Help needed...[ 517 ]

NATO chief asks for Russian help in Afghanistan

Conor Sweeney

MOSCOW

Wed Dec 16, 2009 1:44pm EST

ANALYSIS

Tough time looms in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is going to be a significantly tougher nut to crack than Iraq, military generals and experts say. Full Article

MOSCOW 16-12-09, (Reuters) -

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen asked Russia on Wednesday to give the Western military alliance more help in Afghanistan but failed to get an immediate pledge of assistance from the Kremlin.

On his first visit to Moscow since taking office on August 1, the NATO chief told senior officials that the bitter rows of recent years should not blind Russia to a common security threat from Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

Moscow views Cold War adversary NATO with deep suspicion and ties have been severely strained by last year's war between Russia and Georgia and by U.S.-backed plans to invite more former Soviet states to join the alliance.

Rasmussen, who is trying to secure more support for the fight against the Taliban after U.S. President Barack Obama pledged 30,000 more troops, said Russia could up its efforts by contributing more helicopters.

"I have invited Russia to strengthen Russia's terms of cooperation in Afghanistan," the former Danish prime minister said after meeting President Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin.

The NATO chief later said that he had asked Russian leaders to allow the alliance to fly cargoes -- including possibly military ones -- over Russian territory to Afghanistan and to provide more helicopters for the Afghan armed forces.

"I indicated that we would like to see a widening of the transit conditions," he told the Ekho Moskvy radio station.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Medvedev would consider NATO's requests, but gave no indication that Moscow was willing to increase cooperation and Rasmussen said he did not expect an immediate answer.

Rasmussen told former Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, who is now a powerful prime minister, that Afghanistan should become the centerpiece of NATO cooperation with Russia. Putin said simply that cooperation with NATO could yield good results.

STRAINED TIES

Rasmussen inherited an extremely strained relationship with Russia when he took over at NATO from Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and he faces an uphill battle to convince a skeptical Moscow that they can trust one another after the rows of the past.

The Western alliance froze contacts with Moscow over the war in Georgia and resumed formal talks on April 29, the day NATO informed Moscow it was expelling two Russian diplomats.

Russia responded in May by announcing the expulsion of two Canadians working at NATO's information center in Moscow.

"Disagreements should not overshadow the fact that, basically, we share security interests in many areas because we are faced with the same threats," Rasmussen told Lavrov.

But Rasmussen also called on Russia to withdraw troops from Georgia and said that Georgia and Ukraine would one day be NATO members, statements that are likely to upset Russian leaders just as the alliance seeks help on Afghanistan.

The Soviet Union spent almost 10 years fighting in Afghanistan before withdrawing in 1989 after losing some 15,000 troops in a war with Western-backed mujahideen insurgents.

Since U.S. forces entered Afghanistan to topple the Taliban in 2001, Russia has raised concerns about increased drug trafficking but repeatedly ruled out sending troops back.

Russia says NATO members such as the United States, France, Germany and Spain already have bilateral deals to transport military cargoes and personnel across Russian territory.

(Editing by Charles Dick)

Japan: Historic cultural properties...[516]

Historic hot spring resort and lighthouse named tangible cultural properties

The main building of the Tsuru no Yu hot spring inn in Semboku, Akita Prefecture. (Mainichi)

The oldest red brick lighthouse in Japan and an Edo period hot spring were two of 135 buildings recently recommended for registration as tangible cultural properties.

The 9.7-meter-tall lighthouse was built in 1873 overlooking the Irago Channel into Ise Bay, while the main building of the Tsuru no Yu hot spring resort stands on a mountain in Semboku, Akita Prefecture.

"It's an old, simple building," says owner Kazushi Sato. "But I hope this wooden structure will continue to please the five senses."

Famous for its secret hot spring source and its beautiful seasonal vistas, the cloudy hot spring waters give the entire inn a resort feel. However, customers attempting to reserve one of the five rooms in the charming thatch-roofed inn's main building the maximum half-year in advance often find it already fully booked. There are a total of 35 rooms in the entire complex, and the hotel sees about 25,000 guests a year.

According to the prefecture's cultural asset preservation office, Akita's second feudal lord is said to have frequented the hot spring, and it has flourished as a health spa since the Edo period. The main building was probably rebuilt around the beginning of the Meiji period.

The commission also recommended registration for the family home of a noted Edo period soy sauce maker in Noda, Chiba Prefecture; Sakato Bridge in Nakagawa, Nagano Prefecture; and the Miyazaki Jingu Shinden, a Shinto shrine in Miyazaki Prefecture. Furthermore, it named the castle town of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, the Obasute and Kashihara terraced rice fields in Chikuma, Nagano Prefecture and Kamikatsu, Tokushima Prefecture, and Nagasaki Prefecture's Hirado Island as cultural landscapes.

New Russia-NATO relations [ 515 ]

Russia-NATO relations enter new stage - Medvedev

More on this topic

RIA NOVOSTI 15:57--16/12/2009

President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that Russia's relations with NATO are entering a new stage.

"Much depends on the level of Russia-NATO relations," Medvedev said at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Rasmussen is on a three-day visit to Russia, which was expected to focus on Afghanistan and Russia's possible arms transportation assistance to the international operations there.

Medvedev expressed the hope that as a result of the visit by the NATO chief, "relations between Russia and NATO will become more reliable and productive."

Relations between the military bloc and Moscow have improved in recent months after being frozen in the wake of the August 2008 Russia-Georgia war. Rasmussen has been pushing for ties with Russia to be normalized since he took office in August 2009.

Medvedev said that during their meeting Russia and NATO could discuss all topical issues of interaction, including joint measures to fight terrorism and common threats.

Medvedev also said that the parties would be able to discuss Russia's initiative to draft a European security treaty.

In turn, Rasmussen said that strengthening relations between NATO and Russia was a priority for him in the post of the NATO chief.

"We may have our disagreements in some areas but this should not overshadow the fact that we have the same interests in many areas, because we face the same security threats," Rasmussen said.

MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti)

Todays Pearl Harbor...[ 514 ]

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

Posted December 7, 2009

acquired October 27, 2009

This detailed astronaut photograph illustrates the southern coastline of the Hawaiian island Oahu, including Pearl Harbor. On December 7, 1941—68 years ago—a surprise attack by the Japanese Navy on Pearl Harbor and other targets on the island of Oahu precipitated the entry of the United States into World War II. Today, Pearl Harbor is still in use as a major United States Navy installation, and along with Honolulu, it is one of the most heavily developed parts of the island.

A comparison between this image and a 2003 astronaut photograph of Pearl Harbor suggests that little observable land use or land cover change has occurred in the area over the past six years. The most significant difference is the presence of more naval vessels in the Reserve Fleet anchorage in Middle Loch (image center). The urban areas of Waipahu, Pearl City, and Aliamanu border the harbor to the northwest, north, and east. The built-up areas, recognizable by linear streets and white rooftops, contrast sharply with the reddish volcanic soils and green vegetation on the surrounding hills.

Astronaut photograph ISS021-E-15710 was acquired on October 27, 2009, with a Nikon D2Xs digital camera fitted with a 400 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by the Expedition 21 crew. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by William L. Stefanov, NASA-JSC.

Momentum is building for a tax on bankers'[ 513 ]

EU bankers' bonus tax plan gains momentum in Brussels

Brown was welcomed at the summit by Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt

(BBC) Dec 10, 2009

Momentum is building for a tax on bankers' bonuses as European leaders gather for an EU summit in Brussels.

The leaders of France and Germany have swung behind the idea after the UK announced a one-off supertax on banker bonuses in a pre-Budget report.

The two-day summit will also address climate change and financing.

The European Council's meeting is the first since the Lisbon Treaty came into effect and Belgium's Herman van Rompuy was elected as its first president.

Ahead of the summit, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy held talks which were expected to cover the controversial appointment of a Frenchman to oversee European banking.

Meanwhile, amid concerns across the continent about Greece's enormous level of debt, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency, said the country's financial problems should be solved domestically.

Greece's Deputy Finance Minister Philippos Sachinidis said earlier his country's debt stood at 300bn euros ($442bn; £272bn) - its highest level in modern history.

Call to arms

Writing in Thursday's Wall Street Journal, Mr Sarkozy and Mr Brown said a one-off tax on bank bonuses should be "considered a priority".

There was a brief drama as Greenpeace activists breached security

It was "simply not acceptable" for taxpayers to cover the cost of bank failures but not benefit from their successes, they said.

The BBC's Jonny Dymond, in the Belgian capital, says the joint article at times reads like a call to arms.

In the letter, Mr Sarkozy and Mr Brown said the financial crisis has made them "recognise that we are now in an economy which is no longer national but global, so financial standards must also be global".

They said there was an "urgent need for a new compact between global banks and the society they serve".

People rightly want a post-crisis banking system which puts their needs first Sarkozy/Brown joint article Climate pressures cloud EU summit EU climate package explained France gets key Commission job

Various proposals to reform the sector "deserve examination", they said, but a one-off tax on high bonuses paid to bankers "should be considered a priority".

In a separate development on Thursday, US bank Goldman Sachs revealed that its 30 top executives will receive restricted shares instead of cash bonuses in 2009.

The shares cannot be sold for five years.

The bank has been criticised for setting aside nearly $17bn (£10.5bn) in the first three quarters of 2009 to cover pay and bonuses.

UK Chancellor Alistair Darling said in his pre-Budget report on Wednesday that the new supertax would be paid by banks and not individuals.

It is designed to discourage institutions from paying large bonuses to employees in the wake of the major taxpayer support they have received in the financial crisis.

The plan has been warmly received in Paris and Berlin. German Chancellor Angela Merkel described it as an "attractive idea", while a French finance ministry official was quoted as telling the Associated Press news agency that France had already decided on a one-off tax for 2009 bonuses.

Big losers

Ahead of his meeting with Mr Brown, Mr Sarkozy had appeared to boast that a Frenchman's appointment to oversee European banking was a British defeat.

The leaders say only global change will restore confidence in banking

He told Le Monde newspaper the British were "the big losers" in the share-out of EU jobs after former French agriculture minister Michel Barnier was given the role of supervising Europe's internal market for financial services, most of which is in the City of London.

There was a moment of drama as EU leaders arrived for the twice-yearly Brussels summit as environmental protesters breached the security cordon disguised as an official delegation.

Several Greenpeace activists pulled up in a silver minivan similar to those used by summit attendees.

They burst out with banners reading "EU: Save Copenhagen" before they were moved aside by security guards.

They were urging EU nations to boost their commitments to achieve success at the ongoing global climate change conference in the Danish capital.