The International Atomic Energy Agency says that is curious about some (satellite pictures) that it seized in Iran. And in near Syria oil minister resigns and urges his colleagues to abandon a sinking ship.
The U.N.-Arab League special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, says further militarization in the country will make the situation worse. Annan spoke Thursday in Cairo where he met with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby. The former U.N. chief is due to visit Syria later this week. Meanwhile, Syria’s (deputy) oil minister resigned his post to join the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, saying the government has inflicted a year of sorrow and sadness on the Syrian people. In a video posted on YouTube, Abdo Husameddine urged his colleagues to abandon what he called a “sinking ship”.
Western diplomats say satellite images reviewed by the International Atomic Energy Agency show trucks and earth-moving vehicles at an Iranian military site, providing (further clues) that Iran may be trying to clean up its Parchin facility, southeast of Tehran, before allowing inspections by U.N. nuclear teams. The diplomats, who all requested (anonymity), said they suspect attempts at sanitization because some vehicles at the scene appeared to be trucks and other equipment suited to carting off potentially (contaminated) soil from the site.
Pakistan’s parliament is expected to draw up rules of engagement and increase transit fees the United States and NATO must agree to before it will reopen the border for military convoys heading into Afghanistan. Pakistan closed the vital supply route last November when American air strikes killed 24 Pakistani troops in a “friendly fire” incident. VOA’s Brian Paden reports from Islamabad.
In mid-March a Pakistan Senate session will open, and a parliament review of all cooperative arrangements with the United States and NATO is expected to top the agenda. Retired Pakistani general, Mahmood Shah, said the review is expected to lay out conditions to ensure Pakistan’s (territorial integrity) is respected.
“If there is anyone caught spying for the U.S., whether he is a Pakistani or he is a U.S. citizen, he will be prosecuted.”
NATO had managed to keep supplies flowing to troops in Afghanistan using routes on its northern border as well as by air. Brian Paden, VOA News, Islamabad.
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China’s parliament has dropped controversial plans to legalize the (detention) of suspects in secret locations, following a public outcry over an increase in forced disappearances by police. The latest draft of China’s Criminal Procedure Law introduced Thursday at the National People’s Congress removed a clause that would allow police to secretly disappear criminal suspects deemed a threat to national security without notifying their families. Legislative vice chairman Wang Zhaoguo defended China’s current (criminal procedure) as reasonable, but said the revised law was necessary to further protect the rights of criminal suspects.
The Apple Computer Company introduced a new version of its popular iPad yesterday with a sharper screen, an improved camera, and the ability to use a faster method to access the Internet. It goes as without saying expectations within the company are running high.
“We think that iPad is the poster child of the post-PC world. The (momentum) behind iPad has been incredible and it has surprised virtually everyone.”
That’s the voice of Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. Apple’s iPad is the best-selling of the so-called “tablet” computers, and the improvements are apparently designed to help it keep its market share which is (formidable).
“We sold almost 15.5 million iPads just last quarter alone. And to put this in some context, we sold more iPads in the fourth quarter of last year than any PC manufacturer sold of their entire PC line worldwide.”
The new mobile computer and the new version has a nearly 25 centimeter screen.
Two days of talks have broken off in Beijing without a deal for the United States to send food to North Korea. U.S. negotiator Robert King said Thursday the sides had made good progress on a deal to provide 240,000 tons of (emergency food), and that he would return to Washington to discuss the results.
A massive (solar storm) that could create havoc for everything from mobile phones to airline flights may reach Earth on Thursday. Scientists at the U.S. space agency NASA say they observed two solar flares Tuesday along with two coronal mass ejections sending massive amounts of energy and charged particles out of the sun.
From the VOA News Center in Washington, this is Joe Paulker.