Violence up in Afghanistan, UN warns

Afghanistan is seeing higher levels of violence this year than last year at this time, with 20% more civilians killed and the number of "security incidents" up by 66%, the United Nations says in a new report.

The number of civilians killed by the United States and its allies was lower, but insurgent attacks are significantly higher, meaning the overall number of civilian deaths is up.

More than 2,400 civilians were killed, and more than 3,800 injured in the first 10 months of this year, the report says.

More than three out of four of the casualties were caused by "anti-government elements," it says.

That's a 25 percent increase on last year, it said. Deaths caused by U.S. troops and their allies were down 18 percent.

"Assassinations" of civilians and police reached "unprecedented numbers" in August, and there were an average of three suicide attacks per week, the U.N. said in its quarterly report.

The United Nations report, which was finalized December 10, also tracked widespread kidnapping of aid workers.

A total of 134 were abducted between June and the end of October, the U.N. said. Most were freed quickly, but one Afghan was killed by his captors, the world body said.

A British aid worker was also killed this year by U.S. special forces trying to rescue her from kidnappers. Linda Norgrove, 36, was killed by an American grenade thrown by a rescuer who did not realize she was there.

U.S. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was the top international military commander in Afghanistan until he was fired in June, urged his troops to avoid civilian casualties in order to avoid making enemies of the population.

"It is better to miss a target than to cause civilian casualties," McChrystal said in December 2009. "We can always target enemy leaders later. We can't make up for the fact that we killed civilians."

But there continued to be high-profile incidents, including one where 23 civilians were killed in a NATO airstrike in February.

McChrystal personally apologized to Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai for those killings and ordered an investigation. It concluded that troops needed more training.

McChrystal's dismissal was not related to the incident. He was fired over disrespectful comments his inner circle made about top White House officials in a profile of the general in Rolling Stone magazine.

The United Nations report was prepared for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

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http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/12/24/afghanistan.security/

Man arrested in Malaysia for on-line insults

Malaysian law enforcement officials have detained a man for posting a Facebook page that allegedly included insults against the state monarch there, according to Bernama, Malaysia's official national news agency.

The 40-year-old man also allegedly was responsible for Facebook postings deemed insulting to the Sultan of Johor, a ceremonial ruler of one of Malaysia's peninsular states.

Authorities arrested the man on November 29 and seized five cell phones, five laptop computers, and a wireless router, Bernama reported.

A top Malaysian law enforcement official said a task force was formed last summer after complaints were lodged about postings on the Facebook page, according to Bernama.

Prosecutors are considering what -- if any -- legal actions to pursue in the case, Bernama said.

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http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/12/23/malaysia.facebook.arrest/index.html?eref=edition_asia&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fedition_asia+%28RSS%3A+Asia%29

Indian police issue terror alert in Mumbai

Police issued an alert Thursday in Mumbai, saying four members of a militant group had entered the Indian city and were suspected of plotting violence on the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Himanshu Roy, Mumbai's joint commissioner of police, said the suspected terrorists belong to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, the Pakistan-based group that was blamed for a violent siege on Mumbai in November 2008.

The four men were identified as Abdul Kareem Moosa, Noor Abu Ilahi, Walid Jinnah and Mahfooz Alam, each between 20 and 30 years old. At a news conference, Roy released a sketch of Jinnah.

Roy said the four recently "sneaked into the city to carry out extremely dangerous activity."

He had no information on their nationalities.

A source familiar with the police investigation told CNN that India's Ministry of Home Affairs issued a bulletin earlier this week to police departments around India warning of possible terror attacks in Mumbai and Ahmadabad, further north in the western state of Gujarat.

Specific to Mumbai, the bulletin called for beefed up security at luxury hotels, tourist hubs, churches and consulates, especially those of the United States and European nations, the source said.

The bulletin warned of possible carjackings and vehicle-borne explosives.

Mumbai police were restricting traffic starting Thursday in and around the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel, one of the landmarks that had come under attack in 2008, several Indian newspapers reported.

"All roads, except for two access points, leading to the Taj hotel will remain closed from Thursday," Nawal Bajaj, a police official, told The Times of India. "This is being done due to a specific intelligence alert. This arrangement will continue for the next 15 days."

Bajaj said every food truck entering the hotel grounds will be checked and police will conduct background checks on hotel suppliers.

Additional security has been arranged for crowded destinations like the seaside Gateway of India, a popular spot for New Year's celebrations.

Lashkar-e-Tayyiba is on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist organizations, and last month the U.S. Treasury said it is prohibiting Americans from "engaging in any transactions" with that group.

The Treasury specifically cited Azam Cheema, who helped train operatives for the 2008 Mumbai attacks and was the "mastermind" behind Mumbai train bombings carried out by Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in 2006.

Mumbai has been the target of several terrorist attacks in the past few years, including train bombings in 1993 that killed 257 people. The most shocking and freshest in the minds of Mumbaikars is the 2008 siege.

In the coordinated onslaught, 10 gunmen stormed three hotels, a train station and a Jewish cultural center, killing 164 people.

Only one of the gunmen, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab of Pakistan, survived the attack. He has been convicted of murder, conspiracy and waging war against India. His lawyers have appealed his death sentence to a higher court of Mumbai.

Last month, Indians marked the second anniversary of the attack with prayers, a march for peace and a wreath-laying ceremony.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh vowed renewed efforts to track down those behind the assault.

"We will never succumb to the designs of our enemies," he said. "We pledge to redouble our efforts to bring the perpetrators of this crime against humanity to justice."

The attack on India's largest city and its financial hub derailed the fragile peace process between nuclear-capable arch-foes India and Pakistan. Under U.S. pressure, the two neighbors resumed talks this year in a bid to restart a full dialogue, but progress has been slow.

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http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/12/23/india.terror.alert/

China's Robot Waiters: No Tipping Necessary

A restaurant that opened this month in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong uses robots for waiters, boosting efficiency and providing further proof that human beings are superfluous. Machines don't grumble over tips. And they can't spit in your food.

The traditional hotpot eatery is staffed by more than a dozen automated servers, the distant and brightly colored relations of Star Wars' golden droid C-3PO. The robots whir around the room on little bicycles carrying meat and veggies to be dipped by restaurant-goers into bubbling broth. Customers need not shout, weep or make obscene gestures to get their waiter's attention. Every bot is equipped with motion sensors; all you have to do is get in one's way and nab a plate of food. (See the all-TIME 100 gadgets.)

Indeed, patrons of the Dalu Robot restaurant in Jinan, Shandong's capital, seem pleased with the change. "They have a better service attitude than humans," Li Xiaomei, a newcomer to the place, which can seat 100, told the AP. "Humans can be temperamental or impatient, but [the robo-waiters] don't feel tired, they just keep working and moving round and round the restaurant all night." (See the 50 best inventions of 2010.)

Restaurant owner Zhang Yongpei is hoping, eventually, to put 40 of the machines to work and come out, with the help of the Shandong Dalu Science and Technology Company, with models that can climb stairs. As it is, the droids don't just serve. A female-looking bot with fake fluttering lashes stands at the door to welcome diners - if not warmly, then at least in a soothing monotone. Another, clad in a dress, flails its arms about - sort of - in an effort to entertain the crowd. OK, maybe humans still are good for something. (via AP)

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http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/12/22/china%E2%80%99s-robot-waiters-no-tipping-necessary/

U.S. threatens WTO action on China rare earth curbs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China has refused repeated U.S. requests to eliminate export restraints on rare earths that have rattled its trading partners, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said on Thursday.

"Going forward, the United States will continue to pursue vigorous engagement with China on this issue and will not hesitate to take further action, including WTO dispute settlement, if appropriate," the trade representative's office said in an annual report on how well China has complied with commitments made when it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.

The warning came one day after the U.S. trade representative's office said it had begun a legal challenge at the WTO against certain Chinese subsidies for wind power equipment manufacturers.

U.S. officials said on Wednesday they could file additional cases against questionable China policies in the clean energy sector, and the new report amplifies U.S. concerns about China's export restrictions on rare earths.

It said the United States most recently pressed China to eliminate its export restraints on rare earths during the high-level U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade meeting last week in Washington.

"But to date China has not been willing to change its policies," the U.S. trade office said.

China controls 97 percent of global supplies of the elements and uses quotas and taxes to limit exports.

China slashed the export quota by 40 percent this year and plans to trim it further next year. It has already announced increased export taxes on rare earths in 2011.

The 17 rare earth elements are used in high-tech electronics, magnets and batteries, with applications in hybrid cars, renewable energy, computer monitors and weapons.

China's export restrictions have caused "world prices for some of the rare earths to rise dramatically higher than China's domestic prices," which has hindered efforts in other countries to develop expertise in the manufacturing of clean technology products, USTR said.

"In September 2010, China reportedly imposed a de facto ban on all exports of rare earths to Japan, causing even more concern among China's trading partners," USTR said.

China says its curbs are for environmental reasons and to manage supplies.

The U.S. Trade Representative's annual report, which is required under U.S. law and runs 124 pages, also said China still has not fully implemented some important market-opening commitments it made when it joined the WTO in 2001.

"Frequently, these problems can be traced to China's pursuit of industrial policies that rely on excessive, trade-distorting government intervention intended to promote or protect China's domestic industries and state-owned enterprises," the trade office said.

China's "serious problem" with intellectual property rights enforcement, its slow movement toward joining the WTO's government procurement pact and its indigenous innovation policies that discriminate against foreign companies are all major concerns, the trade office said.

However, the report also said progress had been made on several issues during this month's U.S.-China talks.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Eric Beech and Bill Trott)

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101223/pl_nm/us_usa_china_trade

Medvedev Praises Obama for Treaty

Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, on Friday called the New Start treaty “a cornerstone of security for the coming decades,” and spoke warmly of President Obama, saying that “under very difficult circumstances, he managed to make the Senate ratify this document.”

Mr. Medvedev said Mr. Obama “is a man who knows how to hear and to listen, a man not trapped by stereotypes, a man who lives up to this standard — he keeps his word.” He said he expects the thaw in relations between Russia and the United States to be a lasting one, despite midterm Congressional election gains by Republicans who are wary of Russia.

“There are people in America who are sympathetic to the ‘reset,’” he said. “There are others who shudder at the thought of it, and think all evil is concentrated in the Russian Federation. This is just democracy at work. Still, I think American society and its establishment will have enough tact and self-control to continue this path.”

Mr. Medvedev made the comments during a televised question-and-answer session with the heads of Russia’s three leading television stations.

Russia’s parliament, which was waiting for the treaty to be ratified by the Senate, held a first reading of a ratification bill on Friday. The bill will need to pass three readings by the Duma, the lower house of parliament, a process that will continue at least through the end of January. Though deputies may attach nonbinding amendments to the bill, approval is virtually assured.

“The treaty brings our relations with the United States to a fundamentally new qualitative level, to the level of equality, parity, and a balance of interests,” Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov told deputies on Friday. A failure to ratify it, he said, would “deliver a serious blow to our reputation.”

Mr. Medvedev’s Friday television appearance touched on many of the same topics as Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin’s televised “conversation” last week, though it was around one-third as long, about one hour and 40 minutes.

While Mr. Putin used the occasion to emphasize what he described as the urgent need to maintain order, Mr. Medvedev reprised his calls to modernize the state, saying Russians should believe in laws and institutions, not just “a good czar and force.”

Though stability was a worthy goal during the rocky years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mr. Medvedev said, that period is over.

“We cannot develop the nation through stability alone, we also need drive,” he said. “Drive is a desire to do something, to overcome oneself. If there are those in power who believe that they are fine, they should stay at Courchevel,” a French ski resort beloved by Russia’s moneyed -- and frequently office-holding -- elite.

Mr. Medvedev also endorsed the “vertical of power” forged by Mr. Putin. He said Russia “almost broke apart, among other reasons because of the egoism of regional leaders” before Mr. Putin abolished direct elections of governors in favor of hand-picked Kremlin appointments in 2004.

“Not all democratic methods work well,” he said. “For the time being, it is necessary to maintain the unified administration of the state – the vertical.”

Mr. Medvedev announced with some pride that had replaced one-third of Russia’s regional leaders since becoming president three years ago, saying he allots each leader two – or at most three – terms to prove his performance.

Though he was referring to regional governors, his words come against the backdrop of Russia’s central political intrigue: Whether Mr. Putin, a two-term president, will seek a return to the presidency in 2012, displacing Mr. Medvedev.

“People cannot work eternally,” Mr. Medvedev said. “Sometimes they should go have some rest, and give way to others.”

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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/25/world/europe/25russia.html