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Close ally China joins US, Japan in condemning North Korea’s N-test
Syrian oppn fighters capture military airport near Aleppo
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Special to the tribune
‘Argo’ best film at BAFTAs
Protest on anniversary of Mubarak’s fall
Obama to announce troop pullout from Afghanistan
Four killed in Brazil carnival float fire
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Close ally China joins US, Japan in condemning North Korea’s N-test
United Nations/Beijing, February 12 “It is deplorable that Pyongyang defied the strong and unequivocal call
from the international community to refrain from any further provocative
measures,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement. North Korea
said the nuclear test was an act of self- defence against “US
hostility” and threatened further, stronger steps if necessary. The nuclear, which follows previous detonations by the North in 2006 and 2009, had greater explosive force and involved the use of a smaller, lighter device, the state-run KCNA news agency reported. Reacting
to Pyongyang’s nuclear test, US President Barack Obama said, “North
Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes constitute a
threat to US national security and to international peace and security. “The
United States remains vigilant in the face of North Korean provocations
and steadfast in our defence commitments to allies in the region,”
Obama said in a statement. “This nuclear test by North Korea is
totally unacceptable, as it constitutes a grave threat to Japan’s
security, represents a grave challenge to the international disarmament
and non-proliferation regime centered on the Nuclear Non-proliferation
Treaty, and seriously undermines the peace and security of Northeast
Asia ...” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. North Korea’s
closest ally, China too criticised the nuclear test and called in
Pyongyang’s envoy to protest. “The Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea, heedless of widespread international opposition, has again
carried out a nuclear test, to which the Chinese government expresses
its firm opposition,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Chinese
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Beijing was “strongly dissatisfied
and resolutely opposed” to the test and urged North Korea to “stop
any rhetoric or acts that could worsen situations and return to the
right course of dialogue and consultation as soon as possible”. “North
Korea’s nuclear test despite strong warnings from us and the
international community is nothing more than an act of isolating itself,”
South Korean President-elect Park Geun- hye said. Reacting to the
test, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, “North Korea’s
development of its nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities poses a
threat to international and regional security. “Its repeated
provocations only serve to increase regional tension, and hinder the
prospects for lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula,” he said.
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Syrian oppn fighters capture military airport near Aleppo
Amman, February 12 The airport is the latest military facility to fall under rebel control in a strategic region situated between Syria's industrial and commercial centre and the country's oil — and wheat — producing heartland to the east. Fighting in the nearly two-year-old conflict has intensified in the three weeks since the political leadership of the opposition offered to negotiate a departure for Assad. In the first direct government response, Syria's minister for "national reconciliation", Ali Haidar, said he was willing to travel abroad to meet Moaz Alkhatib, the Cairo-based president of the Syrian National Coalition opposition group. Authorities had previously said they would talk to the "patriotic opposition" - figures who have not allied themselves with the armed rebellion. But most centrist opposition figures have left the country since Abdel-Aziz al-Khayyer, a proponent of dialogue and non-violence, was arrested last year. "I am willing to meet Mr Khatib in any foreign city where I can go in order to discuss preparations for a national dialogue", Haidar told a newspaper. But Haidar said the authorities rejected any dialogue that aims "to hand power from one side to another" and insisted that formal negotiation must take place on Syrian soil.
— Reuters
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Special to the tribune
As the international community digests the significance of North Korea’s latest nuclear test carried out on Tuesday, a leading US expert has warned how Pyongyang’s reckless policy could trigger a future nuclear war.
Describing North Korea as an “international criminal” and the only country in the world that has withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty after violating its provisions, former US deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mark Fitzpatrick said: “It’s the only country that withdrew from the NPT after violating it. It’s the only country to be conducting nuclear tests after 1998 and it’s the country that may well spark the next major war. North Korea’s possession and expansion of nuclear weapons could make that war into a nuclear war. I think it’s very serious, its one of the most serious hotspots in the world, if not the most.” “The country’s withdrawal from the NPT in 2003 was in circumstances that many think were highly irregular, if not illegal in themselves,” said Fitzpatrick, who now heads the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. “Be that as it may I think the key point here is that it was the development and acquisition of nuclear weapons while it was a member of the NPT that puts North Korea as an international criminal.” Commenting on whom North Korea’s nuclear weapons are aimed at and why, Fitzpatrick said in an exclusive interview: “Well, they’re certainly aimed at Japan and South Korea. North Korea also appears to want to aim them at the United States, otherwise they wouldn’t be developing an intercontinental ballistic missile. So why?” He further revealed that back in 1993-94, defence planners in Washington considered taking pre-emptive action to destroy North Korea’s nuclear facilities. “Action has been considered on at least one documented occasion, if not more, to take action pre-emptively to destroy nuclear facilities - by the US - in 1993/1994 during that nuclear crisis. Pentagon officials prepared plans, that’s what defence planners do, and there was a discussion in Washington and it was quickly decided against because it would have provoked a second Korean war and a full scale attack on the capital of South Korea with casualties up to a million people. Washington and it was quickly decided against because it would have provoked a second Korean war and a full scale attack on the capital of South Korea with casualties up to a million people. This was too risky South Korea desperately did not want this to happen, South Korea is an ally. That’s why North Korea was not attacked.” Asked if North Korea sees itself as a future world power, Fitzpatrick responded, “They don’t have ambitions to project power around the world. From their point of view they see themselves as embattled by hostile forces, by the world’s super power, and they have talked themselves into believing that they were the aggrieved party in the Korean war, that it wasn’t them that started the war as other historians would say. “They believe that the US is out to attack them and nuclear weapons are their means of ensuring their survival. Complete nonsense, but from their perspective I think that’s how we have to understand their development of nuclear weapons.” Fitzpatrick also confirmed Pakistan’s role in exporting uranium enrichment technology to North Korea in exchange for the Nodong missile, as well as helping Pyongyang transfer nuclear weapons related material to Libya when Colonel Gaddafi was in power. “There’s absolutely no doubt about the Nodong missile for enrichment exchange that Pakistan and North Korea conducted in the late 1980s, early 1990s,” he explained.
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‘Argo’ best film at BAFTAs
London, February 12 “Argo” beat “Les Miserables”, “Life Of Pi”, “Lincoln” and “Zero Dark Thirty” to be named the best film. Affleck was named best director at the BAFTAs and his film also took the editing trophy. The actor-director dedicated his directing prize for "anyone out there who's trying to get their second act." The best actor win by Daniel Day-Lewis for his brilliant turn as 16th US President Abraham Lincoln in “Lincoln” was predictable. Emmanuelle Riva, the 85-year-old French actress, was named best actress for Michael Haneke’s old-age drama “Amour’, which also was named best foreign-language film. “Life of Pi” won trophies in best cinematography and special visual effects categories out of its nine nominations. Tom Hooper directed musical 'Les Miserables' won four prizes, including an expected best supporting actress trophy for Anne Hathaway. Hathaway, also a nominee at the Oscars, said she was “overjoyed” to win the best supporting BAFTA. While accepting the trophy from presenter George Clooney, Hathaway said, "What am I thinking? I almost walked past George Clooney without hugging him. That's just stupid." She thanked the cast and fellow co-star Hugh Jackman. The 23rd James Bond movie 'Skyfall' was named the British film and won in the best music category. Bigelow's Osama bin Laden hunt thriller was the big loser at the BAFTAs as it came empty handed despite five nominations. Quentin Tarantino won the original screenplay award for civil-war slave-revenge drama 'Django Unchained'.
— PTI ‘Babel’ album of the year at Grammys Los Angeles: British Indie rock band Mumford & Sons’ “Babel” walked away with Album of the Year award, while musician Gotye’s “Somebody that I used to know” won the Record of the Year title at the 55th Grammy awards ceremony here. The Song of the Year trophy was bagged by “We are young”. Singers Paul McCartney, Adele and Beyonce Knowles also bagged awards in different categories. — IANS
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Protest on anniversary of Mubarak’s fall
Cairo, February 12 The forces were trying to disperse a small crowd of protesters on Monday evening, after some of them attempted to cross a barbed wire barrier meant to block them from the palace gate. Some protesters chanted: "The people want to bring down the regime." Others threw stones. Graffiti scribbled on the palace walls read: "Erhal" or "Leave," the chant that echoed through Cairo's central Tahrir Square during the 18-day uprising that ended with Mubarak stepping down on February 11, 2011. Earlier, masked men briefly blocked trains at a central Cairo subway station and a dozen other protesters blocked traffic with burning tires on a main overpass in Cairo. Hundreds rallied outside the office of the country's chief prosecutor, demanding justice and retribution for protesters killed
in clashes with security forces after Islamist President Mohammed Morsi took office last summer. The protesters lobbed plastic bags filled with red liquid at the prosecutor's office to recall the blood spilled by civilians in clashes with security forces. The prosecutor's appointment by Morsi was criticized as a violation of the judiciary's independence.
— AP
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Obama to announce troop pullout from Afghanistan
Washington, February 12 Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai last month agreed to speed the handover of combat operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces. There are about 66,000 US troops in Afghanistan. Washington’s NATO allies have been steadily reducing their troop numbers despite doubts about the ability of Afghan forces to shoulder full responsibility for security. — Reuters
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Four killed in Brazil carnival float fire
Rio De Janeiro, February 12 The float, authorities said, caught fire after it struck a power line during maneuvers following its participation in ongoing Carnival festivities. Santos is South America's busiest port located 88 km southeast of São Paulo. The accident, which follows a nightclub fire that killed 239 people in southern Brazil last month, comes at a time when public events and venues are under intense scrutiny.
— Reuters
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Queen Elizabeth II named UK’s most powerful woman Pope seeks quiet retirement: Brother Russian forces kill six militants Contest to name Pluto’s two moons 
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