The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Japananese trade minister to take blame for nuclear restart confusion
- Israel, protesters at fault in Lebanese border clash - UN
- China deepens engagement with Libyan rebels
| Japananese trade minister to take blame for nuclear restart confusion Posted: 06 Jul 2011 09:26 PM PDT TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said on Thursday he would take responsibility for confusion on nuclear power restarts at a suitable time. "When the time is right, I will take responsibility," Kaieda said in a parliamentary committee when urged by an opposition lawmaker to resign.
Japan's first restart of nuclear power plants since a devastating earthquake in March was thrown into doubt after the government's surprise announcement on Wednesday it was planning stress tests for all nuclear facilities. (Reporting by Rie Ishiguro; Editing by Joseph Radford) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. | ||
| Israel, protesters at fault in Lebanese border clash - UN Posted: 06 Jul 2011 09:26 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Israel used force "not commensurate to the threat" when it fired live ammunition during a Palestinian demonstration in May, but the protesters also behaved in a provocative and violent way, a U.N. report released on Wednesday said. The Israeli army fired on a demonstration at a Lebanese border village on May 15, security sources and the Lebanese army told Reuters at the time. Seven people died according to the U.N. report, a figure that was revised down from eleven initially reported killed. The incident happened by the Blue Line -- the U.N.-mapped frontier between Lebanon and Israel. The report came from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's office and is based on an investigation carried out by UNIFIL, the United Nation's force in Lebanon. "The Secretary General stands by his conclusions and observations," Ban's spokeswoman told journalists on Wednesday. The demonstrators, "in throwing stones and petrol bombs across the Israeli technical fence and the Blue Line ... carried out a provocative and violent act that constitutes a violation of resolution 1701," UNIFIL's preliminary findings found. However, the "firing of live ammunition by the Israel Defense Forces across the Blue Line against the demonstrators" also "constituted a violation of resolution 1701 and was not commensurate to the threat to Israeli soldiers." The U.N. Security Council's Resolution 1701, adopted in August 2006, called for a full cessation of hostilities in the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel fought a 34-day war in 2006, in which 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, were killed, and 158 Israelis, mostly soldiers, also died. The U.N. report calls on Lebanese Armed Forces and Lebanese authorities to "enforce law and order in the area and to prevent any incident on the Blue Line." It also calls on Israel to "refrain from responding with live fire in such situations, except where clearly required in immediate self-defense." Palestinians mourn the creation of the state of Israel on May 15 each year, mostly in West Bank and Gaza. This year, inspired by popular uprisings across the Arab world, they also organized demonstrations in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt along frontiers with Israel. There are about 427,000 registered Palestinian refugees in 12 refugee camps across Lebanon, according to the United Nations. The U.N. report, dated July 1, was an advance copy which will be issued as a Security Council document according to its cover. (Editing by Jackie Frank) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. | ||
| China deepens engagement with Libyan rebels Posted: 06 Jul 2011 09:26 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese diplomat met with leaders of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) at their base in Benghazi, state media said on Thursday, building deeper relationships with rebels seeking to oust Muammar Gaddafi. The visit by Chen Xiaodong, China's foreign ministry chief for North African affairs, was the second official meeting between China and Libyan opposition leaders in less than a month and comes as rebels advanced on Gaddafi's stronghold in Tripoli on Wednesday. Chen told the deputy head of the NTC Ali Essawi that China considered the faction "an important dialogue partner," echoing comments made by senior Chinese officials on rebel diplomatic chief Mahmoud Jibril's visit to Beijing in late June. Chen is the most senior official yet to hold talks with the NTC in Libya, although a Chinese diplomat based in Egypt visited the Libyan rebels in Benghazi for the first time in early June. China, never very close to Gaddafi, also hosted Libya's Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi in early June. But Beijing's courting of the rebels has marked something of a practical policy adjustment for China, which generally avoids entangling itself in nations' domestic affairs. Chen said China was "deeply concerned" about the five-month-old civil war and attached "great importance to the NTC's role in solving the crisis", official news agency Xinhua reported. The combatants should begin substantial talks on ceasing hostilities and make a positive response to the international community's mediation proposal, he added. Reports that Gaddafi was seeking a deal under which he would step down have come amid pressure from advancing opposition forces, sanctions, and a NATO bombing campaign. His government has denied any such negotiations are underway, and NATO's chief has said he had no confirmation that Gaddafi was looking for a deal to relinquish power. China was among the emerging powers that abstained in March when the United Nations Security Council authorised NATO-led air strikes to stop Gaddafi's forces from threatening civilians. China could have used its veto power as a permanent member. But it also condemned the strikes, and has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and political compromise. (Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Yoko Nishikawa) Copyright © 2011 Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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