Netherlands raises its terrorist threat level

Source :   Shanghai Daily

The Dutch government raised its terror threat yesterday amid concerns that Dutch citizens traveling to Syria to fight in the civil war could return battle- hardened, traumatized and further radicalized.

The government cited the threat posed by jihad fighters returning from Syria, where rebels are battling government forces, and signs of increasing radicalization among Dutch youth as key reasons for lifting its threat level from "limited" to "substantial." The level now is the second-highest on the four-step scale, just below "critical."

"The chance of an attack in the Netherlands or against Dutch interests abroad has risen," the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism said.

The warning comes just two months before hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend on Amsterdam for mass celebrations around the abdication of Queen Beatrix and coronation of her son Crown Prince Willem- Alexander.

Counter-terror chief Dick Schoof said nearly 100 people had travelled from the Netherlands to Africa and the Middle East, mainly to Syria, to fight, and warned that it is not just a Dutch problem.

Jihadist travelers

"These jihadist travelers can return to the Netherlands highly radicalized, traumatized and with a strong desire to commit violence, thus posing a significant threat to this country," Schoof said.

He said that several fighters have already returned to the Netherlands and are being monitored.

Government terror experts also say that political upheavals in North Africa and the Mideast are giving terror networks room to grow.

Schoof said Dutch intelligence and law enforcement agencies are working with other European allies to contain the threat. More intelligence staff are monitoring "jihadist travelers" and police are stepping up efforts to tackle radicalization in Dutch towns and cities.

Last month, France also expressed concerns about its citizens heading to Mali to join radical Islamic fighters there, even as the French army was fighting the Muslim rebels in its former colony.

German Interior Ministry said yesterday that some 220 people from across Europe went to Syria to fight in 2012.

Turkish president urges PKK to lay down arms

Source :  Xinhua

ANKARA, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Abdullah Gul called for an end to "violence and the use of arms" by the banned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) following the release of eight kidnapped Turkish officials on Wednesday, Turkish media reported.

During his visit to Sweden, Gul welcomed the release of Turkish officials, saying that if arms are laid down, "we can easily move on from security policies to reforms."

The PKK handed over the abducted Turkish officials to a delegation of lawmakers from pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and representatives of human rights associations.

The release of eight captives came amidst ongoing peace talks between Turkish government and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who said he hoped to see prisoners "reach their families" when meeting with Kurdish politicians from the BDP in February.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and most of the international community, took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Since then, over 35,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the group.

Venezuela to investigate Chavez murder allegations

Source : Sott.net

Tweet 0 Venezuelan officials have said they will set up an inquiry to investigate suspicions that President Hugo Chavez was murdered by foreign agencies.

Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told the BBC the United States and Israel were to blame for Mr Chavez's death.

He said he hoped the special commission would provide evidence.

Mr Chavez himself suggested he might have been injected by "foreign imperialist forces" after discovering he had cancer in 2011.

On an interview with BBC Mundo in Caracas, Mr Ramirez said he had no doubt that Mr Chavez's death was an act of confrontation and similar to Yasser Arafat's.

On the day Mr Chavez died, the Vice-President Nicolas Maduro also likened his case to the death of the Palestinian leader.

'Destabilise Venezuela'

Venezuelan official rhetoric against the United States has stepped up since last Tuesday.

Hours before announcing the death of the leader, Mr Maduro said live on state television that a plot to "destabilise Venezuela" had been foiled.

He also said two US military attaches were being ordered out, accusing them of involvement in the alleged conspiracy.

Mr Maduro said that one day a scientific commission would prove that Mr Chavez's cancer had been "injected by imperialist forces".

On Monday, the US expelled two Venezuelan diplomats following the expulsion of their officials from Caracas.

The second secretary in Venezuela's Washington embassy, Orlando Jose Montanez, and New York consular official Victor Camacaro were declared personae non gratae on Saturday and left the US on Sunday, state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

"When you have an incident that you consider unjust... you need to take reciprocal action and make your point clear," she added.

The Venezuelans were asked to leave a day after President Chavez's funeral, US officials said.

The two countries have not had ambassadors in each other's capitals since 2010.

Venezuela Appoints New Ambassador to Russia

Source :   RIA Novosti

HAVANA, March 13 (RIA Novosti) – Venezuela has appointed Juan Vicente Paredes Torrealba, a former commander of the National Army, as its new ambassador to Russia, Venezuelan media said citing Foreign Minister Elias Jaua.

“After an approval by the National Assembly, Venezuela will send an agrement request to the Russian government,” Jaua told reporters after a meeting with acting President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday.

Maj. Gen. Torrealba will replace Hugo Garcia, who has held the Moscow posting since February 2009.

Ties between Russia and Venezuela flourished under late President Hugo Chavez, whose 14-year-rule brought Moscow a number of lucrative arms and energy deals and an ally in Latin America.

Maduro has earlier assured Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone that strategic partnership between the two countries would continue following Chavez’s death on March 5 after a two-year fight with cancer.

North Korea Threatens to Turn Southern Island into “Sea of Fire”

Source : http://www.almanar.com.lb

North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un threatened to "wipe out" a South Korean island as tensions has risen to its highest level after Washington staged joint drill with Seoul.

In a visit Monday to border artillery units, Kim briefed artillery officers "to strike and wipe out the enemies" on Baengnyeong and turn the island into a "sea of fire", Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Tuesday.

"Once an order is issued, you should break the waists of the crazy enemies, totally cut their windpipes and thus clearly show them what a real war is like," Kim said.

Following the North Korean leader's threats, the South put all village councils in the island on high alert.

"It's not like there's a mass exodus of panicked islanders to the mainland. But to be honest with you, we're a bit scared," said Kim Young-Gu, an administrative official on Baengnyeong.

Kim went on to say that artillery units, stationed near disputed waters, should fire warning shells on enemy warships sailing close to the maritime border recognized by Pyongyang and then destroy them in case they cross it.

The comments came on the same day that South Korea and the US launched a week-long military drill that has prompted Pyongyang to abandon the 60-year-old Korean War armistice, along with non-aggression pacts signed with the South.

North Korea condemned the maneuvers as a launch pad for a 'nuclear war,' saying it is scrapping the 1953 Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean War.

North Korea also had cut off the Red Cross hotline, which was installed in 1971, on five occasions in the past, most recently in 2010.

Russia and Nicaragua cooperate in fighting drug trafficking

Source : Vesti Kavkaza

Russia and Nicaragua cooperate in fighting drug trafficking

Russia and Nicaragua have carried out a joint operation to wipe out a drug cartel, Russian Federal Drug Control Service chief Viktor Ivanov said on Monday, RIA-Novosti reports.The cartel, headed by a certain Martin Flores, was affiliated with the Mexican Los-Zetas drug cartel, he said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.“This cartel had established close ties with European criminals to smuggle cocaine not only into Europe, but also into Russia,” RIA- Novosti quotes Ivanov as saying. In February 2012, Russia and Nicaragua signed an agreement on jointly fighting drug trafficking, RIA-Novosti reports.

Helicopter crash in Afghanistan kills five Americans

Source : Reuters

(Reuters) - Five U.S. military personnel were killed in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, although there were no immediate details about the cause of the crash.

The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said the crash occurred on Monday. It happened on the same day that two U.S. troops and five Afghan police and soldiers were killed by a person in an Afghan military uniform in the restive east of the country.

"The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the incident," ISAF said in a statement.

The Pentagon said all five killed in the crash were Americans.

New Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel left Afghanistan earlier on Monday after a difficult first trip to Kabul.

His visit was marred by a suicide bomb attack near where he was holding a meeting, and differences with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who accused the United States of colluding with the Taliban.

Helicopter crashes are not uncommon in Afghanistan and the Taliban and others often claim to have shot them down.

Last August, 11 people, including seven U.S. soldiers, were killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan.

The worst such incident was in August 2011, when the Taliban shot down a CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, killing all 38 people on board, including 25 U.S. special operations troops.

(Reporting by Paul Tait and David Alexander; Writing by Jeremy Laurence and David Brunnsstrom; editing by Christopher Wilson)

Conclave to Elect Next Pope: Is Political Drama Unfolding in Vatican City

Source : Yahoo!

New  that the conclave to elect the next pope will begin Tuesday, a political drama appears to be unfolding behind closed doors at the Vatican, with Italian media reporting that U.S. cardinals are trying to sway the selection process.

Several Italian newspapers have reported that the U.S. cardinals had been resisting pressure from Italian cardinals to convene the conclave right away. The Italians have more votes and more visibility, so a quick vote is thought to favor them.

Two broad factions appear to be the Romans and the reformers. On one side are mostly Italian insiders, whom some newspapers refer to here as the "feudal lords" of the Vatican. They're eager to protect their fiefdoms and have reportedly drafted a Brazilian as their front man: the Archbishop of Sao Paolo, Cardinal Odilo Scherer.

"The Roman Curia seems to like him," said John Thavis, author of "The Vatican Diaries."

"Basically, that seems to be the argument against him for the reformers."

RELATED: Pope Benedict XVI Resignation: Meet the Papal Contenders

The reformers -- reportedly led by the U.S. delegation -- essentially want a new sheriff in town to clean the place up, possibly even an American. The Vatican has been so fraught with scandal in recent years that the Italian media are all but cheering them on.

As they look to the conclave Tuesday, when they'll first say a special mass for the election of a pope, the cardinals appear to be no closer to reaching a consensus.

RELATED: By the Numbers: Catholics in America

The winning candidate must get at least 77 votes, a clear two-thirds majority among the 115 voting cardinals.

The first vote will take place Tuesday night, but don't expect white smoke right away indicating that the process is over. Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington told the Turin newspaper La Stampa: "The conclave will not be short."

After that the cardinals will take two votes in the morning and two votes in the evening until they have a pope. All the votes are made during silent prayer within the Sistine Chapel, which has been closed to tourists.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see this go three or four days," Thavis said. "After that, the cardinals leave the impression they can't make a choice."

But the Vatican says there's no problem with the cardinals taking their time.

Greg Burke, a senior Vatican media adviser, said, "I don't think they're in any huge hurry. It's obviously a huge decision they have to make."

Even if the conclave drags on, it's likely to wrap up well before Holy Week, the most important days of the church calendar.

The Vatican is hoping the new pope will be in place to celebrate Palm Sunday (March 24) through Easter (March 31) at St. Peter's, and the cardinals hope to be home with their respective flocks.

Vaporized Marijuana is a Safe and Effective Pain Treatment

Source :   LifeWise

When we talk about the medicinal benefits of marijuana, those who disapprove of its use tend to roll their eyes. But the fact is, this powerful plant has numerous potential applications in healthcare and pain management in particular. A new study has once again demonstrated that the vilified plant can safely and effectively treat general pain along with the painful symptoms of neuropathy.

Neuropathy is damage to the nervous system – particularly the peripheral nervous system (not including the brain and spinal cord). It is characterized by pain and numbness especially in the hands and feet, and is often the result of diabetes. Neuropathy can also be caused by injuries, toxic exposure, infections, and more.

This latest study was conducted by researchers at the University of California Davis Medical Center and was published in The Journal of Pain. It was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study that looked at the effectiveness of using vaporized, inhaled cannabis in 39 participants. These participants were experiencing neuropathic pain despite having tried traditional treatments (like opiate drugs). All participants continued to take their prescribed medications throughout the 4 week study period.

Researchers gave participants doses of cannabis with moderate THC levels (3.53 percent) or low THC levels (1.29 percent). (THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the plant’s primary psychoactive chemical). Some also received a placebo with no THC. They found both doses of cannabis to be effective in reducing pain significantly.

“Both the low and medium doses proved to be salutary analgesics for the heterogeneous collection of neuropathic pain conditions studied. Both active study medications provided statistically significant 30% reductions in pain intensity when compared to placebo,” stated the researchers.

This is far from the first study to illustrate the pain-relieving benefits of cannabis. In fact, cannabis (even in THC-free form, or free of psychoactive effects) has been identified as a powerful pain reliever in more than 80 peer-reviewed studies. Still, the herb is classified as dangerous by the U.S. government.

Why is marijuana still illegal?

Opponents of medicinal marijuana (including the federal government) say the research isn’t enough. It isn’t clear what they would like to see in marijuana studies, but it’s beginning to look like they want the impossible. It seems they would rather Americans continue consuming addictive prescription pain medications than use a plant.

According to AlterNet, sales of opiate pain pills have tripled since 1999. Oxycodone (one of the more popular choices on the legal and illegal market) has increased from 8.3 tons in 1997 to a whopping 105 tons in 2011. Overdose deaths are similarly climbing as is the number of people addicted to these substances. To date, no one has died from a marijuana overdose.

Source: NaturalSociety

World leaders pay tribute to Hugo Chavez

Source : Shanghai Daily

leaders from five continents on hand, Venezuela began a day of distinctly different ceremonies yesterday - first the formal state funeral of Hugo Chavez, then the swearing-in of his anointed interim successor, which the opposition vowed to boycott on charges it was unconstitutional.

The funeral at the military academy where Chavez has been lying in state began with Venezuela's national youth orchestra singing the national anthem, led by famed conductor Gustavo Dudamel. More than 30 political leaders, including Cuba's Raul Castro and Iranian firebrand Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, stood at attention before Chavez's flag-draped coffin.

Outside the academy, the line to see Chavez's body stretched 2 kilometers. Progress for those already waiting since the early hours was halted for the funeral.

US Representative Gregory Meeks, a New York Democrat, and former Representative William Delahunt, a Democrat from Massachusetts, represented the United States, which Chavez often portrayed as a great global evil even as he sent the country billions of dollars in oil each year.

Television cameras captured Hollywood star Sean Penn in attendance.

"It is a great pain for us because we have lost a friend," Ahmadinejad said on his arrival at the airport overnight. "I feel like I have lost myself, but I am sure that he still lives. Chavez will never die. His spirit and soul live on in each of our hearts."

On Thursday, Venezuela announced that it would embalm Chavez's body and put it on permanent display, a decision that touched off strong passions on both sides of the deeply divided country, which Chavez ruled for 14 years before succumbing to cancer on Tuesday at the age of 58.

The normally traffic-choked streets of Caracas were empty, with schools and many businesses shut. The government also prohibited sales of alcohol.

Following the funeral, National Assembly Speaker Diosdado Cabello was to swear in Vice President Nicolas Maduro as interim president, as Chavez desired, despite complaints by the opposition that Cabello is the rightful holder of that post under the constitution.

Cabello announced that the swearing-in will be held at the same military academy complex where Chavez's body is lying in state. Normally, presidents in Venezuela are sworn in at the National Assembly.

In announcing the opposition boycott, spokesman Angel Medina said that Maduro's ascension is "a violation of the constitutional order."

"Venezuelans should walk along the path of constitutionality. Today, more than ever we reject that they use the name of the president of the republic, who today is being buried, for political ends," he said.

Critics believe Venezuela's 1999 charter stipulates that the speaker of the National Assembly take power in the event of a presidential death.

The constitution says elections must be held within 30 days of Chavez's March 5 death, though the government has not set a date. Maduro has announced he will be the candidate of Chavez's ruling socialist party against likely opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, and many expect him to ride the wave of emotion following Chavez's death to victory.

Yesterday's funeral was the climax of three days of ceremony that have followed Chavez's death, and Venezuelan media were filled with commentary about the outsized place the late leader held on the world stage.

For many Chavez supporters, and the political insiders he left behind, the task ahead will be continuing the president's political movement beyond his death.

Maduro announced on Thursday that the late president's body will be embalmed and forever displayed inside a glass tomb at a military museum not far from the presidential palace from which he ruled.

Heart-broken supporters were clearly in favor of the effort.

S. Korea's Defense Ministry warns DPRK to "vanish from earth

Source :  Xinhua

SEOUL, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will"vanish from the earth" if it wages a nuclear attack on South Korea, the South Korean Defense Ministry here said Friday.

"I am telling you this as a member of the human race: If North Korea (DPRK) attacks South Korea with nuclear weapons, the Kim Jong Un regime will vanish from the earth by the will of the humanity,"ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok told reporters.

The remark came shortly after the DPRK said it would sever a military hotline with South Korea and nullify non-aggression agreements between the two countries, a response to newly expanded sanctions approved by the UN.

The toughened sanctions dictate UN member states inspect DPRK ship and air cargo suspected of carrying banned materials and tighten scrutiny of DPRK officials and institutions engaged in illicit activities.

The unanimous decision by the 15-member UN body came after the DPRK's underground nuclear test last month, a follow-up to the controversial December rocket launch largely seen as a disguised missile test.

South Korea, which expressed support for the fresh sanctions, has stepped up its border surveillance and is ready to"immediately retaliate"if attacked, according to the spokesman.

Defense minister-nominee Kim Byung-kwan, who is going through a parliamentary confirmation hearing, vowed to "substantially strengthen" deterrence against security threats.

The South Korean military, which recently announced its plans to develop long-range missiles and a missile defense system of its own, has also said it will "strike back" at the DPRK and its" command leadership" if attacked.

Israeli Spy Devices on Tartous Coast to Trace Russian Ships

Source : http://www.almanar.com.lb

A Syrian military source told Al-Manar TV that three Israeli spy devices were discovered in Al-Naml (ants) Island, an uninhabited island in the coastal area of Tartous.

The source added that the “eavesdropping devices’ job is to send information and trace Russian ships landing in Tartous coast.”

Al-Naml (ants) island is a 150 square meters island located south of Arwad Island where only fishermen visit often for rest.

North Korea Annuls Non-Aggression Deals with South - KCNA

Source :   RIA Novosti

MOSCOW, March 8 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea is annulling non-aggression deals with South Korea, the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said in a statement, according to the state Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday outlining new sanctions against North Korea in the wake of its recent nuclear test. Large-scale South Korean-US military exercises Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, held in March, are believed to be the direct motive for the statement.

The Committee, which plays the role of the North's state agency for relations with the South, also said a joint statement on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula would no longer be in effect, and added that the hotline between the North and the South would be cut off.

The fourth set of UN sanctions is aimed at curbing the activities of North Korean banks suspected of funneling money to the communist regime's nuclear and missile programs.

The resolution includes measures to step up the scrutiny of suspicious North Korean sea and air cargo shipments and expands previous restrictions to encompass three North Korean officials and two entities in the country's weapons industry.

The resolution also condemns the latest North Korean nuclear test "in the strongest terms" for its disregard of previous UN resolutions, bans further ballistic missile launches, nuclear tests "or any other provocation," and demands that North Korea return to the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Russia, which currently holds the UN Security Council’s presidency, issued a statement on Thursday expressing hope that Pyongyang would take the new sanctions seriously and halt further nuclear and ballistic missile development.

North Korea warned Thursday it could launch a preemptive nuclear strike against potential aggressors as the UN Security Council prepared to impose a new set of sanctions on the “rogue” nuclear state. The United States responded by saying it is "fully capable of defending against any North Korean ballistic missile attack."

Earlier in the week, Pyongyang announced that it would annul the 1953 armistice that ended the three-year-long war over the Korean Peninsula in anticipation of the UN vote and the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises involving South Korea and the United States near North Korea's borders.

North Korea conducted a third nuclear test in defiance of UN resolutions and appeals from its neighbors on February 12. The secretive regime previously conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

Venezuela stable after Chavez's death, election to be called within 30 days

Source : Shanghai Dailly

Earlier in the day, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, accompanied by key members of cabinet, announced the death of Chavez, who had battled with cancer for almost two years.

Maduro referred to the leader's death as a "historical tragedy" and called on Venezuelans to be vigilant for the peace of the country.

During a separate televised meeting of political and military leaders at the presidential palace, the vice president said that the "imperialist" conspirators, in alliance with domestic foes, had infected the president with cancer.

And a panel will be set up to determine the causes of Chavez's illness, he said.

In his speech, Defense Minister Diego Molero appealed for "unity, tranquility and understanding" among Venezuelans.

He pledged that the armed forces will defend the constitution and respect Chavez's wishes.

The Venezuelan government declared seven days of mourning. Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said Chavez's remains will lie in state at a Caracas military academy until a formal funeral ceremony on Friday.

And a presidential election will be held within 30 days, said Jaua in a televised speech. Maduro will temporarily take presidential duties until a new president takes office.

Without giving further details on the exact date of election, he said that Chavez had made arrangements as early as in December in case he died.

To mourn Chavez, the national flag was lowered at half mast in front of the military hospital, where the president has fought cancer in the last two weeks of his life.

"Don't leave, Chavez, don't leave," wailed Chavez's supporters flooding into the streets. The military hospital, Plaza Bolivar and the Presidential Palace where saddened supporters gathered, were engulfed in grief. Supporters carrying pictures of Chavez sang the national anthem and shouted "He's alive!," "Everyone is Chavez" and "We have motherland."

In areas dominated by opposition supporters, however, firecrackers were even heard.

In a statement, the opposition alliance offered condolences and voiced confidence that Venezuela will be able to overcome the difficulties at the time.

And opposition leader Henrique Capriles, a 40-year-old governor of Miranda state who was defeated by Chavez in the October 2012 election, offered condolences to Chavez's family and supporters and appealed for "unity among Venezuelans."

He also urged the government to "act strictly within its constitutional duty."

Chavez has undergone surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment since he was first diagnosed with a type of pelvic cancer in the summer of 2011.

A former paratroop lieutenant colonel, Chavez was jailed in 1992 after leading a coup attempt against then President Carlos Andres Perez.

In December 1998, Chavez won the presidency with 56 percent of the vote after campaigning for reform, constitutional changes and a crackdown on corruption. In October 2012, Chavez was re-elected to a third term.

Japanese PM prepares for war: Links Falklands conflict with Senkaku

Source : StratRisks

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose country is in conflict with China over islets in the East China Sea, cited former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s reflections on the 1982 Falkland Islands war to stress the importance of the rule of law at sea. During a speech to parliament on Thursday, Abe said Japan’s national interests “lie in making the seas, which are the foundation of our nation’s existence, completely open, free and peaceful,” the Telegraph reported.

The Japanese Prime Minister, who took office in December, quoted Thatcher’s memoirs reflecting the Falkland Islands war, in which she said Britain was defending the fundamental principle that international law should prevail over the use of force, according to Reuters.

“Looking back at the Falkland Islands conflict, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said the following: ‘The rule of international law must triumph over exertion of force,’” the Wall Street Journal quoted Abe as saying to his fellow lawmakers.

Thatcher rallied Britain to support the 74-day armed conflict, which started when Argentine troops landed on the Falkland Islands on April 2, 1982. It drew skepticism at the time from other British leaders — and some British allies, who didn’t think the territory was worth defending after Argentina seized control, according to the Wall Street Journal. The conflict killed about 650 Argentine and 255 British troops.

(MORE: History Threatens Repeat in Renewed Pacific War)

Abe continued in his own words: “The rule of law at sea. I want to appeal to international society that in modern times changes to the status quo by the use of force will justify nothing.” Ties between Tokyo and Beijing have been shaky after the Japanese government last September bought three of the five islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China. The islands are controlled by Japan but also claimed by China.

(MORE: Chinese View of Islands Conflict: ‘Make It Quick’)

An escalation in tensions in the territorial dispute has raised fears of an unintended military incident near the islands, where both countries’ militaries have each started to mobilize in the surrounding area, the Wall Street Journal pointed out. The U.S. has said the islets fall under a U.S.-Japan security pact, but “Washington is keen to avoid a clash in the economically vital region,” theTelegraph reported. Abe reiterated in his speech that the islands are Japanese territory and urged Beijing not to escalate tensions. However, he added that Sino-Japanese relations were vital for Japan and that he was always willing to a discussion.

South Korea: N. Korea Set for Major Military Drill

Source : Islamic Invitation Turkey

North Korea is preparing for a large-scale military drill in an apparent show of force against ongoing joint South Korea-US exercises, the South’s defense ministry said Monday.

The army, navy and air force drill is planned as a follow-up to the North’s nuclear test last month and a successful long-range rocket launch in December, ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters, AFP reported.

“We are seeing more evidence of the North’s preparations for a conventional military drill to be staged on a far bigger scale than before, following the missile and nuclear tests,” Kim said.

Large numbers of US and South Korean troops are currently holding an annual joint air, ground and naval field training exercise, which North Korea has denounced as a provocative rehearsal for invasion.

A separate, largely computer-simulated joint exercise involving 3,500 US soldiers and 10,000 South Korean troops is to be held from March 11-21.

Rodong Sinmun, the North’s official party newspaper, slammed the drills on Monday, and said its nuclear weapons were “steel fists of justice” to protect against perceived threats from Seoul.

The North’s nuclear test last month was its third and most powerful to date.

Bomb targeting Shia Muslims kill 25 in Karachi

Source :   Tehran Times

KARACHI (Reuters) - A suspected suicide bomber attacked Shia Muslims as they were leaving a mosque in Pakistan's commercial capital on Sunday, killing at least 25 people and wounding 50, police said.

"It was a powerful blast on a congested Shia- dominated area," senior police official Shabir Ahmad Sheikh said of the attack, the latest signal that Sunni militant groups are stepping up pressure on the minority sect.

Extremist groups, most prominently Lashkar-e- Jhangvi (LeJ), have escalated attacks against Shias, who they believe are non-Muslims. Bombings targeting Shias have killed nearly 200 people in the city of Quetta alone since the start of the year.

While the Quetta carnage grabbed world attention, a Reuters inquiry into a lesser known spate of murders in Karachi suggests the violence is taking on a volatile new dimension as a small number of Shias fight back.

Pakistan's Western allies have traditionally been fixated on the challenge posed to the brittle, nuclear-armed state by Taliban militants battling the army in the bleakly spectacular highlands on the Afghan frontier.

But a cycle of tit-for-tat killings on the streets of Karachi points to a new type of threat: a campaign by LeJ and allied Pakistani anti-Shia groups to rip open sectarian fault-lines in the city of 18 million people.

Pakistani intelligence agents say the LeJ has become a major security threat in Pakistan that is also struggling with a fragile economy, dilapidated infrastructure and widespread poverty.

Shia frustrations are rising with each blast. Shias fired weapons in the air on Sunday night in Karachi, a bustling metropolis plagued by ethnic and political violence and crime.

"The explosion was so massive it jolted the entire area," said witness Ali Reza. "Two flats and nearby shops caught fire after the explosion and balconies of various buildings collapsed."

Another witness, Muhammad Kazim, said women and children who were shopping nearby were wounde

Afghan govt. says it will take full control of Bagram Prison

Source :   Tehran Times

The Afghan government will take full control of the U.S.-built Bagram Prison on March 9, the spokesman of the Afghan president announced on Sunday.

Aimal Faizi was quoted by Afghanistan’s Tamaddon TV as saying that the decision for the full transfer of the facility to Afghan forces was finalized during a meeting between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, who is the commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), in Kabul last week.

At the meeting, it was agreed that control of the other prisons and detention centers currently run by ISAF will also be transferred to the Afghan government in the near future.

In November 2012, Karzai accused U.S. officials of violating a bilateral agreement to fully transfer the Bagram facility to Afghanistan.

The Afghans say that the detainees held at Bagram should be transferred to their control according to an agreement signed by the two countries in March 2012.

However, tension between the two governments has risen on the detainee transfers over the past few months. At the heart of the controversy is the issue of 57 prisoners held in Bagram who have been acquitted by Afghan courts but who have been held by U.S. forces at the prison for more than a month, in defiance of release orders. Afghan officials are also concerned about the status of new detainees being captured by U.S. troops.

Bagram Prison can hold more than 3,000 detainees. The detention center, which lies within Bagram Air Base, about 60 kilometers north of Kabul in Parwan province, is surrounded by U.S. checkpoints and is heavily staffed by U.S. guards.

MS/HG

Australian troops kill two Afghan children: officials

Source :   thenews.com.pk

KANDAHAR: Australian soldiers in southern Afghanistan shot dead two children tending cattle, local officials said on Saturday as the international coalition launched an inquiry into the incident.

Civilian casualties caused by NATO-led troops have been one of the most contentious issues in the campaign against Taliban insurgents, fuelling public anger and often triggering criticism from President Hamid Karzai.

The two children, aged seven and eight, were killed on Thursday morning as Australian soldiers fought back after a Taliban attack in southern Uruzgan province, said provincial governor Amir Mohammad Akhundzada.

"The children were killed by Australian troops, it was a mistaken incident, not a deliberate one," Akhundzada told, adding that insurgents had first shot at a helicopter carrying Australian soldiers.

A spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul said he was unable to confirm details.

"We are aware of the reports and we take all such reports very seriously," he said. "An incident assessment team in Uruzgan is now there looking into it."

US and Israel slam Turkish PM Erdogan's comments equating Zionism with fascism

Source :   Fox News

The United States and Israel have rejected statements by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who compared Zionism to fascism at a U.N. meeting aiming to promote dialogue between all faiths.

Speaking in Vienna this week, Erdogan said Islamophobia ought to be considered a crime against humanity "just like Zionism, anti- Semitism and fascism."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sharply condemned the statement late Thursday calling it "dark and mendacious."

U.S. National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor said the characterization was "offensive and wrong" and said people of all religions should "denounce hateful actions and overcome ... differences."

U.S. State Secretary John Kerry is expected to raise the issue when he meets with Erdogan and other Turkish leaders in Ankara on Friday.

Erdogan's ruling party has roots in Turkey's Islamic movement.