U.S. targets North Korea`s missile, nuclear activities

(NORTH, KOREA, NUCLEAR, TREASURY, ELECTRONICS, WHICH)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it had cracked down on companies involved in North Korea`s suspected missile proliferation and in purchases of equipment that could be used in a nuclear weapons program.
The Treasury and State Departments said they had targeted Iran`s Hong Kong Electronics and North Korea`s Namchongang Trading Corporation under an executive order that would freeze their U.S. assets and bar U.S. firms from dealing with them.
The move appeared aimed at isolating the companies from the U.S. financial and commercial systems and, by extension, from other countries` banks and corporations who may resist doing business with them out of fear of falling afoul of U.S. laws.
It was immediately not clear whether either company actually has any U.S. assets that could be frozen.
The steps are part of an effort to get tough with North Korea, which conducted its second nuclear test this year and which has ceased carrying out a 2005 agreement to abandon its nuclear programs in exchange for economic and diplomatic benefits.
The U.S. Treasury said that it had targeted Hong Kong Electronics, which is located in Kish Island, Iran, because it had transferred millions of dollars of proliferation-related funds to North Korea from Iran.
"North Korea uses front companies like Hong Kong Electronics and a range of other deceptive practices to obscure the true nature of its financial dealings, making it nearly impossible for responsible banks and governments to distinguish legitimate from illegitimate North Korean transactions," Stuart Levey, undersecretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the statement.
The State Department described Namchongang as a Pyongyang-based "nuclear-related company" and said it has been involved in the purchase of aluminum tubes and other equipment "specifically suitable for a uranium enrichment program since the late 1990s."
Uranium enrichment is a process that can produce fuel for nuclear power plants or for nuclear weapons.
(Editing by Philip Barbara)
Original article

WHO confirms over 70,000 swine flu cases, 311 deaths worldwide

(CASES, DEATHS, COUNTRIES, WORLDWIDE, PANDEMIC, MILLION)

A vaccine of despair – that’s what Onishchenko called the swine flu shot
Cruise docks with flu fears
The Spread of the Swine flu Outbreak
Flu fears behind bus attack
MOSCOW, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday confirmed 70,893 officially registered A/H1N1 cases and 311 deaths in 116 countries and territories worldwide.
The number of infected grew by 11,079 people over the weekend, while the death toll increased by 48 people.
The United States has seen the most fatalities with 27,717 cases and 127 deaths. Mexico has become the second most affected country, with 8,279 cases and 116 deaths. Other countries to be hit include Canada (7,775 cases, 21 deaths), Chile (5,186 cases and seven deaths), Britain (4,250 cases, one death) and Australia (4,038 cases, seven deaths).
WHO decided to raise its pandemic alert level to the maximum of 6 on June 11.
An influenza pandemic is an epidemic of an influenza virus that spreads on a worldwide scale and infects a large proportion of the human population.
There were three flu pandemics in the last century. The 1918 Spanish flu was the most serious, claiming over 50 million lives. It was followed by the Asian Flu in 1957 with up to 4 million deaths, and the Hong Kong Flu in 1968 resulting in about 1 million deaths.
 
Original article

UN mission to withdraw from Abkhazia by July 15

(MISSION, GEORGIA, ABKHAZIA, UNITED, STATES, BRITAIN)

UN mission withdraws from Georgia and Abkhazia
Post-war life in Abkhazia
SUKHUM, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - United Nations military observers will leave Abkhazia by July 15, 2009, a spokesman for the UN mission said on Monday.
The work of the mission, officially known as the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), was formally stopped on June 16 when its mandate expired with the UN Security Council unable to agree an extension.
Ten countries, including the United States, Britain and France, voted for the draft resolution to extend the mission, four countries - China, Vietnam, Libya and Uganda - abstained, and veto-wielding Russia voted against.
The draft, co-authored by Austria, Croatia, Germany, France, Turkey, Britain and the United States, would have extended the mission until June 30, 2009.
According to UN practice, the withdrawal of a mission takes up to two months.
Edmund Mulet, Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations, is currently visiting Abkhazia to discuss the details of the withdrawal with local authorities.
He held a meeting at the republic`s Foreign Ministry and was received by Abkhaz Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab earlier on Monday.
The UN mission in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone was deployed in 1993 to oversee a ceasefire following a post-Soviet conflict that resulted in Abkhazia gaining de facto independence.
Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia in August 2008 after its five-day war with Georgia over the latter, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control. Most residents of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia have held Russian citizenship for several years.
 
Original article

Russian, U.S. MPs discuss bilateral ties ahead of July summit

(MOSCOW, RUSSIA, BILATERAL, TRADE, MISSILE, AMENDMENT)

MOSCOW, June 29 (RIA Novosti) - Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are in Russia on June 29-30 to discuss urgent issues of bilateral relations ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama`s visit to Moscow on July 6-8.
Opening an extended meeting of the members of foreign affairs committees to address bilateral trade, regional stability and U.S. missile defense plans in Europe, the speaker of the Russian lower house, Boris Gryzlov said: "Bilateral ties currently enjoy new possibilities and are being driven forward with increasing pace."
According to Leonid Slutsky, a deputy chairman of the State Duma committee on foreign affairs, the participants of the meeting will discuss plans for a U.S. missile shield in central Europe, and other issues related to NATO.
A discussion of the Jackson-Vanik amendment is also expected.
The Jackson-Vanik amendment was passed in 1974 and restricted trade with the Soviet Union over human rights violations. The amendment, which still applies to Russia, puts restrictions on Russian-American trade relations, but Russia`s accession to the World Trade Organization would require the amendment be lifted.
"We will also discuss topics that have emerged recently in the light of the move to `press the reset button` in bilateral relations and `re-launch` the START treaty," Slutsky said.
Russia and the U.S. have been involved in comprehensive talks over a new nuclear arms reduction deal to replace the START 1 treaty, which expires in December.
The START 1 treaty obliges Russia and the United States to reduce nuclear warheads to 6,000 and their delivery vehicles to 1,600 each. In 2002, a follow-up agreement on strategic offensive arms reduction was concluded in Moscow. The agreement, known as the Moscow Treaty, envisioned cuts to 1,700-2,200 warheads by December 2012.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Obama agreed to launch the discussions during their first meeting, in London in early April.
Russia, which proposed a new arms reduction agreement in 2005, expects Washington to agree on a deal that would restrict not only the numbers of nuclear warheads, but also place limits on all existing kinds of delivery vehicles.
Medvedev has also said that any strategic arms cuts would only be possible if the United States alleviated Russia`s concerns over Washington`s plans for a missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland.
The U.S. military has recently reiterated its commitment to missile defense, citing a growing threat from North Korea and Iran, but suggested plans for a European site may change.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has suggested that Russian facilities could be part of the missile defense system, but Moscow has rejected this idea, saying there could be no partnership "in building facilities that are essentially designed to counter Russia`s strategic deterrence forces."
 
Original article

Obama focuses on Senate after first climate win

(OBAMA, WOULD, ENERGY, SENATE, CLIMATE, US, CHANGE)

By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, fresh from his first legislative victory on climate policy, expressed confidence on Monday that new greenhouse gas emission limits would become law with help from the U.S. Senate.
Obama also announced new measures on efficiency standards for lighting used in homes and businesses to take effect in 2012.
The House of Representatives passed a climate change bill on Friday that would require large companies, including utilities and manufacturers, to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases associated with global warming by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, from 2005 levels.
The Democratic president and many environmentalists declared the passage a historic step forward for U.S. energy policy, while Republicans and other opponents called it a massive tax that would not succeed in fighting climate change.
The bill gives Obama a stronger case to assert U.S. leadership on global warming at a meeting of the world`s major emitters next week on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Italy.
But the president`s victory may be short lived. The U.S. Senate must now shape its version of the same bill, and the chances of passage there are murky.
Obama and his top environmental aide, Carol Browner, expressed confidence that success would come in the Senate as well.
"In the months to come, the Senate will take up its version of the energy bill, and I am confident that they too will choose to move this country forward," Obama told reporters.
Browner declined to speculate on the timing of a Senate vote but referred to statements by Majority Leader Harry Reid that work would be done on the bill this autumn.
"I am confident that ... comprehensive energy legislation will pass the Senate," she said.
U.N. talks on a new global pact to fight climate change take place in December in Copenhagen, and analysts say having a U.S. law passed by then would boost chances of reaching an international agreement.
Obama has said he wants the United States to lead the world in fighting climate change.
EFFICIENCY STANDARDS
The new efficiency standards announced by the president apply to fluorescent and incandescent lamps, which represent 37 and 7 percent of lighting energy use, respectively, the White House said. They would save up to 594 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions through 2042, the White House said.
Obama and Energy Secretary Steven Chu also announced they were accelerating a $346 million investment of stimulus funds to be used in making new and existing homes as well as commercial buildings more energy efficient.  Continued...
Original article

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Obama voices support for Colombia trade deal

(TRADE, COLOMBIA, OBAMA, US, URIBE, CONGRESS, PRESIDENT)

By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama expressed hope that Congress would eventually approve a long-delayed free trade agreement with Colombia, but said that country needed to make more progress on human rights first.
"There remains work to do. But I`m confident that ultimately we can strike a deal that is good for the people and good for the people of the United States," Obama told reporters after a meeting with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.
In remarks in the White House Oval Office, Obama said he did not have "a strict timetable" for submitting the trade deal to Congress because he already had a busy legislative agenda this year and needed to consult with lawmakers first.
But he said Colombia could improve chances for the pact by making further progress on a number of human rights concerns that have blocked approval of the pact since it was signed by officials in the administration of former President George W. Bush in November 2006.
"President Uribe has assured me that he is interested in resolving those issues, and as I said great progress has been made. I trust that we can make more progress and I think that will help shape the overall environment in which this issue is being debated in Congress," Obama said.
Uribe said approval of the pact would send an important U.S. "signal of confidence" in Colombia, adding that his government was open to any U.S. advice on how it could improve its human rights record.
It was Obama`s second meeting with Uribe, a conservative politician who enjoyed a close relationship with Bush and whose country has received more than $6 billion in U.S. military and other aid under the Plan Colombia program since 1999.
Obama opposed the free trade agreement during last year`s presidential election campaign on the grounds that Colombia had not done enough to reduce killings of trade unionists and prosecute those responsible for the crimes.
The AFL-CIO labor federation, the United States` largest labor group, remains strongly opposed to the free trade agreement, as do many Democratic members of Congress.
When Bush tried to force a vote on the agreement in April 2007, he lost a showdown with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who instead pushed through a legislative rule change to indefinitely delay action on the pact.
"I think the burden is not simply on Colombia," Obama noted on Monday. "I think Colombia has done a lot of excellent work. It is a matter of getting both countries to a place where their legislatures feel confident that it will be ultimately to the economic benefits of these countries."
Obama, after meeting Uribe for the first time at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad in April, asked U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk to work with Colombia and Congress on a plan to enact the pact.
Uribe also met on Monday with U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and World Bank Robert Zoellick. Zoellick launched the U.S. free trade talks with Colombia in May 2004, when he was Bush`s trade representative.
(Reporting by Doug Palmer; editing by Todd Eastham)
Original article

Clinton calls for full democratic order in Honduras

(STATE, CLINTON, HONDURAS, ZELAYA, UNITED, ORDER, EXPULSION)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday the United States was working with other nations in the hemisphere to restore full democratic and constitutional order in Honduras after the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya.
Clinton said the Honduran military`s removal of Zelaya on Sunday had "evolved into a coup."
Under U.S. law, no aid -- other than for the promotion of democracy -- may be provided to a country whose elected head of government has been toppled in a military coup. Asked if the United States was now considering cutting off aid to Honduras, Clinton shook her head no.
She later said the United States was assessing the situation in Honduras and possible final outcomes before determining the next steps.
Clinton called the military arrest and expulsion of Zelaya "unfortunate events" and said it was a test of the inter-American system`s ability to support and defend democracy and constitutional order in the hemisphere.
"The United States has been working with our partners in the OAS to fashion a strong consensus condemning the detention and expulsion of President Zelaya and calling for the full restoration of democratic order in Honduras," said Clinton, referring to the Organization of American States.
(Reporting by Deborah Charles, Editing by Sandra Maler)
Original article

U.S. trade panel favors stiffer duties on Chinese tires

(US, TRADE, CHINESE, OBAMA, IMPORTS, CHINA, TIRES)

By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of the U.S. International Trade Commission recommended on Monday that President Barack Obama impose additional duties for three years on imports of low-cost Chinese tires the panel says are harming U.S. industry.
In a case seen as a test of how the Obama administration will cope with Chinese trade issues, four members of the six-member commission recommended that Obama impose additional duties of 55 percent in the first year, 45 percent in the second year, and 35 percent in the third year on imports of passenger vehicle and light truck tires from China.
"In our opinion, these tariff levels would remedy the market disruption that we have found to exist," the four said in a statement. The complaint was brought by the United Steelworkers union, which said a surge of Chinese tire imports have cost thousands of U.S. jobs.
Two other members of the commission disagreed, saying Obama should take no "trade-restricting" action because this would do more harm than good.
"This is an industry in which the trend toward gradual downsizing appears likely to continue regardless of the commission`s action today," the two dissenters said in a statement. But they joined the majority in urging that the Obama administration provide aid to displaced tire workers under the U.S. Trade Adjustment Assistance program.
The trade commission will formally submit its recommendations to Obama in a report next month. He will then have until September to decide what, if any, action to take. He can embrace, modify or ignore the commissioners` proposals.
Trade experts are watching to see whether Obama, who criticized China for what he called unfair labor practices during his campaign and won strong labor support in his bid for the White House, will be tougher on China than predecessor George W. Bush.
Bush routinely rejected petitions for restricting Chinese imports.
The case is one of several prickly trade issues between the United States and China, Washington`s second-largest trading partner behind Canada. Tensions have been exacerbated by the growth in the U.S. trade deficit.
Earlier Monday, China complained about U.S. investigations that could lead to duties on Chinese steel imports, saying they were a shocking sign of trade protectionism.
The steelworkers, who filed their complaint in April, argued that some 5,100 U.S. workers have lost jobs because of low-price Chinese tire imports that hit 46 million in 2008. They want Obama to restrict Chinese tire imports to 21 million.
The steelworkers cited closings of U.S. plants by Goodyear, Continental Tire and Bridgestone/Firestone, and said more closings are pending.
Chinese tire producers countered that U.S. companies largely abandoned the low-cost tire market before Chinese manufacturers moved in. They also noted that no U.S. tire producers had joined the steelworkers` complaint.
Vic DeIorio, executive vice president for sales of Chinese tire maker GITI in the United States, said he was disappointed that four of the six trade commissioners "felt compelled to take a decidedly protectionist path."
"If there is a barrier placed on tires produced in China, U.S. manufacturers and distributors will simply increase importation of tires from other countries, such as Venezuela. What`s more, duties will result in higher tires prices for American consumers at a time when they can ill afford it," DeIorio said in a statement.
(Editing by Philip Barbara)
Original article

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Deal on U.S. healthcare overhaul still uncertain

By Donna Smith
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama`s drive to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system may be back on track thanks to Senate efforts to cut the price tag to $1 trillion, but a bipartisan deal on the sweeping proposal still is far from certain.
Obama wants changes that rein in the escalating costs of healthcare in the United States and bring insurance to most of the 46 million Americans who currently lack it.
He also wants a bill that the Democrats who control Congress and the Republican minority can support to give a bipartisan stamp of approval to his top legislative priority.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus was upbeat last week after announcing that panel members had found ways to bring the price tag to about $1 trillion over 10 years, down from an earlier estimate of a staggering $1.6 trillion.
The new estimates helped move lawmakers closer to an agreement, Baucus said. But he was unable to close the deal with Republicans before senators left for a weeklong July 4 Independence Day holiday recess.
Instead, the core group of negotiators -- three Democrats and four Republicans -- issued a tepid statement on Thursday merely affirming their commitment to continue negotiations.
"As we have been for the last several weeks, we are committed to continuing our work toward a bipartisan bill that will lower costs and ensure quality, affordable care for every American," said the group, which includes Baucus and Senator Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the panel.
Soaring healthcare costs undermine the competitiveness of U.S. businesses, strain state and federal budgets and drive many Americans into bankruptcy.
The United States has the world`s most expensive healthcare system. Americans get coverage either through private insurance provided by employers or bought by individuals, or through government-run programs for the elderly, poor and others.
But millions remain uninsured and the United States lags many other industrialized nations in important health measures such as life expectancy and infant mortality.
"VERY DELICATE PROCESS"
The Finance Committee is one of five in the Senate and House of Representatives working on healthcare legislation, and may represent the best chance of obtaining a bipartisan bill.
"It is a very delicate process that Senator Baucus is trying to engineer," said Ron Pollack, executive director of the influential Families USA advocacy group.
A deal that includes Grassley would go a long way toward bringing other Republicans on board, he said.
But any compromises could end up alienating Democrats.  Continued...
Original article

House passes landmark climate change bill

By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama scored a major victory on Friday when the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to slash industrial pollution that is blamed for global warming.
The House passed the climate change bill, a top priority for Obama, by a vote of 219-212. As has become routine on major bills in Congress this year, the vote was a partisan one, with only eight Republicans joining Democrats for the bill.
The Senate is expected to try to write its own version of a climate change bill, but prospects for this year were uncertain.
The House-passed bill requires that large U.S. companies, including utilities, oil refiners, manufacturers and others, reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases associated with global warming by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, from 2005 levels.
They would do so by phasing in the use of cleaner alternative energy than high-polluting oil and coal.
"The scientists are telling us there`s an overwhelming consensus ... global warming is real and it`s moving very rapidly," said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, the chief sponsor of the legislation.
In urging passage, Waxman also said the legislation would create jobs and help move the United States from its reliance on foreign oil.
But Republicans said the bill was a behemoth that would neither effectively help the environment nor improve an economy reeling from a deep recession.
`BIGGEST JOB-KILLING BILL`
House Republican leader John Boehner called the measure "the biggest job-killing bill that has ever been on the floor of the House of Representatives."
Representative Joe Barton, the senior Republican on the energy panel, said the measure would set unrealistic targets for cutting carbon pollution. "You would have to reduce emissions in the United States to the level that we had in 1910," Barton said.
At the core of the bill, which is around 1,500 pages long, is a "cap and trade" program designed to achieve the emissions reductions by industry.
Under the plan, the government would issue a declining number of pollution permits to companies, which could sell those permits to each other as needed.
"The federal government will be joining California in the effort to combat global warming and the framework for doing it is one that is very similar to the one that California has adopted," said that state`s top climate official, Air Resources Board Chair Mary Nichols.
California is recognized as having the most aggressive plan to fight global warming in the United States.
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell in Washington and Peter Henderson in San Francisco; Editing by Will Dunham)
Original article

Obama: Violence affects U.S. hope for Iran dialogue

By David Alexander
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, in some of his sharpest remarks to date, said on Friday hopes for U.S. dialogue with Iran were affected by what he called Tehran`s "outrageous" brutality following a disputed election.
"There is no doubt that any direct dialogue or diplomacy with Iran is going to be affected by the events of the last several weeks," Obama told a joint White House news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"We don`t yet know how any potential dialogue will have been affected until we see what has happened inside of Iran," he said.
Obama`s remarks came as protests continued in Iran over the country`s June 12 presidential election, in which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the victor by a wide margin.
Ahmadinejad`s rivals, led former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi, said the election was stolen and hundreds of thousands of people have protested in Tehran and elsewhere. Security forces responded with a violent crackdown and one hardline cleric on Friday called for leading "rioters" to be executed.
Some Republicans have criticized Obama for his cautious reaction to the crisis but his tone sharpened this week after some demonstrators were killed.
Merkel, whose country is one of Iran`s main trading partners for sophisticated engineering technology, was an early critic calling for Tehran to permit peaceful protests and to recount votes in the disputed election.
"The Iranian people need to be given the right to peaceful demonstrations, that the Iranian people have the right to have votes be counted and the election results substantiated," Merkel told the news conference.
CREDIBILITY PROBLEM
Iranian leaders have accused Obama and other foreign officials of meddling in their affairs and encouraging the opposition but State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters their problem was self-inflicted.
"It`s not a matter of something that was brought in from the outside. A significant segment of the Iranian population believes that their voices have not been heard and that the results that ... the government has announced do not reflect the will of the people," he said.
Still, Obama said he remained open to resuming nuclear talks between Tehran and major world powers. Washington asserts Iran`s nuclear program is designed to produce atomic weapons, but Iran says it is for energy.
"There are going to be discussions that continue on the international stage around Iran`s nuclear program," Obama said. "I think the direct dialogue between the United States and Iran and how that proceeds, I think we`re going to have to see how that plays itself out in the days and weeks ahead."
Crowley said the administration hoped Iran would accept an offer for talks with the United States and other major powers about its nuclear program.
"We seek engagement with Iran," he said. "But so far ... we haven`t seen a meaningful response from Iran materialize."  Continued...
Original article

U.S. subsidies "poison" emerging market talks: U.S. official

By Peter Griffiths
LONDON (Reuters) - The United States` subsidies for failing industries risk "killing" American attempts to discuss trade with China and other developing nations, U.S. Federal Trade Commissioner William Kovacic said on Friday.
Subsidies can damage internal competition and undermine efforts to persuade other countries to avoid protectionism during the worst economic crisis in decades, he said.
"The poison in this for the longer term is this is going to kill our efforts in talking with emerging market economies," Kovacic, who chaired the FTC until March, said in a speech to a competition conference at the Chatham House thinktank in London.
"I have trips coming up this year to visit with Chinese officials and I am dreading the question and answer period because they are particularly astute students of what happens in Brussels and Washington," he said.
"They have a keen eye for the contradictions that seem to creep into policy. So you are left there saying `don`t try this at home, we can handle it, we are adults, but it is bad for you`."
Leaders of the G20 major economies pledged at a summit last November to fight protectionism, but 18 of their economies were named in a World Trade Organization report in March on measures taken that could be seen as restricting trade.
Part of the $787 billion U.S. stimulus package requires public works projects to use iron, steel and other goods made in the United States, if that does not contravene trade commitments.
Similar provisions feature in a climate change bill working its way through the U.S. Congress. It would give aid to carmakers building plug-in electric cars in the United States.
Helping failing industry undermines successful companies and sends the wrong signals to industry, Kovacic added.
Washington has taken a stake worth $50 billion in General Motors Corp and an 8 percent stake of $12 billion in Chrysler as part of its plan to restructure them in bankruptcy.
"Subsidy schemes not only are going to affect competition internally but they are sending a larger message that `if you fail grotesquely we will help you out, if you succeed thank you for your contributions to the American economy but no special help for you`," Kovacic said.
"Buy American" may boost cartels and damage free trade, and it must end after an "appropriate period," he added.
"The message that ought to have been driven home is that our experience with cartels tells us that `Buy American` has been a great protection and stimulus for cartel coordination," he said.
(Editing by Sophie Hares)
Original article

Russia says to ink U.S. military deal at summit

By Conor Sweeney
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and the United States will sign deals on military cooperation when U.S. President Barack Obama visits Moscow next month, Russia`s top general said on Friday.
"We have outlined the main issues of military cooperation for 2009 and beyond," the head of the Russian general staff, General Nikolai Makarov, said after a 90-minute meeting in Moscow with his U.S. counterpart, Admiral Michael Mullen.
"Our intention is that those documents should be signed when U.S. President Barack Obama arrives here in Moscow in July," Makarov said.
Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, made no mention of any military agreements after the talks but said he was looking forward to the outcome of Obama`s visit to Russia in early July.
The military top brass said they discussed a wide range of common concerns, ranging from North Korea`s nuclear test to Iran and Afghanistan. They gave no further details about the talks or about the military agreements.
Mullen, on his first visit to Moscow, said the meeting was frank and open. The military talks follow renewed efforts by the two countries to reset relations which have become strained by events such as last year`s Georgia war and NATO`s expansion eastwards.
"I`m very encouraged by our meetings and our mutual commitment to address these issues and strengthen our military-to-military cooperation," said Mullen.
"We have many common challenges ... whether in Afghanistan or the challenges in missile defense, or in Iran or particularly for security in Europe," he added.
Obama travels to Moscow from July 6-8 for a summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev where the agenda will include further cuts to aging nuclear arsenals and U.S. plans to install an anti-missile defense system in Europe.
"I very much look forward to the outcome of the very important summit between Presidents Obama and Medvedev in two weeks," said Mullen.
"I can`t emphasize enough my belief that we need to work on these very hard challenges to improve security not just in Europe, but in the world," said Mullen.
(Reporting by Conor Sweeney; Editing by Richard Williams)
Original article

Embattled South Carolina Governor Sanford to repay trip expenses

By Matthew Bigg
ATLANTA (Reuters) - South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, facing pressure to resign over an extramarital affair, said on Thursday he would repay state funds he used for an official trip to Argentina during which he met his mistress.
Sanford`s move came as questions mounted whether he had used public funds to pursue a yearlong affair with the woman.
His admission of marital infidelity during a tearful news conference on Wednesday likely ended chances he might be a Republican contender for the U.S. presidency in 2012.
The governor said he participated in a U.S. Commerce Department trade mission a year ago to Brazil and Argentina.
"While the purpose of this trip was an entirely professional and appropriate business development trip, I made a mistake while I was there in meeting with the woman who I was unfaithful to my wife with," Sanford said in a statement.
"That has raised some very legitimate concerns and questions, and as such, I am going to reimburse the state for the full cost of the Argentina leg of this trip," he said.
He was due to hold a state Cabinet meeting on Friday, his office said.
Sanford announced on Wednesday his resignation as chairman of the Republican Governors` Association, and attention has since shifted to whether he will resign as governor. His second term ends in January 2011.
The Washington Post, quoting a close adviser, reported on Thursday that Sanford was not considering resigning.
Attention has also focused on whether Sanford abdicated responsibility by disappearing from the state for six days starting last Thursday without telling aides where he was going. He told them initially he was going hiking on the Appalachian Trail in the Eastern United States.
But at his news conference on Wednesday after returning by plane from Buenos Aires, he said he "created a fiction" for aides and was actually visiting his lover in Argentina over the Father`s Day weekend.
`CLOSE TO GAME OVER`
South Carolina Republican Party official Glenn McCall said Sanford should resign because his previous statements about the importance of family values and his criticism of former President Bill Clinton`s marital infidelity amounted to hypocrisy.
South Carolina Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, also a Republican, said Sanford`s prospects appeared grim.
"It is close to game over. ... If anyone can prove he did this (met his lover) with taxpayer money, the deal is off. I am concerned that is coming," said Peeler.  Continued...
Original article

U.S. Senate approves communications panel chief

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved the Obama administration`s nomination of Julius Genachowski, a telecommunications industry executive, to head the Federal Communications Commission.
Genachowski is set to chair the five-member panel that will be dominated by Democrats seeking to bring more power to consumers and extend high-speed Internet access to rural parts of the United States.
The Senate also approved renewing the FCC term for Republican Robert McDowell.
The FCC`s broad mandate includes regulation of telephone and cable companies, oversight of ownership of radio and television outlets and management of public airwaves.
On Thursday the White House said Obama plans to nominate Meredith Attwell Baker to a Republican seat on the commission.
Baker has more than 12 years of experience in telecommunications and technology policy in the private and public sector, the White House said. She is a former Commerce Department official.
If she is formally nominated, the Senate Commerce Committee is likely to pair the nominations of Baker and Mignon Clyburn, who has been nominated to fill a Democratic seat, at a hearing. Clyburn is the daughter of House of Representatives Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina.
Expanding broadband Internet access to rural parts of the United States is among the top priorities that the Obama administration wants the FCC to tackle.
The FCC will help oversee billions of dollars in economic stimulus money that Congress approved in incentives for states and private companies to expand high-speed Internet in rural and underserved areas.
The FCC is required to submit a broadband plan to Congress by February.
Other issues the commission is expected to tackle include so-called "net neutrality" to prevent Internet services providers from giving preference to certain content, and whether consumers are getting short-changed by the exclusive deals between mobile phone makers and service providers.
(Reporting by John Poirier, additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing by Xavier Briand)
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Obama pledges push this year for immigration reform

By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama tapped a top Cabinet official on Thursday to work with Congress to speed immigration reform as senators warned another failed effort could doom chances for a generation.
"Despite our inability to get this passed over the last several years, the American people still want to see a solution," Obama told reporters after meeting with Democratic and Republican lawmakers.
Obama said he had asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to meet regularly with lawmakers to systematically work through a number of controversial issues, such as how to handle the 12 million illegal immigrants already in the United States and how to prevent future illegal immigration.
"It`s going to require some heavy lifting. It`s going to require a victory of practicality and common sense and good policymaking over short-term politics," Obama said.
Congress failed in 2006 and 2007 to pass immigration reform despite a push by former Republican President George W. Bush.
Earlier this year, Vice President Joe Biden said the U.S. economic slump and soaring unemployment made it a bad time to take on the issue, which stirs up strong emotions on both sides of the immigration debate.
But Obama, who has been criticized for not following through on a campaign pledge to tackle the issue this year, said the White House and Democratic-controlled Congress need to start pushing now to pass legislation and "not put it off for a year, two years, three years, five years from now."
Senator John McCain, the Republican who lost to Obama in last year`s presidential election, told reporters the reforms also must include a temporary worker program for agricultural and high-tech industries that rely on non-U.S. citizen labor.
"I can`t support any proposal that doesn`t have a legal temporary worker program and I would expect the president of the United States to put his influence on the unions in order to change their position," McCain said.
Democratic Senator Charles Schumer told reporters after the White House meeting that Obama had set a goal of passing legislation by the end of this year or early next year.
If Congress cannot meet that deadline, "we may not get to do it for a generation," Schumer said.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, also said he saw only "one more chance" to pass a bill because of the political heat that immigration reform stirs up.
"If we can`t get it done this time around, no politician is going to take this up in a generation. That would be a shame for this country," Graham said.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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Obama eyes Meredith Baker for U.S. FCC position

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama plans to nominate Meredith Attwell Baker to a Republican seat on the Federal Communications Commission, the White House said on Thursday.
Baker has more than 12 years of experience in telecommunications and technology policy in the private and public sector, the White House said. She is a former Commerce Department official.
If formally nominated, the Senate Commerce Committee is likely to pair the nominations of Baker and Mignon Clyburn, who has been nominated to fill a Democratic seat at a hearing. Clyburn is the daughter of House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina.
The White House announcement, which was widely expected, comes one week after the nominations of Julius Genachowski, Obama`s Democratic pick to chair the FCC, and Robert McDowell, a Republican, cleared the Senate Commerce Committee.
The full Senate could vote on the nominations of Genachowski, a law school friend of Obama and a technology industry executive, and McDowell as early as this week.
The FCC has been operating under Acting Chairman Michael Copps, a Democrat who is planning to stay on the five-commission panel. Jonathan Adelstein, a Democrat, is expected to leave.
"Meredith Baker will be a strong, independent voice," Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, the top Republican on the Senate committee, said in a statement.
Expanding broadband Internet access to rural parts of the United States is among the top priorities the Obama administration wants the FCC to tackle.
The FCC will help oversee billions of dollars in economic stimulus money that Congress approved in incentives for states and private companies to expand high-speed Internet in rural and underserved areas.
The FCC is required to submit a broadband plan to Congress by February.
Industry heavyweights Verizon Communications Inc, AT&T Inc and Sprint Nextel Corp also expressed their support for Baker.
Baker was vice president at the firm of Williams Mullen Strategies, where she focused on telecommunications, intellectual property and international trade issues.
She is also a former senior counsel at Covad Communications and former director of congressional affairs at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association trade group.
She is a graduate of Washington & Lee University and has a law degree from the University of Houston. She is a member of the Texas State Bar.
(Reporting by John Poirier, additional reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky; Editing Bernard Orr)
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U.S. calls for new approach in Doha trade talks

By Jonathan Lynn
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States called on Thursday for a new approach to concluding the long-running Doha round to free up world trade. U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said Washington wanted to negotiate directly with key trading partners in the World Trade Organization talks as the traditional multilateral approach was not working. Major emerging countries said they would reject calls for bilateral concessions.
"We believe we have to start with an honest assessment that continuing on the same path that we have engaged in for the last three rounds will most likely yield the same result and that would be a failure to come to a successful conclusion," Kirk told a news conference.
From the current incomplete package of deals it was clear what the United States would give up but hard to see exactly what it would gain, he said, given the many exceptions to an overall agreement for various countries, making the deal opaque.
"We think getting more clarity around that may be the key to helping us find a solution to a way forward," Kirk said after a meeting of ministers at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Kirk has also called on big emerging countries to open their markets further to foreign goods to help secure a deal in the Doha talks, launched in late 2001 to help poor countries prosper through trade.
But the trade ministers from India, Brazil and South Africa, meeting on the sidelines of the OECD, rejected that call and said any renewed dialogue must be part of a "transparent and inclusive multilateral process."
"At this final stage of negotiations, in the midst of the worst economic environment since the Great Depression of the 1930s, it would be unreasonable and unrealistic to assume that further unilateral concessions from developing countries will be forthcoming, especially in the context of the current economic crisis," the three ministers said in a statement.
Developing countries fear they could be strongarmed into an unbalanced deal through a one-on-one approach.
The Doha talks have been effectively on ice since a meeting of ministers in July failed to clinch an outline deal.
A number of positive comments in recent weeks, not least from Kirk and his new Indian counterpart Anand Sharma, have kindled hopes the talks could resume shortly.
But the differences between rich and emerging countries over process and substance underline how difficult it will be to conclude the negotiations, which WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy says are 80 percent complete.
Developing countries say they are under pressure to open up while rich countries have hedged their sensitive farm sectors around with waivers and get-outs to any deal, and EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel ruled out any new concessions.
"We have tried our very best and we don`t move," Fischer Boel told reporters in Paris after meeting the newly appointed French farm minister, Bruno Le Maire, who echoed her words.
WTO chief Lamy told the OECD meeting that completing Doha "through a multilateral negotiating process coupled with bilateral discreet contacts among players" was all the more important because trade was expected to contract by 10 percent this year -- 14 percent in developed countries and 7 percent in developing countries.
The economic crisis underlying this contraction was also giving rise to protectionist pressures, he said.  Continued...
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Ahmadinejad tells Obama not to interfere in Iran

TEHRAN (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Barack Obama on Thursday not to interfere in Iran`s internal affairs after the U.S. president said he was "appalled and outraged" by post-election violence in the Islamic state.
Iran`s tough security crackdown after its disputed June 12 presidential election, which Ahmadinejad won by a landslide according to official results, has led Obama to ramp up his previously muted criticism of Tehran.
"Mr Obama made a mistake to say those things ... our question is why he fell into this trap and said things that previously (former U.S. President George W.) Bush used to say," the semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
"Do you want to speak (with Iran) with this tone? If that is your stance then what is left to talk about," said Ahmadinejad.
His moderate opponents say the vote was rigged, a charge the authorities reject.
The turmoil in Iran has dimmed prospects for Obama`s engagement with Tehran over its nuclear programme, with Ahmadinejad`s government blaming Britain and the United States for fomenting violence.
Obama toughened his criticism of Iran on Tuesday for its crackdown on protesters demonstrating against the official election results, declaring scenes of death in Tehran "heartbreaking."
"In 2009, no iron fist is strong enough to shut off the world from bearing witness to the peaceful pursuit of justice," Obama said in Washington.
But the U.S. president declined to spell out any potential consequences for Tehran of the crackdown, and said there was still "a path available" to Iran in which it could operate within the international community.
Ahmadinejad said, according to Fars: "What way of talking is this to the Iranian nation ... I tell them that all those people who voted and all the Iranian nation will stand against them."
"A country which talks of change and cooperation, why did it fall into this trap. The Iranian nation sees and hears this talk and will make its decision ... "
"I hope you avoid interfering in Iran`s affairs and express your regret in a way that the Iranian nation is informed of it," Ahmadinejad said.
He was speaking in the port town of Assaluyeh, where he was inaugurating a petrochemical plant.
(Reporting by Hossein Jaseb and Zahra Hosseinian; writing by Fredrik Dahl)
Original article

U.S. winning WTO ruling on China`s film barriers

By Doug Palmer
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States appears to have won a victory against Chinese barriers to imported films, books and recorded music in a preliminary World Trade Organization ruling not yet made public.
"We`ve always felt like we`ve had a pretty strong case on the matter," a U.S. official told Reuters. "We`re still feeling pretty good."
The official declined to provide further details because the decision is still confidential. A public ruling is expected in coming months.
A U.S. victory would mark a significant milestone in Washington`s longtime battle against piracy in China, which the United States says costs its film, music and book industries billions of dollars in lost sales every year.
However, WTO rulings are often complicated documents, giving both sides grounds to declare victory.
China is one of the fastest-growing movie markets in the world, but only allows 20 imported films per year.
That and other market access barriers creates huge Chinese demand for pirated DVDs, CDs and books, Washington argues.
The limit of 20 foreign films per year is double what China allowed before it joined the WTO in 2001.
But in a case that began in April 2007, the U.S. Trade Representative`s office said Beijing uses other measures to limit imports of films, books and recorded music that violate commitments China made to open its market.
China promised to let foreign companies to import books, newspapers, DVDs, sound recordings and films for theatrical release, but in fact only allows state-owned "monopolies and oligopolies" to do that, the United States said.
Beijing also has not followed through on a commitment to give foreign companies distribution rights within China and has violated a WTO rule requiring that foreign books, music and films receive the same treatment as their domestic counterparts, the United States said.
According to a U.S. government brief, one of China`s arguments in the case was that a film is not a "good" because it "consists of a sequence of pictures that is projected on a screen in rapid succession and accompanied by a soundtrack."
That "intangible" nature exempted films from the commitments China made on goods, Beijing argued.
U.S. lawyers ridiculed this argument, noting "the fact that a good is used to provide a service does not mean that the good is not a good."
"For example, stethoscopes are goods that may be imported. The fact that the stethoscope is subsequently commercially exploited by health care service providers in order to examine patients does not mean that the stethoscope is not a good," the U.S. lawyers said in a July 2008 brief.
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