W O R L D

Syria’s Assad appeals for dialogue to end conflict
Damascus, January 6
Syria's president Bashar al-Assad in a rare speech today called for a national dialogue to end the 21-month conflict, but stressed he would not talk to those who have taken up arms against his regime.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad makes a public address on Sunday. — AFP

Gunmen fire at train in Pakistan; 4 die
Islamabad, January 6
Unidentified gunmen fired at a train in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, killing at least four persons and seriously injuring 10 others.

A man looks through a broken mirror on the Jaffar Express after an attack, in Quetta on Sunday. — AFP

Icy wonderland: Fireworks explode over ice sculptures during the official opening of the 29th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province. This year’s “Ice and Snow World” features majestic ice castles and sculptures of fairytale characters equipped with LED lights, bringing a colourful and warm aura to the icy wonderland. — AFP

IN LINE OF FIRE
Sri Lanka’s first woman CJ Shirani Bandaranayake
Lanka to ‘go ahead’ with impeachment of woman CJ
Colombo, January 6
The Sri Lankan government will go ahead with the impeachment of the country's first woman Chief Justice despite mounting global pressure to avoid a clash with the judiciary, a pro-government paper said today.

China constructing nuke plant with 4th generation reactor
Beijing, January 6
China has launched construction of a new $476 million nuclear power plant with a 200 MW fourth generation reactor, claimed to be the first in the world for commercial usage.

Air France-KLM in ‘advanced’ talks to take over Alitalia
Rome, January 6
Franco-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM is in "advanced" talks to take control of Italy's flagship airline Alitalia by the summer, Rome's Messaggero newspaper reported on Sunday without citing its sources.

Syria’s Assad appeals for dialogue to end conflict
But says he won’t talk to those who have taken up arms against his regime

Damascus, January 6
Syria's president Bashar al-Assad in a rare speech today called for a national dialogue to end the 21-month conflict, but stressed he would not talk to those who have taken up arms against his regime.

Describing the Western-backed opposition as "slaves" of foreign powers and admitting that Syria was in the throes of a "real war", the president urged opponents at home to join his regime in ending the bloody conflict.

He spelled out a transition plan, insisting however, that any decision must be purely Syrian and ratified by referendum, including a "National Charter" that would be agreed on in a national dialogue conference.

Assad said his government would soon give details of his plan, which calls on foreign countries to stop funding the armed opposition, followed by an end to military operations by the regular army and a mechanism to monitor both.

"Regional and international countries must stop funding the armed men to allow those displaced to return to their homes... right after that our military operations will cease," he said.

After that the government would step up contacts to convene a national dialogue conference with regime opponents "from inside and outside" the country, who do not take orders from abroad.

"We will dialogue with the masters (of their decisions) not the slaves (of foreign powers," Assad said to wild applause from crowds packed into the Dar al-Assad Centre for Culture and Arts in Damascus.

According to the initiative, the conference should draw up a "National Charter" that will be the reference document for the political and economic future of Syria.

"This charter will be put up for a referendum vote," Assad said.

After that new parliamentary polls would be held, followed by the creation of a new government, said Assad.

But he stressed for all this to happen "there must be agreement at the national dialogue conference." — AFP

Opposition rejects peace initiative

Syria’s opposition rejected a proposed peace initiative announced in a speech by President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, saying it was aimed at wrecking diplomatic efforts to end the civil war. "Assad simply wanted, with the initiative he proposed, to cut the road to reaching a political solution that may result from the forthcoming American-Russian meeting with (UN mediator Lakhdar) Brahimi, which the opposition would not accept unless he and his regime leave," National Coalition spokesman said.

Gunmen fire at train in Pakistan; 4 die

Islamabad, January 6
Unidentified gunmen fired at a train in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, killing at least four persons and seriously injuring 10 others. The gunmen fired indiscriminately at the Jaffar Express train in Kohsar area of Kachhi Bolan district late last night, officials of the Pakistan Railways said.

The Jaffar Express was on way to the provincial capital of Quetta from Rawalpindi when it was attacked in the mountainous region.

There was an exchange of fire between law enforcement personnel on the train and the gunmen, who managed to escape, the officials said. The firing damaged the locomotive, they said.

Personnel of the Frontier Corps, Pakistan Railways Police and Levies militia cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to trace the attackers. The train subsequently reached Quetta railway station and the four dead and 10 injured were taken to a nearby hospital.

Doctors said the condition of some of the injured was critical and they had been shifted to a military hospital. No group claimed responsibility for the attack. — PTI

Obama ‘considers’ broad arms sales restrictions

Washington, January 6
The administration of President Barack Obama is considering a broad array of measures to curb the nation's gun violence, including more than just a reinstatement of a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition.

Citing multiple people involved in the administration's discussions, the newspaper said a working group led by Vice-President Biden is seriously considering several measures: universal background checks for firearm buyers, tracking the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthening mental health checks, and stiffening penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors.

To push these measures through Congress, the White House is developing strategies to work around the National Rifle Association, the Washington Post reported today.

According to the paper, they could include rallying support from Wal-Mart and other gun retailers as well as regular contact with advisers to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an outspoken gun-control advocate.

The proposals are a response to last month's tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, the site of one of the worst school shootings in US history.

On December 14, a disturbed local man, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, killed his mother in their Newtown home before embarking on a horrific shooting spree at a local elementary school.

He blasted his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and shot dead 20 six- and seven-year-old children and six adults with a military-style assault rifle before taking his own life with a handgun as police closed in.

However, the NRA, the most powerful gun lobby in the United States, stands firm against any additional restraints on firearms and ammunition sales, despite a national outcry in the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre. — AFP

IN LINE OF FIRE
Sri Lanka’s first woman CJ Shirani Bandaranayake
Lanka to ‘go ahead’ with impeachment of woman CJ

Colombo, January 6
The Sri Lankan government will go ahead with the impeachment of the country's first woman Chief Justice despite mounting global pressure to avoid a clash with the judiciary, a pro-government paper said today.

"The drama over the ongoing attempt to impeach Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake is expected to end later this week with Parliament debating and voting on the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) which found her guilty of three of the five charges examined," a well informed source was quoted by the Sunday Island as saying. "It will be all over by January 11," the source told the paper.

"The writing is on the wall. Once Parliament votes on the resolution and an address is made to the President, she will be removed from office the next day", the pro-government newspaper said.

The paper said that there would be no change of stance by the government despite mounting pressure both locally and externally to defuse the situation by taking a step back.

This is in spite of the Supreme Court's constitutional interpretation that the select committee which probed and found Banadaranayake guilty was illegal.

This interpretation makes clear that the route of determining misbehaviour through the Parliamentary Select Committee process is not lawful.

The paper said that questions were also being asked on whether the 54-year-old Chief Justice will submit herself to a dismissal in the light of court rulings on the matter.

If the President goes ahead and appoints a new Chief Justice then we will be in a situation where the country has two chief justices, an analyst said.

The independent Sunday Times said: "Though the Supreme Court is acknowledged as the sole authority to interpret the constitution, how the legislature will officially react to the determination will be known by Tuesday".

Sunday Times said behind the scenes work to have the motion debated in Parliament on January 10 and 11 are underway.

"The speaker would thereafter advise President Rajapaksa of the wish of majority of members in the House to have chief justice Bandaranayake removed," it said.

The parliamentary committee on December 8, 2012, ruled that Bandaranayake was guilty of three of the 14 charges in the impeachment proceedings against her moved by the ruling UPFA coalition legislators.

The three charges were financial impropriety based on non declaration of assets and conflict of interest in a case involving a failed investment company.

The chief justice denied all the charges against her. On December 6, she stormed out of the impeachment hearing in parliament, saying she will not be given a fair trial.

She also claimed verbal abuse by the government members of the parliamentary committee. — PTI

China constructing nuke plant with 4th generation reactor

Beijing, January 6
China has launched construction of a new $476 million nuclear power plant with a 200 MW fourth generation reactor, claimed to be the first in the world for commercial usage.

"China has broken ground on a 3 billion-yuan ($476 million) nuclear power project that will be the first in the world to put a reactor with fourth-generation features into commercial use," state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

It marks China's latest move to speed up nuclear power development, which came to a halt after the Fukushima atomic crisis in Japan in 2011.

Construction of the project at Shidao Bay in the coastal city of Rongcheng in east China's Shandong Province began last month, Xinhua quoted Huaneng Shandong Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. (HSNPC), the builder and operator of the plant, as saying.

With a designed capacity of 200 MW and "the characteristics of fourth-generation nuclear energy systems," the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor will start generating power by the end of 2017, the HSNPC said.

China had 15 nuclear power-generating units in operation with a total installed capacity of 12.54 GW, and another 26 units currently under construction will add another 29.24 GW, according to a government white paper on energy policy released in October 2012.

Though it has developed high-power reactors, China still relies on the US, French and Japanese technology for its 1000 MW (one GW) reactors and reports say that its mega reactor is still under development.

China has pledged to construct 1 MW reactor for Pakistan in Karachi but it may take time as an indigenous one is still under development. China has already constructed two reactors with over 300 MW capacity at Pakistan's Punjab province.

The new 200 MW reactor is being developed by China's Tsinghua University and has the features of "inherent safety" and "passive nuclear safety" in line with the fourth-generation concept, meaning it can shut down safely in the event of an emergency without causing a reactor core meltdown or massive leakage of radioactive material.

The reactor can have an outlet temperature of 750 degrees Celsius, compared with 1,000 degrees Celsius that can be reached by the very-high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, an internationally-accepted fourth-generation reactor concept, the report said.

It can also raise electricity generation efficiency to around 40 per cent from the current 30-per cent level of second- and third-generation reactors, it said.

If it is commercially successful, the reactor's technology and equipment can be exported to other countries in the future, an HSNPC public relations officer told Xinhua.

"That will be a great boost to China's nuclear industry, as a very high percentage of the equipment is produced domestically instead of being imported," the official told Xinhua by telephone.

The project is part of the HSNPC's broader plan to build a 6.6-gigawatt (GW) nuclear power plant that will require approximately 100 billion yuan ($16.05 billion) in investment over 20 years. If completed, it would be China's largest nuclear power plant, said the official. — PTI

A ‘revolution’

• It marks China's latest move to speed up nuclear power development, which came to a halt after the Fukushima atomic crisis in Japan in 2011
• zWith a designed capacity of 200 MW, the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor will start generating power by the end of 2017
• China had 15 nuclear power-generating units in operation with a total installed capacity of 12.54 GW
• Nuclear power only accounts for 1.8 per cent of China's total power output, far below the world average of 14 per cent, and China plans to increase its installed nuclear power capacity to 40 GW by 2015.

Air France-KLM in ‘advanced’ talks to take over Alitalia

Rome, January 6
Franco-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM is in "advanced" talks to take control of Italy's flagship airline Alitalia by the summer, Rome's Messaggero newspaper reported on Sunday without citing its sources.

Alitalia is owned by CAI, a consortium of investors that bought the then-bankrupt airline in 2008. CAI is already partly owned by Air France-KLM. Alitalia's shareholders can exercise options to trade their shares when a lockup period ends on January 12.

In May, Air France said it would probably wait until at least 2014 before using its option to take control of Alitalia, in which it has held 25 percent since January 2009.

Air France-KLM has offered shareholders a 20 per cent premium on what they paid for the airline in 2008, the newspaper said, probably in Air France-KLM shares. — Reuters