Tag: InternationalNews

{{Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Tuesday a former U.S. spy agency contractor sought by the United States was in the transit area of a Moscow airport but ruled out handing him to Washington, dismissing U.S. criticisms as “ravings and rubbish”.}}

In his first public comments since Edward Snowden flew in on Sunday, Putin appeared to make light of the diplomatic uproar over the fugitive, whose flight from U.S. authorities is becoming a growing embarrassment for President Barack Obama. Asked by a journalist about the affair, he smiled fleetingly.

“I myself would prefer not to deal with these issues. It’s like shearing a piglet: there’s a lot of squealing, but there’s little wool,” Putin told a news conference in Finland.

Snowden, who worked as a systems administrator at a U.S. National Security Agency facility in Hawaii, is facing espionage charges from the United States after leaking details about secret U.S. surveillance programs to the news media.

Two U.S. national security sources said intelligence agencies have detected that members of targeted militant organizations, including both Sunni and Shi’ite Islamist groups, have begun altering communications patterns, believed to be in response to the leaks on eavesdropping programs.

NSA Director Keith Alexander sought to reassure his employees that the outcry over surveillance programs leaked by Snowden was not directed at them and that agency leaders would “take the heat.

Putin’s refusal to hand back Snowden risked deepening a rift with the United States that has also drawn in China and threatens relations between countries that may be essential in settling global conflicts including the Syrian war.

wirestory

{{After a 12-year hiatus, the United States reclaimed first place among top executives in a survey on foreign direct investment sentiment, displacing China as it makes progress toward sustainable and steady economic growth, a study showed on Wednesday.}}

The United States jumped from fourth place in 2012, according to the 2013 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, a survey of more than 300 executives from 28 countries by global consulting firm A.T. Kearney.

The survey, conducted between October and November of last year, highlighted executives’ views that U.S. workers are becoming more competitive and, until recently, the weakness in the U.S. dollar helped improve the country’s exports profile.

Combined with a recovering housing market and the surge in production of unconventional oil and gas, the United States took back the top spot for the first time since 2001 despite still serious fiscal policy uncertainty and sizeable debt issues.

More than half the respondents believe the global economy will recover from the financial crisis and recessions in 2014 (26 percent) and 2015 (28 percent). That is a shift in sentiment from 2010 when 42 percent believed the recovery would occur in just one year.

“Investors are demonstrating more mature judgment about what the risks are and what the expected returns will be and how long it will take the global economy to recover,” Paul Laudicina, chairman emeritus of A.T. Kearney, told media.

reuters

{{Qatar’s emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani handed power on Tuesday to his son, Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim, taking the rare step for a Gulf Arab ruler of voluntarily ceding power to try to ensure a smooth succession.}}

But the 61-year-old emir made no immediate mention of the public face of Qatar’s assertive foreign policy, prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, a veteran politician who had been expected also to step down.

In a seven-minute speech aired on state television, the emir said it was time for a new generation to take over following his 18 years at the helm of the small, rich state.

“The time has come to open a new page in the journey of our nation that would have a new generation carry the responsibilities … with their innovative ideas,” said Sheikh Hamad, reading a prepared text behind his desk, where Qatar’s deep red and white flag was perched nearby.

“I address you today to inform you that I will transfer power to Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. I am fully confident that he is qualified for the responsibility and is trustworthy.”

State television later showed streams of well wishers greeting the outgoing emir and Sheikh Tamim at the royal court.

The emir did not specify when the change would take effect but a Qatari official had said the move, once announced, would take immediate effect.

{agencies}

{{Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has proposed a referendum on political reforms in an effort to tackle protests that have swept the country.}}

She also promised to boost spending on public transport and focus on health and education as part of what she called “five pacts” with the people.

She later met regional mayors and governors, who agreed to her plans.

But some activists promised to carry on with the largest protests Brazil has seen for at least two decades.

Ms Rousseff said the reforms would be broad and focus on five areas:

Fiscal responsibility: guaranteeing economic stability and curbing inflation

Education: investing 100% of Brazil’s oil royalties in education

Health: hiring foreign doctors to provide medical services in remote and under-developed areas

Constituent Assembly: establishing an assembly to eventually amend Brazil’s constitution to ensure reforms make it “from paper to practice”

Public transport: investing more than 50 billion reias ($25bn, £16bn) for new investments in urban mobility projects and to improve public transport
Mayara Longo Vivian, a leader of the Free Fare Movement, said there had been “concrete measures” among the president’s proposals and that the “fight would continue”.

wirestory

{{European Union ministers said they were hopeful of reaching an agreement on Tuesday that would delay reviving membership talks with Turkey to signal European concerns over Ankara’s handling of weeks of protests.}}

Germany, backed by several other states, has blocked an EU proposal to open a new chapter, or policy area, in slow-moving membership talks with Turkey on Wednesday because it believes it would send the wrong signal so soon after the crackdown.

On Monday, Berlin proposed delaying the formal opening of the new chapter with Turkey by about four months to signal EU displeasure over the response to the protests.

A delay in opening the new chapter would raise new doubts about whether Turkey, a largely Muslim country of 76 million people, will ever be admitted to the European club.

Eamon Gilmore, foreign minister of Ireland, which currently holds the EU presidency, said differences among EU governments had narrowed enough for Ireland to put Turkey on the agenda of a meeting of EU ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday.

“I hope it will be possible to get agreement (on the chapter),” Gilmore told reporters as he arrived for the meeting.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said he had made some changes to his proposal but gave no details.

“I had constructive talks very late with the Turkish foreign minister (Ahmet Davutoglu) so that it is possible to come to an agreement today,” he told reporters in Luxembourg.

“Among all the understandable reactions (to the protests), we feel we cannot ignore that we have long-term strategic interests. We have to weigh that,” he said.

Under proposals discussed by EU ambassadors late on Monday, the EU would agree to open Chapter 22 on regional policy with Turkey but a formal conference with Turkey to open the chapter would take place only after the European Commission presents its annual report on Turkey’s progress in complying with EU laws and standards, due on October 9.

Ministers would have to have another discussion after that confirming the decision to open talks and setting a date, according to a draft text.

Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said the German proposal was a good compromise that the EU should be able to ratify on Tuesday.

agencies

{Russian Foreign minister Lavrov has rejected U.S. pressure over Snowden, says Russia has nothing to do with him}

{{Meanwhile China rebuked the United States on Tuesday for accusing it of facilitating the flight of fugitive U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden, and said suggestions that it had done so were “baseless and unacceptable”.}}

The remarks from the Chinese foreign ministry and earlier comments from state media have underscored the strain in ties between the two countries since Snowden, who is wanted by the U.S. government on charges of espionage, fled Hong Kong on Sunday.

The White House said the decision by the Chinese territory to allow Snowden to leave was “a deliberate choice by the government to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant, and that decision unquestionably has a negative impact on the U.S.-China relationship.

China rejected the accusation.

“The U.S. side has no reason to call into question the Hong Kong government’s handling of affairs according to law,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing. “The United States’ criticism of China’s central government is baseless. China absolutely cannot accept it.”

Hua also defended the Hong Kong government’s decision to let Snowden go, saying it “handled the relevant case completely according to law.

“This is beyond dispute. All parties should respect this.”

Experts on both sides however said the tirade should quickly blow over, and that neither country would be keen to let ties deteriorate permanently just weeks after a successful summit meeting between President Barack Obama and President Xi Jinping.

“China does not want this to affect the overall situation, the central government has always maintained a relatively calm and restrained attitude because Sino-U.S. relations are important,” said Zhao Kejing, a professor of international relations at China’s elite Tsinghua University.

“The United States has no reason to exert greater pressure, otherwise it would lose moral support.”

Kenneth Lieberthal, a China expert at the Brookings Institution who was an Asia adviser in Bill Clinton’s White House, said sanctioning Beijing was “inconceivable” and linking Snowden to other issues would undo careful policy aimed at handling issues in separate lanes to avoid big ruptures in ties.

“Over the years, we’ve sought to prevent any serious disagreement in one issue area from spilling over and degrading the entire relationship,” he said.

At the summit earlier this month, Obama confronted Xi over allegations of cyber-theft. Xi earlier told a news conference with Obama that China itself was a victim of cyber attacks but that the two sides should work together to develop a common approach.

wirestory

{{Suicide attackers set up a car bomb and battled security forces outside Afghanistan’s presidential palace Tuesday after infiltrating one of the most secure areas of the capital.}}

All the attackers were killed and one palace security guard was wounded, officials said.

Elsewhere, a minibus hit a bomb buried in the road in southern Afghanistan, killing 11 members of a family, said Kandahar governor’s spokesman Ahmad Jawed Faisal.

Faisal said the dead included eight women, two children and a man, and two other men were also wounded.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the Kabul palace attack, which came as reporters were gathering for a news event on Afghan youth at which President Hamid Karzai was expected to talk about ongoing efforts to open peace talks with the militant group.

The palace is in a large fortified area of downtown Kabul that also includes the U.S. Embassy and the headquarters for the NATO-led coalition forces. Access is heavily restricted.

It houses Karzai’s residence but it was not immediately clear whether the president was in the building at the time and his spokesman did not answer his phone.

Gunfire started around 6:30 a.m. inside a heavily guarded area near the east gate leading to the palace next to the Afghan Ministry of Defense and the former Ariana Hotel, which former U.S. intelligence officials have confirmed is used by the CIA.

wirestory

Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that former military ruler Pervez Musharraf should face trial for high treason.

Mr Musharraf, who returned to Pakistan from self-imposed exile earlier this year, is currently under house arrest.

“He will have to answer for his guilt before the court,” Mr Sharif said.

Mr Musharraf is fighting a series of charges relating to his time in power, which began with him ousting Nawaz Sharif in a 1999 military coup.

Only the state can bring a high treason charge in Pakistan.

BBC

{{The Chinese activist who fled to America after taking refuge in the U.S. Embassy last year warned Beijing on Monday that its relentless efforts to crush opposition forces or suppress human rights will only backfire.}}

Chen Guangcheng said Monday he is convinced that the rapidly growing yearnings for freedoms and human rights among the Chinese will eventually “put an end to the authoritarian rule” in China.

Chen spoke at a news conference in Taiwan, where he is making a two-week visit.

Chen evaded questions about his criticism last week of New York University, where he spent the last year as a special student.

He alleged that NYU caved to pressure from China’s Communist Party when it asked him to leave, though the school says it had never agreed to anything more than a one-year position.

On Monday, Chen accused Beijing of spending billions of dollars annually to monitor dissidents and activists and put them in jail if they refused to stop their advocacies.

“No other regimes in the world have feared or monitored their own people in such a way,” Chen said.

Chen, a self-taught lawyer who has been blind since birth, had angered local Chinese officials by documenting complaints about forced abortions. He escaped house arrest in his rural town in eastern China’s Shandong province in April 2012.

He sparked a diplomatic crisis between China and the United States when he fled to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Chinese officials later let him move to the U.S. with his wife and children.

Chen has previously criticized China’s human rights record, and spoke about it before a U.S. congressional committee.

{ABC}

{{Indian priests are planning to cremate hundreds of flood victims as heavy rains halted the search for thousands stranded in the devastated Himalayan region, officials said.}}

Up to 1,000 people are feared dead and more than 8,000 mainly pilgrims and tourists are still awaiting rescue nine days after flash floods and landslides caused by torrential monsoon rains hit the northern state of Uttarakhand.

“Five-hundred-and-eighty people have lost their lives and many more bodies are yet to be pulled out from isolated areas that are completely cut-off,” K N Pandey, an official with the state disaster management team, told the AFP news agency on Monday.

Preparations were under way for a mass cremation in the flood-ravaged holy town of Kedarnath, with rescue workers ordered to collect tonnes of fire wood, amid concerns of an outbreak of disease from rotting bodies, officials said.

“We have decided to start [a] mass cremation today. The priests of temples have been requested to participate in the final rites,” Pandey said.

Military helicopters have been grounded because of bad weather, suspending the evacuation by air of those still stranded, many without food and water, in remote areas of the state, known as the “Land of the Gods” for its revered Hindu shrines.

“We can only use the helicopters when the weather is clear. Rescue work can only resume when rains stop,” said a senior army official in New Delhi.

{aljazeera}