stake purchases in UniCredit and Eni last year.
While Italy's political and business community are expected to fawn over Gaddafi and his entourage with the hopes of sealing more business deals, he will also face protests. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Abuse victims march in Dublin to demand justice

By Andras Gergely
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Survivors of rape and ritual beatings at Catholic-run schools marched silently to the Irish parliament on Wednesday, carrying children's shoes and wearing white ribbons symbolizing their lost youth.
Disclosures of floggings, slave labor and gang rape in Ireland's now defunct system of industrial and reform schools have shamed Irish people, particularly older ones who did not confront what a report last month described as endemic abuse.
"It was as if you were inside prison and when you come out you don't talk about it," said Marina Permaul, 66, who was brought up "military style" by nuns in the western county of Galway.
"You don't talk about it even to your children," said Permaul, who arrived from London to attend the march. "You're too ashamed of it all, and in any case would they believe you? You didn't dare speak out against a religious order."
Local news reports said about 7,000 people took part in the march, including hundreds of victims of abuse.
Organizers of the march, held to coincide with a parliamentary debate on the report, have expressed anger that the debate has been postponed to allow parliament to deal with a motion of no confidence in the government.
"It really emphasizes again that the state hasn't actually understood one iota of what it was like for 165,000 children who went through 216 institutions," said survivor Christine Buckley.
"I'm deeply disappointed," said Buckley, who set up the Aislinn Center, which provides support for survivors.
The inquiry, chaired by High Court Justice Sean Ryan, criticized religious authorities for covering up the crimes and the Department of Education for colluding in the silence. It noted children were also preyed upon by foster parents, volunteer workers and employers.
The report did not identify abusers after a successful legal challenge by the Christian Brothers, which was the largest provider of residential care for boys in Ireland.
A series of scandals involving predatory priests has dislodged the Roman Catholic Church from its once pre-eminent position in Irish society but there is anger that many have avoided jail.
Religious orders identified in the report have come under pressure to pay more compensation to victims. A 2002 deal capped their contribution to a redress fund at 127 million euros ($177 million). The total bill is expected to top 1 billion euros.
Buckley said the redress fund was a failure and she has called for its awards to be reviewed and a trust fund set up instead.
"The whole idea of the redress board was another form of institutional abuse. It is silent, it is behind closed doors and there is punishment if you reveal your award," she said.
"The monies that people got there were utterly and truly appalling and really is in line with what the religious thought of us." Continued...
Source: Reuters

Peshawar hotel attack exposes Pakistan's insecurity

Pakistan attack leaves 5 dead
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By Robert Birsel
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani security cameras showed on Wednesday barriers were lowered at the entrance to Peshawar's top hotel just before militants drove into the forecourt and exploded a truck bomb, killing at least nine people, including two foreign U.N. workers.
Taliban militants have stepped up attacks in cities since the army launched a campaign in April to clear Taliban fighters from a stronghold in Swat and other parts of northwest Pakistan.
More than 1,300 militants and 105 soldiers have been killed in Swat, and the army's resolve has heartened U.S. officials, who have been worried that nuclear-armed Pakistan could slide into chaos unless the Taliban's advance weren't stopped.
On Wednesday, the military said it launched an assault on militant positions in Bannu, after up to 800 militants infiltrated the district adjoining the Waziristan tribal region, another Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold.
The closed circuit television camera footage of Tuesday night's militant attack in Peshawar, however, will inevitably reinforce concerns over insecurity in Pakistan.
U.N. agencies issued statements saying five of their workers, including a Serbian man and Philippine woman and three Pakistanis, were among those killed in the assault on the Pearl Continental, a hotel popular with VIPs and foreigners visiting the capital of North West Frontier Province.
Qazi Jameel, a senior police official, told Reuters that nine people had been killed in the attack, and rescuers were still looking for more victims. There were more than 60 wounded, including a British and a Nigerian man, and a German woman.
The toll excludes dead militants and people still missing. There were conflicting reports on the number killed and some officials have given a higher toll.
SECURITY BREACH
The blast blew out all the hotel windows, and caused several walls and a section of floors to collapse on the front side. Less than a third of the 150 rooms were occupied
The sons of a hotel cook, sat weeping in the ruined lobby, waiting for word on their father.
"We are trying to call him on his mobile, the bell is ringing but no one is answering," said 25-year-old Sheikh Junaid.
Militants had shot their way into the forecourt and exploded a truck bomb in front of the lobby, evoking nightmarish memories of the attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad last September that killed 55 people.
News channels ran closed circuit television camera footage from the checkpoint at the hotel entrance on the main road.
It showed a cyclist speaking to a security guard, who then returned to his cabin. As the cyclist pedaled through, a retractable metal barrier in the driveway was lowered. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Ahmadinejad says election rivals use Hitler tactics

By Parisa Hafezi and Dominic Evans
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused his election rivals on Wednesday of adopting smear tactics used by Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler and said they could face jail for insulting him.
Ahmadinejad was speaking at a rally in Tehran on the final day of an increasingly bitter and hard-fought election campaign, in which he faces a growing challenge from moderate former prime minister Mirhossein Mousavi.
Mousavi and the two other candidates say Ahmadinejad has lied about the state of the economy which is suffering from high inflation and a fall in oil revenues from last year's record levels.
Ahmadinejad said his rivals had broken laws against insulting the president.
"No one has the right to insult the president, and they did it. And this is a crime. The person who insulted the president should be punished, and the punishment is jail," he told supporters outside Tehran's Sharif University.
"Such insults and accusations against the government are a return to Hitler's methods, to repeat lies and accusations ... until everyone believes those lies," Ahmadinejad said.
Insulting senior officials, including the president, is a crime in Iran carrying a maximum two-year jail sentence.
The hardline president has accused Mousavi's supporters, including former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, of corruption. Rafsanjani responded angrily, calling on the Islamic Republic's supreme leader to rein in Ahmadinejad.
Mousavi accuses Ahmadinejad of isolating Iran with his vitriolic attacks on the United States, his combative line on Iran's nuclear policy and his questioning of the Holocaust.
He advocates easing nuclear tensions, while rejecting demands that Tehran halt nuclear work which the West fears could be used to make bombs. Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, says its nuclear program is peaceful.
Friday's election will not change Tehran's nuclear policy, which is decided by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but a victory for Mousavi could herald a less confrontational relationship with the West.
IRAN'S VELVET REVOLUTION?
The angry election exchanges have reverberated in the Shi'ite holy city of Qom, a main religious center in the Islamic Republic, where 14 clerics expressed "deep concern and regret" that Iran's image had been harmed by the political mud slinging.
Another group said on Wednesday that Rafsanjani would be responsible if the tension escalated into violence.
The three-week election campaign has seen rising support for Mousavi, who had been out of the political spotlight since serving as prime minister during the 1980-88 war with Iraq. Continued...
Source: Reuters

French submarine to begin black box crash search

Air France bodies arrive in Brazil
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By Gerard Bon
PARIS (Reuters) - A French submarine with advanced sonar equipment was due to begin searching on Wednesday for the flight recorders of an Air France airliner that crashed into the Atlantic last week, the French military said.
The nuclear-powered submarine Emeraude was sent to the area to help recover the "black box" flight recorders, which may contain clues to explain the disaster and which are believed to lie deep on the ocean floor.
"The Emeraude will begin its patrol during the morning in an initial search zone of 36 kilometers by 36," Christophe Prazuck, a spokesman for the French military said. He said the search zone would be changed daily.
If the recorders are found, unmanned submarines from the Pourquoi Pas, a French exploration and survey ship also deployed to the area, could be used to bring them in.
Prazuck cautioned that the search of the rugged seabed at a depth of thousands of meters in strong ocean currents would be complicated and could take weeks.
"Up to now, the time frame for the search for victims and debris has been of the order of days or a week. Here, at the very least, it's going to be of the order of weeks or months," he told LCI television.
He noted that searchers had taken two weeks to locate the black box recorders after the crash of a Boeing 737 at Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt in 2004, despite much easier conditions.
"That aircraft crashed very close to the coast, there was no doubt about where the accident happened and it took 15 days to recover the black box," he said. "Here the accident happened 1,000 kilometers from the coast. The situation is very complex."
All 228 people aboard Air France flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris were believed to have died when the Airbus A330 crashed into the sea after flying into stormy weather more than a week ago.
Brazilian military search teams have recovered 41 bodies and moved some of them to the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha off Brazil's northeastern coast, which is being used as a base for the search operations.
Several pieces of wreckage have also been found but a full understanding of the accident will depend on the recovery of the flight recorders.
The doomed plane sent 24 automated messages in its final minutes on June 1, detailing a rapid series of systems failures.
Speed sensors that gauge how fast an aircraft is flying have become the focus of the investigation after some of the messages showed they provided inconsistent data to the pilots.
(Writing by James Mackenzie; editing by Andrew Dobbie)

Source: Reuters

Obama envoy says Palestinian statehood only option

By Mohammed Assadi
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - U.S. envoy George Mitchell assured the Palestinians Wednesday of Washington's commitment to a state of their own, calling its establishment the only viable solution to their conflict with Israel.
Mitchell, speaking after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on both sides to meet their obligations under a 2003 peace "road map" that commits Israel to halting settlement expansion and Palestinians to reining in militants.
U.S. President Barack Obama had made it clear "the only viable resolution to this conflict is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states," Mitchell said.
His comments highlighted a rare rift in U.S.-Israeli relations. Netanyahu has not publicly endorsed Palestinian statehood and has said construction will continue in existing settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Reiterating remarks he made in talks with Israeli leaders on Tuesday, Mitchell said in the West Bank city of Ramallah that Washington was seeking "prompt resumption and early conclusion" of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
"We are now engaged in serious discussions with Israelis, Palestinians and other regional partners to support this effort," he added, before continuing the latest leg of his mission on a tour taking him to Lebanon, Syria and Egypt.
Abbas made no comment to reporters. The Palestinian leader has said talks with Israel will be useless unless Netanyahu accepts a two-state solution and freezes settlements.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said in a statement the United States had "made clear its intention to reinvigorate Middle East peace talks, as well as its expectation that both parties implement their obligations under the road map."
He said Israel's failure to fulfill its obligations under existing agreements had undermined the credibility of the peace process.
Obama's emphasis on meeting obligations was "an important litmus test of fairness and balance," Erekat said.
An aide to Abbas said the U.S. position was "encouraging" but Israel's position was "obscure and disappointing."
Netanyahu, who leads a conservative government that could face collapse if he halts settlement construction, is scheduled to set out his position in a speech Sunday.
(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta; editing by Douglas Hamilton)
(For blogs and links on Israeli politics and other Israeli and Palestinian news, go to blogs.reuters.com/axismundi)

Source: Reuters

Submarine to begin Air France black box search

Air France bodies arrive in Brazil
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PARIS (Reuters) - A French submarine with advanced sonar equipment is due to begin searching on Wednesday for the flight recorders of the Air France airliner which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean last week, the French military said.
The nuclear-powered submarine Emeraude was dispatched to the area last week to help recover the "black box" flight recorders, which may contain clues to explain the disaster and which are believed to lie deep on the Atlantic ocean floor.
"The Emeraude will begin its patrol during the morning in an initial search zone of 36 km by 36," Christophe Prazuck, a spokesman for the French military said. He said the search zone would be changed daily.
If the recorders are found, unmanned robot submarines on board the Pourquoi Pas, a French exploration and survey ship which has also been deployed to the area, could be used to bring them in.
All 228 people aboard Air France flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris are believed to have died when the Airbus A330 aircraft crashed into the ocean after flying into stormy weather more than a week ago.
Brazilian military search teams have recovered 41 bodies from the sea and moved some of them to the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha off Brazil's northeastern coast, which is being used as a base for the search operations.
Several pieces of wreckage have also been found but a full understanding of the accident will depend on the black box recorders being recovered.
The doomed jet sent 24 automated messages in its final minutes on June 1, detailing a rapid series of systems failures.
Speed sensors that gauge how fast an aircraft is flying have become the focus of the investigation after some of the messages showed they provided inconsistent data to the pilots.
(Reporting by Gerard Bon; Writing by James Mackenzie)

Source: Reuters

Abbas tries to fix Palestinian side of peace puzzle

By Mohammed Assadi
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Abbas chairs talks in Jordan on Thursday with factions of Fatah, seeking agreement to hold the first congress in 20 years of the fractured, weakened movement dominating Palestinian politics.
Fatah needs to restore unity to overturn its shock 2006 election defeat by Islamist rival Hamas, and to ensure Abbas is firmly in the driver's seat for peace talks with Israel, which U.S. President Barack Obama wants to resume without delay.
"The meeting of the central committee that will take place in Amman will take the final steps in preparation for the Sixth Fatah Congress," said Fatah West Bank spokesman Fahmi al-Zarir.
A senior aide to Abbas told Reuters the meeting stood a good chance of setting a final date and venue for the congress, last held in 1989 but never yet convened on Palestinian territory.
The aim is to strengthen Abbas by restoring and rejuvenating Fatah, instituting reforms to bolster its democratic credentials and heal rifts in the ranks between the exiled establishment and home-based veterans of the resistance movement.
Secular Fatah is internally divided on issues of militancy, democratization, and the conduct of talks with Israel. Local and younger leaders want the "old guard" to grant them more say.
"The differences within Fatah could lead to division and fragmentation of the movement. What's happening is a recipe for the collapse of Fatah," said reformist Qaddoura Fares.
Once all-powerful under the late Yasser Arafat, Fatah began to show cracks after his death, running rival slates in the 2006 election and thereby helping its opponent Hamas to a victory that led on to open division and armed hostility.
A year later Fatah was forced out of the Gaza Strip by the Islamists and holds sway only in the occupied West Bank. Months of talks in Cairo to reconcile the two divergent wings of the Palestinian cause have so far made little progress.
"Arafat had contributed to weakening Fatah but he was the glue that held the movement together. Now everyone sees himself as leader," commented political analyst Hani Masri.
STRENGTHENING ABBAS'S HAND
Abbas, 74, wants a "modern, united and tamed Fatah" -- as opposed to the militant Hamas -- to prove he can deliver peace as head of the Palestinian Authority.
But his Fatah movement must restore credibility with Palestinians disaffected by its corruption and cronyism, and the meager results of past peace talks with Israel.
The Hamas Islamists, with a reputation for austerity, spurn talks in favor of armed resistance against Israel and now represent Abbas's most serious challenge.
A strengthened Abbas could win greater U.S. and European support in pressing Israel's right-leaning government to endorse the internationally backed "two-state solution" to the conflict. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Woman pleads guilty to French banker's killing

By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA (Reuters) - A French woman pleaded guilty on Wednesday to killing a French banking scion after kinky sex and an argument over $1 million, saying it was "a crime of passion."
Cecile Brossard, an artist who is now 40, sat impassively of the Geneva courtroom, her blonde hair pulled back in a bun, with the family of her late lover Edouard Stern seated just a meter behind her.
"The defense will plead it was a crime of passion," Brossard's defense lawyer Alec Reymond told the courtroom.
The 50-year-old Stern -- the 38th richest man in France, whose friends included President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist politician Laurent Fabius -- was shot dead in his penthouse apartment in the Swiss city on February 28, 2005.
The killing of Stern, a banker known for his abrasive style who ran an investment fund out of Geneva and lent advice on some of Europe's largest mergers, rocked Geneva banking circles.
His body, with four bullet holes, was found clad from head-to-toe in a flesh-colored latex suit, which police say was linked to sado-masochistic sex.
Brossard confessed to killing Stern with his own pistol after an argument over $1 million Stern put into her Swiss account after she demanded it saying it would be "proof of his love for her" and then blocked it after she refused to return it.
A jury of 12 -- seven men and five women -- with three alternates was chosen to hear the case.
The judge accepted a request by the Stern family for the testimony by two of his three young adult children, Mathilde and Louis, to be heard immediately behind closed doors. A third, Henri, was excused from testifying because of exams.
"Given their sadness and youth, we request a private hearing," said Marc Bonnant, who represents Stern's three children in the case.
Stern's ex wife, Beatrice Stern, sat next to her children until being asked to leave by the judge as she was not among the civil party bringing the case against Brossard.
The Stern family requested that a video reconstituting the crime also be shown behind closed doors, saying they feared piracy of the images.
But the judge refused, saying: "I expect the public to respect the strict ban on taking photos."
Defense lawyers Reymond and Pascal Maurer won a motion for the court to hear phone messages left by Stern on Brossard's telephone which they say will show his years of cruelty to Brossard, whom he met in 2001.
Geneva chief prosecutor Daniel Zappelli agreed, telling the court: "It is useful for the jury to hear the voice of the deceased." Continued...
Source: Reuters

Russia says expecting new North Korea missile test

By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - Russia has information on North Korean plans to launch a ballistic missile but does not know when it will take place, Interfax news agency quoted a senior Russian military source as saying on Wednesday.
The news comes as South Korea's defense minister said the North's recent moves were linked to leader Kim Jong-il's succession plans, and as world powers at the United Nations edged toward an agreement on how to punish Pyonyang.
North Korea has angered the region and beyond in the past few weeks with missile launches, threats to attack the South and a nuclear test, prompting U.S. and South Korean forces to raise a military alert on the peninsula to one of its highest since the 1950-53 Korean War.
Cranking up tension, Russia's military said it had information on plans for another missile launch.
"We have certain information about the type and characteristics of the missile. However, we do not have accurate data on the timing," Interfax news agency quoted a senior military source as saying.
South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee, meanwhile, linked the North's threats and flurry of military activity to Kim Jong-il paving the way for his son to succeed him.
"Kim Jong-il is bloodshot in the eyes trying to build a succession plan to pass on power by creating tension ... while ignoring the desperate plight of his starving people and the impoverished state of the economy," he said in an address to troops, according to a military aide on Wednesday.
"The North Korean regime is an unethical, irresponsible and inhumane group which puts its own survival ahead of the lives and happiness of the people."
LAWMAKERS BRIEFED ON SUCCESSION
South Korean lawmakers said they were briefed by the South's spy agency and told the North's leaders have started the groundwork that would allow Kim's youngest son, Swiss-educated Jong-un, to take over power.
Analysts said the show of military strength might help leader Kim, 67, divert attention from an faltering economy that has only grown worse under his rule and also boost support after a suspected stroke about a year ago raised questions over his iron grip on power.
His economy could take another hit as the United States and Japan have pushed for strong sanctions to punish North Korea for its nuclear test, but China and Russia have been cautious about provoking Pyongyang by imposing more sanctions.
North Korea appeared to be ready to ratchet up tensions by firing a long-range missile that could reach U.S. territory and mid-range missiles capable of striking anywhere in the South and most of Japan, officials said.
North Korean state media said the state would press on with boosting its nuclear deterrence to counter what it saw as hostile moves by a nuclear-armed United States.
The U.S. special envoy on North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, said in New York that the United States will do what is necessary for the security of its allies but has no plans to invade the North or overthrow its government by force. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Militants attack Pakistani hotel; 7 dead, more missing

Bomb blast in Pakistan
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By Robert Birsel
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Rescuers scoured the wreckage of Peshawar's top hotel for victims on Wednesday after a suicide bomb killed at least seven people, the latest militant attack in retaliation for a Pakistani army offensive in the Swat valley.
The resolve shown by the Pakistani government and military in Swat has heartened U.S. officials, concerned their nuclear-armed ally could slide into chaos unless the Taliban's creeping advance toward Islamabad was stopped.
A U.N. official said two U.N. workers, a Russian man and Philippine woman, were among those killed in the Tuesday night assault on the Pearl Continental, a hotel popular with VIPs and foreigners visiting the capital of North West Frontier Province.
Taliban militants have stepped up attacks in cities since the army launched a campaign in April to clear Islamist fighters from a stronghold in Swat and other parts of northwest Pakistan.
"We have the death toll of seven people killed in the blast including four whose bodies were recovered today," said city police chief Sifwat Ghayyur, the head of the investigation.
The toll excludes dead militants and people still missing in the ruined hotel. The force of the blast blew out all its windows, and caused several concrete walls and a section of floors to collapse on the hotel's front side.
Senior police official Abdul Gafoor Afridi said 64 people were wounded. The hotel manager was among those missing.
Militants had shot their way into the hotel forecourt and exploded a truck bomb in front of the lobby, evoking nightmarish memories of the attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad last September that killed 55 people.
News channels ran closed circuit television camera footage from the checkpoint at the hotel entrance on the main road.
It showed a cyclist brushing aside a security guard, who then returned to his cabin. As the cyclist pedaled through, a retractable metal barrier in the driveway was lowered, and a saloon car pulled into the entrance.
There appeared to be shots fired, before the car sped over the lowered barrier toward the hotel, swiftly followed by a small truck. Another guard ran for cover as the shots were fired.
Police said the bomb contained 500 kg (1,100 lb) of explosives, a similar size to the bomb at the Marriott.
The mangled truck used in the attack could be seen several feet away from the crater caused by the explosion.
There was no claim of responsibility, but the Taliban have warned of retaliation because of the Swat offensive, and there has been a new trend in militant tactics toward using gunmen in support of a suicide bomber.
SECOND FRONT Continued...
Source: Reuters

For some Tehran youth, vote is a chance to party

By Fredrik Dahl and Zahra Hosseinian
TEHRAN (Reuters) - As night falls, rival supporters of Iran's presidential candidates take over the streets of Tehran in boisterous scenes which at times resemble more a giant party than an election campaign in a conservative Islamic state.
In the run-up to Friday's hotly contested vote, mainly young people descend on the capital's most famous boulevard in the evenings and bring traffic to a standstill in a cacophony of chanting slogans, honking car horns and loud music.
But while many of those thronging tree-lined Vali-ye Asr in relatively affluent northern Tehran make clear their desire for political change, it also offers them a chance to let off steam and mingle with the opposite sex in public.
"For 80 percent ... they only come out to have fun," said Ashkan, a teenager trying to make himself heard in the noise. He gave only his first name.
"It is an excuse for boys and girls to talk to each other without trouble," he said, referring to the Islamic Republic's ban on unrelated men and woman socializing.
As he spoke, swarms of motorbikes sped up the street, narrowly avoiding slow-moving cars and crowds of pedestrians. Some had passengers standing on the saddle cheering and waving the red, white and green Iranian flag.
A group of teenaged boys jumped out of their cars and started dancing to thumping Iranian pop music. Another group of young men and women shouted and waved pictures of their favored candidate as they walked in the middle of the dense traffic.
Such a public outpouring of emotion and jubilation has not been seen since Iran's soccer team defeated the United States in 1998 or when reformist Mohammad Khatami swept to power by winning the previous year's presidential election.
With more than 60 percent of Iran's population under 30, the battle for the youth vote could be crucial for the outcome of an election pitting conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against moderates seeking political and social change.
AHMADINEJAD "NOT ALONE"
Police were deployed along Vali-ye Asr but they watched the carnival-like scenes without interfering. Despite reports of sporadic street clashes elsewhere in Tehran in recent days, there was no sign of tension or violence.
"Our young people don't often get a chance to say what they want. They like to express themselves by coming to the streets," said one middle-aged onlooker, Hamid Saeedi.
Northern Tehran, on a slope stretching toward the snow-capped Alborz mountains, is dominated by supporters of former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi, a moderate who is seeking to deny Ahmadinejad a second four-year term.
Some supporters of Mousavi, who has attacked Ahmadinejad's "extremist" foreign policy and says he would seek detente with the West, drove expensive four-wheel drives plastered with photographs of the bearded, bespectacled 67-year-old.
Others wore headbands and wristbands in his green campaign colors, leaning out of car windows and flashing victory signs. Continued...
Source: Reuters

North Korea's Kim feverish on succession: Seoul

By Jack Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's defense chief says North Korea's military grandstanding that included last month's nuclear test was linked to leader Kim Jong-il's succession plans in the "inhumane" state, an official said on Wednesday.
At the United Nations on Tuesday, world powers edged toward an agreement on a resolution expanding sanctions on North Korea because of its nuclear test and weapons program, but were unable to close the deal, diplomats said.
North Korea has angered the region and beyond in the past weeks with missile launches, threats to attack the South and the May 25 nuclear test, prompting U.S. and South Korean forces to raise a military alert on the peninsula to one of its highest levels since the 1950-53 Korean War.
"Kim Jong-il is bloodshot in the eyes trying to build a succession plan to pass on power by creating tension ... while ignoring the desperate plight of his starving people and the impoverished state of the economy," Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee said in an address to troops, according to a military aide.
"The North Korean regime is an unethical, irresponsible and inhumane group which puts its own survival ahead of the lives and happiness of the people," Lee said in the message.
South Korean lawmakers said they were briefed by the South's spy agency and told the North's leaders have started the groundwork that would allow Kim's youngest son, Swiss-educated Jong-un, to take over power.
Analysts said the show of military strength might help leader Kim, 67, divert attention from an faltering economy that has only grown worse under his rule and also boost support after a suspected stroke about a year ago raised questions over his iron grip on power.
His economy could take another hit as the United States and Japan have pushed for strong sanctions to punish North Korea for its nuclear test, but China and Russia have been cautious about provoking Pyongyang by imposing more sanctions.
North Korea appeared to be ready to ratchet up tensions by firing a long-range missile that could reach U.S. territory and mid-range missiles capable of striking anywhere in the South and most of Japan, officials said.
In an indication of growing concern for possible aggression by the North, South Korea has doubled the deployment of naval destroyers and patrol vessels in disputed waters off the peninsula's west coast, a report in the South Korean daily Dong-A Ilbo said on Wednesday.
North Korean vessels last week intruded into the South's territorial waters, retreating after warning maneuvers by South Korean navy. The area off the west coast of the peninsula has been the site of two deadly naval battles between the rival states over the past 10 years.
(Editing by Jon Herskovitz and David Fox)

Source: Reuters

Militants attack Pakistani hotel; 5 dead, 70 hurt

Bomb blast in Pakistan
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By Alamgir Bitani
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Militants attacked a hotel popular with VIPs and foreigners in the Pakistani city of Peshawar with guns and a truck bomb on Tuesday, killing five people including a U.N. worker, authorities said.
Taliban militants have stepped up bomb attacks since the military launched an offensive in April in the former tourist valley of Swat and neighboring districts northwest of the capital.
Militants shot their way through a security post at the gate of the Pearl Continental Hotel in the northwestern city of Peshawar and a suspected suicide bomber set off the truck bomb in front of the lobby, security officials said.
The hotel's windows were shattered and much of the front of the building was destroyed. Police said the bomb contained 500 kg (1,100 lb) of explosives, similar size to a suicide truck bomb at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad last year that killed 55 people.
"I was in the Chinese restaurant when we heard firing and then a blast. It was totally dark and people started shouting and running," hotel waiter Ali Khan told Reuters.
Top city administrator Sahibzada Anis said five people had been killed, among them a U.N. refugee agency worker. Police said the man was Serbian.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack.
"Once again, a dedicated staff member of the United Nations is among the victims of a heinous terrorist attack which no cause can justify," Ban's press office said in a statement.
About 70 people were wounded, among them a German woman working for the U.N. children's fund, a British man and a Nigerian man, Anis said.
About a dozen U.N. staff were staying at the hotel.
The United Nations is heavily involved in providing relief for more than 2.5 million people displaced by the fighting in Swat and elsewhere in the northwest.
There was no claim of responsibility for the latest attack, but the Taliban have warned of retaliatory action over the Swat offensive.
WASHINGTON HEARTENED
The United States, which needs sustained Pakistani action to help defeat al Qaeda and cut off militant support for the Afghan Taliban, has been heartened by the resolve the government and military are showing in Swat.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said on Monday Pakistan's army was gaining in the offensive because public support for the operation was solidifying. Continued...
Source: Reuters

U.S. not seeking to topple North Korea government: envoy

By Claudia Parsons
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States will do what is necessary for the security of its allies but has no plans to invade North Korea or overthrow its government by force, Washington's special envoy, Stephen Bosworth, said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the annual dinner of the Korea Society in New York, Bosworth said North Korea's recent missile and nuclear tests were provocative and undermined its own security.
He said North Korea's actions "require that we expand our consideration of new responses, including our force posture and extended deterrence options," but he rejected North Korea's assertion that it was reacting to U.S. hostility.
"We have no intention to invade North Korea or change its regime through force," Bosworth said, urging Pyongyang to return to six-party talks with Washington, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. Those five countries have been trying for years to persuade the impoverished North to give up its efforts to build a nuclear arsenal in return for massive aid.
Bosworth said Washington was also open to bilateral dialogue to achieve the goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and the normalization of relations with Pyongyang.
"Continuing to threaten and alienate its neighbors denies North Korea the security and respect it claims to be seeking," Bosworth said. "The United States will do what it must do to provide for our security and that of our allies."
"Notwithstanding North Korea's recent actions, we and the other participants in the (six-party) talks remain open to meaningful dialogue and serious negotiations," he said.
"North Korea should be shown a clear path toward acceptance in the international community."
Bosworth also appealed to Pyongyang on humanitarian grounds to release two U.S. journalists arrested in March and sentenced on Monday to 12 years hard labor.
Efforts by the United States and Japan to expand sanctions to punish North Korea for its May nuclear test failed to produce a deal on Tuesday in the U.N. Security Council, where China and Russia have been reluctant to provoke Pyongyang.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Source: Reuters

Air France to replace speed sensors now: union

Air France bodies arrive in Brazil
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By Crispian Balmer
PARIS (Reuters) - Air France has said all its flights using long-haul Airbus jets will be equipped immediately with new speed sensors after last week's disaster over the Atlantic, a pilots' union said on Tuesday.
The pitot tubes that gauge speed have become the focus of an investigation into the crash after messages showed they provided inconsistent data to the pilots and might have played a role in the June 1 crash that killed 228 people.
One Air France union urged its pilots to stop flying Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft until the old sensors were replaced and the company has since committed itself to a swift change-out, a union official said.
"Air France has provided us with an extremely proactive and very accelerated replacement program," said Erick Derivry, spokesman for the main SNPL pilots union.
"From today, all Air France A330 and A340 flights will use planes equipped with at least two new sensors out of three (on board)," he told France Info radio.
Air France, which has 19 A340s and 15 A330s, declined to comment.
The Air France A330 crashed en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris last week after flying into stormy weather.
MORE BODIES RECOVERED
The Brazilian air force and navy said on Tuesday that search teams had recovered 41 bodies from the Atlantic and moved some of them to the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha off Brazil's northeastern coast, which is being used as a base for the search operations.
The first 16 bodies found will be flown from there to the air base in the northeastern coastal town of Recife in Pernambucano state on Wednesday afternoon, Brazil's Navy and Air Force said in a joint statement.
The Federal Police and local authorities in Pernambucano said in a statement a team of experts would carry out a visual inspection of the bodies on Fernando de Noronha, collect DNA material and fingerprints and record details of clothes and items found on them.
Crews on Monday removed a large object from the water that an aviation expert identified as part of the plane's tail, but officials would not comment on what it was.
Analysts say identifying the wreckage could help establish what happened but that a complete understanding of the mysterious crash will hinge on finding flight recorders that may lie on the very deep and rugged ocean floor.
A French nuclear submarine with advanced sonar equipment is due to arrive on Thursday to search for the aircraft's "black box" recorders. The Brazilian military said France was also sending 40 tonnes of equipment aboard two tug boats to help scour for wreckage.
The jet sent 24 automated messages in its final minutes on June 1, detailing a rapid series of system failures. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Venezuelan slang key to bawdy Chavez's success

By Charlie Devereux
CARACAS (Reuters) - A head of state describing a mobile phone by using a crude term for male genitalia would spark outcry in most countries, but in Venezuela such language is a big part of President Hugo Chavez's popular appeal.
Chavez has made vulgar language and insults a trademark of his decade in power. He once told the country he would have sex with his wife when he got home that day, has called Americans "shits" and described former U.S. President George W. Bush as "the devil" and a "donkey."
So it was no great surprise when he recently called the first cellphone to be made in Venezuela the "vergatario," a word derived from a popular slang term for penis.
The word is widely used in western Venezuela to refer to something seen as high quality and it raised little more than giggles when Chavez talked about the phone.
The president's earthy and sometimes downright vulgar speech exasperates opponents who are often the target of his insults, but it helps explain the socialist's enduring popularity with followers who relate to his humble roots in a dirt-floored country hut.
Chavez, who studied to university level in a military academy, shot to fame after a failed coup in 1992. He went on to win the presidency in 1998 and his approval ratings remain above 50 percent after a decade of social spending and nationalizations in the South American oil exporter.
"I'm going to call Fidel Castro on the vergatario. We won't be intercepted," Chavez, a friend of the former Cuban leader, said the week the phone was launched.
Chavez says he was not referring to male genitalia when he nicknamed the $14 phone, made using Chinese technology and featuring a camera, radio and MP3 player.
Venezuelans use a particularly lewd version of Spanish packed with references to male and female reproductive organs, genital lice and sexual orientation, and Chavez -- apparently deliberately -- does not seek a more dignified presidential tone.
Last year, he launched into a lengthy description of his bowel functions during a televised address.
On the streets of Caracas, it is not uncommon to hear mothers refer to their children as "conitos" a diminutive that refers to female genitalia. Such words are now so commonplace that they have all but lost their original meaning and power to shock.
"Venezuelans love that florid and elaborate language full of jargon and slang words," says linguist Manuel Bermudez of the Venezuelan Academy of Language, adding that Chavez plays on it deliberately. "It's calculated; that kind of discourse reaches the people."
Chavez uses "an embroidered quilt" of popular expressions derived from baseball and army slang, says Bermudez, who follows the development of what he calls "Chavezspeak."
LITTLE YANKEE
Venezuelans' language may be coarse but presidents were for long expected to be a cut above the crowd, and many of Chavez's opponents say he has caused a decline in standards. Continued...
Source: Reuters

Militants attack Pakistani hotel, 5 dead, 70 hurt

By Alamgir Bitani
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Militants attacked a hotel popular with foreigners in the Pakistani city of Peshawar with guns and a truck bomb on Tuesday, killing five people including a U.N. worker, authorities said.
Taliban militants have stepped up bomb attacks since the military launched an offensive in April in the former tourist valley of Swat and neighboring districts northwest of the capital.
Militants shot their way through a security post at the gate of the Pearl Continental Hotel in the northwestern city of Peshawar and a suspected suicide bomber set off the truck-bomb in front of the lobby, security officials said.
"I was in the Chinese restaurant when we heard firing and then a blast. It was totally dark and people started shouting and running," hotel waiter Ali Khan told Reuters.
Top city administrator Sahibzada Anis said five people had been killed, among them a U.N. refugee agency worker. Police said the man was Serbian.
About 70 people were wounded among them a German woman working for the U.N. children's fund. A British man and a Nigerian man were also wounded, Anis said.
The United Nations is heavily involved in providing relief for more than 2.5 million people displaced by the fighting in Swat and elsewhere in the northwest.
About a dozen U.N. staff were staying at the hotel and some had been wounded but there had been no report of any fatality, a U.N. official said.
The hotel's windows were shattered and dozens of cars were destroyed. Police said the bomb contained 500 kg (1,100 lb) of explosives, a similar size to a suicide truck bomb at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad in September that killed 55 people.
There was no claim of responsibility for the latest attack but the Taliban have warned of retaliatory action over the offensive in Swat.
The United States, which needs sustained Pakistani action to help defeat al Qaeda and cut off militant support for the Afghan Taliban, has been heartened by the resolve the government and military are showing in the Swat offensive.
PUBLIC SUPPORT
Washington has been alarmed by the possibility of nuclear-armed Pakistan drifting into chaos.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said on Monday Pakistan's army was gaining in the offensive because public support for the operation was solidifying.
"For the first time, the Pakistan army operations in that part of the world have support of the government and the public. This is really different from the past, when the army went up and there was little backing," Blair told intelligence officials in Washington. Continued...
Source: Reuters