Australia election...[ 3151 ]

Australia election: Tony Abbott defeats Kevin Rudd
BBC..September 2013 Last updated at 19:45 GMT
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Tony Abbott: "From today I declare that Australia is under new management"

Australia's opposition has crushed the governing Labor party in a general election that has returned the Liberal-National coalition to power for the first time in six years.
The coalition won 88 seats to Labor's 57 in the 150-seat parliament.
Liberal leader Tony Abbott, who will be prime minister, promised a competent and trustworthy government.Outgoing PM Kevin Rudd earlier admitted defeat and said he would not stand again for the Labor leadership.

The main election issues were how to tackle an expected economic slowdown, whether to keep a tax on carbon emissions, and how to reduce the number of asylum seekers arriving by boat.
Mr Rudd called the election after defeating Julia Gillard in a leadership challenge in June, amid dismal polling figures that showed Labor on course for a wipe-out.
"From today I declare Australia is under new management and Australia is now open for business", Mr Abbott told a cheering crowd as he delivered a victory speech.
He said that he would put the budget back into surplus, and stop boats bringing migrants from Asia.He added that support for Labor was at its lowest ebb for 100 years, and said the results showed that the Australian people would punish anyone who took them for granted.
Mr Rudd said he had phoned Mr Abbott and wished him well."I gave it my all but it was not enough for us to win," he said. But he was pleased that Labor was preserved as a "viable fighting force for the future".+
Mr Rudd retained his seat in the Brisbane constituency of Griffith but said he would not re-contest the Labor party leadership because the Australian people "deserve a fresh start".
"I know that Labor hearts are heavy across the nation tonight. As your Labor leader I accept it as my responsibility," he said.The Australian Election Commission confirmed on its website that the Liberal-National coalition had won 88 seats in the House of Representatives, and Labor 57.
Three seats were distributed between three small parties, and there were two seats still to return results.In the previous parliament, Labor relied on the support of independents and the Greens for its minority government, with 71 seats to the coalition's 72.Assange misses out+Mr Abbott took on the leadership of the flagging Liberal-National coalition in 2009.
A Rhodes scholar who once wanted to be a Roman Catholic priest, Mr Abbott has pledged to repeal both the mining and carbon taxes introduced by Labor.
He has also promised a raft of budget cuts, including reducing the foreign aid budget by A$4.5bn ($4bn; £2.6bn).
But he says he will fund an expanded paid parental leave scheme.
Labor's six years in power are emphatically over. Australia's economic growth during difficult global financial times should have played well for an incumbent government. But the economy has begun to slow and Kevin Rudd's Labor party has been undone by disunity and infighting. The rivalry between Mr Rudd and Julia Gillard which saw the leadership of the party and the country switch back and forth did not sit well with voters.
You sense from voters that Mr Abbott's victory is not so much a ringing endorsement as a rejection of Labor. He's a conservative who has promised a tough line on immigration and asylum-seekers. He opposes gay marriage and has been a sceptic on climate change. Kevin Rudd sold himself as the comeback kid. It didn't work. His party now faces a period of further introspection.
The economy has been at the heart of campaigning.
Mr Abbott will be charged with managing the transition as the mining and resources boom subsides, amid slowing demand from China and slumping commodity prices.
Ahead of the polls, his coalition highlighted bitter Labor infighting, seeking to portray itself as the more stable party.
And former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke blamed the internal divisions for Labor's defeat.
"I really believe this was an election that was lost by the government rather than one that was won by the opposition," he said.
Julia Gillard, meanwhile, congratulated the Labor candidate who succeeded her in her seat, as she bowed out of politics.The outsider candidates had mixed fortunes at the polls.
One of the two undecided seats in the House sees billionaire Clive Palmer, famous for his attempt to build a new version of the Titanic based on the original designs, on course for victory.

 
However, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange missed out on a Senate seat in Victoria, where the final place was claimed by Rick Muir of the Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party.
More than 14 million people were registered to vote in Saturday's election. Voting is compulsory in Australia.

Russian warships en route to Syria [ 3150 ]

Russian warships cross Bosphorus, en route to Syria

.A Russian warship is moored in the Cypriot port of Limassol, on May 17, 2013. Three Russian warships have crossed Turkey's Bosphorus Strait en route to the eastern Mediterranean, near the Syrian coast, amid concern in the region over potential US-led strikes in response to the Damascus regime's alleged use of chemical weapons. (AFP Photo/Yiannis Kourtoglou)

10 hours ago

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Three Russian warships crossed Turkey's Bosphorus Strait Thursday en route to the eastern Mediterranean, near the Syrian coast, amid concern in the region over potential US-led strikes in response to the Damascus regime's alleged use of chemical weapons.
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The SSV-201 intelligence ship Priazovye, accompanied by the two landing ships Minsk and Novocherkassk passed through the Bosphorus known as the Istanbul strait that separates Asia from Europe, an AFP photographer reported.
The Priazovye on Sunday started its voyage from its home port of Sevastopol in Ukraine "to the appointed region of military service in the eastern Mediterranean", a military official told the Interfax news agency.
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Russia, a key ally of Damascus, has kept a constant presence of around four warships in the eastern Mediterranean in the Syrian crisis, rotating them every few months.
It also has a naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus whose origins date back to Moscow's close relationship with Damascus under the Soviet Union.
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Moscow vehemently opposes the US-led plans for military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in response to the chemical attack outside Damascus last month.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday that any US Congress approval for a military strike against Syria without UN consensus would represent an "aggression".

UN and Syria ..[ 3149 ]

Ban Ki-moon discusses ways to expedite UN probe in Syria

September 3, 2013 11:53 IST// The Hindu

AP Syrian refugees arrive at the Turkish Cilvegozu gate border on Monday. The number of refugees fleeing Syria’s violence has surpassed the 2 million mark, the U.N. refugee agency said on Tuesday.

UN says Syria refugees top 2 million mark

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will brief the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council on the status of the investigations on use of chemical weapons in Syria, as he discussed with his top officials on expediting the investigations, his spokesperson has said.

Mr. Ban discussed with Ake Sellstrhead of the U.N. Mission to Investigate Allegations of the Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria, on how to expedite the process of analyzing the samples according to established international standards and regulations.

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“Since the return of the Mission last Saturday, the U.N. team worked around the clock to finalize the preparations of the samples in view of their shipment to the designated laboratories. The samples were shipped this afternoon from The Hague and will reach their destination within hours,” the spokesperson said on Monday.

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The designated laboratories are prepared to begin the analyses immediately after receipt of samples, he added.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ban continued to be in close contact with the five permanent members of the Security Council and will brief the 10 non-permanent members of the Council on the latest developments on Wednesday.

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“Also Angela Kane, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, is due to brief Member States that wrote to the Secretary-General requesting the investigation of the alleged use of chemical weapons in Ghouta area of Damascus on 21 August 2013,” the spokesperson said.

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Syrian opposition and the West have accused President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces of using chemical weapons on August 21 in a Damascus suburb, a charge denied by the government.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has claimed that blood and hair samples collected from the chemical attack site in Syria have “tested positive for signatures of sarin gas.”

He pushed for a military strike against the Assad regime over its alleged use of the deadly weapon.

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More than 2 million have fled Syria

The U.N. refugee agency says the number of refugees fleeing Syria’s violence has surpassed the 2 million mark another tragic sign of a civil war that shows no sign of letting up.

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Antonio Guterres, the head of the Office for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, says Syria is haemorrhaging an average of almost 5,000 citizens a day across its borders, many of them with little more than the clothes they are wearing.

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Mr. Guterres said in a statement on Tuesday that nearly 1.8 million of the refugees have fled in the past 12 months alone.

The agency’s special envoy, Angelina Jolie, says “some neighbouring countries could be brought to the point of collapse” if the situation keeps deteriorating at its current pace.

France is ready to punish Syria...[ 3148 ]

France says ready to punish Syria despite British no vote

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White House says 'preponderance of evidence' Assad used chemical weapons

Thu, Aug 29 2013

• We will continue looking for support on Syria-Hagel
• Syrian president will defend against aggression, state TV

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Recent developments in Syria

White House says 'preponderance of evidence' Assad used chemical weapons (01:46)

By Catherine Bremer

PARIS | Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:18am EDT
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(Reuters) - France said on Friday it still backed action to punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government for an apparent poison gas attack on civilians, despite a British parliamentary vote against a military strike.
An aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, a close Assad ally, seized on Thursday's British "no" vote which set back U.S.-led efforts to intervene against Assad, saying it reflected wider European worries about the dangers of a military response.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said his country would keep seeking an international coalition to act together on Syria, where hundreds of people were killed in last week's reported chemical attacks. Syria denies using chemical weapons.
"It is the goal of President (Barack) Obama and our government ... whatever decision is taken, that it be an international collaboration and effort," he said.
Any military strike looks unlikely to happen at least until U.N. investigators report back after leaving Syria on Saturday.
French President Francois Hollande told the daily Le Monde he still supported taking "firm" punitive action over an attack he said had caused "irreparable" harm to the Syrian people, adding that he would work closely with France's allies.
Britain has traditionally been the United States' most reliable military ally. However, the defeat of a the government motion authorizing a military response in principle underscored misgivings dating from how the country decided to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Russia, Assad's most powerful diplomatic ally, opposes any military intervention in Syria, saying an attack would increase tension and undermine the chances of ending the civil war.
Putin's senior foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said the British vote represented majority opinion in Europe.
"People are beginning to understand how dangerous such scenarios are," he told reporters. "Russia is actively working to avert a military scenario in Syria.
"CORE INTERESTS"
Russia holds veto power as a permanent U.N. Security Council member and has blocked three resolutions meant to press Assad to stop the violence since a revolt against him began in 2011.
U.S. officials suggested that Obama would be willing to order limited military action even without allied support.
"He (Obama) believes that there are core interests at stake for the United States and that countries who violate international norms regarding chemical weapons need to be held accountable," the White House said after the British vote.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said he regretted parliament's failure to back military action in Syria but he hoped Obama would understand the need to listen to the wishes of the people. "I don't think it's a question of having to apologize," he said in a television interview.
Finance minister George Osborne, one of Cameron's closest allies, accepted that the vote had raised questions about Britain's future relations with its allies.
"There will be a national soul-searching about our role in the world and whether Britain wants to play a big part in upholding the international system," he said.
Pro-Kremlin lawmaker Alexei Pushkov said the British vote had damaged the case for military action. "Britain's refusal to support aggression against Syria is a very strong blow to the position of the supporters of war, both in NATO and in the United States. The rift is growing deeper," he said on Twitter.
Hollande is not constrained by the need for parliamentary approval of any move to intervene in Syria and could act, if he chose, before lawmakers debate the issue on Wednesday.
"All the options are on the table. France wants action that is in proportion and firm against the Damascus regime," he said.
"There are few countries that have the capacity to inflict a sanction by the appropriate means. France is one of them. We are ready. We will decide our position in close liaison with our allies," Hollande said.
"GLOBAL CONFLAGRATION"
In a briefing with senior lawmakers on Thursday, Obama administration officials said they had "no doubt" Assad's government had used chemical weapons, U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, who joined the call, told Reuters.
U.S. officials acknowledged they lacked proof that Assad personally ordered last week's poison gas attack, but in a call with lawmakers, cited "intercepted communications from high-level Syrian officials" among other evidence, Engel said.
Some allies have warned that military action without U.N. Security Council authorization may make matters worse.
Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said on Friday there should be no attack without a U.N. resolution, expressing concern about how Assad's allies, including the Shi'ite militia Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon, would respond.
"There's talk of targeted attacks, but it's clear that all attacks begin as targeted attacks. Syria will react and we must fear how Hezbollah, Russia and Iran could react. An already dramatic and terrible conflict risks turning into a global conflagration," she said in an interview broadcast on SkyTG24.
"Even if it seems slower, more difficult and sometimes does not seem to be working, keeping the diplomatic and political pressure high is the only possible solution."
Expectations of imminent turmoil eased as the diplomatic process was seen playing out into next week, and the White House emphasized that any action would be "very discrete and limited", and in no way comparable with the Iraq war.
Syrian opposition sources said on Thursday Assad's forces had removed Scud missiles and launchers from a base north of Damascus, possibly to protect them from a Western attack, and Russia was reported to be moving ships to the region.
Damascus says rebels perpetrated the gas attacks, which occurred when U.N. chemical weapons inspectors were already in Syria. Washington and its allies dismiss this version.
The U.N. investigators visited a military hospital in a government-held area of Damascus on Friday to see soldiers affected by an apparent chemical attack, a Reuters witness said.
The inspectors have spent the week visiting rebel-controlled areas on the outskirts of Damascus affected by gas attacks.
Witnesses said the investigators were meeting soldiers at the Mezze Military Airport who state media said were exposed to poison gas after finding chemical agents in a tunnel used by rebels in the Damascus suburb of Jobar last Saturday.
CHINA OPPOSES HASTY U.N. ACTION
The United Nations says the team will leave Syria on Saturday and report to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The United States, Britain and France have said action could be taken with or without a U.N. Security Council resolution, which would probably be vetoed by Russia and perhaps China.
Western diplomats say they are seeking a vote in the 15-member Council on a draft measure, which would authorize "all necessary force" in response to the alleged gas attack, to isolate Moscow and show that other nations back military action.
But China said there should be no rush to force a council decision on Syria until the U.N. inspectors complete their work.
"Before the investigation finds out what really happened, all parties should avoid prejudging the results, and certainly ought not to forcefully push for the Security Council to take action," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a phone call, Xinhua reported.
Hollande told Le Monde it was now an "established fact" that chemical weapons had been used in Damascus and said France had "a stack of evidence" that Assad's forces were responsible.
China's foreign minister told his French counterpart Laurent Fabius by telephone that it was important to determine not only if chemical weapons were used but who used them.
The samples collected by U.N. inspectors in Syria will be analyzed in Sweden and Finland, a Swedish paper reported, quoting a United Nations spokesman.
Elaborate bio-metric analysis of blood, hair or urine samples is expected to be done in laboratories, which are among 22 used by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in 17 countries.
"The labs are OPCW-bonded labs in Sweden and Finland, with back-ups in Germany and Switzerland. They are pre-assigned as per OPCW standards," the spokesman, Farhad Haq, said in an email sent late on Thursday, Swedish technology weekly Ny Teknik said.
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick, Andrea Shalal-Esa, Patricia Zengerle, Steve Holland, Thomas Ferraro and Jeff Mason in Washington, Erika Solomon and Oliver Holmes in Beirut, Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, Sarah Marsh in Berlin, Timothy Heritage in Moscow, Phil Stewart in Manila, Louis Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Lidia Kelly in Moscow, Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina in Beijing, John Irish in Paris and Andrew Osborn, Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Peter Apps in London; Writing by Alistair Lyon;
editing by David Stamp) Interactive timeline:
link.reuters.com/rut37s

Three Videos for Syria..[ 3147 ]

Three CBC Videos concerning possibility for Military preparations and action to  strike Syria.-

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