Toyota reclaims world's top vehicle maker title

Japanese carmaker Toyota has regained its slot as the world's biggest vehicle maker, capping a year of a dramatic turnaround in its fortunes.

Toyota said it sold 9.75 million vehicles in 2012, a jump of more than 22% from a year earlier.

General Motors, which was the biggest vehicle maker in 2011, sold 9.29 million vehicles in 2012.


Toyota's sales in 2011 were hit by natural disasters in Japan and Thailand which hurt production at its factories.

However, Toyota, and other Japanese carmakers that were affected, have seen a steady recovery since then and have been regaining share in key markets such as the US.

"The last two years have been very difficult for Toyota," Vivek Vaidya, an auto analyst with Frost & Sullivan, told the BBC.

"The regaining of the top slot would definitely be heartening for the firm and is good news for its investors and share holders," he added.

Toyota's rivals also reported record numbers in vehicle sales for 2012.

Nissan Motor said it sold 4.94 million vehicles globally, up almost 6% from the previous year, while Honda Motor said it saw a jump of 19% from a year earlier, selling 3.82 million vehicles.
Profit boost?

Along with the natural disasters, Japanese carmakers have also been hit by a strong yen.
A strong currency not only makes Japanese goods more expensive to foreign buyers but also hits firms' profits when they repatriate their foreign earnings back home.

This especially hurts companies - such as Toyota - which rely heavily on overseas sales.

However, Japanese carmakers have received a boost in the past few weeks as the yen has fallen against the US dollar.

The Japanese currency has dropped nearly 15% against the US dollar since last November. It was trading close to 90.8 yen against US dollar in Asian trade on Monday.

Analysts said the fall was likely to have a positive impact on Toyota's growth.

"The decline in the yen is a welcome relief for Toyota," said Frost & Sullivan's Mr Vaidya.

"We are likely to see profit margins rise, giving it more cash in hand and the ability to invest in developing new technologies, which should help in its growth momentum going forward."

The Japanese carmaker raised its annual profit forecast in November.

It has predicted a net profit of 780bn yen ($8.6bn; £5.4bn) for the financial year to 31 March 2013, up from its earlier of forecast of 760bn yen.
Potential pitfalls

However, the carmaker does face some potential hurdles, not least from the continuing territorial dispute between Japan and China.

China is the world's biggest car market and is seen as key to future growth of firms such as Toyota.

However, the dispute centred around a group of islands in the East China Sea, which flared up late last year, has hurt relations between the two countries and seen Japan's exports to China decline.

The dispute is still unresolved and some fear that it may blow up again in the coming months and further hurt trade relations between the two countries.

The fear is that any such move may see anti-Japan sentiment rise and hurt sales of Japanese brands in China.

Analysts said that any such decline was likely to have a negative impact on Toyota's growth.

Amia bombing: Argentina and Iran agree truth commission

Argentina and Iran are to jointly set up a commission to investigate the 1994 bombing of the Israeli-Argentine Mutual Association (Amia) Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires.

The commission will be made up of five independent judges, none of whom will be from either Argentina or Iran.


Argentine courts have blamed Iran for the attack, which killed 85 people. Iran has always denied any involvement.

Israel said it was "surprised" by news of the commission.

Foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told the AFP news agency that they were waiting "to receive full details" from Argentina.

Iran agreed last July to cooperate with Argentina in the investigation, which it said "was going down the wrong way".

Such negotiations have alarmed Israel and Argentina's sizeable Jewish community, who fear Argentina is weakening in its resolve to put suspects on trial.

"We warned the Argentines from the start that the Iranians would try to set a trap for them and that they should beware," Mr Palmor was quoted by the AFP as saying on Monday.
High-profile suspect

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner called the agreement "historic".

"It guarantees the right to due process of law, a fundamental principle of international criminal law," Ms Kirchner said.

She said Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and his Iranian counterpart had signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia.

It still has to be ratified by the parliaments of both countries.

The commission will "analyse all the documentation presented to date by the judicial authorities of Argentina and Iran", Ms Fernandez said on her Twitter account.

According to Mr Timerman, the agreement will make it possible for Argentine legal officials to question Iranian suspects in Tehran.

Among the suspects named by Argentine prosecutors when they made their case in 2007 is Iran's current Defence Minister, Gen Ahmed Vahidi.

At the time of the attack, Gen Vahidi was the commander of a special unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

Argentine prosecutors said Iran planned and financed the attack, and that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah carried it out.

No-one has been convicted of the car bombing which destroyed the seven-storey cultural centre.

Troops take Timbuktu airport, roads

Ground forces backed by French paratroopers and helicopters have won control of the airport and roads leading to the fabled desert town of Timbuktu in northern Mali.

French forces are on the verge of taking control of the historic city as they press their offensive against Islamist rebels, France's foreign minister Laurent Fabius said.


The move marked the latest inroad by the two-week-old French mission to oust radical Islamists from the northern half of Mali, which they seized more than nine months ago.

French and Malian troops have taken control of the city's airport, about 7 kilometers from the town centre, Mali's army spokesman, Colonel Diarran Kone, said today.

Fighting alongside Malian and African forces, the French captured another northern town, Gao, 590 miles north of Bamako over the weekend.

Taking Timbuktu would make Kidal the last of three large northern cities the rebels control.

"Things are going as expected," Mr Fabius said of the French intervention.

"What's important is that Mali, little by little, is liberated,” he said.

France intervened in Mali on January 11th after Islamist fighters overran the town of Konna, sparking concern they might advance to Bamako.

European and US leaders have warned that northern Mali is turning into a haven for Islamist militants intent on attacking western targets.

Timbuktu is known for three ancient mosques and 16 mausoleums dating as far back as the 15th century and is a designated UNESCO site.

Islamist rebels said in July that they were destroying historic mausoleums and mosques in the city of because they're "idolatrous."

Several insurgent groups, including Touareg separatists and al-Qaeda-linked Islamists, seized northern Mali last year, after a March coup in the capital.

The French defence ministry has said 3,700 French soldiers are involved in the operation to win back the area, including 2,500 on Mali soil.

West African nations decided to almost double their Mali mission to 5,700 troops,

Mali ranks 175th out of 187 nations on the UN Human Development Index, which measures indicators including literacy, income and gender equality.

Chavez Undergoes New Medical Treatment in Cuba

A Venezuelan government spokesman says President Hugo Chavez has begun a new round of medical treatment in Cuba, after battling complications from cancer surgery performed more than a month ago.

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas, speaking Saturday, did not offer details of the newest treatment and did not provide new information on the cancer itself. But he said  Chavez had overcome a respiratory infection, while adding "there still is some degree of breathing difficulty that is being treated appropriately."


The Venezuelan leader underwent a six-hour surgical procedure in December in Havana -- his fourth such surgery since he was diagnosed with cancer in mid-2011. The president has never disclosed the type or severity of the cancer, which is said to be in his pelvic area. Early this month, Vice President Nicolas Maduro described the president's condition as "delicate."

The latest cancer recurrence was discovered in October, in the aftermath of the socialist leader's overwhelming re-election. At the time, Chavez named Maduro as his successor if he remained unable to resume his duties.

The president was scheduled to be sworn in to a new six-year term January 10, but, upon learning Chavez could not leave Cuba for the ceremonies, the Venezuelan Supreme Court ruled he could delay his inauguration indefinitely.

Riots over death sentences kill 32 in Egypt

At least 32 people were killed on Saturday when Egyptians rampaged in protest at the sentencing of 21 people to death over a soccer stadium disaster, violence that compounds a political crisis facing Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.Armoured vehicles and military police fanned through the streets of Port Said, where gunshots rang out and protesters burned tyres in anger that people from their city had been blamed for the deaths of 74 people at a match last year.

The rioting in Port Said, one of the most deadly spasms of violence since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster two years ago, followed a day of anti-Mursi demonstrations on Friday, when nine people were killed. The toll over the past two days stands at 41.
The flare-ups make it even tougher for Mursi, who drew fire last year for expanding his powers and pushing through an Islamist-tinged constitution, to fix the creaking economy and cool tempers enough to ensure a smooth parliamentary election.
That vote is expected in the next few months and is meant to cement a democratic transition that has been blighted from the outset by political rows and street clashes.
The National Defence Council, which is led by Mursi and includes the defence minister who commands the army, called for ‘a broad national dialogue that would be attended by independent national characters’ to discuss political differences and ensure a ‘fair and transparent’ parliamentary poll.
The National Salvation Front of liberal-minded groups and other Mursi opponents cautiously welcomed the call.

Threats of violence

Clashes in Port Said erupted after a judge sentenced 21 men to die for involvement in the deaths at the soccer match on Feb. 1, 2012. Many were fans of the visiting team, Cairo’s Al Ahly.
Al Ahly fans had threatened violence if the court had not meted out the death penalty. They cheered outside their Cairo club when the verdict was announced. But in Port Said, residents were furious that people from their city were held responsible.
Protesters ran wildly through the streets of the Mediterranean port, lighting tyres in the street and storming two police stations, witnesses said. Gunshots were reported near the prison where most of the defendants were being held.
A security source in Port Said said 32 people were killed there, many dying from gunshot wounds. He said 312 were wounded and the ministry of defence had allocated a military plane to transfer the injured to military hospitals.
Inside the court in Cairo, families of victims danced, applauded and some broke down in tears of joy when they heard Judge Sobhy Abdel Maguid declare that the 21 men would be ‘referred to the Mufti’, a phrase used to denote execution, as all death sentences must be reviewed by Egypt’s top religious authority.
There were 73 defendants on trial. Those not sentenced on Saturday would face a verdict on March 9, the judge said.
At the Port Said soccer stadium a year ago, many spectators were crushed and witnesses saw some thrown off balconies after the match between Al Ahly and local team Al Masri. Al Ahly fans accused the police of being complicit in the deaths.
Among those killed on Saturday were a former player for Al Masri and a soccer player in another Port Said team, the website of the state broadcaster reported.

Teargas fired

On Friday, protesters angry at Mursi’s rule had taken to the streets for the second anniversary of the uprising that erupted on Jan. 25, 2011 and brought Mubarak down 18 days later.
Police fired teargas and protesters hurled stones and petrol bombs. Nine people were killed, mainly in the port city of Suez, and hundreds more were injured across the nation.
Reflecting international concern at the two days of clashes, British Foreign Office Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt said: ‘This cannot help the process of dialogue which we encourage as vital for Egypt today, and we must condemn the violence in the strongest terms.’
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged the Egyptian authorities to restore calm and order and called on all sides to show restraint, her spokesperson said.
On Saturday, some protesters again clashed and scuffled with police in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities. In the capital, youths pelted police lines with rocks near Tahrir Square.
In Suez, police fired teargas when protesters angry at Friday’s deaths hurled petrol bombs and stormed a police post and other governmental buildings including the agriculture and social solidarity units.
Around 18 prisoners in Suez police stations managed to escape during the violence, a security source there said, and some 30 police weapons were stolen.
‘We want to change the president and the government. We are tired of this regime. Nothing has changed,’ said Mahmoud Suleiman, 22, in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the cauldron of the 2011 anti-Mubarak revolt.
Mursi’s opponents say he has failed to deliver on economic pledges or to be a president representing the full political and communal diversity of Egyptians, as he promised.
‘Egypt will not regain its balance except by a political solution that is transparent and credible, by a government of national salvation to restore order and heal the economy and with a constitution for all Egyptians,’ prominent opposition politician Mohamed ElBaradei wrote on Twitter.
The opposition National Salvation Front, responding to the Defence Council’s call for dialogue, said there must be a clear agenda and guarantees that any deal would be implemented, spokesman Khaled Dawoud told Reuters.
The Front earlier on Saturday threatened an election boycott and to call for more protests on Friday if demands were not met. Its demands included picking a national unity government to restore order and holding an early presidential poll.
Mursi’s supporters say the opposition does not respect the democracy that has given Egypt its first freely elected leader.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled Mursi to office, said in a statement that ‘corrupt people’ and media who were biased against the president had stirred up fury on the streets.
The frequent violence and political schism between Islamists and secular Egyptians have hurt Mursi’s efforts to revive an economy in crisis as investors and tourists have stayed away, taking a heavy toll on Egypt’s currency.

Philippines boats harassed: Aqiuno

Manila - President Benigno Aquino has accused China of harassing two Philippine fishing boats in disputed South China Sea waters, allegedly driving out one that had sheltered from rough seas.

Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, Aquino said the two Scarborough Shoal incidents had led to Manila seeking United Nations arbitration this week over the territorial dispute.

Aquino, who did not say when the incidents occurred, said “Chinese vessels” approached to within nine metres (10 yards) of a Filipino fishing boat near the shoal.

“While they (Chinese vessels) were approaching, their horns were supposedly blaring at full blast, causing apprehension to our fishing vessel,” he said, according to a transcript released by the government on Saturday.

A second Filipino boat was driven out by Chinese vessels shortly after it took shelter near the shoal, he added.

“According to the affidavit (crew's depositions), they were told to go back to the rough waters.”

The shoal, located closer to the Philippine island of Luzon than the Chinese mainland, has been a source of friction since April last year when Chinese vessels stopped the Philippine navy from arresting alleged Chinese poachers.

Aquino, saying only that the incidents were the latest in a series of assertive Chinese actions in the area, stressed the Scarborough Shoal Äwhich Manila calls “Bajo de Masinloc” and China calls “Huangyan island” Ä and its surrounding waters are part of the Philippines' “exclusive economic zone”.

China claims most of the South China Sea, including waters and islands close to the shores of its neighbours.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario however this week said Manila had taken China to a UN tribunal to challenge its claim to most of the sea, including territory belonging to the archipelago, and would ask the arbitration panel to declare Chinese claims in the area invalid.

Aquino said he could not allow China to claim “effective control over Bajo de Masinloc by ordering our vessels out”, as this could encourage Beijing to move into the Philippine-claimed and allegedly resource-rich Reed Bank.

“We are not threatening anybody, but if we don't stand up for our rights, who do we expect will be standing up for our rights?” Aquino said.

China eyes rich bounty in Afghanistan

Kabul - China, long a bystander to the conflict in Afghanistan, is stepping up its involvement as U.S.-led forces prepare to withdraw, attracted by the country's vast mineral resources but concerned that any post-2014 chaos could embolden Islamist insurgents in its own territory.

Cheered on by the U.S. and other Western governments, which see Asia's giant as a potentially stabilizing force, China could prove the ultimate winner in Afghanistan - having shed no blood and not much aid.

Security - or the lack of it - remains the key challenge:

Chinese enterprises have already bagged three multibillion dollar investment projects, but they won't be able to go forward unless conditions get safer. While the Chinese do not appear ready to rush into any vacuum left by the withdrawal of foreign troops, a definite shift toward a more hands-on approach to Afghanistan is under way.

*EDITOR'S NOTE - This story is part of “China's Reach,” a project tracking China's influence on its trading partners over three decades and exploring how that is changing business, politics and daily life. Keep up with AP's reporting on China's Reach, and join the conversation about it, using the hashtag (hash)APChinaReach on Twitter.

*Beijing signed a strategic partnership last summer with the war-torn country. This was followed in September with a trip to Kabul by its top security official, the first by a leading Chinese government figure in 46 years, and the announcement that China

would train 300 Afghan police officers. China is also showing signs of willingness to help negotiate a peace agreement as NATO prepares to pull out in two years.

It's a new role for China, as its growing economic might gives it a bigger stake in global affairs. Success, though far from guaranteed, could mean a big payoff for a country hungry for resources to sustain its economic growth and eager to maintain stability in Xinjiang.

“If you are able to see a more or less stable situation in Afghanistan, if it becomes another relatively normal Central Asian state, China will be the natural beneficiary,” says Andrew Small, a China expert at The German Marshall Fund of the United States, an American research institute. “If you look across Central Asia, that is what has already happened. ... China is the only actor who can foot the level of investment needed in Afghanistan to make it succeed and stick it out.”

Over the past decade, China's trade has boomed with Afghanistan's resource-rich neighbors in Central Asia. For Turkmenistan, China trade reached 21 percent of GDP in 2011, up from 1 percent five years earlier, according to an Associated Press analysis of International Monetary Fund data. The equivalent figure for Tajikistan is 32 percent of GDP, versus 12 percent in 2006. China's trade with Afghanistan stood at a modest 1.3 percent of GDP in 2011.

Eyeing Afghanistan's estimated $1 trillion worth of unexploited minerals, Chinese companies have acquired rights to extract vast quantities of copper and coal and snapped up the first oil exploration concessions granted to foreigners in decades. China is also eyeing extensive deposits of lithium, uses of which range from batteries to nuclear components.

The Chinese are also showing interest in investing in hydropower, agriculture and construction. Preliminary talks have been held about a direct road link to China across the remote 76-kilometer (47-mile) border between the two countries, according to Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry.

Wang Lian, a Central Asia expert at Beijing University, notes that superpowers have historically been involved in Afghanistan because it is an Asian crossroads - and China would be no exception.

“It's unquestionable that China bears the responsibility to participate in the political and economic reconstruction of Afghanistan,” he says. “A stable Afghanistan is of vital importance to (China). China can't afford to stand aside following the U.S. troop withdrawal and in the process of political transition.”

A stable Afghanistan, Wang says, is vital to the security of Xinjiang, China's far west where Islamic militants are seeking independence. Some have gained sanctuary and training in Pakistan and along the Pakistan-Afghan border. Beijing fears chaos, or victory by the Taliban, would allow these groups greater leeway.

The U.S. is encouraging Beijing to boost its investment and aid in Afghanistan and backs its participation in various peace-seeking initiatives, including a Pakistan-Afghanistan-China forum that met last month for the second time.

Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai says there has been a greater sharing of intelligence between his country and China, and a joint U.S.-Chinese program to mentor junior Afghan diplomats. In one of the only cases of such cooperation in the world, the U.S. brought 15 diplomats to Washington, D.C., last month, after they had received similar training in China. Similar three-way programs are being developed in health and agriculture.

“Recently, China has taken a keener interest in the security situation and the transition process, and we are more than happy that this is increasing,” Mosazai says. “It's certainly a change, a welcome change.”

He adds that Beijing could play a crucial role in forging peace in Afghanistan because of its close relations to Pakistan, which has long-standing links to the Taliban, whose leadership is widely believed to operate from the country.

Davood Moradian, who heads the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies in Kabul, says the Chinese are treading carefully, realizing they lack expertise in a complex political landscape that has tripped up other great powers.

“The Chinese are ambiguous. They don't want the Taliban to return to power and are concerned about a vacuum after 2014 that the Taliban could fill, but they also don't like having U.S. troops in their neighborhood,” he says.

Should the Chinese step into the peace process, either as a principal intermediary or through Pakistan, they could carry considerable weight.

“They are rare among the actors in Afghanistan in that they are not seen as having been too close to any side of the conflict. All sides are happy to see China's expanded role,” Small says.

Though China doesn't want a Taliban takeover, Beijing regards the group as a “legitimate political force,” says Small. Beijing was on its way to recognizing the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan before the 9/11 attacks that led to the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

The Afghan government has backed off from earlier criticism that the Chinese were not contributing their share to security and reconstruction of the country.

“There was an attitude that the Chinese were just interested in profiting from other people's loss, the blood and sweat of American and other troops,” says Moradian. “But that is changing.” - Sapa-AP

World leaders should note that time is fast running out

The world Economic Forum started a couple of days ago and I have to say that, so far, I am not impressed. Every January over the past 12 years, I put on a courageous face and go where I must – not where I like – where the world’s most powerful people are, to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. The week of the WEF feels like the most challenging week of my working life because of the “WEF spirit” conveyed by people at the forum walking around as if they owned the world, and the frustrating reality is that they actually do own most of it.

To be brutally honest, I’d rather be risking arrest, marching in solidarity for environmental, social and economic justice or attempting to build strong civil society alliances together with like-minded people. Yet, here I am again seeking to appeal to the most powerful that they have to move beyond an obsession with preserving a system that drives economic inequality, environmental destruction and violence. What is needed is not system maintenance or system recovery, but a substantial system redesign. Indeed, a small but growing number of progressive business leaders are beginning to really understand this; however, the majority of chief executives must release themselves from a business-as-usual mentality since the levels of popular disaffection we are seeing from the Arab world to the Occupy movement, will look like a Sunday morning picnic in years to come if world leaders do not recognise that time is fast running out.

At each forum, I deal with the contradiction that many of the people whose views I respect and many of the people whose aspirations I seek to promote are the excluded, while others seek only to promote their own self-interest. But, if we are going to change things around, the unelected, unrepresentative, super powerful people walking the corridors of Davos, civil society will need to be inside presenting an alternative narrative. Leaders will need to go beyond “resilient dynamism”, protecting themselves from future shocks, and invest their power and money in long-term solutions. Whether we like it or not, we have to win over at least some of the powerful in Davos if we are to avert climate catastrophe, create decent work, and ensure decent public services, if we are going to have a chance to avoid unnecessary conflict and disaster; that’s a reality of the balance of power we find ourselves in.

Voices for transformational change are mounting: earlier this month, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said that the financial costs linked to climate change represented the biggest threat to global economy – and let’s not forget, Africa remains one of the most vulnerable continents.

While on a panel at the forum, President Jacob Zuma took issue with the theme of the session, entitled “De-risking Africa”. He rhetorically asked if Africa is indeed more risky than other regions, and someone from the audience said “yes”. Indeed, the conversation was focused on economic growth and had nothing to do with climate change, but I would argue that this should have been part of the equation. Zuma was hinting at negative perceptions of Africa – but whether we like it or not, climate change will affect vulnerable nations of Africa more than others; and sadly neither Zuma nor any other African political and business leaders speak about the link between climate change and economy.

If business and politics took the view of enlightened self-interest, they would act against climate change because it’s in their interest. A transition towards an energy sector based on renewables will generate new opportunities, new industries, new forms of business, not to mention stability and prosperity. And this would benefit business, politicians and society generally.

I take heart in recent speeches from two of the most powerful people on the planet – two indications that the truth is percolating through to power. Enlightened self-interest and philanthropy were evident in US President Barack Obama’s inauguration speech, a speech which renewed my faith in the fierce audacity of hope: “We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity. We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgement of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms.

“The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it. We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise. That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks. That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God. That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.”

The UN secretary-general, addressing a conference in California earlier this month, joined some of the dots: “The world spends more on the military in one month than it does on development all year… four hours of military spending is equal to the total budgets of all international disarmament and non-proliferation organisations combined. The world is over-armed. Peace is under-funded. Bloated military budgets promote proliferation, derail arms control, doom disarmament and detract from social and economic development.”

The reality is that this year, as in the past, the forum suffers from two major deficiencies. Firstly, it is rooted in a culture of presenting minuscule incremental change as significant and, secondly, it suffers from a disease of cognitive dissonance (the facts are clear, suggesting urgent action, but leaders remain in denial).

Yet, whether you come from business, government or civil society it is now clear that climate change fundamentally threatens our children’s and grandchildren’s future, and one can only hope for and fight for an approach that shows urgency and takes into account that from Africa to Asia, from the US to Australia, we are fast running out of time.

China, Japan move to cool down territorial dispute

BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Japan sought to cool down tensions over a chafing territorial dispute on Friday, with Communist Party chief Xi Jinping telling an envoy from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that he was committed to developing bilateral ties.

Xi will consider holding a summit meeting with Abe, Natsuo Yamaguchi, a senior lawmaker and head of the junior partner in Japan's ruling coalition, told reporters after his talks with the Chinese leader.

The meeting came as China took the dispute over a series of uninhabited islands to the United Nations.

It was not immediately clear if the U.N. involvement would increase the likelihood the row would be resolved peacefully. But launching an international legal process could reduce the temperature for now.

At China's request, the United Nations will, later this year, consider the scientific validity of a claim by Beijing that the islands, called the Diaoyu in Chinese and the Senkaku by Japan, are part of its territory. Japan says the world body should not be involved.

"The China government's policy to pay close attention to China-Japan relations has not changed," Xi told Yamaguchi at the meeting in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, according to a statement on the Chinese foreign ministry's website.
But he added: "The Japanese side ought to face up to history and reality, take practical steps and work hard with China to find an effective way to appropriately resolve and manage the issue via dialogue and consultations."

China's media have portrayed the territorial dispute as an emotional touchpoint for Chinese people that evokes memories of Japan's 1931-1945 occupation of parts of the mainland. Chinese textbooks, television and films are full of portrayals vilifying the Japanese.

Relations between the countries, the world's second- and third-largest economies, plunged after the Japanese government bought three of the islands from a private owner last year, sparking widespread, violent anti-Japan protests across China. Some Japanese businesses were looted and Japanese citizens attacked.

Yamaguchi handed a letter from to Xi from Abe, who wrote that he hoped to develop peaceful relations between the two countries, Yamaguchi said.
BROAD VIEW

Japan takes a broad view of the issue and believes tensions can be resolved between the two countries, he told reporters before returning to Tokyo after a four-day visit.

"Japan wishes to pursue ties with China while looking at the big picture," Yamaguchi said he told Xi, who is set to take over as China's president in March.

"I firmly believe our differences with China can be resolved," Yamaguchi said, adding that he did not directly discuss the islands issue with Xi.

"We agreed that it is important to continue dialogue with the aim of holding a Japan-China summit between the two leaders," he added, though no specific details were given. "Secretary Xi said he will seriously consider a high-level dialogue with Japan."

While Yamaguchi has no formal position in the government, he is leader of relatively dovish New Komeito party, a coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party that was voted to power in December.

Taking the issue to the United Nations is an effort to underscore China's legal claim to the islands, but also a way to reduce tensions in the region, said Ruan Zongze, deputy director of the China Institute of International Studies, a think-tank affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"It's two things: it's part of the legal efforts, and we want to exert our legal claim in a less confrontational way," Ruan said. "We don't want to see escalation, particularly with fighter jets. That would be very dangerous from any point of view."

In a submission to the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, China claims that the continental shelf in the East China Sea is a natural prolongation of China's land territory and that it includes the disputed islands.

Under the U.N. convention, a country can extend its 200-nautical-mile economic zone if it can prove that the continental shelf is a natural extension of its land mass. The U.N. commission assesses the scientific validity of claims, but any disputes have to be resolved between states, not by the commission.

North Korea threatens war with South over U.N. sanctions

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea threatened to attack rival South Korea if Seoul joined a new round of tightened U.N. sanctions, as Washington unveiled more of its own economic restrictions following Pyongyang's rocket launch last month.

In a third straight day of fiery rhetoric, the North directed its verbal onslaught at its neighbor on Friday, saying: "'Sanctions' mean a war and a declaration of war against us."

The reclusive North has this week declared a boycott of all dialogue aimed at ending its nuclear program and vowed to conduct more rocket and nuclear tests after the U.N. Security Council censured it for a December long-range missile launch.

"If the puppet group of traitors takes a direct part in the U.N. 'sanctions,' the DPRK will take strong physical counter-measures against it," the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said, referring to the South.

The committee is the North's front for dealings with the South. DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned North Korea's December rocket launch on Tuesday and expanded existing U.N. sanctions.

On Thursday, the United States slapped economic sanctions on two North Korean bank officials and a Hong Kong trading company that it accused of supporting Pyongyang's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The company, Leader (Hong Kong) International Trading Ltd, was separately blacklisted by the United Nations on Wednesday.

Seoul has said it will look at whether there are any further sanctions that it can implement alongside the United States, but said the focus for now is to follow Security Council resolutions.

The resolution said the council "deplores the violations" by North Korea of its previous resolutions, which banned Pyongyang from conducting further ballistic missile and nuclear tests and from importing materials and technology for those programs. It does not impose new sanctions on Pyongyang.

The United States had wanted to punish North Korea for the rocket launch with a Security Council resolution that imposed entirely new sanctions against Pyongyang, but Beijing rejected that option. China agreed to U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang after North Korea's 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.

NUCLEAR TEST WORRY

North Korea's rhetoric this week amounted to some of the angriest outbursts against the outside world coming under the leadership of Kim Jong-un, who took over after the death of his father Kim Jong-il in late 2011.

On Thursday, the North said it would carry out further rocket launches and a nuclear test, directing its ire at the United States, a country it called its "sworn enemy".

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the comments were worrying.

"We are very concerned with North Korea's continuing provocative behavior," he said at a Pentagon news conference.

"We are fully prepared ... to deal with any kind of provocation from the North Koreans. But I hope in the end that they determine that it is better to make a choice to become part of the international family."

North Korea is not believed to have the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting the continental United States, although its December launch showed it had the capacity to deliver a rocket that could travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles), potentially putting San Francisco in range, according to an intelligence assessment by South Korea.

South Korea and others who have been closely observing activities at the North's known nuclear test grounds believe Pyongyang is technically ready to go ahead with its third atomic test and awaiting the political decision of its leader.

The North's committee also declared on Friday that a landmark agreement it signed with the South in 1992 on eliminating nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula was invalid, repeating its long-standing accusation that Seoul was colluding with Washington.

The foreign ministry of China, the North's sole remaining major diplomatic and economic benefactor, repeated its call for calm on the Korean peninsula at its daily briefing on Friday.
"The current situation on the Korea peninsula is complicated and sensitive," spokesman Hong Lei said.

"We hope all relevant parties can see the big picture, maintain calm and restraint, further maintain contact and dialogue, and improve relations, while not taking actions to further complicate and escalate the situation," Hong said.

But unusually prickly comments in Chinese state media on Friday hinted at Beijing's exasperation.

"It seems that North Korea does not appreciate China's efforts," said the Global Times in an editorial, a sister publication of the official People's Daily.

"Just let North Korea be 'angry' ... China hopes for a stable peninsula, but it's not the end of the world if there's trouble there. This should be the baseline of China's position."

Gay marriages: Government publishes legislation

Legislation to enable same-sex marriages to take place in England and Wales has been published.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller told BBC Radio 4: "We feel that marriage is a good thing and we should be supporting more couples to marry."
There would be adequate protection for religious freedoms, she said.
The bill has divided Conservatives, with former Defence Secretary Liam Fox recently describing it as "ill thought through and constitutionally wrong".

Conservative MPs will get a free vote on the legislation when it is debated in the Commons on Tuesday 5 February, meaning they will face no repercussions if they decide to defy government policy.
More than 100 Tory MPs are thought to be against the idea, but the bill is likely to pass through the Commons with the support of Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs.
Same-sex couples have been able to enter into civil partnerships since 2005, entitling them to the same legal rights as married couples across a range of matters, such as inheritance, pensions provision, life assurance, child maintenance, next of kin and immigration rights.
'Special case' The new law, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, will enable same-sex couples to get married in both civil and religious ceremonies - where a religious institution has formally consented.

It will also allow couples who have previously entered into civil partnerships to convert their relationship into a marriage.

Mrs Miller said the government recognised that "some churches won't want to participate in same-sex marriages".
"We are trying to make sure that there are the protections there for churches who feel that this isn't appropriate for their particular beliefs," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
However, the government also wanted any religious institution that did want to carry out same-sex marriages to be able to do so, she said.
The Church of England and Roman Catholics, among other denominations, have voiced opposition to the plans and are expected to oppose the bill, even with its caveats.
But some religious groups, including Quakers, Unitarians and Liberal Judaism, are in favour.
The culture secretary set out the legal position of the Church of England and the Church in Wales in some detail in a blog post in December.
"The Church of England, as the established church, is a special case. It has a duty in law to marry any person in their local parish church, regardless of their religious affiliation," she wrote.
The legislation would ensure this duty did not apply to same-sex couples, she said.
'Christians under threat' But she added that it could put forward a change to the law "of its own accord" if its governing body, the Synod, changed its policy: "Put simply, should the Church of England decide to carry out same-sex marriage in the future, it can itself amend legislation to effect this with the approval of Parliament."
Mrs Miller told the Commons in December that no religious organisation "will ever be forced to conduct marriages for same-sex couples".
Mr Fox has said the proposals will put the established church in an "anomalous and absurd" position.
In a letter to constituents that was subsequently made public, Mr Fox said same-sex relationships should be treated "with tolerance and respect", but he did not believe there was much demand for them to be recognised as marriages.
"The legislation looks as though it was made on the hoof to deal with the political problem du jour," he wrote.
The government was in danger of "further weakening and splintering Britain's traditional religion at a time when many Christians feel that they are under threat", he said.
"To fail to understand this is to risk an affront to a large stabilising and normally acquiescent section of this country which will sow completely unnecessary seeds of dissent."

Armed Drones Could Target President: Former U.S. Intelligence Chief

WASHINGTON -- As the technology for arming drones spreads around the world, terrorists could use the unmanned, missile-firing aircraft to attack and kill the president and other U.S. leaders, the former chief of U.S. intelligence said Tuesday.
Retired Adm. Dennis Blair, who served as President Obama's first director of national intelligence, told reporters he was concerned that the proliferation of armed drones -- a potential outgrowth of the U.S. reliance on drones to attack and kill terrorists -- could well backfire.

"I do fear that if al Qaeda can develop a drone, its first thought will be to use it to kill our president, and senior officials and senior officers," Blair said during a conference call with reporters. "It is possible without a great deal of intelligence to do something with a drone you cannot do with a high-powered rifle or driving a car full of explosives and other ways terrorists now use to try killing senior officials," he said.
The U.S. development and growing use of armed drones has not "opened a huge Pandora's box which will make us wish we had never invented the drone," Blair said. But he said if drones are acquired by terrorist groups, it would force the U.S. to take defensive measures. Yet, the U.S. already has extensive surveillance of its airspace and sophisticated weapons designed against a variety of airborne threats.
The Obama administration has accelerated armed drone strikes against individuals and groups in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia as well as Afghanistan, in a campaign which is almost entirely secret. Administration officials have said the strikes are necessary to combat terrorist plotting against the U.S. But while President Obama and other officials have declared the strikes are legal, the White House has refused to divulge its legal justification for the strikes, which have included the killing of an American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki.
Blair said the Obama administration has only "partly thought through" the repercussions of its expanded drone attack campaign, including the inevitable proliferation of drone technology to other countries and organizations. He spoke Tuesday on a call organized by the Council on Foreign Relations, with senior analyst Micah Zenko.
Already, dozens of countries from Iran to China are using surveillance drones, and experts believe it will not be long before swarms of armed drones take to the air.
The Obama administration is coming under increasing pressure to unveil at least some details of the secretive drone counter-terrorist campaign, which is carried out by the Joint Special Operations Command and by the CIA. The latter agency largely operates the drone strikes against terrorist groups in Pakistan.
Blair -- who was dismissed by President Obama in May 2010 after a falling-out over intelligence matters -- said the administration should make public some details of how and why it decides that some terrorists should be targeted. "The United States is a democracy, we want our people to know how we use military force and that we use it in ways the United States is proud of," Blair said. "There's been far too little debate" about this form of killing.
The drone strikes are reviewed, after they have taken place, by the House and Senate intelligence committees, so there is some oversight of the process by which targets are selected and people killed. But Blair said he doubted the White House would allow the public insight into the drone program. "They've made the cold-blooded calculation that it's better to hunker down and take the criticism than to take the debate public -- which I think in the long run is essential," he said.
But Blair acknowledged that a robust public discussion about the legal basis for the drones campaigns would have little deterrent effect on terrorists. He said extremist groups look at how the U.S. frames its military strikes in legal terms not in order to emulate that behavior but "in order to find weaknesses" they can exploit.
"If a terrorist group gets drone technology," Blair said, "it will use it against us every way they can."

Commerzbank plans 6,000 job cuts

Germany's second-biggest lender Commerzbank is planning to cut as many as 6,000 jobs, or more than 10% of its workforce.

The bank said it wants to cut between 4,000 and 6,000 full-time employees by 2016. Commerzbank currently employs 56,000 staff, of which 49,000 are full-time.
The bank said it was planning to invest more than 2bn euros (£1.7bn; $2.7bn) as it overhauls its retail banking.
Shares in the bank fell 1.9%.

In June, Commerzbank was downgraded by ratings agency Moody's. In addition to having its rating cut, Commerzbank was placed on negative outlook, meaning Moody's is considering a further cut.
The agency said that was because of the bank's exposure to the eurozone periphery, as well as its concentration of loans to single sectors and borrowers.
Some are sceptical that this latest round of job cuts will help much.
"The cuts are not very ambitious," said analyst Guido Hoymann from Metzler Securities. "I would have expected them to be carried out faster - until 2016, that is a long way off."

Female smoking death risk 'has soared'

Women smoking nowadays are far more likely to die as a result of their habit than they were in the 1960s, according to a new study.

Changing habits such as starting earlier and smoking more cigarettes have been blamed on dramatically increased risks of lung cancer.
The trends, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, show death rates in women have caught up with men.

The study looked at data from more than two million women in the US.
The first generation of women smokers started during the 1950s and 60s. In those early years, women who smoked were nearly three times more likely to die from lung cancer as people who had never smoked.
Looking at medical records from women between 2000-2010 showed they were 25 times more likely to die from lung cancer than their non-smoking friends.
It follows a similar pattern in men, who reached a similar level in the 1980s.
Lead researcher Dr Michael Thun said: "The steep increase in risk among female smokers has continued for decades after the serious health risks from smoking were well established, and despite the fact that women predominantly smoked cigarette brands marketed as lower in 'tar' and nicotine.
"So not only did the use of cigarette brands marketed as 'Light' and 'Mild' fail to prevent a large increase in risk in women, it also may have exacerbated the increase in deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease in male smokers, since the diluted smoke from these cigarettes is inhaled more deeply into the lungs of smokers to maintain the accustomed absorption of nicotine."
Research published last year suggested that lifelong female smokers died a decade earlier than those who never started.
However, those who gave up by the age of 30 almost completely avoided the risks of dying early from tobacco-related diseases with those stopping by 40 died a year younger.
Speaking after that study, Prof Sir Richard Peto, at Oxford University, said "If women smoke like men, they die like men."

Cameron proposes vote on EU relationship

Prime Minister David Cameron said Wednesday he will offer British citizens a vote on whether to leave the European Union if his party wins the next election, a move which could trigger alarm among fellow member states.
He acknowledged that public disillusionment with the EU is "at an all-time high," using a long-awaited speech in central London to say that the terms of Britain's membership in the bloc should be revised and the country's citizens should have a say.

Cameron proposed Wednesday that his Conservative Party renegotiate the U.K.'s relationship with the European Union if it wins the next general election, expected in 2015.
"Once that new settlement has been negotiated, we will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice to stay in the EU on these new terms. Or come out altogether," Cameron said. "It will be an in-out referendum."
The stated possibility of a referendum is expected to frustrate other EU member states currently focused on stemming the euro zone debt crisis.
Already, speculation over a vote on leaving the EU has prompted a chorus of concern from around the world, stressing the importance of the U.K.'s presence in the bloc and warning about the economic consequences of a British exit.
Even the U.S., which normally stays out of disputes among EU states, waded into the debate.
The White House said last week President Barack Obama told Cameron in a phone call that "the United States values a strong U.K. in a strong European Union."
But Cameron stressed that his first priority is renegotiating the EU treaty _ not leaving the bloc.
"I say to our European partners, frustrated as some of them no doubt are by Britain's attitude: work with us on this," he said.
Much of the criticism directed at Cameron has accused him of trying an "a la carte" approach to membership in the bloc and seeking to play by some but not all of its rules.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius warned Wednesday that a British withdrawal from the EU would be dangerous for both the bloc and Britain.
"Say that Europe is a soccer club. You join this soccer club, but you can't say you want to play rugby," he told France-Info radio.
Membership of the EU has given the U.K. access to the massive joint European market as well as a say in how the region should govern itself and run its financial markets. The country has also benefited from EU funds to build infrastructure such as broadband networks.
Cameron insisted Wednesday that a "one size fits all" approach to the 27-nation EU is misguided. Britain, a fiercly independent island nation, has always had a fraught relationship with the bloc. It benefits from the single market but is among 10 of the EU countries not to use the euro.
"Let us not be misled by the fallacy that a deep and workable single market requires everything to be harmonized, to hanker after some unattainable and infinitely level playing field," he said. "Countries are different. They make different choices. We cannot harmonize everything."
Even as he raised the spectre of a referendum, Cameron reiterated his view that Britain should stay in the EU.
"I speak as British prime minister with a positive vision for the future of the European Union. A future in which Britain wants, and should want, to play a committed and active part," Cameron said. "There is no doubt that we are more powerful in Washington, in Beijing, in Delhi because we are a powerful player in the European Union."
But in order to stay, the bloc needs to change, Cameron said, as he laid out a vision of a "new" EU built on five principles: competitiveness; flexibility; power flowing back to, not just away from, member states; democratic accountability; and fairness.
Taking a direct swipe at those who have warned that raising the possibility of a referendum has created uncertainty for business, Cameron will say that questions about EU membership are "already there and won't go away."
But he cautioned against holding a vote immediately, saying it would be wrong to hold a referendum "before we have had a chance to put the relationship right" and before the euro zone emerges from crisis.
The timeline he laid out mostly hinges on a Conservative victory in the next general election. Still, Cameron said legislation will be drafted before 2015 so that if his party wins, it can be introduced and passed quickly enough to ensure a vote could be held "in the first half" of the next Parliament.
The Conservatives formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats after an inconclusive 2010 election. Pegging the possibility of a vote to an electoral win could be a gamble to appease increasingly vocal Conservative euroskeptics and stem the stream of voters who have jumped ship to the UK Independence Party, which advocates EU withdrawal.

Algeria-BP Is One of Many Reasons Why Al-Qaeda Won

When then-Vice President Dick Cheney stated: "If there's a 1% chance that Pakistani scientists are helping al-Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty in terms of our response. It's not about our analysis...it's about our response,"(1) it was clearly evident that the "war on terror" had been lost. Mythical wars that are emotionally charged and irrationally fought, especially with imaginary and impulsive feelings, always fail.

At the same time, and in order to perpetuate a war of myths, five Bush Administration officials had to specifically make "237 false and misleading" statements on the Iraqi threat in 125 public appearances. In the month of September 2002, the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush Administration is on record as having made nearly 50 misleading and deceptive statements to the public.(2) Along with mythical wars, failures always arise when leaders use tragedies and the dead to advance predetermined agendas.
And when Zacarias Moussaouishouted: "America you lost. I won!", just after being sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Sept. 11 attacks, it was clear that he had a better grasp of reality than his opponents. A nation that mistakes a hegemonic imperial war utilizing terror and violence carried out in its name for a war against "terrorism,"(2) which includes the entire world, will always lose. In the end, realities trump myths, in this case, the myth of American Military and Corporate Exceptionalism.
Al-Qaeda has won the "war on terror" because the United States has failed to implement a very important principle of war. In "The Art of War" Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese militarystratigist, wrote: "No country benefited from prolonged warfare." Selling a war and persuading a population to continually commit to lengthy occupations and multiple troop deployments is difficult in and of itself.(3) Selling a war to populaces takes the employment of varied and ubiquitous messages.
However, selling more than one war, even three four and five at the same time, demands unquestioning allegiance of hearts and minds and the sacrificing of liberties. It is possible, at least for a short time, especially with such advances in information and cultural management, which is necessary for thought and behavioral control, to sell more than one war and to fight on many different fronts. But as human and resource sacrifices accumulate, militant and fascist-like expansionist states thrive on borrowed time.
Neither can they sustain for long the prevailing conditions of a glamorized, virtual, video-game war-like existence. Such a nation and its manipulators, that secure popular support for a social order that is not in the majority's long term real interest, collapse. Instead of dividing and conquering their enemies, they themselves are conquered by being divided due to trillion dollar war debts. Neglecttowards veterans and a negligent nation-building policy from within merely add to a failed state.
Al-Qaeda has won because the U.S. is unable to correct a collectively biased, socio-centric, and projectionist global view. While dismissing other opinions and overseas facts, it unconsciously references only those perspectives that fuel pre-existing views. It is trapped inside of its own tribal psyche and social norms, pretending to assume that most of the world agrees with it or desires the same goals and outcomes.(4) The world does not, and yet the United States still pursues a fatalistic unilateralism.
Projecting an exclusive and collectively ego-centric world view, with an over exaggerated confidence, is very dangerous, even deceptive, especially when it is transferred onto other groups like al-Qaeda, which is only one of among thousands. Not everyone wants to embrace modernity and technological determinism. And while such groups perceive U.S. militaryinterventions as neocolonialism, materialism can never satisfy human spirituality. Nor will marketing ever be able to dominate human dignity.
Al-Qaeda has won due to its ideological tenets, which are actually a paradoxical and philosophical belief system. It is similar to hundreds of other faiths that are also searching for meaning and how to make sense of the world. Like most faiths, it too is based in human nature which is often resistant to change. Yet strangely enough, al-Qaeda is able to adapt incrementally, or just enough to maintain its structure and rigidity which is greatly admired. Contrarily, unstructured, unethical societies, like the U.S., are resented.
Geographically, Al-Qaeda is stateless. It is also very efficient and expansive, even inexpensive as a fighting force. After spending trillions of dollars and killing millions of people, the U.S. has yet to realize this reality. For example, a National Intelligence Estimate compiled from sixteen U.S. spy agencies concluded that the U.S. effort, particularly in Iraq, had only fueled the idea of jihad, or a defensive war against the U.S. While the U.S. failed to adjust its policies, al-Qaeda-like groups continued to expand.
As the U.S. continues to militarily intervene, fighting costly and unrealistic wars, it bolsters a deeply held historical narrative: the real and present "threat" has always been American Military and Corporate Exceptionalism. It is not that some necessarily identify with al-Qaeda, but that they identify with the cause of resisting U.S. imperialism. They want to distance themselves from America's policies of world domination, and its indiscriminate wars and killings-observed when the Towers of Lebanon were destroyed.
Al-Qaeda-like groups are "trans-national." They are estimated to be in sixty-eight countries, including Algeria. Although their beliefs and customs vary, they share the spirit of decolonization, hoping to maintain their traditional religious, political, economic, and social systems. Therefore, they battle against the British Petroleumization of the world, which has killed many more people than the finale that transpired. But the West never views images of corporate genocides, another reason the war of myths thrive.
Al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda-like organizations are also "trans-historical." They did not have to spread into Mali, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and India, along with dozens of Western nations. They were already there, in the hearts and minds of many populaces. And like Algeria's bloody hostage crisis, which was another tragedy in the "war on terror," many will be questioning the differences between just and disproportionate responses, which the U.S. should have done after Sept. 11.
The CIA defines terrorism as "the premeditated use or threat of extra normal violence or brutality of sub-national groups to obtain a political, religious or ideological objective through intimidation of a large audience." The Republican and DemocraticParties need al-Qaeda for their constituents' defense and military sectors, and for leverage to accuse and demean each other while keeping Americans in a state of fear. The U.S. needs al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda-like groups too, using them to fight its proxy wars as it did in Syria.
Terrorism has been around in one form or another-as has its vague and elusive language and meanings-at least as long as have government and organized religion. No one likes hypocritical posturing and double standards more than those who are delusional and hypocritical. In a pseudo-democracy: "Fear is the State's psychological weapon of choice to frighten citizens into sacrificing their basic freedoms and rule-of-law protections."(5) And fighting mythical wars is one way of maintaining political and economic power.
Was the mass-mediated spectacle of Osama bin Laden's assassination really worth $7 trillion dollars, which is nearly half of America's national debt? America lost, al-Qaeda definitely won.
Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)
(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)
(1)Zimbardo, Philip. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. New York, New York: Random House Publishers, 2007., p. 431.
(2)Ibid., p. 431.
(3)Huff, Mickeyand Andy Lee Roth. Censored 2013: The Top Censored Stories And Media Analysis Of 2011-12. New York, New York: Seven Stories Press, 2012., p. 104.
(4)Ibid., p. 105.
(5)Dvorsky, Geroge. "Your Brain Is Flawed--12 Scientific Reasons Human Beings Are Wildly Irrational." http://www.alternet.org.
(6)Zimbardo, Philip. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil., p. 430.

Russia launches a huge naval drill in the Syrian Sea

Russia has launched it’s largest naval drill in the decades, in the Mediterranean and Black Seas near Syria, amid the Syrian Crisis.This naval drill is conducted simultaneous to the training plan of the Russian armed forces in 2013.

On Saturday, the Russian Defence Minister has said that, this drill is focused interoperability of the Task Forces while on a mission of a far off maritime zones.During these exercises, 60 drills including anti Submarine Operations, Artillery and Missile training, are due to be conducted until the 29th of January.

Russia’s Black Sea, Northern and Baltic Fleets, Strategic bombers, tactical aircrafts and missile training, Air Defence Units,Para Troopers, and marines  are included in this drills.

As the Special Forces have four landing ships and a variety of auxiliary vessels, Russia will launch the beach landing exercises and convey escort missions.

Certain naval drills are expected to be conducted in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean sea, near the Syrian waters, where the terrorists supported by the foreign countries, against the Bashar al Assad’s administration, have launched their activities, reports say.

Russia has also criticized the Western countries saying that, they are supporting the terrorists in the Arabic countries.

An unrest situation has been erupted in Syria, since March 2011. Many lives including the members of the security forces have lost due to these clashes.

German Patriot missile troops arrive in Turkey

Germany has sent 240 soldiers to southern Turkey as part of a NATO mission using Patriot missiles to deter cross-border airstrikes from war-torn Syria. Units are also being provided by the Netherlands and the US.

The main German contingent flew out of Berlin Sunday, headed for Kahramanmaras, 100 kilometers (62 miles) inside Turkey's border with Syria, where two German Patriot units are to be fully operational by early February.

An advance Bundeswehr team is already on site and the missiles with launch equipment arrived by ship in Turkey on Monday. The deployment will number some 350 German soldiers, including medics.
The NATO alliance agreed in early December to the stationing of two units from each of the three NATO partners at the request of its member Turkey after Syrian shelling along the border killed five Turkish civilians in October. NATO said it was a purely defensive move.
Germany's Bundestag parliament approved the deployment - limited to one year - on December 14.
Syria's allies, Iran and Russia, opposed the Patriot deployment, saying they feared that it could spark regional conflict that could draw in NATO.
'Deterrent effect'
German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere said the Patriots should have a "deescalating effect" on Syria where forces of President Bashar Assad and rebels have clashed for nearly two years.
"We learnt during the Cold War that deterrence can only function when in doubtful moments one is ready to use the weapons," de Maiziere told the Neuen Osnabrücker newspaper on Saturday.
"Should Syrian rockets be fired at Turkey then NATO will use the Patriot missiles," he said, adding, however, that he did not expect the German Bundeswehr troops to be involved in combat.
Turkey's border with Syria is 900 kilometers (560 miles) long. The Dutch, German and US Patriots will be stationed around three southeastern Turkish cities.
The PAC-2 version of the Patriot missile works by exploding close to an incoming missile. The more advanced PAC-3 hits the incoming missile directly.