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Uncharted territory: Where digital maps are leading us
Labels: WorldECB chief hails euro relaunch at Davos
Labels: Technology
DAVOS, Switzerland: The head of the European Central Bank said on Friday that the embattled euro had been relaunched but that more had to be done to boost the eurozone's recession-wracked economy.
Speaking to the world's top business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mario Draghi also said that austerity measures being taken in crisis-hit countries were "unavoidable" despite the impact on growth.
"If one has to find a common denominator... for defining why 2012 is going to be remembered, I think one would say it's the year of the relaunching of the euro," Draghi said in his well-attended and hotly anticipated speech.
Draghi outlined three "extraordinary" steps taken by European leaders and institutions to battle the three-year sovereign debt crisis that has pitched the 17-nation bloc into recession.
Governments have pushed through structural reforms with "urgency" and these are "now bearing fruit," said the ECB boss.
European leaders had recognised structural flaws inherent in the single currency and were now pushing for greater integration.
And finally, his own institution had undertaken actions that broke the monetary policy mould, including providing one trillion euros ($1.33 trillion) in liquidity for banks.
The ECB also announced a programme to buy the bonds of debt-wracked countries which had proved "very helpful" in reducing the perception that the euro was on the point of collapse, Draghi said.
However, he said it was too early to declare the battle over.
"Are we satisfied for that? I think to say the least, the jury is still out. Because all in all, we haven't seen an equal momentum on the real side of the economy and that's where we will have to do much more," he said.
Nevertheless, Draghi hailed what he called a period of "relative tranquility" on the financial markets and said: "All the indices point to a substantial improvement of financial conditions."
"It is a situation where you have what I called once positive contagion on the financial markets ... but we don't see this being transmitted into the real economy yet," complained the central banker.
He forecast that the euro area economy would "stabilise" at a "very low level of activity" this year, and predicted "a recovery in the second part of the year."
The European Central Bank has forecast the eurozone economy will contract by 0.3 percent this year but rebound to register GDP growth of 1.2 percent in 2014.
Draghi urged governments not to let up on the momentum of reforms just because the pressure from the markets had been reduced.
"We can have a positive development if national governments would persevere in their actions, both in fiscal consolidation but especially now in the field of structural reforms," he said.
Fiscal consolidation - or reducing debt and deficit mountains - was "unavoidable" he stressed, but he acknowledged that raising taxes and cutting spending tended to result in slower economic growth.
Draghi concluded with a plea to the global elite not to underestimate the euro area economy, despite its woes.
Notwithstanding the strife in weaker euro countries like Spain and Greece, the average levels of indicators such as productivity or inflation put the euro area in line with some of the best economies in the world, he said.
"We tend to forget the strength of the euro area economy."
- AFP/de
After threatening U.S., North Korea turns wrath on South
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: A Chinese state-run newspaper warns North Korea over nuclear test
- Pyongyang threatens "physical counter-measures" against South Korea
- It says it will act if South Korea takes a "direct part" in new U.N. sanctions
- A day earlier, the North said a new nuclear test would be part of its fight against the U.S.
Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- In its latest bout of saber-rattling, North Korea on Friday warned of the possibility of "strong physical counter-measures" against South Korea in relation to tougher sanctions imposed this week by the United Nations.
The threat against South Korea came a day after the North said it would carry out a new nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches as part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States.
The statement Friday from North Korea's Committee for Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland said it would take action against South Korea if it "takes a direct part" in the U.N. sanctions.
The South Korean Unification Ministry declined to comment specifically on the new threats from Pyongyang. It reiterated its stance that North Korea should refrain from further provocations.
The two Koreas are technically still at war from the all-out conflict between them in the 1950s. Smaller scale clashes have occurred since then, most recently in November 2010 when North Korea shelled a South Korean island, killing several people.
South Korea and the United States are often the focus of menacing language from Pyongyang, but the latest U.N. sanctions, a response to a long-range rocket launched last month by the North, appear to have prompted a ratcheting up of the threats.
A displeased Chinese editorial
At the same time, North Korea's strong words and vow to conduct a third nuclear test -- previous ones took place in 2006 and 2009 -- appear to be testing the patience of its main ally, China, which voted in favor of the U.N. sanctions this week.
An editorial published Friday in the English-language edition of the state-run Chinese newspaper Global Times struck a displeased tone over Pyongyang's comments a day earlier.
"China's role and position are clear when discussing North Korea issue in the U.N. Security Council," the editorial said. "If North Korea engages in further nuclear tests, China will not hesitate to reduce its assistance to North Korea."
That prospect carries weight, since North Korea's impoverished economy relies heavily on China to stay afloat.
Global Times, whose editorial line often but not always reflects official Chinese policy, made it clear, though, that Beijing isn't about to cut Pyongyang loose.
"If the U.S., Japan and South Korea promote extreme U.N. sanctions on North Korea, China will resolutely stop them and force them to amend these draft resolutions," the editorial said.
Global Times noted that Beijing had put "a lot of effort into amendments" to the resolution approved by the Security Council this week.
"It seems that North Korea does not appreciate China's efforts," it said. "It criticized China without explicitly naming it in its statement yesterday."
The newspaper was referring to a passage in the controversial North Korean statement Thursday that said that "big countries, which are obliged to take the lead in building a fair world order, are abandoning without hesitation even elementary principle, under the influence of the U.S. arbitrary and high-handed practices."
The Global Times editorial also suggested that North Korea shouldn't rank too highly among China's priorities.
"China hopes for a stable peninsula, but it's not the end of the world if there's trouble there," it said, referring to the Korean peninsula that comprises North and South Korea. "This should be the baseline of China's position."
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday had urged North Korea and the West to "keep calm, remain cautious and refrain from any action that might escalate the situation in the region."
U.S. concerned but prepared
U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Thursday there are no "outward indications" that North Korea is about to conduct a nuclear test, but he admitted it would be hard to determine that in advance.
"They have the capability, frankly, to conduct these tests in a way that makes it very difficult to determine whether or not they are doing it," he said in a Pentagon press conference.
"We are very concerned with North Korea's continuing provocative behavior," Panetta said, but he added that the United States is "fully prepared" to deal with any provocations.
CNN's K.J. Kwon reported from Seoul, and Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong. CNN's Jaime A. FlorCruz in Beijing contributed to this report.
Egyptians clash on revolution's 2nd anniversary
Labels: HealthCAIRO Two years after Egypt's revolution began, the country's schism was on display Friday as the mainly liberal and secular opposition held giant rallies saying the goals of the pro-democracy uprising have not been met and denouncing Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
Thousands of protesters filled Cairo's central Tahrir Square, where the January 2011 uprising was born, and the area outside the presidential palace in the city's Heliopolis district. Throughout these places, the iconic Arab Spring chants of "Erha! Erhal!" or "leave, leave" and "the people want to topple the regime" rang out.
The protesters are using the anniversary to stage a show of strength in a bid to force Morsi to amend a disputed constitution drafted by his Islamist allies. They are also demanding freedom of expression and the independence of the judiciary.
Clashes broke out for a second day on some sidestreets near Tahrir and police fired tear gas to disperse the young men throwing stones. There were also clashes in Alexandria.
Smaller crowds also gathered in central squares in the Mediterranean cities of Port Said as well as the Nile Delta city of Mehalla and Suez at the southern entrance of the Suez Canal.
Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood supporters opted not to mark the anniversary on the streets, arguing that they will honor the occasion with acts of public service, like treating the sick and planting trees, a tactic dismissed by the opposition as a public relations stunt ahead of parliamentary elections expected in April.
The Brotherhood's ultraconservative allies, known as Salafis, also said they would stay off the streets to avoid clashes.
Egyptian demonstrators wave the national flag and shout slogans during a protest in Alexandria on January 25, 2013 -- the second anniversary of the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak.
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AFP/Getty Images
The anniversary of the revolution comes as Egypt faces a new phase in its upheaval: Ruling Islamists trying to push through their agenda, an opposition trying to break their lock on power, and an economy in free-fall that threatens to fuel public discontent.
At the heart of the country's political divide is a disputed constitution drafted by Morsi's allies without the participation of liberals or minority Christians, what the opposition sees as a bid by Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood to take control of all state institutions and the president's meddling in the judiciary.
"I am asking everyone to go out and demonstrate to show that the revolution must be completed and that the revolution must continue," opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei said in a televised message posted on his party's website. "There must be a constitution for all Egyptians. A constitution that every one of us sees himself in it," said the Nobel peace Laureate and former head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, IAEA.
New militia-like groups opposed to the Islamists have declared in video messages posted on social networks this week their intention to defend the opposition protesters if attacked. At least 10 people were killed and hundreds injured when Morsi's supporters descended upon protesters camped outside his palace in December, starting clashes that lasted for hours with firebombs, swords, knifes and firearms.
Alleged Doctor Killer Had Anger Issues, Friend Says
Labels: Business
Jason Smith, the Philadelphia exterminator who police say showed up at the home of Dr. Melissa Ketunuti this week to solve her rodent problem before strangling her, was a problem child as an adolescent, a family friend told ABC News.
The family friend from many years ago, who asked for anonymity, said Smith, 36, had behavior and anger issues, and that he also liked to set things on fire.
After Smith and Ketunuti got into "some kind of argument" in Ketunuti's basement, he struck her, strangled her and set her on fire, according to police.
Smith reportedly admitted to the brutal slaying after hours of police questioning Wednesday night.
Smith told police that Ketunuti had "belittled" him, sources told ABC News affiliate WPVI-TV in Philadelphia
He snapped and apparently tried to hide any evidence by setting the 35-year-old doctor on fire with paper he lit in the kitchen, the station reported.
Philadelphia Police Department/AP Photo
Pa. Doctor Killing: Person of Interest in Custody Watch Video
Philadelphia Doctor's Murder Leaves Police Baffled Watch Video
"People like Mr. Smith basically walk around with a huge chip on their shoulder, and they feel so inadequate and so insecure that any perceived belittlement of them will set them off," ABC News consultant and former FBI agent Brad Garrett said.
Capt. James Clark of the Philadelphia Police Department said Smith's mood and clarity varied during his alleged confession.
"At some points, he was solemn. At other points, it was like he was in a fog," Clark said at a news conference.
Smith has been charged with murder, arson, abuse of a corpse and risking a catastrophe.
Ori Feibush, who owns a coffee shop near Ketunuti's street, said he and police pored over hours of surveillance video until they saw Ketunuti walking home from doing errands, with Smith steps behind her.
"Forty-five minutes later, we see this same guy walking past, but [he] looks a little more disheveled and he's got gloves on," Feibush told ABC News.
Police say that after the slaying, Smith circled Ketunuti's block twice, before heading off to another job.
Ketunuti was a doctor at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and had lived alone in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood of the city for about three years. Her family released a statement saying they are "devastated by this senseless act of violence."
"Melissa's friends from childhood, college, residency and elsewhere remember her many kindnesses, even during long hours, as well as her zest for life: traveling, running and spending time with friends and family," the statement said. "Melissa was a source of joy to everyone in her life. Her passing has left an enormous gap in our lives."
Genes from nowhere: Orphans with a surprising story
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Taiwanese gets life sentence for election rally shooting
Labels: Technology
TAIPEI: Taiwan's supreme court ruled on Thursday that a man who opened fire at an election rally, killing one person and injuring a politician's son, must serve a life sentence.
The top court confirmed a decision last year by the high court, which convicted Lin Cheng-wei, 48, of attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms and sentenced him to life.
The high court had increased a 24-year sentence passed by a district court.
Lin, who had a criminal record, was arrested at the scene after opening fire at a campaign rally of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party in November 2010 near Taipei.
Lin claimed he had intended to shoot a KMT candidate with whom he had a personal dispute, but that he accidentally shot Sean Lien -- son of former vice-president Lien Chan -- in the face while he was on the stage.
Lien denied Lin's claim, insisting he himself was the target.
A man in the crowd was hit by the same bullet and died on the spot, only hours before voters went to the polls in local elections.
Lien was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery and released after ten days of treatment.
The incident revived painful memories of another election-eve shooting in 2004, when then-president Chen Shui-bian and his deputy Annette Lu were shot while campaigning for re-election.
Critics alleged that the 2004 shooting was staged to win sympathy for Chen, who eventually won by a razor-thin margin in a disputed election that plunged the island into political turmoil for months.
- AFP/xq
North Korea makes new threats against U.S.
Labels: LifestyleSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: North Korea is upset by a recent U.N. security council resolution, an analyst says
- Pyongyang says it plans a new nuclear test and further long-range rocket launches
- These are part of an "all-out action" targeting the U.S., it says
- North Korea has conducted two previous nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009
Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea said Thursday that it plans to carry out a new nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches, all of which it said are a part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States.
The North's National Defense Commission said the moves would feed into an "upcoming all-out action" that would target the United States, "the sworn enemy of the Korean people."
Read more: U.N. Security Council slams North Korea, expands sanctions
Carried by the state media, the comments are the latest defiant flourish from the reclusive North Korean regime, whose young leader Kim Jong Un has upheld his father's policy of pursuing a military deterrent and shrugging off international pressure.
The defense commission statement follows a United Nations Security Council resolution on Tuesday that the United States pushed for, condemning a recent recent rocket launch by North Korea and expanded existing sanctions.
Read more: North Korea silences doubters, raises fears with rocket launch
The North's angry statement "should have been the expected outcome" from the U.N. decision, said Daniel Pinkston, senior analyst for the International Crisis Group covering Northeast Asia.
"I think they are completely outraged and insulted by it," he said.
Read more: N. Korea's launch causes worries about nukes, Iran and the Pacific
North Korea, which often issues bellicose statements in its state media, said Thursday that it rejected all Security Council resolutions concerning it.
It described this week's resolution as "the most dangerous phase of the hostile policy toward the DPRK," using the abbreviated version of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Read more: U.S. official: North Korea likely deceived U.S., allies before launching rocket
Analyst: Threat meant as a deterrence
The threats toward the United States, a constant theme in the North's propaganda, have more to do with deterrence than a desire for full conflict, Pinkston said.
"I don't believe they have the capability, the intention or the will to invade or destroy the United States," he said. "They wish to deter interference from the U.S. or any outside powers."
Read more: North Korea's rocket launches cost $1.3 billion
North Korea's successful rocket launch last month nonetheless changed the strategic calculations for the United States, showing that the North's missile program is advancing despite an array of heavy sanctions imposed on it.
Analysts say it still has a lot of work to do to master the technology necessary to mount a nuclear warhead on missile or accurately target it.
Read more: South Korean officials: North Korean rocket could hit U.S. mainland
At the same time, Pyongyang has been hinting for a while that a new nuclear test could be in the cards.
Just before the North sent out its latest hostile statement Thursday, a U.S. State Department official was telling reporters in Seoul that Washington hoped that Pyongyang wouldn't go ahead.
Read more: Huge crowds gather in North Korean capital to celebrate rocket launch
"We think that that would be a mistake, obviously," said Glyn Davies, the U.S. special envoy on North Korea. "We call on North Korea, as does the entire international community, not to engage in any further provocations."
North Korea has carried out two previous nuclear tests, in 2006 and 2009, both of which were condemned by the U.N.
Pyongyang didn't say Thursday when exactly it would carry out a third test, but it could happen "at any time," according to Pinkston.
He said that it was hard for anybody outside the North Korean nuclear sector to know if the country is technically ready to carry out the test, but that politically, "it seems an appropriate time."
Demands unlikely to sway North
South Korean defense officials said last year that they believed the North had been in a position to carry out a new test whenever leaders in Pyongyang gave the green light.
North Korea's nuclear program is "an element of threat to peace not only for Northeast Asia but also for the world," Park Soo-jin, deputy spokeswoman for the South Korean Unification Ministry said Thursday.
"North Korea should immediately stop its nuclear test and other provocation and should choose a different path by cooperating with the international community," Park said.
That appears unlikely at this stage, though.
After a failed long-range rocket launch in April, North Korea ignored international condemnation and carried out a second attempt last month. That one succeeded in putting a satellite in orbit, Pyongyang's stated objective.
But the launch was widely considered to be a test of ballistic missile technology. And it remains unclear if the satellite, which the North insists is for peaceful purposes, is functional.
Both North Korea's previous nuclear tests took place weeks or months after long-range rocket launches.
Those tests were carried out under the rule Kim Jong Il, the father of the current leader, and the man who channeled huge amounts of money into North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs.
Kim Jong Il died in December 2011 after 17 years in power, during which the North Korean people became increasingly impoverished and malnourished.
Economically, the country relies heavily on trade with its major ally, China.
CNN's K.J. Kwon reported from Seoul, and Jethro Mullen from Hong Kong. CNN's David Hawley in Seoul contributed to this report.
North Korea planning "high-level" nuclear test
Labels: HealthUpdated at 7:15 a.m. Eastern
SEOUL, South Korea North Korea's top military body warned Thursday that the regime is poised to conduct a nuclear test in response to U.N. punishment, and made clear that its long-range rockets are designed to carry not only satellites but also warheads aimed at striking the United States.
North Korea's long-range rocket launch
The National Defense Commission rejected Tuesday's U.N. Security Council resolution condemning North Korea's long-range rocket launch in December as a banned missile activity and expanding sanctions against the regime. The commission reaffirmed in its declaration that the launch was a peaceful bid to send a satellite into space, but also said the country's rocket launches have a military purpose: to strike and attack the United States.
The commission pledged to keep launching satellites and rockets and to conduct a "high-level" nuclear test as part of defensive measures against the U.S.
"We do not hide that a variety of satellites and long-range rockets which will be launched by the DPRK one after another and a nuclear test of higher level which will be carried out by it in the upcoming all-out action, a new phase of the anti-U.S. struggle that has lasted century after century, will target against the U.S., the sworn enemy of the Korean people," the commission said, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"Settling accounts with the U.S. needs to be done with force, not with words, as it regards jungle law as the rule of its survival," the commission said.
The U.S. State Department had no immediate response to Thursday's statement. On Wednesday, after Pyongyang's foreign ministry issued its own angry response to the Security Council decision and said the North would bolster its "nuclear deterrence," U.S. envoy to North Korea Glyn Davies urged restraint.
"It is important that they heed the voice of the international community," Davies said Wednesday in South Korea. He was meeting with government officials on a trip that also will take him to China and Japan to discuss how to move forward on North Korea relations.
Davies said that if North Korea begins "to take concrete steps to indicate their interest in returning to diplomacy, they may find in their negotiating partners willing partners in that process."
CBS News' Shannon Van Sant says reaction from North Korea's longtime ally China in the wake of threats was predictably muted. China's Foreign Ministry urged all parties "to remain calm," and called for a resumption of the long-stalled six-party talks.
While China could play a key role in pressuring the North to give up its efforts for a nuclear weapon, it is unlikely to do so, says Van Sant. China is keen to avoid instability and any influx of refugees along its northeastern border. Beijing also has significant trade ties with Pyongyang, and would be reluctant to endanger that relationship.
North Korea carried out underground nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, both times just weeks after receiving U.N. sanctions for launching long-range rockets it claimed were peaceful bids to send satellites into space.
At a military parade last April, North Korea showed off what appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Experts say the North Koreans must conduct further tests of its atomic devices and make them smaller before they can be mounted as nuclear warheads onto long-range missiles.
Though it insists its efforts to launch a satellite are peaceful, North Korea also claims the right to build nuclear weapons as a defense against the United States, which stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea. The adversaries fought in the three-year Korean War, which ended in a truce in 1953 and left the Korean Peninsula divided by the world's most heavily fortified demilitarized zone.
North Korea has enough weaponized plutonium for about four to eight bombs, according to nuclear scientist Siegfried Hecker, who visited North Korea's nuclear complex in 2010. In 2009, Pyongyang also declared that it would begin enriching uranium, which would give North Korea a second way to make atomic weapons.
N. Korea Vows More Nuke Tests Targeting U.S.
Labels: Business
In a bellicose statement singling out the United States as the "sworn enemy" of the Korean people, North Korea today announced plans for a third nuclear test and continued rocket launches.
The move is seen as a disappointment to those who hoped the country's new leader, Kim Jong-Un, might take a less aggressive path than his predecessor and father, Kim Jong-il.
It is also seen as a direct challenge to President Obama and South Korea's newly elected president, Park Geun-hye, who takes office next month.
The statement from North Korea's National Defense Commission read:
"Settling accounts with the U.S. needs to be done with force, not with words as it regards jungle law as the rule of its survival."
The renewed threats come in response to the U.S. backed resolution tightening sanctions against North Korea after its December rocket launch.
At that time, North Korea repeatedly insisted that the launch was simply part of its peaceful space program. The recent statement made no mention of that.
It read: "We are not disguising the fact that the various satellites and long-range rockets that we will fire and the high-level nuclear test we will carry out are targeted at the United States."
South Korean officials analyzed debris from the December launch that, they say, indicates North Korea built and tested crucial components for a missile that can fly further than 6,200 miles.
Analysts say that preparations at the Pungyee test site in northeastern North Korea are underway and that a new underground test could take place on short notice.
Within the international monitoring community it is not believed that North Korea currently has the capability to launch a long-range rocket with the capacity to reach the United States or the technology to mount a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile. But the U.S. is not pleased with North Korea's plans. Glyn Davies, the top U.S. envoy to the region, said in Seoul, "We hope they don't do it. We call on them not to do it."
China, North Korea's main ally in the region, is also urging restraint. China backed the U.S. resolution at the United Nations and today the Foreign Ministry cautioned North Korea not to take further steps to increase tension.
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