Tag: InternationalNews

{{World powers offered broader concessions than ever to Iran in attempts Wednesday to keep alive diplomatic channels that seek to rein in the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and prevent it from building an atomic weapon.}}

The offer was hailed by Saeed Jalili, Iran’s top official at diplomatic talks in Kazakhstan, who said it represented a “turning point” by world powers to compromise on Tehran’s uranium enrichment program after years of delicate negotiations that nearly dissolved last June.

The proposal allows Iran to keep a limited amount of highly enriched uranium — but not make any more — stops short of demanding the full shutdown of an underground nuclear facility, and offers to remove some trade sanctions that have hurt Iran’s economy.

Still, a senior U.S. official said, crippling sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial industries would remain in place as negotiations continue.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive talks more candidly.

The latest offer marked a small but significant shift from earlier, harder-line proposals that prompted Iran to dig in its heels amid fears that an arms race in neighboring states could sow yet more instability in the already turbulent Mideast.

Israel has repeatedly hinted its readiness to strike Iranian nuclear facilities — a military venture the United States likely would be dragged into.

The new offer also is expected to force Iran to respond with a reasonable plan of its own — or be seen as a recalcitrant negotiator unwilling to compromise.

The proposal “was more realistic than before and had tried to get closer to the Iranian viewpoint in some cases,” Jalili told reporters at the end of two days of negotiations in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty.

“We consider this positive — although there is a long distance to reach the suitable point.”

British Foreign Minister William Hague called the talks “useful” and said the new proposal aimed “to build confidence on both sides and move negotiations forward.”

“I look forward to further progress,” Hague said in a statement.

Iran maintains it has the right under international law to enrich uranium to 20 percent — a level that can quickly be elevated into use for nuclear warheads.

Tehran claims it needs that level of enriched uranium for reactor fuel and medical isotopes, and has signaled it does not intend to stop. U.N. nuclear inspectors last week confirmed Iran has begun a major upgrade of its program at the country’s main uranium enrichment site.

read more…..http://news.yahoo.com/world-powers-coax-iran-saving-nuclear-talks-165127448.html

{{An Iraqi Airways flight landed in Kuwait on Wednesday for the first time since Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of the tiny emirate as the neighboring states try to repair more than two decades of strained relations.}}

Government ministers from both countries were on hand for the ceremonial landing at the international airport in Kuwait City shortly before noon.

Iraq’s Transportation Ministry spokesman, Karim al-Nouri, said the flight will open “important horizons for cooperation based on brotherhood” with Kuwait.

Passenger demand will determine the number of flights in the future, he said.

In January, Kuwait’s parliament approved a deal under which Baghdad will pay $500 million in compensation to Kuwait’s national carrier for damages caused during the Iraqi occupation.

The accord seeks to end a long-running dispute over reparations for Kuwait Airways.

The disagreement had centered on Kuwait’s accusations that Saddam’s regime stole 10 airplanes and millions of dollars’ worth of equipment and spare parts during the invasion.

Kuwait earlier wanted $1.2 billion in reparations, which Iraq’s postwar leaders resisted.

The chairman and managing director of Kuwait Airways Corp., Sami al-Nisf, said all outstanding issues between the Kuwaiti and Iraqi carriers have been completely and fully resolved, Kuwait’s state news agency reported.

He suggested that there could be interest in Kuwait resuming flights to Baghdad, but an aircraft shortage hinders those plans for now.

Although the airline dispute appears settled, there are other disputes over war reparations between the two nations.

AP

{{North Korea accused the United States on Wednesday of contributing to an “unpredictable” situation on the divided Korean peninsula and abusing its power in the U.N. Security Council to impose its “hostile policy” against Pyongyang.}}

North Korea is facing further U.N. sanctions for its underground nuclear test explosion two weeks ago, its biggest and most powerful to date which prompted warnings from Washington. In December it launched a long-range rocket.

“The U.S. is to blame for the situation on the Korean peninsula which is inching close to an unpredictable phase now,” So Se Pyong, North Korea’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, told the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament.

“The U.S. should no longer be allowed to seriously infringe upon the independent right of the DPRK to use space for peaceful purposes nor should it be allowed to abuse the U.N. Security Council as a tool for executing its hostile policy toward the DPRK,” he added, using the acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“The third nuclear test was carried out as part of the practical countermeasures for defending the country’s sovereignty and security to cope with ruthless hostile behaviors of the U.S., which wantonly infringed upon the DPRK’s legitimate right to satellite launch for peaceful purposes,” So said.

Earlier, Ireland’s foreign minister Eamon Gilmore, in a speech to the Geneva forum, called on North Korea to cease immediately nuclear testing and ballistic missile activities and re-engage in stalled six-party talks on denuclearization.

wirestory

{{The Senate voted 58-41 Tuesday to confirm Chuck Hagel (in photo)as the new Defense secretary to succeed Leon Panetta, thus ending a contentious battle over his nomination.}}

Senators voted 71-27 earlier Tuesday afternoon to end debate on President Obama’s nomination of Hagel, a Republican former senator from Nebraska.

Hagel will immediately inherit a budget crisis. Last week, the Pentagon announced that it plans to furlough the majority of its 800,000 civilian employees to help meet a $46 billion shortfall caused by automatic spending cuts that begin March 1 and its stop-gap budget that prevents shifting funds to urgent needs.

The contentious nomination process will not prevent Hagel from dealing with Congress, George Little, the Pentagon press secretary, said after the vote. Hagel is a “team player” whose interest in cooperation will extend to Congress, Little said.

Hagel has been briefed on issues facing the Pentagon and will be ready to start work immediately upon confirmation, Little said.

Hagel faced opposition from his own party. He cleared the Senate Armed Services Committee on a 14-11 party-line vote on Feb. 12. On Feb. 14, Republicans blocked a final vote on the nomination. His nomination sat idle last week with the Senate in recess. Of his major critics, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., signaled that he would no longer oppose a vote on Hagel’s nomination, setting the stage for Tuesday’s vote.

McCain voted to end debate but against Hagel’s confirmation.

Critics, such as McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have continued to say Hagel is unfit to lead the military. As a senator, Hagel approved military action in Iraq but later criticized the Bush administration’s handling of the war. His criticism of the surge of troops in 2007 that helped bring down violence there angered McCain, who blasted Hagel for it at his confirmation hearing.

The ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., opposed Hagel, and questioned his toughness on Iran and its nuclear ambitions. Graham has said comments Hagel has made show a lack of commitment to Israel. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, raised questions about the propriety of Hagel’s income, suggesting at one point that he might have received funds from North Korea.

Hagel has maintained, in answers to the Senate, that he has received no money from such nations.

Sen. Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who leads the Armed Services Committee, has said Hagel supplied the committee with the information it needed to approve his nomination.

Hagel, 66, was born in North Platte, Neb. In 1968, Hagel and his brother Tom were both wounded in combat in Vietnam. Chuck Hagel rescued his brother and was awarded two Purple Heart medals.

Hagel served two terms in the Senate from 1997 to 2009.

{{Russia’s foreign minister on Tuesday rejected criticism from the Dutch government and the European Union about proposed legislation that would outlaw “homosexual propaganda.”}}

Responding to Dutch assertions that the legislation may be contrary to Russia’s international obligations, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there were no such obligations.

“We don’t have a single international or common European commitment to allow propaganda of homosexuality,” he said.

Russia’s lower house of parliament on Jan. 25 voted to support a bill that makes public events and dissemination of information about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community to minors punishable by fines of up to $16,000. The bill still requires the parliament’s and the president’s final approval.

Lavrov spoke at a news conference with Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans, who on Feb. 1 had urged Russia not to put the bill into law and said he would raise the issue with Lavrov.

“Discrimination against homosexuals is unacceptable. Gay rights are human rights and Russia must adhere to its international obligations,” Timmermans had said, calling on the Russian parliament not to approve the bill.

At the news conference, Timmermans said he and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton believe that the legislation “could infringe on fundamental rights.”

Russia decriminalized homosexuality in 1993, but homophobia remains strong in the country. Authorities routinely ban gay rallies and parades.

Those behind the bill say minors need to be protected from “homosexual propaganda” because they are unable to evaluate the information critically.

Lavrov insisted on Tuesday that since homosexuality was decriminalized, gays have enjoyed full rights in Russia and “can go about their business absolutely freely and unpunished.”

But Russia “has its own moral, religious and historical values,” Lavrov said, warning against “another kind of discrimination when one group of citizens gets the right to aggressively promote their own values that run against those shared by the majority of the society and impose them on children.”

The bill has drawn opposition from many Russians. Activists rallied outside the parliament building protesting the bill while several leading Russian magazines dedicated their latest issues to the problems that homosexuals face in Russia.

The Afisha bi-weekly ran the rainbow flag on its cover along with a dozen of double-spread profiles of Russians, from trendy journalists to utilities workers, speaking openly about their homosexuality.

The bill is backed by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party which holds a majority in the parliament so opponents’ chances of blocking the legislation are slim.

Wirestory

{{Two Tibetan monks in their early 20s set themselves on fire in protest against Chinese rule near dozens of pilgrims who had gathered for prayers to mark the end of the Tibetan New Year festival, a Tibet rights group said. Both died.}}

One of the monks, Tsesung Kyab, self-immolated Monday outside a temple in Luqu county in northwestern Gansu province while the other, Phagmo Dundrup, set himself ablaze Sunday at a monastery in neighboring Qinghai province, the Washington, D.C.-based, International Campaign for Tibet reported.

The ICT said large numbers of religious pilgrims had gathered at both monasteries for prayer ceremonies to commemorate the end of the Tibetan new year festival, Losar.

The group says it received images of the self-immolation in Luqu, in which pilgrims watched as Tsesung Kyab was ablaze.

The latest self-immolations bring the total since 2009 to 106. Last week, two Tibetan teenagers set themselves on fire in a double self-immolation in Aba prefecture of Sichuan province, Tibet rights advocacy groups said.

Seventeen-year-old Richen and his childhood friend Sonam Dargye, 18, were among the youngest to have died after staging the fiery protests.

The protests have come despite an intensified crackdown in Tibetan areas by Chinese authorities hoping to stop the self-immolations.

Authorities have detained and jailed Tibetans they accuse of helping others self-immolate, an act that Beijing now considers a crime.

A woman who answered the phone at the Communist Party’s propaganda department in Gannan prefecture, which oversees Luqu county, said she was unaware of the reported self-immolation while county officials could not be reached.

Authorities in Qinghai’s Haidong prefecture, where the second protest took place, either could not be reached or said they had no information on the case.

AP story

{{At least 141 people, half of them children, were killed when the Syrian military fired at least four missiles into the northern city of Aleppo last week, Human Rights Watch confirmed Tuesday after a researcher visited the area.}}

The international rights group said the strikes hit residential areas and called them an “escalation of unlawful attacks against Syria’s civilian population.”

Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, has been the scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the civil war pitting President Bashar Assad’s regime against rebels fighting to oust him.

Rebels quickly seized several neighborhoods in an offensive on the city in July, but the government still controls some districts and the battle has developed into a bloody stalemate, with heavy street fighting that has ruined neighborhoods and forced thousands to flee.

A Human Rights Watch researcher who visited Aleppo last week to inspect the targeted sites, said up to 20 buildings were destroyed in each area hit by a missile.

There were no signs of any military targets in the residential districts, located in rebel-held parts of Aleppo, said Ole Solvang, the HRW’s researcher.

“Just when you think things can’t get any worse, the Syrian government finds ways to escalate its killing tactics,” Solvang said.

Human rights watch said 71 children were among the 141 people killed in the four missile strikes on three opposition-controlled neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo.

It listed the names of the targeted neighborhoods as Jabal Badro, Tariq al-Bab and Ard al-Hamra. The fourth strike documented by the group was in Tel Rifat, north of Aleppo.