Revealed: Samsung's plans for new phones and tablets in 2014, 2015

Apple debuted an all new 64-bit mobile processor phone as its flagship in the year 2013, and the market which went steadily in favor of the octa-core Galaxy S4, began to shake. Samsung seems to be feeling the heat generated from the 64-bit powerhouse from Apple, and responding fast to it with a similar power performance device.

The Korean company is now planning new ways to get back into full throttle and rule the market again in the coming year. The recently held second ever analyst event of the company in South Korea spilled beans on few new efforts from the company.

We bring you a sneak peak into what’s in store in year 2014 and 2015 from the company. Click on the next page to know more. 



64-bit phones

How can one believe that Samsung will not offer a good competitor to the Apple iPhone 5S. According to an earlier report Samsung is making a 64-bit processor device that is now "almost done". "According to the latest bits of information coming from Samsung’s homeland, the company is pretty much done with developing its in-house 64-bit CPU,” tech blog GforGames also reported around the same time.

Strengthening these rumours, Digitimes today report (based on industry sources) that the company will release “flagship smartphone models equipped with 64-bit CPUs, WQHD displays and 16-megapixel cameras in 2014”. We heard upcoming smartphones with WQHD display (2560 x 1440 pixels display resolution, 560ppi display density) from the Samsung’s analyst event. We can expect a WQHD display on a 64-bit on the Galaxy S5. 




Samsung SM-G7102

This will be a budget phone with a 5.2-inch display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The phone will be a dual sim phone running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS. The phone has just been spotted visiting the FCC. Read the FCC listing here.

“Despite the relatively low pixel density of the screen (288ppi), the processor clockspeed is listed as 2.3GHz, which can only be a quad-core Snapdragon 800 chipset. It's a fairly large device, measuring 147 x 75.1mm” says GsmArena. The phone will ship in for developing countries, as a low-cost alternative to the Galaxy Note 3 speculates this report. 





Ultra High Definition 4K smartphones 

In the recently held Analyst event it was revealed that the company will be making 4K UHD smartphones (that’s just limited to a few TVs today). This means 3840 x 2160 pixels display resolution on the phones. These phones are expected to hit announcement in 2015.




Foldable display device

The company has shown interest in flexible (you can also year curved) display devices. The company plans to go big on it “once it overcomes technology barriers”. The company is working on a foldable display device which we would probably see in 2014.

This appeared as a tri-fold display unit as part of a number of patent applications submitted detailing the intriguing folding display designs for its smartphones. Here’s a pic from the foldable display concept can be seen in the tri-fold display unit.




Also have a look at this fold and carry tablet from Samsung that has been rumoured in 2013. The device did not come in 2013, and can be expected next year.

A Patentbolt report in the Q2 2013 confirmed this in the new images it has made available. "It appears that Samsung is considering building a tablet with a foldable display" says the report. Samsung is also expected to get its OLED factory ready in 2014.





Better camera phones

You should also have a look at this page from the presentation of Stepehn Woo at the Samsung Analyst event. The graph clarifies that the company moved from 13 megapixel to 16 megapixel this year. (Agree, we saw 13 megapixel Galaxy S4 and other devices and 16 megapixel Galaxy S4 Zoom this year.) For the two years to come the company is expected to be working on 16 and 20 megapixel cameras.
 





Taking the Galaxy Round for a round

The company has just announced the smart curved phone, the Galaxy Round for the Korean market. Though the phone seems to have been announced in a bid to become the first in the world to launch a curved screen phone, the phone is expected to cross the Korean boundaries for other countries.

“Australian retailer MobiCity and US retailerNegri Electronics briefly listed the device unlocked at around $1130 (1200 AUD), although both are now backordered. They are still accepting orders, so it's possible that new shipments will be available at some point in the future” reports GsmArena today.


The Galaxy Round is a full HD 1920×1080 pixels display on a 5.7 inch device with a premium look along the lines of Galaxy Note 3. This runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean on a 2.3 GHz quad-core processor and will get 32 GB or 64 GB of internal memory under the hood.




New tablets

Samsung is also expected to move to bigger tablets for the next year. A 12.2-inch Samsung Galaxy Note tablet will be introduced during MWC 2014, while an even larger 13.3-inch model will land later in the year, reports Trusted Review. 




 

Moto G in India gets Android KitKat OS, download now

Good news for the new Moto G buyers in India! The phone that has just landed in store in India is getting its first Android OS update in form of the latest KitKat 4.4 OS.

The KitKat update is available via OTA. To update you new phone all you have to do is to go to Setting, hit About Phone and go for the System Update section.

If an update is available, follow the instructions on your phone to download and install it. Once updated, your phone will restart to complete the installation. Updates will not affect your contacts, applications, or data. Note that the update will come in phases. So be patient if your phone is still waiting for the update.

You will need a Wi-Fi connection to download the update. For phones purchased in US Google is now allowing a downgrads later. It is now known whether a downgragd will be allowed in India after the installation of KitKat OS.

The Moto G is 4.5-inch display phone with a 720p display and comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor. There’s  1 GB of RAM and 8 GB or 16 GB storage.  The phone sports a 5 megapixel shooter and 1.3 megapixel front camera. The phone packs a battery of 2070 mAh that can support you for a whole day, and runs Android 4.3.

Futuristic smartphones to allow customization of camera, RAM... almost every spec

Motorola has announced its new interest ‘Project Ara’ that will allow complete hardware customization using the open hardware ecosystem.

That means, phones with components that can be be easily removed and changed to make new phones that is like building a very own smartphones with personal touch. “The design for Project Ara consists of what we call an endoskeleton (endo) and modules.  The endo is the structural frame that holds all the modules in place. A module can be anything, from a new application processor to a new display or keyboard, an extra battery, a pulse oximeter--or something not yet thought of” says Motorola about the new phones that will come as part of the project.

“Led by Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects group, Project Ara is developing a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular smartphones. We want to do for hardware what the Android platform has done for software: create a vibrant third-party developer ecosystem, lower the barriers to entry, increase the pace of innovation, and substantially compress development timelines.

Our goal is to drive a more thoughtful, expressive, and open relationship between users, developers, and their phones. To give you the power to decide what your phone does, how it looks, where and what it’s made of, how much it costs, and how long you’ll keep it”, says Motorola about this project.

But, Motorola is not the only one working on this concept. In the year 2013, Phoneblokcs cme out with the same vision which it called ‘modular phones’. “We want a modular phone that can reduce waste, is built on an open platform and made for the entire world. We are keen on finding the right partners and people to build this phone” says this project.

Not only this Xiomi have also been working on a similar project where it is looking at hardware coming together in form of ‘magic cubes’ to form a customized mobile handset. The project has been called ‘magic cubes’, where each ‘brick’ holds a specific part of the phone, i.e., RAM, CPU, camera or battery.

The idea was shared by Lei Jun, Xiaomi’s founder and CEO on his Sina Weibo account. The pics have been removed. We take a shot from GforGames of the pics posted for you here. Have a look in the next pages.



A glimse into the outcome of Project Ara from Motorola.
 




A glimse into the outcome of Project Ara from Motorola.
 



A glimse into the outcome of Project Ara from Motorola. This is just a prototypoe under test.
 




Phoneblocks concept of a customizable smartphone. Motorola is in talks with the Phoneblocks team sharing information on the phones. "We’ve done deep technical work. Dave created a community. The power of open requires both.  So we will be working on Project Ara in the open, engaging with the Phonebloks community throughout our development process" says Motorla.
 



A peep into the the concept of magic bricks by Xiomi.
 

Samsung shifts Gear to Tizen, Galaxy Gear smartwatch to be made compatible to another OS

In year 2013 Samsung launched Galaxy Gear smartwatch that was compatible to Android OS and its devices that are running Android OS. The company might soon come up with a new Galaxy Gear that’s compatible to OS other than Android.

According to a news report in Cnet, people who are familiar with the matter have said that, a new version of Samsung's Gear smartwatch will run the company's Tizen software instead of Google's Android operating system.

Sammy is expected to unveil its new Tizen OS based device at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona beginning in few days now. A compatible Galaxy Gear might appear at the event with the Tizen phone.Samsung since last two year has been looking at Tizen an an open source software and a good alternative to the Android OS. The company has been working on a new devices with the OS, and was rumoured to launch a phone in September 2013. Later Samsung informed that it will launch Tizen based phone in February 2014.


“It sounds like the platform is finally ready to make its big debut, though, as Tizen has sent out invitations to an event at Mobile World Congress on Feb. 23 at which the first devices running the new OS will be put on display” reported Phonedog in a December 2013 news report.

In the last week of January a Tizen based Samsung phone leaked via Moveplayer.net, offering a first glimpse of the new user interface. This new handset called the Samsung ZEQ9000 or Zeke is expected to be a 4.8 inch mobile device with 1280 x 720 pixels display resolution and a 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 800 processor underneath. The user interface seems inspired by Live Tile base Windows OS interface.

Fingerprint scanner, 2K display, water-proof body confirmed in Galaxy S5

Samsung is aiming to bring a phone which will sell better than Apple’s iPhone 5. The company will pack its next flagship, the Galaxy S5 with a swipe-style fingerprint sensor and a 2K display.

Popular Samsung leakster and informer Sammobile has confirmed that the device will pack a fingerprint sensor in the new phone. In a news report yesterday it said “we are finally confirming that Samsung’s upcoming flagship device, the Galaxy S5, will be equipped with a fingerprint sensor”


More about the Galaxy S5 fingerprint sensor

Not only this, the leakster also confirms other details about the fingerprint sensor in the upcoming phone. The sensor will not come in the actual display but will come fitted in the Galaxy S5’s home button. (sounds like Sammsung will follow iPhone 5S on this?) The phone will show the real-time image of your finger as you scan it across the sensor.

The sensor will work in a “swipe manner, which means that you would need to swipe the entire pad of your finger, from base to tip, across the home key to register your fingerprint properly,” says Sammobile. The swipe should be at a moderate speed for the phone to recognize your fingerprint. The sensor will be sensitive to moisture.

The company will allow you to store 8 fingerprints in the phone where you can assign an independent task, or a shortcut of an app to each of the finger.

Samsung will also focus on your privacy with the new phone using the fingerprint scanner. “A new Personal Folder and Private Mode has been developed by Samsung, where you will be able to hide personal apps, widgets, and content you want to keep private”, reports Sammobile. Users will be able to open and close Personal Folder and Private Mode.

The company is not opting for on-screen buttons and will be making the phone sport physical buttons, similar to its earlier flagship.


2K display in Galaxy S5

According to a fresh leak of a screenshot of the upcoming Galaxy S5’s ‘About phone’ page, the new phone will sport a 2K display. According to this image posted by SamsungGalaxyS5Abonnement It will sport a 5.25 inch display screen with a (qhd) display resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels. The 4-inch display screen iPhone 6S sports a 640 x 1136 pixels display resolution offering it a pixel density of 326 ppi (pixel per inches). The 560 ppi pixel density of upcoming Galaxy S5 will surely take a huge lead over iPhone 5S on this account.




Waterproof Galaxy S5?

Is Samsung also looking to compete with the water and dust proof Sony Xperia Z and Z1 smartphones with the Galaxy S5? Seems so!

The O2’s German store has teased the arrival of a new Samsung phone by the end of February this year. The page says “Anticipation High, Get news about Samsung that can do more.” (That’s the translation of ‘Vorfreude hoch 5 Hol Dir News zum Samsung, das mehr kann,’ via Google translate).

The picture teased shows a handset in water. This will be an obvious indication that the upcoming Galaxy S5 will also be a water-proof phone.


Other specs

The phone is expected to come in two processor variants of Snapdragon 800 and 64-bit octa-core Exynos Octa processor, 3 GB RAM, at least 16 megapixel camera on the back, Android 4.4. KitKat OS, 3000+ mAh battery. The launch is expected on Monday next week at the Mobile World Congress 2014, Barcelona.

Nokia's Rs. 7000 attack on Android, Nokia X to unveil at MWC 2014

Nokia is readying for a big launch on the 24th February at the Mobile World Congress this year. We can expect the Normandy or the Nokia X Android smartphone at the show.

Nokia has been teasing a new launch event at the MWC in 4 days time. Though nothing much about the phone has been revealed, the company has posted 3 teaser images on it’s Weibo site (The Chinese micro-blogging website like the Twitter). The first Image appears to be a treasure map roughly taking shape of an ‘X’.



If this does not sound very convincing you need to look at another teaser pic posted by the company. The root of the tree shows a new DNA (at least the shape indicates so), that reflects the shape of one big green coloured ‘X’. Thispic definitely indicates that we should be looking forward to the Nokia X at the show.

You can also see that there are three ‘X’ shapes in the root part. Can you guess what this can mean?




Now look at another teaser here. The latest teaser shows two monkeys one on tree and one on the ground. Have a close look and you can notice that the two monkeys have different shapes. Look at the nose, the hair and the ears. Looking at this image we might expect two new devices from the company.

The new Android handset is expected to be a budget mobile phone with a price tag of $110. This comes to Rs. 6845 when translated at the rate of $1 = Rs. 62.2 today. Last week the handset made way to a Vietnamese handset store, at a price tag of between 2.2 mil to 2.5 mil VND, or around $110. The post also revealed that the handset will officially named Nokia X A110. (source: WMpoweruser)

Nokia will do live webcast of its event from Barcelona. It has made arrangements to start video of the launch event on Monday at 8.30 AM (Barcelona time, GMT+1). “ Last year’s show saw the announcement of the Nokia Lumia 520 and Lumia 720, and the Nokia 301 and Nokia 105, plus a host of other goodies. What’s new this year? There’s less than a week until you find out…”

To see the webcast go to this webpage on 24th.

The Nokia Normandy aka Nokia X A110 will be a handset is expected to come with WVGA display screen of 4-inches diagonally with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, 1.2 Ghz dual-core processor, 512 MB RAM, 5 megapixel primary camera, 1500 mAh battery, 4 GB internal storage and expandable memory.

Glass-etiquette: Google releases Do’s and Don’ts for Glass Explorers

Google is finally looking into the concerns regarding invasion of privacy via the use of it’s latest wearable gadget- Google Glass.

Google Glass which made a debut in 2013 received severe criticism because of the potential of its use in photographs being taken without users permission. The wearable gadget however was a way to bring more hands free usage of technology. Now Google has released a set of guidelines for Glass Explorers looking, to help them “develop this new technology”.



In fact the guidelines are Google’s attempt to encourage people to welcome Glass wearers and ask them questions. Google asks Glass wearers to be Be patient and explain the features of Glass. “Let’s face it, you’re gonna get some questions. Be patient and explain that Glass has a lot of the same features as a mobile phone (camera, maps, email, etc.). Also, develop your own etiquette. If you’re worried about someone interrupting that romantic dinner at a nice restaurant with a question about Glass, just take it off and put it around the back of your neck or in your bag,” says Google.


Be creepy or rude aka, a Glasshole”warnd Google. It further says “In places where cell phone cameras aren’t allowed, the same rules will apply to Glass. If you’re asked to turn your phone off, turn Glass off as well. Breaking the rules or being rude will not get businesses excited about Glass and will ruin it for other Explorers.”



Google encourages Glass explorers to be careful when clicking or recording pictures via Google Glass, and ask permission before going ahead and shooting pics. “Standing alone in the corner of a room staring at people while recording them through Glass is not going to win you any friends. The Glass camera function is no different from a cell phone so behave as you would with your phone and ask permission before taking photos or videos of others”, says Google.

We must say, (though late) it is a nice attempt, Google!

See the set of Do’s and Dont’s here.

Gionee GPad G4 goes official, here's a comparison with Galaxy Note 3

Gionee has made its newest launch in India with the GPad G4 tablet. The G4 is a 5.7-inch device with a beautiful full metal body.

The tablet has got a 5.7-inch IPS display screen with a display resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The phablet sports similar display size like the Galaxy Note 3 from Samsung. The GPad G4 also has 13 megapixel primary auto focus camera with led and a secondary 5 megapixel camera on board. Other specs includes full HD video recording, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean OS, 1 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory, 1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex A7 processor and PowerVR Series5XTgraphics processor.

The phablet can support double sim and sadly does not support expandable memory. The phablet has been pegged as a Galaxy Note 3 competitor at a price of Rs. 18999. The phablet has however, soon dipped by Rs. 1701 in the market. Snapdeal is offering the phablet at a price of Rs. 17298 today. Flipkart has got the phone at Rs. 18374 today.

This Gionee phablet comes as a competitor to the Galaaxy Note 3. We bring you a quick specs comparison here:

	Gionee G Pad G4	Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Display size	5.7 inch IPS	5.7 inch super amoled
Display resolution	HD, 1280 x 720 pixels	FHD, 1080 x 1920 pixels
Display density	257 ppi	386 ppi
Processor	Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex A7	Octa-core Exynos 5 Octa 5420
Graphics processor	PowerVR Series5XT	Adreno 330
Operating system	Android 4.2 Jelly bean	Android 4.3 Jelly bean
RAM	1 GB	3 GB
Internal memory	16 GB	16/32/64 GB
Expandable memory	NA	64 GB
Primary camera	13 MP, Auto focus, LED flash	13 MP, Auto focus, LED flash
Secondary camera	5 MP	2 MP
Battery	3200 mAh	3200 mAh
Talktime, Standby time	14 hrs (3G) 375 hrs (2G)	21 h (3G) 420 h (3G)
Dimensions	163.5×81.3×7.95mm	151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm 168 grams
Stylus support	None	Yes
SIm support	Dual sim	sim
Price	Rs. 18999 (launch price)	Rs. 49990 (launch price)

UN rights chief asks global community to refer North Korea to ICC

United Nations: The top UN human rights official has asked global leaders to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court following a report documenting crimes against humanity in the country. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the international community has paid "insufficient attention" to human rights violations of an "unimaginable scale" which have been ongoing in North Korea.

"Insufficient attention was being paid to the kind of horrific and sustained human rights violations that are reported to be taking place on an ongoing basis" in North Korea, Pillay said.

"...Call on the international community, in line with the report?s recommendations, to use all the mechanisms at its disposal to ensure accountability, including referral to the International Criminal Court," she said.

The report released yesterday will be formally presented to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 17.


It documents crimes such as "extermination, murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, forced abortions and other sexual violence, persecution on political, religious, racial and gender grounds, forcible transfer of populations, enforced disappearance and the inhumane act of knowingly causing prolonged starvation."

Pillay said there is need for strong international leadership to follow up on the grave findings of the report.

The Indian-origin UN official said there can no longer be any excuses for inaction regarding rights abuses in North Korea.

She said the commission has published a "historic report", which sheds light on violations of a "terrifying scale", the gravity and nature of which do not have any "parallel in the contemporary world."

In 400-pages, the Commission found that North Korea "displays many attributes of a totalitarian State" and reports that the cited crimes against humanity are ongoing due to the "policies, institutions and patterns of impunity that lie at their heart remain in place."

Pillay said it is vitally important to maintain the momentum on addressing the serious violations that the report documents in a comprehensive manner. 

HRW says Syria using powerful new cluster munitions

Beirut: Syria's government forces have begun using a powerful type of cluster munition rocket not previously seen in the country's conflict, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Wednesday.

The group said photos taken after a recent attack in the central city of Hama suggested the government had deployed 300 mm 9M55K surface-to-surface rockets, a Russian weapon that carries dozens of submunitions.

It identified the rockets as having being used on February 12 and 13 in attacks that killed at least two civilians and wounded at least 10 others.

The group warned that the rocket is three times as large as other cluster munitions currently in use by Syrian government forces, and said the weapon would add to the country's civilian death toll.


"It is appalling that Syrian government forces are still using banned cluster munitions on their people," said Steve Goose, arms division director at Human Rights Watch.

"Cluster bombs are killing Syrian civilians now and threatening Syrians for generations to come."

Cluster bombs have been banned by 113 countries around the world.

They are particularly controversial because they are indiscriminate and the bomblets they carry are often widely dispersed and continue to maim and kill civilians long after the initial attack.

More than 140,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict in the country began in March 2011.

Joe Biden calls Ukraine President to withdraw govt forces in Kiev

Washington: US Vice President Joe Biden has expressed "grave concern" over escalation in violence in Kiev and called on Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych to pull back security forces and exercise maximum restraint.

"The Vice President made clear that the United States condemns violence by any side, but that the government bears special responsibility to de-escalate the situation," the White House yesterday said in a statement.

Biden underscored the urgency of immediate dialogue with opposition leaders to address protesters' legitimate grievances and to put forward serious proposals for political reform, it said.


"The United States is committed to supporting efforts to promote a peaceful resolution to the crisis that reflects the will and aspirations of the Ukrainian people," it said.

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said Secretary of State John Kerry shares the concerns expressed by Biden directly to Yanukovych.

"We call on President Yanukovych and the Ukrainian government to de-escalate the situation immediately, and resume dialogue with the opposition on a peaceful path forward," Psaki said.

Earlier in the day, Department of State alerted US citizens of the increased risks in travelling to Ukraine because of the ongoing political crisis.

"US citizens are urged to maintain a low profile and to remain indoors at night while clashes continue," the travel advisory said.

Obama administration is appalled by the violence that is taking place in downtown Kiev, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.

"We continue to condemn the street violence and excessive use of force by either side. The force will not resolve the crisis. To restore peace and stability we urge President Yanukovych to deescalate immediately the situation and end the confrontation at Maidan. We also urge him to restart a dialogue with opposition leaders today to develop a consensus way forward for Ukraine," he said.

At least 18 people have been killed since yesterday after riot police launched a fresh assault on protesters in central Kiev.

The protests broke out in November when the President ditched a pact with the EU in favour of closer ties with former Soviet master Russia.

UN chief 'convinced' Syria peace talks are best way forward

United Nations: UN chief Ban Ki-moon is convinced that Geneva peace talks are the best way to resolve the Syrian conflict and urges all sides to return to the table, his spokesman said Tuesday.

The UN Security Council meanwhile met Tuesday to discuss a resolution on the humanitarian situation in Syria, but Western nations and Russia disagree on several points.

Jordan's UN ambassador, Prince Zeid al-Hussein, said he hoped for a vote by the end of the week.

Diplomats said the talks in the council had stumbled over the possibility of sanctions against any party that blocks delivery of humanitarian aid to desperate civilians caught up in the war.


Russia, Syria's main ally, opposes any threat of sanctions but Western nations say any new resolution must contain binding language to this effect to have any weight.

Since the war broke out in March 2011 Russia has blocked three resolutions that aimed to increase pressure on President Bashar al-Assad.

Just weeks after the warring parties sat down for the first time to seek a political settlement to the three-year civil war, a second round ended in acrimony over the weekend.

"The secretary general remains convinced that Geneva II is the way to go, and he is looking at the parties to think long and hard and to come back as soon as possible so that this process can continue," spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters.

"This is a process, not a single event taking place in one or two meetings... this is going to take a long time."

"The secretary general remains determined to push ahead with this, as is (UN mediator Lakhdar) Brahimi," Nesirky added.

Brahimi said Saturday he was "very, very sorry" after the talks between the Syrian regime and the opposition broke off without result after three weeks. No date has been set for a resumption of negotiations.

Nesirky said Brahimi would be coming to New York "at some point" to brief Ban and the Security Council on his mission.

Salvadoran castaway released from hospital, headed home

San Salvador: The Salvadoran fisherman who says he survived 13 months adrift in the Pacific was released from hospital on Tuesday after a week-long stay.

Jose Salvador Alvarenga said he will now travel to his native village, but it is not clear if he plans to stay there or just visit.

"I am going to try to overcome everything that has happened to me, but I am OK. I am happy and I give thanks to God," Alvarenga told a news conference at a hotel in the capital San Salvador.

Earlier in the day he had said he did not want to return to his coastal village of Garita Palmera.

But at the press conference, in which he spoke little, he said he now plans to return on Wednesday. He was accompanied by his parents and an attorney.

"We are going to take him to Garita Palmera. He will decide if he wants to stay there for a few days or it will be a short visit of just a few hours" to see his 14-year-old daughter Fatima, said the attorney, Benedicto Perlera.


At an earlier encounter with journalists pressing him to tell his story, Alvarenga, 37, said "I don't remember."

Doctors who have performed physical and psychological tests on Alvarenga say he has developed a phobia of the sea. His home village is on the Pacific coast 118 kilometers (74 miles) west of the capital.

Wearing a blue long-sleeve shirt and khaki pants, Alvarenga earlier waved at onlookers and hugged his mother and father outside the emergency room exit of the San Rafael National Hospital.

The fisherman returned to his homeland last week following an odyssey that had taken him from Mexico, where he had been living, to the Marshall Islands.

Alvarenga washed ashore in the Marshalls on January 30, telling reporters he had survived a 12,500-kilometer (8,000-mile) voyage in a seven-meter (24-foot) fibreglass boat after leaving Mexico's Pacific coast in late 2012.

Alvarenga says a 24-year-old companion died during the trip because he could not stomach a diet of urine, turtle blood, raw fish and bird flesh.

Doctors declared Alvarenga in remarkable physical health despite his ordeal. But they warned last week that he was psychologically weak, prescribing him antidepressants and anxiety medication.

"The important thing is for him to start having contact with his family ... with the people he did not have contact with while he was a castaway," psychiatrist Angel Fredi Sermeno told reporters.

Health Minister Maria Isabel Rodriguez said Alvarenga would not need surgery to treat a spine injury and would instead be treated with physiotherapy.

Rodriguez said last week that Alvarenga told her that several ships had ignored his cries for help, with one crew waving at him and another vessel nearly crashing into his boat.

His stunning survival story was initially met with scepticism but experts said it was theoretically possible and officials like Rodriguez believe him.

The fishermen from the southern Mexico village from which he sailed told AFP that the licence number on the boat seen in pictures matched their records.

They also said they had searched for Alvarenga for days after his disappearance in late 2012.

A University of Hawaii study of the prevailing wind and current conditions has supported his tale, with a model tracing a remarkably narrow path across the Pacific to pass within 120 miles of Ebon Atoll, where he landed.

Ebon Mayor Ione de Brum told AFP that Alvarenga "managed to swim his boat ashore" on the night of January 29.

US asks Iran to include missile programme in nuclear talks

Washington: The US on Wednesday said Iran must deal with matters related to its ballistic missiles before a comprehensive resolution can be reached on its controversial nuclear programme.

"They have to deal with matters related to their ballistic missile programme that are included in the United Nations Security Council resolution that is part of explicitly, according to the Joint Plan of Action, the comprehensive resolution negotiation," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

"I want to be very clear, per the Joint Plan of Action agreed to by Iran, Iran must address UN Security Council resolutions related to its nuclear programme before a comprehensive resolution can be reached," Carney told reporters at his daily news conference.


The US and its allies view Iran's missiles as part of the country's potential nuclear threat, thus a subject for the talks on a permanent nuclear agreement with Tehran.

But Iran says the missiles are part of its defence establishment and beyond the limits of nuclear talks.

"The UN Security Council Resolution 1929, passed in 2010, prohibits Iran from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using ballistic missile technology. So that is explicitly agreed by Iran in the Joint Plan of Action," Carney said adding that applies to all of the United Nations Security Council resolutions in this area.

Carney's remarks came as six world powers and Iran resumed talks in Geneva in pursuit of a final settlement on Tehran's contested nuclear programme.

This session was chaired by the European Union Deputy Secretary General for the External Action Service Helga Scmidt and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas.

"This afternoon, the US and Iranian delegations held a bilateral meeting at the Palais Coburg. The meeting lasted for an hour and 20 minutes. The conversation was productive and focused mainly on how the comprehensive talks will proceed from here," a senior State Department official said.

Iran in November agreed to curb some of its nuclear activities in return for about USD 7 billion in sanctions relief.

PNG immigration riot inevitable: Refugee advocates

Sydney: Violence at an Australian detention centre that left one dead and scores injured was a tragedy waiting to happen, refugee advocates said Wednesday amid demands for an independent investigation.

Unrest rocked the immigration camp on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island on Monday night as tensions flared among inmates about their fate under Canberra's hardline asylum-seeker policies.

An Iranian man died from a head injury and 77 other people were injured, some seriously, with Immigration Minister Scott Morrison putting 100 extra security staff on standby, although there were no further protests on Tuesday night.

Morrison said the head of the government's military-run Operation Sovereign Borders, Commander Angus Campbell, would be sent to Manus Island to assess security and report back.

The immigration minister has confirmed PNG police opened fire during the chaos, but said the exact circumstances remain unclear.


Reports said locals, unhappy about the camp and armed with machetes, were involved.

Morrison has denied this although Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul accused him of being selective with his information, claiming that one of the injured airlifted to hospital had his throat slit.

He also referred to the death of the Iranian, a Falli Kurd, as "murder" by the PNG police.Both Australia and Papua New Guinea said they will carry out investigations, but Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs said she fears they will not be objective enough.

"I think we've reached a stage now with the violence that it really does call for a more objective inquiry into what is happening at these detention centres and what the conditions are that lead to the levels of very high anxiety and in some cases violence," she told ABC radio.

Triggs said a retired judge or civil servant should handle the probe.

The Refugee Council of Australia said the riots, which started Sunday, were a failure of government policy and inevitable.

"For many years, the Australian government has understood the consequences of indefinite, long-term detention on the mental health of asylum-seekers," said council chief executive Paul Power.

"For asylum-seekers already traumatised by the persecution or torture they have suffered, and the dangerous journey to find safety and protection, long-term, indefinite detention in a harsh, remote facility creates a highly toxic environment."

Manus Island is one of two remote Pacific camps used by Canberra in its punitive offshore detention policy, with the other on Nauru.

Under the scheme, aimed at deterring people-smugglers, any asylum-seeker arriving by boat or intercepted at sea is transferred to Manus or Nauru for processing and permanent resettlement outside Australia.

Power said that until asylum-seekers were given clear pathways to finalise their refugee status, similar incidents would occur again.

The United Nations refugee agency, which has condemned the Manus and Nauru camps as "harsh", voiced similar concerns.

"UNHCR has consistently raised issues around the transfer arrangements and on the absence of adequate protection standards and safeguards for asylum-seekers and refugees in Papua New Guinea," it said. 

"Significant shortcomings in the legal framework for receiving and processing asylum-seekers from Australia remain, including lack of national capacity and expertise in processing, and poor physical conditions. 

"We also highlighted that detention practices are harmful to the physical and psycho-social well-being of transferees, particularly families and children."

Canadian court rules against terror expert Gunaratna

Toronto: The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), which sued Sri Lanka-born terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna for linking it to the LTTE, has been awarded $53,000 by a Canadian court.

In a February 2011 article published by Lakbima News, Gunaratna was quoted as saying: "The LTTE is operating under the name of the Canadian Tamil Congress, which is the main LTTE front organization in Canada."

Gunaratna had also written that "the Canadian government is aware of this and currently investigating" the group.

The Toronto-based CTC filed a defamation case against Gunaratna for linking it to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which was crushed by the Sri Lankan military in 2009.

In his judgment, Justice Stephen E. Firestone of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice here has ruled in favour of the CTC, awarding it $37,000 in damages and imposing $16,000 in costs on Gunaratna.

In his ruling, Justice Firestone said Gunaratna's statements "were clearly defamatory, either directly or by innuendo, because they imply CTC is involved in the commission of violent and illegal activity...

"It is unequivocal and uncontroverted that these statements were, in fact, false and untrue."

Reacting to the verdict, the CTC said Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, was part of the Sri Lankan government's "smear campaign prior to the final military onslaught of May 2009 in northern Sri Lanka which resulted, according to UN estimates, in the massacre of 40,000 to 70,000 Tamils".

CTC spokesman David Poopalapillai said: "The court's decision is a vindication to the CTC and its members and supporters. 


"The surest way to attempt to destroy an ethnic group is to make its members afraid to even admit that they are part of that group for fear of being labelled terrorist sympathizers or terrorists themselves.  "The Sri Lankan government and its sympathizers have labelled all Tamils as terrorists for far too long. This judgment is a victory not only for CTC but for Tamils everywhere."

The CTC is the representative body of over 300,000 Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada - the largest Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora group outside of Sri Lanka.

Gunaratna is a globally known terrorism expert who often speaks on major media networks.

Protesters surround PM Yingluck Shinawatra's crisis office in Thailand

Bangkok: The crisis headquarters of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was reportedly surrounded by protesters on Wednesday, a day after five people were killed and several others injured in deadly clashes.

Thousand of protesters surrounded the office at permanent secretary of defence where Shinawatra had been working from the last few days. However, she was not present at the time in the office, the AFP reported.

Tensions eased after military officials at the site agreed to talk to protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban.

"If Yingluck still comes to work here we will come every day," Suthep said.

The firebrand senior opposition figure even suggested the premier might be driven out of the country.

"We will hound her all day long until she cannot live here," he later told a cheering crowd.

"Retaliation against Yingluck must intensify."

On Tuesday violent clashes broke out after riot police tried to clear rally sites in the capital's historic district.


Chaotic scenes ensued as explosions and gunfire shook an area of the city near the Golden Mount temple and other tourist attractions.

A policeman was shot dead and four civilians were killed, the Erawan emergency centre said in a new toll on Wednesday, while more than 60 were injured.

Police said 24 officers were among those hurt.

National Security Council chief Paradorn Pattanatabut said there was no plan to launch a new operation on Wednesday to clear protest areas, but he denied Tuesday's operation marked a defeat for the authorities.

"The operation was not a failure. At least we regained the energy ministry and 80 percent of the government complex," he said, referring to a group of state offices in the north of the capital.The protesters are demanding Yingluck quit to allow an unelected prime minister to take office to introduce vaguely-defined reforms such as an end to corruption and alleged misuse of public funds to buy political influence.

In a new twist, the National Anti-Corruption Commission said Tuesday that it was pressing charges against Yingluck for neglect of duty in connection with a controversial rice subsidy scheme. If found guilty she could be removed from office.

More than seven years after royalist generals ousted Yingluck's brother Thaksin in a bloodless coup, the kingdom appears more politically divided than ever.

The billionaire tycoon-turned-politician fled overseas in 2008 to avoid jail for a corruption conviction, but his critics accuse him of pulling the strings of power from self-exile.

The opposition protesters, mainly from Bangkok and southern Thailand, have vowed to rid the country of the "Thaksin regime", but Yingluck insists the dispute should be resolved at the ballot box.

Pro-Thaksin parties have won every election for more than a decade, and Yingluck is counting on her family's traditionally strong support in the northern half of the kingdom to return her to power after a general election was held on February 2.

The opposition boycotted the polls and the results are not expected to be known until election re-runs are held in constituencies where voting was obstructed by protesters.

Yingluck has declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and surrounding areas, but could face a new setback with a Civil Court due to rule Wednesday on the legality of the decree.

Suicide bombers target Iranian centre in Beirut, kill four

Beirut: A twin suicide bombing hit the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut on Wednesday during the morning rush hour, killing at least four people and wounding 70 in an attack targeting Iran's cultural centre, security sources said.

Security sources said the blasts were caused by two suicide attackers, one in a car and the second on a motorcycle. The same tactics were used by suicide bombers who attacked the Iranian embassy in November.

A militant group linked to al Qaeda, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, claimed responsibility for the attacks on Twitter, saying the Iranian culture centre was the target.

The windows of a nearby orphanage were blown out by the blasts. Children were peering out and screaming "bomb, bomb." Some were crying. A man working at a sweet shop opposite the bomb site said the blast shook the entire area.

"We heard one explosion and then another," he said.

Human remains were found nearby. The casualties included a number of children.

The area is controlled by the Shi'ite movement Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces in neighbouring Syria in a conflict that has fuelled tensions between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims in Lebanon.


Radical Sunni Islamists sympathetic to the anti-Assad rebellion have pledged to attack Hezbollah on Lebanese soil for helping Assad, a member of the Alawite offshoot of Shi'ite Islam who is also backed by Shi'ite Islamist Iran.

Hezbollah blamed Saudi Arabia, a Sunni power that backs the Syrian opposition, for the November attack on the Iranian embassy, one of a series of car bomb attacks targeting Shi'ite areas in Beirut and eastern Lebanon.

Wednesday's blast occurred near the Kuwaiti embassy and a Lebanese army barracks. Numerous Lebanese politicians also live in the area, which is not far from Beirut airport.

Television footage showed fire trucks and soldiers securing the area as ambulances raced to the scene. A number of cars were badly damaged by the blasts. One was flipped onto its roof. Another was still ablaze several minutes after the blasts.

A wounded man was seen carried away on a stretcher and a young girl was being evacuated by two men. Glass covered the road and the facades of nearby buildings were torn off.

The Lebanese security forces last week arrested a man identified as the al Qaeda-linked mastermind of the recent string of car bomb attacks. The arrest of Naim Abbas was followed by a security sweep that resulted in the seizure of a number of cars rigged with explosives and ready to be deployed.

Three years of civil war in Syria has spilled over into Lebanon, exacerbating Sunni-Shi'ite tensions and triggering violence including frequent clashes between armed groups in the northern city of Tripoli.

The war has also affected Lebanese politics, leading to paralysis in government. Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Saturday finally managed to form a government grouping rival parties after the country went 11 months without a cabinet.

Arab district vandalised in east Jerusalem: Police

Jerusalem: Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says suspected Israeli vandals have slashed car tires and sprayed graffiti in an Arab neighbourhood of east Jerusalem.

Rosenfeld says the vandals punctured the tires of 30 vehicles in Sharafat and scrawled anti-Arab messages. He said police were searching for suspects involved in the incident early on Wednesday.


A fringe of extremist Jews have been carrying out acts of vandalism in recent years in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in retaliation for Palestinian attacks, and in protest of what they see as the Israeli government's pro-Palestinian policies.

Mosques, churches, dovish Israeli groups and even Israeli military bases have been targeted in these so-called "price tag" assaults. The attacks have been widely condemned in Israel across the political spectrum.

Australia Navy entered Indonesia waters six times

Sydney: The Australian navy violated Indonesian territorial waters six times between December and January as part of border security operations, an official report revealed Wednesday.

Canberra has previously only said its ships "inadvertently" violated Indonesian waters, without saying how often. It has formally apologised to Jakarta, which demanded Australia suspend its operations to deter asylum-seekers.

"On each occasion the incursion was inadvertent, in that each arose from incorrect calculation of the boundaries of Indonesian waters rather than as a deliberate action or navigational error," the review said.

Conducted by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service and the Australian Defence Force, it examined all navy and customs patrols as part of the military-led Operation Sovereign Borders between December 1 and January 20.


It said the clear instruction to commanders was to stay 12 nautical miles outside the Indonesian archipelago baseline.

"Despite clear guidance to operational headquarters and assigned units, the imperative to remain outside Indonesian waters did not receive adequate attention during mission execution or oversight," it said.

Only an executive summary of the report was released and it did not say why the ships entered Indonesian waters although the speculation is that they were towing back asylum-seekers boats.

Asylum-seekers arriving on unauthorised boats in Australia, often via Indonesia, are a sensitive issue for both sides, with Canberra's vital relationship with Jakarta already strained over spying allegations.

Under the government's hardline policies, not only are asylum-seekers arriving by boat sent to Pacific island camps for processing with no chance of settlement in Australia, but boats intercepted at sea can be turned back to Indonesia.

It appears to be working with no boat arrivals in two months although the policy has angered Jakarta which has suggested it could infringe the country's sovereignty.

The review made five recommendations to ensure the incursions do not happen again.

Cathay Pacific flight hits turbulence, nine injured

Hong Kong: Cathay Pacific Airways said on Wednesday that nine people were injured when a Boeing 747 hit severe turbulence over Japan.

The airline said two crew members and six passengers were taken to hospital after the jet landed in Hong Kong last evening. Another passenger who sustained an injury didn't require hospitalisation.


The 747-400, which departed from San Francisco, was carrying 321 passengers and a crew of 21. It encountered the turbulence near Hokkaido around noon Hong Kong time yesterday. Cable News television showed one passenger being taken away in a stretcher.

A passenger surnamed Wu told local TV news channels he felt like he was a on a roller coaster during the turbulence, which lasted two minutes. He said some passengers were thrown out of their seats and hit the overhead bins.

Australian Christian missionary arrested in North Korea

Seoul: An Australian man has been arrested while doing missionary work in North Korea, his wife told Reuters on Wednesday, making him the second foreign Christian missionary to be held by the North.

The wife of 75-year-old John Short told Reuters her husband was arrested in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, on Sunday and had been open about his religious work on his second trip to the isolated country.

"He won't be intimidated by the communists," Karen Short told Reuters from Hong Kong by telephone.

North Korea has held American missionary Kenneth Bae for more than a year and convicted him of trying to overthrow the state. A North Korean court sentenced Bae to 15 years' hard labour and efforts by Washington to secure his release have been thwarted.


"I'm not upset, we're Christian missionaries and we have tremendous support for what we do," Short's wife said of her husband's arrest.

While North Korea espouses freedom of religion it is ranked as one of the world's most oppressive regimes in terms of freedom of religion. A United Nations report issued on Tuesday cited lack of religious freedom in a state whose human rights abuses it likened to those of Nazi Germany.

Short was making his second trip to North Korea, according to a statement by his family, and was in possession of religious materials that had been translated into Korean.

Australia, which does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea, is using its embassy in Seoul, and the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang, to handle the case.

"We are in close contact with Swedish officials in Pyongyang to seek their assistance in confirming the well-being of Mr Short and to obtain more information," said an Australian Embassy spokesman in Seoul, adding that its capacity to deliver consular services in Pyongyang was "extremely limited".

Beijing Tourism Group, a Chinese firm identified by Short's wife as the agency running the tour on which her husband went to Pyongyang, was non-committal when contacted by Reuters, and referred queries to the Chinese government.

Short's wife said that on her husband's first trip to North Korea, he had been transparent about his faith and had openly read his bible in front of government guides when in Pyongyang.

"He's courageous, this is my husband's character," she said. "I hope things get better -- he's in God's hands, we both totally believe that."

Aide to China's former security chief ousted

Beijing: China has placed a former close aide to the country's ex-chief of internal security Zhou Yongkang under investigation, authorities said, heightening speculation that the net is tightening around his former patron.

Ji Wenlin, a vice governor of the southern island of Hainan, is being investigated for "suspected severe violations of disciplines and laws", the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) -- the party's internal graft watchdog -- said in a one-sentence announcement on its website Tuesday.

The phrase is usually an indication of alleged corruption.

Ji, 47, was a secretary and close aide to Zhou when he was land resources minister and then party chief of Sichuan province in the southwest in 1998-2002, according to multiple Chinese media reports.

It is the latest sign of moves against Zhou, who amassed huge power during his time as China's security chief but retired from his position as a member of the Communist Party's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) in late 2012.

So far 21 officials at vice-ministerial level or above have fallen since the once-in-a-decade power transition that anointed Xi Jinping as the party's general secretary.


Among the 21, at least six are believed to have been proteges of Zhou.

The New York Times in December cited "sources with elite political ties" as saying that Xi had given the go-ahead for a corruption investigation into Zhou himself. 

It would be the first time in decades that such a high-ranking figure has been targeted in a formal inquiry, and would send shockwaves through China's elite. PSC members have generally been regarded as untouchable even after retirement.

But the Beijing News even mentioned Zhou by name in its report about Ji's fall on Wednesday.

Other media outlets said that Ji was the secretary of "a former Politburo Standing Committee member" and that he "crossed paths" with several ousted officials in Sichuan.

Xi, who became head of state in March last year, has warned that corruption could destroy the party and vowed to crack down on high-ranking officials, described as "tigers", along with low-level "flies".

Separately, the CCDI announced Wednesday that Zhu Zuoli, a vice chairman of the northern province of Shaanxi's Political Consultative Conference -- a debating chamber that is part of the Communist Party-controlled governmental structure -- was under investigation for severe violations of discipline.

Recent high-profile cases include the sacking of Jiang Jiemin, head of China's state-owned assets watchdog, and Li Dongsheng, formerly a vice minister of public security, both of them allies of Zhou.

But critics say no systemic reforms have been introduced to increase transparency to help fight endemic graft.

UN says over 850,000 Somalis desperately need food

United Nations: More than 850,000 people in Somalia are in desperate need of food and "in crisis and emergency conditions," the director of UN humanitarian operations said on Wednesday.

John Ging, who just returned from a three-day visit to Somalia, said another two million Somalis are considered to be "food insecure."

"These figures are very, very large," he told a news conference. "They tell us a simple message which is that the situation in Somalia for Somalis on the humanitarian side is very grave. It's also very fragile."


Ging said the UN World Food Program's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit reported this month that 8,57,000 Somalis are in acute crisis conditions and require urgent humanitarian assistance. This is "a modest improvement" from the previous six months when 870,000 Somalis desperately needed food, he said.

Somalia has long been a rudderless nation plagued by cyclical drought and famine and decades of armed conflict. Its population is estimated to be about 10 million.

In recent years it has made some strides in security and governance, particularly since August 2011, when al-Shabab militants were forced out of the capital, Mogadishu. But the al-Qaida linked rebels have not been defeated and the government controls only small parts of the country and is struggling to provide security and battle corruption.

The food security unit said about 75 per cent of the 857,000 Somalis who urgently need food are displaced from their homes, largely as a result of fighting, insecurity and lack of food. Ging said others are in rural areas that are very hard to access.

"In 2011, we had a global tragedy where 2,60,000 people died of famine in Somalia," Ging said. "We are working very hard to help the people recover in circumstances which are extremely difficult the climate is very harsh and the security situation equally so."

The United Nations appealed for USD 933 million for the humanitarian crisis in Somalia this year, but Ging said so far it has received only USD 36 million which is "very ominous."

In 2011, the UN appeal for Somalia was 86 per cent funded, but in 2013 it was just 50 per cent funded, he said.

"Somalis have suffered endlessly for almost 25 years. We cannot be distracted now from our task to stay with them, to help to consolidate these fragile gains ... And this requires funding," Ging said. "We need to keep our attention on Somalia. It's incredibly fragile and we don't want a repeat of what happened in 2011."

Bill Clinton taunts George W Bush for not using Twitter

New York: Bill Clinton has poked fun at George W. Bush for not having a Twitter handle in his latest tweet.


The former President tweeted wishing other living Presidents on President's Day and ribbed Bush for not having an account on the microblogging social network, the New York Daily News reported.

He included Obama and George H.W. Bush as well in his tweet, which was later retweeted on Obama's Twitter account

Libya PM announces 'compromise' after militia ultimatum

Tripoli: Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said a "compromise" had been reached with ex-rebel militias who had given Libya's interim Assembly a deadline to hand over power.

Powerful militias made up of former rebels from the western town of Zintan had given the General National Congress, the country's highest political authority, yesterday's deadline to quit, threatening to seize any lawmaker who ignored it.


Zeidan yesterday said the deadline had been extended by 72 hours but did not give further details of the compromise, telling journalists only that "wisdom has prevailed" after discussions with representatives from the militias, the assembly and the UN.

The potential crisis arose exactly three years after the start of the Arab Spring uprising that toppled dictator Moamer Kadhafi but left the sprawling North African country with a weak central government that has struggled to impose order on former rebel brigades.

The commanders of the Zintan militias had said in a televised statement that they were giving the assembly five hours, until 1930 GMT, to "hand over power", pointing to a February 7 end of its mandate that it had extended.

"Any member of Congress who stays will be... A legitimate target and will be arrested, then judged," they said.

However the deadline passed with no action taken by the militias, and Zeidan -- who himself was kidnapped and briefly held by armed men last year -- announced the enigmatic "compromise". The ultimatum had triggered a meeting between the head of the UN mission to Libya, Tarek Metri, and the militias' commanders.

"I asked them to give a chance to political dialogue on the basis of general elections being held," Metri told AFP.

The speaker of the General National Congress, Nuri Abu Sahmein, had earlier rejected the militias' ultimatum, calling it "a coup d'etat".

He said the army had been ordered to act against the militias, though no unusual troop movements were observed in the capital Tripoli following the video threat.

The Zintan militias issuing the ultimatum included the Al-Qaaqaa and Al-Sawaiq brigades, two of the most powerful and well-disciplined militias in the country, both nominally loyal to the regular Army.

Zintan, in the mainly Berber highlands southwest of Tripoli, was one of the bastions of the NATO-backed uprising that ended the four-decade rule of Kadhafi, who was captured and killed by rebels.

SC seeks excerpts from Musharraf's book in missing person case

Islamabad: Pakistan's Supreme Court has sought excerpts from former military ruler Pervez Musharraf's 2006 book to help it probe the fate of hundreds of Pakistanis caught and handed over to foreign powers for bounty after the 9/11 attacks in the US.

"There was a book 'In the Line of Fire' written by the then army chief in which it was written somewhere in the first edition that some Pakistani citizens were handed over to US in consideration of bounty," observed Justice Jawwad S Khawaja.


The court asked Additional Attorney General Tariq Khokhar to submit relevant excerpts after comparing the first and second editions of the book.

"There has to be some closure (of the case) somewhere," the judge observed yesterday during a hearing of missing people case.

It could have serious implications for Musharraf, if handing over of citizens to any foreign country could be proved through the book, an unnamed senior law officer was quoted as saying by the The Express Tribune daily.

Human rights organisations alleged that over 4,000 people went missing in the country after the 9/11 incident and Musharraf could be tried for handing over these people, the report said. 

Lobby behind Indian deaths report: Qatar

Dubai: Ali bin Sumaikh Al Marri, chairman of Qatar’s National Human Rights Committee, has said that given the large number of Indians who live in Qatar, one cannot say the mortality rate among Indian expatriates in the country during the past two years is alarming.

Al Marri said a “vested interest lobby” was behind a sustained media campaign against Qatar in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, The Peninsula reported Wednesday.

Most of the construction projects related to the event employ foreign workers. Those publicising the mortality rates must explain the circumstances behind the deaths, the report quoted Al Marri as saying.

Indians constitute the largest expatriate group in Qatar and their number is almost double that of Qataris.

Al Marri said that if one looked at the mortality rates of Qataris during the last two years, one would find that the death rate of Indian expatriates was “natural”.

There are over 600,000 expatriate Indians in Qatar, many of them blue collar workers. Qatar, a country of just over two million people, has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.


The newspaper, citing India’s external affairs ministry, said that of the 241 Indian deaths in Qatar in 2013, only 14 were reported from construction sites. Of the 237 deaths in 2012, 13 were reported from work sites.

Western media reports had alleged that there was a high death rate among Indian migrant workers in the country.

French tycoon Serge Dassault 'in custody over vote buying'

Paris: French industrialist Serge Dassault, the billionaire manufacturer of fighter jets, was in custody Wednesday for alleged vote buying, a judicial source said.

The move comes a week after Dassault's parliamentary immunity was lifted. The senator is suspected of buying votes in Corbeil-Essonnes, east of Paris, where he was formerly mayor.

He has been accused of running the suburb like a mafia don.

The 88-year-old is being grilled in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre, the source said. Dassault is ranked by Forbes magazine as France's fourth-richest man and the 69th-richest in the world with an estimated fortune of 13 billion euros ($18 billion).


The judges suspect Dassault of operating an extensive system of vote buying which influenced the outcome of three mayoral elections in Corbeil in 2008, 2009 and 2010, which were won either by Dassault or by his successor and close associate Jean-Pierre Bechter.

The result of the 2008 vote, won by Dassault, was invalidated by the Council of State after the body which oversees public administration discovered a series of payments which could have influenced the outcome of the election.

Thai court warns against using emergency powers to disperse protests

Bangkok: A Thai court endorsed on Wednesday Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's declaration of a state of emergency, a day after five people were killed in gunbattles in Bangkok, but warned the government not to use it to disperse peaceful protesters.

The country's police chief said the court ruling would not affect the security operation, but added that there were no plans to retake more protest sites after Tuesday's "Peace for Bangkok Mission" saw the deadliest clashes since anti-government demonstrations began in November.

Yingluck, seen by opponents as a proxy for her brother, ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, has been working from a Defence Ministry compound in north Bangkok since the protests forced her to vacate her Government House offices.

Protesters who want to drive her from office and eradicate Thaksin's influence surrounded the building on Wednesday, but there were no clashes with troops standing guard and Yingluck and other ministers stayed away.

The Civil Court in Bangkok dismissed a case brought by protest leaders who wanted a 60-day state of emergency announced last month declared illegal, but added that the government was "not allowed to use clauses in the state of emergency to disperse the protests".

The protests are the latest instalment of an eight-year political battle broadly pitting the Bangkok middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly rural supporters of Yingluck and Thaksin.

Problems continue to mount for Yingluck, after an anti-corruption agency filed charges against her over a soured rice subsidy scheme that has stoked middle-class anger and left hundreds of thousands of farmers, her natural backers, unpaid.

Shares in Thai property developer SC Asset Corp SC.BK fell more than 4 percent after protesters said they would target assets linked to her wealthy family. The Shinawatra's own about 60 percent of SC Asset.

The state of emergency, which covers Bangkok and surrounding provinces, allows security agencies to impose curfews, detain suspects without charge, censor media, ban political gatherings of more than five people and declare areas off-limits.

"This court ruling means we can't disperse protesters but we were never intending to anyway," national police chief Adul Saengsingkaew told Reuters.

"We are trying to arrest people who have arrest warrants, including leaders of the protest movement, and our strategy is to ask for protest sites back through negotiations."

A spokesman for the military, which has said it would intervene if police were unable to maintain security in the capital, appealed for both sides to avoid confrontation.

"Our strategy has not changed and is still to provide support to police," Colonel Werachon Sukondhapatipak told Reuters. "We have no intention of deploying extra troops. If the government needs extra help with security, it has to ask us and so far it has not asked for reinforcements."

The military has remained aloof from the latest crisis, but has a long history of intervening in politics.

Violence Flared

Violence flared on Tuesday as police made their most determined effort since the start of the protests to reclaim sites around government buildings occupied for weeks. One police officer and four protesters were killed by gunfire.

Police said they came under attack from gunfire and grenades. Protest leaders accused police of opening fire on demonstrators.

Tarit Pengdith, head of the Department of Special Investigation, Thailand's equivalent of the FBI, insisted on Wednesday that security forces had not used live ammunition.

"The pictures you saw of police holding guns, those guns are used to fire rubber bullets only," he told a news conference.

News footage from the protests mostly showed police using shotguns that can fire rubber bullets. A few officers also carried military-style rifles, although it was unclear from footage whether these were fired.

Thai politics has been gripped by growing paralysis since Yingluck called a snap election in December.

Disruption by protesters meant voting could not be completed in the February 2 poll, leaving Yingluck at the head of an enfeebled caretaker administration amid uncertainty over when a new government can be installed.

The Election Commission said it would try to hold elections on March 2 in five provinces where voting was disrupted. The commission will ask the Constitutional Court to rule on what to do with 28 districts in the south where candidates were unable to register.

Demonstrators accuse Yingluck's billionaire brother Thaksin of nepotism and corruption and say that, prior to being toppled in a 2006 coup, he used taxpayers' money for populist subsidies and easy loans that have bought him the loyalty of millions in the populous north and northeast.

The protesters, who are still blocking major intersections in central Bangkok, want to suspend what they say is a fragile democracy under Thaksin's control and eliminate his influence by altering electoral arrangements.

Adding to the crisis, a flagship rice programme that paid farmers way above the market rate has proved ruinously expensive and the caretaker government lacks the power to keep funding it.


A state bank had to cancel a loan that might have helped prop up the scheme in the face of a revolt by depositors who began pulling their money out.

Three Government Savings Bank branches in Bangkok contacted by Reuters on Wednesday morning said they were no longer seeing unusual numbers of customers withdrawing funds.

Thailand's anti-corruption body began an investigation last month into the rice scheme and said on Tuesday it was filing charges against Yingluck. She was summoned to hear the charges on February 27.