The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Clinton to testify on Benghazi report on December 20
- For North Korea, next step is a nuclear test
- Venezuela's Chavez in delicate state after surgery
| Clinton to testify on Benghazi report on December 20 Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:22 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will testify on December 20 before the House of Representatives and Senate foreign affairs committees on a report on the deadly attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, the committees said on Wednesday. The attack on September 11 killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, and raised questions about the adequacy of security in far-flung posts.
Republicans have criticized Democratic President Barack Obama's administration for its flawed early public explanations of the attack. They have also criticized shifting explanations of why talking points given to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice were changed to delete a reference to al Qaeda. Some Republicans have used that criticism to question Rice's suitability as a candidate to replace Clinton, if Obama were to nominate her. Clinton has said she planned to retire from her post at State after Obama's first term. An accountability review board convened by the State Department is expected to release a report on the Benghazi attack before Clinton testifies. The board, led by veteran diplomat Thomas Pickering, is expected to consider whether enough attention was given to potential threats and how Washington responded to security requests from U.S. diplomats in Libya. Democratic Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement: "We ask our diplomats and development personnel to operate in some of the most dangerous places on the planet. We owe it to them, and we owe it to the memory of Ambassador Chris Stevens and his three fellow Americans who lost their lives in Benghazi to get past the politics and focus on the substance of what happened and what it tells us about diplomatic security going forward." (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Stacey Joyce) Copyright © 2012 Reuters | ||
| For North Korea, next step is a nuclear test Posted: 12 Dec 2012 08:12 PM PST SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea rattled the world on Wednesday by putting a satellite into orbit using the kind of technology that appears to demonstrate it can develop a missile capable of hitting the United States.
Its next step will likely be a nuclear test, which would be the third conducted by the reclusive and unpredictable state. Its 2009 test came on May 25, a month after a rocket launch. For the North and its absolute ruler Kim Jong-un, the costs of the rocket programme and its allied nuclear weapons efforts - estimated by South Korea's government at $2.8-$3.2 billion since 1998 - and the risk of additional U.N. or unilateral sanctions are simply not part of the calculation. "North Korea will insist any sanctions are unjust, and if sanctions get toughened, the likelihood of North Korea carrying out a nuclear test is high," said Baek Seung-joo of the Korea Institute of Defense Analyses. The United Nations Security Council is to discuss how to respond to the launch, which it says is a breach of sanctions imposed in 2006 and 2009 that banned the isolated and impoverished state from missile and nuclear developments in the wake of its two nuclear weapons tests. The only surprise is that the Security Council appears to believe it can dissuade Pyongyang, now on its third hereditary ruler since its foundation in 1948, from further nuclear or rocket tests. Even China, the North's only major diplomatic backer, has limited clout on a state whose policy of self reliance is backed up by an ideology that states: "No matter how precious peace is, we will never beg for peace. Peace lies at the end of the barrel of our gun". As recently as August, North Korea showed it was well aware of how a second rocket launch this year, after a failed attempt in April, would be received in Washington. "It is true that both satellite carrier rocket and (a) missile with warhead use similar technology," its Foreign Ministry said in an eight-page statement carried by state news agency KCNA on August 31. "The U.S. saw our satellite carrier rocket as a long-range missile that would one day reach the U.S. because it regards the DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea) as an enemy." CASH IN EXCHANGED FOR COLDER WAR The end-game for the North is a formal peace treaty with Washington, diplomatic recognition and bundles of cash to help bolster its moribund economy. "They might hope that the U.S. will finally face the unpleasant reality and will start negotiations aimed at slowing down or freezing, but not reversing, their nuclear and missile programmes," said Andrei Lankov, a North Korea expert at Kookmin University in Seoul. "If such a deal is possible, mere cognition is not enough. The U.S. will have to pay, will have to provide generous 'aid' as a reward for North Koreans' willingness to slow down or stop for a while." Recent commercially available satellite imagery shows that North Korea has rebuilt an old road leading to its nuclear test site in the mountainous in the northeast of the country. It has also shovelled away snow and dirt from one of the entrances to the test tunnel as recently as November. At the same time as developing its nuclear weapons test site, the North has pushed ahead with what it says is a civil nuclear programme. At the end of November, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the construction of a light water reactor was moving ahead and that North Korea had largely completed work on the exterior of the main buildings. North Korea says it needs nuclear power to provide electricity, but has also boasted of its nuclear deterrence capability and has traded nuclear technology with Syria, Libya and probably Pakistan, according to U.S. intelligence reports. It terms its nuclear weapons programme a "treasured sword". The missile and the nuclear tests both serve as a "shop window" for Pyongyang's technology and Kookmin's Lankov adds that the attractions for other states could rise if North Korea carries out a test using highly enriched uranium (HEU). In its two nuclear tests so far, the North has used plutonium of which it has limited stocks which fall further with each test. However it sits on vast reserves of uranium minerals, which could give it a second path to a nuclear weapon. "An HEU-based device will have a great political impact, since it will demonstrate that North Korean engineers know how to enrich uranium, and this knowledge is in high demand among aspiring nuclear states," Lankov said. (Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) Copyright © 2012 Reuters | ||
| Venezuela's Chavez in delicate state after surgery Posted: 12 Dec 2012 07:34 PM PST CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is in stable but delicate condition after his latest cancer surgery, the government said on Wednesday in a sombre assessment that could indicate an end to his 14-year rule.
"Having been through a complex and delicate surgery, he is now in an equally complex post-operation process," Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said on national television. "We trust in his strength." In an earlier broadcast, Vice President Nicolas Maduro spoke of "difficult" times ahead, urging Venezuelans to pray for Chavez and to keep faith that he would come home soon from Cuba, where he underwent the surgery on Tuesday. Chavez's downturn has opened gaping uncertainty about the future of his self-styled socialist revolution in a nation of 29 million people with the world's largest oil reserves. A frequent critic of the United States, Chavez has spearheaded a resurgence of the left in Latin America, galvanized a global "anti-imperialist" alliance from Iran to Belarus and led a decade-long push by developing nations for greater control over natural resources. A close ally, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa, sought to put a more positive spin on the cancer operation, telling reporters in Quito that Chavez was doing all right. "He is fine, even though the surgery was complex," Correa said, but he added that the future was not certain. "If the gravity of his illness meant he could not continue to lead Venezuela, the revolutions must continue, in Venezuela, in Ecuador, in Argentina, in Bolivia." At home, Chavez has won cult-like status among the poor with his charisma and oil-financed largesse from health clinics to free homes. But he has alienated business with frequent nationalizations and angered many Venezuelans by putting ideological crusades over basic services. Maduro, whom Chavez has named as a preferred successor should he be incapacitated, offered no medical details on Wednesday but urged Venezuelans to stay hopeful. PRAYER VIGILS Supporters have been holding prayer vigils, while opponents also sent Chavez best wishes for a successful recovery. Senior government ministers and military commanders attended a Mass to pray for Chavez's health, which was broadcast live on state TV. "He is fighting for life," the head of the National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, told the congregation. In a plaza near the centre of Caracas, neighbours came to write well wishes for Chavez on a white cloth. But government officials appeared to be cautiously preparing the president's supporters for the worst. Villegas said in a statement that Venezuelans should view Chavez's situation like that of an ill relative and have faith that he will return. "If he doesn't, our people should be ready to understand. It would be irresponsible to hide the delicate nature of the moment we are currently living," he wrote. One government source said Chavez was in critical condition early on Wednesday, but since then his vital signs had improved. State media ran hours of tributes to the president, and of rank-and-file supporters around the country gushing with admiration. "He is a second Jesus Christ," one woman beamed. The stakes also are enormous for allies around Latin America and the Caribbean who rely on generous oil subsidies and other aid from Chavez. President Raul Castro's communist government in Cuba is particularly vulnerable because of its dependence on more than 100,000 barrels of oil per day from Venezuela. Wall Street investors are also watching closely in the hope that Chavez's intransigent socialism will give way to a more market-friendly administration. Venezuela's global bonds, which usually rise on bad news about Chavez's health, saw a muted reaction on Wednesday. The operation was Chavez's fourth in Havana since mid-2011 for a recurring cancer in the pelvic region. Opposition leaders have criticized the government for lack of transparency, pointing out that other Latin American leaders provided detailed reports of both diagnoses and treatments. Chavez is due to start a new, six-year term on January 10 after his October re-election. REGIONAL ELECTIONS LOOM The Chavez health saga has eclipsed the buildup to regional elections on Sunday that will be an important test of political forces in Venezuela at such a pivotal moment. Of most interest in the 23 state elections is opposition leader Henrique Capriles' bid to retain the Miranda governorship against a challenge from former Vice President Elias Jaua. Polls have been mixed with one showing Capriles way ahead and another giving Jaua a 5 percentage point lead. Capriles must win if he is to retain credibility and be the opposition's presidential candidate-in-waiting should Chavez's cancer force a new election. Even though it may be premature, many Venezuelans already are asking themselves what a Capriles versus Maduro presidential election would be like. Capriles, who favours a Brazilian-style government promoting open markets with firm welfare safeguards, won 44 percent in the election, a record 6.5 million votes for the opposition. Although past polls have shown Capriles more popular than all of Chavez's allies, that would not necessarily be the case against a Maduro candidacy imbued with Chavez's personal blessing and with the power of the Socialist Party behind him. (Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga, Eyanir Chinea, Mario Naranjo, Efrain Otero and Daniel Wallis in Caracas, and Eduardo Garcia in Quito.; Editing by Kieran Murray and Christopher Wilson) Copyright © 2012 Reuters |
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