Ecuador offers residency to WikiLeaks’ Assange

QUITO: An Ecuadorean government official has invited the founder of the WikiLeaks whistleblower website to live and lecture in the country, days after the site caused an international uproar by releasing additional sensitive U.S. documents.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kintto Lucas told local media that Ecuador was attempting to get in touch with WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange to invite him to the country, praising his work as an investigator.

Ecuador is part of a leftist bloc of governments in South America, including Venezuela and Bolivia, that have been highly critical of U.S. policy in the region.

More than 250,000 State Department cables were obtained by WikiLeaks and given to media groups, which began publishing stories on Sunday exposing the inner workings of U.S. diplomacy, including candid and embarrassing assessments of world leaders. WikiLeaks previously

Pakistan Ranks 34th in Global Corruption Index

Pakistan Ranks 34th in Global Corruption Index, War-torn states are still seen as being the most corrupt in the world, according to a new report from Transparency International. Pakistan dropped to 34th from 42nd in the ranking of global corruption index.

Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore maintained their top position on the list with scores of 9.3. They were followed by Finland, Sweden, Canada and the Netherlands while Afghanistan, Myanmar and Somalia came last with scores as low as 1.1. The US ranked 22nd on the list, down from 19th last year, with a score of 7.1 out of 10, compared with 7.5 in 2009, the Berlin-based corruption watchdog group showed in its Corruption Perceptions Index published today. Meanwhile, emerging economic powerhouse China is in 78th place.

Countries that improved their rankings included Chile, Kuwait, Qatar, Ecuador, Jamaica and Haiti. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Madagascar and Niger also saw their scores decline on the index.
This years index, which measures the perception of corruption in the public sector, showed that 132 of the 180 nations reviewed scored below five on a 0-to-10 scale, with 10 indicating the least corrupt, Transparency said.
The index has become a benchmark gauge of perceptions of a countrys corruption, an assessment of risks for investors. Its an aggregate indicator that combines data from as many as 13 surveys and assessments from 10 independent institutions, including country experts and business leaders.

‘Mad Men’ crowned at Emmy awards

LOS ANGELES: ‘Mad Men’ kept its crown as the best television drama series at the 62nd annual Emmy Awards while comedy show ‘Modern Family’ dethroned ‘30 Rock’ to establish itself as the best in the genre.

“Mad Men”, which tells the story of an advertising agency in the 1960s, won the outstanding drama series award for the third year in a row.

“Modern Family”, which makes fun of the everyday life of three American families, emerged meanwhile as the top winner for outstanding comedy series.

Television movie “Temple Grandin”, which tells the story of a woman who triumphed over autism, also did well, boosting the standing of its producer, the Home Box Office cable television network.

The movie swept a total of three prizes: Claire Danes won for lead actress in a movie or miniseries; Julia Ormond won supporting actress; and David Strathairn for supporting

Obama says not worried by Muslim ‘rumors’

WASHINGTON: A public opinion poll showing Americans are increasingly convinced, wrongly, that he is Muslim does not trouble him, President Barack Obama said on Sunday.

“It’s not something that I can, I think, spend all my time worrying about it,” Obama said in an interview with NBC News, dismissing the results of a recent Pew Research Center.

“I’m not going to be worrying too much about whatever rumors are floating out there. If I spend all my time chasing after that, then I wouldn’t get much done.”

The Pew poll showed nearly one in five Americans – 18 percent — believe Obama is a Muslim, up from 11 percent in March 2009.

In addition, only about one third of Americans surveyed correctly describe Obama as a Christian, a sharp decrease from the 48 percent who said he was a Christian in 2009.

“There is, a mechanism, a network of misinformation

Ecuador bus crash kills 38 in highlands, 12 hurt

QUITO: A bus winding its way through Ecuador’s highlands towards the capital of Quito went off the road before dawn Sunday, killing 38 passengers in the worst accident of this kind in the country in years.

Authorities said 12 more people were injured in the crash. Local television showed rescue workers struggling to extract bodies and look for survivors on the steep cliffs around Lake Yambo in the central province of Cotopaxi where the accident occurred.

The bus had started its journey in the southern colonial city of Cuenca in Azuay province.

“We are analyzing the causes of the accident,” Ecuador’s chief traffic accident investigator Wilson Pavon told reporters.

Local TV showed rescue workers extracting a tiny baby from the wreckage. It was unclear if the child was still alive. AGENCIES

Chavez threatens U.S. oil cut in Colombia dispute

CARACAS: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened on Sunday to cut oil supplies to the United States in case of a military attack from Colombia as a dispute escalated over charges his country harbors Colombian rebels.

A vocal and frequent critic of the United States, Chavez broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia last week over the claims by the outgoing government of President Alvaro Uribe, a close U.S. ally.

Chavez, a leftist who says Washington is behind the charges, has never carried out previous threats to cut oil supplies to the United States, Venezuela”s main customer.

“If there was any armed aggression against Venezuela from Colombian territory or from anywhere else, promoted by the Yankee empire, we would suspend oil shipments to the United States, even if we have to eat stones here,” he said.

“We would not send a drop more to U.S. refineries,” he said to a roar of approval from thousands of supporters at a rally for his Socialist party.

Chavez, a former soldier and close ally of Cuba”s Fidel Castro, is also angry with Bogota over a deal to allow U.S. troops access to a series of military bases.

Venezuela, a member of OPEC, gets more than 90 percent of its export income from oil sales, mostly to the United States, and the South American country”s economy would collapse quickly if it stopped shipments.

Speaking from Cuba, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said the oil industry was on “yellow alert” and prepared to follow Chavez”s orders.

“That”s the first step,” Ramirez said. “We are ready to suspend the shipment of oil and products to the United States if we suffer some type of military aggression.”

Oil workers assembled in the port of Puerto La Cruz were told to prepare themselves and their families for a possible “bellicose imperial” action, state oil company PDVSA said.

For Chavez, who has suffered a slide in his popularity this year because of a deep recession, the dispute with Colombia is a useful way of rallying supporters ahead of parliamentary elections in September. The president, who was briefly ousted in a coup in 2002, often alleges U.S.-backed plots against him.

The rift has been costly for both nations. Billions of dollars in trade were lost when Chavez ordered government importers not to buy from the neighboring country.

Uribe will be succeeded as Colombia”s president on Aug. 7 by Juan Manuel Santos, who has been careful to avoid public comment on the dispute.

Although Chavez says he hopes ties can return to normal under Santos, tensions are likely to resurface over the issue of FARC camps and a U.S. military presence in Colombia.

A group of South American foreign ministers will meet in Ecuador next week in an attempt to resolve the crisis.

Santos was Colombia”s defense minister in 2008 and ordered the bombing of a guerrilla camp in Ecuador, prompting Chavez to order troops to the border with Colombia to deter any plans to carry out a similar raid in Venezuela.

On Thursday, Colombia”s envoy to the Organization of American States (OAS) revealed coordinates, photos and videos of FARC camps allegedly in Venezuela — apparently choosing diplomacy to avoid sparking a war in the region.

But Chavez said he feared an attack from Colombia was imminent and canceled a trip to Havana for a celebration of Cuba”s Communist revolution, saying the threat against Venezuela meant it was not wise for him to travel.

U.N. council to hit defiant Iran with new sanctions

UNITED NATIONS: The U.N. Security Council is set to impose a new round of sanctions on a defiant Iran on Wednesday over a nuclear program that Western powers suspect is aimed at developing atomic weapons.

The 15-nation council meets at 10:00 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) to vote on a draft resolution that was the product of five months of talks between the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia.

The four Western powers had wanted much tougher measures — some targeting Iran”s energy sector — but Beijing and Moscow worked hard to dilute the steps proposed in a 10-page draft.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Ecuador on Tuesday that it would be the “the most significant sanctions Iran has ever faced.

Iran rejects Western allegations that it is seeking nuclear weapons, insisting that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.

The draft resolution calls for measures against new Iranian banks abroad if a connection to the nuclear or missile programs is suspected, as well as vigilance over transactions with any Iranian bank, including the central bank.

It also would expand a U.N. arms embargo against Tehran and blacklist three entities controlled by Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and 15 belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The resolution would also set up a cargo inspection regime similar to one in place for North Korea.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday that individual states will likely move quickly to pass their own measures that go beyond the U.N. sanctions.

In addition to the draft resolution is a list of 40 companies to be added to an existing U.N. blacklist of firms whose assets around the world are to be frozen on suspicion of aiding Iran”s nuclear or missile programs.

The new blacklist, obtained by a British news agency, also includes an individual, Javad Rahiqi, head of an Iranian nuclear center where uranium is processed. His assets will also be frozen and he will face an international travel ban.

The focus of heated last-minute negotiations, the new blacklist on Tuesday morning contained 41 firms, including two banks. By the end of the day China had demanded the deletion of one bank, the Export Development Bank of Iran.

Council diplomats predicted the resolution would pass, though it would likely get only 12 yes votes. Lebanon, they said, would probably abstain, while Turkey and Brazil were seen either abstaining or voting against the resolution.

All five powers with a veto — the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia — are expected to vote in favor.

The first two Iran sanctions resolutions adopted in 2006 and 2007 passed unanimously. The council approved a third set of sanctions in 2008 with 14 yes votes and one abstention.

Three rounds of punitive measures aimed at Iran”s nuclear and missile industries have hit its economy hard but failed to persuade Tehran”s leadership to halt its nuclear program or come to the negotiating table, analysts say.

Instead, Iran continues to enrich uranium at increasingly higher levels, despite occasional hints of possible military action against its nuclear sites by Israel or Washington.

Iran”s U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee, in remarks that were distributed by the Iranian mission, said the push for sanctions showed that some countries “prefer confrontation.”

“In such a condition, the Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to react accordingly in the way it considers appropriate,” Khazaee said without giving details.

An Iranian lawmaker said Tehran would reconsider its cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog if the sanctions went ahead — a threat Tehran has made before.

Diplomats said U.S. officials were working hard in New York to persuade Turkey and Brazil to abstain from Wednesday”s vote, but it was unclear if they would succeed. Lebanon, they say, is unable to support the resolution because the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is in the government.

Turkey and Brazil last month revived parts of a U.N.-backed offer for Tehran to part with 1,200 kg (2,600 pounds) of low enriched uranium in return for special fuel rods for a medical research reactor.

They say the deal removes the need for sanctions and have refused to engage in discussions on the draft resolution. The United States, Britain, France and Germany say the fuel swap deal did nothing to change Tehran”s refusal to suspend uranium enrichment in defiance of five Security Council resolutions.

That defiance, Western diplomats say, has added to a growing irritation with Iran in Moscow and Beijing, which remain close trading partners with Tehran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad admonished Russia at a news conference in Istanbul, where he was attending a summit along with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, to take care “not to be on the side of the enemies of the Iranian people.”

Thousands flee Ecuador, Guatemala volcanos

GUATEMALA CITY: Thousands of people were evacuated and airports were closed as two volcanos erupted in Guatemala and Ecuador Friday, choking major cities with ash, and leaving two dead, officials said.

Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared a 15-day state of emergency around the Pacaya volcano, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the capital.

The volcano erupted again Friday after first bursting back to life Wednesday, killing two people, including a television reporter covering the event. In Ecuador, the Tungurahua volcano exploded into action Friday, forcing the evacuation of at least seven villages and closing down the airport and public schools in Guayaquil, the country”s largest and most populated city.

Ahmadinejad warns against new U.N. sanctions

NEW YORK: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned here on Tuesday that adoption of fresh sanctions by the UN Security Council against his country would doom an improvement in US-Iranian ties.

He told a press conference on the sidelines of a nuclear conference that if the UN Security Council were to adopt a fourth round of sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear defiance, “the relationship between Iran and the United States will never improve again.”

“The path to that (improved ties) will be shut,” he added, a day after he accused the United States and other declared nuclear-armed governments of using nuclear threats against countries which do not have the bomb.

Ahmadinejad also told reporters on Tuesday that he was concerned that the opportunity presented by Barack Obama”s accession to the White House with the goal of reforming America”s international image “would be lost.”

“It will be a reversal to the Bush era,” he added, referring to Obama”s predecessor, president George W Bush.

Addressing the conference reviewing the nuclear non-proliferation treaty on Monday, Ahmadinejad roundly condemned the United States as a proliferator and manipulator of the NPT to its own ends.

“Regrettably, the government of the United States has not only used nuclear weapons but also continues to threaten to use such weapons against other countries, including Iran,” he added.

In a sharp response Monday, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton dismissed the Iranian leader”s charges as “wild accusations” and labeled Iran as an “outlier” country, which like North Korea demonstrates “a determination to violate the rules and defy the international community.”

“Iran will not succeed in its efforts to divert and divide,” she added.

Iran is under three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions to get it to stop enriching uranium, which can be used to make the bomb, even though it insists its nuclear program is a peaceful effort to generate electricity.

Honduras sets up disputed coup truth commission

TEGUCIGALPA: Honduras has set up a Truth and Reconciliation commission aimed at drawing a line under last year”s coup, as Latin America remained deeply divided in its aftermath.

Washington welcomed the move as Honduras returned to the international arena after many Latin American nations vowed to boycott a joint summit with the European Union to protest the inclusion of Porfirio Lobo, whom they deem the illegitimate president of Honduras.

Honduran rights groups slammed the reconciliation commission for failing to include abuses committed around the June 28 coup that overthrew president Manuel Zelaya.

The commission was part of an agreement to end the political impasse between Zelaya — now in exile in the Dominican Republic — and interim leaders who backed his military ouster.

It was also an electoral promise from Lobo, who took office in January after controversial elections and is still seeking to return investment to the impoverished nation.

The commission includes Guatemalan former vice president Eduardo Stein, Canadian diplomat Michael Kergin, and Julieta Castellanos, the head of the National Autonomous University of Honduras.

It will deliver a report in six to eight months, Lobo said.

Riot police with shields pushed away protesters gathered outside the commission swearing-in ceremony to protest against Castellanos, who is in a labor dispute with university workers.

Meanwhile at a summit in Argentina, Ecuador”s President Rafael Correa said that many in the region, including Brazil, would boycott an EU-Latin America summit this month in Madrid to protest the inclusion of Lobo.

Only two South American governments — Colombia and Peru — recognize Lobo, although Honduras has restored ties with Washington, as well as with some Central American nations and Europe.

The top US diplomat to Latin America, Arturo Valenzuela, said in El Salvador on Tuesday that Lobo”s government had now taken the “necessary steps” to return to the international community.

“Honduras is a brother country which has gone through serious enough difficulties and at the same time needs to normalize its relations with the international community,” Valenzuela told a news conference in San Salvador.

But one international NGO said that the commission had been “born dead.”

Its mandate ignores the victims of rights abuses and fails to force authorities to cooperate, Alejandra Nuno, a regional director of the Center for International Justice and Law (CEJIL), told a news conference in Costa Rica.

Honduran activist Bertha Oliva told the conference by telephone that rights groups were setting up an alternative truth commission in Honduras.

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