Indonesian volcano's death toll rises to 191

Boys look at the eruption of Mount Merapi volcano in Manisrenggo village, in the Klaten district of Indonesia's central Java province Nov 10, 2010. Mount Merapi showed lethargic signs on Wednesday but authorities would not lower down its alert status because of its intense seismic activities, the head of the country's vulcanolology agency said. (Getty Images / REUTERS/Andry Prasetyo )

November 10, 2010 (KATAKAMI / CNN) -- The toll from recent eruptions of Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano has climbed to 191 dead and 145 seriously injured, government officials said Wednesday.
Scores of others have suffered less severe injuries, said Dr. Sigit Priohutomo, of the Merapi Disaster Health Team.

Recent eruptions of Merapi started on October 26, displacing 200,000 people, relief agencies such as Plan Indonesia have estimated.

On Wednesday, volcanic ash from Merapi forced airlines such as Cathay Pacific Airways and Qantas Airways to cancel flights at the Yogyakarta and Jakarta airports, airport officials said.

The threat of ash also prompted the early departure of U.S. President Barack Obama from Indonesia. Obama, who was visiting on a 10-day tour of Asia, left early for South Korea, where he is to attend the G-20 summit.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has called the volcano eruptions a crisis situation. On Sunday, he and several of his ministers visited Yogyakarta to oversee relief efforts.

The president has announced that residents will receive compensation for livelihoods and animals lost to the eruptions. The government will buy endangered cows on the volcano, Yudhoyono said. Many of those who live on its slopes raise cattle and risked their lives by staying or returning to feed their cows during lulls of volcanic activity.

Ash columns from Merapi's recent eruptions have risen as high as 6 kilometers (3.7 miles), according to the Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Agency.

An ash cloud that hit a village near the crater was about 450 to 600 degrees Celsius (842 to 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the Indonesian Volcanology Technology Development and Assessment Agency.
The 3,000-meter (9,800-foot) Merapi, in Central Java, is famously unpredictable. About 1,300 people died when it erupted in 1930.

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Officials ready Suu Kyi's "Nov 13" release

Aung San Suu Kyi

November 10, 2010 YANGON (KATAKAMI / CHANNEL NEWS ASIA) --- : Security preparations are under way for the expected release of Myanmar's detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the next few days, officials in the military-ruled country said Wednesday.

"We haven't got any instruction from superiors for her release yet. But we are preparing security plans for November 13," a government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the past two decades locked up, had her detention extended by 18 months in August last year over a bizarre incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside home.

Her lawyers say the current period of detention started with her imprisonment on May 14 last year and they expect her to be freed on Saturday.

Another official, who also did not want to be named, said: "We don't have the order yet. It will be at the last minute."

Nyan Win, a spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said the party had compiled a list of members who would meet Suu Kyi after her release.

"We will draw up a plan for the future after she meets with these people," Nyan Win, who is also one of Suu Kyi's lawyers, told AFP.

He said her party had not received any information from the authorities about when she would be released.

"They never told us in advance in the past. But what I want to say is they should inform her when she will be freed. That's why we will ask them today (with a letter) to inform us about the matter," he said.

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Volcano ash forces flight cancellations in Indonesia

Mount Merapi spews volcanic material as seen from Wukirsari, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 8, 2010 (AP Photo)

November 10, 2010 Jakarta, Indonesia (KATAKAMI / CNN) -- Volcanic ash spewing from Indonesia's Mount Merapi has forced some airlines to cancel flights out of Jakarta's international airport, airport officials said Wednesday.

Cathay Pacific Airways and Qantas Airways had canceled flights at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, airport spokesman Andang Santoso said. Singapore Airlines said it was continuing to fly.

Large clouds of gas and dust from Merapi's recent eruptions also have forced some flight cancellations into and out of the Yogyakarta airport.

Travelers were asked to check with their airlines for schedule changes.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama shortened his visit to the Indonesian capital because of concerns that volcanic ash could ground Air Force One in Jakarta, according to administration officials.

Recent eruptions of Merapi, which started on October 26, have killed at least 156 people, officials at Sardjito hospital have said. The eruptions also have displaced an estimated 200,000 people.

The 3,000-meter (9,800-foot) Merapi, in Central Java, is famously unpredictable. About 1,300 people died when Merapi erupted in 1930.


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Indonesia's Mount Merapi Volcanic ash disrupts Jetstar flights to Bali

Ash clouds from volcano Mt Merapi in Java have caused disruptions to Jetstar's flight schedule in Bali. (AFP: Clara Prima)

November 10, 2010 (KATAKAMI / ABC.NET.AU) - Jetstar has been forced to cancel and reschedule flights to and from Bali because of an ash plume from Indonesia's Mount Merapi volcano.

The airline is Australia's most frequent carrier to Bali, with four flights out of Australia each day.

But it has stopped night flights to the island because pilots need to make visual checks on approach to the Denpasar airport.

Tonight's flight from Darwin to Denpasar has been cancelled and a flight from Melbourne to Denpasar was re-routed to Darwin yesterday.

Another flight from Denpasar to Darwin is due to land in Darwin this afternoon - almost 12 hours later than scheduled.

The airline has rescheduled its Sydney-to-Denpasar service to ensure all flights to Bali land in daylight hours.

"It allows our pilots to have full visual scope of coming into and out of Denpasar International Airport airspace and we're doing that purely as a precautionary measure in line with high safety standards," Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said.

The airline is offering passengers a range of options to compensate them for any interruptions to their travel.

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David Cameron focuses on democracy in China speech

Mr Cameron has been joined by four cabinet ministers and 43 business leaders on the trip

 

November 10, 2010  (KATAKAMI / BBC) --- David Cameron is expected to promote the benefits of democracy in a keynote speech to Chinese students in Beijing.

He is expected to say that political freedom and the rule of law provide the best path to stability and prosperity.

He will acknowledge British society is "not perfect" and insist that he is not trying to place the UK in a position of "moral superiority" over China.

The prime minister is on a two-day trade mission but has been urged to address China's record on human rights.

He has said he will not "lecture and hector" China over political freedoms and human rights. His aides have said the speech is intended in a spirit of frank dialogue, rather than criticism.

But he will say better governance is promoted by institutions such as Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons and an official opposition, by forcing leaders to listen to criticism and adapt their policies in response.

The existence of a judiciary able to strike down unlawful official actions "make our government better and our country stronger", he will say.

And those who hold different views from the government are able to take part in public debate through a free media.

"We believe that the better informed the British public is about the issues affecting our society... the easier it is, ultimately, for the British government to come to sensible decisions and to develop robust policies that command the confidence of our people, " he will say.


'Mutual respect' 

Mr Cameron is expected to acknowledge that leading a country of 1.3 billion people raises difficulties of a different order from those of a nation of 60 million.

Speaking to students at Beida University he will add: "I make these observations not because I believe that we have some moral superiority.

"Our own society is not perfect. There is still injustice which we must work hard to tackle. We are far from immune from poverty and the ills that afflict every nation on earth."

But he will say: "In arguing for a strong relationship between our countries, I want a relationship in which we can be open with each other, in which we can have a constructive dialogue of give and take in a spirit of tolerance and mutual respect.

"The rise in economic freedom in China in recent years has been hugely beneficial to China and to the world.

"I hope that in time this will lead to a greater political opening... because I am convinced that the best guarantor of prosperity and stability is for economic and political progress to go in step together."

On Tuesday, Mr Cameron raised the issue of human rights during talks with the Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, but did not refer directly to jailed dissident and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Liu Xiabo.
But BBC political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Cameron was expected to talk specifically about this later in the visit, which aims to promote trade.

The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who says he was recently put under house arrest by the Chinese authorities, said Mr Cameron must make a public statement about China's human rights record.

He suggested that by avoiding the matter, the prime minister he was putting trade ahead of human rights
Mr Cameron, who is joined by four cabinet ministers and 43 business leaders, called the trip a "vitally important trade mission".

Engine maker Rolls-Royce has won a $1.2bn (£750m) contract - the biggest of the visit so far - which is to supply a Chinese airline with Trent 700 engines for 16 Airbus A330 aircraft, along with long-term servicing.


On Wednesday, Mr Cameron will visit the Great Wall of China and meet President Hu Jintao before flying on to the G20 summit in South Korea.



Nick Robinson BBC political editor :

It is a reminder of how limited is the power of our government to even express deep concern let alone do anything about China's continued policy of repression and opposition to democracy”

UK's Cameron meets Chinese President Hu

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (L) shakes hands with China's President Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing November 10, 2010. Cameron set out the benefits of multi-party democracy, the rule of law and a free media on Wednesday in comments that are likely to rile his hosts China. (Getty Images / REUTERS/Petar Kujundzic )

November 10, 2010 BEIJING  (KATAKAMI / AP) – British Prime Minister David Cameron met China's top leader Wednesday in a bid to boost business ties and told President Hu Jintao he was committed to expanding relations.

Cameron, who is being accompanied by four Cabinet ministers and about 50 business leaders, was to deliver a speech emphasizing Britain's importance as a world power and Chinese trading partner after meeting with Hu.

"We put the highest value on the Britain-China relationship, I hope that this visit will further strengthen it," Cameron told Hu at the start of their meeting at the Great Hall of the People, home to China's legislature in the heart of the capital.

Human rights and global security concerns surrounding Iran and North Korea appear to have taken a back seat during the China visit, although Cameron has said he would raise those issues in his talks with Wen and Hu.

Last year, China was Britain's third-largest source of imports and ninth-largest export market. Cameron has said he hopes to see annual bilateral trade double by 2015 to more than $100 billion, including $30 billion per year in British exports.

Among the contracts signed so far is a $1.2 billion deal for jet engine maker Rolls-Royce to provide engines for 16 A330 jets operated by China Eastern Airlines.

On Tuesday, Cameron met with Premier Wen Jiabao at the Great Hall of the People after a formal welcoming ceremony.

"My new government does highly value the relationship between Britain and China, and we believe that this is an area where there should be great continuity with the last government who helped establish this very strong relationship," he said.

The two-day visit is Cameron's second major foray to court an emerging economy since taking office in May. He went to India in July.

Underscoring his support for British businesses, Cameron's first stop after arriving Tuesday was a Beijing branch of British supermarket chain Tesco, which has nearly 100 outlets in China and plans to add another 20 by year end.

Cameron is joined by executives from Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Tesco PLC, Barclays bank and Diageo PLC, among others. Treasury chief George Osborne, Business Secretary Vince Cable, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne and Education Secretary Michael Gove are also on the trip.

Cameron's visit comes on the heels of Hu's trip to France and Portugal last week that resulted in $20 billion worth of contracts for French and European companies. Wen visited several European countries in September and October, conveying pledges to strengthen trade and purchase Greek bonds.

Cameron's visit is the first by a British leader since China executed a 53-year-old British man, Akmal Shaikh, for drug smuggling in December, despite an official appeal on his behalf from London. The execution drew condemnation from British politicians and rights groups who argued Shaikh was delusional and had unwittingly been exploited by criminals.

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Dmitry Medvedev arrives in Seoul on official visit

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

November 10, 2010 (KATAKAMI / RIA NOVOSTI) --- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has arrived in Seoul, where he will hold bilateral talks with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak and take part in a G20 summit.

During their two-day talks, Medvedev and Lee will discuss cooperation between the countries in the energy, space, shipbuilding, fishing and military spheres during Medvedev's visit to Seoul, Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said.

More than twenty documents, including a roadmap on Russian gas supplies to South Korea, are expected to be signed during the talks, the second meeting between Medvedev and Lee in the past two month.
The two leaders are going to discuss the diversification of economic cooperation between the countries, particularly by increasing exports of hi-tech equipment.

"The parties intend to begin drawing up a joint partnership program aimed at modernization and innovative development," Prikhodko said.

Telecommunication, banking, the commercialization of innovative technologies, and environmental protection have been named as spheres of strategic cooperation between the countries, he added.
The issues of regional cooperation, especially in Siberia and the Far East, are also on the agenda, Prikhodko said.

Medvedev and Lee are also expected to address the North Korean nuclear issue during their talks.
The Russian president told South Korean media on the eve of his visit to Seoul that implementation of three-party projects between Russia and South and North Korea would help normalize the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

The construction of a pipeline to pump Russian gas via North Korea, linking the Trans-Korean Railroad with the Trans-Siberian Railway and the construction of an electricity transmission line between Russia and South Korea are among such projects. However, Medvedev said the implementation of such projects will only be possible if "tensions reduce on the Korean Peninsula and if the two Koreas follow the path of national reconciliation."

"We would like to give an additional impetus to negotiations on the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects," Prikhodko said. "Direct support of the South Korean authorities will certainly be very important."

Lee and Medvedev last met in Moscow in 2008, when the two presidents agreed to step up bilateral cooperation, including in international effort to resolve tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti)

PM Benjamin Netanyahu : Construction in Jerusalem

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

November 09, 2010 (KATAKAMI / PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE) --- Jerusalem is not a settlement; Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel.  Israel has never accepted upon itself restrictions of any kind on construction in Jerusalem, which has approximately 800,000 residents, including during the ten months in which construction was suspended in Judea and Samaria.

Israel sees no connection between the diplomatic process and planning and building policy in Jerusalem, which has not changed in 40 years.  All Israeli governments in the past 40 years have built in all parts of the city.  During this period, peace agreements were signed with Egypt and Jordan, and for 17 years, diplomatic negotiations have been conducted with the Palestinians.  These are historical facts.  Construction in Jerusalem has never hindered the peace process.

The disagreements with the US over Jerusalem are well-known.  They are not new and have continued for 40 years.  We hope to overcome them and continue to advance the diplomatic negotiations.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking forward to his planned Thursday meeting with US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in order to advance the peace talks.  (*)

PM Netanyahu : “Jerusalem is not a settlement, Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

In US, Netanyahu says Israel sees no connection between peace process and construction in the capital. ‘All Israeli governments have built in all parts of the city for 40 years, and we still signed peace deals with Egypt, Jordan,’ premier adds.

November 09, 2010 (KATAKAMI / YNET) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has toughened his stance ahead his scheduled meeting with the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Thursday, rejecting any American and international criticism regarding building in east Jerusalem.

“Jerusalem is not a settlement – Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel. Israel has never restricted itself regarding any kind of building in the city, which is home to some 800,000 people – including during the 10-month construction moratorium in the West Bank,” the PM said Tuesday.

“Israel sees no connection between the peace process and the planning and building policy in Jerusalem, something that hasn’t changed for the past 40 years. All Israeli governments have built in all parts of the city in the past 40 years.

“During this time,” he added, “We have signed peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan and have held negotiations with the Palestinians for 17 years. Construction in Jerusalem has never obstructed the peace process.”

Netanyahu spoke just hours after US President Barack Obama told a press conference in Indonesia that Israeli construction in east Jerusalem “is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations.”

The Israeli premier added that “the disagreements between Israel and the US regarding Jerusalem are well-known, and I hope to overcome them and move the peace talks forward. We intend to advance the peace negotiations during Thursday’s meeting with Secretary of State Clinton.”

On Monday, the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee approved the construction of 32 housing units in the eastern part of Pisgat Ze’ev, a neighborhood located beyond the Green Line.

The construction, which has been a bone of contention in the international community, was approved during Netanyahu’s visit to the United States.


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