Space shuttle Discovery lands safely in California

The US space shuttle Discovery touches down in the Mojave Desert on September 11

By Mark Carreau (AFP)

HOUSTON, Texas — The Discovery astronauts found sunny skies in California on Friday as they descended to a weather-delayed landing at Edwards Air Force Base to end a demanding two-week mission to the International Space Station.

Earlier in the day, thunderstorms twice prevented the seven astronauts from landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, a replay of the foul conditions on Thursday that kept the shuttle orbiting for an extra day.

Discovery discharged a pair of sonic booms as it soared across the California coast at the end of a high speed descent over the Pacific Ocean and touched down at the air base north of Los Angeles at 7:53 pm (0253 GMT Saturday).

"Welcome home, Discovery," Mission Control radioed shuttle commander C.J. "Rick" Sturckow. "Congratulations on an extremely successful mission."

Discovery will be hoisted atop a Boeing 747 jumbo jet and flown back to Kennedy late next week as a result of the stormy Florida weather, said Mike Moses, who chairs NASA's mission management team. The cost of the cross country trip is about 1.8 million dollars.

Discovery dropped off more than 18,000 pounds (8.1 tons) of supplies, life support gear and scientific equipment at the space station, leaving the space outpost better equipped to house crews of six astronauts as NASA prepares to retire its aging space shuttle fleet by early 2011.

A half-dozen shuttle missions remain, each intended to gradually bring the assembly of the 15-nation space station to an end.

"We're pretty fat on supplies now, thanks to you," space station resident Mike Barratt told the shuttle astronauts as they departed earlier this week. "We're in better shape to carry out our work."

Fellow American Tim Kopra, who ended a 58-day mission to the space station, was among those aboard Discovery.

"This experience has completely exceeded anything I thought it would it would be like, just in sights and sounds, the experiences," said Kopra. "It's been absolutely phenomenal."

He was replaced on the station by Discovery astronaut Nicole Stott. She joins five Russian, European and Canadian astronauts. She will return aboard shuttle Atlantis, which is tentatively scheduled to launch on November 9 with a load of major external spare parts for the orbital base.

A first time space voyager, Stott has trained to capture Japan's new HTV cargo capsule with the station's robot arm as the unmanned supply ship coasts within 30 feet of the station.

The HTV was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan on Thursday.

The Japanese supply craft, loaded with food, science experiments and other hardware, is expected to reach the station on September 17.

"That will be exciting for us," Stott said this week. "The vehicle flies up, and we go to work with the big robot arm to pick it out of space -- grab it! -- bring it in and dock it to the station."

The HTV is expected to lay a vital roll in the station's future. As NASA retires the shuttle, it plans to turn to a pair of American commercial rocket companies to haul supplies to the orbital outpost. Both will rely on the same robot arm berthing technique that Japan's HTV will initiate.

Discovery delivered a pair of major new science experiments that will enable the astronauts to study the behavior of metals, glasses and ceramics as they are heated and cooled in the absence of gravity.

A third new experiment enclosure, a refrigerator, will store blood and other medical specimens collected from the astronauts for studies on how they adapt physically to weightlessness.

During three spacewalks, Discovery's crew upgraded an external cooling system. Spacewalkers also collected samples of materials that could be included in the fabrication of future spacecraft including a replacement for the shuttle.

The samples were left outside the station a year ago to determine how they would react to the space vacuum, the sun's ultraviolet radiation and a reactive form of oxygen in the Earth's upper atmosphere.

During the final outing, astronauts stretched power and data cables to prepare the outpost for one of its last habitable modules. The American furnished "Tranquility" module is scheduled for launching in early 2010.

Inside the outpost, the astronauts installed a new bedroom, replaced a failed piece of life support equipment that removes carbon dioxide from the breathing air and delivered an exercise treadmill named for Stephen Colbert, an American late night television host and satirist. Link...

Pakistan arrests key Swat Taliban leaders

Bangash/AP

April 17, 2009 file photo Muslim Khan at his base in Imam Deri, Mingora, in Pakistan's Swat Valley.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Authorities in northwest Pakistan Saturday sacked more than 350 tribal police when they failed to report for duty after a militant leader threatened reprisals against those who did not resign, an official said.

Around 500 tribal policemen in the lawless border district of Khyber were Friday given 24 hours notice to report but only 142 turned up on Saturday, the senior official said.

Militant commander Mangal Bagh, who has ties to the Taliban, in an FM radio broadcast threatened that lawmakers, army and paramilitary troops in the region who did not resign would see their homes demolished and other harsh penalties.

Hours after his speech on Thursday, militants blew up three houses belonging to khasadars, or tribal police, residents said.

There are about 2,500 people in the tribal police in Khyber district but 500 did not report for duty Friday after the militant's threat and only 142 turned up on Saturday.

"I have terminated the services of 358 tribal policemen, we will make new appointments soon," Khyber region's administration chief Tariq Hayat told AFP by telephone.

Pakistan launched a military offensive last week in the area -- home to the fabled Khyber Pass into neighbouring Afghanistan and where a suicide bomber killed 22 tribal policemen late last month.

The offensive is targeting fighters from Lashkar-e-Islam (Army of Islam), a militant group battling the government in Khyber, part of Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt.

"These khasadars were getting salaries from Pakistan but were obeying someone else," Hayat added.

Khasadars are locally recruited tribesmen who know their area well and are considered helpful in tracking down militant centres and hideouts.

Militants from Pakistan's feared Tehreek-i-Taliban adopted similar tactics in the northwest Swat valley, where hundreds of police deserted during a violent uprising that demanded the imposition of Islamic law.

Meanwhile, the frontier corps said Saturday that troops killed 22 militants and destroyed three hideouts in an operation in Khyber's remote Tirrah valley.

The military claims to have killed around 170 militants in Khyber but such tolls are impossible to confirm independently.

Khyber is on the main land and supply route through Pakistan into Afghanistan, where international forces are battling a Taliban insurgency.

Separately, security forces killed eight militants in northwest Swat and Bajaur in an ongoing search and clearance operation in which one soldier also died, the military said in a statement Saturday.

Pakistan unleashed its offensive in Swat and neighbouring districts in April which forced 1.9 million civilians from their homes.

The United Nations said this week that 1.65 million have since returned home. Link...

Obama Takes to the Road to Promote Health Care Reform

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

Published: September 12, 2009

MINNEAPOLIS — Thousands of roaring supporters turned out Saturday to rally behind President Obama’s call to overhaul the nation’s health care system, packing a basketball arena here as the president warned that nearly half of all Americans under 65 could lose their insurance at some point over the next decade.

“It can happen to anyone,” Mr. Obama declared.

The rally at the Target Center — Mr. Obama’s fifth appearance this week to press for health care reform — was the first of several presidential events intended to whip up public support for the proposed overhaul.

One of the biggest obstacles the president faces is winning support from middle-class workers who already have insurance, so he is stepping up his warnings that those people could lose coverage at any time.

On a day when tens of thousands of conservatives jammed the West Lawn of the Capitol and spilled onto the National Mall to protest Mr. Obama’s policies — including his health plan — the images of screaming, cheering Obama fans here provided a welcome visual counterpoint for the White House, which estimated 15,000 people attended the rally here. The applause was thunderous when the president bounded onto the stage, shirtsleeves rolled up, as he revived a campaign rallying cry: “Are you fired up?”

The crowd roared back with another Obama favorite: “Yes, we can!”

Mr. Obama opened his 40-minute speech with what he called disturbing news: a report from the Treasury Department “that nearly half of all Americans under 65 will lose their health coverage at some point over the next 10 years” and that “more than one third will go without coverage for longer than one year.”

That is not precisely what the department found when it analyzed data from a University of Michigan survey that tracked the health insurance status of more than 17,000 Americans from 1997 to 2006.

The survey found that 47.7 percent had lost coverage at some point during that decade for one month or more, and that 36 percent lacked coverage for a total of one year during that period, though not necessarily consecutively. Mr. Obama extrapolated those statistics to predict what might happen in the future.

Republican critics say the administration is being misleading, and that the president, who has decried the ‘’scare tactics” of his opponents, is now employing scare tactics of his own. But Kathleen Sebelius, Mr. Obama’s health secretary, said after the speech here that even one month without insurance is too long, “if that’s the month you get sick.”

The crowd here seemed to care less about health statistics than about simply seeing a glimpse of a president who, for all the talk of slipping poll ratings, remains extremely popular. Many waited in line for hours to get tickets to the first-come, first-served event. Among them was Michael Alvarez, a 22-year-old exhibit designer for Target, which has its headquarters here.

“After this day,” Mr. Alvarez said, “I will be able to say I saw the first black U.S.A. president.”

Others said they wanted to counter the protests against the president in Washington. “We want a positive rally here,” said Jean Buckley, a city administrator who attended with her partner, Kelsy Kuehn. She said most people she knows support the president’s health initiative, but acknowledged they are wary.

“They worry about how it’s going to be paid for,” she said. “They don’t want any more taxes.”

During his joint address to Congress on Wednesday night, Mr. Obama outlined a $900 billion, 10-year plan that he said would extend coverage to the 30 million American citizens who lack insurance and provide ‘’security and stability” to those already insured. He reiterated that theme here, and invoked the memory of another Democrat who presided in tough economic times — Franklin Delano Roosevelt — to take a shot at the critics who call his policies socialism.

“When FDR decided that Social Security was something that seniors needed, you know what happened, they called it socialism,” Mr. Obama said. “But senior citizens decided that, you know what? If I’ve got some protection in my golden years, that’s something that’s worth fighting for.” Link...

Talks end 30-year US-Iran standoff

Tony Allen-Mills

THE first formal talks between Iranian and American officials since the breaking of diplomatic relations almost 30 years ago have been given the go-ahead by President Barack Obama.

Despite warnings from Tehran that it will not negotiate on its nuclear programme, Obama decided on Friday to accept an offer of face-to-face talks that will also be attended by British, Russian, Chinese and other European officials.

The US decision to resume direct contact with Iran after years of mutual belligerence followed indications from Moscow that Russia would not support any new United Nations sanctions on Iran over its pursuit of nuclear technology.

The talks will be the first substantive contacts since the seizure of 53 hostages in the American embassy in Tehran in 1979.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s president, vowed last week that Tehran would never halt its production of enriched uranium — the fuel used in nuclear weapons.

At the same time the Iranians offered western critics a broader discussion on “co-operation, peace and justice”. US officials said expectations of a breakthrough were “extremely low”, but the State Department said Washington was ready to test whether Iran was genuinely interested in dialogue.

It added: “If Iran is willing to enter into serious negotiations, then they will find a willing participant in the US and the other countries.”

Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, hinted yesterday that the nuclear issue might be addressed “should conditions be ripe”.

The decision exposes Obama to Republican complaints that he has not been tough enough on Iran. But the president emphasised during his election campaign that he would be ready to talk directly to America’s enemies. It emerged on Friday that a senior US official may soon visit Pyongyang for talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme. Link...

Health care talks focus on illegal immigrants

President Obama speaks to a joint session of Congress on health care at the U.S. Capitol in Washington Sept. 9, 2009. Obama decried the "partisan spectacle" that has stymied the debate over health care in recent months.

(Jason Reed, pool/AP Photo)



By ERICA WERNER (AP)

WASHINGTON — Senators closing in on a comprehensive health care bill have whittled away all but the most contentious issues and one of those loomed large Friday: coverage for illegal immigrants.

Negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee thought they'd already resolved the question. That was before Republican Rep. Joe Wilson's shout of "You lie!" as President Barack Obama said in a speech Wednesday that illegal immigrants wouldn't be covered under his health plan.

That led senators to revisit the issue to make sure they have provisions in place to enforce prohibitions against illegal residents getting federally subsidized coverage.

"What we are trying to prevent is anyone who is here illegally from getting any federal benefit," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., a member of the so-called Gang of Six of three Democratic and three Republican members of the Finance Committee. The group is facing a deadline early next week to produce a bipartisan deal.

If they don't succeed, Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., plans to go it alone with a Democratic bill.

The outcome remains very much in doubt. A successful effort could form the basis for legislation that could appeal to a majority in the Senate since the Finance Committee has a moderate makeup that resembles the Senate as a whole.

This weekend will be critical as aides and lawmakers themselves hammer out language not just on illegal immigration, but also a handful of other thorny issues including abortion, medical malpractice and how much states must pay for an expansion of Medicaid.

The deal-or-no-deal question could be answered as early as Monday when the group meets again.

"Obviously we'll find out who wants to support the (bill) and who doesn't," Baucus said Friday. "I'm hopeful that there will be bipartisan support. And I'll keep working on it frankly over the weekend, on the telephone talking to people, so on and so forth."

Baucus' plan largely mirrors what Obama laid out in his speech Wednesday: expansion of coverage to most of the nearly 50 million uninsured, new requirements for individuals to obtain insurance, new prohibitions against insurance company practices like denying coverage based on personal health history and creation of a new marketplace called an exchange where consumers could shop for different health plans.

If Congress ends up creating a new government-run insurance plan it would be offered through the exchange, but unlike the four partisan bills that have emerged from committees in the House and Senate so far, Baucus' bill will substitute nonprofit co-ops for the public plan.

The White House says that Obama does not want illegal immigrants to be able to buy insurance through the new purchasing exchange as they would be allowed to do under Democratic legislation in the House. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said the White House will work with lawmakers on language to enforce that.

"Illegal immigrants would not be allowed to access the exchange that is set up," Gibbs said Friday. Verification requirements are "something we'd work out with Congress," he said.

The illegal immigrant controversy that led to the outburst from South Carolina's Wilson stems from Republicans' contention that illegal immigrants would be able to get federally funded health coverage under the House health bill — even though the bill expressly prohibits federal subsidies for illegals.

Critics note that there are no enforcement mechanisms, or language on how to verify whether or not someone is in this country legally.

"Without a verification requirement it's essentially like posting a 55-mph speed limit and not having any highway patrol on the road," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

Democrats in two House committees defeated amendments that would have required verification of legal status. Many Democrats contend that such measures create barriers to legal residents getting the health coverage they need.

Verification provisions added to Medicaid several years ago require people to provide documentation of citizenship and identity, said Jennifer Tolbert, a policy analyst at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

She said states found that the new requirements mainly caused delays or denials for people who were entitled to be part of the program.

There are some 7 million illegal immigrants in this country who lack health insurance, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

Unlike in the House bill or legislation passed by the Senate's health committee, the Finance Committee is aiming to include verification requirements. Anyone who tries to get subsidized care through a new health insurance exchange would have to provide valid Social Security numbers. Aides are working through the weekend to complete how that requirement would be implemented. Link...

US says 6 nations accept Iran's offer to talk

By ROBERT BURNS (AP)

WASHINGTON — The United States and five partner countries have accepted Iran's new offer to hold talks, even though Iran insists it will not negotiate over its disputed nuclear program, the State Department said Friday.

Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters that although Iran's proposal for international talks — presented to the six nations on Wednesday — was disappointing for sidestepping the nuclear issue, it represented a chance to begin a direct dialogue.

"We are seeking a meeting now based on the Iranian paper to see what Iran is prepared to do," Crowley said. "And then, as the president has said, you know, if Iran responds to our interest in a meeting, we'll see when that can occur. We hope that will occur as soon as possible."

Such a meeting could lessen immediate pressure on President Barack Obama to abandon his diplomatic outreach to Tehran, which has yet to yield concrete results. Obama said in July that Iran should show a willingness to negotiate limits on its nuclear program by September or face consequences.

Crowley stressed that the U.S. and its negotiating partners agree they must keep pressure on Iran while also seeking talks.

"Now we are willing to meet with Iran. We hope to meet with Iran," Crowley said. "We want to see serious engagement on the nuclear issue, in particular."

He added, "We are willing to address any other issues that they want to bring to the table. But, clearly, if Iran refuses to negotiate seriously, we — the United States and the international community and the Security Council — can draw conclusions from that. And then based on that, we'll make some judgments in the future."

In its proposal, Iran ignored a demand by the six world powers — the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — for a freeze of its uranium enrichment, which is suspected of leading to production of a nuclear weapon. Iran insists that its nuclear work is strictly for peaceful nonmilitary purposes.

Iran pronounced itself ready to "embark on comprehensive, all-encompassing and constructive negotiations."

On Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country will neither halt uranium enrichment nor negotiate over its nuclear rights but is ready to sit and talk with world powers over "global challenges."

Crowley said Iran's lack of interest in addressing its nuclear program is not a reason to refuse to talk.

"If we have talks, we will plan to bring up the nuclear issue," he said.

"So we are seeking a meeting because ultimately the only way that we feel we're going to be able to resolve these issues is to have a meeting," Crowley added. "But it's not just a meeting for meeting's sake; it is a meeting to be able to see if Iran is willing to engage us seriously on these issues."

The decision to take up Iran's offer was communicated publicly Friday in Brussels, Belgium, by Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief who is an intermediary for the six powers. They represent the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany.

"We are all committed to meaningful negotiations with Iran to resolve the international community's concerns about their nuclear program," Solana said in a brief written statement. He said his office was in contact with Iranian officials to arrange a meeting "at the earliest possible opportunity."

Crowley said there is no assumption that new talks with Iran will be productive. But the proposal made Wednesday by the Iranian government indicated at least a new willingness to engage diplomatically, he said.

"There's language in the letter that simply says the government of Iran is willing to enter into dialogue," the spokesman said. "We are going to test that proposition, OK? And if Iran is willing to enter into serious negotiations, then they will find a willing participant in the United States and the other (partner) countries.

"If Iran dissembles in the future, as it has in the past, then we will draw conclusions from that," he said.

Crowley said the administration will, between now and December, assess where it's diplomatic approach stands. Iran's willingness to deal with the nuclear issues in the proposed new talks will be part of that assessment, he said.

Trita Parsi, founder of the National Iranian American Council, said in a phone interview Friday prior to Solana's announcement that he hoped the Obama administration would take Iran up on its offer.

"The Iranian proposal is an opening bid," Parsi said, even if it contains no offer of compromise on the nuclear issue.

The Obama administration has expressed interest in discussing numerous other issues with Iran, including cooperation in stabilizing two Iranian neighbors — Afghanistan and Iraq — as well as alleged Iranian support for terrorist groups. Link...

David Miliband toughens stance over 'rigged' Afghan presidential vote

By Patrick Wintour

David Miliband moved to defuse the growing controversy over ballot-rigging in the Afghan elections by suggesting a government of national unity may be needed after the declaration of the result.

Western powers are coming under increasing pressure to declare the election invalid in the face of evidence that the likely victor, President Karzai, sanctioned wholesale ballot rigging, as claimed by his chief rival Abdullah Abdullah.

The furore over the fraudulent voting is particularly intense given that British soldiers were killed making sure polling stations remained open.

Today the foreign secretary toughened the government rhetoric regarding the ballot, saying Britain would not be party to a whitewash in the investigation of electoral fraud. Critically, he added that any "credible" future administration in Kabul would have to reflect the millions of voters that supported Dr Abdullah, a Tajik, instead of Karzai, a Pashtun. A key to the new government would be its ability to foster political reconciliation, he added.

Miliband's remarks suggest that the Government believes a "consensus administration" is preferable to an election re-run, the solution now backed by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

Labour MPs fear that a run-off vote or a fresh election would provide the Taliban with a second chance to target western soldiers protecting the polls. However, Abdullah's heavy criticism of Marzai may make a unified government impossible.

So far the elections commission has counted ballots from 92% of the country's polling stations. Those returns give Karzai 54% of the vote, more than the 50% plus one he needs to avoid a run-off with Abdullah, who has 28%. Link...

Vladimir Putin hints that he could return to lead Russia until 2024

By Richard Beeston in Moscow

Vladimir Putin has given his strongest hint yet that he is considering a return to the Kremlin, a move that could allow the combative Russian leader to stay in power until 2024.

Speaking at the Novo-Ogaryovo official residence outside Moscow, Mr Putin insisted that swapping places with Dimitri Medvedev, the President, was no more sinister than the Labour leadership agreement in which Gordon Brown took Tony Blair’s job.

Mr Putin, who turns 57 next month, expounded on a range of domestic and foreign policy issues that left few in doubt that he remains Russia’s paramount leader, even though he officially occupies the number two position as Prime Minister.

Asked whether he would run again for the presidency, Mr Putin said that he would come to an accommodation with Mr Medvedev, just as the two men had done when Mr Putin stepped down in 2008.

“We will come to an agreement because we are people of the same blood and of the same political views,” he told foreign journalists and academics at the annual Valdai Discussion Club.

“According to the reality of the moment, we will make an analysis and take a decision. Did we compete in 2008? No. So we will not compete in 2012,” Mr Putin said.

This is the strongest hint he has given so far that he is considering returning to the Kremlin. Mr Putin stepped down after serving a maximum two terms as President and allowed Mr Medvedev to run largely unopposed in presidential elections last year.

His term ends in 2012 when new constitutional provisions will allow the next president to serve two six-year terms.

If the men complete this revolving-door manoeuvre Mr Putin could, in theory, be in power until 2024, when he would be 72. Although that is a decade older than most Russian men live, Mr Putin looked fit, alert and certainly confirmed what everyone in the country already knew — that he remains the real power in the land.

When asked who was in charge in Russia, Mr Putin insisted that Mr Medvedev was in control.

“We have nothing to prove to anyone,” he said. “If someone lives in a dream he needs to wake up, take a shower and look at reality. If you want to co-operate with Russia you need to know that it is the President who heads Russia.”

Anatol Lieven, a Russian expert at King’s College London, said that it did not matter whether Mr Putin or Mr Medvedev were president or prime minister. “What he is saying is that the political establishment will remain united and in power,” he said.

The prospect of Mr Putin dominating politics for another decade and a half will shock the liberal minority in the country where, under his rule, human rights and freedom of speech have been curtailed.

It would cause concern across Russia’s borders, where the Kremlin is in open dispute with Ukraine and Georgia, which is still suffering the effects of its war with Russian forces last year.

Many Russians, however, would be delighted with the prospect of having the most popular post-communist politician leading the country. Mr Putin is credited with restoring self-respect, rehabilitating the economy and restoring order after the chaos of the 1990s.

Relations between Russia and the US remain pivotal. Mr Putin said that a visit to Moscow in July by President Obama had improved the atmosphere.

He provided a long list of complaints about outstanding disputes with the Bush Administration regarding Russia’s failed attempt to join the World Trade Organisation and high-handed treatment by Condoleezza Rice, the former US Secretary of State.

Although Russia should be pleased that the Obama Administration is planning to shelve a plan by the former President Bush to base a missile defence system in Eastern Europe, there is still no sign that the two sides will complete a strategic nuclear weapons treaty by the end of the year, when the existing agreement expires.

Relations between Washington and Moscow could come under strain this month over Russia’s relationship with Iran. Russia is helping Iran to build a civilian nuclear reactor and has agreed to sell Tehran sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles.

The US, Britain and France fear that Iran is building a nuclear bomb secretly and are pressing for sanctions at the United Nations. Israel has warned that it may attack the nuclear facilities before Iran builds a nuclear weapon.

Mr Putin deflected questions about whether he had met Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, on a secret visit to Moscow on Monday.

He warned that any attacks against Iran would be counter-productive. “This would be very dangerous, unacceptable, this would lead to an explosion of terrorism, increase the influence of extremists,” he said, adding that he doubted airstrikes would achieve their objective.

Mr Putin added, however: “The Iranians should show restraint in their nuclear programme. We have told Iran that it has the right to a civilian nuclear programme but that it should understand what region of the world it is in.

“This is a dangerous region and Iran should show responsibility, especially by taking into account Israel’s concerns, all the more so after the absolutely unacceptable statements [by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President] about the destruction of the state of Israel.”

Judo and spying

— Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Born October 7, 1952, in Leningrad

— Putin did well at school despite an impoverished upbringing. He became interested in judo and spy stories

— He applied to the KGB at the age of 17 but was told that he could not be considered until he had a degree. He graduated from Leningrad State University with a law degree in 1975

— He was a KGB agent in East Germany between 1985 and 1990

— He became Prime Minister in August 1999 and President in March 2000, standing down to become Prime Minister again in 2008 Link...

Nation marks 9/11 with acts of volunteerism

By SUZANNE MA (AP)

NEW YORK — The selfless spirit that helped mend a stricken nation eight years ago was renewed. Volunteers marked 9/11 Friday by tilling gardens, writing letters to soldiers, setting out flags — and, at ground zero, by joining the somber ritual of reading the names of the lost.

President Barack Obama, who observed his first Sept. 11 as president by declaring it a national day of service, laid a wreath Friday at the Pentagon and, with wife Michelle, helped paint the living room of a Habitat for Humanity house in Washington.

"We honor all those who gave their lives so that others might live, and all the survivors who battled burns and wounds and helped each other rebuild their lives," Obama said. He said the day was meant also as a tribute to the "service of a new generation."

Memorials in New York, at the Pentagon and at the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 in Pennsylvania all took place under gray skies. A chilly rain fell in lower Manhattan, and those reading names at the World Trade Center site spoke under tents.

"We miss you. Life will never be the same without you," said Vladimir Boyarsky, whose son, Gennady Boyarsky, was killed. "This is not the rain. This is the tears."

In the hours after the attack and for weeks afterward, volunteers responded to New York City's needs, sending emergency workers to help with the recovery, cards to victims' families, and boxes of supplies.

"Each act was a link in a continuous chain that stopped us from falling into cynicism and despair," said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Across the country, Americans marked the anniversary with service projects.

Volunteers in Boston stuffed packages for military personnel overseas. In Tennessee and West Virginia, they distributed donated food for the needy. Community volunteers in Maine worked on a garden and picnic area for families transitioning out of homelessness.

In Chicago, they tilled community gardens, cooked lunch for residents of a shelter and packed food for mothers and babies. And on the lawn of the Ohio Statehouse, volunteers arranged nearly 3,000 small American flags, in a pattern reminiscent of the trade center's twin towers. At the top was an open space in the shape of a pentagon.

"It's different than just seeing numbers on a paper, when you actually see the flags. It's a visual impact of those lives," said Nikki Marlette, 62, of the Los Angeles suburb of Palos Verdes Estates, visiting Columbus for Saturday's Ohio State-Southern California football game.

At a plaza adjacent to the World Trade Center site, volunteers — from soup kitchens, advocacy groups, the Red Cross, the United Way — joined relatives of the lost to read the names of those killed in the twin towers.

"I ask that you honor my son and all those who perished eight years ago ... by volunteering, by making some kind of act of kindness in their memory," said one of the readers, Gloria Russin, who lost her son, Steven Harris Russin.

Renewing what has become a poignant tradition, some relatives called out greetings and messages of remembrances when they reached the names of their own loved ones.

"We love you, Dad, and we miss you," said Philip Hayes Jr., whose father, long retired from the Fire Department, rushed to the site that 2001 morning and ultimately gave his life.

Theresa Mullan, who lost her firefighter son, Michael, wore a poncho and shivered in the rain as she waited for her son's name to be called. She said she couldn't dream of being anywhere else.

"It's a small inconvenience," she said of the weather. "My son is the one who ran into a burning building."

Moments of silence were observed at 8:46, 9:03, 9:59 and 10:29 a.m. — the precise times that jetliners struck the north and south towers of the trade center and that each tower fell.

At ground zero in lower Manhattan, relatives and friends of victims visited a partially built, street-level Sept. 11 memorial plaza that had not been there a year ago.

The memorial, to be partially complete by the 10th anniversary in 2011, will ultimately include two square pools evoking the towers' footprints, with victims' names surrounding them and waterfalls cascading down the sides.

On Friday, William Weaver placed a single red rose in a temporary reflecting pool at the plaza, a photograph of his son, policeman Walter E. Weaver, pinned to his jacket. He said the memorial was taking too long and he did not like it. "It should have been a graveyard-type of thing," Weaver said.

In Shanksville, Pa., bells tolled for the 40 victims of the fourth hijacked jetliner that crashed there.

Eight years after 2,976 perished in the attacks, Obama vowed at the Pentagon that the United States "will never falter" in pursuit of al-Qaida. "Let us renew our resolve against those who perpetrated this barbaric act and who plot against us still," he said.

On a day already fraught with emotion, the Coast Guard massed vessels in the Potomac River in a training exercise, causing confusion. The exercise took place near the bridge where Obama's motorcade had passed earlier. As a precaution, departures from Reagan National Airport were halted for about 22 minutes at midmorning.

Initial, mistaken reports on two cable news channels said the Coast Guard was firing shots on the river. A group for military families expressed outrage that the Coast Guard exercise was held while families of 9/11 victims were gathered at the Pentagon.

George W. Bush, whose presidency was defined in part by that day, had no public appearances planned. A spokesman said he would be working in his office. In a statement, he said he and his wife, Laura, were thinking of the victims and their families. Link...

Excerpts of Sen. Levin's speech on Afghanistan

By The Associated Press (AP)

Excerpts from Sen. Carl Levin's speech on the war in Afghanistan, as prepared for delivery and released Friday by the Michigan Democrat's office:

___

The Obama administration's new strategy, focusing on securing the Afghan population's safety and partnering with the Afghan security forces in that effort, is an important start at reversing the situation in Afghanistan. The change in strategy has led our forces, in the words of Gen. McChrystal's Counterinsurgency Guidance, to "live, eat and train together (with the Afghan security forces). ... The guidance goes on to say that the success of the Afghan security forces "is our goal."

To achieve that goal we should increase and accelerate our efforts to support the Afghan security forces in their efforts to become self-sufficient in delivering security to their nation — before we consider whether to increase U.S. combat forces above the levels already planned for the next few months.

These steps include increasing the size of the Afghan Army and police much faster than presently planned; providing more trainers for the Afghan Army and police than presently planned; providing them more equipment than presently planned; and working to separate local Taliban fighters from their leaders and attract them to the side of the government as we did in Iraq.

___

Gen. McChrystal told us he worries that waiting until 2013 for a larger Afghan force creates a gap in capabilities that brings significant risk of failure. But by accelerating the training and equipping of Afghan forces by a year, we address his concern. Depending on additional capability from Afghan, rather than U.S., forces, also addresses a major problem of public perception in Afghanistan. The larger our own military footprint there, the more our enemies can seek to drive a wedge between us and the Afghan population, spreading the falsehood that we seek to dominate a Muslim nation.

Finally, we should make a concerted effort to separate the local Taliban from their leaders. In Iraq, large numbers of young Iraqis who had been attacking us switched over to our side and became the "Sons of Iraq." They were drawn in part by the promise of jobs and amnesty for past attacks, and in part by the recognition that the status quo was creating horrific violence in their own communities. In their own interests and the interests of their nation, they switched sides and became a positive force. That same prospect exists in Afghanistan.

___

Can we help Afghanistan reach self-sufficiency in security fast enough? Can we get there in a way that regains the initiative and creates the momentum we need? Can we encourage those lower level Taliban to abandon an insurgency headed by terrorists whose fanaticism they don't share?

I believe we can, by supporting a far more rapid growth in the Afghan Army and police; by providing more trainers more quickly; by a rapid infusion to Afghan units of equipment no longer needed in Iraq; and by rapidly adopting a plan for the reintegration of lower level Taliban fighters into Afghan society.

In other words, we need a surge of Afghan security forces. Our support of their surge will show our commitment to the success of a mission that is clearly in our national security interest, without creating a bigger U.S. military footprint that provides propaganda fodder for the Taliban.

I believe that taking those steps on an urgent basis, while completing the previously planned and announced increase in U.S. combat forces, provides the best chance of success for our mission: preventing Afghanistan from again being run by a Taliban government which harbors and supports al-Qaida, whose goal is to inflict additional catastrophic attacks on the United States and the world. Link...

Repsol Says It Makes Venezuela’s Biggest Gas Find (Update3)

By Steven Bodzin

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Repsol YPF SA, Spain’s biggest oil company, discovered a Venezuelan gas field containing as much as 8 trillion cubic feet of fuel, one of the world’s largest finds.

The field’s potential gas resources would be enough to supply Spain for more than five years, the company said today in an e-mailed statement. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Repsol Chief Executive Officer Antonio Brufau discussed the find in Madrid today, the company said.

Repsol wants to boost oil and gas production through new finds off the coasts of Brazil and Venezuela after four years of declining output. The company is also a partner in Brazil’s Guara oil field, which may contain 2 billion barrels of oil.

In the development phase of the field, known as Cardon IV, state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA will have a 35 percent stake in the project, with Repsol and Eni SPA retaining a 32.5 percent stake.

Repsol’s American depositary receipts, each worth one ordinary share, gained 26 cents, or 1 percent, to $25.87 in New York.

Venezuela Reserves

Venezuela has 174.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, the largest in South America. The country had 2.6 percent of the world’s proved natural-gas reserves in 2008, or the world’s ninth-largest reserves, according to BP Plc.

Most of the country’s gas can be produced in combination with crude oil. Venezuela’s oil output has declined since 1998, prompting it to import gas from Colombia. The country is seeking to expand gas output and become an exporter of liquefied natural gas, or LNG.

“Repsol wants to produce LNG,” Diego Gonzalez, president of natural-gas consultancy Paradigmas XXI in Caracas, said in a phone interview today. LNG can be exported by ship, allowing companies to charge more than Venezuela’s government-set prices.

PDVSA, the state oil company with a monopoly on domestic natural-gas distribution, charges customers less than $1 per thousand cubic foot for the fuel, Gonzalez said.

Natural gas plunged 29.6 cents to settle at $2.96 per million British thermal units, at 2:55 p.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Link...

Breakdown in Lebanon: A New Round of Brinkmanship

Lebanese Parliament Majority Saad Hariri addresses the media at the Elysee Palace, in Paris on January 2, 2009.

Lucas Dolega / EPA / Corbis

By Andrew Lee Butters/Damascus

Lebanon is an eternal exception to the maxim that all politics is local. With so many foreign powers meddling in the country's perennially sectarian struggle for power, Lebanon functions as a kind of political barometer of the Middle East. And that's why Thursday's news that Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri had given up trying to form a consensus government three months after his ruling coalition won the country's parliamentary elections is a sign of a more general unease in the region: Lebanon's political crisis, and the broader Middle East cold war of which it is an expression, is far from over.

The election victory by Hariri's U.S.- and Saudi-backed alliance in June seemed to promise the closing of a three-year chapter of war and political upheaval. Ever since it fought a 33-day war with Israel in summer of 2006, the Shi'ite Hizballah movement has challenged the legitimacy of the Lebanese government, accusing it of secretly trying to disarm the anti-Israeli "resistance." For its part, the ruling coalition has accused the Hizballah-led opposition of attempting a coup d'etat at the behest of Iran and Syria. After Hizballah prevailed decisively in a brief armed confrontation in the streets of Beirut in the spring of 2008, the two sides agreed to settle matters at the polls. And when Hariri's coalition won a slim majority and offered to share power with its opponents in a national unity government, most of Lebanon — including many supporters of the losing side — breathed a sigh of relief. Tourists came flocking back to make 2009 the country's best-ever summer season. (Read "Israel vs. Hizballah: Drumbeats of War ")

But the unity government never materialized. The two sides agreed on a formula for dividing cabinet seats — 15 for the majority, 10 for the minority, and five to be appointed by President Michel Sulieman (widely considered to be neutral) — which would give the opposition a stake in major decisions, but not the veto power it had demanded during the crisis. But when the cabinet was submitted to the president for approval, the opposition balked. Reports in Lebanon suggest the reason for the breakdown is that Michel Aoun, the leader of a Christian party allied with Hizballah, is unhappy that his son-in-law wasn't re-appointed to the Telecommunications ministry.

Given the petty nature of the dispute, it's tempting to see the breakdown as a result of a regional game of brinkmanship. Syria has been slowly working its way back into the good graces of the international community, after having faced widespread condemnation over accusations that it planned the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, father of the current incumbent. As the Obama Administration has reached out, Syria has made progress on some of the outstanding points of contention between the two countries: It has for the first time officially recognized Lebanese sovereignty by opening a Syrian embassy in Beirut. (Damascus has traditionally viewed Lebanon as a Syrian province turned into a separate country by European colonial powers.) And it has made some effort to stem the flow of militants across the Syrian border into Iraq. Still, Syria appears wary of giving away too much, and is especially wary of U.S. demands that its give up its strategic alliances with Iran, Hizballah and Hamas. Syria's fears that breaking from its allies in search of a separate peace deal will cost it leverage needed to achieve its primary goals of recovering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and reintegrating into the international community. An ongoing Lebanese political crisis is certainly a reminder of Syria's ability to help, or hinder, the achievement of U.S. goals in the region. (Read "Fatah and Hamas: Heading for a Showdown in Lebanon")

Hariri's resignation, in fact, may be an attempt to call that bluff by demonstrating that he and his backers in Washington and Riyadh can play the confrontation game, too. He is almost certainly going to be re-nominated as prime minster by President Sulieman, and his supporters are warning that Hizballah can forget about a unity government. That could return the Lebanese political deadlock to the dangerous days of 2006 and 2007, when the threat of violence loomed large.

Neither side is likely to go all the way in this game of chicken, however. Not only are the Lebanese people sick of internecine warfare, but engagement remains the order of the day — at least officially — in the Middle East, and no party in the region seems inclined to return to the confrontational politics of the Bush era.

The possibilities for diplomacy are not yet exhausted, but time is short. Tensions are rising elsewhere in the standoff over Iran's nuclear program, with Israel threatening military action against the Islamic Republic if it continues to defy Western demands. Should the regional confrontation escalate, there's little chance that Lebanon's squabbling politicians will avoid being sucked in. Link...

Pandher walks in Rimpa murder case

Vijay Pratap Singh

Allahabad The Allahabad High Court acquitted Noida businessman Moninder Singh Pandher on Friday in one of the Nithari serial killing case but upheld the death sentence awarded by a Ghaziabad court to his domestic help Surinder Koli.

A special court in Ghaziabad had passed the death sentence on both on February 13 for the February 8, 2005 murder of Rimpa Halder, 14, at Pandher’s house: D 5, Sector 31, Noida.

On Friday, the HC Division Bench comprising Justices Imtiyaz Murtaza and K N Pandey said the grounds to convict Pandher are “not admissible” since there is no evidence on record against him.

But court said, “There cannot be any doubt that the case of Surendra Koli falls within the category of rarest of rare cases. The depraved and brutish acts of Koli call for only one sentence, and that is death.” The court clarified that findings recorded by it are only confined to the Haldar murder case and would not affect trial in other Nithari killings cases.

Pandher had got a clean chit from the Central Bureau of Investigation, which did not include his name in its chargesheet. But the trial court summoned him by using inherent powers under Section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The HC Bench said the sessions judge summoned Pandher for trial on the basis of two incriminating circumstances: first, because he owned the house where the murders had been committed and, second, a saw was recovered, from information provided by him.

The court said Pandher was in Australia when Haldar was murdered, and there was no evidence that he was partner in any conspiracy to murder the girl. The court said a witness, Sub-Inspector R R Dixit, had stated that the saw was recovered on information given by Koli, and that Pandher was only present when it was recovered.

Besides, the court noted, the saw was not connected with the crime, for Koli had said in his confessional statement that he cut the bodies into pieces with a knife. Therefore, the court said, recovery of the saw cannot be taken as incriminating circumstance against Pandher.

The court noted that Koli’s confessional statement regarding Haldar’s murder excludes the involvement of any other person — the household hold stated that he was alone in the house at the time.

About Koli, the court observed: “We would not forbear from expressing that the accused Surendra Koli is a menace to the society. In the facts and circumstances of the case, the option of awarding life imprisonment is unquestionably foreclosed.” Link...

U.S. lists countries exploiting child labour

Children around the world are producing numerous goods being sold globally, says a report released by the U.S. Department of Labour.

The report released Thursday found that 218 million children work worldwide, and that 126 million of them perform dangerous jobs.

The U.S. Labour Department has identified 122 goods from 58 countries it believes to be produced by forced labour, child labour or a combination of the two. Children commonly work to produce products or crops such as:

• Cotton
• Sugar cane
• Tobacco
• Coffee
• Rice
• Cocoa
• Bricks
• Garments
• Carpets
• Footwear
• Gold
• Coal

"Three of the ones I would single out are cocoa, cotton and rubber," Tim Newman, the campaign director for the workers' advocacy group, the International Labour Rights Forum in Washington, D.C., told CBC Radio's As It Happens.

He said Cameroon, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Ghana were the worst offenders when it came to using children to produce cocoa, while 15 countries were listed as using child labour to pick and process cotton. Newman said Liberia was singled out for child labour abuses in the rubber industry.

"It is my strong hope that consumers, firms, governments, labour unions and other stakeholders will use this information to translate their economic power into a force for good that ultimately will eliminate abusive child labour and forced labour," said U.S. Secretary of Labour Hilda Solis, in a release.

The aim of the research is to identify which countries are the biggest offenders, says Newman. "This list can help consumers to support products companies that use certification programs that have strong labour standards. But he admits "there are no real teeth behind this."

Newman wants more companies to certify on their products that they abide by labour laws and produce goods without employing children. He cites Cadbury PLC, which recently announced that its Dairy Milk bars would be fair trade-certified in the U.K. The company has announced that its fair trade chocolate bars will be available in Canada at the beginning of 2010.

The reports were based on data gleaned from foreign embassies and governments, international and non-governmental organizations, field projects, academic reports and media coverage. Child labour is defined as work done by children under the age of 15. Link...

Muslim students invite peers to share in fasting experience

BY Sarah Midgorden

COLUMBIA — During the holy month of Ramadan, members of the MU Muslim Student Organization are reaching out to fellow students to help educate them about Islamic beliefs and traditions.

Members of the organization invited their non-Muslim friends and fellow students to share in the fast with them for one day, to experience what it's like. On Thursday, MSO held a Fast-a-thon, an event where non-Muslim students fast as part of a fundraiser.

At sundown, participants were invited to come participate in the tradition of iftar, or breaking the fast.

"I'd say we had around 25 to 30 people pledge that are here tonight," said Mahir Khan, a member of the organization. He thought there were probably a few more who participated who weren't able to come break the fast.

Despite missing a few participants, around 100 people gathered in Memorial Union for the event. The group was a mixture of Muslims and non-Muslims, all talking about their experience that day.

While they were waiting for the sun to go down, MSO's educational chair, Arwa Mohammad, made a short presentation about Islam. She briefly explained the articles of faith and the five pillars of Islam. She also discussed the importance of fasting, prayer and Ramadan.

At 7:32 p.m., the call to prayer was made, and people in attendance began to drink water and eat dates, a traditional food for breaking the fast. Then the group lined up and feasted on a buffet of homemade food prepared by members of the organization.

As people continued talking during the meal, many non-Muslim students shared their challenges.

"The hardest part was trying to study for an exam with no food," said Brooke Aden, a non-Muslim participant.

Several people agreed that the hardest part was not being able to drink water. Others said they almost forgot at times and started to eat.

Overall, MSO members said they felt the event was very successful.

"It's a lot more people than we expected," said Nuzhat Chowdhury. "The turnout is great."

The Fast-a-thon is a fundraiser for the Central Missouri Food Bank. The organization asks local businesses to pledge a donation for every non-Muslim participant. Link...

US strongly condemns rocket attack on Israel

WASHINGTON — The United States strongly condemned a rocket attack Friday on Israel from southern Lebanon, a US State Department spokesman said.

"We strongly condemn these attacks which were in clear violation of the cessation of hostilities called for in UNSC (UN Security Council) resolution 1701," said Assistant Secretary of State PJ Crowley.

He said the incident "highlights the urgent need to put arms in Lebanon under control of the state and the need for the international community to remain fully committed on supporting UNIFIL which is the UN mission in Lebanon."

Several rockets fired from southern Lebanon slammed into Israel on Friday, prompting Israel to fire artillery rounds across the border in retaliation, the Israeli military said.

The Lebanese army said the village of Al-Qlaileh was hit and ambulances were rushed from the port city of Tyre, nine kilometres (five miles) away.

A Lebanese security official said two rockets were fired earlier from the village, 15 kilometres (10 miles) from the border. No one immediately claimed responsibility.

In Israel, police said they found debris from Katyusha rockets near the northern city of Nahariya, while witnesses said they heard explosions. Link...

Netanyahu faces storm over secret Moscow visit

Benjamin Netanyahu Photo: EPA

Benjamin Netanyahu faced the most serious domestic crisis of his six-month premiership of Israel yesterday when he was accused of concealing a visit he allegedly made to Moscow.

By Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem and Andrew Osborn in Moscow

Mr Netanyahu's military attache, General Meir Kalifi, seemed likely to be the first political victim of the deepening mystery surrounding the Arctic Sea, a ship carrying Russian cargo that mysteriously went astray, after Israeli newspapers reported that he had written a letter of resignation.

Gen Kalifi played a cameo role in the Arctic Sea saga when the press asked about Mr Netanyahu's movements on Monday. A statement issued in his name claimed the prime minister was at a security facility inside Israel.

But senior officials told Israeli newspapers that Mr Netanyahu had, in fact, chartered a private jet to take him on a secret visit to Russia. Gen Kalifi's office was accused of lying to the Israeli public and causing an embarrassing diplomatic incident that was deeply damaging to the government.

"What happened on Monday this week crossed all red lines in the prime minister's relations with the public," said Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's largest-circulation newspaper. "The prime minister's bureau lied to the public. It's as simple as that."

But little light has been shed on what Mr Netanyahu may have been doing in Russia so soon after some military experts linked Mossad to the Arctic Sea mystery. The ship disappeared in August after leaving Russia's Baltic port of Kaliningrad and was found a fortnight later in the Atlantic. The suggestion is that the vessel was bound for Iran with a cargo of advanced anti-aircraft missiles.

Both Russia and Israel have officially refused to confirm or deny Mr Netanyahu's presence in Russia on Monday night. Instead his office said "the prime minister was busy with secret and classified activity".

But senior Israeli security officials have said that Mr Netanyahu went to Moscow to persuade the Kremlin not to sell Iran S-300 surface-to-air missiles, a sophisticated anti-aircraft defence system that Tehran wants to deploy around its nuclear facilities.

This would make an Israeli air strike against Iran's nuclear installations far more dangerous. In 2007, Russia signed a contract to sell the S-300 to Iran, but has not yet fulfilled its terms.

Israel has devoted great diplomatic effort to persuading Russia to refrain from going ahead with the export deal. Both Ehud Olmert, the last Israeli prime minister, and President Shimon Peres made their views plain during visits to Moscow last year.

If the Arctic Sea was carrying S-300 missiles to Iran, it is unclear whether this had the approval of Russia's government - or elements of the Kremlin's security and intelligence services.

Israeli observers believe that Mossad might have played a role in the vessel's interception. "I don't think we participated in boarding the boat, but we may have had a role in alerting the Russian authorities," said Efraim Inbar, the director of Israel's Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies. "It could have been carrying weapons that would change the balance of power or erode our edge in the region." Link...

Sierra Leone ends boat rescue, dozens missing

By Christo Johnson FREETOWN

Authorities in Sierra Leone are shutting down an operation to rescue survivors of a shipwreck that has killed 90 and left well over 100 missing, presumed dead, a police officer said on Friday.

The boat, which officials believe was heavily loaded with goods and at least 250 people, capsized in a storm on Tuesday, sparking calls for better safety after just 40 of the passengers appear to have survived the accident.

"We are no longer actively engaged in the rescue exercise as we now believe that the rest of the passengers onboard the boat have drowned," Lt Mohamed Suma, head of the naval wing leading the search operation, told Reuters on Friday.

Suma said 90 bodies had been buried, 30 of which had to be put in mass grave as they were unrecognisable.

"What we are now doing as (a) search party is to see how (many) of the remaining corpses we can get out of the sea," he added.

The exact number of passengers on the boat, which was travelling between two coastal villages, is not known as the captain picked up additional passengers after completing a manifest that showed he already had 200 people onboard.

Boat, car and rail accidents are frequent in West Africa, a poor region that has weak infrastructure, and overloading is often to blame.

The international community has offered assistance to the government in tackling the accident but Suma said stricter measures would be put in place to prevent others.

Passenger boats that did not have life jackets, the necessary communications devices and a proper manifest would be prevented from plying Sierra Leone's waters and their captains arrested, he said. (Reporting by Christo Johnson; Writing by David Lewis) Link...

Brazil president has last word on fighter jets: FM

RIO DE JANEIRO — President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will have the final say on who will sell billions of dollars in fighter jets to Brazil to modernize its air force, Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said Friday.

"President Lula has the last word; of course, he will take into account the position of the National Defense Committee," Amorim told international journalists in Rio.

"Let me reiterate: there was an evaluation of various proposals, and Brazil made the decision to start negotiations with France. Its proposal was the most favorable," he added.

Rival bidders trying to sell fighter jets to Brazil have made a final push for the multi-billion-dollar contract, which had looked all but sewn up by France's Dassault.

Sweden's Saab and the United States, backing defense contractor Boeing in the race, both emphasized they would transfer important technology to meet Brazil's requirement that it not only acquire new jets but also the knowhow to build them.

But a Brazilian official speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity said French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote to Lula promising "unrestricted access to technology" in the Dassault offer and a competitive price.

That letter was "instrumental" in Lula's announcement on Monday that he was opening negotiations to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from Dassault, the official said. A French official said the deal was worth up to seven billion dollars.

Lula's announcement prompted the US government, through a statement on its embassy website in Brazil, to say it had approved the transfer to Brazil of "all necessary technology" related to its F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft.

Saab, in its own statement on Thursday, underlined that it, too, would give "key technology" if Brazil chose its Gripen NG fighter.

But the Brazilian official said those offers were "unlikely to change the situation because it's not clear what is 'necessary technology' when another competitor guarantees 'unrestricted technology.'" Link...

Berlusconi's daughter denounces 'disgraceful' attacks on father

ROME — The daughter of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday defended her father against what she described as "disgraceful" attacks.

In an interview with the newspaper Corriere della Sera, Marina Berlusconi came out in support of her father who has been beset by a string of lurid allegations since his second wife Veronica Lario announced in May she would divorce him after he attended a young model's 18th birthday.

"I know perfectly how precious freedom of the press is ... but all freedom has a limit, which is respect of freedom of others. Journalists are free, Berlusconi is also. He is free to have a private life," she said.

"There have been real attempts to stab him in the back, but happily he has good reflexes," added Marina, who is Berlusconi's daughter by his his first wife Carla, and president of Fininvest, the holding company that controls her father's media empire Mediaset.

The prime minister and the girl whose 18th birthday he attended have vehemently denied that they had a sexual relationship.

Berlusconi has also insisted that he has never paid for sex.

On Thursday, Berlusconi, who was holding bilateral talks with his Spanish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in Sardinia, attacked journalists and repeated his denial that he had ever paid for sex.

"He is under pressure as never before. He is seeking for a way of counter-attacking," said Giacomo Marramao, professor of political philosophy at the University of Florence.

Despite the scandals of recent months, Berlusconi's popularity remains high and he has no rival, according to Marramao and French political scientist Marc Lazar.

"Berlusconi's power comes from the fact that those who want to challenge his power do not know how to act..." said Marramao.

Lazar and Marramao said the real danger for Berlusconi was a decision by the Constitutional Court on the so-called Alfano law which gives immunity to the state's four highest officials.

"It is his obsessive fear, the only things which could destabilise him," said Lazar.

"He is aggressive, wounded," said Marramao, adding that he feared he would do something "risky like an institutional rupture" if the the court ruled that the Alfano law was unconstitutional. Link...

Incoming Tokyo government threatens split with US

A split is emerging between the United States and Japan over the new Tokyo government's anti-globalisation rhetoric and its threats to end a refueling agreement for US ships in support of the war in Afghanistan.


By Julian Ryall in Tokyo

Yukio Hatoyama, the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, has caused alarm in Washington after publishing an article blaming the US for the ills of capitalism, the global economy and "the destruction of human dignity".

He also intends to examine an agreement that permits US warships to dock at Japanese ports, in violation of the nation's non-nuclear principles. Mr Hatoyama says he will also look again at the $6 billion cost faced by Japan to transfer thousands of US troops from their base in Okinawa to the Pacific island of Guam amid a wide-ranging review of the American military presence on Japanese soil.

His election campaign promised a more "independent" foreign policy from Washington and closer relations with Asian neighbours, including China. On Thursday, he repeated his intention to defy the US and end the Maritime Self-Defence Force's resupply mission in the Indian Ocean.

Mr Hatoyama will be sworn in on Wednesday after an historic victory that ended decades of near unbroken rule by the Liberal Democratic Party. He will have his first meeting with Barack Obama, the US president, at the United Nations on Sep 22.

The Pentagon reminded Japan of the expectations it faced as a "great power and one of the world's wealthiest countries". Geoff Morrell, a spokesman, said: "There is an international responsibility, we believe, for everyone to do their share, as best they can, to contribute to this effort to bring about a more peaceful and secure Afghanistan."

The Defence Department would not "prejudge" Japan's new political leadership, he added.

"We think that when the responsibility of governing comes about that people will appreciate, as we have every reason to believe they do, the importance of this alliance and the importance of working together on these [security] agreements," he said.

Makoto Watanabe, a professor of media and communication at Hokkaido Bunkyo University, said: "The US has been critical of new trends in Japan, but we are not a colony of Washington and we should be able to say what we want.

"The Japan-US relationship will remain our most important bilateral link, but while under previous governments Japan had become a yes-man to the US, this suggests to me that healthy change is taking place." Link...

Istanbul mayor promises reform after deadly floods

ISTANBUL, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Istanbul's mayor pledged on Friday to rebuild areas hit by flash floods that killed 26 people and resisted calls for his resignation over accusations he allowed shoddy construction in Turkey's biggest city.

The death toll shocked Turkey and brought calls for better city planning and supervision by the government, which defended itself by saying this was a natural disaster stemming from the heaviest rainfall in the last 80 years.

Critics say the government, municipality and police were ill prepared despite knowing heavy rain was forecast. They should not have allowed construction of major roads, offices and flats on a river basin in the city of 14 million inhabitants.

A total of 32 people died in the floods on Tuesday and Wednesday, most in central Istanbul.

Pictures of commuters stranded in water-swamped highways near Ataturk Airport weeks before an International Monetary Fund and World Bank meeting have embarrassed the government.

"The State Waterworks Authority and the Istanbul Water and Sewage Authority will focus very intensively on the river basins to solve the problems in those areas," Mayor Kadir Topbas told a news conference.

Scenes of white blankets covering bodies of seven women drowned in a window-less company van carrying them to work infuriated Turks. Newspapers reported on Friday that the police arrested the women's employer for causing death.

Topbas, a ruling AK Party member and serving his second term as mayor, came under fire when he blamed global warming for the floods in Istanbul. His critics said the disaster was avoidable and called for his resignation.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has also been slammed for blaming illegal construction for the disaster. Critics said Erdogan was mayor of the city when the construction was carried out in the late 1990s.

"The city administration which spent its money on tulips rather than infrastructure showed its incompetence in managing this city," the main opposition party CHP's Istanbul deputy Cetin Soysal said in a statement.

Istanbul's ancient district of Sultanahmet, with its famous mosques, waterfront palaces the historic Beyoglu area of narrow streets were largely unaffected.

Topbas urged Istanbul residents to stay home at the weekend due to the danger of new flash floods. (Reporting by Selcuk Gokoluk; Editing by Angus MacSwan) Link...

Bangladesh to replace India as tournament host

CHENNAI (Reuters) - Bangladesh have been selected to host this year's South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship after India withdrew their offer to stage the tournament.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Friday the eight-nation event would now be held in Dhaka from Dec. 1-15.

India officials did not provide any details about their decision to withdraw as hosts but local media said it was possibly related to visa issues with the Pakistan team.

There are eight countries entered in the biennial event: defending champions Maldives, India, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Link...