Don't resort to sorcerers - Oman Daily Observer

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ASIA/AMERICAS
OMAN DAILY Observer
SATURDAY, JANUARY 26, 2013
ANTI-riot policemen use batons on a protester as they disperse a demonstration calling for a pullout of US troops stationed in the country and the
grounded USS Guardian minesweeper, in front of the US Embassy in Manila yesterday. Philippine President Benigno Aquino has given instructions not
to allow the US navy to salvage its grounded USS Guardian minesweeper without Philippine involvement, in order to minimise damage to coral reefs.
US military opens door to
women in ground combat
WASHINGTON — Ushering
in a new era for the US military,
Defence Secretary Leon
Panetta on Thursday lifted
a ban on women serving in
ground combat, saying female
troops had proven themselves
in a decade of war.
The ground-breaking decision
reflected the changed realities
of the battlefield, Panetta
said, with women soldiers
having already fought in conflicts
that lack clear frontlines.
“Female service members
have faced the reality of combat,
proven their willingness
to fight and, yes, to die to defend
their fellow Americans,”
the Pentagon chief told a news
conference.
“Not everyone is going to
be able to be a combat soldier.
But everyone is entitled to a
chance,” he said before signing
a document ending the
ban.
President Barack Obama,
whose inauguration address
on Monday called for opening
BEIJING — Japanese premier Shinzo Abe
made a direct appeal to Chinese Communist
Party leader Xi Jinping for the two countries
to improve relations amid their bitter row over
disputed islands, Beijing said yesterday.
Tokyo’s hawkish new leader said in a letter
to Xi that he would like to “push forward
Japan-China strategic relationships for mutual
benefit”, foreign ministry spokesman Hong
Lei told reporters at a regular briefing.
The personal missive was handed to Xi by
Abe’s coalition ally Natsuo Yamaguchi in a
meeting in Beijing aimed at smoothing links
between the world’s second- and third-largest
economies, which have been heavily damaged
by the dispute.
“In the letter, Abe said that Japan-China
relations are one of the most important bilateral
relationships (and) the two countries share
common responsibilities for peaceful development
for Asia-Pacific and the world,” the
spokesman added.
Yamaguchi, head of the New Komeito party,
the junior partner in Japan’s ruling coalition,
is the most senior Japanese parliamentarian to
doors to all Americans, hailed
the move as “historic” and
“another step toward fulfilling
our nation’s founding ideals of
fairness and equality.”
The move highlighted
evolving social attitudes and
marked yet another sweeping
change for the military under
Obama, who led a drive to end
a prohibition on openly gay
troops.
Although some Republican
lawmakers oppose the idea, it
likely will face little concerted
opposition, as Americans have
become accustomed to seeing
women in uniform and at war.
Panetta unveiled the decision
after a months-long review
by chiefs of all the armed
services who unanimously endorsed
a gradual change that
would be phased in over the
next three years.
Under the decision, the
armed services will have until
January 2016 to carry out the
new policy. Military departments
would have to submit
detailed plans on implementing
the order by May 15, 2013,
Panetta said.
The change will apply
mainly to the Army and the
Marine Corps, as the Air Force
and Navy already have lifted
most prohibitions on women
in combat, allowing them to
fly fighter jets and fire weapons
on ships.
In 2010, the Navy opted to
allow women to serve on submarines.
Commanders began taking
a second look at the ban
in 2010, a reflection of the
changing conditions on the
battlefield, as women served
on the blurry and ever-shifting
frontlines in the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan.
General Martin Dempsey,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, told the same news
conference the move was
part of a long-term trend in
the military and that he had
witnessed changes during his
time in Iraq.
PM’s appeal to China leader
NATSUO Yamaguchi (L), leader of Japan’s New Komeito party, delivers a personal letter
from Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to China’s president-in-waiting Xi in Beijing
visit China since the long-running row over the
islands intensified in September when Tokyo
nationalised part of the chain.
The move triggered a diplomatic dispute
and huge anti-Japan demonstrations across
China.Beijing has repeatedly sent ships and
aircraft near the Tokyo-controlled islands,
known as the Senkakus in Japan but claimed
by Beijing as the Diaoyus. The chain could sit
atop vast mineral reserves, it is believed.
At the Great Hall of the People in Beijing
both sides expressed appreciation for the trip
before beginning private talks.
“Mr Yamaguchi visits China at a period in
which Sino-Japanese relations face a special
situation. We attach great importance to your
visit,” said Xi. Yamaguchi — who has no official
role in the Tokyo government — said he
was “incomparably happy” about the meeting.
But neither side appeared to offer substantive
concessions.
According to a statement on the foreign
ministry website, during the meeting Xi
stressed that the two sides had to “properly
handle sensitive issues”. — AFP
Court says Obama recess
appointments ‘invalid’
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court yesterday invalidated
President Barack Obama’s ‘recess’ appointments to a labour
board last year, ruling that the move was unconstitutional
and dealing a blow to Obama’s strategy of bypassing Senate
Republicans.
The three appointments to the National Labor Relations
Board in January 2012 were made while the Senate was out of
town but potentially available to act on them.
“Considering the text, history, and structure of the Constitution,
these appointments were invalid from their inception,”
the panel said.
Obama also used such a “recess” appointment last January
to install Richard Cordray as head of the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau, although his appointment was not part of
the lawsuit.
The suit started as a routine dispute between soda bottling
company Noel Canning and the labor board, but lawyers for
Senate Republicans seized on the suit as a chance to challenge
the appointments.
The case was seen as a test of the limits of the president’s
ability to make appointments during a Senate recess, a power
that bypasses the Senate’s usual ability to block nominees and
that dates to the US Constitution of 1787.
At the time, the Senate was not officially in recess, meeting
every few days for minutes at a time but accomplishing
no work and with few senators present. Meanwhile, Obama’s
nominees remained on the Senate’s calendar, blocked by Republicans
from up or down votes on their confirmation.
Nancy Cleeland, a spokeswoman for the NLRB, had no immediate
comment. Cordray’s appointment was challenged in a
separate lawsuit brought in June by the State National Bank of
Big Spring, Texas, and other institutions.
Brazil, EU seek early
free trade pact
BRASILIA — Brazilian and European leaders called for the
speedy conclusion of a free trade pact between the European
Union and South American trading bloc Mercosur.
The call for action was made as Brazilian President Dilma
Rousseff hosted European Council President Herman Van
Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel
Barroso on Thursday.
Mercosur, founded in 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
and Uruguay, now also includes Venezuela, and its
members represent a huge swath of South America’s growing
economy.
Both the EU and Mercosur “expressed the strong political
will to reach an accord,” Van Rompuy told reporters.
Negotiations have so far stumbled over differences on agriculture,
especially European farm subsidies, which are seen as
hindering South American growers.
McDonough named to
US chief of staff post
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama yesterday
named Denis McDonough to be his new White House chief of
staff, saying McDonough was a “consummate public servant”
whom Obama can trust to help in making difficult decisions.
McDonough, 43, described as a fervent Obama loyalist,
was an adviser on Obama’s 2008 campaign.
He has served as the second-highest ranking official at the
National Security Council for the past two years. In that capacity,
he visited US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan “without
fanfare,” Obama said.
McDonough has helped guide Obama in handling major
decisions on the military drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan,
the response to earthquakes in Haiti and Japan and the aftermath
of the terrorist attack on the US diplomatic mission in
Benghazi, Libya, in September.
In his new position, McDonough will be required to shift
to domestic issues, including the budget, gun violence and immigration,
as well as dealing with Congress.
Obama said McDonough understands the importance of
reaching across the aisle to opposition Republicans “to deliver
results for the American people” on jobs, the economy, health
care, education, reducing the deficit or addressing climate
change.
Kerry gets praise, seen
winning confirmation
WASHINGTON — John Kerry
urged Congress to fix the
US economy to ensure America’s
role as a world leader at
a Senate hearing on Thursday
that left little doubt he will win
easy confirmation as secretary
of state.
The five-term US senator
and Vietnam War veteran,
who was the Democrats’ 2004
presidential nominee, said the
“first priority” in protecting his
credibility as a diplomat was
the country’s ability to get its
fiscal house in order.
“Foreign policy is economic
policy,” Kerry told the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee,
which he has chaired for
the past four years. “It is urgent
that we show people in the rest
of the world that we can get
our business done in an effective
and timely way.”
President Barack Obama
nominated Kerry last month to
replace Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton. The Senate will
hold a confirmation vote on
Kerry on Tuesday, said Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid, a
Democrat.
The Massachusetts senator
was praised by Republicans
as well his fellow Democrats
during the 3 1/2-hour hearing.
Republicans in particular said
World’s biggest nuke plant
may be forced to shut: Japan
TOKYO — The largest
nuclear power plant in the
world may be forced to shut
down under tightened rules
proposed by Japan’s new nuclear
watchdog aimed at safeguarding
against earthquakes,
a report said yesterday.
Fukushima operator Tokyo
Electric Power’s vast
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant
in central Japan could be on
the chopping block if the Nuclear
Regulation Authority
expands the definition of an
active fault.
The movement of a fault
— a crack in the earth’s
crust — can generate massive
earthquakes like the one
that sparked a tsunami that
slammed into the Fukushima
Daiichi plant in March 2011,
setting off the worst atomic
crisis in a generation.
The watchdog is planning
to define an active fault as one
that moved any time within
the past 400,000 years, rather
than the current 120,000 to
SEOUL — North Korea threatened to attack
rival South Korea if Seoul joined a new round
of tightened UN 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 neighbour
yesterday, 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
programme and vowed to conduct more
rocket and nuclear tests after the UN Security
Council censured it for a December long-range
missile launch.
“If the puppet group of traitors takes a
direct part in the UN ‘sanctions,’ the DPRK
they appreciated his calls for
fiscal order.
“I look at you, in being
nominated for this, as someone
who has almost led their
entire life, if you will, for this
moment, being able to serve
in this capacity,” said Senator
Bob Corker of Tennessee, the
top Republican on the panel.
“For a moment I was wishing
you had been nominated
for secretary of the treasury,”
Corker quipped.
“You will need no introduction
to the world’s political
and military leaders, and will
begin — on Day One — fully
conversant not only with the
intricacies of US policy, but
with an understanding of the
nuanced approach necessary,”
said Senator Robert Menendez,
the New Jersey Democrat
presiding over the hearing for
the committee.
Kerry stressed his commitment
to Obama’s policy of
seeking a diplomatic solution
to persuade Iran to give up its
suspected pursuit of nuclear
weapons even as Tehran insists
its programme is solely for
peaceful purposes.
“He (Obama) and I prefer
a diplomatic resolution to
this and I will work to give
diplomacy every effort to suc-
130,000-year limit, an official
said which could spell
the end of the TEPCO plant.
“The new guidelines will
be put into effect in July, and
then we will re-evaluate the
safety of each of Japan’s nuclear
plants,” said the NRA
official, adding no decisions
would be made until the new
rules were in place.
At least two “non-active”
faults underneath the site’s
reactors could be ensnared
by the new definition, forcing
its closure, according to a
report in the mass-circulation
Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
Other Japanese media
have carried similar reports.
A company spokesman
said TEPCO was conducting
more tests on the faults
underneath the Kashiwazaki-
Kariwa plant, the world’s biggest
by generating capacity.
The NRA is conducting or
planning to conduct investigations
into six other nuclear
plants in Japan.
ceed,” Kerry said. Kerry said
“everybody’s very hopeful we
can make progress on the diplomatic
front now” and that
Obama had made clear his
willingness to have direct negotiations
with Iran if need be.
Critics have said Kerry
failed to seek tougher sanctions
to discourage the country
from pursuing its nuclear programme.
Kerry told Menendez,
an ardent advocate of tighter
sanctions, that he was “totally”
committed to enforcing them.
Kerry also said during the
hearing that he would push for
a revival of Israeli-Palestinian
peace talks, suggesting the
United States could consider a
new peace initiative.
“We need to try to find a
way forward, and I happen
to believe that there is a way
forward. But I also believe
that if we can’t be successful,
the door, window... to the possibility
of a two-state solution
could shut on everybody, and
that would be disastrous in my
judgment,” he said.
Kerry was greeted with
backslaps as he arrived for his
hearing and bantered easily
with senators, wryly noting his
role reversal after spending 29
years sitting up on the dais and
questioning witnesses.
At present only two of
the country’s 50 reactors are
operational, after the entire
stable was shuttered over
several months for scheduled
safety checks. Public resistance
has meant the government
has been reluctant to
give the go-ahead for their
re-starting.
The two reactors that are
working are both being investigated
by seismologists.
In 2007, the government
ordered the temporary closure
of the Kashiwazaki-
Kariwa plant after a 6.8-magnitude
earthquake destroyed
hundreds of homes in the
area and jolted the sprawling
plant, which was close to the
quake’s epicentre, leading to
a small radiation leak.
The 9.0-magnitude earthquake
that struck off Japan’s
northeastern coast in 2011
triggered the tsunami that
left about 19,000 dead and
set off the emergency at
Fukushima. — AFP
N Korea warns South
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 UN Security Council unanimously
condemned North Korea’s December rocket
launch and expanded existing UN 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.
PEOPLE look on around a demolition site of a recreation centre built over a spillway at
Meixi village of Wenling, Zhejiang province. According to local reports, the three-floor
recreation centre for elderly villagers was built on a bridge over a spillway in 2010 costing
around $160,000, in order to economise on the use of limited land in the village. — Reuters