Tag: InternationalNews

{{North Korea’s newest batch of future soldiers — scrawny 11-year-olds with freshly shaved heads — punch the air as they practice taekwondo on the grounds of the Mangyongdae Revolutionary School. }}

Students and teachers here say they’re studying harder these days to prepare for a fight.

Across the country, banners, slogans and artwork have been redrawn to focus on fighting “the imperialist Americans and their traitorous followers,” a reference to South Korea.

Slogans on improving North Korea’s economy had dominated since 2009, but anti-American propaganda has re-emerged over the past year, particularly following U.S.-led censure of North Korea’s decision to launch a long-range rocket and test a nuclear bomb.

At the military school, where students work on desktop computers without Internet access and practice their English with chants such as “The respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is our father,” classwork is infused with conflict.

“Because of the present situation, I am trying to study harder, because I really think that’s how I can get my revenge on the American imperialists: by getting top marks in class,” one student, Jo Chung Hyok, told Press.

“It’s my revolutionary duty,” Jo said. “I’m working extra hard to get top marks in military subjects like tactics and shooting.”

The uptick in anti-American sentiment comes on the heels of international condemnation and U.N. sanctions for North Korea’s long-range rocket launch in December and its underground nuclear test in February, which Pyongyang accuses Washington and Seoul of instigating. Joint U.S.-South Korean military drills south of the border also have incensed Pyongyang.

The anti-American campaign also comes as North Korea gears up to mark the 60th anniversary in July of the close of the Korean War. The three-year conflict pitting North Korea and China against U.S.-led U.N. troops ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

The continued division of the Korean Peninsula, and the presence of 28,500 American troops in South Korea, has rankled North Korea’s leadership.

For weeks, North Korea has threatened to attack the U.S. and South Korea for holding joint military drills and for supporting U.N. sanctions.

Washington and Seoul say they’ve seen no evidence that Pyongyang is actually preparing for a major conflict, though South Korean defense officials say the North appears prepared to test-fire a medium-range missile capable of reaching the American territory of Guam.

Both sides have said that in order for dialogue, the other side needs to act.

The U.S. says Pyongyang must bring down tensions and honor previous disarmament agreements before talks can begin.

AP

{{Former Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf criticized allegations against him as “politically motivated” Friday, following his arrest in a case involving his decision to fire senior judges while in power.}}

Police arrested former Musharraf overnight at his home in the capital, Islamabad, where he holed up following a dramatic escape from court Thursday morning to avoid being detained. Musharraf fled the Islamabad High Court in a speeding vehicle after a judge rejected his bail and ordered his arrest.

It was a new low in Musharraf’s troubled return from self-imposed exile last month to attempt a political comeback in the upcoming parliamentary election.

Police presented Musharraf before Islamabad District Court on Friday morning after arresting him, said police officer Mohammed Khalid. Local TV video showed Musharraf entering the court surrounded by a heavy security detachment of police and paramilitary soldiers.

The district court judge instructed police to keep Musharraf in their custody for two days and then present him before an anti-terrorism court, said one of his lawyers, Malik Qamar Afzal. His legal team is trying to decide what to do next, said Afzal.

Police returned Musharraf to his home on the outskirts of Islamabad, where he is being held under house arrest, said police officer Mohammed Rafique.

“These allegations are politically motivated, and I will fight them in the trial court, where the truth will eventually prevail,” Musharraf said in a message posted on his Facebook page Friday after he was arrested.

The decision by the police to arrest Musharraf ended an awkward situation in which the former military ruler was being protected by security forces for hours while holed up in his house, but none of them made a move to detain him.

They were likely awaiting orders from senior officials trying to figure out how to deal with the delicate situation.

{Agencies}

{{The terror plot involved targeting British reserve troops using a toy-car packed with explosives.}}

But investigators said Thursday Britain’s domestic spy agency of MI5 and police were able to stop Zahid Iqbal, Mohammed Sharfaraz Ahmed, Umar Arshad and Syed Farhan Hussain before they could launch the deadly attack.

Iqbal and Ahmed were given extended sentences of 16 years and 3 months, which means they will be in jail for more than 11 years and put on parole for the rest of the time. Arshad was sentenced to more than six years in jail, while Hussain received more than five years.

The British men — aged between 22 and 31 — pleaded guilty in March to engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism.

The four were arrested a year ago in the town of Luton, north of London, after an operation by police and the MI5.

Prosecutors said the Britons downloaded files containing instructions for an attack, bought survival equipment and collected money for terrorist purposes. They also admitted “facilitating, planning and encouraging” overseas travel for terrorist purposes.

The men were recorded discussing sending a remote-controlled toy car carrying a homemade bomb under the gates of an army reservist center in Luton and speaking of using instructions in an al-Qaida manual to make an improvised explosive device.

“Using a toy-car as an explosive device may seem childish, but if they had succeeded in pulling this off, the consequences could have resulted in deaths and injuries, much like we have seen in recent days in Boston,” said a British security official with knowledge of the investigation and who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to be named.

The court heard that Iqbal had direct contacts with a Pakistani operative and helped Ahmed travel to Pakistan in 2011 for terror training.

Prosecutors also said the men gained inspiration from the 2010 first issue of “Inspire,” an online English-language magazine from Yemen’s al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula and linked to the U.S.-born militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. The militant leader was killed in 2011 in a drone strike.

The same online magazine gave instructions on how to build a “pressure cooker” bomb — the same type of explosive device that was used in Monday’s attack at the Boston Marathon when three people were killed and more than 100 were wounded.

AP

{{North Korea offered the United States and South Korea a list of conditions on Thursday for talks, including the lifting of U.N. sanctions, signalling a possible end to weeks of warlike hostility on the Korean peninsula.}}

The North Korea’s top military body also said in a statement the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula would begin when the United States removed nuclear weapons that the isolated state says Washington has deployed in the region.

The move was likely a sop to the North’s only major backer, China, which has signalled its growing unease over the escalation of threats, and which said later on Thursday that talks were the only correct way to end the tension.

“Dialogue and war cannot co-exist,” the North’s National Defence Commission said in the statement .

“If the United States and the puppet South have the slightest desire to avoid the sledge-hammer blow of our army and the people … and truly wish dialogue and negotiations, they must make the resolute decision,” it said.

The United States has offered talks, but on the pre-condition that they lead to North Korea abandoning its nuclear weapons ambitions. North Korea deems its nuclear arms a “treasured sword” and has vowed never to give them up.

Nevertheless, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who ended a trip to the region early this week that was dominated by concern about North Korea, stressed his interest in a diplomatic solution.

South Korea which is conducting military exercises with U.S. forces to the anger of North Korea, has also proposed talks, a move that Pyongyang rejected as insincere.

KCNA

{{Iran’s president has slammed “foreign presence” in the Persian Gulf, claiming it’s the source of insecurity in the region.}}

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran has “always guarded peace and security” in the Gulf and the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.

Ahmadinejad says that “foreign presence has been main reason of insecurity in the region” — an apparent reference to Western nations and the U.S. 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain.

Iran sees the large American-led naval presence as foreign military meddling in the Mideast.

Ahmadinejad’s remarks — typical rhetoric from the president — came ahead of a military parade in Tehran on Thursday as Iran marks National Army Day.

{{The Russian Cabinet came under attack from State Duma deputies Wednesday as Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev addressed the lower house of parliament for the first time since taking office.}}

The annual speech, which prime ministers have given since 2009, came as the country teeters on the brink of a recession, and the price of oil, a key export commodity, has taken a dip.

The leaders of the Duma’s four factions lambasted the Cabinet for inefficient work, with some of them claiming that they might demand dismissal of the government later this year.

The harshest criticism was voiced by the head of the Just Russia faction, Nikolai Levichev.

He claimed that the Cabinet had failed to provide a clear plan on improving the quality of life in the country over the next eight years and ensure stable economic growth.

Citing recent figures released by the Economic Development Ministry, he stated that the government’s plans to ensure economic growth of at least 5 percent a year remained only on paper and were at odds with reality.

“It is clear by all signs that the threat of entering into a recession this fall is quite possible. If this happens, we’ll have to raise the question of a no confidence vote,” Levichev said, commenting on Medvedev’s speech.

He was referring to an earlier statement by Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov, who acknowledged last week that the Russian economy could enter into a recession in the fall.

The ministry slashed its forecast for the country’s annual economic growth for this year from 3.6 percent to 2.4 percent.

The figure is still optimistic, Deputy Economic Development Minister Andrei Klepach said late last week. The pessimistic forecast is 1.7 percent.

Levichev also lambasted the perpetual talk about the need to improve the conditions for business. He said the speeches did not appear to be yielding any results, considering recent capital outflow numbers.

“I am quite fed up with the mantras about creating a favorable investment climate,” he said.

He also lamented that the farming sector was the responsibility of a Cabinet minister who did not have firsthand experience in the industry, apparently referring to Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.

“It’s unlikely that the pulse of the rural life is something that can be felt by an urban dweller for whom a chair is the only four-legged thing he has ever seen,” Levichev said.

In his answer to the remarks, Medvedev stated that “no one is perfect.” He added that this year will be hard for the global economy, and the government will have to find “an additional stimulus for economic growth.”

Medvedev began his report just minutes after a video has been leaked to LifeNews showing President Vladimir Putin scolding senior government officials for their poor performance during a closed-door meeting that he chaired in the republic of Kalmykia on Tuesday.

The video and the timing of its release raises the specter that Cabinet ministers and governors might be fired.

“How are we working?” Putin rants in the video after asking journalists to turn off the cameras. “The quality of the work is contemptible.”

The meeting was dedicated to a nationwide effort to resettle people living in dilapidated homes. The effort is the focus of one of Putin’s key policy decrees, which he issued right after his inauguration in May.

The president said in the video footage that if the Cabinet and governors don’t comply with his decrees, the logical conclusion will be that either Putin or they are not doing their jobs well and someone will have to step down.

“I am leaning toward the latter option,” he said.

Among the Cabinet ministers who attended the meeting were Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov and Regional Development Minister Igor Slyunyayev.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the video is authentic. But he said that Putin’s critical remarks referred to governors, not to the Cabinet, Ria novosti reported.

Peskov also lashed out at the leak of a closed-door government meeting, calling it “unethical.”

“Putin asked for the camera to be turned off,” Peskov said, according to Interfax. “It’s unethical to publish the closed part of the meeting.”

He added that the Kremlin intended to investigate the leak and might ban LifeNews journalists from covering Kremlin events.

In September, Putin openly criticized some Сabinet ministers for failing to fulfill his post-inauguration orders in what resulted in Regional Development Minister Oleg Govorun resigning.

Labor and Social Development Minister Maxim Topilin and Education Minister Dmitry Livanov were reprimanded.

Livanov came under fire again on Wednesday when some State Duma lawmakers proposed that he be dismissed from his post, citing the diminishing quality of education. However the idea was not supported by Medvedev, who defended the minister.

In his nearly two-hour speech the prime minister pointed out that improving the quality of education and healthcare services is a priority for the government.

One way to do so is to increase the salaries of public sector employees, he said, adding that last year had become a significant milestone in terms of raising their pay.

He said that no other country in the world had raised salaries for public sector workers lately, as many leading economic powers are struggling with economic woes.

Medvedev also touched upon a number of hot issues including defense procurement, housing construction and infrastructure development.

He pushed for “ending price wars” between the Defense Ministry and arms manufacturers.

“We have money, so it’s high time we stop fighting,” he said, referring to problems with arms purchases in 2011, when the ministry and weapons manufacturers failed to agree on the supply price.

He called for introducing financial responsibility for the heads of defense companies for failing to fulfill contractual obligations.

A total of 6.5 trillion rubles ($209.7 million) in government funds will be spent on defense purchases in 2013 through 2015, he said.

He also vowed to support farmers and continue developing the remote Far East region, drawing modest applause from the audience from time to time.

The speech was followed by a questions and answers session with lawmakers, who still balked at the chance to give Medvedev an extended grilling after he fielded 12 questions.

“Enough,” a chorus of voices called out after Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin asked if the deputies wanted to continue.

{The Moscow Times}

{{A Pakistani court has ordered the arrest of former president Pervez Musharraf in connection with charges relating to his showdown with the judiciary in 2007 when he was still in power, his spokesperson has said}}.

Islamabad High Court on Thursday ordered Musharraf be detained in connection with allegations that he committed treason when he sacked senior judges and declared emergency rule as he struggled to hold on to power.

“Islamabad High Court has cancelled Musharraf’s bail and ordered his arrest in the judges’ detention case today,” Mohammad Amjad, secretary-general of Musharraf’s All Pakistan Muslim League party, told reporters.

Police made no immediate move to enforce the arrest order and Musharraf left the court flanked by his personal bodyguards for his farmhouse on the edge of Islamabad.

Police officer Ali Asghar said security personnel were deployed at the court building, but Musharraf’s security team rushed him out and put him in a car before they could detain him.

Dozens of supporters gathered outside to denounce the decision, shouting “this is injustice,” and “long live Musharraf” as senior members of Musharraf’s political party swept inside the house for talks.

{Agencies}

Reports from U.S. over 15 people have reportedly been killed in a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco, in Texas state on Wednesday.

Hundreds have been injured, leaving the factory a smoldering ruin and leveling buildings for blocks in every direction.

The explosion at West Fertilizer in downtown West, a community about 20 miles north of Waco, happened around 7 p.m. and could be heard as far away as Waxahachie, 45 miles to the north.

It sent flames shooting high into the night sky and rained burning embers, shrapnel and debris down on shocked and frightened residents.

A member of the city council, Al Vanek, said a four-block area around the explosion was “totally decimated.” Other witnesses compared the scene to that of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and authorities said the plant made materials similar to that used to fuel the bomb that tore apart that city’s Murrah Federal Building.

Although authorities said it will be some time before they know the full extent of the loss of life, Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman D.L. Wilson said just after midnight that an unknown number of people had died and more than 100 were injured.

West Mayor Tommy Muska told reporters that his city of about 2,800 residents needs “your prayers.”

A search for survivors continued throughout the night, as emergency workers went house to house and business to business looking for people trapped in the rubble.

“We’ve got a lot of people who are hurt, and there’s a lot of people, I’m sure, who aren’t gonna be here tomorrow,” Muska said.

“We’re gonna search for everybody. We’re gonna make sure everybody’s accounted for. That’s the most important thing right now.”

The town’s volunteer firefighters responded to a call at the plant about 6 p.m., said Waco police Sgt. William Patrick Swanton.

Muska was among them, and he and his colleagues were working to evacuate the area around the plant when the blast followed about 50 minutes later.

Muska said it knocked off his fire helmet and blew out the doors and windows of his nearby home.

Five or six volunteer firefighters were at the plant fire when the explosion happened, Muska said, and not all have been accounted for.

Wilson said the main fire was under control as of 11 p.m., but residents were urged to remain indoors because of the threat of new explosions or leaks of ammonia from the plant’s ruins.

Dozens of emergency vehicles amassed at the scene in the hours after the blast, as fires continued to smolder in the ruins of the plant and in several surrounding buildings.

Aerial footage showed injured people being treated on the flood-lit football field that had been turned into a staging area.

{startribune}