HAITI STILL IN CHAOS-FILLED WITH DEATH

Canada Parliament move eliminates Tory lead: poll
Wed Jan 13, 4:27 pm ET

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to suspend Parliament has cost his party its lead in public support, a poll released on Wednesday found.The Strategic Counsel poll, published by the Toronto Star, showed Harper's Conservatives with 31 percent popular support and the opposition Liberals with 30 percent, which would make an election a toss-up if one were held today.In October, as the population reacted adversely to a Liberal attempt to topple the minority Conservative government, Strategic Counsel had put the Conservatives 13 points ahead.The Conservative lead had been falling after the Liberals abandoned their attempt to force an election but the sharpest decline in the lead came in the wake of Harper's decision to end the current session of Parliament.The move is constitutional and has been done more than 100 times before. But the opposition accused Harper of trying to avoid parliamentary scrutiny of whether Canadian soldiers had turned over Afghan prisoners to likely torture at the hands of Afghan authorities in 2006-07.

Harper's rationale was that he wants to get a fresh start when Parliament reopens on March 3, and recalibrate the government's agenda to look ahead to growth from last year's focus on getting through the recession.The poll, which used a mixture of online and phone surveys of 1,860 Canadians, found the left-of-center New Democratic Party with 18 percent support. Such a sample size is considered accurate to within 2.3 points, 19 times out of 20.(Reporting by Randall Palmer; editing by Peter Galloway)

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Moderate quake strikes off Indonesia
Tue Jan 12, 10:16 am ET

JAKARTA (AFP) – A moderate 5.6-magnitude earthquake rocked the eastern Indonesian province of Maluku Tuesday but there were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami warning was issued, officials said.The quake struck at 5:58 pm (1058 GMT), 120 kilometres (75 miles) northeast of Tual city at a depth of 10 kilometres, the meteorology and geophysics agency said.Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.A 7.6-magnitude quake that struck Sumatra island on September 30 killed more than 1,000people.

ONCE THE DEATHS START ROLLING IN WE WILL SEE THE TRUE EXTENT OF THIS SITUATION.

http://www.breitbart.tv/they-have-been-cursed-pat-robertson-says-haiti-swore-a-pact-to-the-devil/

Haiti quake: Survivors struggle while awaiting aid By MIKE MELIA, Associated Press Writer – JAN 14,10

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Turning pickup trucks into ambulances and doors into stretchers, Haitians are frantically struggling to save those injured in this week's earthquake while hoping foreign governments will quickly send in aid.Help began arriving early Thursday when an Air China plane carrying a Chinese relief team landed at Port-au-Prince airport, and more than 50 people in orange jumpsuits accompanied by trained dogs got out. China said the plane carried a search and rescue crew, medics, seismological experts as well as 10 tons of food, medicine and other supplies.The U.S. and other nations said they were sending food, water, medical supplies to assist the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation, where the international Red Cross estimated 3 million people — a third of the population — may need emergency relief.In the streets of the capital, survivors set up camps amid piles of salvaged goods, including food being scavenged from the rubble.This is much worse than a hurricane, said Jimitre Coquillon, a doctor's assistant working at a makeshift triage center set up in a hotel parking lot.There's no water. There's nothing. Thirsty people are going to die.If there were any organized efforts to distribute food or water, they were not visible Wednesday.The aid group Doctors Without Borders treated wounded at two hospitals that withstood the quake and set up tent clinics elsewhere to replace its damaged facilities. Cuba, which already had hundreds of doctors in Haiti, treated injured in field hospitals.President Barack Obama promised an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort including the military and civilian emergency teams from across the U.S. The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson was expected to arrive off the coast Thursday and the Navy said the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan had been ordered to sail as soon as possible with a 2,000-member Marine unit. The Los Angeles County Fire Department's 72-member urban search-and-rescue team departed from California late Wednesday.

We have to be there for them in their hour of need,Obama said.A U.S. military assessment team was the first to arrive, to determine Haiti's needs.There was no estimate on how many people were killed by Tuesday's magnitude-7 quake. Haitian President Rene Preval said the toll could be in the thousands. Leading Sen. Youri Latortue told The Associated Press the number could be 500,000, but conceded that nobody really knew.Let's say that it's too early to give a number, Preval said told CNN.The United Nations said 16 U.N. personnel were confirmed dead and between 100 and 150 U.N. workers were still missing, including U.N. mission head Hedi Annabi of Tunisia and his chief deputy, Luis Carlos da Costa.Survivors used sledgehammers and their bare hands to try to find victims in the rubble. In Petionville, next to the capital, people dug through a collapsed shopping center, tossing aside mattresses and office supplies. More than a dozen cars were entombed, including a U.N. truck.

Nearby, about 200 survivors, including many children, huddled in a theater parking lot using sheets to rig makeshift tents and shield themselves from the sun in 90-degree heat.Police officers carried the injured in their pickup trucks. Wisnel Occilus, a 24-year-old student, was wedged between two other survivors in a truck bed headed to a police station. He was in an English class when the magnitude-7 quake struck at 4:53 p.m. and the building collapsed.The professor is dead. Some of the students are dead, too, said Occilus, who suspected he had several broken bones.Everything hurts.Other survivors carried injured to hospitals in wheelbarrows and on stretchers fashioned from doors. Bodies lay everywhere in Port-au-Prince: tiny children next to schools, women in rubble-strewn streets with stunned expressions frozen on their faces, men hidden beneath plastic tarps and cotton sheets. Balancing suitcases and belongings on their heads, people streamed on foot into the Haitian countryside, where wooden and cinderblock shacks showed little sign of damage. Ambulances and U.N. trucks raced in the opposite direction, toward Port-au-Prince. Calls from victims seeking help from emergency services weren't getting through because systems that connect different phone networks were not working, said officials from a telecommunications provider in Haiti. Calls were being placed sometimes 15 to 20 times from the same phone, which was painful to watch, said Jyoti Mahurkar-Thombre, Alcatel-Lucent's general manager of wireless voice. About 3,000 police and international peacekeepers cleared debris, directed traffic and maintained security in the capital. But law enforcement was stretched thin even before the quake and would be ill-equipped to deal with major unrest. The U.N.'s 9,000-member peacekeeping force sent patrols across the capital's streets while securing the airport, port and main buildings.

Looting began immediately after the quake, with people seen carrying food from collapsed buildings. Inmates were reported to have escaped from the damaged main prison in Port au Prince, said Elisabeth Byrs, a U.N. humanitarian spokeswoman in Geneva. It was unclear whether the U.S. ground troops heading this way would be used for security operations as well as humanitarian efforts. Port-au-Prince's ruined buildings fell on both the poor and the prominent: The body of Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot, 63, was found in the ruins of his office, said the Rev. Pierre Le Beller at Miot's order, the Saint Jacques Missionary Center in Landivisiau, France. Haitian Senate President Kelly Bastien was rescued from the collapsed Parliament building and taken to a hospital in the neighboring Dominican Republic. The president of Haiti's Citibank was also among the survivors being treated there, said Rafael Sanchez Espanol, director of the Homs Hospital in Santiago. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter evacuated four critically injured U.S. Embassy staff to the hospital at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the military has been detaining suspected terrorists. The U.S. Embassy had no confirmed reports of deaths among the estimated 40,000 to 45,000 Americans who live in Haiti, but many were struggling to find a way out of the country. As dusk fell Wednesday, thousands of people gathered on blankets outside the crumpled presidential palace, including hundreds of women who waved their hands and sang hymns in a joyful, even defiant tone. Ricardo Dervil, 29, said he decided to join the crowd because he was worried about aftershocks and was tired of seeing dead bodies. I was listening to the radio and they were saying to stay away from buildings, he said.All I was doing was walking the street and seeing dead people.Associated Press contributors to this story: Jonathan Katz and Jennifer Kay in Port-au-Prince; Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations; Frank Jordans and Bradley S. Klapper in Geneva; Matthew Lee and Julie Pace in Washington; Jamey Keaton in Paris; Tales Azzoni in Sao Paulo; Alicia Chang in Los Angeles, and Andrea Rodriguez in Havana.

Doctors Without Borders: Supplies and staff scarce By DANICA COTO, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 13, 9:11 pm ET

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Doctors Without Borders found two public hospitals in good condition after the powerful earthquake that devastated Haiti's capital, and officials with the group said Wednesday they would begin treating about 500 people who need emergency surgery.But one of the mission's directors said the humanitarian group doesn't have enough medical staff, equipment and medicine to properly care for the injured. The mission has about 800 medical workers in Haiti, but a large number haven't been located since Tuesday's quake, Stefano Zannini said.Most of them are dispersed somewhere, are lost somewhere, he told The Associated Press in a phone interview. We are not sure where they are.About 800 injured people have come to the mission's offices for treatment, Zannini said. They've scattered themselves around a courtyard, sleeping in tents, on top of rugs, on the floor and on plastic sheeting, waiting to be transferred to one of the two hospitals identified as being safe enough to withstand the aftershocks that have rattled Haiti.We saw every kind of person: Women, men, young, old, children, pregnant women coming and asking for help, Zannini said.More than 500 people need immediate surgical intervention. But in the next couple of days, the mission will run out of gasoline to transport patients and food and water, Zannini said.Doctors Without Borders said earlier in the day that hundreds of Haitians were being treated in tents for broken bones, burns and other less-serious injuries.Several area hospitals collapsed in the earthquake, and authorities haven't determined how many other hospitals were left standing around the capital.

Frequent victim in the past, Asia to aid Haiti By TINI TRAN, Associated Press Writer – JAN 14,10

BEIJING – Asian leaders cited their own experiences with natural disasters Thursday in offering help to quake-shattered Haiti as part of a massive international effort to alleviate the effects of the catastrophe.Haitian officials have predicted a horrific death toll of more than 100,000 in the wake of the magnitude-7 quake Tuesday that left most of the capital Port-au-Prince in rubble.Haiti's devastation is all too familiar to Indonesia: a mammoth quake struck off the country's western coast in 2004, spawning a tsunami that killed about 230,000 people in 14 countries — half of them in Indonesia.As a country that has been itself devastated by a similar situation, we are absolutely saddened by what's happening in Haiti, Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Vietnam.We call on the ASEAN community, including ourselves, of course, to do what we can do to assist them.The United Nations has released $10 million from its emergency funds, even as U.N. workers and peacekeeping troops on the island nation at the time of the quake struggled with their own losses. The U.N. headquarters building collapsed, and at least 16 personnel are confirmed dead, with up to 150 still missing.We'll be using whatever roads are passable to get aid to Port-au-Prince, and if possible we'll bring helicopters in, said Emilia Casella, a spokeswoman for the U.N. food agency in Geneva.Its 200 staff in Haiti were trying to deliver high-energy biscuits and other supplies, despite looting and the threat of violence in a nation long plagued by lawlessness.The Red Cross estimated that some 3 million people will require aid, ranging from shelter to food and clean water, and said many Haitians could need relief for a full year.The World Bank said it would provide $100 million in emergency aid to Haiti to support recovery and reconstruction work. Experts would be sent to assess the scope of the damage and help prioritize where needs are greatest.

Other offers of money and aid poured in from across the world, including Asia.

Having been victims of such natural calamities ourselves in the past few years, we are exchanging information and views, said Surin Pitsuwan, secretary-general for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.Meanwhile, China dispatched a chartered plane loaded up with 10 tons of tents, food, medical equipment and sniffer that arrived in Haiti Thursday. Accompanying the emergency materials were a 60-member earthquake relief team that had firsthand experience in the country's own quake disaster two years ago.The world had sped to Beijing's aid during its May 2008 quake, which had rumbled across a huge swath of southwestern China, leaving almost 90,000 people dead or missing.Most of the members are very experienced, Liu Xiangyang, deputy chief of the National Earthquake Disaster Emergency Rescue Team, told the official Xinhua News Agency before their departure. China's Red Cross has also offered emergency funding of $1 million to Haiti.Meanwhile, Australia pledged an initial $9.3 million for emergency humanitarian relief and reconstruction assistance, with about half going for emergency water, food and shelter, while the remainder will be for rehabilitation efforts.Australia is concerned for the welfare of all those affected by the earthquake and is offering immediate assistance to be coordinated with regional and international efforts, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said.Japan will provide up to $5 million in aid, along with $330,000 worth of tents and blankets, a Foreign Ministry official said. A four-member fact-finding mission will also be sent to determine what Japan can do to help.South Korea will give emergency humanitarian aid worth $1 million, its Foreign Ministry spokesman Kim Young-sun said, and is considering sending rescue teams. The devastation is widespread, with the sheer number of dead bodies expected to pose a health and safety problem. The World Health Organization said it had sent specialists to help clear the city of corpses, and the International Red Cross was sending a plane Thursday loaded mainly with body bags.

The European Commission has approved $4.37 million while member states Spain, the Netherlands and Germany promised millions more. Sixty-five rubble-clearing specialists and six sniffer dogs left France on Wednesday, while Spain dispatched three planeloads of rescuers and 100 tons of tents, blankets and cooking kits. Israel was sending in an elite Army rescue unit of engineers and doctors. Canada sent a military reconnaissance team to assess and planned an initial donation of $4.8million, with more aid to flow after reports to Ottawa by military reconnaissance team.With President Barack Obama promising assistance for cruel and incomprehensible tragedy, the United States set in motion a sweeping military response that included ships, helicopters, transport planes and possibly a 2,000-member Marine unit. One of the U.S. Navy's large amphibious ships, the USS Bataan, was ordered to Haiti with a Marine expeditionary unit aboard. The ship is one of more than a half dozen, including frigates, a destroyer and a guided missile cruiser, being sent to the Caribbean nation. An Army brigade, which would include several thousand soldiers, from the 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C., was standing by for possible deployment, and the Pentagon is seriously looking at sending thousands of Marines to assist with disaster relief efforts and security in Haiti, he said.
Associated Press Writers Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul, South Korea, Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia, Tran Van Minh in Danang, Vietnam, and Hrvoje Hranjski in Manila contributed to this report.

OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Australian city's hottest night in 108 years-AFP/File – The Australian city of Melbourne has sweltered through its hottest night since 1902, with temperatures … .Tue Jan 12, 2:14 am ET

SYDNEY (AFP) – The Australian city of Melbourne has sweltered through its hottest night since 1902, with temperatures topping 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), meteorologists said Tuesday.Millions tossed and turned in the overnight heat in Australia's second city, with power cuts exacerbating the problem in some areas and some people even resorted to nocturnal trips to the beach to cool off.It's probably the most uncomfortable night I've ever had Down Under, said Andrew Jefferson of Ballarat, west of Melbourne, who emigrated from Britain in 2001.

Thousands of homes were without power as electricity companies' equipment failed in the heat. The city was also hit by hundreds of train cancellations on Monday, enraging commuters.Meteorologists said earlier this month that the last decade was the hottest on record in Australia.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Warnings of flash floods as Britain thaws
JAN 14-THU 2010

LONDON (AFP) – Flash floods could hit Britain as the big freeze turns into the big thaw, forecasters warned on Thursday.Warmer temperatures and heavy rain are forecast across England on Saturday -- before temperatures are set to plunge again.Motorists faced treacherous driving conditions yesterday as a fresh wave of snow arrived following cutbacks in road gritting.The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said the bad weather had brought the economy to a standstill - with estimates it was costing at least 600 million pounds a day.Major roads were closed on Wednesday, some airport runways shut and train services disrupted in the wake of the latest snowfall.

And thousands of people were faced with mounting piles of rubbish outside their homes, with bins not collected for three weeks in some parts of the country.Hospitals also reported a surge in cases of fractured and broken bones, while hundreds of schools closed.An Environment Agency spokesman said: There may be an increased risk of flooding in some areas over the weekend due to predicted heavy rain and the partial thawing of snow due to slightly higher temperatures, and we continue to closely monitor weather conditions and river levels.Whilst snow is deep in some places, the small amount of water that results from snow melt is not expected to cause significant flooding problems if it happens steadily over many days. With the forecast rainfall, this thawing may happen more quickly.Gordon Brown yesterday promised a review of the arrangements for keeping Britain moving during severe conditions.But the prime minister saluted workers and volunteers for maintaining the transport network during the worst weather for 30 years.Forecasters said the cold snap was not here to stay, with temperatures due to rise to the seasonal average of 7C (45F) by the end of the week.

Florida citrus areas warm up, cold pockets linger
Wed Jan 13, 8:45 am ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Central Florida citrus groves warmed up although some northern farms still face the threat of a cold snap later on Wednesday, forecasters said.The National Weather Service in Tampa, Florida, said in a bulletin that temperatures should fall quickly after sunset dropping below freezing by midnight.It said temperatures will bottom out between 24 and 29 degrees Fahrenheit away from the coast, with a large portion of northern Levy County seeing 3 or 4 hours of temperatures at or below 27 degrees F.Citrus plants sustain damage when temperatures fall to 28 degrees or below for 4 hours or longer.DTN Meteorlogix forecast Florida's citrus areas would be dry with temperatures Wednesday and Thursday ranging from 41 to 74 degrees F.The groves reeled for more than a week from harsh winter weather.The Sunshine State accounts for more than 75 percent of the U.S. orange juice supply. Growers are apprehensive the damage from the freeze may well spill over into the 2010/11 Florida citrus crop.(Reporting by Rene Pastor; Editing by John Picinich)

Top Obama czar: Infiltrate all conspiracy theorists-Presidential adviser wrote about crackdown on expressing opinions January 14, 2010 12:30 am Eastern By Aaron Klein 2010 WorldNetDaily

Cass Sunstein-In a lengthy academic paper, President Obama's regulatory czar, Cass Sunstein, argued the U.S. government should ban conspiracy theorizing.Among the beliefs Sunstein would ban is advocating that the theory of global warming is a deliberate fraud. Sunstein also recommended the government send agents to infiltrate extremists who supply conspiracy theories to disrupt the efforts of the extremists to propagate their theories. In a 2008 Harvard law paper, Conspiracy Theories, Sunstein and co-author Adrian Vermeule, a Harvard law professor, ask, What can government do about conspiracy theories? We can readily imagine a series of possible responses. (1) Government might ban conspiracy theorizing. (2) Government might impose some kind of tax, financial or otherwise, on those who disseminate such theories.In the 30-page paper – obtained and reviewed by WND – Sunstein argues the best government response to conspiracy theories is cognitive infiltration of extremist groups.

Continued Sunstein: We suggest a distinctive tactic for breaking up the hard core of extremists who supply conspiracy theories: cognitive infiltration of extremist groups, whereby government agents or their allies (acting either virtually or in real space, and either openly or anonymously) will undermine the crippled epistemology of believers by planting doubts about the theories and stylized facts that circulate within such groups, thereby introducing beneficial cognitive diversity.Read more about Cass Sunstein's agenda in Shut Up, America!: The End of Free Speech.Sunstein said government agents might enter chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups and attempt to undermine percolating conspiracy theories by raising doubts about their factual premises, causal logic or implications for political action.Sunstein defined a conspiracy theory as an effort to explain some event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role.Some conspiracy theories recommended for ban by Sunstein include: The theory of global warming is a deliberate fraud.

The view that the Central Intelligence Agency was responsible for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.The 1996 crash of TWA flight 800 was caused by a U.S. military missile.The Trilateral Commission is responsible for important movements of the international economy.That Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by federal agents.
The moon landing was staged and never actually occurred.Sunstein allowed that some conspiracy theories, under our definition, have turned out to be true.He continued: The Watergate hotel room used by Democratic National Committee was, in fact, bugged by Republican officials, operating at the behest of the White House. In the 1950s, the CIA did, in fact, administer LSD and related drugs under Project MKULTRA, in an effort to investigate the possibility of mind control.Sunstein's paper advocating against the belief that global warming is a deliberate fraud was written before November's climate scandal in which e-mails hacked from the Climatic Research Unit at East Anglia University in the U.K. indicate top climate researchers conspired to rig data and keep researchers with dissenting views from publishing in leading scientific journals.

Sunstein: Ban right wing rumors

Sunstein's paper is not the first time he has advocated banning the free flow of information. WND reported that in a recently released book, On Rumors, Sunstein argued websites should be obliged to remove false rumors while libel laws should be altered to make it easier to sue for spreading such rumors.In the 2009 book, Sunstein cited as a primary example of absurd and hateful remarks, reports by right-wing websites alleging an association between President Obama and Weatherman terrorist William Ayers. He also singled out radio talker Sean Hannity for attacking Obama regarding the president's alleged associations.Ayers became a name in the 2008 presidential campaign when it was disclosed he worked closely with Obama for years. Obama also was said to have launched his political career at a 1995 fundraiser in Ayers' apartment.

New Deal Fairness Doctrine

WND also previously reported Sunstein drew up a First Amendment New Deal – a new Fairness Doctrine that would include the establishment of a panel of nonpartisan experts to ensure diversity of view on the airwaves. Sunstein compared the need for the government to regulate broadcasting to the moral obligation the U.S. had to impose new rules that outlawed segregation. Sunstein's radical proposal, set forth in his 1993 book The Partial Constitution, received no news media attention and scant scrutiny until the WND report. In the book, Sunstein outwardly favors and promotes the Fairness Doctrine, the abolished FCC policy that required holders of broadcast licenses to present controversial issues of public importance in a manner the government deemed equitable and balanced.Sunstein introduces what he terms his First Amendment New Deal to regulate broadcasting in the U.S. His proposal, which focuses largely on television, includes a government requirement that purely commercial stations provide financial subsidies to public television or to commercial stations that agree to provide less profitable but high-quality programming.Sunstein wrote it is worthwhile to consider more dramatic approaches as well.He proposes compulsory public-affairs programming, right of reply, content review by nonpartisan experts or guidelines to encourage attention to public issues and diversity of view.The Obama czar argues his regulation proposals for broadcasting are actually presented within the spirit of the Constitution. It seems quite possible that a law that contained regulatory remedies would promote rather than undermine the freedom of speech,he writes.

Writes Sunstein: The idea that government should be neutral among all forms of speech seems right in the abstract, but as frequently applied it is no more plausible than the idea that it should be neutral between the associational interests of blacks and those of whites under conditions of segregation.Sunstein contends the landmark case that brought about the Fairness Doctrine, Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission, stresses not the autonomy of broadcasters (made possible only by current ownership rights), but instead the need to promote democratic self-government by ensuring that people are presented with a broad range of views about public issues.He continues: In a market system, this goal may be compromised. It is hardly clear that the freedom of speech is promoted by a regime in which people are permitted to speak only if other people are willing to pay enough to allow them to be heard.In his book, Sunstein slams the U.S. courts' unwillingness to require something like a Fairness Doctrine to be a result of the judiciary's lack of democratic pedigree, lack of fact-finding powers and limited remedial authority.He clarifies he is not arguing the government should be free to regulate broadcasting however it chooses. Regulation designed to eliminate a particular viewpoint would of course be out of bounds. All viewpoint discrimination would be banned,Sunstein writes.But, he says, at the very least, regulative fairness doctrines' would raise no real doubts constitutionally.

Dutch lawmaker fails to avoid hate speech charges By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jan 13, 3:00 pm ET

AMSTERDAM – Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders failed Wednesday in his bid to have judges drop or reduce charges of criminal incitement against him, despite arguing that his anti-Islam message falls within the boundaries of freedom of speech.In a late-night decision, Amsterdam District Court said Wilders had presented no new evidence that could prompt them to reduce the charges.Wilders, one of the country's most popular politicians, is due to go on trial in March for allegedly insulting Muslims as a group and inciting hatred and discrimination against them.After the closed pretrial hearing in Amsterdam, Wilders said the session was the first day of a political trial.Charges against Wilders stem from his 2008 short film Fitna, which offended many Muslims by juxtaposing Quranic verses with images of terrorism by Islamic radicals.He also has called for banning the Quran in the Netherlands, closing borders to immigrants, and taxing clothing commonly worn by Muslims, such as headscarves, because they pollute the Dutch landscape.Wilders' lawyer, Bram Moszkowicz, said he had petitioned judges to at least drop the charge of insulting Muslims as a group, which he said had little chance of winning a conviction. Moszkowicz cited a 2009 Supreme Court ruling that found insulting a religion is not the same as insulting followers of that religion, and not punishable under hate-speech laws.

If convicted, Wilders would face a maximum sentence of two years in prison, though a fine of up to euro18,500 ($26,800) is more likely. He could theoretically keep his seat in parliament.Muslims make up about six percent of the Dutch population, after a wave of immigration in the 1980s and 1990s, and immigration-related issues have dominated Dutch politics since the turn of the century.Wilders' opposition Freedom Party has grown quickly and now rivals the country's biggest in popularity polls.
Immigrant, Muslim and anti-racism groups have long sought Wilders' prosecution, saying his remarks go beyond being offensive and worsen ethnic tensions in the Netherlands, a country once noted for tolerance.

One in three newborns in Philippines 'unwanted'
JAN 14,10

MANILA (AFP) – One in three newborns in the Philippines is unwanted or unplanned, the government said Thursday, as the country struggles with a population explosion and the Church's opposition to birth control.The fertility rate of Filipino women stood at 3.3 children, even though four out of 10 said they preferred to have only two children, the National Statistics Office said in a statement, citing the results of a national survey.Among its findings, the study found that 36 percent of all newborn children were either unwanted or mistimed.Fifty three percent of births to women aged between 40 and 44 were unplanned, with 84 percent of such births unwanted, it added.In general, women with a lower level of education and those from poorer households wanted to have more children.The Philippines population is projected to reach 94 million this year, up by more than five million from the 2007 census count.The influential Roman Catholic Church, which forbids artificial birth control, has consistently opposed population control programmes. As a result, the government is reluctant to fund family planning schemes.The survey also found 73 percent of married women would use birth control if it were available, 22 percentage points higher than the 51 percent that did use such methods.The rate of those wanting, but not having access to, family planning had increased since a similar survey in 2003, it added.

Prehistoric building found in modern Israeli city By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer – JAN 14,10

TEL AVIV, Israel – When Tel Aviv marked its centennial last year, part of the festivities honoring 100 years since the founding of the first modern Hebrew city included restoration of its oldest buildings.Now, thanks to a chance archaeological find, the residents of Tel Aviv have discovered that their city dates back millennia earlier.Two weeks ago, Israeli archaeologists uncovered the 8,000-year-old remains of a prehistoric structure nestled away in the upscale neighborhood of Ramat Aviv. The cornerstone of the ancient building, which lies on a construction site for exclusive apartments, long precedes the time of Abraham and the rest of the Bible's figures.It marks the earliest structure ever found in Tel Aviv and changes what archaeologists previously believed about the history of Israel's present day financial and cultural capital.In a land where every shovel might unearth something biblical, Israeli law permits the Israel Antiquities Authority to inspect any building site ahead of construction. That's what led to the dig in Ramat Aviv.

Ayelet Dayan, the archaeologist who led the 12-person excavation team, said she expected to find relics from the Byzantine era, about 1,500 years old. She said she was startled when she stumbled upon remains of the three-room, 8,000-year-old structure, believed to be have been built in the Neolithic period — also known as the New Stone Age — when humans went from a nomadic existence of hunting and gathering to living in permanent settlements, engaging in agriculture and keeping domesticated animals.It was very exciting. I knew this was something very ancient, she said.For the first time we have encountered evidence of a permanent habitation that existed in the Tel Aviv region 8,000 years ago.Dayan's team also uncovered pottery shards, flint tools, hippopotamus bones and teeth that probably belonged to sheep or goats from the same era.Moshe Ajami, director of Antiquities Authority's Tel Aviv district, said the finds helped date the building and indicated how its ancient inhabitants lived and what they ate.He said the building style was the height of technology and the basis for millennia to come — large stone corners filled with smaller stones to support walls of mud or straw. The cut marks on the hippopotamus bones found in the yard indicated the large animal was hunted for its meat.We knew there were people here, but we didn't know they knew how to build, Ajami said.It's the biggest building we have found from that era and the oldest ever in this region.The remains were found near the Ayalon river, which archeologists say probably influenced the ancient dwellers' decision to settle there.While ancient finds are nothing new in Jerusalem and Israel's other biblical cities, the contrast to modern-day Tel Aviv is especially striking.

The discovery set off excitement in one of Israel's most upscale neighborhoods.

Within walking distance of Tel Aviv University and the Land of Israel Museum, Ramat Aviv's Pichman Street is home to some of the country's most lucrative real estate. Former Prime Ministers Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres have lived just around the corner.When digging began two months ago, Aviva Raviv worried about the noise and parking problems the new apartment building would create. Now she has a different perceptive.The 73-year-old woman moved to the neighborhood 50 years ago, when today's paved parking lot was still a quiet Mediterranean sand dune. She thought she was the ancient one here — before the prehistoric find. It appears our homes are on top of a city, she said with a smile. We live in a historic place. Who knows, maybe in a few thousand years people will be living on top of our homes?

Despite the rare find, the construction of the apartment complex is expected to continue. Archaeologists say the contractors have guaranteed to protect the ancient foundations. Amit Dobkin, a spokesman for the Pichman Greens housing complex, said the contractors are considering a display on the find in the lobby of the planned 19-apartment building and may even install a glass floor to open a window into the building's ancient past. Ajami said it was just another chapter in the fascinating history of this part of the world. There are 33,000 antiquity sites in Israel, Ajami said.We need to find the balance between preserving the antiquities and developing the land.On the Net: Israel Antiquities Authority: http://www.antiquities.org.il/home_eng.asp
Pichman Greens Residential Homes: http://pichman-greens.co.il/english.php

IDF holds simulation of biological warfare attack-Joint Medical Corps, Health Ministry, hospital teams hold mass casualty drill aimed at raising awareness to biological warfare. Contaminated patients evacuated to isolated hospital wards
Meital Yasur-Beit Or Published: 01.13.10, 22:06 / Israel News /ynetnews

The Israel Defense Forces' Medical Corps held a drill Wednesday to simulate a mass casualty biological weapons' attack in Tel Aviv metropolitan area.As part of the drill, which involved the IDF, Health Ministry, infirmaries and hospitals, soldiers and citizens were asked to report mock symptoms of fever, rashes and lesions in the mouth cavity.

In preparation

IDF completes drill with new computer system / Hanan Greenberg -System improves officers' decision-making ability by displaying maps of battlefield, movement of troops .The scenario involved a few cases of contamination among soldiers in the Sde Dov Airbase. The air force commander, who was allegedly present and came in contact with soldiers – was also classified as a potential casualty. Medical teams from several infirmaries treated casualties and collected lab samples that later on confirmed that the patients contracted the smallpox virus. There is a low awareness to the framework of biological warfare and this drill is meant to raise awareness, said Chief Medical Officer Brigadier-General Dr. Nachman Esh. We are simulating a number of scenarios. The current drill is part of a perennial exercise, although we don't have a concrete threat at the moment,he added.The medical teams, who were equipped with protective gear and masks, classified certain areas as sterile zones.
Sde Dov Airbase imposed a curfew on departures, in order to prevent infected and healthy soldiers from traveling in and out of the base.

Casualties put in isolation
This year for the first time casualties were evacuated to isolated rooms in Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. We transferred the hopital patients to other hospital wards along with careful medical supervision, said Sheba's Deputy Director Arnon Afek. They were all very cooperative. Patients on respirators were kept in the ward because of the health risk involved in moving them.Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and Wolfson Medical Center in Holon also participated in the drill. The mock casualties were brought into the empty wards by medical staff equipped with white protective suits and masks.Following conclusions drawn from last years' drill, police officers also participated in the drill and questioned patients in order to determine whether there was suspicion of a biological terror attack.The biggest challenge is for the community infirmaries that had to detect the unusual case and teach its medical teams how to treat such incidents, said Esh.

Getting ready for Haiti
While holding the drill, Medical Corps personal had to react to a real scenario – they were asked to prepare a rescue team that would depart to Haiti within hours to help with the rescue effort following the massive earthquake that shook the country Wednesday morning.We are sending a relatively small team of 30-40 members serving compulsory and reserve duty. You can call it an intensive care unit with enhanced abilities – but not quite a field hospital, said Brigadier-General Esh.The Chief Medical officer explained that the team received an approval from the Chief of Staff and was now waiting for additional permits. We are accustomed to conducting more than one missions at a time, he said.

Saudi, Syrian leaders to discuss Iran, Mideast peace By Souhail Karam – Wed Jan 13, 12:43 pm ET

RIYADH (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad started talks with Saudi King Abdullah on Wednesday that could see a renewed push for reconciliation between Iran-backed Hamas and the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority.Riyadh has been trying to convince Syria to loosen its alliance with Iran and adopt a more Arab-focused foreign policy, with Saudi officials hinting at financial aid for Syria and a resumption of investment there in return.Iran's growing influence in the Arab region since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and its links to Syria, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Hamas and various groups in Iraq, have alarmed U.S.-allied powers such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.Weaning Syria away from Tehran is seen by some as a key to getting Hamas to soften its position in reconciliation talks with the rival Fatah party, led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Saudi state news agency SPA said Syrian President Assad had arrived in Riyadh and would stay in Saudi Arabia for several days.At a news conference with his Chinese counterpart, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Assad and King Abdullah would discuss Arab reconciliation, but declined to say if Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak would join the talks.

EGYPTIAN PARTICIPATION

Reaching a positive outcome could hinge on the participation of Mubarak whose country's efforts at brokering a deal between the main two Palestinian factions have been hurt by what it perceives as an unconstructive approach from Syria.The aim is to reconcile the Palestinians with the help of the Syrians. But it is a triangle: Egyptians should also be here which means we need to reconcile them with the Syrians. If Mubarak joins the talks then we will achieve a breakthrough, said Jamal Khashoggi, a former Saudi senior diplomat who is editor of al-Watan newspaper.The Islamist Hamas defeated Fatah in a 2006 parliamentary election. A power-sharing agreement, brokered by Riyadh in 2007, broke down and Hamas seized control of Gaza after routing Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Abbas.The lack of progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks -- which depends in part on a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation -- is strengthening the hand of hardliners backed by Iran, Saudi and Egyptian officials fear.Officials gave few details about the agenda of the Riyadh talks. The visit followed intense diplomatic efforts leading to a rare visit earlier this month to Riyadh by Hamas' political leader Khaled Meshaal, who is based in Syria.Diplomats say Iran's nuclear energy program will also feature in the talks. Washington is threatening more United Nations sanctions against a program it fears could allow Tehran to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies any such intention.(Editing by Andrew Hammond and Noah Barkin)

Fifteen states may sue over healthcare reform
Wed Jan 13, 6:20 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than a dozen U.S. state attorneys general visited Washington on Wednesday threatening to sue the U.S. government if the so-called Cornhusker Kickback, a special subsidy offered to Nebraska, is included in pen1ding healthcare reform legislation.The subsidy, which was included in the Senate version of the bill, is capricious and arbitrary treatment of Nebraska, said South Carolina's Republican Attorney General Henry McMaster, who has organized a group of 15 attorneys to pursue a lawsuit.The group includes two Democrats, one from Oklahoma and one from American Samoa.Many states are outraged by the caveat, which would have the federal government cover increases in Nebraska's obligations for Medicaid, the healthcare program for the poor jointly funded by the 50 states and federal government.Medicaid already consumes large parts of states' budgets and would require even more funding under the reform plan, which would allow greater numbers of people to enroll in the program.If the provision is removed they will not sue, McMaster said, but the attorneys are discussing where to file a suit and if the Supreme Court would have to hear the case.

McMaster wrote to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi in December urging them to remove the provision as they hammer the bills into a single piece of legislation for President Barack Obama to sign into law.He has yet to hear back from them. He has spoken to Sen. Bill Nelson, who represents Nebraska and who inserted the provision. Nelson has said he is fighting to ensure all states receive equal treatment to the Cornhusker State in the final law.Meanwhile, the White House has said Obama is discussing how to handle Medicaid and the states.Removing that provision may not stop other lawsuits, McMaster warned. He has joined another group of attorneys general who are concerned that an individual mandate, or requirement that citizens buy health insurance, violates a clause in the Constitution about regulating interstate commerce.(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Andrew Hay)

China tells Web companies to obey controls By Joe Mcdonald, Ap Business Writer – JAN 14,10

BEIJING – In China's first official response to Google's threat to leave the country, the government Thursday said foreign Internet companies are welcome but must obey the law and gave no hint of a possible compromise over Web censorship.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, without mentioning Google by name, said Beijing prohibits e-mail hacking, another reason cited by Google for possibly shutting down its China operation. She was responding to questions about Google at a regular ministry briefing.China's Internet is open, Jiang said.China welcomes international Internet enterprises to conduct business in China according to law.

Google said Tuesday it would stop censoring search results in China and might shut down its China-based Google.cn site, citing hacking attacks against its e-mail service.Jiang gave no indication whether the government had talked with Google. The state Xinhua News Agency said earlier officials were seeking more information about its announcement.Also Thursday, the ruling Communist Party's main newspaper warned companies to obey government controls as Web users visited Google's Beijing offices for a second day to leave flowers and notes expressing support for the company.The newspaper Peoples Daily, citing a Cabinet official's comments in November, said companies must help the government keep the Internet safe and fight online pornography and cyber attacks.Web companies must abide by propaganda discipline, the official, Wang Chen, was quoted as saying. Companies have to concretely increase the ability of Internet media to guide public opinion in order to uphold Internet safety.Outside the Google offices, some visitors poured small glasses of liquor, a Chinese funeral ritual.One man left a copy of Peoples Daily, which he said represented the tightly controlled state media that China's public would be left with if Google pulls out and censorship continues. Notes posted on Chinese Web sites praised Google as an information source and some called on the government to find a compromise.

Employees entered and left Google's building but declined to talk to reporters.

Google said Tuesday it might shut down its China-based Google.cn site over concerns about censorship and after hacking attempts on its e-mail service from within China. The company's U.S. site has a Chinese-language section but Beijing's filters make that slow and difficult to access from China.Beijing promotes Internet use for business and education but operates an extensive filtering system to block access to material deemed subversive or pornographic, including Web sites run by dissidents and human rights groups. Its market of 338 million Internet users is the world's most populous.The Global Times, published by Peoples Daily and known for a fiercely nationalistic tone, took an unusually conciliatory stance, warning Thursday that Google's departure would be a lose-lose situation for China.Google is taking extreme measures but it is reminding us that we should pay attention to the issue of the free flow of information, the paper said. It said China's national influence and competitiveness depend on access to information and added,We have to advance with the times.The White House said Wednesday it was briefed by Google on its plans in China but refused to give details. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama made his stance on Internet freedom clear during his trip to China in November, when he told students an open exchange of information makes all countries stronger.Gibbs said the White House is awaiting China's response to Google's announcement. Asked whether the incident could cause a U.S.-China chill, Giggs said: We stood in China when we gave the answer about a free Internet. So, the president and this administration have beliefs about the freedom of the Internet.It appeared unlikely other companies might follow Google's lead and try to change how business is done in China. As long as you aren't involved in politics, the media or pornography, the government will leave you alone, said Siva Yam, president of the United States of America-China Chamber of Commerce, which primarily represents U.S. companies in China. Associated Press Writer Chi-chi Zhang and Associated Press Television News producer Isolda Morillo contributed to this report.

Panel to hear about effort against financial crime By DANIEL WAGNER, AP Business Writer – JAN 14,10

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday will tell a panel investigating the financial crisis that the Justice Department is using every tool at its disposal to fight the financial crimes that contributed to the meltdown and could cause another.According to prepared remarks, Holder will say the fight against economic crime is part of a broader strategy to foster confidence in our financial system, integrity in our markets and prosperity for the American people.Holder will highlight the work of a new, interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force created by President Barack Obama to coordinate efforts between the Justice Department and other agencies.The task force will focus on mortgage and securities fraud, theft of federal stimulus money and financial exploitation of minority communities, Holder has said. He has said it will help restore confidence in the financial markets.The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a 10-member bipartisan panel, will also hear from FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro, as well as state regulators.Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, an aggressive prosecutor of mortgage fraud, will say that the pre-crisis mortgage system profited everyone except homeowners.She will say state attorneys general already were pursuing mortgage fraud before the crisis, and will continue to do so, according to prepared remarks.The financial crisis panel began its yearlong inquiry amid public fury over bailouts, bankers' pay and financial fraud — notably Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme, a fraud estimated at as much as $50 billion.

At the first hearing Wednesday, top Wall Street bankers apologized for risky behavior that led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. But they still declared it seemed appropriate at the time.The bankers — whose firms collectively received more than $100 billion in taxpayer aid to weather the crisis — offered no regrets for executive pay that's now likely to increase as a result of their survival. They did say they are correcting some compensation practices that could lead to excessive risk-taking.The hearings come amid growing calls in Washington to hold banks and financial executives accountable for their bad bets rather than merely compensating them for good ones.House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said he will hold a hearing next week on bank compensation, looking to expand legislation that has passed the House. And Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., wrote to Obama on Wednesday to suggest legislation that would use banks' tax breaks as incentives for pay based on performance.On Thursday, Obama is expected to announce a new fee on the country's biggest financial firms to allow taxpayers to recover up to $120 billion from bailouts.Besides Holder, Madigan, Bair and Schapiro, also scheduled to testify to the panel Thursday are Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer; Colorado Attorney General John Suthers; Denise Voigt Crawford, commissioner of the Texas Securities Board; and Glenn Theobald, chief counsel of the Miami-Dade County Police Department.The commission is chaired by former California Treasurer Phil Angelides, a Democrat. His vice chairman is Republican Bill Thomas, a former California congressman who chaired the House Ways and Means Committee.The commission is modeled on the panel that examined the causes of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But its prototype could be the Pecora Commission, the Senate committee that investigated Wall Street abuses in 1933-34. It was named after Ferdinand Pecora, the committee's chief lawyer.Congress instructed the commission to explore 22 issues, ranging from the effect of monetary policy on terms of credit to bank compensation structures.Associated Press Writer Devlin Barrett contributed to this report.

Asian markets gain as China cooling worries ease
Thu Jan 14, 1:05 am ET

BANGKOK – Asian stock markets rose Thursday as fears diminished about China's lending curbs and Australia's economic recovery showed new signs of gathering momentum.Benchmarks from Tokyo to Seoul gained 1 percent or more while oil inched toward $80 a barrel after tumbling since earlier in the week.Also galvanizing investors was modest gains Wednesday on Wall Street, where a Federal Reserve report provided optimism about the economy by noting that the recovery was spreading geographically even as new jobs remain scarce.The region's markets tumbled the previous day amid jitters that China's move to slow a torrent of bank lending could dent the pace of recovery in countries that are increasingly reliant on demand from the world's No. 3 economy.But with the initial knee-jerk reaction over, a more considered view of the situation was able to emerge.For now, economists say, China's planners are likely to confine tightening to technical tinkering to discourage excess lending. They are likely to wait some time before raising benchmark interest rates or cutting back on the government stimulus spending credited with helping revive domestic demand and creating jobs.Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average led Asia's gains, jumping 165.96, or 1.6 percent, to 10,900.90. That was despite core machinery orders — a closely watched indicator of corporate capital spending — slumping to a record low in November as anemic domestic demand kept companies cautious.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 142.15, or 0.7 percent, to 21,890.70 and South Korea's Kospi added 1.1 percent to 1,689.96.Elsewhere, Australia's market rose 0.6 percent after new figures showed that the jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 5.5 percent in December and thousands of new jobs were created.Singapore's benchmark was up 1 percent and India's Sensex advanced 0.3 percent.In the U.S. on Wednesday, the Dow rose 53.51, or 0.5 percent, to 10,680.77. The index traded above 10,700 for the first time since Oct. 3, 2008, rising as high as 10,709.26.The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 9.46, or 0.8 percent, to 1,145.68, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 25.59, or 1.1 percent, to 2,307.90.Oil prices inched to near $80 a barrel in Asia as rising stock markets ahead of fourth quarter earnings cheered crude traders. Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 27 cents to $79.92 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange; the contract gave up $1.14 to settle at $79.65 on Wednesday.In currencies, the dollar rose to 91.75 yen from 91.39 yen. The euro advanced to $1.4547 from $1.4510.

Centre-right MEPs threaten to delay commission vote
HONOR MAHONY AND VALENTINA POP Today JAN 14,10 @ 09:29 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Centre-right MEPs are threatening to delay the European Parliament's vote on the new European Commission if a six-point list of demands is not met.Planned for 26 January, the vote will see the plenary as whole decide whether to accept the new college of commissioners, allowing the Brussels executive to finally come into office following over two months of delay.However, MEPs from the European People's Party, the largest grouping in the parliament, say they want the commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, to commit to certain promises for when the two institutions work out their inter-institutional agreement - a five-year plan governing relations between the two bodies.German centre-right MEP Manfred Weber, the legal affairs co-ordinator for the group, told journalists on Wednesday (13 January): There can't be a vote on the commission on the 26th until we have an agreement on the rules. We will put a lot of pressure on this.Among the most controversial concessions they are looking for is hearings on some of the special envoys and ambassadors appointed by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to the EU diplomatic service.The demand is only supposed to concern appointees to important places. Asked how they would determine which countries or regions are important, the foreign affairs co-ordinator of the group, the Greek Ioannis Kasoulides, said they would use common-sense criteria. Ambassadors to Russia or the Middle East, for example, would be eligible for hearings.This is something strongly opposed by member states, who fear the nominees will become subject to the internal political machinations of the parliament as the different political grouping practice partisan oneupmanship. It is also one of the points where Ms Ashton herself was most firm during her appearance before MEPs on Monday, saying she has to disappoint parliament but that she did not want such hearings.MEPs are also calling to be actively involved in negotiations on international agreements, rather than just being asked for their approval, citing the Swift issue of US access to the personal data of European citizens using the financial system.

A third, equally controversial suggestion, would see the commission obliged to come forward with a proposal within a year following a legislative initiative report by the parliament.The remaining points call for equal treatment of parliament and council - where member states are represented; better law-making; and improved annual and legislative working programmes.However, despite claims by the EPP to the contrary, other major groups are not on board.Andrew Duff, liberal MEP, told this website: I don't think it is the right time to be pushing for a concrete agreement on the framework agreement. We need to get more experience of the treaty in practice. He noted that it would be to the parliament's detriment to blunder into an agreement now and then have to stick with it for five years.Referring to the proposals on the special envoys and on legislation, Mr Duff said: All of those things are extremely sensitive and we have to stick to what is in the treaty.But Mr Duff did agree that it is too early to be clear that we are going to have a vote [on 26 January], with some MEPs having issued strong criticism of the Bulgarian and Lithuanian commissioner designates.The criticism may prompt a reshuffle or new nominees, which would require new hearings, possibly delaying the vote.

Conservatives counter-attack in defence of Jeleva
VALENTINA POP Today JAN 14,10 @ 09:43 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – The Parliament's centre-right group mounted an attack on one of the left's commissioner candidates on Wednesday, while defending their own contested nominee from Bulgaria. The political scrap may delay plans to have the next European Commission up and running on 1 February.At the centre of the dispute stands Rumiana Jeleva, the Bulgarian nominee for the portfolio of humanitarian aid, who was accused of lying about her financial interests during stormy hearings on Tuesday (12 January). The parliament's legal services are currently looking into her financial declarations.Socialist leader Martin Schulz has reportedly sent a letter to Jose Manuel Barroso to inform him of the very serious doubts the group has regarding the Bulgarian candidate, his spokesman Armin Machmer told AFP.But the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) is strongly defending Ms Jeleva, a former MEP with the group, who is in their view the victim of a witch hunt and unfair treatment by the rivaling parties.We will defend the integrity of her personality against unfounded allegations, EPP deputy chairman Jozsef Szajer, in charge of the commissioners' hearings, told journalists on Wednesday.He labeled as minor the potential conflict of interest of Ms Jeleva, but noted that the issue should be cleared by Bulgarian authorities, Mr Barroso and herself.

That same briefing, which was advertised to journalists as being about Ms Jeleva, was used to launch an attack on a commissioner candidate from the Socialist family, the parliament's second largest group after the EPP.Mr Szajer insisted that this was not a tit-for-tat move, despite admitting it may be interpreted that way.He distributed prints of a document drafted by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), an intergovernmental body monitoring elections, frozen conflicts and human rights around the world. It cited Maros Sefcovic, the Slovakian nominee for vice-president of the commission in charge of administrative affairs, as saying that ethnic Roma were exploiters of the Slovak welfare system. The statement was allegedly made in 2005, while Mr Sefcovic was Bratislava's envoy to Brussels.The EPP will challenge Mr Sefcovic during his hearings on Monday in Strasbourg, Mr Szajer said, while avoiding giving a clear answer on whether his group is prepared to veto the whole commission over this.

For his part, the Slovak candidate said he did not recall ever making the statement.

Mr Sefcovic deeply regrets if anything he may have said in the past has caused offence to anyone, his cabinet said in a statement, pointing to his efforts of helping the Roma community in Slovakia.Meanwhile, the head of the main German conservative party in the parliament, Werner Langen, said that his group also had concerns over Finland's liberal candidate for the post of economic affairs commissioner, Olli Rehn, whose hearing was on Monday, calling his performance subdued, DPA reports.The political bickering may delay the vote on the whole commission, planned for 26 January. The parliament cannot vote down individual candidates, only the commission as a whole, but it can force the replacement of candidates or portfolios, as it did two candidates and one dossier in 2004.

EU report slams Greece over false statistics
ANDREW WILLIS 13.01.2010 @ 09:24 CET

A report published by the European Commission on Tuesday (12 January) has condemned Greece for falsifying its data on public finances. Written up at the behest of EU finance ministers, the document talks of deliberate misreporting of figures by the Greek authorities in 2009.The country's newly elected Socialist government upwardly revised its 2009 deficit forecast last October from 3.7 to 12.5 percent, a considerable change that prompted credit rating downgrades and outrage in other EU member states. Revisions of this magnitude in the estimated past government deficit ratios have been extremely rare in other EU member states, but have taken place for Greece on several occasions, said the report. The document continues that the Greek data is so unreliable that actual debt and deficit figures could be even higher than the revised forecast.In a damning paragraph, the commission says: poor co-operation and lack of clear responsibilities between several Greek institutions and services ...ambiguous empowerment of officials, absence of written instruction and documentation, which leave the quality of fiscal statistics subject to political pressures and electoral cycles.Questioned whether other EU governments could also be fiddling their public finance figures, the EU's economic commissioner-designate, Olli Rehn, told MEPs this week during a parliamentary hearing that he thought Greece was an isolated case. Some analysts say the country's debt level, currently at 113 percent of gross domestic product and set to rise further, poses a major problem for Athens and could threaten the stability of the euro due to spillover effects into other member countries and market jitters. EU governments have asked the commission to put forward a list of measures to help the embattled administration tackle the issue, with the handover likely to happen in the coming days. Greece is then expected to report back to the commission by the end of the month with a list of actions it plans to take.

Van Rompuy support

In a badly needed show of support, the EU's new permanent president, Herman Van Rompuy, said Greece is now taking steps to meet the substantial challenge posed by its debt and deficit levels. After a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Tuesday, Mr Van Rompuy said he was confident that the Greek government is already taking the necessary further steps to address the situation.Resolute fiscal consolidation should start without delay in 2010 and the deficit should be brought below three percent by the end of 2012, he added.

Big tobacco distorted EU treaty, scientists say
LEIGH PHILLIPS 13.01.2010 @ 11:41 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - One of the biggest tobacco manufacturers in the world led a group of chemical, food, oil, pharmaceutical and other firms in a successful long-term lobbying strategy to shape European Union policy making in their favour, a new study says.After trawling through some 700 internal documents from British American Tobacco (BAT), academics at the University of Bath and University of Edinburgh say they have found evidence that the cigarette giant in the mid-1990s teamed up with the European Policy Centre, the prominent Brussels think-tank, to create a front group to ensure that the EU framework for evaluating policy options emphasised business interests at the expense of public health.According to the study, published in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal and funded by the Smoke-Free Partnership and Cancer Research UK, BAT constructed a policy network of a series of major corporations, including Shell, Zeneca, Tesco, SmithKline Beecham, Bayer and Unilever, to mount a multi-year lobby campaign aiming at shaping the EU's impact assessment system.There are a number of impact assessment systems, which are tools for evaluating potential legislative changes, each emphasising different aspects of the ramifications of a government choosing a particular law over another. Some place great weight on environmental or health impacts, while others on the financial fall-out sustained by industry.

Impact assessments as a whole, which work by assigning monetary values to both the costs and benefits of a particular policy, are criticised by the study authors because costs to business are relatively easily quantifiable, while other, more fundamental impacts - such as lives lost or harmed - are much less so.The form of impact assessment pushed in this period by BAT and its front group - and the one ultimately embraced by the EU via changes to the EU Treaty in the Treaty of Amsterdam - was so desired, according to the survey, because they believed that it would hamper the introduction of public smoking restrictions and those against tobacco advertising. The scientists uncovered BAT documents that revealed that senior managers had learnt that this form of impact assessment had been successfully used by cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris in the US for the same purposes. BAT asked a UK consultancy, Charles Barker, to work out the advantages of pushing such an approach at the UK and EU levels, the study says. According to the scientists, the firm warned BAT that they would need to tread carefully, lobbying through a front organisation and enlisting other big industry names in support, in particular the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.The aim of BAT's campaign was to make its preferred form of assessment legally binding within EU policymaking by securing changes to the EU Treaty. One internal document highlighted by the study reads:In no country in the world are governments required, in practice, to justify their actions through effective cost-benefit analysis, underpinned by rigorous risk assessment. An opportunity to promote such a requirement was identified in the European Union (EU) ...British American Tobacco and BAT Industries recognised that a broad coalition of like-minded companies might be able to persuade member states into amending the Treaty, imposing a binding requirement for cost benefit analysis and risk assessment.In order to win such a change, from 1996 onwards, say the scientists, BAT relied heavily on the European Policy Centre (EPC), while also sometimes working with the Weinberg Group, a consultancy firm that had been involved with Philip Morris.The EPC then went on to form the front group, the Risk Assessment Forum on behalf of the tobacco company and its allies, with both BAT and the EPC working to recruit other companies to join the Forum, the new research says.The UK was regarded by BAT as the EU member state most committed to its preferred impact assessment as it was the country that ultimately submitted the change to the treaty for consideration by other governments.

As a result, the UK presidency of the EU in the first half of 1998 was viewed as a window of opportunity in which BAT, the EPC and the Weinberg Group, with support from other companies, organised a conference on the subject. One keynote speaker at the conference was Steve Milloy, executive director of the Advancement of Sound Science Coalition, described by the authors of the study as having been linked to Philip Morris' campaign to rubbish scientific findings it did not like.Ultimately, BAT's campaign was successful, helping to secure the treaty amendment it sought, and, due to working through a major think-tank and setting up a front group, managing to avoid the perception that big tobacco was behind the policy shift. The authors of the study interviewed European Commission staff who revealed no awareness that the tobacco industry had been behind the campaign.BAT for its part said in response to the publication of the study: The EU invites all interested parties to submit their views before making new policies and we are happy to share our views, as we believe the best policies are the ones which take into account a range of positions.The authors of this report seem to be suggesting that only people who agree with their own point of view should be allowed to voice an opinion, said BAT spokeswoman Kate Matrunola.Hans Martens, the chief executive of EPC said that the events referred to in the study occurred before he joined the organisation in 2002: I do not know what might have been happening in the years before I joined.Mr Martens said that at the time, EPC, then called Belmont EPC, was a consultancy,I suppose that is where the activities originally took place.He said that when he took over, the Risk Forum was still in operation, but he shut it down.It only had corporate members, and therefore I decided to stop its activities because everything we do is multi-constituency-based, which means that we have different stakeholders involved.

If a subject does not have a broader interest, we don't do it. [This] is our policy since 2002.[EPC] is truly independent organisation. It operates on the basis of multi-stakeholder engagement and we do not represent any of the members' interests at all,he continued. BAT is one of the members, but not very active in EPC, and they do not get any special favours, as no other member organisation does.I am quite upset about the allegations as they do not reflect what EPC stands for today.Think-tanks throughout the European capital have consistently refused to join the European Commission's lobby registry, arguing that think-tanks do not engage in lobbying. The EPC, however, was the first think-tank to sign up.

Enlargement nominee backs Turkish EU membership
LEIGH PHILLIPS 13.01.2010 @ 10:58 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Planting his flag firmly in the pro-Turkey camp, the European Commission's incoming enlargement and neighbourhood policy chief, the Czech Republic's Stefan Fuele, said Turkey could one day could become a full EU member during his Brussels interview with MEPs on Tuesday (12 January).Despite high-level opposition in France and Germany to Ankara's accession, the 47-year-old career diplomat and ex-European affairs minister said he hoped to move forward with negotiations on his watch.I intend to go ahead with accession negotiations, he told MEPs in the chamber's foreign affairs committee, adding:They are the best leverage we have to help Turkey modernise.He said that there had been a lot of progress in the country in recent years, breaking down taboos, while underscoring that there remained human rights concerns. Asked by a Polish centre-right deputy whether Turkey could be awarded full membership in the bloc, he said: Yes, I can well imagine. It is in the credibility of the EU, but Turkey must fulfill all conditions. This will be a reformed and modern Turkey and its accession will benefit both parties.He explicitly ruled out a so-called privileged partnership for Turkey, another option that has been mooted by opponents of the country's adhesion. Mr Fuele appeared as a robust supporter of enlargement in general, cheering the changes Europe has helped make to the east and his own central European republic: To me, enlargement is more than a policy portfolio. It has transformed my country and my own life. It has transformed Europe as a whole. It has restored hope and dignity to millions of people.

This is why I am a strong believer in further reunification, he said.As for the western Balkans, he said that he hoped to invite new members to our family during his time as commissioner and to recommend that Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina be awarded visa-free travel this year.He said he sympathised with feelings of enlargement fatigue when quizzed on the matter by Austrian centre-left deputy Hannes Swoboda, however.We must clarify the goals of expansion and demonstrate the benefits, otherwise we run to failure, he said.Mr Fuele would not be drawn on whether other eastern neighbours, such as Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus and Georgia, should ultimately find themselves in the club, saying that he maintained an open mind on the question of Ukraine, while underscoring his concerns about the human rights situation in Georgia: The EU must play a stabilising role in this region and repeat again and again that we want the territorial integrity of Georgia.Ahead of the hearing, some were expecting a grilling over Mr Fuele's former membership of the Czechoslovak Communist Party before 1989, but in the end, only a British Tory and a pair of hard-right deputies from the Netherlands and Austria pressed the issue.

Twenty-seven years old when democracy came to eastern Europe, he said that his past was a result of the time and place I grew up in, emphasising his record of public service as an ambassador to the UN, in Lithuania, Britain and NATO.And it is in this spirit that I am offering my capacities also to the European commission, if you agree, he said.

Incoming commissioner criticises US-type approach to terrorism
ANDREW RETTMAN 13.01.2010 @ 09:27 CET

Luxembourg commission nominee Viviane Reding has tried to secure MEPs' approval for a third term in the EU executive with criticism of a US-type approach to anti-terrorism. Responding to questions by Spanish green MEP Raul Romeva i Rueda and Portuguese far-left deputy Rui Tavares at her parliament hearing in Brussels on Tuesday (12 January), Ms Reding voiced concern over the idea of putting body scanners at airports and EU plans to share people's private data with US intelligence agencies. The proposed body scanners have provoked public protests at some German airports this week (Photo: Transport and Security Administration, USA)
We will not let anyone dictate to us rules that go against fundamental rights on anti-terrorism grounds ...our need for security cannot justify any violation of privacy. We should never be driven by fear, but by values, she said. During the last decade the concentration has been on security alone, justice was neglected.US authorities have in the wake of a failed Christmas Day bomb plot begun buying hundreds of x-ray body scanners which show passengers' naked bodies, putting pressure on the EU to follow suit. The initiative comes on top of previous US calls for EU access to citizens' financial data via the Swift banking system and private travel details, or PNR records.The UK, the Netherlands and Italy backed the use of scanners at an EU aviation security meeting last week. But Belgium, Spain and Germany voiced scepticism, with the EU commission tasked with exploring a potential bill on making body scans mandatory across the union.Ms Reding said scans should remain voluntary for now with further studies needed to prove their usefulness. We have to look at less intrusive and more privacy friendly ways to detect explosives, she explained. Do those scanners work efficiently, do they pose health risks, do they have specific problems for privacy, for data protection? she asked. Ms Reding promised to push the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights as a new criterion in the commission's future impact assessment studies of all new legislation and to publish an annual report on countries' compliance with the code.

In terms of other judicial priorities, Ms Reding said she would look into establishing an EU-level public prosecutor to focus on cross-border financial crimes, design new EU-wide copyright-protection measures and push to close the gender pay cap.The outgoing telecoms commissioner pointed to her attack on mobile phone companies' roaming fees as proof of her tough approach to corporate vested interest.The German Pirate Party organised naked protests against scanners at airports in the country last weekend.

Top regulators to face U.S. financial crisis panel By Kevin Drawbaugh – JAN 14,10

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senior U.S. regulators, including outspoken Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair, will tell their side of the story on Thursday to a commission examining the origins of the 2008 financial crisis.The 10-member panel, in its first public hearing, heard a tale of misjudgments and regret from top Wall Street bankers on Wednesday, but did not get an outright apology or any new explanations for the debacle that shook world markets.Four of Wall Street's top bankers acknowledged taking on too much risk and having choked on their own financial cooking in the subprime mortgage market, but they defended their pay packages and the huge size of their businesses.The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, created by Congress and charged with issuing a report by December 15, will get a different view of matters from Bair and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro.Both are the leaders of agencies that were deeply involved in the run-up to the crisis that peaked in late 2008 after the collapse of former investment banking giant Lehman Brothers.Bair made waves this week with an FDIC proposal to tie banker pay to deposit insurance fees. The idea, opposed by other bank regulators, calls for banks with risky compensation schemes to pay higher levels of deposit insurance premiums.It reflects Bair's readiness to experiment with using the FDIC's policy levers to influence bank behavior in ways that transcend the agency's main job of insuring deposits.Bair was an early critic of subprime mortgage market excesses that helped inflate a historic housing price bubble well into 2007. When it broke, the aftershocks paralyzed capital markets and panicked the Bush administration.Multi-billion-dollar taxpayer bailouts and the deepest recession since the 1930s followed, saddling President Barack Obama with profound economic challenges and a political backlash that is still far from over.

The commission, chaired by former California State Treasurer Phil Angelides, is beginning its work amid rising public fury over the crisis, its aftermath and what to do to prevent something like it from happening again.We have a lot of digging to do and I believe our work will illuminate what happened. It will be the last and best chance for the American people to examine these issues, Angelides said after Wednesday's session.Schapiro, whose agency has been widely criticized for failing to detect problems such as the massive Bernard Madoff investment scam, said on Wednesday that the SEC was giving its enforcement staff more tools to root out financial fraud.Also slated to testify on Thursday with Bair and Schapiro are U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer and state and local law enforcement officials from Illinois, Colorado, Texas and Florida.The Angelides panel is modeled after the Pecora Commission, which probed the 1929 Wall Street crash. Its findings helped lead to the creation of the SEC and other reforms. Whether the new commission will be as substantive remains to be seen.Its work coincides with efforts in Congress to overhaul financial regulation, a process now more than a year old in which Bair has emerged as a key innovator.The House of Representatives last month approved a sweeping reform bill over the objections of Republicans and lobbyists for banks, including the ones whose executives testified to the commission on Wednesday.The Senate Banking Committee is in sensitive negotiations over its own bill. Analysts expect the Senate will act on a final measure in the coming months.By summer, a compromise House-Senate bill could reach President Barack Obama, who has been pushing Congress for months to complete its work.(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh; Additional reporting by Karey Wutkowski; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

Eurozone industrial output back in black: EU
JAN 14,10

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Factory output across continental Europe's core euro currency zone rose by a sharp 1.0 percent in November, compensating for an October blip after a run of growth going back to May.The increase was twice that predicted by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.Nevertheless, official statistics released by the European Union on Thursday showed that industrial production in the 16 countries that use the euro was down by 7.1 percent compared to November 2008.The respective figures for the full 27-nation bloc, which also includes the last major economy still in recession, Britain, and eastern industrial powerhouse Poland, gave a 0.9 percent monthly rise and a 6.4 percent annual fall.The detailed data showed 1.8 percent growth across the eurozone compared to October for the production of durable consumer goods like fridges and televisions but a decline of 2.2 percent for energy.

On a monthly basis, production rose in 16 of the 20 member states for which information was available, but fell on an annual basis in 16 of the 20 with the notable exception of Poland, which saw a 7.3 percent rise.Country-specific data for the biggest players showed France recording a 1.2 percent increase over October after a 0.6 percent decline the previous month, and Germany posting 0.7 percent growth compared to 1.8 percent decline.Services-dominated Britain's industrial production rose by 0.3 percent after a flat October.Europe's jobless recovery was laid bare last week with data showing that one in every 10 workers across the continent's core euro currency area is now unemployed.During the same November period, some 102,000 more people lost their jobs -- despite confirmation that Europe emerged from recession in the third quarter of 2009, with 0.4 percent eurozone growth.China also surpassed euro powerhouse Germany as the world's leading exporter for the first time.

Oil shoots above $80 as traders eye rising stocks By ALEX KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer – JAN 14,10

SINGAPORE – Oil prices peeked above $80 a barrel Thursday in Asia as rising stock markets ahead of fourth quarter earnings cheered crude investors.Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 40 cents to $80.05 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, the contract gave up $1.14 to settle at $79.65.Most major Asian stock indexes gained Thursday after the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.5 percent Wednesday. Companies began reporting fourth quarter earnings this week with chipmaker Intel Corp. is expected to post results Thursday and banking giant JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Friday.Oil investors often look to stock markets as a measure of overall investor sentiment about the economy.Oil has fallen from near $84 a barrel earlier this week on signs of weak U.S. crude demand. The Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that U.S. oil inventories grew more than expected last week, despite a cold weather spell that analysts expected to boost demand for oil products such as heating oil.From virtually any perspective, the weekly EIA stats looked bearish, Galena, Illinois-based Ritterbusch and Associates said in a report.Further price slippage toward the $75 area would appear likely.In other Nymex trading in February contracts, heating oil rose 0.7 cents to $2.10 a gallon and gasoline gained 0.74 cent to $2.07 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 0.7 cent to $5.74.In London, Brent crude for February delivery rose 53 cents to $78.84 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

US envoy urges NKorea to follow China, Russia By HYUNG-JIN KIM, Associated Press Writer – JAN 14,10

SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea should follow in the footsteps of Russia and China and open up its economic and political systems to improve conditions for its people, President Barack Obama's point man for human rights in the country said Thursday.

Robert King, in a live conversation with South Korean Internet users held on a U.S. Embassy-run Web site, said he wants North Korea to achieve significant political and economic changes like Russia and China have gone through over the past 20 years.

Pyongyang has long been regarded as having one of the world's worst human rights records, with more than 150,000 political prisoner believed detained in large prison camps. The North has bristled at outside criticism of its rights situation, calling it part of a U.S.-led plot to topple its regime.South Koreans submitted questions to King in Korean and his answers were translated back into that language. The embassy did not immediately release a transcript of his original English-language comments.

King reiterated his view that the North should improve human rights conditions if it wants to forge normalized, productive ties with the United States.He said respect for human rights must be part of relations among countries, arguing the U.S. is not using the issue as a stick — the only English word released — to criticize the country.North Korea and the U.S. have never had diplomatic relations. The North was founded in 1948 three years after the end of World War II, and the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. Earlier this week, the North proposed peace talks to formally end the war, but the U.S. brushed aside the offer, saying Pyongyang should first return to six-nation talks on its nuclear weapons program.King, a former staff director on the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee, was on his first visit overseas as special envoy for North Korean human rights, only weeks after assuming the position. He will travel on to Japan later Thursday.He also said the U.S. has urged North Korea to release an American citizen it has detained since late last month for entering the country illegally.

Activists say the detainee is a 28-year-old Korean-American missionary named Robert Park who slipped into the country on Christmas Day to raise international awareness of the North's dire human rights situation. The North hasn't identified by name who it is holding.King said he knows the North's human rights situation would not improve quickly but stressed the need to continue to apply pressure on the country. On Monday, he called the human rights situation there appalling.Separately, King met Thursday with Vitit Muntarbhorn, the United Nations' special investigator on human rights in North Korea, who is also visiting South Korea to meet government officials, civic activists and North Korean defectors. The U.S. Embassy in Seoul declined to disclose the contents of the meeting.Associated Press Writer Kelly Olsen contributed to this report.