الجمعة، 15 فبراير 2013

حكومة #أسبانيا تتعهد بالتحقيق فى فضيحة تجسس على سياسيين فى #كتالونيا

حكومة أسبانيا تتعهد بالتحقيق فى فضيحة تجسس على سياسيين فى كتالونيا


                                                                                وزير الداخلية الأسبانى خورخى فرناندز دياز

مدريد (د.ب.أ)
تعهدت الحكومة الاسبانية اليوم الجمعة بالتحقيق فى مزاعم بأن مكتب تحريات سرى كان يعمل لصالح أحزاب سياسية، تجسس على ساسة فى كتالونيا بشمال شرق البلاد. 

وقال وزير الداخلية خورخى فرناندز دياز إن الشرطة سوف "تعمل من أجل التوصل إلى حقيقة الأمر". 

وذكرت التقارير الإعلامية أن المكتب تجسس على ساسة من أحزاب عديدة ومستثمرين وقضاة ومحامين فى السنوات الأخيرة. وتردد أنه عمل لدى عدة أحزاب سياسية. 

وخرجت القضية إلى النور عندما أبلغت اليسيا سانشيز - كاماتشو رئيسة حزب الشعب المحافظ عن كتالونيا الذى ينتمى إليه رئيس الوزراء ماريانو راخوى، الشرطة أنه جرى تسجيل محادثتها مع شخص آخر فى مطعم ببرشلونة عام 2010.

رئيس #الهند: أهمية التنسيق مع فرنسا حول المسائل المتعلقة بالأمن البحرى

رئيس الهند: أهمية التنسيق مع فرنسا حول المسائل المتعلقة بالأمن البحرى

                                                                                      الرئيس الهندى براناب موخرجي


نيودلهى أ.ش.أ
أكد الرئيس الهندى براناب موخرجى أهمية تنسيق بلاده عن كثب مع فرنسا فى المسائل المتعلقة بالأمن البحرى ومكافحة التهديدات التى يشكلها الإرهابيون والذين يقدمون لهم المساعدات.

وقال الرئيس الهندى، خلال مأدبة غداء أقامها للرئيس الفرنسى فرانسوا أولاند، إن فرنسا تعتبر أقدم وأقرب شريك للهند، معربا عن أمله استمرار الشراكة الإستراتيجية بين البلدين نحو التقدم فى السنوات المقبلة.

وأضاف أنه يشعر بالقلق عندما يحدث عدم استقرار فى المنطقة ولذا فأنه يقدر المشاورات البناءة مع كافة الأطراف المعنية حول القضايا التى لابد من مواجهتها، وأن الممرات البحرية فى المحيط الهندى وأماكن أخرى تتعرض لأعمال القرصنة ما يتطلب التنسيق حول الأمن البحرى.

وشدد موخرجى على أهمية إعطاء الأولوية لمواجهة التهديدات للسلام والأمن الدوليين الذى يشكله الإرهابيون ومساعدوهم.

عالم لاهوتى يصف #البابا_بنديكت_السادس عشر بأنه "بابا محبط"

عالم لاهوتى يصف البابا بنديكت السادس عشر بأنه "بابا محبط"

                                                                                          البابا بنديكت السادس عشر

ريو دى جانيرو (د.ب.أ)\
وصف عالم اللاهوت البرازيلى ليوناردو بوف فى تصريحات له نشرت اليوم الجمعة، البابا بنديكت السادس عشر المستقيل بأنه "بابا محبط" وأنه "حاول تحويل الكنيسة إلى مجرد متحف للتحف القديمة".

واستعاد بوف وهو أحد كبار الدعاة لحركة لاهوت التحرير، الذى يرى أنه يتعين على الكنيسة أن تكون أقرب للفقراء علاقته السابقة مع عالم اللاهوت الألمانى الشاب جوزيف راتزينجر اسم البابا قبل تنصيبه رئيسا للفاتيكان.

وقال بوف وهو راهب فرنسيسكانى سابق، فى مقابلة مع صحيفة فولها دى ساو باولو إنهما التقيا فى فترة الستينيات من القرن الماضى عندما كان بوف يدرس علم اللاهوت فى ميونيخ، حيث دارت بينهما مناقشات فى كثير من الأحيان.

أمن: انفجار سيارة أحد قادة الثوار السابقين فى #بنغازى ولا ضحايا

أمن: انفجار سيارة أحد قادة الثوار السابقين فى بنغازى ولا ضحايا

ليبيا (أ.ف.ب)
انفجرت سيارة أحد القادة السابقين للثوار الليبيين قرب مركز شرطة فى بنغازى ثانى مدن ليبيا دون سقوط ضحايا، على ما أفاد مصدر أمنى فرانس برس.

وأضاف المصدر أن مجهولين ألقوا عبوة يدوية الصنع على سيارة القيادى السابق أيمن العراك التى كانت متوقفة أمام منزله على بعضة أمتار من مركز شرطة بحى البركة وسط بنغازى.

وأكد أن الانفجار لم يخلف ضحايا "لكن السيارة دمرت".

أمن: انفجار سيارة أحد قادة الثوار السابقين فى #بنغازى ولا ضحايا

أمن: انفجار سيارة أحد قادة الثوار السابقين فى بنغازى ولا ضحايا

 
                                                                                                                أرشيفية

ليبيا (أ.ف.ب)
انفجرت سيارة أحد القادة السابقين للثوار الليبيين قرب مركز شرطة فى بنغازى ثانى مدن ليبيا دون سقوط ضحايا، على ما أفاد مصدر أمنى فرانس برس.

وأضاف المصدر أن مجهولين ألقوا عبوة يدوية الصنع على سيارة القيادى السابق أيمن العراك التى كانت متوقفة أمام منزله على بعضة أمتار من مركز شرطة بحى البركة وسط بنغازى.

وأكد أن الانفجار لم يخلف ضحايا "لكن السيارة دمرت".

فنترشال الألمانية تناضل لاستعادة إنتاجها فى #ليبيا إلى 100 ألف برميل يوميا

فنترشال الألمانية تناضل لاستعادة إنتاجها فى ليبيا إلى 100 ألف برميل يوميا


                                                                                                صورة أرشيفية

أوسلو (رويترز)

قال راينر سيلى، الرئيس التنفيذى لفنترشال النفطية الألمانية لرويترز، إن الشركة تكافح لاستعادة إنتاجها فى ليبيا إلى مستويات ما قبل الحرب الأهلية، فى ظل صعوبات فى إيجاد مقاولين.

وتستبعد فنترشال، وهى وحدة النفط والغاز لباسف الألمانية العملاقة للكيماويات- أيضا التنقيب عن مزيد من النفط والغاز فى ليبيا، رغم مواردها الضخمة؛ لأن الشروط الموضوعة للشركات الأجنبية ليست جذابة.

وكانت فنترشال ثانى أكبر شركة نفطية أجنبية تعمل فى ليبيا بعد إينى الإيطالية قبل الإطاحة بالقذافى فى عام 2011، وكانت ليبيا قبل الاضطرابات مصدر ثلاثة أرباع إجمالى الإنتاج النفطى لفنترشال. ومنذ نهاية الحرب تحاول الشركة العودة إلى مستويات إنتاج ما قبل الحرب مستهدفة إنتاج 100 ألف برميل يوميا هذا العام.

وقال ستيلى فى مقابلة بمؤتمر نفطى "ننتج نحو 80 ألف برميل يوميا فى المتوسط.. سيكون من الصعب الوصول إلى مستوى ما قبل الحرب عند 100 ألف برميل يوميا هذا العام كما كان متوقعا من قبل". وأضاف "إن الأمر يشكل تحديا لكننا نعمل للتغلب عليه.. من الصعب تحديد موعد معين لكننا نريد الوصول إلى مستوى 100 ألف برميل يوميا فى أقرب وقت ممكن". 

ومنذ عام كانت المشكلة الرئيسية تتمثل فى شبكة خطوط الأنابيب القديمة فى ليبيا مما كان يعوق نقل نفط الشركة من الصحراء الليبية إلى الميناء. وتم حل المشكلة جزئيا بعد ان ساهمت فنترشال فى بناء خط أنابيب جديد تقول إنه سيبدأ تشغيله قريبا.

وقال ستيلى إن المشكلة الآن تتمثل فى إيجاد المقاولين المطلوبين. وأضاف "صناعة الخدمات ليست بالمستوى نفسه الذى كانت عليه قبل الحرب.. يشكل ذلك قيدا". 

وفيما يتعلق بالأمن قال ستيلى إن أزمة الرهائن فى منشآة أميناس للغاز فى الجزائر على بعد أقل من 100 كيلومتر من الحدود الليبية لم تؤثر على منشآت فنترشال. وتابع "كنت فى ليبيا الأسبوع الماضى ولم ألحظ تغيرا. دعمنا بالفعل نظامنا الأمنى فى ليبيا، نظرا للحرب الأهلية فى 2011". 

واستبعد ستيلى التنقيب فى ليبيا رغم موارد البلاد الضخمة من النفط والغاز فى ظل شروط ليست مفضلة للشركات الأجنبية. وقال إن ليبيا هى البلد الوحيد فى شمال أفريقيا الذى تعمل فيه فنترشال وستظل كذلك حيث تمنع الاضطرابات فى شمال أفريقيا والشرق الأوسط الشركة من الاستثمار هناك.

وأضاف "فى مصر..لا أرى مزيدا من التقدم.. يعيد الجميع النظر فى الجزائر الآن (بعد أزمة الرهائن) وتركت فنترشال موريتانيا العام الماضى".

#ليبيا #تركيا الرئيس التركى يستقبل رئيس المجلس الوطنى الانتقالى الليبى السابق

الرئيس التركى يستقبل رئيس المجلس الوطنى الانتقالى الليبى السابق

                                                                                      الرئيس التركى عبد الله جول

أنقرة (أ.ش.أ)

استقبل الرئيس التركى عبد الله جول، اليوم الجمعة، فى العاصمة التركية أنقرة، مصطفى عبد الجليل رئيس المجلس الوطنى الانتقالى السابق فى ليبيا، الذى يقوم حاليا بزيارة لتركيا.

وذكرت وكالة الأناضول التركية اليوم، أن اللقاء دار فى قصر الرئاسة فى "تشانكايا"، بعيدا عن وسائل الإعلام.

#Venezuela Venezuela's Hugo Chavez in first post-surgery images


Venezuela's Hugo Chavez in first post-surgery images

Mr Chavez was shown with his daughters at his bedside


The first images of Venezuela's leader Hugo Chavez seen since he underwent cancer surgery have been broadcast by the government.
The 58-year-old is shown smiling as he lies in bed reading a newspaper, with his two daughters at his side.
Mr Chavez has not been seen in public since he went to Havana for surgery last year, on 11 December.
It was his fourth operation in an 18-month period for cancer first diagnosed in mid-2011.
Mr Chavez is shown looking at Thursday's issue of the Cuban Communist Party newspaper Granma in some of the photos, broadcast on television by his son-in-law, Science Minister Jorge Arreaza.
The government said the photos were taken on Thursday night.
Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said that as the Venezuelan leader 

was breathing through a tracheal tube, it was difficult for him to speak.
However, he said he was writing down orders.
There has been widespread speculation in Venezuela about Mr Chavez's condition, with some students holding protests outside the Cuban embassy in Caracas, demanding to know his state of health.
Mr Chavez has been at the helm for 14 years and was re-elected for another six-year term in October 2011.
Shortly before making his most recent journey to Havana, Mr Chavez suggested that his supporters should consider naming his Vice President, Nicolas Maduro, as his successor.
Mr Maduro has made frequent visits to Havana to see Mr Chavez.
The Venezuelan leader is reported to have had tumours removed from his pelvic region, and has also undergone prior rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Though there have been few details about the president's exact treatment, Mr Maduro said on Wednesday that they had been "extremely complex and tough".

#Bahrain policeman killed in unrest


Bahrain policeman killed in unrest

A Bahraini police officer has been killed as protests and violence continue in the Gulf kingdom.
The interior ministry reported the officer's death late on Thursday night.
The death was Thursday's second. In the morning a 16-year-old protester died after police shot him in the stomach. Several others were reportedly wounded.
The protests were held to mark the second anniversary of the start of demonstrations against the rule of the country's Sunni royal family.
On Friday thousands of anti-government marchers blocked a major road, the Boudaya highway, leading into the capital Manama. For a second day clashes broke out between security forces and protesters.
Police chief Tariq Hassan al-Hassan said that the police officer, Mohammed Asif, died after being struck by a projectile.
"While Asif and several other police officers were securing roads a group of rioters attacked with Molotov cocktails, steel rods and stones."
He called it an "unprovoked attack".
The protests and violence come as the government and opposition start a national dialogue aimed at easing the country's crisis. The majority Shia community in Bahrain is pressing for greater political rights.
On 14 February 2011, peaceful protesters took over an iconic Bahraini monument, Pearl Roundabout. Three days later security forces cleared the site using tear gas, batons and birdshot. At least two protesters died and hundreds were injured.
As violence escalated 35 people, including five police officers, were killed, hundreds more were hurt and thousands jailed in February and March 2011.
The vast majority were Shia Muslims in a country ruled by a minority Sunni royal family.
Since then, opposition and human rights activists say another 45 people have been killed, a figure which the government disputes.
Although many people have been released, 13 activists and politicians including the leader of the secular Waad party, Ibrahim Sharif, remain in jail.
They have been convicted and in some cases given life sentences on evidence that is widely accepted to have been obtained under torture.

BBC News

Oscar Pistorius denies Reeva Steenkamp #South_Africa murde


Oscar Pistorius denies Reeva Steenkamp South Africa murde

South African Olympic and Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius has strongly rejected a charge that he murdered his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
Ms Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, was shot dead at Mr Pistorius's home near Pretoria on Thursday.
Appearing in court in Pretoria, Mr Pistorius wept as prosecutors vowed to pursue a charge of premeditated murder.
An application for bail was postponed until next Tuesday and the athlete will remain in police custody.
Dubbed "blade runner", he made history last summer by becoming the first double-amputee track athlete to run in an Olympic Games.
"The alleged murder is disputed in the strongest terms", said a statement released by Mr Pistorius's family and management company after the court hearing.
"Our thoughts and prayers today should be for Reeva and her family - regardless of the circumstances of this terrible, terrible tragedy," it said.
They were the first words released on behalf of the 26-year-old athlete since Ms Steenkamp was found fatally wounded at his home in the gated Silver Woods development outside the South African capital.
But they gave no explanation of what had happened.
'Traumatised'
Hours earlier, Mr Pistorius sobbed audibly during his initial appearance at Pretoria Magistrates Court.
Dozens of reporters witnessed the hearing, where chief magistrate Desmond Nair was presiding.
The BBC's Andrew Harding, who was there, said the defendant cut a lonely figure in a crowded court, with his hands clenched and his neck muscles twitching, before he held his head forward, breathing heavily through tears.
When Prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued for the graver charge of "premeditated murder", Mr Pistorius slumped forward at the mention of the words.
If convicted of premeditated murder, the athlete will face a life term in prison. But his defence is seeking a lesser charge, possibly culpable homicide, which is defined in South African law as unlawful, negligent killing.
Media access was discussed at the 40-minute session and the magistrate ruled that there should be no live recording of the bail hearings.
Mr Pistorius's team had argued against such coverage and cited his "extremely traumatised state of mind".
Both prosecution and defence agreed Mr Pistorius could remain in custody at a police station and not in prison.
Members of Mr Pistorius's family, including sister Aimee, brother Carl and father Henke, were in the courtroom.
His brother and father, sitting behind the athlete, reached forward to touch his shoulder during the proceedings.
Mr Pistorius had earlier arrived at court in the back of a police vehicle, hiding his face with a jacket and notebook.
Forensic scientists are expected to continue examining the house in the Silver Lakes area on the outskirts of South Africa's administrative capital where Ms Steenkamp, 29, died.
Correspondents say the athlete's arrest has stunned the country where he is considered a national hero.
He is known as "blade runner" because of the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he races in. He was born without a fibula in both legs and had his legs amputated below the knee before his first birthday.
Police were called to his home in the early hours of Thursday morning.
They found paramedics treating a 29-year-old woman with four gunshot wounds to the head and upper body. She died at the scene, and officers recovered a 9mm pistol.
A post-mortem examination was carried out on Friday but the results would not be made public, police said.
Ms Steenkamp's body is due to be flown home to Port Elizabeth for a memorial service next Tuesday, South African media report - the same day that Oscar Pistorius is next expected in court.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21475873

Exclusive: #Turkey to #Iran gold trade wiped out by new U.S. sanction


Exclusive: Turkey to Iran gold trade wiped out by new U.S. sanction

(Reuters) - Tighter U.S. sanctions are killing off Turkey's gold-for-gas trade with Iran and have stopped state-owned lender Halkbank from processing other nations' energy payments to the OPEC oil producer, bankers said on Friday.
U.S. officials have sought to prevent Turkish gold exports, which indirectly pay Iran for its natural gas, from providing a financial lifeline to Tehran, largely frozen out of the global banking system by Western sanctions over its nuclear program.
Turkey, Iran's biggest natural gas customer, has been paying Iran for its imports with Turkish lira, because sanctions prevent it from paying in dollars or euros.
Iranians then use those lira, held in Halkbank accounts, to buy gold in Turkey, and couriers carry bullion worth millions of dollars in hand luggage to Dubai, where it can be sold for foreign currency or shipped to Iran.
Halkbank had also been processing a portion of India's payments for Iranian oil.
A provision of U.S. sanctions, made law last summer and implemented from February 6, effectively tightens control on sales of precious metals to Iran and prevents Halkbank from processing oil payments by other countries back to Tehran, bankers said.
"Halkbank can only accept payments for Turkish oil and gas purchases and Iran is only allowed to buy food, medicine and industrial products with that money," one senior Turkish banker told Reuters.
"The gas for gold trade is very difficult after the second round of sanctions. Iranians cannot just withdraw the cash and buy whatever they want. They have to prove what they are buying ... so gold exports will definitely fall," he said.
Trade in Turkish gold bars to Iran via Dubai was already drying up as banks and dealers declined to buy the bullion to avoid sanctions risks associated with the trade.
Reuters first reported the boom in Turkish gold sales to Iran via Dubai last year.
Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Cağlayan signaled a decline in the trade last week when he said that, while Turkey would not be swayed by U.S. pressure to halt gold exports to Iran, Tehran's demand for the metal was expected to fall.
"You could say that the United States has achieved its aim," said a western diplomat. "If Turkey is going to continue energy imports from Iran, there is no other way to go than trading sanction-free goods."
NEW ROUTES?
Washington says Tehran is enriching uranium to levels that could be used in nuclear weapons and has been trying to ratchet up economic pressure on Tehran. Iran says the program is for peaceful purposes.
Turkish ministers had acknowledged the "gold-for-gas" trade but said it was carried out entirely by the private sector and was not subject to U.S. sanctions.
Turkey like China, India and Japan is heavily dependent on imported energy and, while it has cut back on oil from Iran, has made clear it cannot simply stop buying Iranian oil and gas.
"With so many restrictions, Iran's cash may accumulate in Halkbank accounts... they may have difficulty getting some of that money out of Turkey," another senior Turkish banker said.
That could mean Tehran will look elsewhere for allies willing to try to get round the U.S. sanctions, although it may struggle to continue to receive gold as a payment method.
"The gold trade may switch to countries that support Iran politically but Russian banks, for example, would be very cautious because they are very much in the global banking system," the second banker said.
"China may be another option. But I can say that the gold trade is over for Turkey."
Turkey, which is not a major gold producer, was a net gold, jewelry and precious metals importer in 2011 but swung to being a net exporter last year. Analysts said Iranian demand had prompted both the high imports two years ago - which were largely sold on to Iran - and the surge in exports last year.
Gold exports to Iran rose to $6.5 billion in 2012, more than ten times the level of 2011, while exports to the United Arab Emirates - much of it for onward shipment to Iran or conversion to hard currency - rose to $4.6 billion from $280 million.
Overall Turkish bullion exports fell to 10.5 tonnes in December from 15.2 tonnes in November.

#Syria Syrian opposition won't talk to officials linked to crackdown


Syrian opposition won't talk to officials linked to crackdown

An opening in the ceiling of a room caused by shelling is seen at a building where patients of lbn Khaldoun psychiatric hospital were transferred to, in Aleppo February 14, 2013.

(Reuters) - Syria's opposition coalition is ready to negotiate President Bashar al-Assad's exit with any member of his government who has not participated in his military crackdown on the uprising, coalition members said on Friday.
Syrian authorities have given no formal response to several offers of talks in recent weeks. But officials say they cannot accept pre-conditions about Assad's departure and have privately dismissed what they say are no more than media initiatives.
The political chasm between the sides, along with a lack of opposition influence over rebel fighters on the ground and an international diplomatic deadlock preventing effective intervention, has allowed fighting to rage on with almost 70,000 people killed in 22 months of conflict, by a U.N. estimate.
Opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib made an offer of negotiations last month without consulting the coalition's 70-member assembly, prompting criticism from a powerful bloc within the movement dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem is due to visit Moscow, one of Assad's main foreign allies, later this month. Russia also hopes Alkhatib will visit soon in search of a breakthrough to end the bloodiest of the Arab Spring uprisings.
But coalition members say no date has been set for an Alkhatib trip to Moscow and Syria's Foreign Ministry played down suggestions that Moualem and he could meet there, saying any dialogue must take place inSyria.
An overnight meeting of the coalition's 12-member politburo in Cairo endorsed Alkhatib's initiative, although it set guidelines for any peace talks which will be presented for approval by the full assembly next Thursday.
"These guidelines stipulate that Bashar al-Assad and all the security and military leaders that (have) participated in the killing of the Syrian people and whose hands are stained with blood have no place in the Syria of the future," coalition member Abdulbaset Sieda told Reuters in Cairo after the meeting.
"We agreed to reassure the Syrian brothers from the (ruling) Baath Party whose hands are not stained with the blood of the Syrian people that they are partners in the coming political process."
Another opposition member said next week's gathering of the full coalition would try to revive plans for a provisional government, undermined so far by divisions among Assad's foes.
Walid Bunni, one of a handful of liberals in the Islamist-heavy assembly, told Reuters that Assad and his military and intelligence officials could not be part of any negotiations.
"Bashar and his cohorts will not be party to any talks. We will not regard those present from the government's side as his representatives," Bunni said.
He said the meeting addressed how to deal with Iran and Russia, Assad's main supporters, after Alkhatib met the foreign ministers of Russia and Iran in Munich earlier this month.
NO SIGN OF DIALOGUE
Syria's Foreign Ministry complained to the United Nations on Friday over what it said was pressure by Turkey, which backs the rebels, on Syria's opposition to reject any negotiated solution. The ministry said Turkey was "training and arming terrorist groups including al Qaeda" to fight Assad's forces.
Turkey has repeatedly denied arming or training the Syrian insurgents.
Alkhatib has said he is willing to hold talks with Assad's representatives in rebel-held areas of Syria or outside the country to try to end the conflict. Syria's minister for national reconciliation, Ali Haidar, initially gave a positive response, saying he was willing to travel abroad to meet him.
But in an interview on state television this week Haidar reiterated the government's position that any serious dialogue must be on Syrian territory and said the opposition had not formally presented any proposals.
"There is no initiative at the table of the Syrian government," he said. "The government is not a media office to answer ideas through the media."
Haidar has also said the authorities reject any dialogue that aims "to hand power from one side to another".
Alkhatib has headed the Syrian National Coalition since it was founded last December in Qatar with Western and Gulf backing. He has quietly built up a student following and links with civic and religious figures across Syria, although he has no control over armed insurgents seeking Assad's overthrow.
Rebels captured the town of Shaddadeh in the eastern, oil-producing province of Hasakah on Thursday after three days of battles in which activists said 30 members of the al Qaeda-linked, anti-Assad, Nusra Front and 100 soldiers were killed.
The United Nations food agency WFP said on Friday that an estimated 40,000 people had fled Shaddadeh for the provincial capital Hasakah, 45 km (30 miles) to the north.
But the army's firepower in the east remains formidable, rebels say. An activist in the city of Deir al-Zor, where rebels launched an operation this week to expel Assad's forces, came under the heaviest artillery barrages since the start of the conflict from the airport and surrounding bases to the south.
In Damascus, fighting continued on the edge of central areas where rebel brigades have encroached after breaching the Assad forces' defensive lines at the ring road two weeks ago.
Assad's elite Republican Guard and Fourth Division Forces, belonging mostly to his Alawite sect, remain dug in on Qasioun Mountain on the northwestern edge of the capital, at the Mezze military airport on its western edge and in surrounding hills in Somariya and an Alawite enclave known as Mezze 86.
"I hear the shelling from Mezze airport and Somariya and Mezze 86 on Daraya and Moadamiya. From Qasioun it targets Jobar and the southern neighborhoods," said a local witness.
REBEL TANK BARRAGE
Video footage showed a tank captured by the Liwa al-Islam Brigades, one of the biggest rebel units operating around Damascus, shelling a purported army position in the Eastern Ghouta, an expanse of farmland and urban areas from where opposition forces have been attacking the capital.
Illustrating the dominance of Islamists in the armed opposition, Liwa al-Islam was established by the son of a Salafist sheikh in Saudi Arabia, a major source of funding for the rebels, along with Qatar.
In the northern province of Idlib, where rebels shot down two air force jets on Thursday, Assad's forces shelled the town of Maarat al-Numan after days of heavy clashes around the military base of Wadi Deif on the main north-south highway.
Activist Anas Najm, speaking by phone from the town with the sound of jets buzzing and bombardment in the background, said rebels retook the highway from the army last week.
"The road to Turkey is basically now all under opposition control, except in an area near Aleppo where the regime has a big fortified roadblock," he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors violence in Syria, said dozens of people were kidnapped on Thursday in apparent tit-for-tat sectarian operations in Idlib.
It said pro-Assad armed groups from the Shi'ite Muslim villages of Fua and Kafraya seized four vehicles carrying men and women from the Sunni Muslim villages of Saraqeb, Sarmeen and Binnish. Another group captured 40 people from Fua and Kafraya, it said.
The rebels come mainly from Syria's Sunni majority, while the Alawites follow a faith derived from Shi'ite Islam.

#New_York Manufacturing stumbles but seen regaining footing


Manufacturing stumbles but seen regaining footing

File photo of Chevrolet Cruze chassis moving along the assembly line at the General Motors Cruze assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio July 22, 2011.

(Reuters) - Manufacturing got off to a weak start this year as motor vehicle production tumbled, but a rebound in factory activity in New York state this month suggested the decline would be temporary.
Consumers were a bit more upbeat early this month even as they paid more for gasoline and saw higher taxes reduce their paychecks, other data on Friday showed. Households drew comfort from steady job gains, which together with rising house and share prices should help to underpin consumer spending.
Manufacturing output fell 0.4 percent in January after rising 1.1 percent in December, the Federal Reserve said. That followed two months of solid gains and largely reflected a 3.2 percent drop in auto production.
"Given that most of the weakness was due to the give-back in motor vehicle production after the 11 percent surge in activity during the last two months of last year, we expect this retreat in industrial output to be temporary," said Millan Mulraine, senior economist at TD Securities in New York.
In a separate report, the New York Fed said its "Empire State" general business conditions index rose to 10.0 from -7.8 the month before. February's index showed the first growth in the sector since July and the best performance since May 2012.
The rebound was driven by new orders, where the index was at its highest since May 2011. Economists said the pick-up in activity likely reflected recovery from Superstorm Sandy, which struck the East Coast in late October.
"Growth in the current quarter could get a boost from rebuilding efforts in the region," said Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York.
CONSUMER SENTIMENT PERKS UP
A third report showed the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment rose to 76.3 in early February from 73.8 in January. Its gauge of current economic conditions rose to 88 from 85 the prior month, while a measure of consumer expectations rose to 68.7 from 66.6.
"Consumers are getting over the fact that their paychecks are a little smaller since the beginning of the year due to the sunset of the payroll tax holiday," said Thomas Simons, an economist at Jefferies & Co. in New York.
"This offers some encouragement that consumption will recover following a weak month in January."
The expiration of a 2 percent payroll tax cut and increases in tax rates for wealthy Americans on January 1 were blamed for a sharp slowdown in retail sales last month.
The pick-up in consumer sentiment is welcome given the cooling in factory activity. Manufacturing carried the economy's recovery from the 2007-09 recession.
Last month's weakness in manufacturing helped push overall industrial production down 0.1 percent. Output had increased 0.4 percent in December.
Production at the nation's mines fell 1.0 percent, but cold weather boosted utilities production by 3.5 percent -- a positive development for consumer spending this quarter.
With industrial output weak, the amount of capacity in use fell to 79.1 percent from 79.3 percent in December.
Industrial capacity utilization - a measure of how fully firms are using their resources - was 1.1 percentage points below its long-run average.
Officials at the Fed tend to look at utilization measures as a signal of how much "slack" remains in the economy, and how much room growth has to run before it becomes inflationary.

Exclusive: #North_Korea tells #China of preparations for fresh nuclear test


Exclusive: North Korea tells China of preparations for fresh nuclear test

A passenger walks past a television report on North Korea's nuclear test at a railway station in Seoul February 12, 2013.

(Reuters) - North Korea has told its key ally, China, that it is prepared to stage one or even two more nuclear tests this year in an effort to force the United States into diplomatic talks with Pyongyang, said a source with direct knowledge of the message.
Further tests could also be accompanied this year by another rocket launch, said the source who has direct access to the top levels of government in both Beijing and Pyongyang.
The isolated regime conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday, drawing global condemnation and a stern warning from the United States that it was a threat and a provocation.
"It's all ready. A fourth and fifth nuclear test and a rocket launch could be conducted soon, possibly this year," the source said, adding that the fourth nuclear test would be much larger than the third at an equivalent of 10 kilotons of TNT.
The tests will be undertaken, the source said, unless Washington holds talks with North Korea and abandons its policy of what Pyongyang sees as attempts at regime change.
North Korea also reiterated its long-standing desire for the United States to sign a final peace agreement with it and establish diplomatic relations, he said. The North remains technically at war with both the United States and South Korea after the Korean war ended in 1953 with a truce.
Initial estimates of this week's test from South Korea's military put its yield at the equivalent of 6-7 kilotons, although a final assessment of yield and what material was used in the explosion may be weeks away.
North Korea's latest test, its third since 2006, prompted warnings from Washington and others that more sanctions would be imposed on the isolated state. The U.N. Security Council has only just tightened sanctions on Pyongyang after it launched a long-range rocket in December.
The North is banned under U.N. sanctions from developing missile or nuclear technology after its 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.
North Korea worked to ready its nuclear test site, about 100 km (60 miles) from its border with China, throughout last year, according to commercially available satellite imagery. The images show that it may have already prepared for at least one more test, beyond Tuesday's subterranean explosion.
"Based on satellite imagery that showed there were the same activities in two tunnels, they have one tunnel left after the latest test," said Kune Y. Suh, a nuclear engineering professor at Seoul National University in South Korea.
Analysis of satellite imagery released on Friday by specialist North Korea website 38North showed activity at a rocket site that appeared to indicate it was being prepared for an upcoming launch (here).
NORTH 'NOT AFRAID' OF SANCTIONS
President Barack Obama pledged after this week's nuclear test "to lead the world in taking firm action in response to these threats" and diplomats at the U.N. Security Council have already started discussing potential new sanctions.
The North has said the test this week was a reaction to what it said was "U.S. hostility" following its December rocket launch. Critics say the rocket launch was aimed at developing technology for an intercontinental ballistic missile.
"(North) Korea is not afraid of (further) sanctions," the source said. "It is confident agricultural and economic reforms will boost grain harvests this year, reducing its food reliance on China."
North Korea's isolated and small economy has few links with the outside world apart from China, its major trading partner and sole influential diplomatic ally.
China signed up for sanctions after the 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests and for a U.N. Security Council resolution passed in January to condemn the latest rocket launch. However, Beijing has stopped short of abandoning all support for Pyongyang.
Sanctions have so far not discouraged North Korea from pursuing its nuclear ambitions, analysts said.
"It is like watching the same movie over and over again," said Lee Woo-young, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.
"The idea that stronger sanctions make North Korea stop developing nuclear programs isn't effective in my view."
The source with ties to Beijing and Pyongyang said China would again support U.N. sanctions. He declined to comment on what level of sanctions Beijing would be willing to endorse.
"When China supported U.N. sanctions ... (North) Korea angrily called China a puppet of the United States," he said. "There will be new sanctions which will be harsh. China is likely to agree to it," he said, without elaborating.
He said however that Beijing would not cut food and fuel supplies to North Korea, a measure that it reportedly took after a previous nuclear test.
He said North Korea's actions were a distraction for China's leadership, which was concerned the escalations could inflame public opinion in China and hasten military build-ups in the region.
The source said that he saw little room for compromise under North Korea's youthful new leader, Kim Jong-un. The third Kim to rule North Korea is just 30 years old and took over from his father in December 2011.
He appears to have followed his father, Kim Jong-il, in the "military first" strategy that has pushed North Korea ever closer to a workable nuclear missile at the expense of economic development.
"He is much tougher than his father," the source said.