Wave of Iraq attacks kills at least 47

A WAVE of attacks targeting both Iraqi security forces and civilians has killed at least 47 people and wounded at least 110, security and medical officials say.

The attacks, which hit more than a dozen different Iraqi cities and towns on Monday, came on the eve of the first anniversary of the US military withdrawal from Iraq.

Violence in Iraq is down significantly from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but while Iraqi forces have held their own since the US departure, insurgent groups still pose a significant threat, and attacks occur almost daily.

23.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bangladesh fire was sabotage: inquiry

A FIRE that killed 111 workers at a Bangladesh garment factory last month was caused by sabotage and managers at the plant prevented victims from escaping, the head of an official inquiry says.

"We have found that the fire that gutted Tazreen Fashion factory in Ashulia was an act of sabotage," Main Uddin Khandaker told AFP on Monday after submitting a report into the November 24 tragedy to the government.

"The statements of the witnesses revealed that it was an act of sabotage. There was no possibility of the fire originating due to an electric short circuit or any other reason."

Khandaker did not suggest who might have carried out the sabotage or why.

He also said his inquiry team would recommend that the owner of the factory in the Ashulia industrial district near the capital Dhaka should face murder charges for gross negligence.

"There was also gross negligence on the part of the owner. We have suggested legal action against him and nine of his mid-level managers who barred the workers from leaving the burning factory," he said.

The owner of the plant, Delwar Hossain, told reporters after the blaze that he believed it was started deliberately but gave no details.

Fire investigators have said the nine-storey factory, which made clothing for Western retailers such as Walmart and C&A, lacked a valid safety licence at the time and only had permission for three floors.

23.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pope meets Abbas, renews call for peace

POPE Benedict XVI has received Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and called on all parties involved in the Middle East crisis to find the courage to work together for peace and reconciliation.

In a statement following the meeting on Monday, the Vatican said it hoped the United Nations' recent recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state would "encourage the commitment of the international community to finding a fair and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict".

Benedict and Abbas had talked about "the region, troubled by numerous conflicts, in the hope that the courage for reconciliation and peace will be found", the Vatican said.

A solution "may be reached only by resuming negotiations between the parties in good faith and according due respect to the rights of both", it said, adding that Abbas had also met with the Vatican's number two and secretary of state, Tarcisio Bertone.

The Vatican, which favours a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, was quick to hail the landmark New York vote at the end of November.

23.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Man with rifle' puts schools in lockdown

State Police spokesman Lt Paul Vance says schools in a town close to Sandy Hook have been put in lockdown after a reported sighting of an armed man. Picture: Getty/AFP Source: Getty Images

SCHOOLS have been put in lockdown in Ridgefield, Connecticut, after a report of a man with a rifle in the nearby area.

Ridgefield is about 30km by road from Sandy Hook, the scene of last week's school shooting tragedy.

The Connecticut Post reports that the man with the weapon was seen near the Branchville train station, 6km from the town, and police were on their way to investigate.

Ridgefield Superintendent Deborah Low released a statement saying that town schools "have been put into lockdown ... due to a report of a possibly suspicious person."

Branchville Elementary School buses were diverted to East Ridge Middle School and BES students were in the auditorium.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi told the Post that a motorist traveling on Route 7 saw a man with a rifle.

At Newtown, Lt Paul Vance confirmed that police had been deployed after reports of an armed man.

23.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

US stocks higher as fiscal cliff looms

US stocks have opened higher, two weeks before the world's biggest economy could go off the "fiscal cliff".

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 41.51 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 13,176.52 in early trade on Monday.

The broad-market S&P 500 rose 6.61 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 1,420.19.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite gained 15.10 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 2,986.43.

The action came shortly after the New York Federal Reserve said its Empire State manufacturing survey, measuring conditions in the New York region, fell for a fifth straight month in December, with both new orders and shipments lower.

"Despite the US fiscal cliff remaining unresolved and a disappointing read on regional manufacturing activity, the domestic equity markets are gaining ground," said analysts with Charles Schwab & Co.

Traders continued to fret about a series of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January if Washington fails to reach a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, which economists warn could take the United States into recession.

Apple was up 0.1 per cent. The tech giant announced it had sold more than two million of the new iPhone 5 in China during the smartphone's first weekend in stores there.

On Friday, the Dow lost 0.27 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 0.41 per cent, while the Nasdaq shed 0.70 per cent.

23.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

No 2012 vintage from Chateau d'Yquem

CHATEAU d'Yquem will not be producing a 2012 vintage after harvest rain prevented the grapes from reaching the levels of concentration required to make the world's most famous sweet wine.

Pierre Lurton, who runs the celebrated estate behind the Sauternes wine for its main shareholder LVMH, said the decision, which will cost the luxury goods group tens of millions of euros, had been taken to maintain Yquem's reputation for excellence.

"We tried our best but unfortunately the weather was not with us this year," Lurton told AFP.

"A brand like Yquem has to be prepared to not make a vintage. For the image of one of the world's great white wines and for Yquem's place in history, it was a reasonable decision not to make a wine this year."

Similar decisions were taken in 1952, 1972 and 1992.

"It is as if there was a curse on us every 20 years," Lurton added with a smile.

Despite advances in technology, the production of sweet wine in the Sauternes area of southwestern France remains hugely vulnerable to the vagaries of weather.

The sweetness of the wine comes from grapes that have been left on the vines long enough to be affected by noble rot, which bolsters sugar levels and imparts the complex notes of fruit, honey and nuts that make Sauternes the benchmark for dessert wines around the world.

For the rot to develop, producers rely on a combination of autumnal morning mists and midday sunshine that occur most but not all years.

"We were cropping some good stuff at the beginning (of the harvest) this year but then we had a lot of rain," Lurton said.

"The quantity was not good and the concentration was not there."

With an average production of 100,000 bottles per year, the decision to cancel output means foregoing about 25 million euros ($A31 million) of sales, but Lurton said it had been cleared by LVMH boss Bernard Arnault.

"He takes a view on the excellence and the durability of great brands," Lurton said.

"We don't reason in terms of turnover, we take a long-term view. We may have lost sales this year but we have maintained Yquem's reputation for excellence.

"There will be many more great vintages in the future that will allow us to make up for this one."

The 2012 Yquem has been the most high-profile victim of adverse weather conditions that played havoc with wine production across much of France this year.

A combination of spring frosts and hail and harvest rain slashed yields in most areas.

Early tasting reports indicate that quality has been maintained in Burgundy, Champagne and the Rhone but 2012 is tipped to be one of the most disappointing red Bordeaux vintages of recent years.

23.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Italian engineer kidnapped in Syria

AN Italian engineer has been kidnapped in Syria along with two other workers from the steel works in the port city of Latakia, the foreign ministry in Rome says.

"In all such cases, the safety of our countryman is of the utmost priority and it is indispensable to be as discreet as possible," Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said in a statement, without revealing any further details about the kidnap victims.

The ministry's crisis unit has "activated all available channels" and the Italian's family has been informed, the ministry said.

Italian media named the engineer as Mario Belluomo from Catania in Sicily, who worked at the steel plant in Syria's principal port city. According to the reports, he was kidnapped in nearby Tartus, another port city.

"We are working with the utmost commitment and with the same dedication with which our embassies and consulates give assistance daily to our countrymen in difficulty, including in risky regions and situations," he said.

Terzi said his thoughts went to the kidnapped men and to Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian taken hostage in Pakistan in January, who has yet to be freed.

23.23 | 0 komentar | Read More

Doomed French elephants win reprieve

TWO sick middle-aged elephants that French officials wanted to put down have been given a Christmas reprieve after an appeal to President Francois Hollande and an internet campaign to save them.

Baby and Nepal, who both have tuberculosis, had been deemed a threat to other animals at their zoo in the city of Lyon as well as to human visitors since the disease is highly contagious.

But when city authorities ordered them to be put down by December 20, Gilbert Edelstein, the French circus owner who donated them to the Parc de la Tete d'Or zoo, launched a campaign to save the 40-something females.

He even sought the "supreme intervention" of Hollande in a letter to the president, while an internet campaign to save the Asian elephants gathered 11,000 signatories.

The efforts appear to have paid off. On Monday, local authorities issued a ruling suspending the order to put the elephants to sleep with a lethal injection.

It was not immediately clear if that suspension would become permanent.

Edelstein had argued that when he donated the elephants to the zoo, they were perfectly healthy and he said that if they contracted tuberculosis, it was from the other animals.

"I want them to be treated and returned to me," he said on Friday.

Elephants have a lifespan of 60-70 years.

23.23 | 0 komentar | Read More