Thursday 13 November 2014

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Takata to face US Senate grilling over 'deadly' airbags

Posted:

Washington (AFP) - Japanese auto parts maker Takata will face the heat of a US Senate hearing next week as lawmakers investigate the firms defective airbags now linked to at least five deaths.The Senate Commerce Committee said it had set a hearing for next Thursday on the circumstances surrounding a series of vehicle recalls beginning in 2008 for defective airbags manufactured by Takata.The most recent recalls for Takata airbags now encompass 10 automobile manufacturers and affect 7.8 million vehicles in the United States, the committee said in a statement.The hearing will focus on how defective Takata airbags became installed in so many vehicles and the responses of both automakers and NHTSA to remedy the safety defect to protect consumers.It was not immediately known whether officials of Takata or the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) have been called to testify at the hearing.The witness list will be announced several days before the hearing, a Senate spokeswoman said.The NHTSA, the US auto safety regulator, has expanded its urgent warning to owners of cars with affected airbags to take them to dealers to fix the problem immediately.The faulty airbags can explode when inflating, firing potentially deadly shrapnel into the cars occupants.Four deaths have been claimed in the United States related to the problem, and on Thursday Honda said an exploding airbag had killed a woman in Malaysia.Affected automakers also include BMW, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota.Two Commerce Committee members, Richard Blumenthal and Ed Markey, have called on the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation of Takata, after The New York Times last week reported the company had covered up a potentially lethal fault in its airbags.Quoting former Takata employees, the Times reported that tests were conducted a decade ago, but executives ordered the destruction of data that exposed design flaws.Takata on Thursday denied the Times report, saying the tests were carried out on an airbag part that was unrelated to the inflator mechanism at the center of the problem.Our company did not carry out such test (on inflators) in 2004, and we absolutely did not cover up test results, as reported in the story, Takata said in a statement.This was not a secret test... The story is based on an inaccurate understanding of the facts, and it defames our firm and employees.Honda on Thursday announced an additional recall of more than 170,000 vehicles worldwide for the defective airbags.

US cop-killer charged with terorism

Posted:

NEW YORK (AFP) - A man accused of killing a Pennsylvania state trooper was charged with terror-related offenses Thursday, according to court documents that allege his actions were politically motivated.Eric Frein, 31, faces 11 charges in total, including acting with the intent to change the government after he shot two officers, one fatally.The defendant shot two Pennsylvania state troopers with the purpose of influencing the policy of government, according to an amended police complaint submitted to Pike County Courthouse in Pennsylvania.Frein acted with the purpose of affecting the conduct of a government, the document said.Both charges were listed as terrorism offenses.He is also charged with first degree murder and possessing a weapon of mass destruction.Police had initially sought several murder and assault charges, but after interviews with Frein submitted the additional terrorism charges.Frein, reportedly a self-trained sniper and survivalist with a hatred of law enforcement, is accused of gunning down trooper Bryon Dickson II and wounding another officer on September 12.He was arrested six weeks later, following a massive manhunt through Pennsylvanias mountains and dense forests.According to the police complaint, Frein told police he wanted to wake people up because it was all he could do, and said trying to enact change by voting was pointless.He wanted to make a change (in government) and that voting was insufficient to do so because there was no one worth voting for, the document said.Frein had been included in the FBIs top 10 most wanted list as the search continued following his ambush outside a barracks near Pennsylvanias border with New York and New Jersey.Frein has been described as a loner obsessed with military history who was fascinated by the modern Serbian army and paramilitary groups.He took part and organized military re-enactments of battles between Serbs and Croats from the Bosnian war of the 1990s, reports said.

US spying via surveillance program to catch criminals

Posted:

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - US justice officials are scooping up mobile phone data from unwitting Americans as part of a sophisticated airborne surveillance program designed to catch criminals, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.Small aircraft deployed by the US Marshals Service from at least five major airports have been taking to the skies with dirtbox equipment designed to mimic signals from cell towers, according to the Journal.That in turn tricks mobile phones into revealing unique identifying numbers and general locations, according to the report.The name dirtbox was said to be derived from an acronym of Digital Recovery Technology Inc., the Boeing subsidiary that makes the device.The range of aircraft in the program covers most of the US population, the Journal reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the operation.Details of flights were not given, but they were said to take place regularly with each outing potentially gathering data from tens of thousands of mobile phones.The Journal reported that the US Justice Department declined to comment for the story other than to say that its agencies comply with the law when it comes to surveillance.Mobile phones are programmed to connect with the closest signal tower, but trust signals from towers or imposters when it comes to making decisions, hackers have demonstrated.Boxes in planes could automatically assure mobile phones they are the optimal signal tower, then accept identifying information from handsets seeking connections.Fake cell towers could then pass connections onto real signal towers, remaining as a conduit with the ability to tune into or block digital transmissions.Hackers refer to such tactics as man-in-the-middle attacks.The Journal quoted American Civil Liberties Union chief technologist Christopher Soghoian as calling the program dragnet surveillance that is inexcusable.The program is reportedly in place to reveal locations of mobile phones associated with criminals or those suspected of crimes, but collect data about other handsets that connect, according to the Journal.After sifting through data collected, investigators could determine the location of a targeted mobile phone to within about three meters, the report indicated.Similar devices are used by US military and intelligence officials operating in other countries to locate terrorist suspects, according to the Journal.Trust in US authorities has already been shaken by revelations about a sweeping Internet surveillance program.

Despite landing fumble, comet probe working well

Posted:

Paris (AFP) - Europes comet probe Philae was working well despite a rough-and-tumble touchdown that left it partly shadowed from battery-boosting sunlight, ground controllers said Thursday.Clearly relieved, they reported that in the first 24 hours after its historic landing, the lab had sent home a slew of data and images from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko -- though from a mystery location.New data showed the washing machine-sized lander had bounced twice after its initial touchdown Wednesday, likely ending up at a slight angle with one leg dangling and in the shadow of a cliff.Harpoons were meant to have anchored Philae to the low-gravity comet zipping towards the Sun at 18 kilometres (11 miles) per second.The spears failed to deploy for the precision manoeuvre 510 million kilometres (320 million miles) from Earth.But this has not prevented Philae sending precious data to Earth, relayed via its orbiting mothership Rosetta.We have a better understanding of how we got there, but we still do not really know where, lander manager Stephan Ulamec said at a press conference webcast from European Space Agency (ESA) ground control in Darmstadt, Germany.We could be somewhere in the rim of this crater, he added, pointing to a surface shot on which deep crevices lie in permanent, pitch-black shadows.We are almost vertical -- one foot probably in open space and two on the comet surface, added mission scientist Jean-Pierre Bibring, an evaluation made from the angle of photographs Philae took.The images were the first ever taken on the surface of a comet -- a highlight achievement in ESAs flagship 1.3-billion-euro ($1.6-billion) project.According to Philippe Gaudon of Frances CNES space agency, eight of the robot labs 10 onboard science instruments have kicked into action as planned, and the lander was working well.Early data revealed the first bounce, a huge leap according to Ulamec, lasted about two hours and moved the lander a kilometre (0.6 miles) off target, followed by a second, smaller rebound.Ground teams had to contend Thursday with the possibility that Philae may run out of power sooner than they had hoped.The 100-kilogramme (220-pound) probes onboard batteries will last only about 60 hours, but it also carries solar panels for a recharge.Given its awkward position, however, Philae was not getting enough sunlight -- only 1.5 hours per day instead of the six or seven required.We are calculating now what this means, said Ulamec.Philae may also never be unable to ever use the drill with which it was equipped to take sub-surface comet samples for chemical testing.Trying to activate the drill with the lander likely balanced precariously on a steep slope may be dangerous.We may just tip over our lander, said Ulamec, adding Philae may not have enough power for a dedicated jump out of the hole in which we may be.- Success -Wednesdays elation at the first landing confirmation from Philae after a seven-hour descent, soon turned to worry as fluctuations in the radio signal indicated it may have lifted off again.When contact was restored on Thursday morning after an anticipated break, we were very relieved, said spacecraft operations manager Ignacio Tanko.ESA experts on Thursday underlined the achievements of Philae -- the jewel in the crown of a project some 20 years in the making.Many of the... instruments have already acquired what they wanted to, said Bibring.What is really impressive is not the degree of failure, but the degree of success.The Rosetta mission aims to unlock the secrets that comets, primordial clusters of ice and dust, are thought to hold about how the Solar System was formed around 4.6 billion years ago.Some scientists theorise that comets may even have seeded Earth with some of the ingredients for life.Rosetta, with Philae riding piggyback, was hoisted into space in 2004, and reached its target in August this year, having used the gravitational pull of Earth and Mars as slingshots to build up speed.The pair covered 6.5 billion kilometres (four billion miles) together before Wednesdays separation and Philaes 20-kilometre descent.Philae complements 11 instruments aboard Rosetta, a three-tonne orbiter responsible for four-fifths of the missions expected science haul.Whatever happens to Philae, Rosetta will continue to escort the comet as it loops around the Sun.On August 13, 2015, they will come within 186 million km of our star, before heading off to the outer Solar System.

Amazon ends nasty feud with deal on book sales

Posted:

Washington (AFP) - Publisher Hachette and Amazon ended Thursday an acrimonious feud over online book sales that highlighted Amazons market dominance and fuelled protests from leading authors like John Grisham and Stephen King.After six months in which Amazon clamped down on sales of Hachette Publishing Group books on its website, the two announced a multi-year agreement on ebook and print book sales in the US market.The spat over who sets retail prices for online sales, especially ebooks, had outraged Hachette authors who saw their book sales sink after Amazon leveraged its power as the largest book retailer in the United States.The two said the deal would be a plus for both authors and readers, without giving details.Amazon and Hachette will immediately resume normal trading, and Hachette books will be prominently featured in promotions, they said in a statement.Their fight raised issues over Amazons overwhelming pricing power in the market vis-a-vis both publishers and readers, with the company facing protests not only in the United States but in Europe as well.But it also highlighted issues surrounding the portion of the retail price that goes to the authors and how that is decided by publishers.At one point, more than 900 authors, many of them perennial producers of best-sellers, signed a letter urging the two to settle the battle.And popular comedian Stephen Colbert, a Hachette author, used his late-night television show to call for a boycott of Amazon, quipping that Because of Amazon’s scorched-earth tactics, more people are getting screwed than in Fifty Shades of Grey.Such criticisms were effective in steering some book buyers to other online distributors as well as physical stores, though the size of that shift is not clear.Amazon reported a higher loss in third-quarter earnings released in late October.But that was blamed mainly on increased spending on new products like Amazon smartphones and television programs, as well as its fight to retain market share based on low pricing.The deal Thursday came just in time for the year-end holiday shopping season, important for both companies, as Arnaud Nourry, chief executive of Lagardere Publishing, Hachettes French parent, said Thursday.Its Christmas coming, so on both sides, we did it to have a better season, he said in an earnings conference call in France Thursday.No specific terms for the deal were released, but in a statement the two companies said Hachette will have the responsibility for setting retail prices for ebooks beginning in early 2015.US-owned Amazon, meanwhile, said Hachette would have incentives to keep its prices low.This is great news for writers, said Michael Pietsch, chief executive of Hachette Book Group.It gives Hachette enormous marketing capability with one of our most important bookselling partners.David Naggar, vice president for Kindle, the ebook unit of Amazon, said incentives for Hachette to hold prices down will be a great win for readers and authors alike.Hachettes Nourry said the main point is that we will decide the price to consumers. There will be no discounting per this agreement.Bestselling Hachette author Douglas Preston, who organized the authors petition for the companies to resolve their spat in August, said he was relieved at the news of the deal.I can only hope that, if disagreements arise in the future between Amazon and publishers, Amazon will never again seek to gain leverage by sanctioning books and hurting authors, he told AFP.He also said he expected the agreement would be good for authors.I have every reason to think this is a reasonable deal. Pietsch would not have accepted anything else.

Jimenez puts youngsters in shade in Turkey

Posted:

Nishikori downs Ferrer, faces wait to learn semi fate

Posted:

London (AFP) - Kei Nishikori faces a nervous wait to see if he will qualify for the semi-finals of the ATP Tour Finals after finishing his Group B campaign with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over David Ferrer on Thursday.Nishikori discovered just before his match was due to start that he would face Ferrer instead of his scheduled opponent Milos Raonic after the Canadian pulled out with a torn quad.But the Japanese star wasnt fazed by that late switch and he recovered from a set down to secure his second win on his debut appearance in the season-ending tournament at Londons O2 Arena.His fate is now in the hands of Roger Federer, who is already through to the last four and can seal Nishikoris place as group runner-up if he beats Andy Murray later on Thursday.US Open finalist Nishikori, who saw off Ferrer with 41 winners in just under two hours on court, would also qualify in second place if Murray beats Federer in three sets, but he will be eliminated if the Scot wins in straight sets.The third set was almost perfect. I served well and everything worked well, Nishikori said.It was really difficult to make this adjustment (to face Ferrer). They told me one hour before the match.It was tough to change tactics but Id prepared well and Im happy to win.World number 10 Ferrer, who had been practising at the O2 Arena all week in case of injury withdrawals, was well-compensated for his brief role, making $85,000 for being an alternate as well as a $155,000 appearance fee.Last week I was on holidays but I came here Sunday and practised four days so I was in perfect condition. Kei was just better today, Ferrer said.Although Nishikori was initially perturbed by Ferrers presence, he knew he had won all three of their previous meetings this year, including from a set and 5-2 down at the recent Paris Masters.He had the first break point in the fifth game, but Ferrer was able to battle his way to a hold.It seemed that would be only a minor inconvenience when Nishikori earned a break point with a brilliant volley and converted it with a superb forehand cross-court winner for a 4-3 lead.But, with the set in his grasp, Nishikori suddenly lost his rhythm and Ferrer broke back before capitalising on another sloppy service game to take the set when the Japanese player netted an overhead shot.Nishikoris response was emphatic and he broke Ferrer in the first game of a second set which he won in comfortable fashion.For the first time in nine matches at this years event, a final set was necessary and that benefitted Nishikori, who had won 20 of 22 deciding sets in 2014.Nishikori has been struggling with a right wrist problem this week and looked in discomfort as he grimaced at times between points.But he battled on and landed the knock-out blow with a double break in the first and third games to seal the win.

Federer humiliates Murray, Nishikori advances

Posted:

London (AFP) - Roger Federer sent Andy Murray crashing out of the ATP Tour Finals in humiliating fashion with 6-0, 6-1 victory on Thursday that ensured Japans Kei Nishikori would qualify for the semi-finals.Nishikoris 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over alternate David Ferrer earlier on Thursday left Murray facing the daunting task of having to beat Federer in straight sets to go through from Group B.But Murray was routed in only 56 minutes in a defeat which equalled his worst ever result, a 6-1, 6-0 loss against Novak Djokovic in Miami in 2007.Federer, bidding for his seventh Tour Finals title, finished top of the group after winning all three of his matches, and he will be joined in the last four by Nishikori on his maiden appearance in the prestigious season-ending event at Londons O2 Arena.Clearly Im very happy to play a good match today. I knew I was qualified so maybe I went in a bit more relaxed, Federer said.Its not the way I thought it was going to go but theres always next year for Andy.It was a horrible way for Murray to end a disappointing campaign which saw him surrender his Wimbledon title, briefly drop out of the top 10 for the first time in six years and fail to win a tournament until the final weeks of the season.But he could have no complaints after a lacklustre display was brutally punished by Federer, who becomes the ninth player ever to reach the landmark of 250 career indoor wins.Ive lost slam finals, which have been very tough. But in terms of the way the match went it was not ideal from my side of the court -- far from it, Murray said.I can say Im disappointed with my level. But if I played well he probably still would have won anyway.Murray had a solid record against Federer, winning 11 of their 22 previous meetings, but the Swiss had won both their matches this year and all three of their past encounters at the Tour Finals.Federer was already through to the semi-finals for the 12th time in 13 attempts, equalling Ivan Lendls record for last four appearances, and Murray was the latest to fall victim to the 33-year-olds dominance under the O2 dome.- Shell-shocked -Murray might have been playing in front of supposed home crowd but, not for the first time on British soil, it was Federer who drew by far the loudest cheers when he emerged onto the court.If that disappointed Murray, there was worse to come as Federer quickly seized the initiative with a break in the second game when the Scot sent a backhand long.Murray knew he was out if he dropped the set, but he was powerless to prevent Federer pushing him toward the exit door as the Swiss, dominating the baseline rallies with typical grace and guile, broke again in the fourth game.Within 24 chastening minutes the set -- and Murrays involvement in the tournament -- was over as he drove a backhand tamely into the net.With nothing to play for, Murray was reduced to chuntering angrily as Federer broke again to make it nine games in a row in only 37 minutes.Shell-shocked Murray eventually stopped the rot after losing 11 successive games, but he was put out of his misery for good when Federer closed out an incredible win moments later.Earlier, Nishikori discovered just before his match was due to start that he would face Ferrer instead of his scheduled opponent Milos Raonic after the Canadian pulled out with a torn quad.But the Japanese star wasnt fazed by that late switch and he recovered from a set down to secure his second group win with 41 winners in just under two hours on court.It was really difficult to make this adjustment (to face Ferrer). They told me one hour before the match, Nishikori said.It was tough to change tactics but Id prepared well and Im happy to win.

Garcia cries foul as FIFA clear Qatar, Russia

Posted:

Paris (AFP) - FIFAs probe into the controversial bidding race for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups was thrown into turmoil Thursday after its own investigator Michael Garcia complained that a summary of his report misrepresented his conclusions.Garcia, who carried out an exhaustive investigation into the bidding, slammed an incomplete and erroneous version of his report and said he planned to appeal.Footballs world governing body had earlier cleared Qatar and Russia of corruption and ruled out a re-vote for the tournaments despite widespread allegations of wrongdoing.Garcia, a former New York federal prosecutor, spent 18 months investigating the controversial World Cup race that ended with the selection of Russia for 2018 and Qatar for 2022.Garcias 350-page report, handed to FIFA on September 5, summed up an investigation that involved interviewing more than 75 witnesses and compiling a dossier with more than 200,000 pages and audio interviews.But he issued a statement on Thursday saying: Todays decision by the chairman of the adjudicatory chamber contains numerous materially incomplete and erroneous representations of the facts and conclusions detailed in the investigatory chambers report. I intend to appeal this decision to the FIFA Appeal Committee.German judge Hans-Joachim Eckert, chairman of the adjudicatory chamber of FIFAs independent ethics committee, had stated that the investigation had not yielded evidence of corruption and there would be no re-vote on awarding the tournaments.The report admitted that even though there had been a series of worrying episodes in the bidding for both tournaments, there was not enough evidence to justify reopening the process.The report identified certain occurrences that were suited to impair the integrity of the 2018/2022 World Cups bidding process, said the 42-page report... the occurrences at issue were, in the chairmans assessment, only of very limited scope .... (and) far from reaching any threshold that would require returning to the bidding process, let alone reopening it.The assessment of the 2018/2022 FIFA World Cups bidding process is therefore closed for the FIFA ethics committee.The report also said that Australias bid contained certain indications of potentially problematic conduct of specific individuals in the light of relevant FIFA Ethics rules.Hassan al-Thawadi, secretary-general of the Qatar 2022 organising committee, told AFP: We were confident that any impartial investigation was to show that our record was clean and contains no irregularities.The report also found no evidence of misconduct related to the Russian bid for 2018, but added that not all records had been available to the investigation.The computers used by the Russia Bid Committee had been leased and then returned to their owner and destroyed, meaning access to emails was not available.Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, a member of FIFAs powerful Executive Committee, told TASS news agency: I was sure that this is what would happen -- our bidding campaign was absolutely honest.- England bid criticised -However, the English Football Association (FA) was accused of violating bidding rules in its attempt to win the right to stage the 2018 event.The report alleges that in an attempt to curry favour with Trinidad and Tobago official Jack Warner, who was believed to control a block of FIFA executive votes, the England bid team contravened bidding rules.England 2018 is accused of helping a person of interest to (Warner) find a part-time job in the UK and sponsoring a gala dinner for the Caribbean Football Union at a cost of $55,000 (44,100 euros).The FA rejected the criticisms, while Simon Johnson, who led Englands 2018 bid team, described the saga as farcical.Before that statement by Mr Garcia, I was saying that its very difficult to have confidence in the conclusions of Mr Eckerts report and that it looked like a politically-motivated whitewash, he told the BBC.Now that I have seen Mr Garcias statement, I am absolutely convinced that the report is a politically-motivated whitewash.- Series of reforms -The report recommended a series of reforms to future bidding processes in an effort to protect the integrity of the sports most lucrative showpiece event.These include four-year limits on FIFA executive committee posts, the FIFA Congress, rather than the executive committee, to decide on future venues, a more transparent rotation system and a ban on committee members visiting bidding nations.In a break with FIFA tradition, the 2018 and 2022 tournaments were awarded at the same time, in 2010, leading to claims of horsetrading in the bidding process.The main controversy revolved around Qatar and how the gas-rich emirate was awarded the 2022 competition which was initially to be played in the summer when temperatures reach the upper-40s Celsius.Despite Qatar escaping a re-vote, Thursdays ethics committee report still raised serious concerns over its campaign.The report again probed the role of Qatari Mohammed bin Hammam, a former member of the FIFA executive committee who was banned from all football activity in 2012.In June, Britains Sunday Times alleged that bin Hammam paid more than $5 million to officials around the world before the 2010 vote to drum up support for the tiny Gulf state.However, the report states that payments were designed to bolster his bid for the FIFA presidency in 2011 rather than to manipulate Qatars 2022 World Cup hopes.Qatars decision to sponsor the 2010 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Congress in Angola to the tune of $1.8 million was also brought into question.

IS releases audio of chief Baghdadi after death rumours

Posted:

Baghdad (AFP) - The Islamic State group released a defiant audio recording Thursday it said was of chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, after air strikes on jihadist leaders in Iraq sparked rumours he had been wounded or killed.In the 17-minute message, the man purported to be Baghdadi vowed that IS, which has overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria, will continue to expand despite international air strikes, and that its opponents will be drawn into a ground war.Be assured, O Muslims, for your State is good and in the best condition. Its march will not stop and it will continue to expand, said the man in the recording, whose voice sounded like Baghdadis but whose identity could not be independently confirmed.Soon, the Jews and Crusaders will be forced to come down to the ground and send their ground forces to their deaths and destruction, he said.US President Barack Obama has announced plans to double the number of US military personnel in Iraq to up to 3,100 to help advise and train Baghdads forces -- a move the man in the audio recording said was the start of the ground war between the two sides.The message was the first said to be from Baghdadi since a video released in July, shortly after IS proclaimed a caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria, of the jihadist leader delivering a Friday sermon in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.While the recording seemed aimed at dispelling speculation that Baghdadi was seriously injured or dead, it did not mention the strikes against IS leaders.But it did reference the decision by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, Egypts deadliest militant group, to pledge allegiance to Baghdadi and IS, which was announced after the strikes.- Strikes sparked rumours of demise -The United States said that coalition aircraft launched strikes targeting IS leaders in the area of their northern hub of Mosul on Friday, setting off a flurry of speculation that Baghdadi was wounded or killed.Some reports meanwhile pointed to another alleged strike near Iraqs border with Syria, saying Baghdadi was hit there instead.But officials in both Iraq and the United States have made clear that no one is yet certain about Baghdadis fate.Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said Monday that the bottom line from our perspective is we simply cannot confirm his current status.And senior Iraqi officials from the interior and defence ministries and the intelligence service said investigations were ongoing.The death of the elusive IS leader would be a major victory for the US-led coalition, but with both areas where strikes were rumoured to have hit Baghdadi far from government control, confirming anything there will be difficult if not impossible.Rumours of Baghdadis demise have surfaced before and the absence of video in Thursdays release by the IS groups media arm is likely to fuel further speculation he was indeed wounded.IS spearheaded a militant offensive in June that overran Iraqs second city Mosul and then swept through much of the countrys Sunni Arab heartland, adding chunks of a second country to territory it already held in Syria.It has carried out atrocities in both countries.The group has killed hundreds of Iraqi and Syrian tribesmen who opposed it, attacked members of the Yazidi and other minorities, sold women as slaves, executed scores of Iraqi security personnel and beheaded Western journalists and aid workers on camera.IS is one of the most powerful forces in Syrias civil war, a blood-soaked conflict that, combined with former Iraqi premier Nuri al-Malikis divisive policies, facilitated the groups rise.Activists and a monitoring group said Thursday that United Nations aid has reached the last rebel-held area in the central Syrian city of Homs for the first time in six months.On Tuesday and Wednesday, 30 trucks of aid arrived in Waer for the first time in six months, Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights told AFP.IS meanwhile claimed responsibility on Thursday for a suicide bombing targeting police in Iraq the day before, saying it had been carried out by a Dutch national.It is the second attack allegedly involving a suicide bomber from a Western country in less than a week, after a British national blew up a truck packed with explosives in a northern town on Friday.In Arbil, the capital of Iraqs region of Kurdistan, a breakthrough was reached Thursday between the autonomous local government and the federal authorities on a long-standing budget dispute.The Kurdistan Regional Government said a deal had been struck whereby Baghdad would transfer half a billion dollars of frozen payments for the salaries of Kurdish civil servants in exchange for 150,000 barrels per day of Kurdish oil.A resolution of the dispute was seen as key to improving cooperation between Arbil and Baghdad in their common fight against IS.

Obama optimistic on Myanmar democracy despite concerns

Posted:

Naypyidaw (Myanmar) (AFP) - US President Barack Obama voiced optimism Thursday that Myanmar was on the right path to democracy despite worrying backsliding on its much celebrated reform process.Obama delivered his cautiously upbeat assessment after holding separate meetings with Myanmar President Thein Sein and a group of lawmakers, which included democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi, in the Southeast Asian nations remote capital of Naypyidaw.The democratic process in Myanmar is real, Obama said following his hour-long talks with Thein Sein, a former general who in 2011 ended decades of military rule that had made the country a pariah state.We recognise change is hard and you do not always move in a straight line but Im optimistic.Obama was in Naypyidaw for the East Asia Summit, gathering leaders from 18 nations for talks on issues ranging from regional territorial spats to economic integration and fighting terrorism.But much of Obamas focus on Thursday was on Myanmars democracy efforts.- Backsliding -He had set the tone for his three-day trip with hard-hitting comments on the pace of reforms in an interview with news website The Irrawaddy published to coincide with his arrival on Wednesday.Even as there has been some progress on the political and economic fronts, in other areas there has been a slowdown and backsliding in reforms, Obama said.In addition to restrictions on freedom of the press, we continue to see violations of basic human rights and abuses in the countrys ethnic areas, including reports of extrajudicial killings, rape and forced labour.After meeting Thein Sein, Obama again emphasised the democratic process was incomplete.He specifically identified the plight of the nations Muslim Rohingya minority as a concern.Around 140,000 Rohingya languish in fetid displacement camps in western Rakhine State after religious violence flared two years ago, leaving about 200 dead.Rohingya are widely viewed as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, even though many in the community say their families have been in Myanmar for generations.Obama also criticised the failure to make important changes to the constitution ahead of elections next year. One key issue is a clause that bans Suu Kyi from becoming president.Still, Obama also said there were many reasons to cheer the reform process so far, including the release of political prisoners and an end to the army recruiting child soldiers.Speaking after meeting Obama, Thein Sein acknowledged there were problems but insisted his government was genuinely trying to reform the country.Were in the process of addressing these concerns. We definitely need to address these concerns, he told reporters.Obama has framed Myanmars reform process as an example of the positive effects of US engagement.His administration has in recent years made a foreign policy pivot towards Asia and -- until now -- Myanmars democratic steps have been trumpeted as a success for that strategy.Obama will hold more in-depth discussions with Suu Kyi on Friday in the commercial hub of Yangon, followed by a joint press conference.Myanmars government had hoped this week would be a celebration of the nations democratic achievements, as it welcomed its biggest gathering of world leaders since the reforms began.Thein Sein hosted the heads of the other nine members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc for an annual summit on Wednesday.ASEAN was then joined by Obama and leaders from Japan, China, India, Australia, Russia, South Korea and New Zealand for the East Asia summit on Thursday.At the summit, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang offered $20 billion in loans and a friendship treaty with ASEAN, in an apparent bid to defuse tensions over contested claims to the South China Sea.Still, Li warned: Chinas resolve to safeguard territorial sovereignty is clear.Obama is in the midst of a hectic Asia-Pacific tour that started in Beijing for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, during which he announced a surprise climate deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping.He will travel to Australia on Friday for the G20 summit.

Two car bombs strike near shuttered Egyptian, UAE embassies in Libya

Posted:

TRIPOLI: (AFP) - Two car bombs struck near the shuttered Egyptian and United Arab Emirates embassies in Libyas militia-controlled capital within minutes of each other Thursday, an AFP correspondent and a UAE official said.Two guards posted outside the empty Egyptian embassy compound were wounded in the first blast, Libyas LANA news agency reported. Three more posted outside the empty UAE compound were wounded in the second, a senior official told AFP in Abu Dhabi. Both governments are considered hostile by the Islamist-led militias which seized Tripoli in August in an offensive during which UAE warplanes carried out strikes against them from neighboring Egypt.UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan denounced the attack against his countrys embassy as a terrorist act and blamed it on Islamist militias Fajr Libya and Ansar al-Sharia. Washington has blacklisted the radical Ansar al-Sharia as a terrorist group for its alleged role in a deadly 2012 attack on the US consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi, where it is largely in control.Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) is a coalition of Islamist militias which seized Tripoli in August after weeks of deadly fighting with a nationalist group. Nahayan, in a statement carried by state news agency WAM, said the bombing badly damaged the embassy and wounded three people in the area. The first bomb went off in a car park close to the Egyptian embassy, shattering several of its windows, the AFP correspondent reported.The second went off minutes later just outside the UAE mission compound, wounding three non-Emirati guards, the official in Abu Dhabi said. This is an indication of the state of lawlessness in the Tripoli area, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said the blast showed the need for greater support of Libyas internationally recognized government, which took refuge in the remote east of the country after the militia takeover of the capital. The unruly condition that we are seeing will deteriorate further if the extremist militias continue to control the Libyan capital, he said.The recognized governments foreign ministry said such attacks were the result of the absence of the legitimate state in Tripoli, now in the hands of armed militias which use the threat of arms against citizens, public institutions and diplomatic missions.

Trial for cannibalism begins in Brazil against three people

Posted:

SAO PAULO (AP) - Three people charged with killing at least two women, eating parts of their bodies and using their flesh to make and sell stuffed pastries have gone on trial in northeastern Brazil.A man, his wife and his mistress were arrested in April 2012 in the city of Garanhuns and police say they have confessed to the crimes.The three allegedly lured women to their house by promising them a job as a nanny.Police found the remains of the two women in the backyard of the suspects house.At the time of their arrest they told police that they belonged to a sect that preached the purification of the world and the reduction of its population.

Real possibility that Britain will leave the EU: John Major

Posted:

LONDON, Nov 13, 2014 (AFP) - Former Prime Minister John Major on Thursday warned there was a real possibility that Britain will leave the European Union in a referendum and called for more immigration controls.Britain may be poised to leave the European Union, Major said in a speech in Berlin at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the foundation of Chancellor Angela Merkels conservative party CDU. Major said he himself was in favor of Britain staying in, according to a text of the speech published on his website. But he added that opposition has reached a critical mass and now, for the first time, there is a serious possibility that our electorate could vote to leave the EU.I put the chance of exit at just under 50 percent but if the negotiations go badly that percentage will rise. Conversely, with genuine reform, it will fall.Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will hold an in-or-out referendum on Britains membership of the EU in 2017 if he wins a general election in May. He has promised to campaign for Britain to remain in a reformed Europe, although he has not specified the exact changes that he wants implemented.Major said Britain wanted to qualify EU migration because our small island simply cannot absorb the present and projected numbers at the current speed. It is not physically or politically possible without huge public disquiet, he said.The Conservative politician took over as leader in 1990 after Margaret Thatchers downfall and served until Tony Blairs victory in 1997.

IS, Al-Qaida end fight, reach accord in Syria: AP sources

Posted:

ISTANBUL (AP) - Two Syrian opposition figures say the Islamic State group and al-Qaidas branch met last week and agreed to stop fighting each other and work together against their opponents.The deal could be a heavy blow to Washingtons strategy against the Islamic State group, relying on arming moderate rebel factions to push back extremists in Syria.A prominent Syrian opposition official and a rebel commander say delegates from the two groups met in secret on Nov. 2 in northern Syria and agreed to end months of fighting between them and cooperate on the ground. The two spoke on condition their names not be used for their own protection or because they were not authorized to release the information.The accord stops short of a merger between the two.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)