Wednesday 25 July 2012
Facebook: The challenges ahead for the social network
Plenty to think about: Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has several key problems to solve, the experts say
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When Facebook first floated on the stock exchange earlier this year, it started out at an astronomical high, valued at over $100bn (£65bn).
Since then, rockier times. From an initial share price of $38, Facebook's stock dipped to below $29 in May.
This week, there comes another huge test for the site as it releases the financial results for its first quarter of public trading. It will show how the company is doing and offer a hint at its future performance.
The BBC has asked four key experts for their views on where Facebook's challenges lie in the coming months.
What do you think Facebook should do next? Send us your comments at the bottom of this page.
Privacy
Jennifer Lynch is a staff attorney at the Electronics Frontier Foundation, a privacy campaign group. Ms Lynch is concerned about Facebook's recent takeover of a facial recognition company:
Facebook's acquisition of facial recognition software face.com is concerning from a privacy perspective for two reasons.
First, it is unclear what Facebook intends to do with the facial recognition data face.com collected. Face.com has stated that its database includes over 30 billion face prints.
If this data is combined with the facial scans from the 300 million images Facebook users upload every day, it would likely create the largest (and largest privately-owned) facial recognition database in the world.
The United States government regularly asks for copies of all photographs in which a user is tagged when it issues a warrant to Facebook. And government agencies in the States and abroad that are building out facial recognition databases have an interest in acquiring as many face images as possible.
Face.com and Facebook's combined data could become a honeypot for government if Facebook doesn't take steps to protect it properly.
Second, as Facebook expands the tools face.com developed to use mobile devices to collect images and identify people, the security of the data becomes a real issue.
Facebook must show it has adequate measures in place to protect both the integrity of the face recognition data and its users' accounts from hacking and fraud.
Mobile
Ahead of going public, Facebook, itself, predicted it might struggle to make money from its mobile users who have been reluctant to engage with ads while on the go. If this is to ever change, argues independent app developer Malcolm Barclay, Facebook's mobile offering needs to improve greatly.
The existing app suffers from endless loading, refresh problems and feels more like using a website from the late 90's. To put it another way, it is like listening to a transistor radio. Rewriting it in a different programming language, Objective-C, will be more akin to surround sound, an experience people expect from their £400+ devices.
A rewrite in Objective-C is exactly what the Facebook app needs. Facebook's existing app is written mostly in HTML5.
It is a very promising and useful technology, but right now more suited to desktop web browsers. Objective-C is the native programming language of the iPhone. It can exploit all of its features, it is fast and has a tool kit of interface elements that users are familiar with.
So why did Facebook make the app in HTML5 in the first place? It was cheaper, HTML5 can run on many different devices (eg Android), hence it costs less to maintain and there's no need to make separate apps. I doubt Facebook really benefited from this - users certainly did not.
Last week Facebook purchased the developers at Acrylic, a tiny operation. Google did the same and acquired Sparrow, a very popular mail app for Mac & the iPhone - all of these apps are written in Objective-C.
Reports suggest that Facebook has already begun working on rebuilding their app from the bottom up. I hope this is the case - experience matters.
Security
Graham Cluley is a security researcher and blogger with Sophos. He argues that Facebook needs to get a firmer grip on the third-party applications on its platform, perhaps taking a few cues from a familiar computing giant:
Want to see who has viewed your profile? There's a Facebook app for that. But you shouldn't be too quick to grant it permission to access your account.
Rogue Facebook apps, created by internet scammers and cybercriminals, want to access your personal data, and hope to make money by luring you into following links.
These apps run on the Facebook platform itself (don't confuse them with the apps you run on your computer or smartphone), and - if you allow them - have access to your profile, your personal info, your photos..
The result is that you don't know who you are sharing your information with, and who is going to access it. The apps can even present themselves as though they are entirely located on Facebook - even when hosted on third-party websites that could be under the control of any Tom, Dick and Harry.
Most chilling of all, rogue Facebook apps can actually post messages in your name - tricking your online friends into thinking that it's you spreading a link, which could be designed to infect their computers or steal further information.
Maybe Facebook should learn a lesson from Apple? Apple reviews all iPhone/iPad apps before they are allowed in the iOS App Store. That doesn't just stop yet another fart app, it also makes it harder for hackers to spread dangerous code via this route. Whatever Apple is doing, it seems to be doing it right.
Not everyone may like Apple's "walled garden" approach, but you cannot deny that it has kept the Apple iPhone a relatively safe place to be.
Maybe Facebook should consider something similar.
And maybe users need to think carefully about what data they upload to Facebook - that's the one sure way of ensuring it is never grabbed by a rogue app.
FacebookPhone?
Many have speculated that Facebook is looking at creating its own device - the so-called "Buffy" phone. Carolina Milanesi, an analyst for Gartner, questions the logic behind any such predictions:
"Speculations about a possible Facebook phone have been on and off for the past couple of years.
After the first round of rumours we saw mobile phone maker HTC bring to market the HTC Salsa and the HTC ChaCha. Both had dedicated Facebook keys and both saw only modest sales.
So why would Facebook come out with its own phone? I struggle to see why it would.
Although social is a key part of today's mobile life for many consumers, only a sub-set of users would actually want a phone that totally centres on social networking.
Users would also not compromise on the specifications of the hardware, meaning that Facebook would have to bring to market a device comparable to a high-end Android phone in order to be taken seriously.
Manufacturing costs would likely be too high to be covered by advertising revenue.
The reality is that most consumers are perfectly happy with an app on their current phone. We believe that a deeper integration of Facebook on the current operating systems iOS, Android and Windows Phone will deliver a much wider addressable market to Facebook than not a dedicated phone. And what is social about if not the mass market?
If we put rumours aside for a second and we look at the facts, we know that Facebook is to be integrated more tightly with Apple's next mobile operating system, iOS 6. One has to wonder if Apple would have made such a decision if the possibility of a Facebook phone was actually on the horizon."
What do y
UN denounces Nepal school attacks claimed by Maoists
The UN says that attacks on buses are denying children the right to an education
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NEPAL AT A CROSSROADS
Challenges facing new PM
Deadlock reaches crisis point
Uncertainty as UN mission ends
High hopes for Himalayan road
The UN in Nepal has condemned an increasing number of attacks on schools by youth activists which it says has put the lives of children in danger.
A Maoist-linked students' union has said that it carried out the attacks as part of its campaign to reform Nepal's "unequal education system".
They accuse managers of charging excessive fees.
They also want schools to avoid foreign names. Some have names like Liverpool and Florida to attract students.
Nepal is still gripped by political instability six years after the end of the civil war between Maoist rebels and the army in which more than 13,000 people were killed.
Parliament in the Himalayan nation was dissolved after lawmakers failed to ratify a new constitution.
'Doing our best'
The UN statement expressed deep concern that the attacks on schools - and school buses - were jeopardising the right of children to have an education.
It follows recent arson attacks on school buses in the capital Kathmandu and the eastern town of Dharan by student activists affiliated to the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist.
"We condemn in the strongest possible terms these actions, and look to the authorities to launch investigations to identify those responsible," the UN statement said.
"Such acts of violence go against the basic principles of children's right to education in a protective environment free from fear."
Police told the BBC's Surendra Phuyal in Kathmandu that a student activist had been arrested and interrogated in connection with the attack on buses near Dharan earlier this week and was later released.
"We are doing our best," Nepal police spokesman Binod Singh said. "But the problem is that most of the attackers do it from hiding and then escape."
The UN in 2011 declared all schools and school buses to be Zones of Peace - "a safe haven for children where teaching and learning can continue unhindered in an atmosphere free of violence and interference".
The Maoist-affiliated All Nepal National Independent Students' Union co-ordinator Sharad Rasaili said that the campaign was started because "the government doesn't listen if we don't protest like this".
But Kathmandu private school Director Shanta Dixit, whose bus was targeted last week, termed such attacks as "very cruel".
"This kind of barbarism can't be tolerated by any civil society, and will not be tolerated by us," she said.
Thursday 19 July 2012
China pledges $20bn in credit for Africa at summit
Mr Hu called for better co-operation with African countries
China has pledged $20bn (£12.8bn) in credit for Africa over the next three years, in a push for closer ties and increased trade.
President Hu Jintao made the announcement at a summit in Beijing with leaders from 50 African nations.
He said the loans would support infrastructure, agriculture and the development of small businesses.
The Chinese leader also called for better co-operation with African countries on international affairs.
As developing nations, China and countries in Africa should work better together in response to "the big bullying the small, the strong domineering over the weak and the rich oppressing the poor" in international affairs, said Mr Hu.
The loan is double the amount China pledged in a previous three-year period in 2009, since which time China has been Africa's largest trading partner.
Trade between the two hit a record high of $166bn (£106bn) in 2011, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming wrote in the China Daily newspaper, ahead of the two-day forum.
"We want to continue to enhance our traditional friendship... rule out external interference and enhance mutual understanding and trust," said Mr Hu.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also attending the fifth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation.
'Balanced development'
On Wednesday, Mr Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao held bilateral talks with key African leaders, including South African President Jacob Zuma.
Africa is an important source of raw materials to feed China's economic boom and a market for cheap Chinese products, and has benefited from huge infrastructure projects in return, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas.
But there are concerns Beijing turns a blind eye to corruption and claims its firms have committed labour abuses in Zimbabwe, Zambia and elsewhere, our correspondent adds.
Moves by some Chinese enterprises to hire mostly Chinese nationals have also drawn attention.
Mr Wen said that China would now focus on creating jobs for local residents and working with African countries for sustainable growth.
At an economic conference held in conjunction with the summit on Wednesday, he said China would ''expand imports'' of African products and ''further open'' its domestic market to African countries.
''We need to promote balanced development of trade between China and Africa,'' he said.
He also pledged that China would pay more attention to environmental protection and cultural issues in its dealings with the continent.
''As for some existing problems and new situations in China-Africa co-operation, the Chinese government is actively working with African countries to seek effective solutions and measures,'' Mr Wen said
Home Office staff to strike on eve of Games
Home Office staff to strike on eve of Games
Thousands of Home Office staff will strike the day before the Olympics open, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has said.
PCS members will strike for 24 hours next Thursday - when many thousands of visitors are due to arrive in the UK.
Home Secretary Theresa May said the action was "shameful" as it threatens disruption to people travelling to London for the Games.
Immigration minister Damian Green said contingency plans were in place.
East Midlands Trains staff have also voted to strike during the Olympics.
PCS union members will take other forms of action from July 27 to August 20, including working-to-rule and an overtime ban.
The PCS said 57.2% of those who voted backed strike action - the turnout was 20%.
The action will involve staff across the Home Office, including the UK Border Agency, the Identity and Passport Service and Criminal Records Bureau.
'Breaking point'
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka told the BBC: "I think the government is whipping up hysteria about the Olympics, there'll be no disruption to the Olympics, this is a 24-hour strike before the Olympics actually takes place."
He said he was prepared to meet the culture secretary and home secretary any time in the next week to avert a strike but if they kept their "heads in the sand" the strike would continue.
Mr Hunt said the union's behaviour was "totally irresponsible... To threaten us in this way is totally inappropriate.
"To suggest that it won't cause disruption is so extraordinary that it completely beggars belief."
London Mayor Boris Johnson has said he does not think the union will succeed in disrupting the Olympics and the majority of PCS members want to put on a great Games.
In other developments as the UK prepares for the start of the Olympics on Friday 27 July:
- An additional 1,200 troops have been put on standby to provide security at Olympic sites following G4S's problems deploying enough staff
- The Duchess of Cambridge has met the London 2012 Olympic torch relay's oldest bearer at the opening of a new exhibition in London
- Olympic medallist Steve Backley and artist Tracey Emin are among those carrying the Olympic torch as it travels from Deal to Maidstone, in Kent
- Great Britain's women's basketball team are beaten 88-63 by USA despite a spirited performance in a Games preparation match in Manchester
- Drivers on East Midlands Trains will strike from 6-8 August, union Aslef says, threatening disruption to spectators travelling to the Games
- Certain ministers, including the prime minister, chancellor, culture secretary and foreign secretary will be allowed to use the priority car lanes
Immigration minister Mr Green said: "If this strike goes ahead it will be a selfish and irresponsible act by the union leadership, they have got no authority for this, only about a fifth of the membership voted in the ballot, and of that small minority only just over half want to go on strike."
Mr Green said he was confident disruption at immigration desks could be minimised because extra staff from the Home Office and other departments had been trained to provide cover.
Mrs May condemned the action saying: "I think that is shameful, frankly. They are holding a strike on what is one of the key days for people coming in for the Olympic Games.
"We will of course put contingency arrangements in place to ensure we can deal with people coming through the border as smoothly as possible."
John Cridland, director general of the Confederation of British Industries, said: "For PCS to go on strike on this key day beggars belief. For it to happen because of a vote by 11% of staff is simply outrageous."
But Labour MP John McDonnell, who chairs the PCS Parliamentary Group, said: "the government has brought this dispute on its own head".
More troops have been put on standby for possible security duties
East Midlands Trains drivers from the union Aslef plan to strike on 6-8 August in a row over pensions. But South West Trains staff have voted not to strike over the Olympics.
Prime Minister David Cameron insisted the Olympics would be safe and secure.
Speaking at a press conference in Afghanistan, he said: "I do not believe it will be right, I do not believe it will be justified."
Labour leader Ed Miliband also condemned the strike.
The PCS is in dispute with the Home Office on plans to cut 8,500 jobs and the threat of compulsory redundancies in the passport office in Newport, South Wales.
Extra staff hired
There are also disagreements over pay rises capped at 1% following a two-year wage freeze, privatisation of services, and alleged victimisation of union reps.
This week the National Audit Office said the UK Border Agency had laid off 1,000 more staff than intended and was having to hire extra people and increase overtime to meet its workload.
The PCS is one of the largest unions in the UK with around 250,000 public sector members.
PCS members at the Department for Transport have been taking industrial action over the past few weeks, while staff in other departments, including the ministries of defence and justice, are set to vote shortly on how to campaign against cuts.
Will you be flying into the UK on 26 July? Are you a member of the PCS union? What is your reaction to this news? You can send us your comments using the form below.
Syria conflict: Rebels seize Turkey, Iraq border posts
Video was posted on the internet of rebels defacing a poster of President Assad at the Bab al-Hawa crossing
Syrian rebels have captured a number of positions on the country's borders with Turkey and Iraq.
A senior Iraqi official said all the crossings on Syria's eastern frontier had been seized. At one point, two Turkish posts were also in rebel hands.
The push came a day after a bomb claimed the lives of three senior defence officials in Damascus.
The first images of President Assad since the attack have appeared, largely ending rumours he might have been hurt.
The footage appeared to show Gen Fahd Jassim al-Furayj, chief of staff of the armed forces, being sworn into his new post.
Escalating battle
The rebels, perhaps sensing that the regime was too preoccupied with the escalating battle for the capital, stormed all the posts on the Iraqi border, the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says.
The major Abu Kamal crossing on the Euphrates river in the east was captured after a clash with government forces, opposition activists said.
More than 20 Syrian soldiers and their commander were killed when a remote army outpost in the far north-east was attacked, Associated Press news agency reported.
Iraq's government, seen as sympathetic to President Bashar al-Assad, has threatened to shut its side of the border and one official told Reuters news agency that it was closing the Abu Kamal crossing.
On the frontier with Turkey, too, rebels were said to have taken control of two posts, at Bab al-Hawa and Jarablus.
Video from the Bab al-Hawa crossing in Idlib province soon emerged of rebels defacing a portrait of President Assad, but they later reportedly withdrew from the position.
For four days, rebels have been involved in clashes in areas of the capital as they push their "Damascus volcano" operation against Syrian armed forces.
The deaths of three top security officials has led to a mobilisation of government troops in an attempt to drive the rebels out of the city.
The president's brother-in-law, the defence minister and head of the government's crisis team were killed by a bomb as they attended a meeting at the national security headquarters.
Tanks and armoured vehicles were reported to have moved into Qaboun on Thursday, close to the centre of Damascus.
There were heavy casualties, activists said, as a result of an army bombardment of Zamalka in the eastern outskirts of Damascus.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the number of fatalities across the country on Thursday at 250.
'Indefensible'
The pace of events in Syria was in marked contrast to the diplomatic stalemate at the UN Security Council, where Russia and China vetoed a Western resolution calling for tougher sanctions on Damascus.
Under the Western-backed plan, the Damascus government would have been threatened with non-military sanctions under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter if it failed to move troops and heavy weapons from populated areas.
But the use of Chapter Seven paved the way for "external military involvement in Syrian domestic affairs", Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin argued.
The UK, US and France said the UN had failed the people of Syria and UK Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the use of the veto as "inexcusable and indefensible".
The Security Council still has to decide whether to renew the mandate of the 300-strong UN observer mission in Syria, due to end on Friday, and talks on a possible compromise resolution have begun.
The UK is said to be proposing an extension for a "final 30 days".
Although the US says it might consider a brief addition to the monitoring mission, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington did not back sending in unarmed UN employees "when there's no mechanism within the resolution to create consequences for the regime"
Tuesday 17 July 2012
Spain royal family follows public sector wage cut
King Juan Carlos, right, and
his son Felipe have both roughly matched the public sector wage cuts
Spain's King Juan Carlos and his
family are to take a pay cut following a recent bitterly contested cut to public
sector wages, the royal palace says.
The king will lose 20,900 euros (£16,400; $25,660) from his salary of just over 292,000 euros for the year - a cut of 7.1%.
In total, the 8.3m euro royal budget will be cut by 100,000 euros in 2012.
Public sector workers have been outraged by a recent announcement that Christmas bonuses are to go.
The bonuses saw public sector workers paid double their usual salaries in December, and their removal equates to a cut of about 7%.
Police and firefighters are among those who have taken to the streets in recent days to denounce the cuts - the latest austerity measures imposed by the government amid a steep economic downturn.
Mixed reception
The reputation of the once-revered king was damaged in April when it emerged he had been on a lavish hunting trip to Botswana at a time when one in four Spaniards is unemployed.
His son and heir, Prince Felipe, will lose about 10,450 euros from his salary - also about 7.1% - putting him on an annual wage of about 131,000 euros, said palace sources.
But the gesture has received a mixed reception on websites and social media, with some quipping that the royal family might now struggle to make ends meet.
N Korea names new vice-marshal in military reshuffle
N Korea names new vice-marshal in military reshuffle
The removal of Ri Yong-ho (L)
from all his official posts surprised many observers
North Korea has appointed a new
vice-marshal, Hyon Yong-chol, the official KCNA news agency says.
The move comes a day after the army chief, Ri Yong-ho, was removed from his post "due to illness".
The decision was made by the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea and the National Defense Commission of North Korea, KCNA said.
The statement did not say if Mr Hyon was taking over the top military job from Mr Ri.
Little is known of Mr Hyon, who is reported to be a member of the party's 120-member central committee. He is now one of four vice-marshals in the army.
Mr Ri, 69, who was also a vice-marshal, was vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission and held top posts in the ruling Workers' Party.
Mr Hyon is believed to have been appointed a general in 2010 but is not currently part of the military commission chaired by young leader Kim Jong-un, reports said.
'Unusual' move
Ri Yong-ho's removal took many North Korea observers by surprise, with widespread scepticism at the official explanation for the move.
He was seen as a key figure in the recent transition of power from Kim Jong-il, who died in December 2011, to his son.
He was made army chief three years ago under Kim Jong-il and appeared regularly at state occasions beside the late Mr Kim.
He was also one of seven top officials to accompany the younger Kim as he followed the hearse containing his father's body at his state funeral.
A spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry told reporters that Mr Ri's departure was "very unusual".
Some analysts say ''illness'' is not an uncommon pretext in Pyongyang when a member of the elite leadership is removed.
Now in power for six months, Kim Jong-un is rumoured to be promoting a new generation of officials, and is being carefully watched for signs that he will take the country in a new direction, says our correspondent.
Liberal alliance scores wins in Libya poll results
Senior Libyan politicians
gathered to hear the results being announced at a hotel in Tripoli
Results from Libya's first elections
after the overthrow of Col Gaddafi have shown gains for an alliance of parties
seen as broadly liberal.
The National Forces Alliance, led by interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril, has won 39 out of the 80 seats reserved for political parties, local media say.
The Muslim Brotherhood's party has gained 17.
The 200-member National Assembly will also include dozens of independent candidates.
The overall orientation that the assembly will have is therefore unclear.
What remains to be seen is who, if anyone, will lead the assembly by majority, the BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli reports.
That will depend on the allegiances of 120 independent candidates, which are largely unknown, our correspondent adds.
There will now be a two-week window for any appeals against the tally.
More than 100 parties competed in the poll, many of them
formed only in recent months.
The assembly will have legislative powers and is expected to be in place for at least year.
It will choose the first elected government since Col Gaddafi came to power in 1969.
The last fully free parliamentary election was held soon after independence in 1952. The last national vote was held in 1965, when no political parties were allowed.
EU election observers said the voting process on 7 July was largely "peaceful and smooth", although technical delays and violence disrupted polling in several locations.
One person was killed in a shooting near a polling station in Ajdabiya.
The election commission put turnout at 62% of registered voters.
In an interview with the BBC last week Mr Jibril called on parties to form a coalition government, something which rival politicians tentatively welcomed.
Are you in Libya? What do you think of the election
results? Share your comments and experiences.
Syria conflict: Central Damascus hit by clashes
Sabaa Bahrat square has seen
several major pro-Assad demonstrations
Fighting is intensifying around the
Syrian capital Damascus, activists say.
Shooting was reported in one of the main central streets and a square housing the Central Bank.
There were also reports of tanks in the south-western area of Midan, and clashes involving helicopters in the north and north-east of the city.
The fighting comes as UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan prepares to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Syria.
Russia is a key ally of Syria and the meeting comes amid mounting pressure for increased international action against the country.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped Mr Annan could persuade Russia to accept tougher measures.
Meanwhile Syria's former ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf al-Fares, has told the BBC the regime will not hesitate to use chemical weapons if it is cornered.
Mr Fares, the most senior Syrian politician to have defected to the opposition, also said that major bombings across Syria had been orchestrated by the government in collaboration with al-Qaeda.
'Matter of time'
Violence is continuing to spread across Syria and in the capital Damascus as rebels - now better-equipped and more organised - confront the army and government-backed militia.
Activists have attempted to
block roads with burning tyres The rebel Free Syrian Army has said it has launched "Operation Damascus Volcano", and has called for an escalation of attacks on regime targets and the blocking of main highways all around the country.
One of the biggest and most organised opposition groups, the Muslim Brotherhood, has called on all Syrians to join what it called a decisive battle.
Witnesses say the government's military deployment in Damascus is the biggest since protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad began in March last year.
Clashes were reported in a major thoroughfare, Baghdad Street, the first time fighting has reached central Damascus since the conflict began.
Also, machine-gun fire was reported in nearby Sabaa Bahrat square, site of the Central Bank and scene of several major pro-government demonstrations.
Activists reported continued clashes on the
south-western side of the city, including in Midan.
"The army is shelling al-Midan hysterically; the collapsing regime has gone mad," one activist told AFP.
Fighting is also said to have broken out on the other side, at Barzeh and Qaboun. Attack helicopters were seen there firing rockets for the first time since the uprising began.
State media gave little prominence to the fighting, but said security forces were pursuing remnants of a "terrorist gang" in Nahr Eisha.
Mrs Clinton told the BBC that she hoped Russia could be convinced of the need for a UN resolution mandating tough sanctions against Damascus if it failed to comply with Mr Annan's peace plan.
Mrs Clinton said the US "was working very hard to try to have a managed transition" but that the clashes in and around Damascus showed that the end of the Assad government was "a matter of time".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the West had threatened to end the current UN observer mission in Syria if Moscow opposed its draft resolution, which threatens more sanctions. He said the attempts contained "elements of blackmail".
Moscow's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he had made it very clear he would vote against the resolution.
Moscow has circulated its own draft resolution calling for the extension of the mission's mandate - which ends on Friday - but without a threat of sanctions.
Russia and China have blocked two previous UN resolutions that condemned President Assad's government for the continuing violence.
'Wounded wolf'
Syria is known to have a significant stockpile of chemical weapons. There have been growing concerns in neighbouring countries and among Western governments about the security of such weapons should the government fall.
Asked if he thought President Assad might use chemical weapons against the opposition, Mr Fares told BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner that he would not rule it out, describing Mr Assad as "a wounded wolf".
Mr Fares's claim that Sunni Muslim militants in al-Qaeda are collaborating with a government dominated by those from the minority Allawite sect will surprise many.
Challenged on his view that al-Qaeda was collaborating with the government despite this, Mr Fares said: "There is enough evidence in history that lots of enemies meet when their interests meet."
He added: "Al-Qaeda is searching for space to move and means of support, the regime is looking for ways to terrorise the Syrian people."
Mr Fares held senior positions in the ruling Baath Party and powerful security services, and served as governor in several provinces.
"It doesn't occur to any Syrian, not only me, that Bashar al-Assad will let go of power through political interventions... He will be ousted only by force," Mr Fares said.
Mr Fares was dismissive of Mr Annan's visit to Russia, saying success there was "impossible".
"Several months have passed and... the regime hasn't implemented a single article of [Kofi Annan's] plan."
Monday 16 July 2012
North Korea military head Ri Yong-ho 'relieved of post'
The departure of Ri Yong-ho (L)
is being scrutinised for clues about Kim Jong-un's leadership style
North Korean military chief Ri
Yong-ho has been removed from all official posts, according to state media.
As well as being head of the army, he was vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission and held top posts in the ruling Workers' Party.
In a short statement, the party said Mr Ri had been removed from his posts "because of illness".
The BBC's Seoul correspondent Lucy Williamson says there is widespread scepticism about that explanation.
The decision to relieve Mr Ri of his duties came at a meeting of the Workers' Party Central Committee politburo on Sunday, state-run news agency KCNA said.
The brief report made no mention of a successor.
In Seoul, a spokesman for the Unification Ministry told reporters that the move was "very unusual".
"It's quite a rare case that the North promptly and publicly announced early this morning the outcome of a meeting yesterday, on 15 July. We will keep monitoring closely," Kim Hyung-suk said.
Key figure
Kim Jong-un did not serve in either of those two
institutions which are ''traditional proving grounds and grooming grounds... for
the leadership in the system''.
''So his position is very vulnerable because he does not know the generals and colonels who prop up the state,'' said Dr Kelly.
In April North Korea defied international warnings to launch a rocket - an action its neighbours called a long-range missile test that contravened UN resolutions.
The rocket launch failed, and analysts warned that it was not clear whether this would lead to more efforts to demonstrate military might - such as another nuclear test - or strengthen the position of reformers seeking to focus on the economy.
South Korea warned earlier this year that Pyongyang appeared to be in the late stages of preparing for a third nuclear test - a claim North Korea has denied.
International talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear ambitions have been stalled since 2009.
Friday 13 July 2012
Russian parliament adopts NGO 'foreign agents' bill
President Putin has accused Western powers of manipulating some Russian NGOs for political ends
Russia's lower house of parliament has adopted a controversial bill that labels foreign-funded non-governmental organisations as "foreign agents".
The upper house and President Vladimir Putin are now expected to turn the bill into law.
Approval in the largely pro-Putin Duma (lower house) was overwhelming.
Human rights activists have condemned the bill, seeing it as a tool to crush dissent. The Duma also voted to impose big fines for libel or slander.
Journalists from some leading Russian news outlets demonstrated outside the Duma against the new libel law, which envisages fines of up to 5m rubles (£99,000; $153,000) for offenders. They warned that it would bring extra pressure on the media.
The NGO bill requires all the relevant NGOs' materials to include the phrase "foreign agents". The term carries a Soviet-era negative taint in Russia, suggesting spying, correspondents say.
The Kremlin says the bill is needed to protect Russia from outside attempts to influence internal politics.
Some NGOs complain that they have to seek funding from abroad because they cannot get it from the Russian state. There are also fears that the bill could be used to restrict independent election monitoring.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said state funding would be increased for NGOs whose activity "as a whole is deemed useful and positive for our country".
Under the bill, foreign-funded NGOs involved in politics will also have to undergo financial audits and issue twice-yearly reports on their activities.
Failure to comply will be punishable by heavy fines or even a two-year prison sentence.
Thursday 12 July 2012
Hong Kong minister Mak Chai-kwong arrested on corruption charges
Mak Chai-kwong only sworn in as
a minister in the newly-installed government of CY Leung last week
A senior minister in Hong Kong is
among four people arrested on corruption charges following allegations they
abused government housing allowances.
Mak Chai-kwong also resigned as development minister on Thursday.
He has not commented since his arrest but has previously admitted to buying adjacent flats with another official and renting them out to each other. But he also said this breached no rules.
This comes days after Hong Kong's new chief executive began his first term.
Chief Executive CY Leung also faces legal challenges over claims that he made false statements about illegal structures in his home.
'Followed regulations'
Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) said that it "has commenced an investigation upon receipt of corruption complaints" on four officials.
The ICAC "confirms that the head of a government bureau, an assistant director of a government department and two other persons have been arrested for allegedly violating the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance in relation to government housing allowances", it said in a statement.
On the arrests, the Department of Justice also issued a statement, saying that it "will ensure that due and proper processes are observed in the conduct of the case" and that "the law and prosecution policy" would be followed.
Mr Mak has not made any comment since his arrest and the reasons for his resignation are not clear.
Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper cited land registry documents to show that Mr Mak and Tsang King-man, the assistant director of the highways department, bought adjacent flats in the 1980s and rented them to each other.
Mr Mak is alleged to have been claiming government housing allowances at the time, but he denies any wrongdoing.
"I gave [the civil service bureau] all the facts, and I don't think I breached any regulation," Mak told local radio, according to the AFP news agency.
"I have followed regulations and I don't think the matter involves my personal integrity," he said.
Mr Leung was chosen as Hong Kong's new leader by a committee of 1,200 business leaders and other influential citizens mostly loyal to Beijing after an unusually turbulent campaign in March.
The Chinese government switched its support to him after a string of scandals hit early front runner Henry Tang, who was also said to have had an illegal basement at his home.
Last week, a group of lawmakers filed a judicial review, asking a judge to overturn the election result, as well as an election petition.
India wrestler-actor Dara Singh dead
Tributes have been pouring in
for Dara Singh
Wrestler-turned-actor Dara Singh has
died in the Indian city of Mumbai after a long illness, his doctors say.
The 83-year-old had been admitted to hospital last week after a heart attack.
He was taken home on Wednesday night after doctors said he had little chance of recovery and that there had been significant damage to his brain.
Singh, who won the world wrestling championship in 1960, acted in several Bollywood films and television serials.
He gained huge popularity while playing Hanuman, the monkey god, in the television adaptation of the Hindu epic Ramayana.
He was also a member of parliament from 2003 to 2009 when he was appointed to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India's parliament.
His doctor said he passed away "peacefully" at 07:30am [02:00GMT].
Tributes
His films included King Kong, Faulad, Kal Ho Naa Ho and he was last seen in the 2007 hit, Jab We Met.
Meanwhile, tributes have been pouring in for the much-loved Singh.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed his sadness at Singh's death and described him as a "noted film personality and an internationally acclaimed wrestler".
"I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing away of Dara Singh," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said in a statement.
"Dara Singh will always have a special place in our heart for his immense contribution to the Indian film industry in various capacities, as an actor, director and producer," she added.
The micro-blogging site Twitter has seen tributes pouring in from Bollywood personalities and fans.
Superstar Amitabh Bachchan, with whom Singh acted in the 1985 action film Mard, described him as "a great Indian and one of the finest humans".
"Dara Singh passed away this morning. A great Indian and one of the finest humans... An entire era of his celebrated presence gone," Bachchan wrote on the micro-blogging site, Twitter.
His son, actor Abhishek Bachchan, tweeted: "The most gentle and kind man. Really looked up to him. Will miss him."
"When childhood heroes die the world looks desolate," veteran director Mahesh Bhatt tweeted.
US tightens sanctions Iran over nuclear programme
Iran's oil industry is among
the industries already targeted by Western sanctions
The United States says it has further
tightened sanctions on Iran imposed in connection with its nuclear
programme.
The US Treasury said it had blacklisted several companies and individuals that it believed were contributing to efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.
It also said it had identified several companies and banks acting as front organisations helping Iran to evade existing sanctions.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes.
"We will continue to ratchet up the pressure so long as Iran refuses to address the international community's well-founded concerns about its nuclear programme," US Treasury official David Cohen said.
He added that the latest steps were aimed at "disrupting Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes as well as its deceptive efforts to use front companies to sell and move its oil".
The targets of the new financial sanctions include companies linked to Iran's defence ministry, the Revolutionary Guards and its national shipping line, according to the AP news agency.
The US and the European Union already have a wide range of sanctions aimed at putting pressure on Iran to make concessions on its nuclear
Syria defection: Nawaf Fares defects and is 'in Qatar'
Syria's envoy to Baghdad has defected
to the opposition and, according to Iraqi officials, is in Qatar.
Nawaf Fares, the first senior Syrian diplomat to abandon President Bashar al-Assad, has urged other politicians and military figures to follow suit.
News of his whereabouts came from Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari. His defection was first reported by Qatar-based TV channel al-Jazeera.
Syria has responded by formally dismissing Mr Fares from his post.
Meanwhile, government forces have shelled an area of Damascus, activists have reported.
Mortar rounds were said to have been fired into orchards
in Kafr Souseh in an apparent offensive against rebels.
One man died and a number of other people were wounded when tanks and armoured vehicles went into a built-up area, reports said.
Independent confirmation is impossible, as journalists' freedom of movement is heavily restricted.
'Tribal chief'
Mr Fares's defection comes just a week after a Syrian general from a powerful family close to President Assad also defected.
He confirmed his decision in a statement broadcast both on TV and on Facebook.
With Syrian revolutionary flags behind him, he read out the statement saying he was resigning both as Syria's ambassador to Iraq and as a member of the ruling Baath Party.
The defection of Nawaf Fares is an embarrassing blow to the Syrian regime,
and a clear sign of the stress the conflict is generating, but it does not
necessarily herald a spate of similar desertions.
The government's discomfort was reflected in an official statement from the foreign ministry in Damascus, lamely announcing that the ambassador had been "relieved of his duties".
US and Syrian opposition officials seized on Mr Fares's resignation as a sign that the regime is crumbling.
But the defection of the deputy oil minister earlier this year did not trigger a cascade of similar moves by officials, as he urged.
As with the case of Maj-Gen Munaf Tlas, who fled the country last week, the ambassador may have had specific reasons for turning.
He is a Sunni tribal leader whose area around Deir al-Zor has been heavily battered by government forces recently, as had Gen Tlas's mainly Sunni hometown Rastan.
The defections are clearly a sign of the times, but given the gravity of what is happening, it is surprising they have been so few and far between.
The government's discomfort was reflected in an official statement from the foreign ministry in Damascus, lamely announcing that the ambassador had been "relieved of his duties".
US and Syrian opposition officials seized on Mr Fares's resignation as a sign that the regime is crumbling.
But the defection of the deputy oil minister earlier this year did not trigger a cascade of similar moves by officials, as he urged.
As with the case of Maj-Gen Munaf Tlas, who fled the country last week, the ambassador may have had specific reasons for turning.
He is a Sunni tribal leader whose area around Deir al-Zor has been heavily battered by government forces recently, as had Gen Tlas's mainly Sunni hometown Rastan.
The defections are clearly a sign of the times, but given the gravity of what is happening, it is surprising they have been so few and far between.
"I call on all party members to do the same because the
regime has transformed it into a tool to oppress the people and their
aspirations to freedom and dignity.
"I announce, from this moment on, that I am siding with the people's revolution in Syria, my natural place in these difficult circumstances which Syria is going through."
Syria's foreign ministry said he had made statements that contradicted the duties of his post and no longer had any relation to the Syrian embassy in Baghdad.
The BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says this is a highly damaging defection for President Assad.
Mr Fares, significantly, is also chief of a Sunni tribe straddling Syria's eastern border with Iraq, our correspondent adds.
That area, around the city of Deir al-Zour, has become a hotbed of support for the rebels and has been heavily bombarded in recent weeks.
Syria has been convulsed by internal conflict since protests against President Assad began early last year. The protests turned into an armed rebellion and thousands of people have been killed.
Last week, senior army officer Brig Gen Manaf Tlas fled Syria via Turkey.
He was a commander of a unit of the elite Republican Guard and as a young man he attended military training with President Assad.
Gen Tlas had been under a form of home arrest since May 2011 because he opposed security measures imposed by the regime, sources said.
'Clear consequences'
In a separate development, Western nations are pressing the UN to threaten Damascus with sanctions as it considers renewing the mandate for its observer mission in Syria which expires on 20 July.
They want a 10-day ultimatum to be part of a Security Council resolution on the future of the UN's observer mission in the country. A new resolution must be passed before the mission's mandate ends on Friday next week.
The mission had a 90-day remit to monitor a truce, but fighting has continued largely unabated.
The truce formed part of a six-point peace plan brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, who has called for "clear consequences" for the Syrian government and rebels if the ceasefire is not observed.
Russia has suggested a 90-day extension. But Western
states say a simple rollover of the mission is not enough.
A draft resolution has been circulated threatening Damascus with sanctions within 10 days, if it fails to stop using heavy weapons and pull back its troops from towns and cities.
The UK's envoy to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, told reporters that Britain, France, the US and Germany would propose making compliance with the ceasefire mandatory under Chapter 7 of the UN charter.
Last week, more than 100 countries called on the Security Council to invoke Article 41 of Chapter 7, which stops short of military intervention.
Russia has said use of Chapter 7 is a "last resort". China, which like Russia has vetoed the two previous attempts to impose tougher measures, has said it will support a rollover of the mission.
Nigerians killed in Rivers state fuel tanker explosion
Crowds of people went to look
at the burnt corpses
More than 100 people have died in
southern Nigeria after a tanker carrying petrol crashed.
The authorities say the vehicle did not immediately burst into flames so nearby villagers rushed to collect the fuel.
But the tanker then exploded, burning many of them to death.
Journalist Emeka Idika told the BBC a mass burial for those burnt beyond recognition would take place in Rivers state and about 35 people had been taken to hospital.
He said the death toll might be higher as some people from the nearby village of Okogbe were on fire as they ran into the bush - and their bodies had not yet been located.
Another journalist, Oluchi Iwuoha Chimezie, told the BBC she had counted more than 100 bodies.
"Early this morning a tanker loaded with petrol fell in Okogbe and people trooped to the scene obviously to scoop the spilled fuel and suddenly there was fire resulting in casualties," Reuters news agency quotes Rivers state police spokesman Ben Ugwuegbulam as saying.
The country's road safety body said the petrol tanker had crashed into three other vehicles, Nigeria's Daily Times reports.
Such disasters are not unusual in Nigeria.
Many hundreds of people have died over the last decade when trying to take fuel leaking from pipelines that have broken or been vandalised.
Nigeria is a major oil exporter, but millions of its citizens live in poverty.
Asean talks: US and China pledge to co-operate on Asia
Mrs Clinton says the US will
not ''take sides'' in regional disputes in Asia
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
and her Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi have said their countries will
co-operate on Asia issues.
They are meeting on the sidelines of the Asean forum in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, amid regional tension.
China and Japan disagree over who owns islands in the East China Sea.
Meanwhile, Asean is seeking China's agreement on a code of conduct on disputes in the potentially oil-rich South China Sea.
Mrs Clinton stressed the importance of China and the US working together on sensitive issues.
"I am delighted that we are going to be issuing a joint media note,'' she told the meeting in Phnom Penh. ''It is an important signal that the United States and China not only can but will work together in Asia."
Mr Yang told reporters China was ready to ''enhance'' dialogue with the US and ''expand... common ground''.
"China and US relations have continued to make progress this year," he said.
Foreign ministers of the 10-nation bloc are meeting in the Cambodian capital with counterparts from the region including China, and Mrs Clinton and European Union representative Catherine Ashton.
'Nationalistic rhetoric'
Mrs Clinton urged countries involved in disputes in the South China Sea to "work collaboratively and diplomatically to resolve disputes without coercion, without intimidation, without threats and without use of force''.
The US has no territorial claims in the region and will not ''take sides'' in disputes, she stressed.
"But we do have an interest in freedom of navigation, the maintenance of peace and stability, respect for international law and unimpeded lawful commerce in the South China Sea."
Mrs Clinton arrived in Phnom Penh from Laos where she made history as the first top US diplomat to visit the country in nearly six decades. Before that she travelled to Mongolia and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, a commentary in China's ruling Communist Party newspaper criticised Mrs Clinton for holding up Mongolia as a model for democracy in Asia.
The remarks were widely seen as being indirectly aimed at Beijing.
"Who is the United States to haughtily appraise Asia's democratic position?" said the People's Daily editorial.
China has long bristled at perceived US criticism which
it says amounts to foreign interference, says the BBC's Martin Patience in
Beijing.
These are also uncertain times in the country, with a-once-in-a-decade leadership change starting later this year. But using fiery nationalistic rhetoric remains a sure-fire way to bolster political credentials, says our correspondent.
Disputed territories
On Wednesday the Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers held talks on the disputed islands in the East China Sea.
Known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, the uninhabited but resource-rich islands are controlled by Japan, but also claimed by China and Taiwan. They have been a longstanding source of tension.
Japan summoned China's ambassador to protest against the appearance of Chinese patrol boats in the area early on Wednesday.
The Chinese foreign ministry said Beijing did not ''accept a representation lodged by the Japanese side over the issue'', state news agency Xinhua reported.
In the South China Sea, China has overlapping territorial claims with several Asean members - the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
Earlier this week, Asean forum ministers adopted key elements of the code of conduct and is now seeking China's agreement.
The Chinese foreign ministry said China would consider the proposals if the conditions were right.
Asean was set up in 1967 by Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. Brunei joined in 1984, followed by Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Burma in 1997 and Cambodia in 1999.
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