Thursday, 31 December 2009
New Year revelers ready for better times in 2010
SYDNEY – Under explosive bursts of crimson, purple and blue, more than 1 million New Year revelers in Sydney got one of the world's biggest parties started Thursday — bidding farewell to the tough year that was 2009 and welcoming a new decade.
As the family-friendly, pre-midnight fireworks show illuminated Australia's largest city, preparations were under way across the world for pyrotechnics, parties and prayers in the final countdown to herald the end of the period dubbed "the Noughties."
The mood of celebrations was tempered in some places by the effects of the financial downturn, which bit hard in 2009, sending economies into recession, causing millions to lose their jobs and home foreclosures to rise dramatically in some countries.
There were also reminders of threats and the fight against terrorism that during the decade led to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and rising militant violence in Pakistan.
The U.S. Embassy in Indonesia warned of a possible terrorist attack on the resort island of Bali on New Year's Eve, citing information from the island's governor — although local security officials said Thursday they were unaware of a threat. The e-mail warning to U.S. citizens said predominantly Muslim Indonesia's counterterrorism efforts have been partly successful in recent years, but violent extremists continue to pose a deadly threat.
In Sydney, crowds — organizers expected more than 1.5 million people — thronged to harborside parks and public places for the annual fireworks extravaganza over the landmark harbor bridge and opera house. The twin shows, one at 9 p.m. and a bigger one at midnight, are the centerpiece of Australia's celebrations that generates some of the most striking images from a night of revelry across the globe.
The mood was jubilant, though the economic crisis may mean 2009 was a year one that many people are glad to put behind them.
"I think 2010 will be a good year — you can never tell, but I think so," said Marek Kiera, a Sydney property investor who watched interest rates tumble amid the global financial crisis.
"We have invested so much in something that may go up in value," said Kiera, who went with his wife and three young children to a park in inner Sydney to watch the fireworks show. "Hopefully there will be a boom like in the late '80s, when properties doubled in value."
Smaller fireworks displays and partying were planned across Australia and the South Pacific, the first region to greet each new day because of its proximity to the International Date Line.
In New Zealand, dance parties, bands and fireworks were planned in the main cities. In the capital, Wellington, celebrations included a display by world unicycle games competitors.
Asia was be partying, too, though probably not as hard as most of Europe and the Americas. The world's most populous nation, 1.3-billion-strong China, uses a different calendar that will mark the new year in February. Islamic nations such as Pakistan and Afghanistan also use a different calendar.
In the Philippines, Health Secretary Francisco Duque said hundreds of people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gunfire during New Year's celebrations.
Many Filipinos, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year's celebrations drive away evil and misfortune. But they have carried that superstition to extremes, exploding huge firecrackers and firing guns to welcome the new year despite threats of arrest.
In Beijing, President Hu Jintao wished viewers a happy new year in his end-of-the-year speech broadcast on China Central Television. In Shanghai, some people paid 518 yuan ($75) to ring the bell at the Longhua Temple at midnight and wish for luck in the new year. In Chinese, saying "518" sounds like the phrase "I want prosperity."
Fireworks displays were planned to illuminate Hong Kong's crowded skyline, high-glitz parties were planned in Singapore and thousands gathered at Indonesia's national monument in the capital, Jakarta, for a fireworks show.
Millions of Japanese were to welcome the new year by flocking to shrines to pray for good fortune in 2010.
In Turkey, Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said authorities were deploying around 2,000 police officers around Taksim Square to prevent pickpockets and the molestation of women that have marred New Year celebrations in the past. Some officers would be under cover, disguised as street vendors or "even in Santa Claus dress," Guler said.
Firecrackers were already exploding across the Netherlands early Thursday on the only day of the year the Dutch are allowed to set off fireworks. Most such shows are do-it-yourself affairs where families spill onto the street in front of their homes and light strings of fire crackers and other fireworks.
Many Dutch families also fire up their deep-fat frying pans on New Year's Eve to cook the traditional treat of oliebollen — deep-fried balls of dough laced with raisins and dusted with icing sugar.
___
Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Cara Anna in Beijing, and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this story.
Police: Gunman kills 5 in Finland, then self
HELSINKI – A gunman clad in black went on a shooting rampage Thursday, killing his ex-girlfriend then slaying four workers at a suburban shopping mall near Helsinki before apparently turning his gun on himself, police said.
Finnish police said one woman and three men were shot dead Thursday morning at the Sello shopping mall in Espoo, six miles (10 kilometers) west of Helsinki.
The gunman was identified as 43-year-old Ibrahim Shkupolli, an immigrant who had been living for several years in Finland, police superintendent Jukka Kaski said, adding that the weapon used was an unlicensed handgun.
Kaski said Shkupolli killed his ex-girlfriend in a nearby apartment before heading to the mall.
The ex-girlfriend, a Finnish woman born in 1967, also worked at the mall and had taken out a restraining order against Shkupolli, Kaski said.
Witnesses said panic erupted at the mall, one of the Nordic region's largest, when the shots rang out. Hundreds of mall workers were evacuated to a nearby library and firehouse, trains were halted and helicopters brought in as police launched a manhunt for the heavily armed killer.
After several hours, a body was found in Shkupolli's home, which police believed to be the killer himself. Kaski refused to confirm the exact identity immediately, but said the cause of the death appeared to be suicide.
Speaking at a news conference, Kaski also refused to discuss Shkupolli's nationality, but Finnish media reported he was an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo.
He refused to say whether the four killed at the mall had been targeted by Shkupolli.
The midmorning slayings shocked hundreds of people who had gone shopping early on New Year's Eve. One witness told the state broadcaster YLE that a gunman dressed in black began randomly shooting at people on the second floor of the mall.
"There were loads of people who were crying, and many vendors who were completely panicked," the unnamed witness said.
Another female witness told YLE radio news she saw the suspect carrying a long-barrelled pistol and rushing past the cashier line at Sello's Prisma supermarket, where the slayings took place.
Finland, a nation of 5.3 million, has 1.6 million firearms in private hands, a long tradition of hunting and ranks among the top five nations in the world in civilian gun ownership.
Politicians, social workers and religious leaders have all urged tighter gun laws, more vigilance of Internet sites and more social bonding in the small Nordic nation, which is known for its high suicide rates, heavy drinking and domestic violence.
Previous shootings in Finland have been linked to schools. In September 2008, a lone gunman killed nine fellow students and a teacher at a vocational college before shooting himself in the western town of Kauhajoki. In November 2007, an 18-year-old student fatally shot eight people and himself at a high school in southern Finland.
Both young men in those attacks fired guns in YouTube clips posted before the shootings, shot themselves in the head and used .22-caliber handguns bought from the same store.
Court freed Somali suspect with chemicals, syringe
MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalia's police commissioner says a court acquitted and released a Somali man who tried to board a plane in Mogadishu in November with chemicals and a syringe.
Gen. Ali Hassan Loyan says a Somali court acquitted the man on Dec. 12, about two weeks before a Nigerian tried to bring down a Detroit-bound flight using similar materials.
Loyan says given the attempted U.S. attack, the Somali government is ready to redouble its cooperation with U.S. officials since the materials used in both incidents appear to be similar.
U.S. officials on Wednesday began investigating the Somali case for any links with the attempted attack in Detroit.
Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Iranian hard-liners plan show of strength
TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian hard-liners called a series of state-sponsored demonstrations on Wednesday in what they hoped would be a massive show of strength against the reformist movement, while the country's police chief threatened to show "no mercy" in crushing any new opposition rallies.
Wednesday's hardline protests, planned in Tehran and several other cities, were the latest official response to what has become the boldest challenge to the ruling system since the Islamic Revolution 30 years ago.
The government has been systematically arresting top opposition activists, including the sister of Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, limited the movement of a top opposition leader and heavily restricted media coverage in the wake of opposition rallies that left eight people dead early this week.
Iran's police chief, Gen. Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam said authorities had exhausted their patience with the opposition and promised tough new action.
"In dealing with previous protests, police showed leniency but given that these currents are seeking to topple (the ruling system), there will be no mercy. We will take severe action," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying. "The era of tolerance is over. Anyone attending such rallies will be crushed."
Tens of thousands of people were expected at Wednesday's demonstrations, which were set to begin at midafternoon. For several days, hard-liners have been imploring supporters to attend, and officially organized buses were transporting groups of schoolchildren, civil servants and supporters from outlying rural areas to the protests.
Sunday's deadly protests coincided with Ashoura, the most solemn day of the year for Shiite Muslims. The observance commemorates the 7th-century death in battle of one of Shiite Islam's most beloved saints, and it conveys a message of sacrifice in the face of repression.
Hard-liners are especially furious that some of the protesters insulted the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, casting aside a taboo on personal criticism of the leader. The government has said the protesters are a tiny minority, and accused the U.S. and Britain of organizing the opposition.
The hard-line criticism has become increasingly vocal, with some activists threatening to take the law into their own hands.
Hardline cleric Abbas Vaez Tabasi, a Khamenei representative, accused opposition leaders on Tuesday of being "enemies of God" who should be executed.
"In our judiciary system, the verdict for mohareb is clear," he said. Under Iran's Islamic sharia law, the sentence for a "mohareb," or enemy of God, is execution.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shrugged off new opposition protests Sunday as "a play ordered by Zionists and Americans" and criticized Barack Obama and Britain for allegedly supporting the protesters.
"The Iranian nation has witnessed this sort of play many times," Ahmadinejad said, according to the state IRNA news agency.
Government supporters held rallies in at least three cities on Tuesday, many protesting against the opposition and its leaders.
Opposition Web sites reported about 10 new arrests Tuesday, and those taken into custody included the sister of Ebadi, who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her human rights efforts in Iran. Ebadi, who has stayed outside of Iran since a day before the June elections, told The Associated Press in a phone interview from London that Iranian authorities were trying to punish her by arresting her sister.
The new arrests, along with the tough criticism of the U.S. and Britain, added to rising tensions with the West, which is threatening to impose tough new sanctions over Iran's suspect nuclear program and has criticized the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.
The opposition Rah-e-Sabz, or Green Road, Web site reported additional arrests, among them opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's brother-in-law, Shapour Kazemi, and Mashallah Shamsolvaezin, a journalist who frequently criticizes the government.
Iranian security forces also limited the movements of leading opposition figure Mahdi Karroubi by refusing to protect him when he leaves his home. Police have for years provided leading opposition figures with security.
Without the guards, he cannot go outside safely and is under a "quasi-house arrest," said his son, Taghi Karroubi. If Karroubi leaves unprotected, he risks attack by hardline government supporters. His car was attacked on Saturday when he went out, and assailants shattered his front windshield.
Karroubi and Mousavi were the two defeated reformist candidates in the disputed June 12 presidential election, which set off the worst unrest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution
Afghan investigators: Civilians killed by troops
KABUL – The head of a presidential delegation investigating the deaths of 10 people in a village in eastern Afghanistan said Wednesday the team has concluded that civilians — including schoolchildren — were killed in an attack by foreign troops last weekend, denying NATO reports that insurgents were the victims.
Asadullah Wafa, a senior adviser to President Hamid Karzai, told The Associated Press by telephone that among the victims discovered in a village house in the Narang district of Kunar province were eight schoolchildren between the ages of 12 and 14. A NATO official said initial reports from troops involved in the fighting on Sunday indicated that the victims were insurgents — all young males.
Civilian deaths are one of the most sensitive issues for foreign troops in Afghanistan, especially now when some additional 37,000 U.S. and NATO troops are being deployed to the war-ravaged country. Several hundred Afghans in neighboring Nangarhar province demonstrated on Wednesday to protest the deaths.
Although far more civilians are killed by the Taliban, those blamed on international forces spark the widespread resentment and undermine the fight against the militants.
"I have talked to the principal of the school in the village and he gave us details about the killed children," Wafa said. "The schoolchildren cannot be al-Qaida. I confirm they are innocent people killed by mistake. I talked to Karzai about the findings."
Wafa said the villagers demanded from the 10-member delegation of government officials and lawmakers that informants "who gave the wrong target to the Americans must be found and punished by a court."
Col. Wayne Shanks, spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, said at a news conference Wednesday that that allegations were being investigated together with Afghan authorities.
He said the force takes all such allegations seriously and goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.
"In fact, you can see that our enemy, the insurgents, have very little regard for the Afghan people," he said. "We have noticed a very dramatic increase in civilian casualties caused by roadside bombs by attacks that insurgents have on the Afghan people."
The latest figures released by the United Nations show that 2,021 civilian died during clashes in the first 10 months of this year, up from 1,838 for the same period last year. Taliban insurgents were blamed for 68 percent of the deaths this year — three times more than NATO forces, according to the U.N.
Bombs kill 18 in Iraq's central Anbar province
BAGHDAD – Staggered explosions in central Iraq killed 18 people Wednesday and injured the governor of Anbar province, Iraqi officials said.
Anbar is strategically important because it was once the heartland of the al-Qaida linked insurgency before American officials paid fighters to join a pro-government force.
Police official Lt. Col. Imad al-Fahdawi said two bombs exploded in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad. He says a suicide bomber in a car caused the first blast on the main road near the provincial administration buildings.
Gov. Qassim al-Fahdawi, the deputy police chief and other officials came to inspect the damage, al-Fahdawi said, when a suicide bomber on foot detonated a vest full of explosives nearby.
The deputy police chief was killed and the governor and other officials wounded, al-Fahdawi said. Police have put a curfew in place, he added.
Dr. Ahmed Abid Mohammed confirmed the casualties and said the governor had suffered burns on his face, injuries to his abdomen and other areas.
There are 18 provincial governors in Iraq. Anbar is primarily Sunni, the same sect of Islam as former dictator Saddam Hussein. The province was the former stronghold of the insurgency before the U.S. military began paying fighters to participate in the pro-government Sons of Iraq program, also known as the Awakening Council.
The Sons of Iraq have been widely credited with stabilizing the country after joining up with U.S. and Iraqi forces in the anti-al-Qaida drive about three years ago. But they have been hit by a steady barrage of revenge attacks since then and five of them were killed at a checkpoint Tuesday in central Iraq
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Monday, 28 December 2009
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Captured Pakistan Taliban commander dies in jail
ISLAMABAD – A feared Taliban commander known for beheading opponents died in custody Sunday from wounds sustained during a fierce firefight with Pakistani security forces last week, the military said.
Sher Muhammad Qasab died after being critically wounded in the gunbattle in Swat Valley, the army's media center said in a statement. Qasab's three sons were killed when he was captured.
Qasab is an Urdu-language word meaning "butcher." He was given the title because of his ruthlessness toward enemies.
The arrest of Qasab — who had a $121,000 bounty on his head — was the third from the army's list of 10 most-wanted Swat militants. Qasab allegedly decapitated many Pakistani troops in Swat when the Taliban was in control.
The Pakistan Taliban has been on the run since being cleared from the scenic valley, once a tourist hotspot, and surrounding areas in July after the military launched a major offensive to retake the region in April.
The military announced Sunday that security forces killed eight militants in search operations throughout Swat since Saturday. Twenty-three insurgents were also apprehended and another 22 surrendered, it said in a statement. One of the militants killed was a Taliban commander identified as Chamtu Khan, it said.
A Pakistani patrol also killed 10 Taliban attempting to infiltrate Swat Valley's main city of Mingora on Thursday.
The army offensive against Taliban fighters in Swat has killed more than 1,800 alleged militants, according to the military. It says 330 Pakistani troops also died in operations in the valley.
U.S. missile attacks have played a significant role in neutralizing the insurgency. Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in an Aug. 5 CIA missile strike, plunging the group's leadership into disarray. Officials said Thursday they believed the al-Qaida operations chief for Pakistan and a top Uzbek militant died in missile attacks in the northwest earlier this month.
Despite recent successes against extremists, attacks continue. On Friday, a suicide bomber plowed his explosives-laden vehicle into a hotel in the northwestern town of Kohat, killing more than 30 and wounding dozens of others.
About 2 million civilians were forced to flee the fighting in Swat, though 1.6 million have since returned home. Aid efforts carried out by the military continue in the region.
President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will hold a meeting this Thursday in New York to step up international efforts — including aid and investment — to stabilize Pakistan and help people displaced by the conflict in Swat and surrounding areas. The "Friends of Democratic Pakistan" grouping was launched last year promising to help build dams, power stations, schools and clinics.
Sher Muhammad Qasab died after being critically wounded in the gunbattle in Swat Valley, the army's media center said in a statement. Qasab's three sons were killed when he was captured.
Qasab is an Urdu-language word meaning "butcher." He was given the title because of his ruthlessness toward enemies.
The arrest of Qasab — who had a $121,000 bounty on his head — was the third from the army's list of 10 most-wanted Swat militants. Qasab allegedly decapitated many Pakistani troops in Swat when the Taliban was in control.
The Pakistan Taliban has been on the run since being cleared from the scenic valley, once a tourist hotspot, and surrounding areas in July after the military launched a major offensive to retake the region in April.
The military announced Sunday that security forces killed eight militants in search operations throughout Swat since Saturday. Twenty-three insurgents were also apprehended and another 22 surrendered, it said in a statement. One of the militants killed was a Taliban commander identified as Chamtu Khan, it said.
A Pakistani patrol also killed 10 Taliban attempting to infiltrate Swat Valley's main city of Mingora on Thursday.
The army offensive against Taliban fighters in Swat has killed more than 1,800 alleged militants, according to the military. It says 330 Pakistani troops also died in operations in the valley.
U.S. missile attacks have played a significant role in neutralizing the insurgency. Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud was killed in an Aug. 5 CIA missile strike, plunging the group's leadership into disarray. Officials said Thursday they believed the al-Qaida operations chief for Pakistan and a top Uzbek militant died in missile attacks in the northwest earlier this month.
Despite recent successes against extremists, attacks continue. On Friday, a suicide bomber plowed his explosives-laden vehicle into a hotel in the northwestern town of Kohat, killing more than 30 and wounding dozens of others.
About 2 million civilians were forced to flee the fighting in Swat, though 1.6 million have since returned home. Aid efforts carried out by the military continue in the region.
President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari will hold a meeting this Thursday in New York to step up international efforts — including aid and investment — to stabilize Pakistan and help people displaced by the conflict in Swat and surrounding areas. The "Friends of Democratic Pakistan" grouping was launched last year promising to help build dams, power stations, schools and clinics.
Obama: Missile defense decision not about Russia
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama sharply dismisses criticism that Russian opposition influenced his decision to scrap a European missile defense system, calling it merely a bonus if the leaders of Russia end up "a little less paranoid" about the U.S.
"My task here was not to negotiate with the Russians," Obama told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an interview for broadcast Sunday. "The Russians don't make determinations about what our defense posture is."
The president's comments were his first on the matter since he abruptly announced on Thursday that he was scuttling plans to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a related radar in the Czech Republic. That shield had been proposed under President George W. Bush.
Russia condemned it is a threat to its security despite years of U.S. assurances to the contrary.
In its place will be a different missile-defense plan relying on a network of sensors and interceptor missiles based at sea, on land and in the air. Obama says that adapts to the most pressing threat from Iran to U.S. troops and allies in Europe, potential attacks by short- and medium-range missiles.
Yet at home and abroad, Obama's decision immediately raised a political question of whether it was done in part to appease Russia and win its help in other areas, mainly in confronting the potential of a nuclear-armed Iran. That point was underscored when Russia lauded the change.
In an interview with CBS News that was taped Friday, Obama was pressed on why he did not seek anything in exchange from Russia.
"Russia had always been paranoid about this, but George Bush was right. This wasn't a threat to them," Obama said. "And this program will not be a threat to them."
He added: "If the byproduct of it is that the Russians feel a little less paranoid and are now willing to work more effectively with us to deal with threats like ballistic missiles from Iran or nuclear development in Iran, you know, then that's a bonus."
Russia said Saturday that it will scrap a plan to deploy missiles near Poland since Obama dumped the planned missile shield in Eastern Europe.
Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin said Obama's move made the deployment of short-range missiles in the Kaliningrad region unnecessary, and he called the U.S. president's decision a "victory of reason over ambitions."
Washington is counting on Moscow to help raise pressure on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program, although there are no clear signs that will happen.
Also Sunday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asserted that the United States is not walking away from European allies to appease Russia.
"Russia's attitude and possible reaction played no part in my recommendation to the president on this issue," Gates wrote in an essay in The New York Times. He said he would be surprised if Russia likes the replacement European missile defense plan much better.
Gates acknowledged that one criticism of the replacement plan is that it relies heavily on fresh intelligence about the Iranian missile threat. The U.S. now judges shorter-range missiles as a greater problem in the near term than the long-range missiles the old system was conceived to counter. But he suggested it would have been foolhardy to stick with a plan that had become obsolete before it was built.
"Having spent most of my career at the CIA, I am all too familiar with the pitfalls of over-reliance on intelligence assessments that can become outdated," wrote Gates, a former CIA director.
That system never moved past the blueprint stage, and would not have been fully fielded until at least 2017.
Part of the replacement system could be in place as soon as 2011, Gates said.
"My task here was not to negotiate with the Russians," Obama told CBS' "Face the Nation" in an interview for broadcast Sunday. "The Russians don't make determinations about what our defense posture is."
The president's comments were his first on the matter since he abruptly announced on Thursday that he was scuttling plans to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a related radar in the Czech Republic. That shield had been proposed under President George W. Bush.
Russia condemned it is a threat to its security despite years of U.S. assurances to the contrary.
In its place will be a different missile-defense plan relying on a network of sensors and interceptor missiles based at sea, on land and in the air. Obama says that adapts to the most pressing threat from Iran to U.S. troops and allies in Europe, potential attacks by short- and medium-range missiles.
Yet at home and abroad, Obama's decision immediately raised a political question of whether it was done in part to appease Russia and win its help in other areas, mainly in confronting the potential of a nuclear-armed Iran. That point was underscored when Russia lauded the change.
In an interview with CBS News that was taped Friday, Obama was pressed on why he did not seek anything in exchange from Russia.
"Russia had always been paranoid about this, but George Bush was right. This wasn't a threat to them," Obama said. "And this program will not be a threat to them."
He added: "If the byproduct of it is that the Russians feel a little less paranoid and are now willing to work more effectively with us to deal with threats like ballistic missiles from Iran or nuclear development in Iran, you know, then that's a bonus."
Russia said Saturday that it will scrap a plan to deploy missiles near Poland since Obama dumped the planned missile shield in Eastern Europe.
Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin said Obama's move made the deployment of short-range missiles in the Kaliningrad region unnecessary, and he called the U.S. president's decision a "victory of reason over ambitions."
Washington is counting on Moscow to help raise pressure on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program, although there are no clear signs that will happen.
Also Sunday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates asserted that the United States is not walking away from European allies to appease Russia.
"Russia's attitude and possible reaction played no part in my recommendation to the president on this issue," Gates wrote in an essay in The New York Times. He said he would be surprised if Russia likes the replacement European missile defense plan much better.
Gates acknowledged that one criticism of the replacement plan is that it relies heavily on fresh intelligence about the Iranian missile threat. The U.S. now judges shorter-range missiles as a greater problem in the near term than the long-range missiles the old system was conceived to counter. But he suggested it would have been foolhardy to stick with a plan that had become obsolete before it was built.
"Having spent most of my career at the CIA, I am all too familiar with the pitfalls of over-reliance on intelligence assessments that can become outdated," wrote Gates, a former CIA director.
That system never moved past the blueprint stage, and would not have been fully fielded until at least 2017.
Part of the replacement system could be in place as soon as 2011, Gates said.
Medvedev: Israel not planning to strike Iran
MOSCOW – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says Israeli officials have assured him that they are not planning a military strike on Iran. In an interview with CNN television broadcast Sunday, Medvedev also confirmed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a secret visit to Moscow this month that included a meeting with the Russian president.
In a transcript of the interview released by the Kremlin, Medvedev hedges on the question of whether Russia would support Iran if it were attacked by Israel.
Although Russia has no defense agreement with Iran "this does not mean we would like to be or will be indifferent to such an occurrence. This is the worst thing that can be imagined," Medvedev said of a potential Israeli strike.
"What would happen after that? Humanitarian disaster, a vast number of refugees, Iran's wish to take revenge — and not only upon Israel, to be honest, but upon other countries as well."
"But my Israeli colleagues told me they were not planning to act in this way, and I trust them," Medvedev said.
It was not clear whether those referred to included Netanyahu. Israeli President Shimon Peres also reportedly told Medvedev in a meeting this month that Israel wasn't planning an attack on Iran. But Medvedev gave the first confirmation from the Russian side that a meeting with Netanyahu had taken place.
Netanyahu vanished from public view in Israel for most of the day on Sept. 7. His office said he had visited a secret security facility, but there was widespread speculation that he had gone to Russia — either to pressure Moscow not to deliver S-300 air-defense missiles to Iran or to inform the Kremlin of attack plans.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu came to Moscow. He did this under a closed regime, this was his decision. I don't understand what this was connected with, but sometimes our partners decide it this way," Medvedev said. He did not give details of the meeting.
Russia signed a contract two years ago to sell S-300s to Iran, a move that disturbs Israel because the missiles would substantially boost Iran's defenses. However, no deliveries have been made public.
In the interview, Medvedev acknowledged Israel's concerns but said that "any supplies of any weapons, especially defensive weapons, cannot increase tension; on the contrary, they should ease it."
Russia has cultivated close cooperation with Iran, including building the Bushehr nuclear power plant that critics say is a key element of Iranian attempts to develop nuclear weapons. But Russia has shown irritation with Iran's failure to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency as it seeks to determine if Iran is pursuing nuclear arms.
Although Russia — which has veto power in the United Nations Security Council — so far has resisted additional sanctions on Iran, Medvedev admonished Tehran in the interview.
"Iran must cooperate with the IAEA, this is absolutely obvious, if it wishes to develop its nuclear dimension, its nuclear energy program. This is a duty and not a matter of choice," he said.
In a transcript of the interview released by the Kremlin, Medvedev hedges on the question of whether Russia would support Iran if it were attacked by Israel.
Although Russia has no defense agreement with Iran "this does not mean we would like to be or will be indifferent to such an occurrence. This is the worst thing that can be imagined," Medvedev said of a potential Israeli strike.
"What would happen after that? Humanitarian disaster, a vast number of refugees, Iran's wish to take revenge — and not only upon Israel, to be honest, but upon other countries as well."
"But my Israeli colleagues told me they were not planning to act in this way, and I trust them," Medvedev said.
It was not clear whether those referred to included Netanyahu. Israeli President Shimon Peres also reportedly told Medvedev in a meeting this month that Israel wasn't planning an attack on Iran. But Medvedev gave the first confirmation from the Russian side that a meeting with Netanyahu had taken place.
Netanyahu vanished from public view in Israel for most of the day on Sept. 7. His office said he had visited a secret security facility, but there was widespread speculation that he had gone to Russia — either to pressure Moscow not to deliver S-300 air-defense missiles to Iran or to inform the Kremlin of attack plans.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu came to Moscow. He did this under a closed regime, this was his decision. I don't understand what this was connected with, but sometimes our partners decide it this way," Medvedev said. He did not give details of the meeting.
Russia signed a contract two years ago to sell S-300s to Iran, a move that disturbs Israel because the missiles would substantially boost Iran's defenses. However, no deliveries have been made public.
In the interview, Medvedev acknowledged Israel's concerns but said that "any supplies of any weapons, especially defensive weapons, cannot increase tension; on the contrary, they should ease it."
Russia has cultivated close cooperation with Iran, including building the Bushehr nuclear power plant that critics say is a key element of Iranian attempts to develop nuclear weapons. But Russia has shown irritation with Iran's failure to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency as it seeks to determine if Iran is pursuing nuclear arms.
Although Russia — which has veto power in the United Nations Security Council — so far has resisted additional sanctions on Iran, Medvedev admonished Tehran in the interview.
"Iran must cooperate with the IAEA, this is absolutely obvious, if it wishes to develop its nuclear dimension, its nuclear energy program. This is a duty and not a matter of choice," he said.
Iran's leader says US nuke accusations wrong
TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's supreme leader said Sunday that U.S. officials know they are wrongly accusing Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
In Iran's first official reaction to the U.S. decision to scrap a European missile intercept system to defend against threats from Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed President Barack Obama's administration is following the same policies as its predecessor.
"The U.S. officials who talk about Iranian missiles and their danger while saying Iran intends to build a nuclear bomb, they know these words are wrong," Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state-run radio. "Despite its apparent friendly messages and words" the Obama administration is pursuing the same policy of Iran-phobia, he said.
The U.S. administration has invited Iran to start a dialogue on its nuclear program and gave a vague September deadline for Tehran to take up the offer. The U.S. and five other world powers accepted an offer from Iran earlier this month to hold "comprehensive, all-encompassing and constructive" talks on a range of security issues, including global nuclear disarmament.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on Oct. 1 for talks on Iran's nuclear program. Iran has long maintained the program is purely for peaceful purposes and Khamenei reiterated that Iran considers the production and use of nuclear arms forbidden by the country's Muslim beliefs.
The Obama administration announced earlier this month it was scrapping a Bush-era plan for a missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic. Former President George W. Bush contended the system was needed to shoot down any Iranian missile if Tehran ever developed one with adequate range to threaten the United States or Europe.
U.S. officials have said the decision was based largely on a new U.S. intelligence assessment that Iran's effort to build a nuclear-capable long-range missile would take three years to five years longer than originally thought. The scrapped plan will be replaced by a new one initially geared more to the threat of short- and medium-range missiles from Iran.
Khamenei also addressed Iran's domestic political crisis, warning government supporters against accusing opposition members of wrongdoing without proof. It was the latest indication that the Islamic government may be easing up on critics of the June presidential election.
In a speech marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Khamenei appeared to be working to iron out tensions that have created the country's biggest domestic political crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — the fallout from the disputed June 12 election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election in a race critics say was marred by widespread fraud.
Amid mass trials of supporters of reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, as well as claims of abuse, coerced confessions and intimidation by security forces targeting the opposition, Khamenei said while a suspect's own confession was admissible, his testimony or accusations could not be used to implicate others in the unrest.
"We do not have the right to accuse without any proof," Khamenei said, urging the judiciary and security forces to pursue offenders within the bounds of the law. The speech was carried live on Iran's state radio and television.
"What a suspect says in court against a third party has no legitimate validity," he said.
Khamenei did not single out any individuals, but his remarks appeared to refer to testimony by some detainees who maintain that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and other reformists supported Mousavi to weaken Khamenei.
Rafsanjani — who has been absent from several recent official ceremonies, including a Friday prayer led by the supreme leader earlier in September — was seen sitting in the first row of worshippers during the prayer ceremony at which Khamenei spoke.
Khamenei has been a staunch supporter of Ahmadinejad, support that has further angered critics and opened up a wide rift between the country's influential clerics — reformists on one side, hard-liners on the other.
But in what could be an attempt to bridge that gap, he said accusing others in the media without any proof would create a climate of suspicion.
The country has already been faced with just such a situation for months since tens of thousands took to the streets in protests after the elections, sparking a harsh government crackdown in which hundreds were arrested or detained and dozens subsequently being brought to court in mass trials. Some opposition members say 72 died in the post-vote police crackdown, roughly double the government's official casualty figures.
Khamenei's latest comments could signal a change in the direction of the ongoing court cases against protesters. Some detainees blamed opposition figures and their supporters of fomenting the postelection unrest. Among those blamed were Rafsanjani and his son.
In Iran's first official reaction to the U.S. decision to scrap a European missile intercept system to defend against threats from Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed President Barack Obama's administration is following the same policies as its predecessor.
"The U.S. officials who talk about Iranian missiles and their danger while saying Iran intends to build a nuclear bomb, they know these words are wrong," Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state-run radio. "Despite its apparent friendly messages and words" the Obama administration is pursuing the same policy of Iran-phobia, he said.
The U.S. administration has invited Iran to start a dialogue on its nuclear program and gave a vague September deadline for Tehran to take up the offer. The U.S. and five other world powers accepted an offer from Iran earlier this month to hold "comprehensive, all-encompassing and constructive" talks on a range of security issues, including global nuclear disarmament.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana will meet Iran's nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on Oct. 1 for talks on Iran's nuclear program. Iran has long maintained the program is purely for peaceful purposes and Khamenei reiterated that Iran considers the production and use of nuclear arms forbidden by the country's Muslim beliefs.
The Obama administration announced earlier this month it was scrapping a Bush-era plan for a missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic. Former President George W. Bush contended the system was needed to shoot down any Iranian missile if Tehran ever developed one with adequate range to threaten the United States or Europe.
U.S. officials have said the decision was based largely on a new U.S. intelligence assessment that Iran's effort to build a nuclear-capable long-range missile would take three years to five years longer than originally thought. The scrapped plan will be replaced by a new one initially geared more to the threat of short- and medium-range missiles from Iran.
Khamenei also addressed Iran's domestic political crisis, warning government supporters against accusing opposition members of wrongdoing without proof. It was the latest indication that the Islamic government may be easing up on critics of the June presidential election.
In a speech marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Khamenei appeared to be working to iron out tensions that have created the country's biggest domestic political crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — the fallout from the disputed June 12 election in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won re-election in a race critics say was marred by widespread fraud.
Amid mass trials of supporters of reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, as well as claims of abuse, coerced confessions and intimidation by security forces targeting the opposition, Khamenei said while a suspect's own confession was admissible, his testimony or accusations could not be used to implicate others in the unrest.
"We do not have the right to accuse without any proof," Khamenei said, urging the judiciary and security forces to pursue offenders within the bounds of the law. The speech was carried live on Iran's state radio and television.
"What a suspect says in court against a third party has no legitimate validity," he said.
Khamenei did not single out any individuals, but his remarks appeared to refer to testimony by some detainees who maintain that former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and other reformists supported Mousavi to weaken Khamenei.
Rafsanjani — who has been absent from several recent official ceremonies, including a Friday prayer led by the supreme leader earlier in September — was seen sitting in the first row of worshippers during the prayer ceremony at which Khamenei spoke.
Khamenei has been a staunch supporter of Ahmadinejad, support that has further angered critics and opened up a wide rift between the country's influential clerics — reformists on one side, hard-liners on the other.
But in what could be an attempt to bridge that gap, he said accusing others in the media without any proof would create a climate of suspicion.
The country has already been faced with just such a situation for months since tens of thousands took to the streets in protests after the elections, sparking a harsh government crackdown in which hundreds were arrested or detained and dozens subsequently being brought to court in mass trials. Some opposition members say 72 died in the post-vote police crackdown, roughly double the government's official casualty figures.
Khamenei's latest comments could signal a change in the direction of the ongoing court cases against protesters. Some detainees blamed opposition figures and their supporters of fomenting the postelection unrest. Among those blamed were Rafsanjani and his son.
One in seven Germans want Berlin Wall back?
BERLIN – One in seven Germans want the Berlin Wall back because they were better off when the country was divided, according to an opinion poll published on Wednesday ahead of the 20th anniversary of its collapse on November 9, 1989.
The survey of 1,002 Germans by the Forsa institute published in Stern magazine said 15 percent of the country's 82 million long for the days when there were two Germanys. Some 16 percent pining for the Wall were westerners and 10 percent easterners.
The survey found that many westerners are bitter about higher taxes to pay for rebuilding the formerly communist east, where some 1.2 trillion euros ($1,762 billion) worth of state funds has been transferred in the last 20 years.
Eastern Germans are unhappy about income levels that are on average only 80 percent of western levels and that due to higher unemployment depopulation is decimating parts of the east, where the population has declined by about two million since 1990.
The poll found 55 percent of Germans believe unification could be helped if a "solidarity tax" to help fund the costs of rebuilding were abolished while 50 percent believe higher pensions for easterners would help ease east-west tensions.
The survey of 1,002 Germans by the Forsa institute published in Stern magazine said 15 percent of the country's 82 million long for the days when there were two Germanys. Some 16 percent pining for the Wall were westerners and 10 percent easterners.
The survey found that many westerners are bitter about higher taxes to pay for rebuilding the formerly communist east, where some 1.2 trillion euros ($1,762 billion) worth of state funds has been transferred in the last 20 years.
Eastern Germans are unhappy about income levels that are on average only 80 percent of western levels and that due to higher unemployment depopulation is decimating parts of the east, where the population has declined by about two million since 1990.
The poll found 55 percent of Germans believe unification could be helped if a "solidarity tax" to help fund the costs of rebuilding were abolished while 50 percent believe higher pensions for easterners would help ease east-west tensions.
volkeswagon to sponsor sochi 2014 winter olympics
SOCHI, Russia – Volkswagen became a sponsor of the 2014 Winter Olympics on Friday in a deal that Sochi organizers said brings total sponsorship revenues to more than $750 million.
Sochi organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko signed the agreement with Dietmar Korzekwa, director general of Volkswagen Group Rus, in the Black Sea resort city.
Volkswagen will provide the organizing committee with about 3,000 vehicles for use during preparations for the Olympics and the games themselves. Most of the vehicles will be produced in the Volkswagen factory in Russia's Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow.
"The support of the Olympic Games in Sochi will help us to demonstrate our automotive competence and the strong connection with Russia and our Russian consumers," Korzekwa said in a statement.
Volkswagen was the official automobile partner of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
Financial terms were not given, but Sochi organizers have said previous deals with top-tier domestic sponsors were worth more than $100 million.
Volkswagen is the sixth "tier one" sponsor signed by Sochi organizers. The others are Aeroflot, telecommunication firms Rostelecom and Megafon, oil and gas company Rosneft and lender Sberbank.
Sochi organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko signed the agreement with Dietmar Korzekwa, director general of Volkswagen Group Rus, in the Black Sea resort city.
Volkswagen will provide the organizing committee with about 3,000 vehicles for use during preparations for the Olympics and the games themselves. Most of the vehicles will be produced in the Volkswagen factory in Russia's Kaluga region, southwest of Moscow.
"The support of the Olympic Games in Sochi will help us to demonstrate our automotive competence and the strong connection with Russia and our Russian consumers," Korzekwa said in a statement.
Volkswagen was the official automobile partner of the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.
Financial terms were not given, but Sochi organizers have said previous deals with top-tier domestic sponsors were worth more than $100 million.
Volkswagen is the sixth "tier one" sponsor signed by Sochi organizers. The others are Aeroflot, telecommunication firms Rostelecom and Megafon, oil and gas company Rosneft and lender Sberbank.
Spain eye 4th davis cup against czechs
PARIS (AFP) – Defending champions Spain will face the Czech Republic in the 2009 Davis Cup final after decisively proving once again that there is life beyond Rafael Nadal.
The world number two skipped this weekend's semi-final win over Israel in Murcia after being forced to rest an abdominal strain picked up in his recent run to the US Open last four.
It was a familiar scenario for the Spanish who defeated Argentina in the 2008 final without the six-time Grand Slam title winner, sidelined from that encounter because of a knee injury.
On Saturday, doubles pair Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez defeated Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-2 to give their team an unassailable 3-0 lead and a place in a seventh Davis Cup final.
In the December 4-6 title match, which they will host, they'll start overwhelming favourites to claim a fourth title having now won 17 straight Davis Cup home ties.
It will also give Spain captain Albert Costa a selection headache with Nadal and fellow top 10 player Fernando Verdasco, who was another semi-final absentee, likely to be fit.
"It was a question of taking our opportunities," said Robredo. "The first two sets were very close, but then we played our best in the third and fourth sets."
The Czechs, who opened up an unbeatable 3-0 lead over 2005 winners Croatia in Porec, will be playing in only their third final, and first since 1980 when they won their one and only title.
Spain had been 2-0 ahead overnight after David Ferrer had swept past Harel Levy 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 before Juan Carlos Ferrero, Nadal's replacement, outclassed Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-2, 6-0.
Lopez and Robredo won the first set on the tiebreak and even had two set points in the second before the Israeli doubles specialists levelled.
Israel had defeated former champions Russia in the quarter-finals, but any hope of a repeat were quickly snuffed out when Lopez and Robredo opened up a 4-0 lead in the third set.
Erlich then needed treatment on an injured elbow at 1-1 in the fourth set before the Spanish duo romped to victory.
"That was the point that we lost the match," said Ram. "Jonathan couldn?t serve his best, but it?s tough to beat Spain on clay, even if we were healthy."
Costa dedicated the victory to a young woman who died in floods caused by a torrential storm in Murcia on Wednesday. A minute?s silence was observed in her memory before the start of Friday?s first singles.
The Czech Republic reached their first final in 29 years when Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Lovro Zovko and Marin Cilic 6-1, 6-3, 6-4, a welcome straight-sets win coming after Friday's two marathon singles which had taken almost 10 hours to complete.
In 1975, Czechoslovakia were runners-up to Sweden and then in 1980, led by Ivan Lendl, they beat Italy to win their lone title.
"I am extremely proud of these boys, the whole team. For the first time since 1980 the Czechs are in the Davis Cup final, but I hope that this time we will hold this cup under under the Czech name," coach Jaroslav Navratil said.
In 1980 the Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia. The country split amicably into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993 after the toppling of the communist regime in 1989.
On Friday, Stepanek won a five-hour, 59-minute marathon against Ivo Karlovic in the opening singles.
Karlovic sent down a world record 78 aces and had five match points, but Stepanek still prevailed 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (2/7), 16-14.
The second rubber also went the distance with Berdych beating Cilic 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3.
The world number two skipped this weekend's semi-final win over Israel in Murcia after being forced to rest an abdominal strain picked up in his recent run to the US Open last four.
It was a familiar scenario for the Spanish who defeated Argentina in the 2008 final without the six-time Grand Slam title winner, sidelined from that encounter because of a knee injury.
On Saturday, doubles pair Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez defeated Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (7/9), 6-4, 6-2 to give their team an unassailable 3-0 lead and a place in a seventh Davis Cup final.
In the December 4-6 title match, which they will host, they'll start overwhelming favourites to claim a fourth title having now won 17 straight Davis Cup home ties.
It will also give Spain captain Albert Costa a selection headache with Nadal and fellow top 10 player Fernando Verdasco, who was another semi-final absentee, likely to be fit.
"It was a question of taking our opportunities," said Robredo. "The first two sets were very close, but then we played our best in the third and fourth sets."
The Czechs, who opened up an unbeatable 3-0 lead over 2005 winners Croatia in Porec, will be playing in only their third final, and first since 1980 when they won their one and only title.
Spain had been 2-0 ahead overnight after David Ferrer had swept past Harel Levy 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 before Juan Carlos Ferrero, Nadal's replacement, outclassed Dudi Sela 6-4, 6-2, 6-0.
Lopez and Robredo won the first set on the tiebreak and even had two set points in the second before the Israeli doubles specialists levelled.
Israel had defeated former champions Russia in the quarter-finals, but any hope of a repeat were quickly snuffed out when Lopez and Robredo opened up a 4-0 lead in the third set.
Erlich then needed treatment on an injured elbow at 1-1 in the fourth set before the Spanish duo romped to victory.
"That was the point that we lost the match," said Ram. "Jonathan couldn?t serve his best, but it?s tough to beat Spain on clay, even if we were healthy."
Costa dedicated the victory to a young woman who died in floods caused by a torrential storm in Murcia on Wednesday. A minute?s silence was observed in her memory before the start of Friday?s first singles.
The Czech Republic reached their first final in 29 years when Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Lovro Zovko and Marin Cilic 6-1, 6-3, 6-4, a welcome straight-sets win coming after Friday's two marathon singles which had taken almost 10 hours to complete.
In 1975, Czechoslovakia were runners-up to Sweden and then in 1980, led by Ivan Lendl, they beat Italy to win their lone title.
"I am extremely proud of these boys, the whole team. For the first time since 1980 the Czechs are in the Davis Cup final, but I hope that this time we will hold this cup under under the Czech name," coach Jaroslav Navratil said.
In 1980 the Czech Republic was part of Czechoslovakia. The country split amicably into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993 after the toppling of the communist regime in 1989.
On Friday, Stepanek won a five-hour, 59-minute marathon against Ivo Karlovic in the opening singles.
Karlovic sent down a world record 78 aces and had five match points, but Stepanek still prevailed 6-7 (5/7), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (2/7), 16-14.
The second rubber also went the distance with Berdych beating Cilic 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3.
NASA launches rocket, dozens report strange lights
WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. – NASA says it successfully launched a rocket in Virginia as part of an experiment, and the blast may have caused dozens of people to report seeing strange lights in the sky.
The space agency said it launched the Black Brant XII on Saturday evening to gather data on the highest clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. About the time of the launch, dozens of people in the Northeast started calling local television stations to report seeing strange lights.
The calls came from as far away as Boston, which is about 380 miles northeast of the launch site.
The rocket is designed to create an artificial cloud. NASA hopes the experiment will provide information on the formation and properties of noctilucent clouds, which occur at high altitudes.
The space agency said it launched the Black Brant XII on Saturday evening to gather data on the highest clouds in the Earth's atmosphere. About the time of the launch, dozens of people in the Northeast started calling local television stations to report seeing strange lights.
The calls came from as far away as Boston, which is about 380 miles northeast of the launch site.
The rocket is designed to create an artificial cloud. NASA hopes the experiment will provide information on the formation and properties of noctilucent clouds, which occur at high altitudes.
Torres keeps liverpool on title track
LONDON (AFP) – Fernando Torres extended Liverpool?s recent revival with two goals that helped Rafael Benitez?s side move up to third place on the back of a 3-2 victory at West Ham United.
Torres's excellent finishes, sandwiched between a close-range effort from Dirk Kuyt, proved decisive after Liverpool's poor defending had twice allowed the home side to equalise, first through an Alessandro Diamanti penalty and then a Carlton Cole header.
Two early defeats to Spurs and Aston Villa have given Benitez?s side no margin for error as they bid to keep pace with the early leaders.
Chelsea?s ominous start of five wins from their opening five games has set a testing standard, and after failing to win the title despite losing just two league games last season, Liverpool are under no illusions about what is required over the coming months.
Three successive wins, including the Champions League victory over Debrecen, had improved the mood at Anfield and prompted Benitez to declare before this game that confidence is growing in the dressing room.
Nonetheless, the early defeats have left their mark and Carragher spoke last week about the need to embark on an unbeaten run of at least 15 games before any plaudits are handed out.
Given that background then, the last thing Liverpool needed was for the former England defender to gift West Ham the chance to open the scoring after just two minutes.
Carragher?s unexpected slip presented West Ham youngster Zavon Hines with a clear route to Pepe Reina?s goal and the Liverpool defender was relieved to see Hines strike his early effort against the post.
That wouldn?t be the last time Hines got the better of Carragher, but it was Liverpool who responded more positively after their early shock and looked as though they would take control of the game.
The home side?s cause wasn?t helped by an early injury to centre back Matthew Upson, but with Torres looking in determined form, a Reds goal was always imminent.
Inevitably it came from the Spaniard, but only after he had sent an acrobatic volley wide.
He made no such mistake in the 20th minute, though, when he collected a ball from Emiliano Insua on the left hand side of the Hammers? box and simply powered past James Tomkins before rifling his right foot shot into the roof of Robert Green?s net.
Despite the lead, Liverpool never looked totally comfortable with the back-line looking vulnerable to Hines? pace and Cole?s power.
And it was no surprise when Hines again found his way past Carragher, this time forcing the defender into a clumsy challenge that gifted Diamanti the chance to mark his full debut with a goal and equalise from the penalty spot.
Television replays suggested the Italian's strike should not have stood as he slipped and made a double contact on the ball.
Liverpool had it all to do again, but they were given the chance to reassert control when Steven Gerrard was allowed to rise unchallenged and meet Yossi Benayoun?s corner with Kuyt on hand two yards out to help the ball home.
All Liverpool needed to do was see out the remaining three minutes and reach the interval with the cushion of a lead. But once again, they showed their defensive frailties when they couldn't defend a routine corner and Cole headed home from Diamanti?s cross.
With both defences all at sea, it seemed inevitable more goals would follow, but the second half proved to be a much tighter affair with Torres finally conjuring the decisive act when he met Ryan Babel?s cross and headed home with fifteen minutes remaining
Torres's excellent finishes, sandwiched between a close-range effort from Dirk Kuyt, proved decisive after Liverpool's poor defending had twice allowed the home side to equalise, first through an Alessandro Diamanti penalty and then a Carlton Cole header.
Two early defeats to Spurs and Aston Villa have given Benitez?s side no margin for error as they bid to keep pace with the early leaders.
Chelsea?s ominous start of five wins from their opening five games has set a testing standard, and after failing to win the title despite losing just two league games last season, Liverpool are under no illusions about what is required over the coming months.
Three successive wins, including the Champions League victory over Debrecen, had improved the mood at Anfield and prompted Benitez to declare before this game that confidence is growing in the dressing room.
Nonetheless, the early defeats have left their mark and Carragher spoke last week about the need to embark on an unbeaten run of at least 15 games before any plaudits are handed out.
Given that background then, the last thing Liverpool needed was for the former England defender to gift West Ham the chance to open the scoring after just two minutes.
Carragher?s unexpected slip presented West Ham youngster Zavon Hines with a clear route to Pepe Reina?s goal and the Liverpool defender was relieved to see Hines strike his early effort against the post.
That wouldn?t be the last time Hines got the better of Carragher, but it was Liverpool who responded more positively after their early shock and looked as though they would take control of the game.
The home side?s cause wasn?t helped by an early injury to centre back Matthew Upson, but with Torres looking in determined form, a Reds goal was always imminent.
Inevitably it came from the Spaniard, but only after he had sent an acrobatic volley wide.
He made no such mistake in the 20th minute, though, when he collected a ball from Emiliano Insua on the left hand side of the Hammers? box and simply powered past James Tomkins before rifling his right foot shot into the roof of Robert Green?s net.
Despite the lead, Liverpool never looked totally comfortable with the back-line looking vulnerable to Hines? pace and Cole?s power.
And it was no surprise when Hines again found his way past Carragher, this time forcing the defender into a clumsy challenge that gifted Diamanti the chance to mark his full debut with a goal and equalise from the penalty spot.
Television replays suggested the Italian's strike should not have stood as he slipped and made a double contact on the ball.
Liverpool had it all to do again, but they were given the chance to reassert control when Steven Gerrard was allowed to rise unchallenged and meet Yossi Benayoun?s corner with Kuyt on hand two yards out to help the ball home.
All Liverpool needed to do was see out the remaining three minutes and reach the interval with the cushion of a lead. But once again, they showed their defensive frailties when they couldn't defend a routine corner and Cole headed home from Diamanti?s cross.
With both defences all at sea, it seemed inevitable more goals would follow, but the second half proved to be a much tighter affair with Torres finally conjuring the decisive act when he met Ryan Babel?s cross and headed home with fifteen minutes remaining
US justice dept wants changes to google book ideal
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Justice Department has advised a court to reject a legal settlement between Google and authors and publishers that would allow the Internet giant to scan and sell millions of books online.
The Justice Department, in a filing late Friday with a US District Court in New York, said the class action settlement raises copyright and anti-trust issues but it encouraged the parties to continue their discussions to address its concerns.
"This Court should reject the Proposed Settlement in its current form and encourage the parties to continue negotiations to modify it," the department said in a 32-page filing submitted to the court.
"The public interest would best be served by direction from the Court encouraging the continuation of those discussions," it said.
US District Court Judge Denny Chin is to hold a hearing on October 7 on the class action settlement reached in October between Google and the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers to a copyright infringement suit they filed against the Mountain View, California, company in 2005.
Under the settlement, Google agreed to pay 125 million dollars to resolve outstanding claims and establish an independent "Book Rights Registry," which would provide revenue from sales and advertising to authors and publishers who agree to digitize their books.
Google rivals Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo! have filed objections to the settlement with the court along with the French and German governments, privacy advocates and consumer watchdog groups.
Sony Electronics of Japan, maker of the electronic book reader the Sony Reader, and a group of 32 US professors of law and economics, have filed briefs supporting the deal.
In its filing, the Justice Department proposed a number of changes to the agreement that it said would help address its concerns.
They included imposing limitations on the most open-ended provisions for future licensing, providing additional protections for unknown rights holders and addressing the concerns of foreign authors and publishers.
The Justice Department also proposed setting up a mechanism by which Google's competitors can gain comparable access to book collections.
"The Proposed Settlement has the potential to breathe life into millions of works that are now effectively off limits to the public," the department said.
"Nonetheless, the breadth of the Proposed Settlement -- especially the forward-looking business arrangements it seeks to create -- raises significant legal concerns."
The department said that presently, the settlement would give Google sole authority over so-called "orphan works" -- books whose copyright holder cannot be found -- and books by foreign rightsholders.
"The Proposed Settlement raises concerns about the adequacy of representation afforded to absent class members, especially owners of 'orphan' out-of-print works and foreign rightsholders," it said.
"The Proposed Settlement operates to sweep in untold numbers of foreign works, whose authors, under current law, are not required to register in the same manner as US rightsholders," it said.
The Justice Department said its investigation into whether the settlement violated US anti-trust provisions was "not yet complete" but it did express concerns.
"In the view of the Department, the Proposed Settlement raises two serious issues," it said. "First, through collective action, the Proposed Settlement appears to give book publishers the power to restrict price competition.
"Second, as a result of the Proposed Settlement, other digital distributors may be effectively precluded from competing with Google in the sale of digital library products and other derivative products to come," it said.
The Justice Department's opinion comes a week after the head of the US Copyright Office argued that the book deal violates "fundamental copyright principles."
Marybeth Peters, the US Register of Copyrights, said the settlement "absolves Google of the need to search for the rights holders or obtain their prior consent and provides a complete release from liability.
"It could affect the exclusive rights of millions of copyright owners, in the United States and abroad, with respect to their abilities to control new products and new markets, for years and years to come," she said.
The Justice Department, in a filing late Friday with a US District Court in New York, said the class action settlement raises copyright and anti-trust issues but it encouraged the parties to continue their discussions to address its concerns.
"This Court should reject the Proposed Settlement in its current form and encourage the parties to continue negotiations to modify it," the department said in a 32-page filing submitted to the court.
"The public interest would best be served by direction from the Court encouraging the continuation of those discussions," it said.
US District Court Judge Denny Chin is to hold a hearing on October 7 on the class action settlement reached in October between Google and the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers to a copyright infringement suit they filed against the Mountain View, California, company in 2005.
Under the settlement, Google agreed to pay 125 million dollars to resolve outstanding claims and establish an independent "Book Rights Registry," which would provide revenue from sales and advertising to authors and publishers who agree to digitize their books.
Google rivals Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo! have filed objections to the settlement with the court along with the French and German governments, privacy advocates and consumer watchdog groups.
Sony Electronics of Japan, maker of the electronic book reader the Sony Reader, and a group of 32 US professors of law and economics, have filed briefs supporting the deal.
In its filing, the Justice Department proposed a number of changes to the agreement that it said would help address its concerns.
They included imposing limitations on the most open-ended provisions for future licensing, providing additional protections for unknown rights holders and addressing the concerns of foreign authors and publishers.
The Justice Department also proposed setting up a mechanism by which Google's competitors can gain comparable access to book collections.
"The Proposed Settlement has the potential to breathe life into millions of works that are now effectively off limits to the public," the department said.
"Nonetheless, the breadth of the Proposed Settlement -- especially the forward-looking business arrangements it seeks to create -- raises significant legal concerns."
The department said that presently, the settlement would give Google sole authority over so-called "orphan works" -- books whose copyright holder cannot be found -- and books by foreign rightsholders.
"The Proposed Settlement raises concerns about the adequacy of representation afforded to absent class members, especially owners of 'orphan' out-of-print works and foreign rightsholders," it said.
"The Proposed Settlement operates to sweep in untold numbers of foreign works, whose authors, under current law, are not required to register in the same manner as US rightsholders," it said.
The Justice Department said its investigation into whether the settlement violated US anti-trust provisions was "not yet complete" but it did express concerns.
"In the view of the Department, the Proposed Settlement raises two serious issues," it said. "First, through collective action, the Proposed Settlement appears to give book publishers the power to restrict price competition.
"Second, as a result of the Proposed Settlement, other digital distributors may be effectively precluded from competing with Google in the sale of digital library products and other derivative products to come," it said.
The Justice Department's opinion comes a week after the head of the US Copyright Office argued that the book deal violates "fundamental copyright principles."
Marybeth Peters, the US Register of Copyrights, said the settlement "absolves Google of the need to search for the rights holders or obtain their prior consent and provides a complete release from liability.
"It could affect the exclusive rights of millions of copyright owners, in the United States and abroad, with respect to their abilities to control new products and new markets, for years and years to come," she said.
Can robots make ethical decisons?
Robots and computers are often designed to act autonomously, that is, without human intervention. Is it possible for an autonomous machine to make moral judgments that are in line with human judgment?
This question has given rise to the issue of machine ethics and morality. As a practical matter, can a robot or computer be programmed to act in an ethical manner? Can a machine be designed to act morally?
Isaac Asimov's famous fundamental Rules of Robotics are intended to impose ethical conduct on autonomous machines.Issues about ethical behavior are found in films like the 1982 movie Blade Runner. When the replicant Roy Batty is given the choice to let his enemy, the human detective Rick Deckard, die, Batty instead chooses to save him.
A recent paper published in the International Journal of Reasoning-based Intelligent Systems describes a method for computers to prospectively look ahead at the consequences of hypothetical moral judgments.
The paper, Modelling Morality with Prospective Logic, was written by LuÃs Moniz Pereira of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, in Portugal and Ari Saptawijaya of the Universitas Indonesia. The authors declare that morality is no longer the exclusive realm of human philosophers.
Pereira and Saptawijaya believe that they have been successful both in modeling the moral dilemmas inherent in a specific problem called "the trolley problem" and in creating a computer system that delivers moral judgments that conform to human results.
The trolley problem sets forth a typical moral dilemma; is it permissible to harm one or more individuals in order to save others? There are a number of different versions; let's look at just these two.
CircumstancesThere is a trolley and its conductor has fainted. The trolley is headed toward five people walking on the track. The banks of the track are so steep that they will not be able to get off the track in time.
Bystander versionHank is standing next to a switch, which he can throw, that will turn the trolley onto a parallel side track, thereby preventing it from killing the five people. However, there is a man standing on the side track with his back turned. Hank can throw the switch, killing him; or he can refrain from doing this, letting the five die.
Is it morally permissible for Hank to throw the switch?
What do you think? A variety of studies have been performed in different cultures, asking the same question. Across cultures, most people agree that it is morally permissible to throw the switch and save the larger number of people.
Here's another version, with the same initial circumstances:
Footbridge version Ian is on the footbridge over the trolley track. He is next to a heavy object, which he can shove onto the track in the path of the trolley to stop it, thereby preventing it from killing the five people. The heavy object is a man, standing next to Ian with his back turned. Ian can shove the man onto the track, resulting in death; or he can refrain from doing this, letting the five die.
Is it morally permissible for Ian to shove the man?
What do you think? Again, studies across cultures have been performed, and the consistent answer is reached that this is not morally permissible.
So, here we have two cases in which people make differing moral judgments. Is it possible for autonomous computer systems or robots to come to make the same moral judgments as people?
The authors of the paper claim that they have been successful in modeling these difficult moral problems in computer logic. They accomplished this feat by resolving the hidden rules that people use in making moral judgments and then modeling them for the computer using prospective logic programs.
Ethical dilemmas for robots are as old as the idea of robots in fiction. Ethical behavior (in this case, self-sacrifice) is found at the end of the 1921 play Rossum's Universal Robots, by Czech playwright Karel Capek. This play introduced the term "robot".
Science fiction writers have been preparing the way for the rest of us; autonomous systems are no longer just the stuff of science fiction. For example, robotic systems like the Predator drones on the battlefield are being given increased levels of autonomy. Should they be allowed to make decisions on when to fire their weapons systems?
The aerospace industry is designing advanced aircraft that can achieve high speeds and fly entirely on autopilot. Can a plane make life or death decisions better than a human pilot?
The H-II transfer vehicle, a fully-automated space freighter, was launched just last week by the Japan's space agency JAXA. Should human beings on the space station rely on automated mechanisms for vital needs like food, water and other supplies?
Ultimately, we will all need to reconcile the convenience of robotic systems with the acceptance of responsibility for their actions. We should have taken all of the time that science fiction writers have given us to think about the moral and ethical problems of autonomous robots and computers; we don't have a lot more time to make up our minds
This question has given rise to the issue of machine ethics and morality. As a practical matter, can a robot or computer be programmed to act in an ethical manner? Can a machine be designed to act morally?
Isaac Asimov's famous fundamental Rules of Robotics are intended to impose ethical conduct on autonomous machines.Issues about ethical behavior are found in films like the 1982 movie Blade Runner. When the replicant Roy Batty is given the choice to let his enemy, the human detective Rick Deckard, die, Batty instead chooses to save him.
A recent paper published in the International Journal of Reasoning-based Intelligent Systems describes a method for computers to prospectively look ahead at the consequences of hypothetical moral judgments.
The paper, Modelling Morality with Prospective Logic, was written by LuÃs Moniz Pereira of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, in Portugal and Ari Saptawijaya of the Universitas Indonesia. The authors declare that morality is no longer the exclusive realm of human philosophers.
Pereira and Saptawijaya believe that they have been successful both in modeling the moral dilemmas inherent in a specific problem called "the trolley problem" and in creating a computer system that delivers moral judgments that conform to human results.
The trolley problem sets forth a typical moral dilemma; is it permissible to harm one or more individuals in order to save others? There are a number of different versions; let's look at just these two.
CircumstancesThere is a trolley and its conductor has fainted. The trolley is headed toward five people walking on the track. The banks of the track are so steep that they will not be able to get off the track in time.
Bystander versionHank is standing next to a switch, which he can throw, that will turn the trolley onto a parallel side track, thereby preventing it from killing the five people. However, there is a man standing on the side track with his back turned. Hank can throw the switch, killing him; or he can refrain from doing this, letting the five die.
Is it morally permissible for Hank to throw the switch?
What do you think? A variety of studies have been performed in different cultures, asking the same question. Across cultures, most people agree that it is morally permissible to throw the switch and save the larger number of people.
Here's another version, with the same initial circumstances:
Footbridge version Ian is on the footbridge over the trolley track. He is next to a heavy object, which he can shove onto the track in the path of the trolley to stop it, thereby preventing it from killing the five people. The heavy object is a man, standing next to Ian with his back turned. Ian can shove the man onto the track, resulting in death; or he can refrain from doing this, letting the five die.
Is it morally permissible for Ian to shove the man?
What do you think? Again, studies across cultures have been performed, and the consistent answer is reached that this is not morally permissible.
So, here we have two cases in which people make differing moral judgments. Is it possible for autonomous computer systems or robots to come to make the same moral judgments as people?
The authors of the paper claim that they have been successful in modeling these difficult moral problems in computer logic. They accomplished this feat by resolving the hidden rules that people use in making moral judgments and then modeling them for the computer using prospective logic programs.
Ethical dilemmas for robots are as old as the idea of robots in fiction. Ethical behavior (in this case, self-sacrifice) is found at the end of the 1921 play Rossum's Universal Robots, by Czech playwright Karel Capek. This play introduced the term "robot".
Science fiction writers have been preparing the way for the rest of us; autonomous systems are no longer just the stuff of science fiction. For example, robotic systems like the Predator drones on the battlefield are being given increased levels of autonomy. Should they be allowed to make decisions on when to fire their weapons systems?
The aerospace industry is designing advanced aircraft that can achieve high speeds and fly entirely on autopilot. Can a plane make life or death decisions better than a human pilot?
The H-II transfer vehicle, a fully-automated space freighter, was launched just last week by the Japan's space agency JAXA. Should human beings on the space station rely on automated mechanisms for vital needs like food, water and other supplies?
Ultimately, we will all need to reconcile the convenience of robotic systems with the acceptance of responsibility for their actions. We should have taken all of the time that science fiction writers have given us to think about the moral and ethical problems of autonomous robots and computers; we don't have a lot more time to make up our minds
russia says it wont deploy missiles on poland
MOSCOW – Russia said Saturday it will scrap a plan to deploy missiles near Poland since Washington has dumped a planned missile shield in Eastern Europe. It also harshly criticized Iran's president for new comments denying the Holocaust.
Neither move, however, represented ceding any significant ground. A plan to place Iskander missiles close to the Polish border was merely a threat. And while the Kremlin has previously criticized Tehran for questioning the reality of the Holocaust, Russian leaders have refused to back Western push for tougher sanctions against Iran.
It still remains unclear whether Moscow will make any significant concessions on Iran and other issues in response to President Barack Obama's move to scrap the Bush-era plan for U.S. missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin told Ekho Moskvy radio Saturday that Obama's move has made the deployment of Iskander short-range missiles in the Kaliningrad region unnecessary.
He described Obama's move as "victory of reason over ambitions."
"Naturally, we will cancel countermeasures which Russia has planned in response, one of which was the deployment of Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad region," Popovkin said.
Popovkin's statement was the most explicit declaration yet of Russia's intention to scrap the plan after Obama's decision, which was announced Thursday.
Popovkin later added, however, that the final decision on the subject can only be made by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russian news agencies reported. Medvedev hasn't yet spoken on the issue.
Russia staunchly opposed the plan by the former administration of George W. Bush to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a related radar in the Czech Republic and said if the project went ahead it would respond by deploying the Iskander missiles in its westernmost Baltic Sea region.
Obama's decision to scrap the plan was based largely on a new U.S. intelligence assessment that Iran's effort to build a nuclear-capable long-range missile would take three to five years longer than originally thought, U.S. officials said. The new U.S. missile-defense plan would rely on a network of sensors and interceptor missiles based at sea, on land and in the air as a bulwark against Iranian short- and medium-range missiles.
Medvedev hailed Obama's decision as a "responsible move," but Russian officials have given no indication yet that Moscow could make concessions in other areas, including Iran. Washington is counting on Moscow to help raise pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.
On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry harshly criticized Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his Friday's comments in which he again questioned whether the Holocaust was a "real event."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko called the Iranian remarks "absolutely unacceptable" and insulting to the memory of the World War II victims.
"It won't help create a favorable international atmosphere for starting and conducting an efficient dialogue on issues regarding Iran," Nesterenko said in a statement.
Officials from the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany are to meet Iranian diplomats in Turkey on Oct.1, for the first time since a 2008 session in Geneva foundered over Iran's refusal to discuss its uranium enrichment program.
Russia, which has close commercial ties with Iran and is building its first nuclear power plant, has condemned similar Ahmadinejad's statements in the past. Saturday's statement didn't necessarily mean that Moscow was prepared to toughen its stance on Iran in response to Obama's move to scrap the missile defense plan.
The U.S., Israel and the EU fear that Iran is using its nuclear program to develop weapons. But Tehran says the program serves purely civilian purposes.
Iran already has defied three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2006 for its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment. Russia, which holds veto power on the U.N. Security Council, backed those sanctions but used its clout to water down tougher U.S. proposals. Russian officials have said too much pressure would be counterproductive.
Russian intentions could become more clear after Obama meets with Medvedev at the United Nations and the Group of 20 economic summit in the coming week.
Medvedev's predecessor and mentor, Vladimir Putin, who is widely believed to be continuing to call the shots as Russia's prime minister, has praised Obama's decision but challenged the U.S. to do more by canceling Cold War-era restrictions on trade with Russia and facilitating Moscow's entry into the World Trade Organization.
Neither move, however, represented ceding any significant ground. A plan to place Iskander missiles close to the Polish border was merely a threat. And while the Kremlin has previously criticized Tehran for questioning the reality of the Holocaust, Russian leaders have refused to back Western push for tougher sanctions against Iran.
It still remains unclear whether Moscow will make any significant concessions on Iran and other issues in response to President Barack Obama's move to scrap the Bush-era plan for U.S. missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin told Ekho Moskvy radio Saturday that Obama's move has made the deployment of Iskander short-range missiles in the Kaliningrad region unnecessary.
He described Obama's move as "victory of reason over ambitions."
"Naturally, we will cancel countermeasures which Russia has planned in response, one of which was the deployment of Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad region," Popovkin said.
Popovkin's statement was the most explicit declaration yet of Russia's intention to scrap the plan after Obama's decision, which was announced Thursday.
Popovkin later added, however, that the final decision on the subject can only be made by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russian news agencies reported. Medvedev hasn't yet spoken on the issue.
Russia staunchly opposed the plan by the former administration of George W. Bush to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a related radar in the Czech Republic and said if the project went ahead it would respond by deploying the Iskander missiles in its westernmost Baltic Sea region.
Obama's decision to scrap the plan was based largely on a new U.S. intelligence assessment that Iran's effort to build a nuclear-capable long-range missile would take three to five years longer than originally thought, U.S. officials said. The new U.S. missile-defense plan would rely on a network of sensors and interceptor missiles based at sea, on land and in the air as a bulwark against Iranian short- and medium-range missiles.
Medvedev hailed Obama's decision as a "responsible move," but Russian officials have given no indication yet that Moscow could make concessions in other areas, including Iran. Washington is counting on Moscow to help raise pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program.
On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry harshly criticized Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his Friday's comments in which he again questioned whether the Holocaust was a "real event."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko called the Iranian remarks "absolutely unacceptable" and insulting to the memory of the World War II victims.
"It won't help create a favorable international atmosphere for starting and conducting an efficient dialogue on issues regarding Iran," Nesterenko said in a statement.
Officials from the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany are to meet Iranian diplomats in Turkey on Oct.1, for the first time since a 2008 session in Geneva foundered over Iran's refusal to discuss its uranium enrichment program.
Russia, which has close commercial ties with Iran and is building its first nuclear power plant, has condemned similar Ahmadinejad's statements in the past. Saturday's statement didn't necessarily mean that Moscow was prepared to toughen its stance on Iran in response to Obama's move to scrap the missile defense plan.
The U.S., Israel and the EU fear that Iran is using its nuclear program to develop weapons. But Tehran says the program serves purely civilian purposes.
Iran already has defied three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2006 for its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment. Russia, which holds veto power on the U.N. Security Council, backed those sanctions but used its clout to water down tougher U.S. proposals. Russian officials have said too much pressure would be counterproductive.
Russian intentions could become more clear after Obama meets with Medvedev at the United Nations and the Group of 20 economic summit in the coming week.
Medvedev's predecessor and mentor, Vladimir Putin, who is widely believed to be continuing to call the shots as Russia's prime minister, has praised Obama's decision but challenged the U.S. to do more by canceling Cold War-era restrictions on trade with Russia and facilitating Moscow's entry into the World Trade Organization.
Worlds 2 most valuable brands coco-cola and ibm
Consumers lost trust in brands this year as the recession deepened, according to an industry report released Thursday, although longtime staples Coca-Cola and IBM retained their spots as the world's two most valuable brands.
This is the first time the combined value of the world's top 100 brands as ranked by Interbrand, a branding agency, has fallen in the 10 years Interbrand has assessed them.
The list's total value, including brands like Google Inc., Nintendo and Sony, fell 4.6 percent to $1.15 trillion, Interbrand estimates.
"That says something about the environment that we're in, especially when you consider that brands are by nature less volatile than business valuations," said Interbrand CEO Jez Frampton, who called a company's brand its most valuable asset.
The environment — a recession the likes of which the world hasn't seen for decades — has eaten away at people's trust in specific brands, starting with financial companies, he said. Consumers even started to question retail brands as stores slashed prices to get sales, leading consumers to wonder about pricing, and why they had to pay so much before.
"All of these things lead you to re-evaluate the nature of the relationships that we have with brands and indeed how confident we feel in brands to live up to the promises they make," he said. "Brands are promises which we value and are prepared to pay for and if we feel those promises have been broken we're less likely to trust."
Brands are more than just names, colors or logos — think Coca-Cola's red or McDonald's golden arches. A brand includes all the elements of a product or service from its design, ingredients and manufacture to its marketing, advertising and logo.
A well-honed brand evokes in consumers an emotion and a promise of what it will deliver, without the consumer having to do much — if any — research, said Allen Adamson, managing director at branding firm Landor Associates. Brands are important for all businesses, and critical in categories that have direct consumer contact, like autos, he said.
"In a cluttered world where people are time-compressed, brands are short cuts to help them make decisions," he said.
Each year, Interbrand ranks companies by the amount of their revenue that is attributable to their brands, using a formula that takes into account the brand's future strength and its role in creating demand, whether among consumers or business customers or both.
The firm assigns a monetary value to each brand and measures annual growth, in this case from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009.
Given the recession, it was not surprising to see financial companies posting the steepest decline in their brands' values this year, with drops by American Express (now number 22, down from 15) HSBC (now 32, down from 27), Citi (now 36, down from 19), and UBS (now 72, down from 41). Merrill Lynch and AIG both dropped off the list.
Automakers also dropped in the rankings as their sector's sales slumped in the recession. In addition, major U.S. automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC received government aid to stay afloat, which generated negative feelings among consumers. Neither of those brands made the top 100 Interbrand list.
Even Toyota's brand — top-ranked among auto companies at number eight, down from 6 in 2008 — suffered, while BMW went from 13 to 15, and Ford was unchanged at 49. Honda edged up two slots to 18.
Despite the economic uncertainty, the top 10 brands this year stayed relatively stable, with Coca-Cola Co. in the first slot, a place it has held since the rankings started in 2000. The soft-drink maker retains its recognition around the world, Frampton said, and it has been releasing new products as it hopes to woo consumers shifting to healthier juices and teas.
Coca-Cola's brand value rose 3 percent in 2009 to $68.73 billion, while IBM's gained 2 percent to $60.21 billion.
The technology giant, often known as "Big Blue," also rolled out new products that increased the value of its brand in 2009, according to the report. The company — which sells computer servers, software and technical services to businesses — received more than 4,000 U.S. patents during the period, marking the 16th straight year it has received the most.
Rolling out new products keeps customers interested and spending, even in a recession, Frampton said. Companies can't be idle when times are tough, he warned.
"Innovation is the bedrock of any successful company in the future," he said. "Nobody can stand still nowadays."
The remaining brands in the top five all lost value but retained their ranks from last year. Microsoft's brand value fell 4 percent to $56.64 billion to take third, while General Electric's value fell 10 percent to $47.77 billion for fourth. Nokia lost 3 percent to place fifth at $34.86 billion.
The value of online giant Google's brand grew the fastest in the world again, rising 25 percent to $31.98 billion to place seventh, up from 10th place last year and 20th the year before. Frampton said the company's brand growth is "miraculous," though the report notes that as it gets bigger, "it has to deal with the inevitable mistrust and ugliness ascribed to being a very large, diversified and very profitable company."
But Deborah Mitchell, executive fellow at the Center for Brand and Product Management at Wisconsin School of Business, thinks Google already has found balance by earning consumers' trust even as it becomes nearly omnipresent in their lives.
That's partly due to Google's value statement — "Do no evil" — which resonates with consumers, especially in a downturn, she said. Mitchell said consumers are increasingly focusing on a company's values and don't want to associate with businesses whose values they question.
"There's been a shift in the focus on values and not just economics to consumers," she said. "They're looking more closely at who is selling them what."
This is the first time the combined value of the world's top 100 brands as ranked by Interbrand, a branding agency, has fallen in the 10 years Interbrand has assessed them.
The list's total value, including brands like Google Inc., Nintendo and Sony, fell 4.6 percent to $1.15 trillion, Interbrand estimates.
"That says something about the environment that we're in, especially when you consider that brands are by nature less volatile than business valuations," said Interbrand CEO Jez Frampton, who called a company's brand its most valuable asset.
The environment — a recession the likes of which the world hasn't seen for decades — has eaten away at people's trust in specific brands, starting with financial companies, he said. Consumers even started to question retail brands as stores slashed prices to get sales, leading consumers to wonder about pricing, and why they had to pay so much before.
"All of these things lead you to re-evaluate the nature of the relationships that we have with brands and indeed how confident we feel in brands to live up to the promises they make," he said. "Brands are promises which we value and are prepared to pay for and if we feel those promises have been broken we're less likely to trust."
Brands are more than just names, colors or logos — think Coca-Cola's red or McDonald's golden arches. A brand includes all the elements of a product or service from its design, ingredients and manufacture to its marketing, advertising and logo.
A well-honed brand evokes in consumers an emotion and a promise of what it will deliver, without the consumer having to do much — if any — research, said Allen Adamson, managing director at branding firm Landor Associates. Brands are important for all businesses, and critical in categories that have direct consumer contact, like autos, he said.
"In a cluttered world where people are time-compressed, brands are short cuts to help them make decisions," he said.
Each year, Interbrand ranks companies by the amount of their revenue that is attributable to their brands, using a formula that takes into account the brand's future strength and its role in creating demand, whether among consumers or business customers or both.
The firm assigns a monetary value to each brand and measures annual growth, in this case from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009.
Given the recession, it was not surprising to see financial companies posting the steepest decline in their brands' values this year, with drops by American Express (now number 22, down from 15) HSBC (now 32, down from 27), Citi (now 36, down from 19), and UBS (now 72, down from 41). Merrill Lynch and AIG both dropped off the list.
Automakers also dropped in the rankings as their sector's sales slumped in the recession. In addition, major U.S. automakers General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC received government aid to stay afloat, which generated negative feelings among consumers. Neither of those brands made the top 100 Interbrand list.
Even Toyota's brand — top-ranked among auto companies at number eight, down from 6 in 2008 — suffered, while BMW went from 13 to 15, and Ford was unchanged at 49. Honda edged up two slots to 18.
Despite the economic uncertainty, the top 10 brands this year stayed relatively stable, with Coca-Cola Co. in the first slot, a place it has held since the rankings started in 2000. The soft-drink maker retains its recognition around the world, Frampton said, and it has been releasing new products as it hopes to woo consumers shifting to healthier juices and teas.
Coca-Cola's brand value rose 3 percent in 2009 to $68.73 billion, while IBM's gained 2 percent to $60.21 billion.
The technology giant, often known as "Big Blue," also rolled out new products that increased the value of its brand in 2009, according to the report. The company — which sells computer servers, software and technical services to businesses — received more than 4,000 U.S. patents during the period, marking the 16th straight year it has received the most.
Rolling out new products keeps customers interested and spending, even in a recession, Frampton said. Companies can't be idle when times are tough, he warned.
"Innovation is the bedrock of any successful company in the future," he said. "Nobody can stand still nowadays."
The remaining brands in the top five all lost value but retained their ranks from last year. Microsoft's brand value fell 4 percent to $56.64 billion to take third, while General Electric's value fell 10 percent to $47.77 billion for fourth. Nokia lost 3 percent to place fifth at $34.86 billion.
The value of online giant Google's brand grew the fastest in the world again, rising 25 percent to $31.98 billion to place seventh, up from 10th place last year and 20th the year before. Frampton said the company's brand growth is "miraculous," though the report notes that as it gets bigger, "it has to deal with the inevitable mistrust and ugliness ascribed to being a very large, diversified and very profitable company."
But Deborah Mitchell, executive fellow at the Center for Brand and Product Management at Wisconsin School of Business, thinks Google already has found balance by earning consumers' trust even as it becomes nearly omnipresent in their lives.
That's partly due to Google's value statement — "Do no evil" — which resonates with consumers, especially in a downturn, she said. Mitchell said consumers are increasingly focusing on a company's values and don't want to associate with businesses whose values they question.
"There's been a shift in the focus on values and not just economics to consumers," she said. "They're looking more closely at who is selling them what."
bad habits takes decades off life
PARIS (AFP) – Middle-aged male smokers with high cholesterol and blood pressure die, on average, a decade sooner than peers without any of these heart disease risk factors, according to a study published on Friday.
Many studies have shown that not smoking, eating healthily and exercising cut heart disease rates.
But few have tackled the problem from the other end: to what extent is life expectancy shortened by having these heart disease risk factors?
To find out, researchers from Oxford University sifted through data from 19,000 male civil servants who were examined in the late 1960s when they were 40 to 69 years old.
Participants provided detailed information about their medical history, lifestyle and smoking habits, and doctors recorded their weight, blood pressure, lung function, cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
More than 7,000 of the surviving participants were re-evaluated in 1997, 28 years after the initial examination.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), found that the men who faced a triple risk threat at the outset were two-to-three times more likely to have died of a heart-related problem than men free of all three risk factors.
On average, their lives were shortened by a decade, the study found.
The percentage of people who have fatal strokes or heart attacks has declined by about a quarter in many rich countries over the last decade.
But the prevalence of known risk factors has not dropped as quickly.
In the United States, for example, uncontrolled hypertension has fallen since 1999 by only 16 percent, high blood cholesterol by 19 percent, and tobacco use by just over 15 percent, says the American Heart Association.
Other sources of risk have remained constant or even increased: people exercise no more than 10 years ago, while rates of obesity have climbed sharply, especially among children
Many studies have shown that not smoking, eating healthily and exercising cut heart disease rates.
But few have tackled the problem from the other end: to what extent is life expectancy shortened by having these heart disease risk factors?
To find out, researchers from Oxford University sifted through data from 19,000 male civil servants who were examined in the late 1960s when they were 40 to 69 years old.
Participants provided detailed information about their medical history, lifestyle and smoking habits, and doctors recorded their weight, blood pressure, lung function, cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
More than 7,000 of the surviving participants were re-evaluated in 1997, 28 years after the initial examination.
The study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), found that the men who faced a triple risk threat at the outset were two-to-three times more likely to have died of a heart-related problem than men free of all three risk factors.
On average, their lives were shortened by a decade, the study found.
The percentage of people who have fatal strokes or heart attacks has declined by about a quarter in many rich countries over the last decade.
But the prevalence of known risk factors has not dropped as quickly.
In the United States, for example, uncontrolled hypertension has fallen since 1999 by only 16 percent, high blood cholesterol by 19 percent, and tobacco use by just over 15 percent, says the American Heart Association.
Other sources of risk have remained constant or even increased: people exercise no more than 10 years ago, while rates of obesity have climbed sharply, especially among children
Obama's risky "full Ginsburg"
On Sunday, President Barack Obama will execute what might be called a Modified Full Ginsburg — appearing on five Sunday morning talk shows to make a pitch for health reform.
It’s a move few politicians have attempted. Even fewer have been able to stick the landing.
The Full Ginsburg, of course, was named for Monica Lewinsky’s lawyer William Ginsburg, who first did the five-fecta of Sunday talk on Feb. 1, 1999. Obama’s move is slightly different – swapping in the Spanish-language network Univision for Fox News Channel.
But there’s no guarantee it’ll work.
Then-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C) attempted a Full Ginsburg in October of 2004, only to go down to defeat as the Democratic vice presidential nominee weeks later. Hillary Clinton pulled a Full Ginsburg in September of 2007 at the peak of her political power – 22 points ahead of a long-shot named Barack Obama.
Even the maneuver’s namesake hit a rough patch afterward — widely criticized as star struck for his love of the camera, Lewinsky fired him a few months later.
“There is risk associated with this,” acknowledged White House spokesman Josh Earnest. “But it is also a unique opportunity to reach a pretty diverse audience.”
In the eyes of political pros, it’s also an opportunity for Obama to get dangerously overexposed. You’ve heard of “jumping the shark.” This might be “jumping the Ginsburg.” And on Monday, he’ll do another show, becoming the first sitting president to appear on the David Letterman show.
“More isn’t always more when it comes to a president’s words,” said former Clinton White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers. “This is something they need to start to be concerned about.”
Obama, Myers said, believes that if he has enough time, he can convince anyone of his position on health care reform. “But there’s a limit to that,” she said. “You cannot convince everyone, even when your argument is indisputably airtight and true. You can’t convince people who believe in death panels that there aren’t any death panels.”
The overexposure theme is bipartisan. Former George W. Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Obama is spreading himself too thin. “This is a mistake they can, and should avoid,” Fleischer said. “In the White House, you start to look at your boss through such rose colored glasses that you lose your ability to make objective decisions.”
The White House, though, has made the opposite calculation, figuring that the audience for the Sunday shows is politically active and interested, and therefore ripe for Obama’s pitch, whether they’re liberals or conservatives.
“I think it is important that the president continue to speak to a host of different audiences to reach as many people as possible to talk about the benefits of health care reform,” said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Friday. “People are getting their news from so many different places and so many different outlets, that we're going to use the president to communicate through that fragmentation.”
The audience may be fragmented but the message is not. Obama will say pretty much the same thing to each audience – and won’t try to offer some unique news nugget to each of the five interviewers. “Things will be pretty consistent across interviews,” Earnest said.
And of course, there’s one big advantage to pulling a Full Ginsburg when you’re the guy in the Oval Office: “When you’re the President, you make them come to you,” said CNN’s John King, host of State of the Union. “Ginsburg had to go to all five studios.”
The White House press office chose the order of the interviews at random — scrambling slips of paper on a desk and picking the names to draw up a list Thursday afternoon. Starting at 3:30 p.m. Friday, the hosts began rotating in and out of the room with Obama in this order: CBS, NBC, ABC, Univision, CNN.
CNN’s King says he doesn’t mind bringing up the rear. “I actually enjoy being last,” he said. “Ask me tomorrow when we’re done, though. There are two possibilities – either he’s tired and sick of us by then, or he’ll be somewhat liberated, knowing it’s the end.”
The interviews, which were pre-taped on Friday, were tightly choreographed. Each interviewer got 15 minutes with the president, seated by a fireplace in the White House’s Roosevelt Room. There were five minutes in between to switch interviewers, but all the networks had to use the same pool camera set-up, in this case, operated by NBC.
While each interview is going on, the other Sunday-show hosts had to cool their heels in the White House briefing room, and were unable to see what their predecessors asked the president.
That means that most of the questions will probably be the same from interview to interview. “The questions are health care, the anger in the country, and what’s going to happen in Afghanistan,” said Bob Schieffer, moderator of CBS’ Face the Nation. “I guess George [Stephanopoulos] and David [Gregory] or any of the others would say the same thing.”
Each of the networks were allowed to select one sound-bite for use on Friday evening’s newscast and in promos for the Sunday show. The rest of the content is embargoed from release until 9 a.m. Sunday.
The Full Ginsburg is in the elite pantheon of named maneuvers in any field. It is to pundits what Pugachev’s Cobra is to jet fighter pilots, or Fermat’s Last Theorem is to mathematicians. And as with jet pilots and mathematicians, the pundits who have actually completed a Full Ginsberg represent an extremely small elite corps in a highly selective field.
Only eight people, including Ginsburg himself, have ever pulled it off. Dick Cheney did it in 2000, during the Republican National Convention. Edwards did it in 2004. Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff did it in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And Clinton used her 2007 Full Ginsburg to trumpet a health care proposal.
Ginsburg’s 1999 feat amazed the Washington punditocracy. The Sunday network shows are known to be so protective of their bookings that guests are often banned from appearing on other broadcasts – even cable shows – for days in advance of their Sunday show appearances. To be invited on all five shows at the same time shows that an invitee has achieved a truly stratospheric level of newsworthiness.
Still, the networks grant Full Ginsburgs only grudgingly, even to a president. “We don’t like it when he does all the shows,” Schieffer said. “For us, it’s not quite as special as when you have an exclusive. But the president is a newsmaker, and it’s our job to show up and ask questions.”
Ginsburg himself, who ten years after his sex-scandal fueled Sunday show splash is practicing law in Burbank, Calif., joked that he’s proud of the legacy he’s left in Washington. “It’s nice to know that preeminent men and women like Secretary Clinton and President Obama can appreciate and are willing to commit ‘The Full Ginsburg,’” he said in an e-mail to POLITICO.
But his feat has been eclipsed. Earlier this year, three Obama administration officials pulled off a never-before-attempted Triple Full Ginsburg, when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and acting CDC Director Richard Besser appeared as a group on five Sunday shows in May to discuss the spread of swine flu
It’s a move few politicians have attempted. Even fewer have been able to stick the landing.
The Full Ginsburg, of course, was named for Monica Lewinsky’s lawyer William Ginsburg, who first did the five-fecta of Sunday talk on Feb. 1, 1999. Obama’s move is slightly different – swapping in the Spanish-language network Univision for Fox News Channel.
But there’s no guarantee it’ll work.
Then-Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C) attempted a Full Ginsburg in October of 2004, only to go down to defeat as the Democratic vice presidential nominee weeks later. Hillary Clinton pulled a Full Ginsburg in September of 2007 at the peak of her political power – 22 points ahead of a long-shot named Barack Obama.
Even the maneuver’s namesake hit a rough patch afterward — widely criticized as star struck for his love of the camera, Lewinsky fired him a few months later.
“There is risk associated with this,” acknowledged White House spokesman Josh Earnest. “But it is also a unique opportunity to reach a pretty diverse audience.”
In the eyes of political pros, it’s also an opportunity for Obama to get dangerously overexposed. You’ve heard of “jumping the shark.” This might be “jumping the Ginsburg.” And on Monday, he’ll do another show, becoming the first sitting president to appear on the David Letterman show.
“More isn’t always more when it comes to a president’s words,” said former Clinton White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers. “This is something they need to start to be concerned about.”
Obama, Myers said, believes that if he has enough time, he can convince anyone of his position on health care reform. “But there’s a limit to that,” she said. “You cannot convince everyone, even when your argument is indisputably airtight and true. You can’t convince people who believe in death panels that there aren’t any death panels.”
The overexposure theme is bipartisan. Former George W. Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said Obama is spreading himself too thin. “This is a mistake they can, and should avoid,” Fleischer said. “In the White House, you start to look at your boss through such rose colored glasses that you lose your ability to make objective decisions.”
The White House, though, has made the opposite calculation, figuring that the audience for the Sunday shows is politically active and interested, and therefore ripe for Obama’s pitch, whether they’re liberals or conservatives.
“I think it is important that the president continue to speak to a host of different audiences to reach as many people as possible to talk about the benefits of health care reform,” said White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Friday. “People are getting their news from so many different places and so many different outlets, that we're going to use the president to communicate through that fragmentation.”
The audience may be fragmented but the message is not. Obama will say pretty much the same thing to each audience – and won’t try to offer some unique news nugget to each of the five interviewers. “Things will be pretty consistent across interviews,” Earnest said.
And of course, there’s one big advantage to pulling a Full Ginsburg when you’re the guy in the Oval Office: “When you’re the President, you make them come to you,” said CNN’s John King, host of State of the Union. “Ginsburg had to go to all five studios.”
The White House press office chose the order of the interviews at random — scrambling slips of paper on a desk and picking the names to draw up a list Thursday afternoon. Starting at 3:30 p.m. Friday, the hosts began rotating in and out of the room with Obama in this order: CBS, NBC, ABC, Univision, CNN.
CNN’s King says he doesn’t mind bringing up the rear. “I actually enjoy being last,” he said. “Ask me tomorrow when we’re done, though. There are two possibilities – either he’s tired and sick of us by then, or he’ll be somewhat liberated, knowing it’s the end.”
The interviews, which were pre-taped on Friday, were tightly choreographed. Each interviewer got 15 minutes with the president, seated by a fireplace in the White House’s Roosevelt Room. There were five minutes in between to switch interviewers, but all the networks had to use the same pool camera set-up, in this case, operated by NBC.
While each interview is going on, the other Sunday-show hosts had to cool their heels in the White House briefing room, and were unable to see what their predecessors asked the president.
That means that most of the questions will probably be the same from interview to interview. “The questions are health care, the anger in the country, and what’s going to happen in Afghanistan,” said Bob Schieffer, moderator of CBS’ Face the Nation. “I guess George [Stephanopoulos] and David [Gregory] or any of the others would say the same thing.”
Each of the networks were allowed to select one sound-bite for use on Friday evening’s newscast and in promos for the Sunday show. The rest of the content is embargoed from release until 9 a.m. Sunday.
The Full Ginsburg is in the elite pantheon of named maneuvers in any field. It is to pundits what Pugachev’s Cobra is to jet fighter pilots, or Fermat’s Last Theorem is to mathematicians. And as with jet pilots and mathematicians, the pundits who have actually completed a Full Ginsberg represent an extremely small elite corps in a highly selective field.
Only eight people, including Ginsburg himself, have ever pulled it off. Dick Cheney did it in 2000, during the Republican National Convention. Edwards did it in 2004. Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff did it in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. And Clinton used her 2007 Full Ginsburg to trumpet a health care proposal.
Ginsburg’s 1999 feat amazed the Washington punditocracy. The Sunday network shows are known to be so protective of their bookings that guests are often banned from appearing on other broadcasts – even cable shows – for days in advance of their Sunday show appearances. To be invited on all five shows at the same time shows that an invitee has achieved a truly stratospheric level of newsworthiness.
Still, the networks grant Full Ginsburgs only grudgingly, even to a president. “We don’t like it when he does all the shows,” Schieffer said. “For us, it’s not quite as special as when you have an exclusive. But the president is a newsmaker, and it’s our job to show up and ask questions.”
Ginsburg himself, who ten years after his sex-scandal fueled Sunday show splash is practicing law in Burbank, Calif., joked that he’s proud of the legacy he’s left in Washington. “It’s nice to know that preeminent men and women like Secretary Clinton and President Obama can appreciate and are willing to commit ‘The Full Ginsburg,’” he said in an e-mail to POLITICO.
But his feat has been eclipsed. Earlier this year, three Obama administration officials pulled off a never-before-attempted Triple Full Ginsburg, when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and acting CDC Director Richard Besser appeared as a group on five Sunday shows in May to discuss the spread of swine flu
State Govts have made police officers "football": HM
NEW DELHI, India: Home Minister P Chidambaram today had some sharp words for the state government for their handling of police when he said the officials were reduced to football to be kicked here and there.
"Throughout the last nine months, my effort has been to impress upon State Governments, the security forces and the people at large that we can no longer do business as usual. I cannot claim great success in this regard," he said in his address at the three-day conference of Directors General and Inspectors General of Police here.
He highlighted non-constitution of Police Establishment Board which would decide on transfers and postings.
"Throughout the last nine months, my effort has been to impress upon State Governments, the security forces and the people at large that we can no longer do business as usual. I cannot claim great success in this regard," he said in his address at the three-day conference of Directors General and Inspectors General of Police here.
He highlighted non-constitution of Police Establishment Board which would decide on transfers and postings.
Chilli: The Worlds Largest Bull
Chilli is a black and white Fresian bull, weighing a whopping 1.25 tons and standing at 6 feet and 6 inches in height. Abandoned by its owner on the doorstep of the sanctuary he lives in today, when he was just 6 days old, back in 1999, Chilli grew up to become the biggest bovine in the world, according to Guinness Book of Records. According to Naomi Clarke, manager of the Ferne Animal Sanctuary in Ferne, Somerset, the bull doesn't eat as much as the other cows and yet he outgrows them by far. He's also abnormally friendly and gentle.
You could say Chilli had a stroke of luck when he ended up in the shelter, because normally he would have ended up chopped into pieces and on the shelves of a meat market somewhere. Now he's 9 years old and the proud owner of the title "Largest Bovine in the World", nice going Chilli.
You could say Chilli had a stroke of luck when he ended up in the shelter, because normally he would have ended up chopped into pieces and on the shelves of a meat market somewhere. Now he's 9 years old and the proud owner of the title "Largest Bovine in the World", nice going Chilli.
Highest Glass Floor of the World in Chicago
If you're scared of heights, it may be time to look away now.
Not content with having the tallest building in America, the owners of Sears Tower in Chicago have installed four glass box viewing platforms which stick out of the building 103 floors up.The balconies are suspended 1,353 feet in the air and jut out four feet from the building's Skydeck.
Fearless: Anna Kane, five, spreads out on the floor of the 10ft square box which is 1,353ft up
Spectacular: She also enjoyed amazing views out across the city
'At first I was kind of afraid but I got used to it', 10-year-old Adam Kane from Alton, Illinois, said as clouds drifted by below.
'Look at all those tiny things that are usually huge.' John Huston, one of the owners of the Sears Tower, even admitted to getting 'a little queasy' the first time he ventured out on to the balcony. However, after 30 or 40 trips, he seems to have got used to it.
Thrillseekers: The boxes jut out four feet from the building and were specifically designed to make visitors feel as if they are floating
'The Sears Tower has always been about superlatives - tallest, largest, most iconic,' he said.
'The Ledge is the world's most awesome view, the world's most precipitous view, the view with the most wow in the world.'
The balconies are 10ft high and 10ft wide, can hold five tons, and have glass which is 1.5 inch thick
Long way up: Even the floor of the platforms are glass - few were brave enough to look straight down
Inspiration came from the hundreds of forehead prints visitors left behind on Skydeck windows every week. Now, staff will have a new glass surface to clean: floors.
Architect Ross Wimer said: 'We did studies that showed a four-foot-deep (1.2 metres) enclosure makes you feel like you're floating since there's only room for one row of people, not two.'
The Skydeck attracts 25,000 visitors on clear days. They each pay $15 to take an elevator ride up to the 103rd floor of the 110-story office building that opened in 1973.
Towering: A view of the Sears Tower (black building in the foreground). The Ledge is on the 103rd floor
Not content with having the tallest building in America, the owners of Sears Tower in Chicago have installed four glass box viewing platforms which stick out of the building 103 floors up.The balconies are suspended 1,353 feet in the air and jut out four feet from the building's Skydeck.
Fearless: Anna Kane, five, spreads out on the floor of the 10ft square box which is 1,353ft up
Spectacular: She also enjoyed amazing views out across the city
'At first I was kind of afraid but I got used to it', 10-year-old Adam Kane from Alton, Illinois, said as clouds drifted by below.
'Look at all those tiny things that are usually huge.' John Huston, one of the owners of the Sears Tower, even admitted to getting 'a little queasy' the first time he ventured out on to the balcony. However, after 30 or 40 trips, he seems to have got used to it.
Thrillseekers: The boxes jut out four feet from the building and were specifically designed to make visitors feel as if they are floating
'The Sears Tower has always been about superlatives - tallest, largest, most iconic,' he said.
'The Ledge is the world's most awesome view, the world's most precipitous view, the view with the most wow in the world.'
The balconies are 10ft high and 10ft wide, can hold five tons, and have glass which is 1.5 inch thick
Long way up: Even the floor of the platforms are glass - few were brave enough to look straight down
Inspiration came from the hundreds of forehead prints visitors left behind on Skydeck windows every week. Now, staff will have a new glass surface to clean: floors.
Architect Ross Wimer said: 'We did studies that showed a four-foot-deep (1.2 metres) enclosure makes you feel like you're floating since there's only room for one row of people, not two.'
The Skydeck attracts 25,000 visitors on clear days. They each pay $15 to take an elevator ride up to the 103rd floor of the 110-story office building that opened in 1973.
Towering: A view of the Sears Tower (black building in the foreground). The Ledge is on the 103rd floor
Amazing World of Lowriders, Hot Rods and Concept Cars
Spellbound watching the ravishing performance cars go zoom at full speed? Souped up cars are so awesomely breathtaking – Lowriders, Hot Rods, Concept Cars, Custom Cars, Muscle Cars and the list just goes on….
Lowriders are classic cars or trucks whose suspension system has been modified so that it rides at a very low level to the ground. With the use of modern day hydraulics, users have height adjustable suspension. Most of the lowriders are vintage cars of the 1940’s to 1960’s.
Creating a lowrider is an art that’s creating fascinating cars with modern day hydraulics that not only lower but also raise the car, and also make it hop, and tilt it from side to side. Lowriders are designed with chrome accessories, gold plating, stunning paint schemes, spot lights, wire wheels, spectacular spinners and more.
Low riders also include Competition hoppers, cars built with an emphasis on the hydraulic suspension to give them a maximum ability to hop, especially for competitions. But they are less artistic and less luxurious too.
Hot rods are vintage cars with large engines modified for linear speed. Car owners modify their production car in the attempt to increase acceleration and top end speed. Most Americans are fond of restoring vintage cars as hot rods.
Traditional hot rods are made by reusing original, old parts from the junkyard and remanufacturing cars that were popular from the 1940s through the 1960s. But street rodding is based on building or getting cars built with new parts.
Hot rods look great with the abundance of chrome parts, fat tires, modified engine and various body panels removed. Most hot rods are typically painted with a design of flames behind the front wheels. A typical hot rod is heavily modified by replacing the engine and transmission and a few other components, including brakes and steering.
Concept car are important to the automotive industry as they are car prototypes made to showcase a concept, new styling, technology and more. Very often concept cars are seen in motor shows with an intention to gauge end user reaction of the latest and radical changes. But these concept cars don’t always go into production. They are just experimental pieces to test the waters before diving into large scale production. Concepts are a great way for car designers to fine tune their styling, designing and engineering skills. Concept cars with a complete transformation in design, appearance or engineering truly stand out.
Face-lift concepts are not particularly interesting as there is very minor styling cues, but the basic car structure remains the same. Irrespective of what the car is –concept, muscle car or a hot rod – the ever-improving creative skills will always fascinate the big boys!
Lowriders are classic cars or trucks whose suspension system has been modified so that it rides at a very low level to the ground. With the use of modern day hydraulics, users have height adjustable suspension. Most of the lowriders are vintage cars of the 1940’s to 1960’s.
Creating a lowrider is an art that’s creating fascinating cars with modern day hydraulics that not only lower but also raise the car, and also make it hop, and tilt it from side to side. Lowriders are designed with chrome accessories, gold plating, stunning paint schemes, spot lights, wire wheels, spectacular spinners and more.
Low riders also include Competition hoppers, cars built with an emphasis on the hydraulic suspension to give them a maximum ability to hop, especially for competitions. But they are less artistic and less luxurious too.
Hot rods are vintage cars with large engines modified for linear speed. Car owners modify their production car in the attempt to increase acceleration and top end speed. Most Americans are fond of restoring vintage cars as hot rods.
Traditional hot rods are made by reusing original, old parts from the junkyard and remanufacturing cars that were popular from the 1940s through the 1960s. But street rodding is based on building or getting cars built with new parts.
Hot rods look great with the abundance of chrome parts, fat tires, modified engine and various body panels removed. Most hot rods are typically painted with a design of flames behind the front wheels. A typical hot rod is heavily modified by replacing the engine and transmission and a few other components, including brakes and steering.
Concept car are important to the automotive industry as they are car prototypes made to showcase a concept, new styling, technology and more. Very often concept cars are seen in motor shows with an intention to gauge end user reaction of the latest and radical changes. But these concept cars don’t always go into production. They are just experimental pieces to test the waters before diving into large scale production. Concepts are a great way for car designers to fine tune their styling, designing and engineering skills. Concept cars with a complete transformation in design, appearance or engineering truly stand out.
Face-lift concepts are not particularly interesting as there is very minor styling cues, but the basic car structure remains the same. Irrespective of what the car is –concept, muscle car or a hot rod – the ever-improving creative skills will always fascinate the big boys!
NATO air strike a "major error": Afghan president
KABUL - A NATO air strike believed to have killed scores of Afghan civilians was a major "error of judgment" by German forces, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview published on Monday.
Karzai, who is closing in on a first-round victory in a presidential election held last month, also revealed in the interview strained relations with the United States, saying criticism of his friends and family was intended to undermine his own position and make him more malleable.
Germany again defended the decision of its commander in the area to call in the raid last week and brushed off suggestions restrictions it places on its soldiers had prevented them from approaching the scene and from fighting ground battles.
"General (Stanley) McChrystal telephoned me to apologize and to say that he himself hadn't given the order to attack," Karzai told French newspaper Le Figaro, referring to the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Berlin has warned against hasty judgments of the deadliest operation involving German forces since World War Two.
The strike, in which a U.S. F-15 fighter jet summoned by German troops bombed fuel trucks hijacked by the Taliban, has become a big domestic issue in Germany weeks before elections.
"Why didn't they send in ground troops to recover the fuel tank?" Karzai said in the interview with Le Figaro.
German Defense Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe on Monday said the decision to order the strike was based on information that indicated the presence of armed Taliban near the tankers.
"STRIKE RIGHT DECISION"
He rejected suggestions that a German reluctance to shoot first in combat was behind a decision not to send ground troops to secure the fuel trucks, which were parked in a riverbed.
"Based on the information we have, we believe this strike was right and the suggestion that we are not capable of fighting (ground) battles is ridiculous," said Raabe at a news conference where he was grilled for more than an hour.
"You must realize we are talking about the middle of the night, with special visibility conditions, where we don't know what the enemy is planning. Therefore I think the decision that was made at the time was absolutely correct," he said.
In a first independent estimate of the death toll, a prominent Afghan rights group said up to 70 civilians had been killed in the strike in Char Dara district of Kunduz province.
Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM), a non-governmental group funded by domestic rights campaigners, said it had reached the figure based on interviews with residents in the area.
Karzai, who is closing in on a first-round victory in a presidential election held last month, also revealed in the interview strained relations with the United States, saying criticism of his friends and family was intended to undermine his own position and make him more malleable.
Germany again defended the decision of its commander in the area to call in the raid last week and brushed off suggestions restrictions it places on its soldiers had prevented them from approaching the scene and from fighting ground battles.
"General (Stanley) McChrystal telephoned me to apologize and to say that he himself hadn't given the order to attack," Karzai told French newspaper Le Figaro, referring to the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
Berlin has warned against hasty judgments of the deadliest operation involving German forces since World War Two.
The strike, in which a U.S. F-15 fighter jet summoned by German troops bombed fuel trucks hijacked by the Taliban, has become a big domestic issue in Germany weeks before elections.
"Why didn't they send in ground troops to recover the fuel tank?" Karzai said in the interview with Le Figaro.
German Defense Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe on Monday said the decision to order the strike was based on information that indicated the presence of armed Taliban near the tankers.
"STRIKE RIGHT DECISION"
He rejected suggestions that a German reluctance to shoot first in combat was behind a decision not to send ground troops to secure the fuel trucks, which were parked in a riverbed.
"Based on the information we have, we believe this strike was right and the suggestion that we are not capable of fighting (ground) battles is ridiculous," said Raabe at a news conference where he was grilled for more than an hour.
"You must realize we are talking about the middle of the night, with special visibility conditions, where we don't know what the enemy is planning. Therefore I think the decision that was made at the time was absolutely correct," he said.
In a first independent estimate of the death toll, a prominent Afghan rights group said up to 70 civilians had been killed in the strike in Char Dara district of Kunduz province.
Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM), a non-governmental group funded by domestic rights campaigners, said it had reached the figure based on interviews with residents in the area.
Gray Kasprov
There are two good reasons Igor Stohl starts his second collection of Garry Kasparov’s best games in 1994. The first reason, which Stohl mentions in Garry Kasparov’s Greatest Chess Games: Volume 2, is that 1994 marks the time when Kasparov started to use computers seriously. The switch to computers made Kasparov’s games (and following him the rest of the chess elite’s games) more concrete and dynamic. The second reason to start in 1994, which is probably connected to the first one but not mentioned in his book, is that 1994 is about the time when I, Chessbug, stopped understanding any of Kasparov’s games. Although I read the games with annotations from daily papers and serious periodicals, such as New in Chess, I just could not get it, and my sense is that this is true for other amateurs.
The games would make sense in the first three moves and would start resembling chess at around move 20, but anything in between seemed totally chaotic. All the principals that I thought I understood (piece development, king safety and avoidance of long term weaknesses) were not to be seen in the games of Kasparov (and later Shirov, Morozevich, Topalov, Aronian...) What made it even worse was that most games seemed to be decided in those very moves which I did not understand. With a good annotator I could understand Capablanca, Tal, or even Karpov, but the late Kasparov games were like abstract art explained in Chinese. For this reason I thought that the greatest challenge for Stohl would be to explain the games I did not understand. Stohl handles the challenge in a most impressive way (and he even tops it with other goodies).
The first game that I rushed to see was Kasparov-Anand, as I had spent many hours with this “encrypted” game. Here are the questions I still remembered and (in parentheses) the answers I got from Garry Kasparov’s Greatest Chess Games: Volume 2. Why did Kasparov play such a dubious opening against an opponent as mighty as Anand? (Psychology, my dear Watson, Kasparov wanted to play ultra aggressive and defeat Anand just before their World Championship match) What is so wonderful about 7 Be2? (Not much, only that it has hardly ever been played before) Why didn’t Anand castle? (He probably should have castled on move 12) At what point did the game become totally won for White? (After Black’s 18th move) And, most difficult, wasn’t Anand’s resignation somewhat premature or in more direct words why the _ _ _ _ did Anand resign? (He resigns for very good reasons, which Stohl demonstrates with a couple of straight forward variations). Stohl passed the first test and I continued reading with a lot of anticipation. The rest of the games were not disappointing, not disappointing at all. Stohl has the right mixture of variation annotations, verbal explanations, some psychology and background explanations, and short surveys about the development of the opening variations Kasparov used in his games. This means you can read the book in three different levels of reading: you could either skim through the games and read it as a bedtime book, or you could read it as a guide for modern chess thinking (to see how the top players of the last decade think about the game), or, and this is the best way in my opinion, you can read every game deeply, go with the annotations and beyond and gather many chess insights. Let us take one game for example and see these three options of reading. The game Kasparov – Panno, Argentina-Kasparov simul, Buenos-Aires, 1997 is a game that you can just read through and understand its place in the history of the development of the Nimzo-Indian defense or you can read it from a “positional” interest and see the work of the passed pawn and later the restricting effect of White’s h pawn on Black’s pawns, or you can try and understand another one of Kasparov’s mysterious games. The third option can be achieved only by taking out your board, playing through the game, and going through the variations that Stohl gives. For example look at the following position:
The games would make sense in the first three moves and would start resembling chess at around move 20, but anything in between seemed totally chaotic. All the principals that I thought I understood (piece development, king safety and avoidance of long term weaknesses) were not to be seen in the games of Kasparov (and later Shirov, Morozevich, Topalov, Aronian...) What made it even worse was that most games seemed to be decided in those very moves which I did not understand. With a good annotator I could understand Capablanca, Tal, or even Karpov, but the late Kasparov games were like abstract art explained in Chinese. For this reason I thought that the greatest challenge for Stohl would be to explain the games I did not understand. Stohl handles the challenge in a most impressive way (and he even tops it with other goodies).
The first game that I rushed to see was Kasparov-Anand, as I had spent many hours with this “encrypted” game. Here are the questions I still remembered and (in parentheses) the answers I got from Garry Kasparov’s Greatest Chess Games: Volume 2. Why did Kasparov play such a dubious opening against an opponent as mighty as Anand? (Psychology, my dear Watson, Kasparov wanted to play ultra aggressive and defeat Anand just before their World Championship match) What is so wonderful about 7 Be2? (Not much, only that it has hardly ever been played before) Why didn’t Anand castle? (He probably should have castled on move 12) At what point did the game become totally won for White? (After Black’s 18th move) And, most difficult, wasn’t Anand’s resignation somewhat premature or in more direct words why the _ _ _ _ did Anand resign? (He resigns for very good reasons, which Stohl demonstrates with a couple of straight forward variations). Stohl passed the first test and I continued reading with a lot of anticipation. The rest of the games were not disappointing, not disappointing at all. Stohl has the right mixture of variation annotations, verbal explanations, some psychology and background explanations, and short surveys about the development of the opening variations Kasparov used in his games. This means you can read the book in three different levels of reading: you could either skim through the games and read it as a bedtime book, or you could read it as a guide for modern chess thinking (to see how the top players of the last decade think about the game), or, and this is the best way in my opinion, you can read every game deeply, go with the annotations and beyond and gather many chess insights. Let us take one game for example and see these three options of reading. The game Kasparov – Panno, Argentina-Kasparov simul, Buenos-Aires, 1997 is a game that you can just read through and understand its place in the history of the development of the Nimzo-Indian defense or you can read it from a “positional” interest and see the work of the passed pawn and later the restricting effect of White’s h pawn on Black’s pawns, or you can try and understand another one of Kasparov’s mysterious games. The third option can be achieved only by taking out your board, playing through the game, and going through the variations that Stohl gives. For example look at the following position:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)