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Tag: InternationalNews

  • Iran ‘Won’t Give up Nuclear Plans’

    Iran ‘Won’t Give up Nuclear Plans’

    {{Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has backed talks with world powers but warned Tehran will never give up its nuclear programme.}}

    He said Iran had agreed to the talks to “break the hostile atmosphere” with the international community.

    Iran and six world powers are working to agree a deal to replace an interim accord that expires in July.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the two sides were up to 60% in agreement after latest talks in Vienna.

    A senior US official was less upbeat but said all sides were committed to keep trying.

    The US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany want to see Iran scale back its enrichment of uranium, which they fear could be used to make a nuclear bomb.

    Tehran says its nuclear work is purely peaceful and hopes to agree a deal in return for a permanent lifting of sanctions.

    Javad Zarif and EU High Representative Catherine Ashton said in a joint statement on Wednesday that their third round of talks since November had included “substantive and detailed discussions covering all the issues which will need to be part of a Comprehensive Agreement”.

    They will meet again in May for a fourth round of talks to “bridge the gaps in all the key areas and work on the concrete elements of a possible” agreement, the statement said.

    BBC

  • Married US Senator Caught on Camera Kissing Female Staffer

    Married US Senator Caught on Camera Kissing Female Staffer

    {{Republican Vance McAllister is facing trouble after a local newspaper reported he can be seen kissing a female staffer in a surveillance video.}}

    On Monday, The Ouachita Citizen published a surveillance video allegedly showing McAllister and Melissa Anne Hixon Peacock, McAllister’s district scheduler, at the Republican’s congressional office in Monroe, Louisiana.

    The two people in the video can be seen embracing and kissing for almost half a minute.

    McAllister made headlines in January for inviting “Duck Dynasty” star Willie Robertson as his guest to President Barack Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address.

    He is fairly new to politics, having assumed office in November 2013 after an upset win in a runoff race against Republican Neil Riser to succeed former GOP Rep.

    Rodney Alexander. McAllister’s win came after he touted his conservative values and 16-year-marriage.

    Watch video.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kblAY5RtRXA

  • Windows XP users Face End to Microsoft Support

    Windows XP users Face End to Microsoft Support

    {Many of the world’s cash machines are still believed to be running Windows XP}

    {{Support for the venerable Windows XP operating system ends this Tuesday.

    It means that there will be no more official security updates and bug fixes for the operating system from Microsoft.}}

    Some governments have negotiated extended support contracts for the OS in a bid to keep users protected.

    Security firms said anyone else using the 13-year-old software would be at increased risk of infection and compromise by cyber-thieves.

    {{Old code}}

    Statistics suggest 20-25% of all users have stuck with XP despite the fact that there have been three major releases of Windows since its debut in 2001.

    Some of those existing XP users have struck deals to get security fixes from Microsoft while they complete their migration away from the ageing code.

    The UK government has signed a £5.5m deal for extended support. Similarly the Dutch government has signed a “multi-million euro” deal to obtain help for the 40,000 PCs running XP used by the nation’s civil servants.

    Anyone currently running Windows XP already faced a disproportionate risk of falling victim to malware, said Dave Emm, a senior research analyst at security firm Kaspersky.

    “Our data indicates that less than one fifth of our customers run Windows XP but more than a quarter of infections are Windows XP-based,” he said.

    That exposure ratio was only going to get worse after 8 April, he said, once the last security patch for Windows XP had been released.

    That final patch will fix a series of bugs, one of which is rated as critical and is already being actively exploited despite only being discovered in late March.

    “Effectively, every vulnerability discovered after 8 April will become a zero-day vulnerability – that is, one for which there is not and never will be, a patch,” said Mr Emm.

    Windows XP users topped the list of victims cyber-thieves targeted, said Maik Morgenstern and Andreas Marx from the German AV-Test group, which rates and ranks security software.

    “Malware writers go for the low hanging fruits because it’s a lot easier to infect systems running on an old Windows XP operating system compared to brand-new Windows 8.1, with all its built-in security features,” they said.

    “We think we will see a lot of attacks for Windows XP within the next few months, but attackers will also always add exploits for other Windows systems just to catch those systems as well.”

    Orla Cox, a senior manager at cyber-defence firm Symantec’s security response unit, said criminals groups were likely to hoard the XP vulnerabilities they knew about rather than use them to bolster malware being spammed out to millions of people.

    “The types of groups sitting on zero-days will tend to use them against high-end targets and for corporate espionage,” she said. “Some organisations will have particular concerns because they find it so hard to move away from XP.”

    However, she added, any zero-day that did get used against a corporate target was likely to be re-used later on.

    “Once it’s out there it gets into the malware kits and then gets circulated and there will be no defence,” she said.

    Mark O’Neill, a spokesman for data management firm Axway, said organisations were getting better at coping with software that had hit its end-of-life.

    “Beyond high-profile programs like XP there are a lot of products that have gone out of support because the company behind them has gone out of business or was acquired,” he said.

    In addition many other products were written in old programming languages that made them expensive to maintain and update.

    As a result, many IT departments have put such ageing programs in the virtual equivalent of a “black box” and subsequently update the external code if security patches need to be applied.

    “You can create a layer above the older application and that gives you a place to patch,” Mr O’Neill said.

    “Companies are not defenceless even with the things they cannot patch.”

    BBC

  • Ancient Chinese Cup Sold at U$36 Million

    Ancient Chinese Cup Sold at U$36 Million

    {{A tiny porcelain cup, dating back to the Ming Dynasty, has fetched $36m (£21.5m) at an auction in Hong Kong, setting a new record.}}

    The ‘chicken cup’, so-called because it is decorated with a rooster and hen tending to their chicks, was bought by a Shanghai collector.

    It is eight centimetres (3.1 inches) in diameter and is 500 years old.

    Sotheby’s said the previous record for Chinese porcelain was set in 2010 when a vase sold for $32.4m (£19.3m).

    The cup was made during the reign of the Ming Dynasty’s Chenghua Emperor, who ruled from 1465 to 1487.

    According to Sotheby’s, only 17 such cups are in existence, with four in private hands and the rest in museums.

    Nicholas Chow, Sotheby’s deputy chairman for Asia said “There’s no more legendary object in the history of Chinese porcelain.

    “This is really the holy grail when it comes to Chinese art.”

    The buyer, Liu Yiqian is, with an estimated fortune of $900m (£538m), the 200th richest person in China.

    The cup is likely to be displayed in Liu’s Long Museum in Shanghai, which he and his wife opened in 2012.

    {porcelain cup sold at $36million}
    {agencies}

  • IMF: UK to Lead G7 Growth in 2014

    IMF: UK to Lead G7 Growth in 2014

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the UK economy will be the fastest-growing in the G7 this year.

    It says the UK will grow 2.9% in 2014, up from a January estimate of 2.4%, and will see growth of 2.5% in 2015.

    Overall, the IMF says the global economy strengthened at the end of 2013. It forecasts global growth of 3.6% this year and 3.9% in 2015.

    But it sees risks in emerging markets and warns of low inflation in advanced economies and geopolitical issues.

    The predictions come in the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook, its bi-annual analysis and projections of economic developments.

    Last week, the IMF’s head warned that the global economy could be heading for years of “sub-par growth”.

    Christine Lagarde warned that without “brave action”, the world could fall into a “low growth trap”.

    She said the global economy would grow by more than 3% this year and next, but that market volatility and tensions in Ukraine posed risks.

    Ms Lagarde also urged more action to tackle low inflation in the eurozone.

    Exports disappoint
    The IMF says that growth has rebounded more strongly than anticipated in the UK on the back of easier credit conditions and increased confidence.

    But it cautions that the recovery has been unbalanced, with business investment and exports still disappointing.

    For instance, an external shock involving further growth disappointment in emerging market economies could spill over to the euro area, it says.

    That, in turn, could spread to the UK through “financial linkages”.

    “In the United Kingdom, monetary policy should stay accommodative, and recent modifications by the Bank of England to the forward-guidance framework are therefore welcome,” the report added.

    “Similarly, the government’s efforts to raise capital spending while staying within the medium-term fiscal envelope should help bolster recovery and long-term growth.”

    In January, the IMF said it was increasing its UK growth forecast for 2014, from a previous 1.9%, to 2.4%. That figure has now been raised again.

    Responding to the 2.9% growth prediction, a Treasury spokesman said it was “further evidence that the government’s long-term economic plan is working”.

    And they said the next stage in creating “a more resilient economy” was through “support to businesses, savers and exporters”.

    BBC

  • China Wants Japan Restrained as Tension Rises

    China Wants Japan Restrained as Tension Rises

    {{China called on the United States on Tuesday to restrain ally Japan and chided another U.S. ally, the Philippines, at the end of talks between American and Chinese defense chiefs that showed the strain of regional territorial disputes on Sino-U.S. ties.}}

    The forceful comments by Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan came just a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel toured China’s sole aircraft carrier, in a rare opening by Beijing to a potent symbol of its military ambitions.

    Chang and Hagel spoke positively about improving military ties and announced steps to deepen them further. But the effort could do little to mask long-standing tension over of a range of issues, including in cyberspace but focused mainly on the two U.S. allies locked in territorial disputes with China.

    China claims 90 percent of the 3.5 million sq km (1.35 million sq mile) South China Sea, where the Philippines, along with other countries, stake claims. China has a separate dispute with Japan in the East China Sea over uninhabited islets that are administered by Japan.

    Chang asked the United States to “keep (Japan) within bounds and not to be permissive and supportive”, and railed against the government of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who Hagel met in Tokyo last weekend.

    “It is Japan who is being provocative against China,” Chang told a news conference after talks with Hagel.

    “If you come to the conclusion that China is going to resort to force against Japan, that is wrong … we will not take the initiative to stir up troubles.”

    Chang called the Philippines a nation “disguising itself as a victim” and renewed its opposition to Manila’s pursuit of international arbitration in its festering territorial dispute in the South China Sea.

    Hagel, who met the defense minister from the Philippines last week, said he raised U.S. concerns in Beijing over the tension in the South and East China Sea in Beijing.

    He cautioned that no countries should resort to “intimidation, coercion, or aggression to advance their claims”.

    “The Philippines and Japan are longtime allies of the United States. We have mutual self defense treaties with each of those two countries,” Hagel said. “And we are fully committed to those treaty obligations.”

    The U.S. State Department has accused China’s coastguard of harassment of Philippine vessels and called its recent attempt to block a Philippine resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed atoll, provocative and destabilizing.

    Hagel’s visit to China came after a stop in Japan, where he called China a “great power” but urged it to use that power wisely.

    reuters

  • India Begins General Election

    India Begins General Election

    {{Indians are voting in the first phase of a general election which pits the governing Congress party against the Hindu nationalist BJP opposition.}}

    The nine-phase vote got under way in the north-eastern states of Assam and Tripura and will conclude on 12 May. Votes will be counted on 16 May.

    More than 814 million Indians are eligible to vote in a poll dominated by corruption and high inflation.

    An anti-corruption party the AAP offers another challenge to the main parties.

    The Aam Aadmi (Common Man’s) Party) secured a spectacular result in local polls in Delhi last autumn and is fielding candidates in all of parliament’s 543 elected seats.

    Several smaller regional parties are also in the fray and if no single party wins a clear majority, they could play a crucial role in government formation.

    India’s marathon vote is being staggered over more than a month for security and logistical reasons.

    On the first day of voting, polling is taking place in six constituencies in two states in the north-east – five in Assam and one in Tripura.

    Voters began queuing up outside the polling centres even before voting began in the morning, the BBC’s Sanjoy Majumder in Assam says.

  • U.S. Presses on With Mideast Talks Rescue Attempt

    U.S. Presses on With Mideast Talks Rescue Attempt

    {{U.S. efforts to save Middle East peace talks from collapse showed little sign of progress on Monday amid threats from Israel to retaliate for what it saw as unilateral Palestinian moves towards statehood.}}

    The U.S.-brokered negotiations plunged into crisis last week after Israel, demanding a Palestinian commitment to continue talking after the end of the month, failed to carry out a promised release of about two dozen Palestinian prisoners.

    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responded by signing 15 global treaties, including the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war and occupations, on behalf of the State of Palestine, a defiant move that surprised Washington and angered Israel.

    Both sides met on Sunday night “to discuss ways to overcome the crisis in the talks,” a U.S. official told Reuters. Palestinian sources said they would meet again Monday evening.

    The wrangling attracted little interest on the streets, where both Israeli and Palestinians have become inured to decades of conflict and deadlock.

    With the approach of the Jewish holiday of Passover, Israel’s best-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, focused its main headline on the plight of the poor – carrying a report on Sunday’s talks at the bottom of page six.

    Fewer than 20 Israeli lawmakers showed up for a special debate on the peace process on Monday in the 120-seat Knesset.

    “We’re all too busy worrying about how to pay bills. Prices have risen and there are very few jobs,” said Tareq Younes, a Palestinian barber from a village near the West Bank city Ramallah.

    wirestory

  • Russian Marine Kills Ukraine Navy officer

    Russian Marine Kills Ukraine Navy officer

    A Russian soldier shot dead a Ukrainian naval officer in eastern Crimea, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said on Monday, the second Ukrainian death reported since Russia took control of the Black Sea peninsula.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised the military’s largely bloodless takeover of Crimea after it voted in a referendum last month to join Russia but the death may boost the already high tension between Russia and Ukraine.

    “The Russian marine killed the unarmed officer. He killed the major with two shots,” said Ukrainian navy spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov.

    Kiev has blamed Russia for stoking tensions in mostly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian protesters have seized state security offices in Donetsk and Luhansk, including facilities where weapons are stored.

    The defence ministry spokesman said the soldier had been preparing his belongings to leave for the Ukrainian region of Mykolaev on Wednesday when an argument broke out with Russian servicemen.

    The officer, Stanislav Karachevsky, who was married and had two children, was killed with an AK-74 on the fifth floor of the dormitory where he lived, he said.

    A defence ministry statement said another Ukrainian soldier had been beaten by Russian servicemen and detained, but gave few details.

    The first reported death occurred in Simferopol when an unknown gunman shot and killed a Ukrainian serviceman while he was manning a tower overlooking a vehicle pool at the base.

    A defence ministry statement said the attackers had been wearing Russian military uniforms and were holding the base commander in a nearby building.

    wirestory

  • Brazilian Leader Popularity Drops

    Brazilian Leader Popularity Drops

    {{Support for President Dilma Rousseff is slipping among Brazilian voters who are increasingly pessimistic about their country’s economy and disappointed with her performance, according to a poll published on Saturday.}}

    While Rousseff is still on track to win re-election outright in elections on October 5, she has lost six points among potential voters since last month, a survey by local Datafolha polling firm said.

    The poll showed more Brazilians want a change of course in government policies, and twice as many Brazilians think Rousseff’s predecessor and mentor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is more qualified than her to carry out those changes.

    The number of Brazilian intending to vote for Rousseff dropped to 38% from 44 percent in February, though her two potential rivals gained little or no ground.

    The leader of the main opposition party Aécio Neves was unchanged at 16% of voter intentions and Eduardo Campos, governor of Pernambuco state, edged forward one point to 10%.

    The only candidate who could force a run-off vote against Rousseff is environmentalist and former presidential candidate Marina Silva, who is expected to run on Campos’ ticket for vice president.

    Latin America’s largest economy is entering its fourth year of slow growth under Rousseff, who has lost the confidence of investors by failing to revive the economy or curb rising inflation in a context of deteriorating fiscal accounts.

    reuters