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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

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Mitsubishi eyes technological leap, and exports, with armored vehicle

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TOKYO (Reuters) -In January, a top U.S. Marine general visited Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan to look at a prototype of an amphibious assault vehicle that could one day be a key pillar in Prime Minister Shinzo Abes push to sell weapons abroad.Using engines adapted from the main battle tank the company makes for Japans military and new water jet propulsion technology, the full-size prototype is undergoing pool tests, although it is in the early stages of development and production could be years off.Nevertheless, the maker of the wartime Zero fighter plane is eyeing overseas sales after Abe lifted a decades-old ban on arms exports in April last year as part of his more muscular security agenda, two Japanese defense industry sources said.Mitsubishi designers believe the prototype shown to U.S. Marine Corps Pacific commander Lieutenant General John Toolan will be more maneuverable and faster across the water than the 40-year-old AAV7 amphibious assault vehicle used to carry U.S. marines onto beaches from naval ships anchored offshore, the sources said.The AAV7 is built by the U.S. unit of Britains BAE Systems.The prototypes engines in particular could be fitted onto other armored vehicles, the sources added.Its an opportunity for Mitsubishi Heavy to tap overseas markets for its engine technology, said one of the sources, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media.Mitsubishi Heavy wants to build an amphibious armored vehicle that can move through water at 20 to 25 knots (37 to 46 km per hour) compared to the more than 7 knots (13 km per hour) reached by the AAV7, said the sources.If the Japanese can get 20 knots in the water without compromising maneuverability on land, we will be very interested, said one Marine Corps official who saw the prototype in January but declined to be identified.Whether thats possible remains to be seen.A Mitsubishi Heavy spokesman said the prototype had been shown to the Japanese Ministry of Defense, but declined to give details about the vehicle. At a Paris arms show last June, a suitcase-sized model of an eight-wheeled armored troop carrier was the centerpiece display at the companys exhibition booth.The Ministry of Defense was aware of Mitsubishi Heavys research into amphibious vehicles but was not involved in the project, a ministry spokesman said.Manny Pacheco, a spokesman for U.S. Marine Corps procurement, declined to comment on the prototype.But he said the Marine Corps was always interested in the technological advances of industry and encouraged manufacturers to use every opportunity to showcase their wares and get their products submitted through our competitive procurement process.TOUGH TECHNOLOGYAmphibious vehicles are central to marine units around the world, allowing forces to operate on land and sea. But there has been little significant technological advancement in such vehicles in recent decades.A tracked Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle that was being developed for the U.S. Marine Corps by U.S. weapons maker General Dynamics Corp was canceled in 2011 after big cost increases and technical issues.The Marine Corps last year kicked off a competition for a new wheeled amphibious combat vehicle (ACV) that could operate on shorelines and shallow water.Pacheco said the Marine Corps was reviewing proposals from five manufacturers to build a prototype. He did not identify the companies.A feasibility study by BAE and General Dynamics had recommended against using current technology to build a vehicle in line with Marine Corps requirements, a U.S.-based BAE spokeswoman told Reuters.The study concluded that although the technology existed, it would not be fielded at an affordable price, she said.BAE was talking to Mitsubishi Heavy about being a potential partner on the body design of the new Japanese vehicle, the BAE spokeswoman added.General Dynamics was in similar talks with Mitsubishi Heavy, said sources in Japan. General Dynamics said it did not have any information to provide at this time.NEED FOR SPEEDMitsubishi Heavy has been making armored vehicles for Japans military for around 80 years, beginning with the Imperial forces in the 1930s. It also builds fighter aircraft, naval vessels, submarines and missiles.The company also makes high-speed marine engines and water jet propulsion systems, according to its website.Japans technology is good enough that we have to look at it, said a U.S. military industrial source familiar with the amphibious vehicle plans.Although a coastal nation, post-war Japan only formed an amphibious military unit in 2012. The 3,000-strong unit will be equipped with more than 50 AAV7s.It was disappointment at the speed of those vehicles over water that spurred Japan to build a new one, Japanese defense officials told Reuters.Japans military is also concerned about the ability of the caterpillar-tracked vehicles to ride over coral reefs, a common feature in the East China Sea, where Tokyo is embroiled in a territorial dispute with China.The BAE spokeswoman acknowledged the desire of the U.S. Marine Corps to increase water speed, adding there should be no operational concern with coral reefs.

Google launches free streaming service ahead of Apple Music debut

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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Google Inc launched a free version of its music streaming service on Tuesday, as it sought to upstage the debut of Apple Incs rival service next week.Google Play Music has offered a $9.99 per month subscription service for two years but Tuesdays launch is the first free version of the streaming service. It is available online and will be available on Android and iOS by the end of the week, Elias Roman, Google product manager, said.Apple said earlier this month it would launch a music streaming service on June 30 for $9.99 per month along with a $14.99 per month family plan, with a free three-month trial.As with other streaming services, such as Spotify and Rhapsody, Google Play Music curates playlists. Users can tailor playlists based on genre, artist or even activity, such as hosting a pool party or having fun at work.We believe this is a play that will expose a lot of people to the service, Roman said in an interview.Unlike Googles subscription music service, the free service will carry ads, be unavailable offline and exclude certain songs.Roman said millions of people look at Google Play Music each month but are not ready to pay for a subscription. By offering a free version of the service, he said, the search engine hopes more people will be compelled to pay for an upgraded version.Ted Cohen, managing partner of TAG Strategic, a digital entertainment consultancy, said the timing of Googles launch was strategic.Its a smart time to do it with all the attention around Apple, Cohen said. If they did it absent the Apple service, it wouldnt be the same story.Google declined to say how many subscribers it has but said they more than doubled in 2014 from the previous year. But rivals Pandora, Spotify and Beats Music had far more mobile downloads than Google Play Music in 2014, according to data from analytics firm App Annie.

Brazil plans 60,000 security force for Rio Olympics

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RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Brazil plans to deploy around 60,000 security forces for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, a source familiar with the preparations said on Tuesday, bolstering security amid fears of a spike in violence in the picturesque city.The security operation would be larger than the 40,000 deployed for the 2012 Games in London, but smaller than the 75,000-strong in Athens in 2004 when organizers worried about terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks in New York three years earlier.The source, who requested anonymity because the information is not yet public, said federal and state governments and the organizing committee are still hammering out details of the operation that will include military troops, police, firemen and private security agents.Unlike when the city hosted the 2007 Pan-American Games, authorities are not considering sending troops to the favelas, or hillside slums, known for drug violence as security has improved substantially in Rio, said the source.However, a rash of stabbings and shootings as well as a climb in robbery across the city has rekindled security concerns after years of progress in clamping down on crime. Rio has invested heavily to bolster its police force, particularly in the favelas where heavily armed drug gangs have ruled for years.The security operation at the Olympics was expected to cost about 600 million reais ($195.10 million), according previous estimates from the defense ministry.A spokesperson for the local Olympics organizing committee and the federal government were not immediately available for comment.

Blatter to attend World Cup draw in Russia on July 25

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MOSCOW (Reuters) -FIFA president Sepp Blatter will attend the 2018 World Cup qualifying draw in St Petersburg on July 25, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Tuesday.Of course, he (Blatter) will attend (the draw), Mutko told the TASS news agency.The whole of the (FIFA) executive committee will be there, as well as all 209 national federations. Preparations are going as planned, the minister added.The Russian Football Union (RFS) also said Blatter would attend the draw.As a person who knows a few things about Blatter, I am in no doubt that he will attend the draw, RFS general secretary Anatoly Vorobyov told Reuters in a telephone interview.Blatter has come to Russia 23 years in a row to attend the Commonwealth Cup. However, now there is a very important event in the sporting and social-political calendar. Of course the president of FIFA should attend these events.I am sure that if nothing unexpected happens, Blatter will visit St Petersburg on 25th July, Vorobyov added.The Commonwealth Cup began in 1993 as a tournament for the champions of the former Soviet Union republics.Blatter, 79, said on June 2 he would step down from his post after U.S. and Swiss authorities widened their investigations into bribery and corruption at world soccers governing body.Blatter has not been charged with any wrongdoing.Swiss authorities are also investigating the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively.

Swiss authorities probing FIFA say Garcia report of little help

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LONDON (Reuters) -Swiss authorities investigating whether there was corruption in the awarding of World Cup hosting rights to Russia and Qatar are finding that a report produced by U.S. lawyer Michael Garcia at the end of an internal FIFA inquiry is of little value to their probe, according to a source close to investigations into the soccer governing body.Swiss officials question whether Garcia’s report, which has not been made public, has significant evidentiary value, said the source, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity. That is because Garcia, who was hired by FIFA, had no subpoena power, did not take sworn testimony, and was operating under FIFAs own ethical rules, which had little enforcement power behind them, the source added.Switzerland’s Attorney General Michael Lauber told reporters last week that the FBI, which has been conducting its own wide-ranging probe into corruption in FIFA and its affiliates, has not asked him or his office for a copy of the Garcia report, and he hadn’t provided the U.S. authorities with one. A U.S. law enforcement official told Reuters earlier this month that the FBI did not have a copy of Garcias report.Garcia, a former top U.S. government prosecutor, was brought in by FIFA in 2012 to run its ethics committee’s investigations, including examining allegations of corruption.The report, submitted to FIFA last September, has been a mysterious part of the growing scandal because FIFA not only declined to publish it but instead released a summary by FIFA ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert that prompted Garcia to quit in protest in December. Eckert concluded that any impairment of integrity in the bidding process was only of “very limited scope” and it was far from reaching any threshold that would require reopening the bidding process for the two World Cups.Garcia said at the time that the summary contained misrepresentations and that he had lost confidence in the independence of Eckert. He also criticized the “lack of leadership” in FIFA, and said he couldn’t change the organization’s culture.Garcia was not available for comment and is declining media interviews about FIFA, a spokeswoman for Garcia’s law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, said on Tuesday.Spokespeople for U.S. prosecutors and for the FBI declined to comment on Tuesday.Eckert’s summary stresses that Garcia’s probe had major limitations because of the lack of subpoena powers.For example, several former members of FIFA’s 24-strong executive committee, which made the World Cup decisions, either declined or did not respond to requests for interviews or to provide written answers to questions. In addition, the Russian bid committee only made a limited number of documents available because the computers it had used were leased, then returned to their owner and destroyed after the award, the summary said.The Russian part of the investigation was handled by Garcia’s deputy, Cornel Borbely, because Moscow had banned Garcia from entering the country in retaliation for U.S. sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.The executive committee voted in 2010 to give Russia the 2018 World Cup hosting rights and Qatar the tournament in 2022. That was despite a warning from a FIFA evaluation team before the vote that Qatar and Russia carried higher operational risk than the other seven bidders, such as England and the United States.The competition to host a World Cup, which is held every four years, is fierce as it is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world and carries enormous prestige and the potential for economic benefits.The troubles facing FIFA worsened dramatically on May 27 when U.S. prosecutors unveiled the indictment of nine current and former FIFA officials and five corporate executives for allegedly running a criminal enterprise that involved more than $150 million in bribes over 24 years.Separately, FIFA lodged a criminal complaint with the Swiss authorities last November concerning the “possible misconduct of individual persons” in connection with the awarding of the World Cup rights. Around that time, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, who earlier this month announced he would be stepping down, personally contacted Lauber’s office and said he would be sending it the Garcia report, the source said. The report was received not long afterwards.In March, Lauber’s office formally opened its investigation into possible corruption in the World Cup awards.Sources familiar with the investigation on both sides of the Atlantic say they are unsure why the FBI did not seek a copy of the Garcia report, even if it contained little of consequence to the U.S. probe.

U.S. to pre-position tanks, artillery in Baltics, eastern Europe

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TALLINN (Reuters) -The United States will pre-position tanks, artillery and other military equipment in eastern and central Europe, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday, moving to reassure NATO allies unnerved by Russian involvement in Ukraine.Carter made the announcement a little over 200 km (125 miles) from the Russian border, in the Estonian capital Tallinn, where he met Baltic defense chiefs and spoke to troops aboard a U.S. warship that had just completed drills in the Baltic Sea.We didnt want to have this new challenge, Carter said, addressing U.S. Marines and sailors on the San Antonio.But then all of the sudden here you have behavior by Russia, which ... is an effort to take the world backward in time. And we cant allow that to happen.Carter said the Baltic states - Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia -- as well as Bulgaria, Romania and Poland had agreed to host the arms and heavy equipment. Some of the weaponry would also be located in Germany.The U.S. decision to stage heavy equipment closer to Russias borders will speed deployment of rotating U.S. forces as NATO steps up exercises in Europe following Russias annexation of Ukraines Crimea region last year.Neighboring NATO countries, especially the former Soviet Baltic states with their Russian minorities, fear Russia could stir unrest there. Moscow denies any such intention.Flanked by defense chiefs from the Baltic states, Carter said the United States and NATO were committed to defending the territorial integrity of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.Under NATOs founding treaty, an attack on any member state would constitute an attack on all parties. Russia accuses the West of violating post-Cold War arrangements by extending NATO to Russias frontiers, something the West denies.Estonian Defence Minister Sven Mikser cheered the decision, as did defense chiefs from Latvia and Lithuania. Mikser said his nation was ready to host pre-positioned equipment and a rotational presence of U.S. forces.We have reasons to believe that Russia views the Baltic region as one of NATOs most vulnerable areas, a place where NATOs resolve and commitment could be tested, Mikser said.Lithuanias Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said more needed to be done, underscoring the Baltic states hawkish attitude to Russia. The government has already reinstated military conscription.CONDEMNATION IN MOSCOWThe United States had not formally disclosed where in Europe the equipment would be stored before Tuesday but news reports about military planning triggered an angry response from Moscow ahead of Carters trip to Europe.A Russian Defence Ministry official said stationing tanks and heavy weapons in NATO states on Russias border would be the most aggressive U.S. act since the Cold War.President Vladimir Putin, who denies any direct involvement in Ukraine and accuses the West of stirring tensions, has announced Russia would add more than 40 intercontinental ballistic missiles to its nuclear arsenal this year.Carter has condemned Putins return to what he considers Cold War-style rhetoric.A fact sheet provided by the U.S. military said the U.S. pre-positioning would include about 250 tanks, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled howitzers.The equipment temporarily stored in each country would be enough to supply either a company, so enough for about 150 soldiers, or a battalion, or about 750 soldiers. Much of it is already in Europe, officials say.Carter said the equipment would move around as needed, to support exercises in Europe.U.S. officials say Ukraine has illustrated the importance of being able to counter hybrid warfare - the blend of unidentified troops, propaganda and economic pressure that the West says Russia has used there.It also involves cyber warfare. Carter also announced plans on Tuesday to work with an Estonia-based NATO cyber center to help allies develop cyber defense strategies and critical infrastructure protection planning.

Islamic State destroys ancient shrines in Syria's Palmyra city

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AMMAN (Reuters) -Islamic State militants have blown up two ancient shrines they consider sacrilegious in Palmyra, a 2,000-year-old UNESCO World Heritage site in central Syria, the ultra hardline Sunni Muslim group said on Tuesday.The report was the first of any damage being done by the militants to buildings in Palmyra since they seized control of the city, also known as Tadmur, in May. Syrian forces have bombed the city, and the militants camped within it, since then.Before-and-after pictures showed several militants carrying explosives and the shrines, which are not among the citys monumental Roman-era buildings, reduced to rubble.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said this week that the militants had planted mines in Palmyra but that it was not clear whether it was preparing to destroy the site or wanted to deter government forces from advancing towards it.Syrian antiquities chief Abdul Maamoun Abdulkarim said, In all the areas where they spread when they see tombs they destroy them as see them as sacrilegious and a return to paganism.Hundreds of statues had been moved from the city to safe locations, before the militants, who control large swathes of Iraq and Syria, took over, he told Reuters.Islamic State militants have blown up dozens of shrines in Iraq and Syria, many belonging to the Sufi sect, a mystical school of Islam opposed by puritanical Salafists from which Islamic State and al Qaeda draws many of its fighters.

Afghan forces recapture key district from Taliban

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KABUL (Reuters) -Afghan government forces regained control of a key district near the northern city of Kunduz on Tuesday, after Taliban fighters had threatened to capture a provincial capital for the first time since being driven from power in 2001.Tuesdays victory came despite signs that the militant movement was stepping up its offensive in the broader war, six months after most foreign troops left the country.A day earlier, a Taliban car bomber and six gunmen launched a spectacular attack on the Afghan parliament in Kabul. All of the assailants were killed. One civilian also died and at least 30 people were wounded.On the front lines just outside Kunduz city in the north, Afghan army and police drove the Taliban back from Chardara district, which the insurgents had captured two days before, provincial police chief Abdul Saboor Nasrati said.New reinforcements arrived in Kunduz from northern provinces. They have inflicted heavy casualties on the insurgents and pushed them back from Chardara district, Nasrati said.We are pursuing them and the gun battle is still ongoing.Pentagon officials in Washington said the attacks on Parliament and Kunduz both illustrated the Talibans inability to win and hold terrain against Afghan security forces.The Taliban has done a good job of grabbing headlines over the last several weeks with spectacular attacks, Army Colonel Steve Warren told a briefing. But its important to note that the Taliban have been hard-pressed to hold any territory.Afghan security forces dealt with the attack on Parliament rapidly and effectively, Warren added. Theyve shown a great capability to move into areas where the Taliban is and to drive them back out.The brief capture of Chardara brought fighting to a bridge just 3 km (two miles) away from the Kunduz governors compound, raising fears that the insurgents could overrun the city center.That would mark the first provincial capital to fall to the Taliban since U.S.-led military intervention toppled the hard-line Islamist regime, which had sheltered the al Qaeda architects of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on American cities.SURGE IN PATIENTSHeman Nagarathnam, Medecins Sans Frontieres head of programs in Afghanistan, said the groups hospital in Kunduz city was still operating normally and there were no plans to evacuate staff.Speaking from Kunduz, he said the fighting had moved closer to the city and there had been a noticeable increase in the number of Afghan security personnel and checkpoints.We have seen a surge in patients from Chardara and some from Dasht-i-Archi (district), but mostly from Chardara, he told Reuters.Airstrikes and mortar attacks in Chardara were making it difficult for people to reach the trauma center, he added.The violence in Kabul, Kunduz province and elsewhere has put Afghanistans security forces under more pressure than at any time since most NATO combat troops withdrew, and there appears to be no easy way out of the crisis.The war continues to gain intensity, said Graeme Smith, a veteran Afghan analyst at International Crisis Group.Even more concerning, the nature of the attacks is becoming more serious: rather than pot-shots at convoys, were now talking about battles that last for days.The loss of a provincial capital would have profound effects, even if the city was overrun only for a matter of hours, Smith said.President Ashraf Ghani met lawmakers from Kunduz at his Kabul palace to discuss the crisis, vowing serious measures to retake lost territories and clear (the) northeastern zone of terrorists.Kunduz was also under siege last summer and the city center held. In the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar in the south, insurgents threatened the provincial capital a few years ago, but were beaten back.

Hungary defies EU over migrants as crisis mounts

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) -In a challenge to European leaders before a summit that aims to tackle a refugee crisis, Hungary unilaterally suspended an EU asylum program on Tuesday, saying it was overburdened by illegal migrants.As Italy said its ships had rescued 3,700 migrants at sea since Monday and Libyans threatened military action against EU moves to curb human trafficking, Hungarys Prime Minister Viktor Orbans government demonstrated Budapests frustration with proposals to spread asylum seekers around the continent by refusing to take any more migrants sent there under EU regulations.With EU leaders due to debate a new scheme on Thursday to relocate Mediterranean migrants landing in Italy and Greece, the European Commission demanded an immediate explanation after Hungary stopped accepting foreigners returned there from other EU states for their asylum requests to be handled by Budapest.The move, made by a government already at odds with Brussels over civil rights, was seen as a challenge to the Dublin Regulations which state that asylum claims be handled in the EU country where migrants first arrive or first request protection.The issue has this month sparked a row between founder EU members Italy and France after Paris began stopping suspected illegal migrants at their normally open border.Hungarian officials have said an EU plan to relieve the strain on Italy and Greece fails to recognize their own problem with some 60,000 migrants who have crossed Hungarys EU land borders, mostly from non-EU Serbia. Orban has said a Commission proposal to force states to take a quota borders on insanity.A government spokesman said on Tuesday: Hungarys asylum system is overburdened, the most overburdened among EU member states affected by illegal immigration.EU Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos spoke to Hungarian officials late on Tuesday, seeking an explanation of a move the Commission said Budapest described as technical.As the Dublin rules do not foresee the suspension of transfers by the receiving member states, the Commission has asked Hungary for immediate clarification on the nature and extent of the technical failure, and on the measures taken to remedy the situation, a Commission spokeswoman said.The Hungarian government said in a statement: Hungary has used up the capacities at its disposal.The situation requires fast action; in this escalated situation Hungary needs to take a move ahead of EU decisions, it said.Hungary last week announced plans to build a fence along its border with Serbia to stem the flow of migrants from the Middle East and Africa who enter Europe through the Balkans. Most eventually move on to wealthier Western Europe.Meanwhile, neighboring Austria said it was pushing to resolve the latest problem with Hungary.Facing a growing crisis as hundreds of thousands of people every year risk their lives to flee civil war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa, European leaders were pushed into action after some 800 people drowned on a single boat in April.But the 28 member states of the EU, whose leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday, are divided on a plan from the EU executive to oblige them to take a share of 24,000 Syrians and Eritreans now in Italy and 16,000 from Greece. Diplomats say they may compromise by accepting such numbers on a voluntary basis.With voters increasingly hostile to immigration as the bloc continues to struggle with economic malaise that has pushed Greece to the point of bankruptcy, the Dublin system dating from the 1990s is widely viewed as deeply flawed.There is little consensus on how to address the problem in the short term, but longer-term responses - such as boosting aid, discouraging economic migrants in Africa and accelerating the return of failed asylum seekers - are on the summit agenda.On Monday, EU foreign ministers agreed a naval operation to combat people-traffickers who have carried thousands of migrants on perilous journeys across the Mediterranean.But the air force commander of Libyas internationally-recognized government warned that any vessels entering Libyan waters without permission faced air strikes.Any vessel found in Libyan waters without previous cooperation or permission will be targeted by the air force, Saqr Al-Jaroushi told Reuters. His administration is one of two rival governments battling for control following the Western-backed overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi four years ago.The self-declared National Salvation government, set up last summer when an armed faction called Libya Dawn took over the capital, has also expressed its deep concern over the EU plan.The EU naval initiative will be limited to intelligence-gathering for now using submarines, warships, drones and helicopters because it has yet to obtain the United Nations authorization for a wider scope of operations. An initial plan was to disrupt the traffickers business and to capture and destroy their ships, possibly even in Libyan waters.Ships patrolling the Mediterranean have plucked more than 3,700 migrants from overcrowded and unsafe boats in the last two days alone, Italys coast guard said on Tuesday.Italy estimates 60,000 people have made it across so far this year while the U.N. says almost 2,000 have died in the attempt.

Iran's Khamenei rules out freezing sensitive nuclear work for long period

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ANKARA (rEUTERS) -Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday ruled out freezing sensitive nuclear work in the country for a long time and said sanctions imposed on it should be lifted as soon it reaches a final deal with major powers, state TV reported.The six - Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States - want Iran to commit to a verifiable halt of at least 10 years on sensitive nuclear development work as part of a landmark atomic deal they aim to reach by June 30.They are offering in exchange relief from sanctions that have crippled the oil exporters economy.Freezing Irans Research and Development (R&D) for a long time like 10 or 12 years is not acceptable, Khamenei said in a speech broadcast live.Disputes over how much transparency Iran should offer to ease suspicions that it has covertly sought to develop nuclear bombs, and the timing and pace of relief from sanctions imposed on Tehran, have been two major sticking points to the final deal.All financial and economic sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council, the U.S. Congress or the U.S. government should be lifted immediately when we sign a nuclear agreement, Khamenei said.The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been trying to investigate Western allegations that Iran has been working on designing a nuclear warhead. Iran says that its nuclear program is peaceful and that it is working with the IAEA to clear up any suspicions.Khamenei voiced trust in Irans negotiating team but, echoing hardline Iranian military commanders, also ruled out international access to Irans military sites.Inspection of our military sites is out of the question and is one of our red lines, he said.U.N. inspectors regularly monitor Irans declared nuclear facilities, but the IAEA has complained for years of a lack of access to sites, equipment, documents and people relevant to its probe.In a move that potentially will complicate chances for the final accord with the six powers, Irans parliament passed a bill on Tuesday banning access for IAEA inspectors to its military sites and scientists.France has spearheaded the powers demand that Iran must step up cooperation with the IAEA if it wants to reach a final deal.A senior French official said on Tuesday that the verification procedures and the authorization to access the military sites were the main difficulty to clinch a deal.When, where, what, how all this still needs to be made very clear. ... There is a difference of view between the (Iranian) negotiators and the leader, the official told Reuters.Khamenei accused the United States of wanting to wipe out Irans nuclear industry. America is after destroying our nuclear industry altogether, he said.

NSA spied on French presidents: WikiLeaks

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PARIS (Reuters) -The United States National Security Agency spied on French presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, WikiLeaks said in a press statement published on Tuesday, citing top secret intelligence reports and technical documents.The revelations were first reported in French daily Liberation and on news website Mediapart, which said the NSA spied on the presidents during a period of at least 2006 until May 2012, the month Hollande took over from Sarkozy.WikiLeaks said the documents derived from directly targeted NSA surveillance of the communications of Hollande (2012–present), Sarkozy (2007–2012) and Chirac (1995–2007), as well as French cabinet ministers and the French ambassador to the U.S.According to the documents, Sarkozy is said to have considered restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks without U.S. involvement and Hollande feared a Greek euro zone exit back in 2012.These latest revelations regarding spying among allied Western countries come after it emerged that the NSA had spied on Germany and Germanys own BND intelligence agency had cooperated with the NSA to spy on officials and companies elsewhere in Europe.The French people have a right to know that their elected government is subject to hostile surveillance from a supposed ally, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in the statement, adding that more important revelations would soon follow.The documents include summaries of conversations between French government officials on the global financial crisis, the future of the European Union, the relationship between Hollandes administration and Merkels government, French efforts to determine the make-up of the executive staff of the United Nations, and a dispute between the French and U.S. governments over U.S. spying on France.The documents also contained the cell phone numbers of numerous officials in the Elysee presidential palace including the direct cell phone of the president, WikiLeaks said.Last week, WikiLeaks published more than 60,000 diplomatic cables from Saudi Arabia and said on its website it would release half a million more in the coming weeks.SPYING AMONG FRIENDS?Former NSA employee Edward Snowden created an uproar in Germany after he revealed that Washington had carried out large-scale electronic espionage in Germany and claimed the NSA had bugged Merkels phone.While the German disclosures focused on the isolated fact that senior officials were targeted by U.S. intelligence, WikiLeaks publication today provides much greater insight into U.S. spying on its allies, WikiLeaks said.This includes the actual content of intelligence products deriving from the intercepts, showing how the U.S. spies on the phone calls of French leaders and ministers for political, economic and diplomatic intelligence.WikiLeaks said NSA intercepts showed that French President Francois Hollande called a secret meeting of his cabinet about the potential consequences of a Greek exit from the euro zone as early as May 2012.It also said the Socialist Hollande, who at that point had been in power a few days, had been disappointed by a first meeting as president with conservative German Chancellor Angela Merkel and requested talks with leaders of the Social Democratic Party, her centre-left junior coalition partner.Hollande stressed that the meeting would be secret, WikiLeaks quoted an NSA intercept from May 22, 2012 as saying of talks he requested with appropriate ministers in his cabinet to discuss possible fall-out on Frances economy and banks if Greece exited the euro zone.In another intercept dated June 10, 2011, Sarkozy is said to have considered restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks without U.S. involvement.An earlier one from 2008 has Sarkozy, widely considered in France to be pro-American, being critical of the U.S. governments handling of the financial crisis.The president blamed many of the current economic problems on mistakes made by the U.S. government, but believes that Washington is now heeding some of his advice, it said.The French presidents office was not immediately reachable for comment.The French foreign ministry declined to comment on the WikiLeaks statement.The U.S. State Department also declined to comment.Hollandes office said on Tuesday the president plans to meet with his defense committee on Wednesday to discuss the WikiLeaks statement.Michele Alliot-Marie, former defense and foreign affairs minister under Chirac and Sarkozy, told Frances iTele TV channel that France had long known that the U.S. had the technical means to try to intercept conversations.We are not naive, the conversations that took place between the defense ministry and the president did not happen on the telephone, she said. That being said, it does raise the problem of the relationship of trust between allies.

U.S. airs deep concerns over cyber security in China meetings

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States said on Tuesday that cyber theft sponsored by the Chinese government was a major problem and stressed the need to keep Asian sea lanes open as the worlds two biggest economies held annual talks aimed at maintaining working relations in spite of rising tensions.At the wide-ranging Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Washington, both sides expressed a desire for constructive relations, with China saying the two countries could manage differences and should avoid confrontation.But tensions over security matters, including cyber attacks on U.S. government computers that U.S. officials have blamed on Chinese hackers and Chinas pursuit of territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, have threatened to hamper efforts to deepen economic ties worth $590 billion in two-way trade last year.On cyberspace, in particular, we remain deeply concerned about Chinese government-sponsored cyber-enabled theft, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said at the forum, which has brought together more than 400 Chinese officials and eight U.S. Cabinet secretaries.Lew said the targets of this hacking were U.S. firms and did not mention recent attacks on computers of the Office of Personnel Management.U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said the two sides might not resolve all of their differences in the meetings, which began on Monday and continue until Wednesday, but should commit to working on them.We have to keep at it, day after day after day after day, Biden said. This relationship is just too important. Not only do we depend on it, but the world depends on our mutual success.Chinas Vice Premier Liu Yandong said differences could be managed as long as our two countries adopt an overall perspective, respect and accommodate each other’s core interests.The talks come at a time of rising concern in Washington about Chinas exercise of its growing power, including Beijings challenge to American dominance of global finance.The two sides have sought to ease tensions by stressing areas of cooperation, including climate change, shared concerns about Iran and North Koreas nuclear programs, the fight against Islamist militancy, and support for global development.However, significant practical progress is not expected, with China especially seeing the talks as a preparation for a visit to Washington by President Xi Jinping in September.The two sides did discuss Beijings bid to include the yuan in the International Monetary Funds basket of currencies, and both recognized the importance of an IMF review underway, a senior U.S. Treasury official said.They also addressed a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) already seven years in discussion.Zhang Xiangchen, a Chinese deputy trade minister, said Washington should remove investment barriers imposed for security reasons, although he acknowledged that China had further to go than America in improving its investment climate.Zhang said he hoped Washington would concludea pan-Pacific trade pact it has been negotiating with 11 nations as quickly as possible so it could focus on BIT talks.U.S. President Barack Obamas bid to secure congressional backing for legislation needed to speed the pact - the main economic plank of his pivot to Asia policy intended as a counterweight to Chinas growing influence - cleared a key hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, paving the way for a final vote on the legislation on Wednesday.

Severe heat wave, Sindh govt. announces public holiday on Wednesday

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KARACHI (Dunya News) – Chief Minister (CM) Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Tuesday announced that the Sindh government has decided for a public holiday to be observed on Wednesday in the entire province in light of the high number of deaths due to the severe heat wave. Shah also stated that Wednesday shall be observed as a protest day.According to the statement issued by Minister for Information and municipalities Sharjeel Memon, the episodes of unannounced severe load shedding of electricity by the Federal government and K-Electric Company is still going on despite the high number of deaths. He stated that all government offices shall remain closed on Wednesday however Sindh Assembly’s ongoing budget meeting will continue according to schedule.Memon stated that Provincial Ministers and members of Sindh Assembly will take part in a protest led by CM Sindh after the meeting against the behavior of the Federal government and K-Electric Company after the meeting.

India threatened Zimbabwe team, attempt to destroy Pakistan's cricket

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LAHORE (Web Desk) – Punjab’s interior minister Shujaa Khanzada said on Tuesday that Indian inelegance agency RAW tried to stop Zimbabwe’s cricket team’s tour to Pakistan in May 2015. He said that an unidentified person called the manager of Zimbabwe team when the team was in Dubai and threatened him of serious consequences if they continue with their tour to Pakistan and after tracing the number it was revealed that the number belonged to a resident of New Delhi (allegedly a member of RAW).Shujaa Khanzada’s press conference angered Pakistani tweeps who started the hashtag TakeUpCaseInUNagainstIndia on the social media web site Twitter. TakeUpCaseInUNagainstIndia India earlier used ICC to send match officials to disregard Pak & later direct threats pic.twitter.com/8emqmC1IBq— Farhan Khan Virk (@FarhanKVirk) June 23, 2015 Only India can stoop to this low level TakeUpCaseInUNagainstIndia pic.twitter.com/I8lPpfAg5l— Fatima Ali (@FatimaAli52) June 23, 2015 Imagine if india secure permanent member inUN wonder what wouldUN WIL be called world Terrorist organization; TakeUpCaseInUNagainstIndia— RASHID Yousuf (@Dewax12Rr) June 23, 2015 Mr Obama @POTUS whre were u wen India terrorized Zimbabwe Mngr to stop em visiting Pak TakeUpCaseInUNagainstIndia pic.twitter.com/cUgCXI1qXR— PTI (@A_J_Hashmi) June 23, 2015 TakeUpCaseInUNagainstIndia India earlier used ICC to send match officials to disregard Pak & later direct threats pic.twitter.com/8emqmC1IBq— Farhan Khan Virk (@FarhanKVirk) June 23, 2015 India is trying its best to destroy cricket in Pakistan TakeUpCaseInUNagainstIndia pic.twitter.com/4A5kXyaRGL— Aisha Baloch (@AyishaBaloch) June 23, 2015 Zimbabwe tour of Pakistans success could not be digested by India TakeUpCaseInUNagainstIndia pic.twitter.com/9wMsMqQjBl— Aisha Baloch (@AyishaBaloch) June 23, 2015 They are threatening our LOVE our Cricket We Demand from our Govt to TakeUpCaseInUNagainstIndia pic.twitter.com/25gLqCoMTh— Asifa Jadoon (@jangojadoon) June 23, 2015

Temperature rise in Karachi NOT due to solar wind

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LAHORE: (Web Desk) - A news was published recently on the website of a popular private news channel of Pakistan which claimed that the real reason behind the heat in Karachi is that the storms stirring up on the sun are vomiting out charged particles in space which are causing the atmosphere to be so heated up that certain areas of the Earth are also getting affected by the heat. Though it is true that sun is actually emitting these particles, called the solar winds, they are nothing new and the sun keeps doing it all the timeaccording to Lahore Astronomical Society.A member of the society contacted Dunya News and said that the information provided on the news website is scientifically incorrect and gave a rebuttal to the story. Dunya News has decided to publish the response by the society in order to correct the scientific errors stated by the said news and also provide the readers with the accurate information on the subject.First of all, the news story claimed that the solar wind (the news didn’t mention it by the scientific term) is reaching the Earth, causing extreme weather in certain areas of the world.Correction: The Sun explodes and basically vomits out a bunch of hot, charged particles in space all the time. Sometimes however, the Earth gets in the way and we get a big solar plasma pie coming towards our planet.1) This solar stuff hurtling towards us is called solar wind and it is made up of ionized (charged) particles that like to interact with magnetic fields.2) Earth has a magnetic field So what happens is, these incoming charged particles get trapped within the Earth magnetic fields and the only consequence we humans can see of this is the northern lights AKA the Aurora (both southern and northern).What the news missed out at was that the Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide in our atmosphere react with these incoming high energy particles, some of which are UV rays and these CO2 and NO (nitrogen oxide) molecules break up because of these high energy particles and they release that energy ‘into space’.This brings us to the conclusion that the solar wind has ‘no effect’ whatsoever of increasing or decreasing the heat on the surface. There is a layer of atmosphere called Thermosphere which is high up, even above the orbital spacecrafts and though this Thermosphere gets warmed up, but, that’s not even to a degree that may be measured by the human standards.So the conclusion is that Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxide molecules break up high up in the atmosphere with that incoming energy and that energy is then dissipated back into space. Thus the charged particles only produce Aurora (beautiful northern lights) as a result and do NOTHING MORE.And yes, they don’t heat up Karachi

Posted by IMRAN ALI SOOMRO (DARVESH) at 6/24/2015 07:36:00 AM

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