Binyamin Netanyahu defies US on settlements

The Israeli prime minister had defied US demands to suspend a settlement construction project in East Jerusalem, sparking what Washington calls "intense" negotiations between the allies.
Binyamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he would not take orders on where Jews can live and reiterated the claim that a united Jerusalem is Israel's capital, which most of the world does not recognise.
"We cannot accept the fact that Jews wouldn't be entitled to live and buy anywhere in Jerusalem," Netanyahu declared, calling Israeli sovereignty over the entire city "indisputable".
Israeli officials said on Sunday that Michael Oren, the country's ambassador to Washington, had been summoned to the US state department and told that a project in the disputed section of the city should be abandoned.
According to the Israeli Army Radio, the US demanded that planning approval for the project, which is being developed by an American millionaire, be revoked.
Netanyahu's response places renewed focus on the strained ties between the allies over the settlements issue.

'Intense negotiations'
Speaking on a visit to India on Sunday, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said Washington was trying to reach an agreement with Israel on settlements.
"The negotiations are intense. They are ongoing," she said.

Granted by the Jerusalem municipality earlier this month, the planning approval for the controversial project allows the construction of 20 apartments plus a three-level underground parking lot that will replace the Shepherd hotel.
The old hotel lies in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, where settlement building is illegal under international law.
Saeb Erekat, a senior Palestinian negotiator, said: "If the Israeli prime minister continues with settlement activities, he will undermine the efforts to revive the peace process."
Most international powers consider Jewish neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem to be settlements and an obstacle to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.
Settlements have emerged as a major sticking point in relations between Israel and the administration of Barack Obama, the US president.
'Head-on collision'
Although Netanyahu recently yielded to US pressure to conditionally endorse the establishment of a Palestinian state, he has consistently resisted US demands for a total freeze on settlement expansion.

Akiva Eldar, the chief political columnist for Israeli newspaper Haaretz, said the dispute was an example of how settlement building had become a publicly acknowledged obstacle to the peace process.
"I think the high profile that both Israel and the United States, as well as the Arab countries and particularly the Palestinians, have put on the settlements is offering a good potential for a head-on collision," he said.
"According to the official Israeli position, it's not illegal and even the United States, for many years, and even now, is not making a point of the legal issues, they're just saying it's not helpful ... but no country, not even the United States, has recognised [Israel's] annexation of East Jerusalem."
Israel annexed East Jerusalem and declared the whole city its capital after the 1967 Middle East war.
Ziad al-Hammouri, the director of the Jerusalem Centre for Social and Economic Rights that provides legal assistance to Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera "what's happening in Jerusalem today ... is illegal".
"East Jerusalem is a part of the occupied territories which has to be given back and form part of a Palestinian state.

Pair convicted over Bosnia killings

A UN war crimes court has sentenced two Bosnian Serb cousins to life and 30 years in jail respectively for burning scores of Muslims to death during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
Milan and Sredoje Lukic were accused of locking up the victims in two houses in the eastern Bosnian town of Visegrad and setting them alight, in a trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.
Milan Lukic was sentenced to life at the court in the Netherlands for killing at least 119 Bosnian Muslims in the two separate incidents which took place in June 1992.
His cousin Sredoje received 30 years for aiding and abetting in one of the incidents.
'Inhumanity'
Prosecutors had accused the pair of taking part in "one of the most notorious campaigns of ethnic cleansing" as members of a paramilitary group in Visegrad.
Patrick Robinson, the presiding judge in the case, said the atrocities exemplified "the worst acts of inhumanity that one person may inflict on others".
"At the close of the 20th century, a century marked by war and bloodshed on a colossal scale, these horrific events stand out for the viciousness of the incendiary attack, for the obvious premeditation and calculation that defined it, for the sheer callousness and brutality," the judge said.Milan Lukic, who Robinson said was the ringleader, shook his head in reaction to the verdict.
The court furthermore found Milan Lukic guilty of having been among a group who led seven Bosnian Muslim men to a river in June 1992, lined them up along its bank and opened fire with automatic weapons, killing five.
A few days later, he was among another group who killed seven Muslim factory workers next to the same river in a similar manner.
He was also convicted of killing a woman who he shot at point blank range.
"He was laughing, then he turned her body over with his foot and shot her in the back," said Robinson.
Both men were convicted of having beaten Bosnian Muslim detainees "with extraordinary brutality".
Prosecutor 'satisfied'

A spokeswoman for ICTY prosecutor Serge Brammertz said he was "satisfied" with the decision.
"It reflects the gravity of crimes committed and the responsibility of the accused," Olga Kavran said.
After seven years on the run, Milan Lukic was arrested in Argentina in August 2005. His cousin Sredoje surrendered to the Bosnian Serb authorities the following month.
The cousins' defence lawyers had argued the pair should be acquitted for lack of evidence, citing inconsistencies in survivor accounts.
The trial started in July last year.

Spain's foreign minister in historic Gibraltar trip

Miguel Angel Moratinos, Spain's foreign minister, has visited Gibraltar, the disputed British colony, becoming the first member of the Spanish government to make the trip in 300 years.
Moratinos who met David Miliband, his UK counterpart, and Peter Caruana, Gibraltar's chief minister, said that while Spain did not renounce its territorial claim to the rocky outcrop, the way forward was through co-operation.
Spain ceded Gibraltar, which has a population of 30,000 people, to Britain in 1713, but has since called for the territory to be returned.
The conservative Popular Party, Spain's main opposition, has criticised Moratino's decision to visit the territory, describing it as a "terrible mistake".
The party said Moratino's visit effectively treats the territory as a sovereign nation.Leire Pajin, a spokeswoman for Spain's ruling Socialist Party, said the "issue of sovereignty is not at stake", adding the visit was to help improve the life of Spaniards living in Gibraltar.
The foreign ministers agreed to expand communications links between Spain and thecolony, including a new ferry route between Gibraltar and Algeciras and a hotline between the two cities to discuss bilateral issues directly.
Around 12,000 people cross over from Spain daily to work in the territory, and many others visit for tourism.
Gibraltar is a haven for shipping and offshore banking because of favourable tax laws.
In 2002, its inhabitants overwhelmingly rejected an Anglo-Spanish proposal for co-sovereignty in a referendum.

An accord between India and the United States around the arms

An accord between India and the United States has been reached in New Delhi aimed at clearing the way for the sale of US-made weapons to India.
The pact, known as an end-use monitoring agreement, was signed by Hillary Clinton on Monday during her first trip to India as the US secretary of state.
"We have agreed on the end-use monitoring arrangement which would refer to ... Indian procurement of US defence technology and equipment," S M Krishna, the Indian external affairs minister, told a joint news conference with Clinton.
The agreement, required under US law for arms sales, allows Washington to verify that India is using weapons for their stated purpose.
The deal is also designed to ensure that New Delhi is not passing weapons technology from the US on to other nations.
US defence contractors, such as Lockheed Martin Corporation and Boeing Company, are competing to win orders from New Delhi to build 126 fighter aircraft.
Nuclear reactors
Clinton said that India had also approved two sites on its territory for the construction of US nuclear reactors.

"I am also pleased that Prime Minister [Manmohan] Singh told me that sites for two nuclear parks for US companies have been approved by the government," she said.
US officials estimate that the nuclear sites would represent up to $10bn in business for US nuclear-reactor builders such as General Electric Company and Westinghouse Electric Company, a subsidiary of Japan's Toshiba Corp.
Marie Lall, a specialist in South Asia affairs at Chatham House in London, said that the deal would go some way to easing the US trade deficit with India. "You have to be aware that the balance of trade deficit of the United States is $13bn ... Obviously, signing a deal of $10bn will go a long way to balance out that trade deficit for the United States," she told Al Jazeera.
Climate disagreement
Clinton is in India for three days for talks on climate change, security and nuclear power.
But while Washington and New Delhi have reached an agreement on weapons sales, the US government appears to have failed to convince India on the need to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions.
During a meeting with Clinton on Sunday, Jairam Ramesh, India's junior environment minister, refused to agree to limit the country's carbon output.
Developing nations should not be forced to sign up to legally binding targets on reducing carbon emissions, Ramesh said.
India is "simply in no position" to cut its levels of harmful emissions, he said.
The refusal comes five months before a UN climate conference in Copenhagen, where it is hoped that more than 190 nations will set targets for emission cuts up to 2020.
Clinton 'confident'
Despite the differences over the environmental targets, Clinton said she was optimistic that a compromise could be found.

"I am very confident ... that the United States and India can devise a plan that will dramatically change the way we produce, consume and conserve energy," she said.
Bharat Desai, an expert on international environmental law at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Al Jazeera that developing countries will not [for the time being] take up legally binding commitments.
"But India is taking responsibility, it has various energy efficiency programmes ... we have already passed a law on climate change," he said.
"The developed countries need to take the lead so the developing ones feel comfortable [to follow]."
India is one of several developing nations who argue that their industrial ouput - and hence their economies - will be harmed should they be forced to commit to cuts in carbon emissions.

Japan's prime minister has formally dissolved the lower house of parliament

The prime ministre of japan has formally dissolved the lower house of parliament and called a general election on August 30, saying he plans to "start afresh" following a string of defeats for his party and plunging popularity ratings.
Announcing the move on Tuesday, Taro Aso vowed to restore voters' faith in his fractious ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) despite opinion polls indicating it is headed for a heavy defeat.
Aso's move came soon after his cabinet backed his proposal to call a national vote.
A string of defeats in local elections and the planned national poll has sparked chaos in the LDP, with critics trying to oust him from the party leadership ahead of the August vote.
Party heavyweights have blocked moves to oust him but agreed that Aso would appear before LDP legislators in meeting on Tuesday.
That gathering was closed to media in what many interpreted was a sign the party feared exposing its deep divisions.
Speaking after the meeting, Aso apologised for his failings and admitted that the party's internal chaos had contributed to recent local election losses.
"I am firmly resolved that we will sincerely accept the people's feelings, will and criticism and start afresh," he said, vowing to stay in his post until the economy recovered.
Closing ranks

The LDP has ruled Japan almost without interruption for the past five decades.
Yoichi Masuzoem Japan's health minister, said all cabinet members, including Kaoru Yosano, the finance minister who some had earlier speculated might refuse to back Aso's election plan, backed him on Tuesday.
LDP legislators have stifled their criticism of Aso - at least for now - as they gear up for election battle.
"At this point we have no choice but to be united before the election," Hiroshige Seko, an upper house legislator, told reporters.
But Aso still faces an uphill task in trying to keep his job and his party in power.
The premier survived a no-confidence motion in parliament last week due to the LDP's dominance in the current house, but the latest newspaper polls indicate that dominance is about to end.
A poll published in the Mainichi newspaper puts the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) ahead of the LDP by a two-to-one margin.
Fifty-six per cent of voters indicated they would choose the DPJ and 23 per cent said they would vote LDP, according to the poll. Another poll by Asahi newspaper showed similar results, with 49 per cent of respondents supporting the Democrats, and only 22 per cent behind Aso's party.
Yukio Hatoyama, the Democratic party leader, told party members on Tuesday to face the election with "a sense of historic mission".
"This is a major, revolutionary election to allow politicians to take the lead in Japanese government," he said.

Protesting workers have used high-powered catapults to fire at police

South Korean riot police backed up by armour and helicopters, have clashed with hundreds of sacked auto workers who have been holed up in a car factory outside of Seoul for almost two months.
Several of the protesters used high-powered slingshots to fire nuts and bolts at police from factory rooftops as they tried to storm the Ssangyong motors car plant on Tuesday.
Some 3,000 riot police have been deployed to the plant at Pyeongtaek, about 70km south of Seoul, in an effort to clear up to 600 sacked workers who have occupied the factory's paint shop.
Ssangyong is South Korea's fifth-largest automaker and the occupation which began in late May has paralysed production at the plant.
Police first entered the factory on Monday after the company cut off water and gas supplies to the plant in an effort to force the workers to leave.
As they did so, protesters tried to block their path by setting light to vehicles and tyres while pelting police with shrapnel from catapults.
Job cuts

The workers began their occupation on May 21 in protest at job cuts designed as part of a restructuring plan to save the troubled carmaker.
Ssangyong, which is majority-owned by Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., has been in court-approved bankruptcy protection since February.
South Korean media reports have said the paint shop, where most of the protesters are holed-up, contains flammable materials that could potentially ignite amid a major clash.
As part of its restructuring plan, Ssangyong aims to shed 36 per cent of its workforce or about 2,646 jobs.
According to the company some 1,670 have left the company voluntarily, but nearly 1,000 opposed the move and some were later fired.
Ssangyong mostly manufactures light SUVs and a luxury sedan – sales of which have plummeted in the global economic downturn.
The company sold 13,020 vehicles during the first six months of the year, down 73.9 percent from the same period in 2008, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency.
Government officials have warned that unless the occupation of the factory ends and production resumes, any hope of saving the company will evaporate

Chinese authorities arrests 'concern' Australia

Australia's trade minister has expressed concern over the detention of a Rio Tinto mining company employee accused of stealing state secrets from China.
Simon Crean met Chinese officials in Shanghai on Saturday, nearly a week after Chinese authorities detained four employees of the Anglo-Australian mining giant, including an Australian citizen.
Authorities have accused the Australian executive, Stern Hu, and three of his Chinese colleagues of stealing state secrets during negotiations over iron-ore prices.
Crean, who is in China as part of a trade mission, said he pressed Chinese officials for more details on the detentions, but he said he does not expect the case to affect bilateral trade ties.
"We've stressed the importance of getting further and better details," he said.
"We have no information as to what the investigation does involve. We're going on the basis of press reports. The government here is not able to inform us anymore.
'Different' rules
"We respect the Chinese legal system and the processes that need to be gone through, but we've indicated that this too is an important issue back home in Australia."
Crean said Australia is also pushing for the presence of legal representation for Hu as well.
"We have a different set of rules back home for the treatment of individuals than is the case here. ... We have to respect their system and work within it."

Chinese media on Friday said, citing a statement from the country's internal security agency, that the four Rio workers obtained confidential information including summaries of meetings by Chinese negotiators in the talks on annual iron ore supply contracts.
"This seriously damaged China's economic security and interests," the state-run China Securities Journal said, echoing a foreign ministry official statement a day earlier.
On Thursday Qin Gang, China's foreign ministry spokesman, said that Chinese authorities had "a vast amount of irrefutable evidence" which showed the four "stole Chinese state secrets for overseas, gravely harming China's economic interests and economic security".
Rio Tinto, based in London and Australia, is the world's third-largest mining company and the lead negotiator for global iron-ore suppliers in price talks with Chinese steel mills.
Threat to relations
The case threatens to cast a shadow over Australia's trading relations with China, one of Canberra's most important trading partners.
Australian opposition politicians have criticised the country's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, for not doing enough to intervene in the case.
But on Friday Rudd defended his actions, saying the issue required a careful approach so as not to trigger a trade crisis, accusing some politicians of "grandstanding" over the case for domestic political reasons.
"The business of dealing with difficult, complex diplomatic questions, particularly when human lives are concerned, requires sensitivity and proper handling," Rudd told Australia's ABC radio from Italy, where he was attending the G8 summit.
Iron ore price negotiations have already run past their original June 30 deadline and last month Rio Tinto ditched a planned $19.5bn investment by state-owned Chinese metals firm Chinalco.
The latter case has sparked speculation in Australia that the arrests may be in reprisal for the collapsed Chinalco deal

General Motors emerges from bankruptcy

General Motors has emerged from bankruptcy - just 40 days after the US vehicle manufacturer signed a government-backed rescue deal, the company has announced.The main assets of the troubled giant, which was once the world's largest corporation, have been transferred to a new company which will be 61 per cent owned by the government.
"Today marks a new beginning for General Motors," Fritz Henderson, the chief executive of GM, said on Friday."One that will allow every employee, including me, to get back to the business of designing, building and selling great cars and trucks and serving the needs of our customers.
"We recognise that we've been given a rare second chance at GM, and we are very grateful for that. And we appreciate the fact that we now have the tools to get the job done."
Jobs slashed

GM has slashed its work force, closed 40 per cent of its dealerships and shed a number of brands including Saab, Saturn, Opel and Hummer.It will cut 6,000 jobs by October in a move that will reduce its white-collar work force by 20 per cent and a 35 per cent reduction in executive posts is also planned.The US government has provided about $50bn in financing for the company and spearheaded the restructuring plan. Canada, which provided more than $9bn in loans, also has a stake in the new GM along with a United Auto Workers union retiree healthcare trust fund.
The new firm has also been freed of $173bn of liabilities it had when it entered bankruptcy protection on June 1.
Creditors holding about 54 per cent of GM bonds agreed to a plan that would swap $27bn dollars in debt for a 10 per cent stake and warrants allowing them to buy an additional 15 per cent stake.

Google and Windows rival

Google Inc has announced that it will launch an operating system for personal computers, in a direct challenge to the dominance of Micrsoft's Windows platform.
The Google Chrome Operating System will be loaded onto consumer netbooks (small, low-cost laptop computers) in the second half of 2010, the company said in a blog post on Tuesday.
Google, which offers email, web, news and map services, said it will work with several computer manufacturers in delivering the operating system to consumers.
The plan by Google to launch a direct rival to Windows, which is installed in 90 per cent of the world’s PC, is its biggest challenge to Microsoft yet.
"It's been part of their culture to go after and remove Microsoft as a major holder of technology, and this is part of their strategy to do it," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group, said.
"This could be very disruptive. If they can execute [their plan], Microsoft is vulnerable to an attack like this, and they know it," he said.
A spokesman for Microsoft had no immediate comment on Google's announcement.
Manufacturers courted
Google will need to form partnerships with PC manufacturers, which currently offer Windows on most of their product lines, in order for the operating system to succeed.
"We are looking into it," Marlene Somsak, a spokeswoman for HP, a PC maker, said.
"We want to understand all the different operating systems available to customers, and will assess the impact of Chrome on the computer and communications industry."
Google launched an internet browser in late 2008 in a challenge to Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, but it has failed to make a big impact.
The browser held only a 1.2 per cent share in February, according to Net Applications, a market research firm. Explorer is the leading browser, with a 70 per cent market share.
The new Google operating system is based on Linux code, which allows
third-party developers to build applications compatible with the system

may grant Zelaya amnesty

Honduras' military-backed interim leader has reiterated that ousted president Manuel Zelaya will never be allowed to return to power.
But, Roberto Micheletti said on Sunday, Zelaya could be granted amnesty if he were to return home quietly to face justice.
"If he comes peacefully first to appear before the authorities ... I don't have any problem [with granting him amnesty]," Micheletti told the Reuters news agency in Tegucigalpa.
The interim government blocked an attempt by Zelaya to return to Honduras last week, triggering clashes between the military and Zelaya supporters that resulted in the death of a teenage boy.
Curfew lifted
Its apparent change of tack to allow Zelaya to return if he does so "peacefully", comes on the same day that it lifted a curfew that had been in place since the coup two weeks ago.

Micheletti's interim government said it was lifting the curfew as it had succeeded in restoring calm and reducing crime.
For his part, Zelaya told Caracas-based Telesur television on Sunday that he intended to return "at any time, on any day, anywhere".
Micheletti, installed by congress just hours after the June 28 military coup that forced Zelaya into exile, repeated his position that Zelaya would not be reinstated as president "under any conditions".
The military-backed interim government has continued to defy international condemnation of last month's coup and calls from theOrganisation of American States, the US and the UN General Assembly for Zelaya to be reinstated.
The country's congress and supreme court ordered the army to remove Zelaya last month, arguing he had violated the country's constitution by attempting to lift presidential term limits.
Zelaya, who has been travelling in the Americas to shore up his support, also ran afoul of his political base and ruling elites in the conservative country by allying himself with Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president.

Chavez blamed

Micheletti blamed Chavez for the political crisis in his country on Sunday.
"Chavez is the great damage that democracy in Honduras has suffered. We hold him responsible for any incident or any invasion that might come against Honduras from any country," he said.
In a sign of the tensions with Caracas, Honduran police on Saturday night detained for several hours members of television crews of the Venezuelan state channel VTV and Telesur, which have extensively covered pro-Zelaya protests.
Speaking in Caracas, Chavez condemned the detention.
Micheletti's interim government held talks with Zelaya's representatives last week with Oscar Arias, the Costa Rican president, mediating.
The talks ended in a stalemate but Arias has suggested a follow-up round of talks in about a week's time, with Zelaya proposing that it be held in Honduras.

Dick Cheney 'silenced CIA over spy plan'

Cheney, the former US vice-president, deliberately withheld details of a secret CIA spy programme from the US congress for eight years, a US senator has said.
Cheney, who was vice-president to George Bush until January this year, ordered the CIA not to tell congress of a new "counter-terrorism" programme in 2001.
Cheney's role in stifling the information was revealed by Leon Panetta, who now heads the CIA and who ordered the programme to be stopped in June.
Senator Diane Feinstein, the chairman of the senate intelligence committee, speaking on a US television show on Sunday, said: "Director Panetta did brief us two weeks ago ... and tell us that he was told that the vice-president had ordered that the programme not be briefed to the congress."
Amid calls for an investigation, senator Dick Durbin said Cheney's actions had been "inappropriate".
"To have a massive programme that is concealed from the leaders in congress is not only inappropriate; it could be illegal," he said.
The details of the intelligence programme, launched after the attacks on the US in September 2001, remain secret.
Covert operations
A spokesman for the CIA said it was not policy to discuss classified briefings, but added: "When a CIA unit brought this matter to Director Panetta's attention, it was with the recommendation that it be shared appropriately with congress.
"That was also his view, and he took swift, decisive action to put it into effect."
Under US law, the president is required to make sure intelligence committees are fully informed about covert operations.
The newspaper did not name its sources and said it had been unsuccessful in reaching Cheney for comment.
Cheney has been criticised in the past for supporting controversial interrogation techniques such as waterboarding (where a detainee is made to feel as if he is drowning), sleep deprivation, long periods of standing and exposure to cold.
Many critics have described the methods as being torture.
Controversial move
Eric Holder, the US attorney general is reported to be considering assigning a prosecutor to investigate interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects by the government of George Bush, the former US president.
Such an appointment could lead to a criminal inquiry into the treatment of prisoners by the CIA following the 2001 attacks in New York.
The move is seen as being controversial as Barack Obama, the US president, had previously said he wanted to leave the issue "in the past".
An official from the US justice department said Holder planned to "follow the fact and the law".
Holder's decision is expected to be made in the next few weeks

Congo presidential vote contested

Opposition figures in the Republic of Congo have called for a rerun of the country's presidential election amid claims of irregularities after less than 10 per cent of voters turned out to pick a new leader.
Election officials began counting votes on Monday but it was unclear how the claimed low turnout would affect Denis Sassou-Nguesso's bid to secure another seven-year term.
Sassou-Nguesso, 66, has ruled the oil-rich but impoverished central African nation on and off since a 1979 coup.
Ahead of Sunday's poll, six of the president's 12 opponents urged the country's 2.2 million eligible voters to stay at home and boycott the election.
At one location in southern Brazzaville as few as 52 of 924 registered voters reportedly cast their ballots.
However, the country's electoral commission gave a vastly different version of events, telling AFP after the polls had closed that turnout had been "massive" in parts of the country.

In a statement opponents of Sassou-Nguesso called on "national and international opinion to acknowledge the illegitimacy" of the vote and demanded "a new presidential ballot organised with the agreement of all political forces in the country".
Provisional results from the election are expected later this week, with the possibility of a second round if no candidate wins more than half the vote.
In their statement, the opposition candidates said an overwhelming majority of the electorate had shunned Sunday's ballot.
"The Congolese people have clearly expressed themselves with this record abstention of more than 90 per cent," said the statement, alleging massive rigging and vote-buying.
'Corrupt regime'

"By this strong rate of abstention, the Congolese who love justice and peace have expressed their rejection of this totalitarian, arrogant and corrupt regime."
The Congolese government rejected the charge, saying the opposition declarations of massive fraud are "incorrect and do not hold".
"We cannot speak of fraud when we had 170 international observers on the ground," Alain Akouala Atipault, the communications minister and government spokesman, said.
Sassou-Nguesso has ruled Congo for almost a quarter of a century, losing multiparty elections in 1992 before coming back to power in a civil war that destroyed much of the capital in 1997.
The president won the last election in 2002, when his main rivals were banned or withdrew, citing irregularities.
Despite an abundance of oil and timber – its principal exports – 70 per cent of Congo's inhabitants still live below the poverty line.

Chinese police have shot dead ethnic Uighurs

Two ethnic Uighur shot dead by Chinese police in renewed unrest in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, state media said.
A third Uighur was wounded after the "lawbreakers" attacked officers who were breaking up "a violent incident" in the regional capital, Urumqi, a government offical said on Monday.
"The police fired into the air as a warning, but that did not stop the attack. The police then shot them according to law," the official, who only gave his name as Fan, said.The official Xinhua news agency said that the police responded after three Uighurs, who were reportedly armed with knives, attacked a fourth person outside a mosque

Urumqi riots

At least 184 people died in riots last week, of which 137 were Han Chinese, who form the majority of China's 1.3 billion population, according to Chinese authorities.

Xinhua said 46 of the dead were Uighur, a predominantly Muslim people native to Xinjiang and culturally tied to Central Asia and Turkey.
Uighurs began rioting against Han Chinese on July 5 after police tried to break up a protest sparked by fatal attacks on Uighur workers at a factory in southern China.
Han Chinese residents of the city launched revenge attacks in the days that followed.
State media said earlier on Monday that demonstrations outside Chinese consulates in Europe and the United States showed that the riots were orchestrated by Uighurs living outside China.
Demonstrators threw eggs, Molotov cocktails and stones at several Chinese embassies and consulates, including those in Turkey, Norway, Germany and The Netherlands, Xinhua news agency said.
"Supporters of the East Turkestan separatists started well-orchestrated and sometimes violent attacks on Chinese embassies and consulates in several countries soon after the riots occurred," Xinhua said.China has blamed Rebiya Kadeer, an exiled Uighur businesswoman, for instigating the unrest.

'Under control'

Businesses in Urumqi have been reopening after the riots as a massive security presence has brought relative calm to the streets in recent days."In general, things are slowly getting back to normal. I think the situation is getting better and under control," one Han resident said.
However, Xinhua said that police would take in for questioning anyone who could not produce an indentity card or driving licence in the province.
People were also banned from "shouting slogans, posting banners, distributing leaflets or gathering for lectures in city streets or public venues", the report cited a police notice as saying.
"Police will immediately disperse gatherings and confiscate the propaganda materials and take away key members for interrogation according to law," Xinhua said.

Australia town bans bottled water

Bundanoon s The small Australian town has become the first place in the country, and possibly the world, to ban the sale of bottled water.
Residents of the town southwest of Sydney voted overwhelmingly in favour of the ban on Wednesday night.
Local businesses have agreed to stop selling bottled water and free water fountains will now be installed in the town.
The voluntary boycott was triggered by concerns of the environmental impact of bottling and transporting water.
"Bottled water has a role to play in various parts of Australia and many parts of the world but we don't really need it as we have a wonderful municipal water supply," local businessman Huw Kingston, who led the campaign, told Reuters news agency.
"We're not a bunch of raving greenies but this is us showing we can work together as a community for sustainability."
'Better for your wallet'

The vote in Bundanoon prompted the premier of New South Wales state earlier this week to announce an immediate ban on state departments and agencies buying bottled water.
"Tap water isn't just better for the environment, it's better for your wallet - you can refill your drink bottle 1,350 times for the average cost of a bottle of spring water," Nathan Rees said.
Environmental groups like WWF have campaigned against bottled water, saying resources are wasted in bottling and transporting water which may be no safer or healthier than tap water while selling for up to a thousand times the price.
But Geoff Parker, director of the Australasian Bottled Water Institute Inc, a group which represents the industry, said the bans were disappointing.
"The environmental footprint of one bottle of water of locally produced water would be much smaller than a tin of canned tomatoes imported from overseas, some imported cheese, or French champagne," he told Reuters.
"We need to keep it in perspective."

Barack Obama urges US-Russia unity

the US president,Barack Obama, has called for Russia and America to unite in efforts to prevent North Korea and Iran from developing their nuclear ambitions.
The US leader, during a speech to Russian college students in Moscow on Tuesday, said neither Russia nor America would benefit from an arms race in East Asia or the Middle East.
"That is why we should be united in opposing North Korea's efforts to become a nuclear power, and preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," he said.
Obama said he was pleased he and Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, had agreed to seek a new strategic arms reduction treaty by the end of the year.

'Mutual interest'

Obama, who is making his first official visit to Moscow, also referred to US plans for a missile-defence system in Europe, which Russia has opposed.
"I have made it clear that this system is directed at preventing a potential attack from Iran, and has nothing to do with Russia," he said.

I want us to work together on a missile defence architecture that makes us all safer. But if the threat from Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs is eliminated, the driving force for missile defence in Europe will be eliminated. That is in our mutual interest."
Neave Barker, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Moscow, said despite Russian opposition to the defence shield, the two sides have "still been able to move forward in other key areas".
He added that efforts to restore ties between the two nations has been welcomed in Moscow.
"The focus here in Russia ... is that the US has somehow found a new level of respect for Russia and that's certainly going to be championed here as a triumph for Russia," he said.
Obama, who said he wanted to "reset" relations with Russia, also said the two countries are not "destined to be antagonists".
"The pursuit of power is not longer a zero-sum game," he told graduates of the New Economic School in Moscow, adding: "Progress must be shared".
Praise for Putin

Praise for Putin

His comments came shortly after he exchanged pleasantries with Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, a week after the two men exchanged a terse war of words.
Obama praised Putin's "extraordinary work" as president and now prime minister, and said their talks were an "excellent opportunity to put US-Russian relations on a much stronger basis."
"We may not agree on everything, but we have consultations that will serve the Russian and the American people," he said.
Putin said: "With you, we link our hopes for the furtherance of relations between our two countries".
Their comments came a week after Obama criticised Putin as a man with one foot stuck in the past.
Barker said: "Undoubtedly by meeting Vladimir Putin it's been a chance for Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin to meet each other at face value and judge essentially how each other should be treated.
"One of the key issues for Russia over the past two days is about restoring respect for the nation in the eyes of the United States, so Obama meeting the prime minister was cetainly key to, in Russian eyes at least, this eventually happening."

Nuclear progress

On Monday, Obama met Medvedev for talks to agree on a new framework for weapons reductions.
The nuclear framework deal commits the two countries to cut the number of nuclear warheads they each hold after the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start-I) expires in December.
"Within seven years after this treaty comes into force, and in future, the limits for warheads linked to ... [strategic delivery systems should be] within the range of 1,500-1,675 units," the framework agreement read.
Medvedev said the arms deal was "not only vital for the future of our countries, but will also affect the outlook for world developments in many ways".

manuel president zelaya wants coup leaders to quit

Zelaya Honduras' deposed president is confident that the country's military-backed interim government that ousted him from power will be dismantled as a result of forthcoming talks mediated by Costa Rica's president.
Manuel Zelaya told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that he is seeking the resignation of the coup leaders who forced him into exile, arguing that international opinion was on his side.
Backing up that claim of international support, the US said on Wednesday that it had suspended $16.5m in assistance programmes to the Honduran government.
"It is going to be a dialogue for the departure of the coup leaders, Zelaya said, referring to Thursday's talks in Costa Rica, in which Oscar Arias, the Costa Rican president, will serve as a mediator.
"It should not last more than one day - however, that has not yet been agreed upon."
Zelaya and Robert Micheletti, the man sworn in as his replacement hours after he was forced from the country, agreed to the mediated talks after Zelaya met Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, in Washington, DC

Two aims
Zelaya said that he had two specific aims in mind for the talks in Costa Rica.
"What is going to be done is to fulfil the resolution of the Organisation of American States and the resolution of the United Nations, in which they ask first and foremost for the reinstatement of the president of the republic," he said.
"Number two is the complete non-recognition of the authorities by coup d'etat, and condemnation of the coup d'etat."
The ousted leader said that the interim government has no legitimacy, pointing to the fact that governments across the world have condemned the coup.
"The [interim] government is completely disconnected from all of humanity. All the countries - the Arab countries, the African countries, the Asian countries, the European countries, the countries of the Americas - have all closed their doors to this government," he said.

Tough line
But while Zelaya has demanded that he be swiftly reinstated as president, the interim government has maintained a tough line against him.
"This isn't a situation that can be resolved in a blink of an eye," Carlos Lopez, designated by Micheletti's interim government as envoy to the United Nations, said in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital.
Lopez reiterated the interim government's assertion that the Zelaya would face charges if he returned to Honduras.
Speaking to Al Jazeera on Wednesday, Antonio Rivera Callejas, a senator in the Honduran congress and a minority leader of the opposition National Party of Honduras, maintained that "what happened in Honduras was not a military coup - it was constitutional".

"The supreme court, the 15 judges, by a unanimous decision, [ruled] that Zelaya was violating the laws in our constitution. Then the congress acted. "The president was taken out of our country for his own safety. If he had stayed here, blood would have been on the streets."
Callejas added that "if Zelaya wants to come back, he is welcome, but he will be judged by all citizens."
US suspends aid

Meanwhile, after nearly two weeks of mostly muted response from the US, Washington said on Wednesday that it had suspended $16.5m in military assistance programmes as well as development assistance programmes to the Honduran government.
It added that $50m more in assistance "could be in jeopardy" this year alone.
It added, however, that "programmes that directly benefit the Honduran people are continuing", including "supporting the provision of food aid, HIV/Aids and other disease prevention, child survival, and disaster assistance, as well as election assistance to facilitate free and fair elections".
Zelaya was removed from power on June 28 as he was about to press ahead with a non-binding referendum on the constitution.
His domestic critics said the public vote was aimed at changing the constitution to enable him to run again for office at the end of his current four-year term.
Zelaya attempted to return to Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, on Sunday but soldiers and military vehicles blocked the runway and warned off his aircraft.
At least one person among the thousands of people waiting for the plane to land was killed by security forces - the first to die in clashes since the coup.