North Korea removes missiles from launch site |
Pyongyang takes two Musudan missiles off launch-ready status and moves them from their position on the east coast.
Last Modified: 07 May 2013 07:28
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North Korea has moved two missiles from launch sites on the country's eastern coast, after weeks of concern that Pyongyang had been poised for a test-launch.
A US defence official said on Monday that Washington did not believe the Musudan missiles had gone to an alternate launch site and that they were now believed to be in a non-operational location.
The move coincided with preparations by US President Barack Obama to meet South Korean President Park Guen-hye at the White House on Tuesday, where they will hold talks and have a working lunch followed by a joint news conference.
Pentagon spokesman George Little noted the change in North Korea's words, telling reporters on Monday the "provocation pause" was a positive development.
"I wouldn't again comment on intelligence. But what we have seen recently is a 'provocation pause.' And we think that's obviously beneficial to efforts to ensure we have peace and stability on the Korean peninsula," Little told reporters.
COURT CASES
Emotions running high at neo-Nazi trial
There was tight security around the courthouse as the NSU trial began in Munich on Monday. The case was later adjourned for one week after defense lawyers questioned the impartiality of the judges.
It is the biggest trial on far-right extremism in Germany since World War II, centering on Beate Zschäpe and the National Socialist Underground (NSU) neo-Nazi group she allegedly co-founded. Authorities hold the group responsible for the murders of eight Turkish men, a Greek man and a policewoman. Aside from Zschäpe, another four defendants stand accused of having supported the right-wing terror cell.
The trial opened on Monday but was adjourned later in the day for a week after defense lawyers questioned the impartiality of the judges. Zschäpe's lawyers lodged the application after defense lawyers were searched for guns when entering the court while prosecutors were not.
Malaysia's Anwar urges protests over 'rigged' poll
May 7, 2013 - 11:50AM
Lindsay Murdoch
South-East Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim plans to lead mass protests over Sunday's national elections, which he claims were fraudulent.
"The Malaysian public are angry ... there are hundreds of thousands of them saying, look we want to take to the streets," he said.
Mr Anwar, leader of a three-party alliance that contested the election, will address what is expected to be a huge protest rally at a stadium on Kuala Lumpur's outskirts on Wednesday evening.
"The movement for change is unstoppable," he said.
M23 rebels in DRC prepare for battle with new UN force
Rebels in the east of DR Congo have said they are prepared to respond to any attack by the United Nations' first offensive force.
In March the UN security council renewed the mandate of the UN mission in the Congo (Monusco) and approved the creation of a 3 000-strong "intervention brigade".
The force, which will include troops from South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi, will be equipped with an artillery unit and attack helicopters, and is intended to neutralise the year-long M23 rebellion and other armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
But Colonel Vianney Kazarama, the military spokesperson for the M23 rebels, responded bullishly to the imminent arrival of the UN troops. "We are ready for this brigade," he told the Guardian at the M23 commando training camp in Rumangabo. "They will not know the terrain, our tactics, not even the local languages. It will take them weeks to organise. If they attack we will respond very quickly and with full force."
Venezuelan tools of protest? Pots, pans, and smartphone apps.
The popular Latin American protest tactic of banging pots and pans took on a new form in post-election Venezuela. Some opposition members protested Maduro's victory by downloading a noisy app.
Nearly a month after Nicolás Maduro’s controversial inauguration as Venezuelan president, the noise of banging pots and pans still brings the deserted streets to life here.
A nightly occurrence for the first two weeks after April’s hotly contested presidential election results, the sounds of anti-Maduro sentiment are now the street-level soundtrack whenever a government-mandated broadcast, or “cadena” (chain), takes over the airwaves. Opposition supporters pick up their pots, pans, spoons, and in some cases smart phones, and hang out windows and on balconies to create a cacophonous "cacerolazo," as the noisy protest is called here.
“They didn’t get the result they wanted, so they’re making a lot of noise,” says Vladimir Hernandez, a chavista and supporter of Mr. Maduro from eastern Caracas. “We’ve heard it before, and we’ll hear it again,” Mr. Hernandez says of the clanging pots and pans.
Market for feature phone apps is low-tech goldmine
The next time you are standing at a bus stop, cursing the late-running service, spare a thought for Milind Dahikar.
This Mumbai resident is probably enduring more extreme weather conditions than you, and there's a chance the road his bus should be on might not even be there.
His city's streets change constantly with new construction, while the traffic is notoriously unpredictable (the population of more than 20 million puts it on a par with all of Australia).
"My house is nearly 15 minutes away from the bus stop - I have to take an auto rickshaw - and I have to time it carefully to get to the bus stop just in time," says Mr Dahikar.
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