UN Security Council to discuss Syria

The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday is to hold a full—fledged discussion of Syria’s crackdown on protesters as Secretary General Ban Ki—moon condemned the repression by the government of Syrian President Bashir al Assad.

Mr. Ban and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay are also calling for an independent and effective investigation of hundreds of civilian deaths in Syria, Mr. Ban said Tuesday.

Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari rejected Mr. Ban’s call for the investigation, saying Damascus is fully capable of carrying out the probe.

Appearing before reporters to defend his government’s handling of the demonstrations, Mr. Jaafari said a law adopted by Damascus last week provided for peaceful demonstrations.

“From last week, demonstrators can demonstrate peacefully anywhere in Syria, peacefully without relying to violent acts,” he said. “If you’re demonstrating peacefully you’re protected by the government.”

Mr. Jaafari defended measures taken by the government against some demonstrators because the protesters had “an agenda.”

Mr. Ban attended a closed—door session with the council Tuesday, where it discussed a draft statement reacting to the military repression of civilian protesters and the deaths of reportedly 300 since mid—March.

Diplomats said China and Russia were opposed to any move by the body to condemn Syria.

The council president, Colombia’s U.N. Ambassador Nestor Osorio, said, “There are drafts circulating, but nothing concrete.” The council will meet Wednesday afternoon to hear an updated briefing on the situation in the Middle East by UN officials, and Mr. Ban said government officials would also attend.

In remarks after Tuesday’s closed—door discussions, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice accused Iran of supporting Syria’s military repression of pro—democracy demonstrations.

“We have said repeatedly that we are very conscientious and concerned of evidence of active Iranian support and involvement on behalf of the Syrian government in its repression of its people,” Ms. Rice told reporters.

Ms. Rice said Damascus has used “brutal tactics” against the demonstrators, similar to those used by the Iranian government against the opposition in Iran.

“The U.S. will continue to stand up for democracy, for respect for human rights, universal rights that all human beings deserve in Syria and around the world,” she said.

The U.S. has threatened to tighten current sanctions against the Syrian regime and its supporters.

Ms. Rice said the situations in Libya and Syria are different “in terms of the origins, of consequences and they will be different in terms of the action that is feasible and desirable here in the Security Council.”

She added that the “gravity of the situation” required Wednesday’s discussions because of the “concerns that we all share for the civilians at risk at present in Syria and the potential conflict with implications for regional peace and security.”

Mr. Ban cited the government’s use of tanks against protestors as a cause for “increasingly a grave concern.” “I condemn utterly the continued violence against peaceful protesters, most particularly the use of tanks and live fire that killed and injured hundreds of people,” Mr. Ban told reporters.

He said the Syrian authorities have the obligation to protect the civilian population and respect international human rights, including rights of free expression and peaceful assembly.

Chernobyl Disaster: 25th Anniversary of the World's Worst Nuclear Accident

Ceremonies will take place in Ukraine today to mark the 25th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident.

An explosion at reactor number four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exposed hundreds of thousands of people to high doses of radiation and sent a fall-out cloud across Europe.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will visit Chernobyl to take part in the memorial ceremonies at the site, alongside his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yanukovych.

One of the main services was held in the central square of Slavutich, a small city 40kms from the site.

The service was at held at 1.23am (11.23pm Irish time), the exact moment 25 years ago that the Chernobyl reactor No 4 exploded, spewing a cloud of radioactive fallout over much of northern Europe.

Mourners placed flowers and lit candles for the victims of the disaster, including the cleanup workers known as 'liquidators' - who died as they battled the fire at the reactor and evacuated people.Almost every one who came to the ceremony had lost someone in the Chernobyl disaster.Alexander Pelechanko, a former Chernobyl worker, was employed at the plant for 25 years.

'I came to light a candle for my friends, I came to remember all my friends and all of what happened. All of this is difficult to talk about,' he said.

Meanwhile in capital Kiev, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill led the night time service near a monument to firefighters and cleanup workers who died soon after the accident from acute radiation poisoning.

The explosion at Chernobyl forced hundreds of thousands from their homes in the most heavily hit areas in Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia.

Large territories were contaminated, several villages and the towns of Chernobyl and Pripyat were abandoned.

The city of Slavutich was built to relocate the people who worked and lived near by Chernobyl power plant, in the city of Pripyat.
The explosion released about 400 times more radiation than the US atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima.

The United Nations's World Health Organisation said at a conference in Kiev last week that among the 600,000 people most heavily exposed to the radiation, 4,000 more cancer deaths than average are expected to be eventually found.

Thousands of children developed thyroid cancer, and other health problems from the harmful radiation levels.

But exactly how many people died is still debated.

The official Soviet death toll of the Chernobyl accident stands at 31, but there is controversy over the disaster's long-term health effects.

Second Drone Strike in Libya

An unmanned predator drone struck a Libyan anti-aircraft system in Tripoli sometime Sunday or late Saturday, a NATO spokesman said.

The spokesman on Sunday said that the drone hit an SA-8 anti-aircraft system sometime in the past 24 hours, confirming the second such strike by NATO forces.

The United States on Saturday confirmed a predator strike, which happened Saturday afternoon.

Keeping with U.S. practice not to comment on drone strikes, the Pentagon offered no other information.

According to a NATO news release, the first strike destroyed a multiple rocket launcher belonging to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime in the vicinity of Misrata. The rocket launcher had been used against civilians, NATO said.

The unmanned predator drones are the latest technology to be used in Libya as NATO carries out a U.N.-backed mission there to protect civilians and enforce a no-fly zone.

The United States has used such drones in other conflict zones, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are designed to carry out precision bombings, and can also be used to collect intelligence.

US Confirms Drone Strike in Libya

The United States has announced its first Predator drone strike in Libya, while rebels report deaths in their western stronghold, Misrata, as pro-government forces apparently retreat. 

A U.S. Defense Department statement says the airstrike, carried out by an unmanned aircraft, took place on Saturday.  However, the statement does not say where the strike occurred.  The U.S. strike is part of a NATO-led effort to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, where rebels are fighting to overthrow the government.  

In the western city of Misrata, rebels say at least 15 people were killed on Saturday in clashes between forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and rebels.  However, rebels say pro-Gadhafi forces appear to be pulling out of the city. 

Syria Recent Clashes 90 killed, 80 injured

BEIJING: In Syria, where a human rights organization says at least 90 civilians had been killed by security forces during the biggest demonstrations so far against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

Another 80 people were injured in the clashes. Demonstrators also seek the release of political prisoners and the dismantling of the security services.

It was the bloodiest day in a month of escalating demonstrations.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Syria on Friday to call for current president Bashar al-Assad to step down. Although he had just lifted the almost half century old emergency law, protesters were not appeased. They called for more reforms and greater freedoms in the west-Asian country.

Syrian state television showed protests in several cities with news anchors stating the protests were "peaceful". But an unnamed fireman in the capital city of Damascus said the fire stations had been attacked by protesters. His fire engine appears to have been badly damaged.

Unidentified Fireman, said, "Shooting is evidence that people are not calling for freedom. They are calling for damage, to destroy the country.":

However, amatuer video posted on a social website showed yet another side to the story. In it, protestors are seen running from the sound of gunfire in the cities of Homs and Damascus.

Neither account could be independently confirmed.

Friday's violence brings the death toll to around 300, since the unrest broke out in March in southern Syria.

Japan earmarks $50bn for quake rebuild

TOKYO: Japan's cabinet approved on Friday almost $50 billion of spending for post-earthquake rebuilding, a down payment on the country's biggest public works effort in six decades.

The emergency budget of 4 trillion yen ($48.5 billion), which is likely be followed by more reconstruction spending packages, is still dwarfed by the overall cost of damages caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, estimated at $300 billion.

"With this budget, we are taking one step forward toward reconstruction ... and toward restarting the economy," Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and 15 meter tsunami that followed caused Japan's gravest crisis since World War Two, killing up to 28,000 people and destroying tens of thousands of homes.

It also smashed a nuclear power plant which began leaking radiation, a situation the plant's operator says could take all year to bring under control.

Markets are keeping a close eye on how much the government will borrow to fund reconstruction. Though it kept its promise not to issue new bonds to finance this tranche of spending, additional bonds are expected to pay for rebuilding budgets to come.

Though Japan's debt is around twice the size of its $5 trillion economy, it does not face a Greece-style debt crisis since most of that debt is owed to domestic creditors rather than foreign banks.

The budget will be submitted to parliament next week and is expected to be enacted in May.

Gaddafi forces bombard Misrata, six killed: Rebels

Muammar Gaddafi's forces bombarded Misrata heavily for a fourth day on Sunday, rebels said, and evacuees said conditions inside the besieged Libyan city were becoming increasingly desperate.

A rebel spokesman, Abdel Basset Mezerik, told Al Jazeera television at least six people were killed and 47 wounded in the early morning in the insurgents' last major stronghold in the west of the country.

Libya's third-largest city has been under siege by pro-Gaddafi troops for about seven weeks. Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed there.

"The bombardment is still going on," a rebel who declined to be named