TOSHIBA TARGETS ASIA, AFRICA AND MIDEAST

Toshiba Corp. is going on an offensive in Asia, Africa and the Middle East with a liquid crystal display TV set that can be viewed even during power outages or in areas with poor reception, problems that still plague many countries.

It’s new Power TV, with its built-in battery backup, hits markets across Southeast Asia next month. The company plans to start selling Power TV in the Middle East and Africa next year. The move is part of Toshiba's efforts to bolster TV sales and production in emerging economies, where demand for LCD TVs is expected to soar. TV sales in Japan are predicted to slump sharply next year due to the end of a government incentive program. In response, Toshiba is moving to tap demand in developing countries.
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TROOPS TO OCCUPY BRAZILIAN SLUM

The military operation to clear a Rio de Janeiro slum of drug traffickers will effectively turn into an occupation of the area at least through October of next year, Gov. Sergio Cabral said in a radio interview Tuesday.

Rio state Gov. Sergio Cabral said that at least 2,000 troops will remain at the Alemao slum called a favela in Portuguese to keep up the effort to pacify the area. He announced the move after meeting with Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's president-elect, in the capital, Brasilia. Originally, he had requested the troops for only six months. Rousseff offered her support for the security work being carried out in Rio, Cabral said. The troops are needed so that the government doesn't have to delay future operations in other communities overrun by drug traffickers, he said.

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US MILITARY GAY BAN REPEAL BID BOOSTED

Most of the US military believe overturning a ban on gay people serving openly will have little or no impact on their units, the results of a new survey suggest.

The Pentagon conducted a year-long study of the law - known as Don't Ask, Don't Tell which was introduced in 1993.It allows homosexuals to join the military as long as they keep their sexuality a secret. An executive summary of the report says: "While a repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell will likely, in the short term, bring about some limited and isolated disruption to unit cohesion and retention, we do not believe this disruption will be widespread or long lasting."

Defence Secretary Robert Gates ordered the review in February of this year, after President Barack Obama made in clear in his State of the Union address that he wanted to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell.Secretary Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen are expected to testify on the report in front of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees on Thursday.

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EU LAUNCHES PROBE INTO GOOGLE ANTI-TRUST VIOLATIONS

Brussels: European Union regulators will investigate whether Google Inc has abused its dominant position in the online search market by deliberately lowering links to smaller rivals’ sites in its search results.

The move announced Tuesday follows complaints from rival search engines that Google put them at a disadvantage in both its regular and sponsored search results, by listing links to their sites below references to its own services in an attempt to shut them out of the market.

If the Commission finds that Google has abused its market position, the company could be fined up to 10 percent of its revenue - that would put it on the line for a $2.4 billion fine based on 2009 earnings figures. The Commission has shown resolve in confronting U.S. corporations and only last year concluded a long-running antitrust case involving Microsoft Corp. that lead to over $1 billion of fines.

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GLOBAL CRISES OVERSHADOW OBAMA'S ECONOMIC MESSAGE

WASHINGTON – Foreign policy challenges are intruding on President Barack Obama's promise to focus on the economy after the Democrats' election debacle and threatening to knock the White House off message altogether.

The escalation of tensions between North and South Korea this past week capped a postelection period that included two presidential trips abroad, discussions about America's future in Afghanistan and a debate in Washington over Senate ratification of a nuclear treaty with Russia.The more time and energy Obama spends on dealing with a foreign crisis increases the risk that he'll be seen as giving short shrift to the public's top priority: finding jobs at home for Americans. White officials say the international focus hasn't diminished the amount of time Obama spends working on the economy. Full Story

WIKILEAKS RELEASES CONFIDENTIAL DIPLOMAT CABLES

A cache of a quarter-million confidential American diplomatic cables, most of them from the past three years, provides an unprecedented look at backroom bargaining by embassies around the world, brutally candid views of foreign leaders and frank assessments of nuclear and terrorist threats.

Some of the cables, made available to The New York Times and several other news organizations, were written as recently as late February, revealing the Obama administration's exchanges over crises and conflicts. The material was originally obtained by WikiLeaks, an organization devoted to revealing secret documents. WikiLeaks intends to make the archive public on its Web site in batches, beginning Sunday.The anticipated disclosure of the cables is already sending shudders through the diplomatic establishment, and could conceivably strain relations with some countries, influencing international affairs in ways that are impossible to predict.

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SKOREA LEADER VOWS CONSEQUENCES FOR NKOREAN ATTACK

SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea's president took responsibility Monday for failing to protect his citizens from a deadly North Korean artillery attack last week, vowing tough consequences for any future aggression and expressing outrage over the "ruthlessness of the North Korean regime.

Lee Myung-bak's nationally televised speech came as a nuclear-powered U.S. supercarrier and a South Korean destroyer participated in joint military exercises, a united show of force nearly a week after an artillery barrage on Yeonpyeong Island killed four, including two civilians.The local government placed the front-line island under control of the military, which could pave the way for the evacuation of about 300 remaining residents, journalists and officials. The decision allows the military to restrict the movement of civilians into and out of the island. South Korea's Defense Ministry said it would discuss whether to evacuate.
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WIKILEAKS DOCS READ LIKE A SPY NOVEL

The huge trove of documents released today by the whistle-blowing Website WikiLeaks reads like something out of a spy novel and lifts the curtain on the secret communications between Washington and U.S. diplomats stationed around the world.

The Website says it will eventually release more than 250,000 documents in all, many of them confidential messages containing candid, often embarrassing observations about foreign leaders. Some of the most fascinating documents are about Iran, depicting Arab governments practically begging the United States to prevent the Iranian government from getting nuclear weapons."That program must be stopped," Bahrain's King tells Gen. David Petraeus in November 2009 according to one of the documents. "The danger of letting it go on is greater than the danger of stopping it."

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S. NORTH'S KOREA TO UP DEFENCE BUDGET; U.S. WARNS ON KIM

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea plans to sharply increase spending on defence next year, local media reported, as regional tensions mount following a North Korean artillery attack and differences between China and the United States.

The Korea Economic Daily said the government had proposed a 5.8 per cent increase in the 2011 defence budget to about $27 billion to buy more self-propelled artillery and fighter-bombers, far more than the 3.6 per cent rise this year.It said parliament could approve an even higher amount, given this week’s shelling by North Korean forces of a Southern island near the disputed maritime boundary.
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STUDENT PROTESTS: MET UNDER FIRE FOR CHARGING AT DEMONSTRATORS

Video footage on YouTube shows mounted police riding at speed into a crowd of around 1,000 protesters in London

Scotland Yard is under pressure after video footage emerged of police officers on horseback charging a crowd of protesters during a demonstration against increases in university tuition fees, 24 hours after they denied that horses charged the crowd.Footage posted on YouTube showed mounted police riding at speed into a crowd of around 1,000 protesters who had gathered south of Trafalgar Square on Wednesday night.

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EXCLUSIVE: PRESIDENT BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA REFLECT ON TENURE

With Thanksgiving travelers up in arms over the Transportation Security Administration's controversial new pat-down procedures, President Barack Obama said the security screenings are justified to keep the nation safe.

"This is gonna be something that evolves. We are gonna have to work on it," Obama told Barbara Walters, indicating the need for new technologies. "I understand people's frustrations with it, but I also know that if there was an explosion in the air that killed a couple of hundred people...and it turned out that we could have prevented it possibly... that would be something that would be pretty upsetting to most of us -- including me." 

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WEATHER NOT A DAMPER ON THANKSGIVING DAY

Thanksgiving was rainy, cold and gray in many places in other words, better than expected. The national holiday escaped most of the bad weather that had threatened to turn Thanksgiving into a wet, traffic-snarling mess in the Midwest and East.

Today is supposed to be better not great, but not bad. Rain from the Midwest was arriving on the heavily populated East Coast overnight and should be largely over the Atlantic Ocean by this afternoon."Folks getting out for some 4 a.m. shopping may get rained on and encounter a little snow in the far north," says Accuweather meteorologist Tom Kines. "By the afternoon, it should be better."

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INDIA FULL ALERT ON MUMBAI ATTACKS ANNIVERSARY

Mumbai/New Delhi (The Statesman/ANN)- India has been put on full alert with additional forces being deployed at public places, especially in Maharashtra and Delhi, on the second anniversary of the Mumbai terror attack.In Mumbai, home minister P Chidambaram will lead Mumbaikars at a function organised in memory of the 166 persons killed during the 60-hour siege.

The Union home ministry has asked states and Union Territories, particularly Maharashtra and Delhi, to deploy additional forces in markets, religious and other public places. The central government has also asked local authorities to install CCTV cameras, metal detectors and other security gadgets in crowded places to detect suspicious movement of people, an official said in New Delhi.

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LOST BOYS BACK HOME AFTER 'MIRACLE' RESCUE

Three boys who spent 50 days adrift in the South Pacific are reunited with their families after being rescued by a tuna boat. They were taken to Tokelau, the tiny island group where they live, after being rescued hundreds of miles away by a fishing trawler.The trio, Samuel Pelesa and Filo Filo, both 15, and Edward Nasau, 14, survived on rainwater, coconuts, raw fish - and a seagull that landed on their tiny vessel.

They set off from Tokelau, which lies 30 miles north of Samoa, on October 5.It is not known how they went missing but the outboard motor my have broken down at sea.When they failed to return anxious family members raised the alarm and the New Zealand air force launched a massive search of the area.

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SPIRIT BEARS: THE NEXT ENVIRONMENTAL SUPERSTAR

The Great Bear Rainforest is not an easy place to get to. It's a wilderness area the size of Switzerland, all but cut off from the rest of civilization.Our ABC News team traveled by float plane. There are no roads here and no landing strips except for the flat stretches of water along the fjords. What brought us to this remote corner of Canada is the spirit bear -- "Canada's panda" -- black bears with white fur because of a genetic variation.

The spirit bear is the marquee species for a region that's also crowded with whales, wolves and eagles."It's a magnificent bear," said Ian McAllister, director of the nonprofit conservation group Pacific Wild.Today, the Great Bear Rainforest faces a threat -- a massive oil pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia, Canada. The plan would turn the spirit bear's home into a superhighway for supertankers.

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NKOREA WARNS REGION IS ON BRINK OF WAR

YEONPYEONG ISLAND, South Korea – North Korea warned Friday that U.S.-South Korean plans for military maneuvers put the peninsula on the brink of war, and appeared to launch its own artillery drills within sight of an island it showered with a deadly barrage this week.

The fresh artillery blasts were especially defiant because they came as the U.S. commander in South Korea, Gen. Walter Sharp , toured the South Korean island to survey damage from Tuesday's hail of North Korean artillery fire that killed four people.

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BOX OFFICE PREVIEW: 'POTTER' TO WIN WEEKEND TANGLE

LOS ANGELES – Thanksgiving weekend will offer a veritable feast of film choices for U.S.audiences, but the global juggernaut that is "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1" will continue its box-office magic, earning a winning $80 million-plus for the five-day holiday period.A 10-day domestic total of well over $200 million is also in the cards for this next-to-the-last film in the eight-part Warner Bros. franchise.

Disney is always a traditional family favorite during the holidays and this year will be no exception with the 3-D release of the animated fairy tale "Tangled," an updated version of "Rapunzel" likely to draw crowds young and old to the tune of more than $40 million for the five-day timeframe.
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OBAMA REQUESTS REVIEW OF U.S. RESEARCH REGULATIONS

President Barack Obama on Wednesday requested a review of regulations on federally funded scientific studies to ensure they "adequately guard the health and well-being of participants."

The memorandum followed the revelation last month that the U.S. Public Health Service intentionally infected Guatemalans with sexually transmitted diseases for research purposes in the late 1940s.Obama's request called such research "clearly unethical" and said that he wanted assurance that "current rules for research participants protect people from harm or unethical treatment, domestically as well as internationally."
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SOUTH KOREA STRENGTHENS MILITARY NEAR BORDER AFTER ATTACK

South Korea ordered extra troops deployed on islands near North Korea on Thursday with Pyongyang warning it would follow its latest bombardment with more attacks if its wealthy neighbor tried any "provocations."

China is coming under increasing pressure to rein its prickly ally and South Korean media reports said Tuesday's artillery attack was likely personally ordered by Pyongyang's reclusive leader Kim Jong-il."(North Korea) will wage second and even third rounds of attacks without any hesitation, if warmongers in South Korea make reckless military provocations again," the North's KCNA news agency quoted a statement from the military as saying.

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IS GUANTANAMO AN INQUISITION AFTER ALL?

In Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, he writes about how Jesus returns to earth during the Spanish Inquisition. He is immediately arrested by the Inquisition leaders and their security forces. 

This came to mind with the first civilian trial of a former Guantanamo prisoner ending in an embarrassment for military prosecutors and the U.S. Justice Department. Because of this-and with regards of hundreds of other suspected "terrorists" who have been proven to be not guilty, one must ask if Guantanamo is an Inquisition after all? Ahmed Ghailani had been charged with 286 counts, including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and acts of terrorism against the United States. Even though he could still face life in prison for conspiracy to destroy government property, a federal jury cleared him of 285 of the 286 charges.

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NUCLEAR-CAPABLE AGNI I MISSILE TEST-FIRED

BALASORE (ODISHA): In a step forward to attain the minimum credible nuclear deterrence, India's defence scientists are going to show more fire power at the country's best test facilities at Chandipur and Wheelers Island off the Odisha coast in the coming days.

According to the sources at the integrated test range (ITR), the DRDO has planned to test fire at least five sophisticated long range missiles within next two months. The launching complexes at both the places have been readied for the first ever synchronized test in the recent times.

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ROSAIAH QUITS, KIRAN KUMAR REDDY NEW ANDHRA CM

Politics in Andhra Pradesh Wednesday took a dramatic turn as Chief Minister K.Rosaiah resigned citing age and work pressure and assembly Speaker N.Kiran Kumar Reddy was named his successor.

'Sonia Gandhi has named Kiran Kumar Reddy as the new leader,' senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee told reporters late Wednesday.The governor will administer the oath of office to Kiran Kumar Reddy Thursday, the union finance minister added.Nearly 15 months after he took over, 78-year-old Rosaiah tendered his resignation, saying he was unable to withstand the work pressure because of his age.

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3 BIG DEVELOPMENTS MAKE AIDS OUTLOOK MORE HOPEFUL

In the nearly 30 years the AIDS epidemic has raged, there has never been a more hopeful day than this. Three striking developments took place Tuesday: U.N. officials said new HIV cases are dropping dramatically worldwide. A study showed that a daily pill already on pharmacy shelves could help prevent new infections in gay men. And the pope opened the way for the use of condoms to prevent AIDS

 

President Barack Obama said the groundbreaking research on the AIDS drug "could mark the beginning of a new era in HIV prevention."Health officials credit part of the decline to wider condom use, and on Tuesday, in a historic shift in church teachings, the Vatican said that using a condom is a lesser evil than infecting a sexual partner with HIV.

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NEW ZEALAND MINE: 'NO SURVIVORS' AFTER SECOND BLAST

All 29 miners trapped in a coal mine in New Zealand are believed to be dead after a second explosion, police say.

"It is our belief that no one has survived and everyone will have perished. This is one of the most tragic things I have had to do as a police office," police superintendent Gary Knowles told reporters. "We are now in recovery mode," he added. Police superintendent Gary Knowles said the second explosion occurred mid-afternoon Wednesday, almost exactly five days after the first blast in the Pike River mine. Potentially explosive methane gas had been swirling in the Pike River mine since the initial blast last Friday. New Zealand's mines have been safe historically, with 181 deaths in 114 years. The worst disaster was in 1896, when 65 died in a gas explosion. Friday's explosion occurred in the same coal seam.

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EXCLUSIVE: OBAMA ON KOREA 'THREAT'

After N. Korea opens fire, President Obama tells ABC's Barbara Walters China must take stand on a "serious and ongoing threat that needs to be dealt with."

"This is a -- just one more provocative incident in a series that we've seen over the last several months, and I'm going to be talking to the president of Korea -- South Korea this evening and we'll be consulting closely with them in terms of the appropriate response," the president said. "We've strongly condemned the attack...We are rallying the international community once again to put pressure on North Korea." 

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IMF: GREECE HAS OPTIONS FOR BAILOUT REPAYMENT HELP

ATHENS, Greece – The IMF says that while it is confident Greece will be able to return to international markets before the end of the three-year rescue loan package, there are a number of options that could be used to help the country if it finds itself in difficulty....

The International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission said that while they were confident Greece would be able to borrow again on international markets before the end of the three-year bailout period, as it has said it aims to, several options were available to help in case of trouble.

Greece began receiving the IMF and eurozone loans, which run to 2013, in May. The rescue package was its only hope of staving off default after the debt-ridden country found itself essentially locked out of the international market by prohibitively high interest rates demanded for its bonds.

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TWO KOREA'S EXCHANGE FIRE NEAR WESTERN MARITIME BORDER

North Korea fired artillery shells toward Yeonpyeong Island. Tensions escalated on the Korean peninsula today as the two Koreas exchanged fire for the fourth time in recent years near the western maritime border.

North Korea fired artillery shells at Yeonpyeong Island, some landing in sea but some landing on the island's residential area, said Col. Lee Bung-Woo, a spokesman for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The South responded with its own artillery fire. South Korean media is reporting that 60 to 70 houses in the fishing village and areas in the mountains are on fire, engulfed in thick smoke..

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