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Korean tension at flashpoint

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 11 April 2013 | 14.41

A FORMER North Korean spy who bombed a South Korean airliner has told the ABC the North's leader Kim Jong-Un is struggling to control his military. Courtesy: ABC 7.30

  • US, South Korea declare "Watchcon 2" - the highest level of alert
  • 'Multiple launches' expected as more missiles spotted
  • See our interactive timeline at the bottom of this story

NORTH Korea is reportedly 'shuffling' its mobile missile launchers after Japan reported spotting one in a "ready to fire" position.

5:01pm (AEST): South Korea denounced a barrage of war-like threats from North Korea as a "useless" tactic, making it clear that Pyongyang will face consequences if it follows through with an expected missile launch, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries remained on high alert with North Korea expected to test-launch at least one mid-range ballistic missile in the coming days.

3:10pm (AEST): Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the government was doing everything it could "to protect the lives and the safety of our people''.

"We are aware of all sorts of information. We are sharing information with South Korea and the United States,'' Suga said.

Two PAC 3 Patriot anti-missile batteries now sit on a baseball pitch in the grounds of Japan's Ministry of Defence, pointing northwest in the general direction of North Korea, CNN reported.

They were moved here to the heart of the Japanese capital in the early hours yesterday, alongside further batteries in two Tokyo suburbs.

NORTH KOREAN IN A PERMANENT WAR

2:58 (AEST): US confirm sea-based radar ready for missile launch

A powerful US military sea-based radar is now in place to detect any possible missile launches by North Korea, according to a senior US defence official in Washington.

"The SBX is in position,'' the defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

The official would not offer more details but confirmed the SBX, a floating X-band radar that resembles a giant golf ball, had reached a location at sea where it could track missiles fired by the Pyongyang regime.

North Korea has proved quite adept at confounding intelligence monitoring in the past.

Its long-range rocket launch in December had been widely flagged in advance and was subjected to intense satellite scrutiny. In the end, the rocket blasted off hours after a succession of South Korean media outlets, citing satellite imagery analysis by government, diplomatic and military sources, suggested the launch was facing a lengthy delay.

2:.35 (AEST): Missiles shifted to interfere with monitoring

Several missiles have moved repeatedly on North Korea's east coast in an apparent attempt to interfere with intelligence monitoring by South Korea and the US,

Intelligence analysis, reported by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, stated that the North has moved two Musudan intermediate missiles, which had been concealed in a shed in the eastern port city of Wonsan.

Four or five wheeled vehicles, suspected to be so-called transporter erector launchers (TEL), were also spotted being moved around in South Hamgyeong Province.

1:03 (AEST): United States island of Guam placed on 'yellow' alert

The United States is sending its new, ultra-advanced THAAD missile defence system to Guam. Here's how it works.

Guam has raised its official threat level and tested its emergency alert system after warnings from North Korea identifying the island as a potential missile target, according to news agency AFP.

With a North Korean missile test expected at any time, authorities said the US territory in the western Pacific was on yellow alert, the middle phase of a three-step "traffic light" system comprising green, yellow and red levels.

"This is the same colour used by government agencies to indicate there is a medium risk for the island," the government said in a statement.

"The government will continue to operate like normal, with a few government agencies participating in emergency preparedness and planning."

12:53 (AEST) South Korea 'ready to activate defence missiles'

Seoul has announced it is ready to activate its Patriot PAC2 missile defence system. The statement said the interceptor missiles cannot cover all of South Korea, but will protect everything within its reach.

The missile system is deployed around Seoul, and is believed to have a reach of up to 30km. 

1:18 (AEST) Two "Musudan" missiles being moved

South Korean Air Force's E-737 Peace Eye, airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. South Korean and US forces raised their alert status to "vital threat" before an expected North Korean missile test.

Yonhap news agency reports intelligence analysts as saying two Musudan missile launchers have been seen moving in and out of a concealed building in the port city of Wonsan.

Several mult-wheeled vehicles, suspected to be transporter erector-launchers, have also been seen on the move in South Hamgyeong Province. 

12:47 (AEST) North Korea shuffles launcher positions

There are reports that South Korean army officials believe North Korea is in the process of moving its missile launchers on the coast of the Sea of Japan to cause confusion among US, Japanese and South Korean intelligence agencies. 

12:41 (AEST): China warns North Korea: Do not misjudge situation

The Chinese People's Daily Online has published an article warning North Korea "not to misjudge" the situation with the United States and South Korea.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has reportedly spoken with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over the phone, expressing severe concern over the current tense situation on the Korean Peninsula.

He reportedly said Beijing "does not allow troublemaking at the doorsteps of China."

The article goes on to defend North Korea's right to develop its weaponry, "but there is no reason to violate the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council to engage in nuclear testing and launch missile using ballistic missile technology".

South Korean soldiers sit in a truck at the inter-Korean transit office in Paju, South Korea.

"The DPRK has its own special circumstances, political needs, policy choices and political language style, which is its internal affairs and the outside world has no right to interfere in. But if its choice and words intensifies the Korean Peninsula tensions and affects peace and stability in the region, it becomes the international issues. The situations development on the peninsula will not necessarily go according to the ideas and expectations of the DPRK." 

12:37 (AEST): Financial markets show little fear

South Korean news agency Yonhap reports local financial markets appear largely unmoved by the most recent developments in the North Korean missile crisis.

Trade is continuing within "normal boundaries". 

12:18 (AEST): Japan says missile may be "Musudan".

A Japanse official has told NBC News that the missile spotted in a firing posture could be the "Musudan" medium range type.

This missile has a potential range of up to 4000km, placing all of Japan and the United States base on the island of Guam within its reach.

It is, however, a relatively new type that has not yet undergone extensive testing.

The official said the discovery may be part of North Korea's "strategy of deception". 

12:10 (AEST): South Korea 'concerned' at developments

Senior South Korean defence officials are reportedly saying they expect a launch within the next few hours.

South Korean officials have announced they are very concerned at the recent sighting.

"Nobody knows if North Korea will launch Scud, Rodong or Musudan (missiles), how many... or (what) direction," a statement read.

"We are at full readiness posture worrying that missile(s) North Korea may launch will threaten our citizens and territory." 

EARLIER

Kyodo News reports the latest missile launcher sighting comes after Japan moved itself to a heightened state of alert earlier this week, deploying missile to surround the capital Tokyo and key defence facilities.

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said that so far Tokyo was responding to the sighting by "gathering a variety of information ... with a sense of tension,'' according to Kyodo.

South Korean and US  forces last night raised their alert status to the highest possible level as more missile launchers were spotted on the move.

A South Korean protester attaches a picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with balloons on a barricade during a rally demanding a regular operations of the Kaesong industrial complex near Unification Bridge near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, north of Seoul, South Kore.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a government source saying Pyongyang might be preparing "multiple" launches, after other launch vehicles were reportedly detected carrying shorter-range SCUD and Rodong missiles.

The military alert status is now at "vital threat" level before an expected North Korean missile test as the Pentagon warned a bellicose Pyongyang it was "skating very close to a dangerous line".

The launch is expected to come at any time.

EX-SPY SAYS JONG-UN STRUGGLING TO CONTROL TROOPS.

The South Korea-US Combined Forces Command raised its "Watchcon" status from 3 to 2 to reflect indications of a "vital threat", Yonhap news agency said, citing a senior military official.

Watchcon 4 is in effect during normal peacetime, while Watchcon 3 reflects indications of an important threat. Watchcon 1 is used in wartime.

The North last week told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang they had until April 10 to consider evacuation, fuelling speculation of a launch between April 10 and April 15, during birthday celebrations for late founder Kim Il-Sung.

Any launch could coincide with visits by US Secretary of State John Kerry and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who will both be in Seoul on Friday.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se told parliament the launch could take place "any time" and warned Pyongyang it risked triggering a fresh round of UN sanctions.

A South Korean soldier sets a barricade on the road leading to North Korea at a military checkpoint in the border city of Paju.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters on Wednesday that the United States and its allies hoped Pyongyang would tone down its inflammatory language, but said the American military was prepared for any possibility.

"North Korea ... with its bellicose rhetoric, its actions, has been skating very close to a dangerous line," he said.

"Our country is fully prepared to deal with any contingency, any action that North Korea may take or any provocation that they may instigate."

MISSILE THREAT TO AUSTRALIA `REAL'.

THE TWO FACES OF KIM JONG-UN.

GALLERY: KOREAN TENSIONS MOUNT.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned against heating up the crisis and stressed Moscow and Washington had a common stance.

"One just shouldn't scare anyone with military manoeuvres and there's a chance that everything will calm down," Lavrov told reporters after meeting Kerry in London.

Kerry also discussed North Korea with Japan Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in London and emphasised the importance of putting pressure on Pyongyang with economic sanctions, a senior State Department official said.

A Japanese soldier walks past a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile launcher deployed at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo.

South Korean intelligence says the North has prepared two mid-range missiles for imminent launch from its east coast, despite warnings from ally China to avoid provocative moves amid soaring tensions.

On Tuesday the North reiterated a warning that the peninsula was headed for "thermo-nuclear" war and advised foreigners to consider leaving South Korea.

Although the North's warnings to embassies in Pyongyang and foreigners in the South were largely shrugged off, there is growing global concern that sky-high tensions might trigger an incident that could swiftly escalate.

The mid-range missiles mobilised by the North are reported to be untested Musudan models with an estimated range of anywhere up to 4000 kilometres.

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

The US military's top officer, General Martin Dempsey, told a press conference that he could not publicly comment on intelligence estimates as to how close North Korea was to placing a nuclear warhead on a missile.

But the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said the United States military was ready for the "worst case" scenario.

"They have conducted two nuclear tests. They have conducted several successful missile launches," Dempsey said.

"And in the absence of concrete evidence to the contrary, we have to assume the worst case, and that's why we're postured as we are today," the four-star general added.

US Army soldiers prepare for an exercise during their annual military drills with South Korea in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea.

The military has deployed US naval ships in the region capable of shooting down incoming missiles and staged a show of force with bomber aircraft in a bid to deter North Korea from launching any attack.

Hagel's comments came amid widespread speculation North Korea is poised for a missile launch in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

The head of US Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Locklear, told senators Tuesday that he favoured shooting down a North Korean missile only if it threatened the United States or Washington's allies in the region.

Locklear, however, said he was confident the US military would be able to detect quickly where any missile was headed.

At budget briefings at the Pentagon on Wednesday, senior officials said automatic cuts adopted by Congress were worrying but would not affect the combat readiness of US troops or air squadrons in or near South Korea.

"I don't want to suggest to the North Koreans they have a free pass here," said comptroller Robert Hale, who oversees Defense Department finances.

"We will protect the readiness of the forces on the Korean peninsula and any that are deployed."

Meanwhile, the US Air Force is taking aim at its big costs of fuel and flight this week, temporarily halting training operations for 12 active duty fighter and bomber squadrons across the United States in order to save nearly $300 million.

New details on the cuts emerged today. They will total 45,000 flight hours, and hit squadrons in eight fighter wings in at least seven states and the Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

A US Air Force F-16 fighter jet prepares to land on the runway during a military exercise at the Osan US Air Base in Osan, South Korea.

The cuts will not affect current military operations, such as fighters in Afghanistan or bombers training over South Korea. But the Air Force warned that they will have a ripple effect, sharply reducing the service's ability to be prepared for future operations because pilots must meet minimum flight hour requirements in order to fly.


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Korean tension at flashpoint

A FORMER North Korean spy who bombed a South Korean airliner has told the ABC the North's leader Kim Jong-Un is struggling to control his military. Courtesy: ABC 7.30

  • US, South Korea declare "Watchcon 2" - the highest level of alert
  • 'Multiple launches' expected as more missiles spotted
  • See our interactive timeline at the bottom of this story

NORTH Korea is reportedly 'shuffling' its mobile missile launchers after Japan reported spotting one in a "ready to fire" position.

5:01pm (AEST): South Korea denounced a barrage of war-like threats from North Korea as a "useless" tactic, making it clear that Pyongyang will face consequences if it follows through with an expected missile launch, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The South Korean and U.S. militaries remained on high alert with North Korea expected to test-launch at least one mid-range ballistic missile in the coming days.

3:10pm (AEST): Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the government was doing everything it could "to protect the lives and the safety of our people''.

"We are aware of all sorts of information. We are sharing information with South Korea and the United States,'' Suga said.

Two PAC 3 Patriot anti-missile batteries now sit on a baseball pitch in the grounds of Japan's Ministry of Defence, pointing northwest in the general direction of North Korea, CNN reported.

They were moved here to the heart of the Japanese capital in the early hours yesterday, alongside further batteries in two Tokyo suburbs.

NORTH KOREAN IN A PERMANENT WAR

2:58 (AEST): US confirm sea-based radar ready for missile launch

A powerful US military sea-based radar is now in place to detect any possible missile launches by North Korea, according to a senior US defence official in Washington.

"The SBX is in position,'' the defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

The official would not offer more details but confirmed the SBX, a floating X-band radar that resembles a giant golf ball, had reached a location at sea where it could track missiles fired by the Pyongyang regime.

North Korea has proved quite adept at confounding intelligence monitoring in the past.

Its long-range rocket launch in December had been widely flagged in advance and was subjected to intense satellite scrutiny. In the end, the rocket blasted off hours after a succession of South Korean media outlets, citing satellite imagery analysis by government, diplomatic and military sources, suggested the launch was facing a lengthy delay.

2:.35 (AEST): Missiles shifted to interfere with monitoring

Several missiles have moved repeatedly on North Korea's east coast in an apparent attempt to interfere with intelligence monitoring by South Korea and the US,

Intelligence analysis, reported by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, stated that the North has moved two Musudan intermediate missiles, which had been concealed in a shed in the eastern port city of Wonsan.

Four or five wheeled vehicles, suspected to be so-called transporter erector launchers (TEL), were also spotted being moved around in South Hamgyeong Province.

1:03 (AEST): United States island of Guam placed on 'yellow' alert

The United States is sending its new, ultra-advanced THAAD missile defence system to Guam. Here's how it works.

Guam has raised its official threat level and tested its emergency alert system after warnings from North Korea identifying the island as a potential missile target, according to news agency AFP.

With a North Korean missile test expected at any time, authorities said the US territory in the western Pacific was on yellow alert, the middle phase of a three-step "traffic light" system comprising green, yellow and red levels.

"This is the same colour used by government agencies to indicate there is a medium risk for the island," the government said in a statement.

"The government will continue to operate like normal, with a few government agencies participating in emergency preparedness and planning."

12:53 (AEST) South Korea 'ready to activate defence missiles'

Seoul has announced it is ready to activate its Patriot PAC2 missile defence system. The statement said the interceptor missiles cannot cover all of South Korea, but will protect everything within its reach.

The missile system is deployed around Seoul, and is believed to have a reach of up to 30km. 

1:18 (AEST) Two "Musudan" missiles being moved

South Korean Air Force's E-737 Peace Eye, airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. South Korean and US forces raised their alert status to "vital threat" before an expected North Korean missile test.

Yonhap news agency reports intelligence analysts as saying two Musudan missile launchers have been seen moving in and out of a concealed building in the port city of Wonsan.

Several mult-wheeled vehicles, suspected to be transporter erector-launchers, have also been seen on the move in South Hamgyeong Province. 

12:47 (AEST) North Korea shuffles launcher positions

There are reports that South Korean army officials believe North Korea is in the process of moving its missile launchers on the coast of the Sea of Japan to cause confusion among US, Japanese and South Korean intelligence agencies. 

12:41 (AEST): China warns North Korea: Do not misjudge situation

The Chinese People's Daily Online has published an article warning North Korea "not to misjudge" the situation with the United States and South Korea.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has reportedly spoken with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over the phone, expressing severe concern over the current tense situation on the Korean Peninsula.

He reportedly said Beijing "does not allow troublemaking at the doorsteps of China."

The article goes on to defend North Korea's right to develop its weaponry, "but there is no reason to violate the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council to engage in nuclear testing and launch missile using ballistic missile technology".

South Korean soldiers sit in a truck at the inter-Korean transit office in Paju, South Korea.

"The DPRK has its own special circumstances, political needs, policy choices and political language style, which is its internal affairs and the outside world has no right to interfere in. But if its choice and words intensifies the Korean Peninsula tensions and affects peace and stability in the region, it becomes the international issues. The situations development on the peninsula will not necessarily go according to the ideas and expectations of the DPRK." 

12:37 (AEST): Financial markets show little fear

South Korean news agency Yonhap reports local financial markets appear largely unmoved by the most recent developments in the North Korean missile crisis.

Trade is continuing within "normal boundaries". 

12:18 (AEST): Japan says missile may be "Musudan".

A Japanse official has told NBC News that the missile spotted in a firing posture could be the "Musudan" medium range type.

This missile has a potential range of up to 4000km, placing all of Japan and the United States base on the island of Guam within its reach.

It is, however, a relatively new type that has not yet undergone extensive testing.

The official said the discovery may be part of North Korea's "strategy of deception". 

12:10 (AEST): South Korea 'concerned' at developments

Senior South Korean defence officials are reportedly saying they expect a launch within the next few hours.

South Korean officials have announced they are very concerned at the recent sighting.

"Nobody knows if North Korea will launch Scud, Rodong or Musudan (missiles), how many... or (what) direction," a statement read.

"We are at full readiness posture worrying that missile(s) North Korea may launch will threaten our citizens and territory." 

EARLIER

Kyodo News reports the latest missile launcher sighting comes after Japan moved itself to a heightened state of alert earlier this week, deploying missile to surround the capital Tokyo and key defence facilities.

Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said that so far Tokyo was responding to the sighting by "gathering a variety of information ... with a sense of tension,'' according to Kyodo.

South Korean and US  forces last night raised their alert status to the highest possible level as more missile launchers were spotted on the move.

A South Korean protester attaches a picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with balloons on a barricade during a rally demanding a regular operations of the Kaesong industrial complex near Unification Bridge near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, north of Seoul, South Kore.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted a government source saying Pyongyang might be preparing "multiple" launches, after other launch vehicles were reportedly detected carrying shorter-range SCUD and Rodong missiles.

The military alert status is now at "vital threat" level before an expected North Korean missile test as the Pentagon warned a bellicose Pyongyang it was "skating very close to a dangerous line".

The launch is expected to come at any time.

EX-SPY SAYS JONG-UN STRUGGLING TO CONTROL TROOPS.

The South Korea-US Combined Forces Command raised its "Watchcon" status from 3 to 2 to reflect indications of a "vital threat", Yonhap news agency said, citing a senior military official.

Watchcon 4 is in effect during normal peacetime, while Watchcon 3 reflects indications of an important threat. Watchcon 1 is used in wartime.

The North last week told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang they had until April 10 to consider evacuation, fuelling speculation of a launch between April 10 and April 15, during birthday celebrations for late founder Kim Il-Sung.

Any launch could coincide with visits by US Secretary of State John Kerry and NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who will both be in Seoul on Friday.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se told parliament the launch could take place "any time" and warned Pyongyang it risked triggering a fresh round of UN sanctions.

A South Korean soldier sets a barricade on the road leading to North Korea at a military checkpoint in the border city of Paju.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters on Wednesday that the United States and its allies hoped Pyongyang would tone down its inflammatory language, but said the American military was prepared for any possibility.

"North Korea ... with its bellicose rhetoric, its actions, has been skating very close to a dangerous line," he said.

"Our country is fully prepared to deal with any contingency, any action that North Korea may take or any provocation that they may instigate."

MISSILE THREAT TO AUSTRALIA `REAL'.

THE TWO FACES OF KIM JONG-UN.

GALLERY: KOREAN TENSIONS MOUNT.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned against heating up the crisis and stressed Moscow and Washington had a common stance.

"One just shouldn't scare anyone with military manoeuvres and there's a chance that everything will calm down," Lavrov told reporters after meeting Kerry in London.

Kerry also discussed North Korea with Japan Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida in London and emphasised the importance of putting pressure on Pyongyang with economic sanctions, a senior State Department official said.

A Japanese soldier walks past a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile launcher deployed at the Defence Ministry in Tokyo.

South Korean intelligence says the North has prepared two mid-range missiles for imminent launch from its east coast, despite warnings from ally China to avoid provocative moves amid soaring tensions.

On Tuesday the North reiterated a warning that the peninsula was headed for "thermo-nuclear" war and advised foreigners to consider leaving South Korea.

Although the North's warnings to embassies in Pyongyang and foreigners in the South were largely shrugged off, there is growing global concern that sky-high tensions might trigger an incident that could swiftly escalate.

The mid-range missiles mobilised by the North are reported to be untested Musudan models with an estimated range of anywhere up to 4000 kilometres.

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

The US military's top officer, General Martin Dempsey, told a press conference that he could not publicly comment on intelligence estimates as to how close North Korea was to placing a nuclear warhead on a missile.

But the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said the United States military was ready for the "worst case" scenario.

"They have conducted two nuclear tests. They have conducted several successful missile launches," Dempsey said.

"And in the absence of concrete evidence to the contrary, we have to assume the worst case, and that's why we're postured as we are today," the four-star general added.

US Army soldiers prepare for an exercise during their annual military drills with South Korea in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea.

The military has deployed US naval ships in the region capable of shooting down incoming missiles and staged a show of force with bomber aircraft in a bid to deter North Korea from launching any attack.

Hagel's comments came amid widespread speculation North Korea is poised for a missile launch in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

The head of US Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Locklear, told senators Tuesday that he favoured shooting down a North Korean missile only if it threatened the United States or Washington's allies in the region.

Locklear, however, said he was confident the US military would be able to detect quickly where any missile was headed.

At budget briefings at the Pentagon on Wednesday, senior officials said automatic cuts adopted by Congress were worrying but would not affect the combat readiness of US troops or air squadrons in or near South Korea.

"I don't want to suggest to the North Koreans they have a free pass here," said comptroller Robert Hale, who oversees Defense Department finances.

"We will protect the readiness of the forces on the Korean peninsula and any that are deployed."

Meanwhile, the US Air Force is taking aim at its big costs of fuel and flight this week, temporarily halting training operations for 12 active duty fighter and bomber squadrons across the United States in order to save nearly $300 million.

New details on the cuts emerged today. They will total 45,000 flight hours, and hit squadrons in eight fighter wings in at least seven states and the Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

A US Air Force F-16 fighter jet prepares to land on the runway during a military exercise at the Osan US Air Base in Osan, South Korea.

The cuts will not affect current military operations, such as fighters in Afghanistan or bombers training over South Korea. But the Air Force warned that they will have a ripple effect, sharply reducing the service's ability to be prepared for future operations because pilots must meet minimum flight hour requirements in order to fly.


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Johnny Rotten's sexist rant at Bickmore

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 10 April 2013 | 14.41

A simple interview with former Sex Pistols punk rocker John Lydon turned into a bizarre sexist rant towards host Carrie Bickmore. Credit: Network Ten's The Project, weeknights 6.30pm.

Date/Time: 2013:04:10 11:53:39 Source: news.com.au

WHAT started out as a civilised chat between former Sex Pistols punk rocker Johnny Lydon and The Project crew, quickly turned into a bizarre sexist rant aimed at Carrie Bickmore.

In a pre-recorded cross with the ageing rock star backstage at his Brisbane gig, it quickly became apparent how Lydon got his nickname, Johnny Rotten.

Carrie, attempting to ask about the late Margaret Thatcher, was quickly put in her place by the outspoken British rocker, who repeatedly told the TV host to "shut up, shut up, shut up."

"Hey missus! Whoever you are, you need to be quiet, your voice is too loud for me."

Remaining calm, Bickmore attempted to ask the question again, only to have the former frontman interrupt her a second time, saying "Now listen, when a man is talking, do not interrupt."

"You sound like one of them [sic] dreadful damn birds I don't like. You be polite… you've got to learn what manners and respect is."

Rotten became increasingly agitated as the other panelists attempted to speak, insisting that they were all talking too loudly into his earpiece.

Comedian Dave Hughes quickly terminated the sour interview, but not before Rotten referred to himself as "a proper master of the universe", followed by what appeared to be a Nazi salute.

Fellow panellist, Andrew Rochford, appeared disgusted and described Lydon as "a flat out, sexist, misogynist pig".

"Bad press is his thing, but his thing ain't funny, it's just damn rude," Gold Logie nominated Bickmore concluded after the appalling interview.
 

Network Ten's The Project airs weeknight's at 6.30pm.


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Alert level at 'vital threat' over NK

As North Korea warns foreign residents to leave South Korea for safety -- a mixed reaction in Seoul and China. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

  • US satellites have located North Korea's missiles
  • They have been pictured fueled and ready for launch
  • Fears North Korea will not issue test-fire warning

SOUTH Korea has raised its military watch alert to "vital threat" before an expected North Korean missile launch, as UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned the Korean peninsula may be slipping out of control.

South Korean intelligence says the North has prepared two mid-range missiles for imminent launch from its east coast, despite warnings from ally China to avoid provocative moves at a time of soaring military tensions.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se told parliament the launch could take place "anytime from now on" and warned Pyongyang it could trigger a fresh round of UN sanctions.

On Tuesday, the North reiterated a warning that the peninsula was headed for "thermo-nuclear'' war and advised foreigners to consider leaving South Korea.

In a further sign of rising nuclear tensions, a key border crossing between North Korea and China has been closed to tourist groups, a Chinese official said Wednesday.

An official at the Dandong Border Office, who declined to give his name, told media: "Travel agencies are not allowed to take tourist groups to go there, since the North Korean government is now asking foreign people to leave. As far as I know, business people can enter and leave North Korea freely."

MISSILE THREAT TO AUSTRALIA 'REAL'.

South Korean army soldiers on a military truck move during an exercise against possible attacks by North Korea in Pocheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea. Picture: AP /Ahn Yong-joon

The South Korea-US Combined Forces Command raised its "Watchcon" status from 3 to 2 to reflect indications of a "vital threat", Yonhap news agency said, citing a senior military official.

Watchcon 4 is in effect during normal peacetime, while Watchcon 3 reflects indications of an important threat. Watchcon 1 is used in wartime.

In a separate report, Yonhap quoted a government source as saying Pyongyang might be preparing "multiple" launches, after other launch vehicles were reportedly detected carrying shorter-range SCUD and Rodong missiles.

Although the North's warnings to embassies in Pyongyang and foreigners in the South were both largely shrugged off, there is growing global concern that sky-high tensions might trigger an incident that could swiftly escalate.

UN warns of 'dangerous' tension

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said during a visit to Rome that he had spoken to the Chinese leadership to try to calm tensions, and would discuss the issue with US President Barack Obama on Thursday.

"The current level of tension is very dangerous, a small incident caused by miscalculation or misjudgement may create an uncontrollable situation," Ban said.

The United States is sending its new, ultra-advanced THAAD missile defence system to Guam. Here's how it works.

White House spokesman Jay Carney, meanwhile, criticised Pyongyang for more "unhelpful rhetoric" that only served to create more uncertainty.

North Korea has wielded the "thermo-nuclear war" threat several times in recent months -- most recently on March 7 -- despite expert opinion that it is nowhere near developing such an advanced nuclear device.

The current crisis on the Korean peninsula has been intensifying almost daily since the North's nuclear test in February, which drew toughened UN sanctions.

Incensed by ongoing South Korean-US military exercises, Pyongyang has accused Washington and Seoul of preparing an invasion and threatened dire military actions from artillery barrages to nuclear strikes.

South Korea last went to Watchcon 2 around the time of the North's nuclear test, and its long-range rocket launch last December.

The Watchcon system solely relates to surveillance levels and is separate from the Defcon system of military preparedness.

US Army soldiers gather during annual military drills in Yeoncheon, South Korea, near the border with North Korea on April 9, as North Korea urged foreigners to evacuate the country. Picture: AP

The mid-range missiles mobilised by the North are reported to be untested Musudan models with an estimated range of anywhere up to 4,000 kilometres.

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

THE TWO FACES OF KIM JONG-UN.

Japan, where the armed forces have been authorised to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, said Tuesday it had deployed Patriot missiles in its capital as a pre-emptive defence measure.

In addition to PAC-3 batteries, Aegis destroyers equipped with sea-based interceptor missiles have been deployed in the Sea of Japan.

But a top US military commander, Admiral Samuel Locklear, said he favoured shooting down a North Korean missile only if it threatened the United States or Washington's allies in the region.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting the second battalion under Korth Korean army Unit 1973 at an undisclosed location.

If North Korea pushes ahead with the launch, the UN Security Council will convene immediately, Foreign Minister Yun said.

"It's hard to predict what kind of action the Security Council might take, as the nature of such a launch would have to be analysed first," he said, adding fresh sanctions were a possibility.

Satellites find 'missing' NK missiles

The move to Watchcon 2 comes after it was revealed United States spy satellites had found two 'missing' North Korean nuclear-capable missiles.

CNN reported US officials were expecting a launch by North Korea "at any time".

Any such "test" launch would be seen as a further escalation of already high tensions in and around the Korean peninsula.

Things could be made worse if North Korea does not issue a "standard warning" of a missile test firing to commercial aviation and maritime shipping.

"We hope they issue a notification but at this point we don't expect it. We are working on the assumption they won't, " the official said.

US officials have confirmed that satellites have been kept over the suspected launch areas for the past week in order to locate - and monitor - the launch vehicles. Bad weather has made their job harder, they said.

The launchers are said to be about half-way down the North Korean east coast and about 20km inland. Satellite imagery shows the missiles have been fuelled and positioned for launch.

The Pentagon has announced it is ready to respond to any missile aimed at America or its allies.

The commander of US forces in the Pacific sought to reassure Congress that the Pentagon would be able intercept a missile. US satellites and radars in the region will be able to detect and quickly calculate the missiles' trajectory.

HOWARD REJECTS IRAQ WAR BASED ON A LIE.

This would help determine if the launch was hostile - or a test.

The missiles would be shot down by land or sea based anti-missile weapons if they were to track over South Korea or Japan.

Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear said: "We have a credible ability to defend the homeland, to defend Hawaii, to defend Guam, to defend our forward deployed forces, and to defend our allies,'' Locklear told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The US has never sought to shoot down a North Korean missile, and it's unclear if such a move would escalate the tension that has roiled the region. The Obama administration has moved additional military forces into the Pacific, but has sought to calibrate its response in the matter to avoid fueling the crisis.

A "counter-provocation plan" drawn up by US and South Korean officials calls for their combined military forces to respond proportionally to a North Korean attack, but to avoid any step that could set off an escalation of hostilities.

Direct attack on South unlikely

Analysts see a direct attack on Seoul as extremely unlikely, and there are no overt signs that North Korea's 1.2 million-man army is readying for war, let alone a nuclear one.

South Korea's military has reported missile movements on North Korea's east coast but nothing pointed toward South Korea.

Still, North Korea's earlier warning that it won't be able to guarantee the safety of foreign diplomats after April 10 has raised fears that it will conduct a missile or nuclear test today, resulting in US retaliation.

The United States and South Korea have raised their defence postures, and so has Japan, which deployed PAC-3 missile interceptors in key locations around Tokyo yesterday as a precaution against possible North Korean ballistic missile tests.

"The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermonuclear war due to the evermore undisguised hostile actions of the United States and the south Korean puppet warmongers and their moves for a war against" the North, said a statement by the North Korean Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, an organisation that deals with regional matters.

The statement is similar to past threats that analysts call an attempt to raise anxiety in foreign capitals. Observers say a torrent of North Korean prophecies of doom and efforts to raise war hysteria are partly to boost the image of young and relatively untested leader Kim Jong-un at home, and to show him as a decisive military leader.

GALLERY: KOREAN TENSIONS INTENSIFY.

Another reason could be to use threats of war to win Pyongyang-friendly policy changes in Seoul and Washington. Last week, North Korea told foreign diplomats in Pyongyang that it will not be able to guarantee their safety as of Wednesday. It is not clear what the significance of that date is.

Tourists continued to arrive in Pyongyang despite the war hysteria.

Australian Mark Fahey of Sydney said he was not concerned about a possible war.

"I knew that when I arrived here it would probably be very different to the way it was being reported in the media," he told The Associated Press at Pyongyang airport. He said his family trusts him to make the right judgment but "my colleagues at work think I am crazy."

Chu Kang Jin, a Pyongyang resident, said everything is calm in the city.

"Everyone, including me, is determined to turn out as one to fight for national reunification ... if the enemies spark a war," he said, in a typically nationalist rhetoric that most North Koreans use while speaking to the media.

WHAT WILL CHINA DO IF NORTH KOREA ATTACKS?

In Seoul, South Korean Presidential spokeswoman Kim Haing told reporters that the North Korean warning amounted to "psychological warfare."

"We know that foreigners residing in South Korea as well as our nationals are unfazed," she said.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who has sought to re-engage North Korea with dialogue and aid since taking office in February, expressed exasperation with what she called the "endless vicious cycle" of Seoul answering Pyongyang's hostile behaviour with compromise, only to get more hostility.

Yesterday North Korea said it was suspending work at the Kaesong industrial park near its border, which is combines South Korean technology and know-how with North Korea's cheap labour. North Korea pulled out more than 50,000 workers from the complex, the only remaining product of economic cooperation between the two countries that started about a decade ago when relations were much warmer.

Other projects from previous eras of cooperation such as reunions of families separated by war and tours to a scenic North Korean mountain stopped in recent years.

Forces deployed on the Korean Peninsula.


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Student takes on airline, and wins

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 09 April 2013 | 14.41

A student has taken on Tiger Airways via Facebook, and won. Picture: Supplied Source: Herald Sun

  • Student turned away from Tiger Airways flight
  • Was told the flight had been overbooked
  • Complaint on Facebook attracted 50,000 likes

HELL hath no fury like an Australian university student scorned by a budget airline.

Nathaniel Martin took to Facebook to vent his frustrations after Tiger Airways bumped him from his flight from Hobart to Melbourne on Sunday, telling him it had been overbooked. Little did he expect his Facebook post to attract over 50,000 likes and grab the airline's attention.

"I went to board the plane and was informed that you had oversold my flight, and that I would have to be 'offloaded' and could not board the plane," Mr Martin's Facebook post to the airline read.

"The reason given was that 'I was the last to check in', even though I had booked the ticket a month in advance and was 15 minutes early to check in.

"The federal police officer of 20 years experience helping my family said it was the 'worst case of customer service he had ever seen' and the flight attendant told me to 'get them for every cent'."

Read the full post here.

With an 8am class in Melbourne the next morning, Mr Martin was forced to pay another $296 to get on a Jetstar flight later that night, leaving him nearly $500 out of pocket in total. For a university student earning $9000 a year, it was a substantial financial blow.

Luckily his parents came back to the airport and chipped in half of the fare.

"I am now two hours late, exhausted, $500 out of pocket and with no cash to get home from the airport for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING caused by YOUR INCOMPETENCE.

"Not only do I want a full refund of the $495.45, a full apology to me and my family for the unbelievable inconvenience you have caused and an assurance that you will never deliberately oversell a flight again. I am never flying with your airline ever again and will tell every living soul what you have done to me tonight."

The next day, after his Facebook post attracted 50,000 likes, he received a call from Tiger Airways who agreed to refund him the full fare and apologised.

After they had reached the agreement, Mr Martin deleted his original Facebook post.

"Tiger Airways have agreed to refund me the full fare of what happened last night including the other flight I had to pay for to get to Melbourne," he said in a Facebook post to Tiger Airways.

"They have been very good to me in responding to this quickly and rectifying their error."

Tiger Airways told news.com.au Mr Martin's situation was a rare one.

"Overbooking of flights is common practice in the air travel industry here in Australia and world over – it's a practice put in place by airlines (and other travel and tourism industries) to compensate for an average no show rate," a Tiger Airways spokesperson said.

"While issues in relation to this are extremely rare, we are very sorry to have inconvenienced one of our passengers recently. On review of the situation, we dealt directly with the passenger and resolved his specific situation.

"This is an isolated situation however Tiger does have policies and provisions in place to reaccommodate anyone who is affected by overbooking on the very rare occasion that it  occurs, including free of charge transfer to next available flight."

Have you had a bad - or positive - experience with an airline? Contact our Travel Editor Kate.Schneider@news.com.au


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Blair: 'Thatcher was a towering figure'

Former British PM Margaret Thatcher has died following a stroke at the age of 87, her spokesman said.

FORMER British prime minister Tony Blair has paid tribute to Margaret Thatcher, describing her as a "remarkable and towering figure''.

Blair, who was delivering the Lives of Liberty speech at Lafayette College in the US state of Pennsylvania, said Thatcher was a "great leader'' who pursued her aims with fearlessness and determination.

"I don't think there's anyone who better expresses a sense of a life of promoting liberty than Margaret Thatcher,'' he said.

Thatcher, the first and only female British prime minister, died of a stroke at the age of 87 yesterday.

The leader dubbed the Iron Lady had been in poor health for a number of months and her spokesman Lord Bell said she died peacefully at the Ritz Hotel in London, where she been recovering after a minor operation.

''It is with great sadness that Mark and Carol Thatcher announced that their mother Baroness Thatcher died peacefully after a long battle with poor health,'' Lord Bell shortly before 1pm local time.

Thatcher will receive a "ceremonial funeral" at St Paul's Cathedral with military honours - equivalent to the ceremonies for the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales - but she will not get a state funeral.

Baroness Margaret Thatcher is dead after suffering a stroke. She was 87.

Downing Street says the funeral will be attended by a "wide and diverse range of people," and the service will be followed by a private cremation.

It did not provide further details on the timing of the service, saying only that the arrangement are "in line with the wishes" of Thatcher's family.

Buckingham Palace was the first to call the Thatcher family  with the Queen offering her sympathies for her former leader, Britain's first and only female prime minister who won three consecutive general elections.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who cut short a trip to Europe following news of Thatcher's death, said Britain had lost a great leader, a great prime minister and a great Briton. Other world leaders also paid tribute to Thatcher, including US President Barack Obama, who said America had "lost a true friend". Obama also praised Thatcher as an example for his two daughters, joining former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell who hailed her as "the first lady of girl power."

Thatcher transformed the UK

Thatcher has been credited with single-handedly transforming the nation in the space of a decade, earning her as much admiration as bitter resentment from the British people.

Watch a typically feisty parliamentary performance from the late Margaret Thatcher.

Margaret Thatcher's best quotes

Quotes: what they said about her

But there has always been general consensus she lifted a strike-infested union-bound nation back among the world's industrial leaders.

Crucially she defeated Arthur Scargill's nationwide year-long strike that was threatening to ruin the whole British economy.

Thatcher was seen as tireless and unshakeable as she fought her own cabinet let alone half the workers in Britain to change the work ethic and industrial landscape before resigning as prime minister in November 1990.

Margaret Thatcher with U.S.S.R. President Mikhail Gorbachev (left) during an all-European top-level meeting.

But she remained one of the most influential figures in British society and globally as an elder stateswoman courted by the western world.

Her crowning glory among her three stints as PM was her handling of the Falklands War.

Many in her government thought her mad when after Argentina invaded the Falklands Islands she dispatched a flotilla of war ships 8000 miles into the South Atlantic.

Thatcher worked her way to the top

Born Margaret Hilda Roberts in 1925 in the Lincolnshire town of Grantham, she gained the virtues of thrift, hard work, morality and patriotism as drilled into her by her beloved father Alderman Alfred Roberts, who ran two grocers' shops and a post-office, and became mayor of the town in 1943.

The devout Methodist father drilled into her ''You'll never get anywhere if you don't work girl'', a sentiment she would often quote herself.

Mixed reaction in the U.K. after Baroness Thatcher dies from a stroke at the age of 87. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

She had few close friends growing up with many considering her to have an irritating sense of her own superiority.

It was that thinking that made her head of her school, lead at Oxford University, where she trained as a chemist, before she decided to enter politics.

It was her ability to answer any question thrown at her in Parliament that made her the obvious leader of the Conservatives.

Timeline: The Life and Times of Margaret Thatcher

Gallery: Margaret Thatcher's life

Liberal Democrat leader and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg summed up the national mood saying love her or loath her, she changed Britain for the better.

Margaret Thatcher in a line up of former PMs with the Queen in the 2000s

''Margaret Thatcher was one of the defining figures in modern British politics,'' Mr Clegg said.

''Whatever side of the political debate you stand on, no-one can deny that as prime minister she left a unique and lasting imprint on the country she served.

''She may have divided opinion during her time in politics but everyone will be united today in acknowledging the strength of her personality and the radicalism of her politics.''

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dies at age of 87 following a stroke, a spokesman for the family said. Rough Cut (no reporter narration)

Gillard and Abbott pay respects

Prime Minister Julia Gillard paid tribute to Margaret Thatcher's strength of conviction and history making period as British PM.

Margaret Thatcher elected leader in 1975.

''I learned this evening in Beijing of the death of Baroness Thatcher,'' Ms Gillard said from China.

''Her service as the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom was a history-making achievement.''

''Her strength of conviction was recognised by her closest supporters and her strongest opponents.

''I extend my sincere condolences and those of my fellow Australians to her family and friends.''

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Baroness Thatcher was one of Britain's greatest leaders because of her impact on the world.

''Margaret Thatcher was one of the greatest British prime ministers and one of the most significant world leaders of our times,'' Mr Abbott said.

How the UK press reported Margaret Thatcher's death.

''She was the first female prime minister of Great Britain and ranks with the greatest of prime ministers because of the quality of her leadership and the impact she had on Britain and the wider world.''

''Margaret Thatcher arrested the decline of Britain and gave the British people renewed confidence. She ensured the British people no longer simply dwelt on the glories of the past but could enjoy a strong and prosperous future.

''The thoughts of the Coalition are with Baroness Thatcher's family and the British people at this time.''

Thatcher, made a baroness (life peer) after her 11 years in Downing Street, suffered several small strokes in 2002, and received medical advice against accepting any more public speaking engagements.

Her increasingly frail condition when she was seen - especially after the death of husband Denis in 2003 - led to frequent bouts of speculation about her health.

However, MPs and friends who saw her regularly said she remained alert and interested in politics, and she was not known to have deteriorated notably recently.

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron remembers Baroness Thatcher as a woman who "defied them all." Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

Among her greatest regrets was the IRA bombing attempt on her life in Brighton in 1984.

She could not understand why anyone hated her so much.

Margaret and Denis on their wedding day in 1951

Meryl Streep calls Margaret Thatcher a pioneer among women. Lindsay Claiborn reports.


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North Korea 'readying nuke test'

Written By Unknown on Senin, 08 April 2013 | 14.41

The US Defense Department has delayed a ballistic missile test that had been planned for next week.

  • North preparing nuke test site, says South
  • Missile test  'this week'
  • Japan: We'll shoot down any missile
  • US postpones its missile test
  • Diplomats in North told they're not safe

LATEST: NORTH Korea is showing "signs'' of preparing a fourth nuclear test, South Korean Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-Jae has said, with reports of stepped up activity at its main atomic test site.

"There are such signs,'' Ryoo told a parliamentary committee hearing when lawmakers asked him to confirm the reports.

A South Korean government source had earlier tipped off the Joong Ang Daily newpaper that the North was preparing the site.

This comes on the heels of the South's defence ministry reports that Pyongyang could perform a mid-range missile test-launch by Wednesday – also the deadline it has given to foreign diplomats to evacuate, as their safety would reportedly no longer be guaranteed by the government.

"We have detected increased activity of labor forces and vehicles at the southern tunnel of the test site in Punggye-ri, where the regime has worked on maintenance for facilities since its third nuclear test in February," a high-ranking South Korean government official said.

"The activities appear to be similar to those before the third test, so we are closely monitoring the site."

Japan will shoot down any missile

Meanwhile, Japan has ordered its armed forces to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory, a defence ministry spokesman said Monday as speculation grows Pyongyang may fire one this week.

As world leaders meet in China to foster Asian economic growth, Australian PM Julia Gillard warns of the regional consequences of North Korean aggression. Lindsey Parietti reports.

Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera issued the order, which will see Aegis destroyers equipped with sea-based interceptor missiles deployed in the Sea of Japan, the defence official said.

The official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said the order, which was issued Sunday, was routine and was being kept low-key.

"We won't hold press conferences on this order because of Japan's policy principle that we will not be swayed by North Korean provocations.

"If we announce this publicly and explain in details, North Korea will get to know part of our strategy,'' the spokesman told AFP.

Test-launch of missile 'by Wednesday'

Earlier, a top South Korean security official says North Korea may test-launch a missile this week, as the United States delayed its own missile test due to soaring tensions on the peninsula.

A file photo shows the launch of a missile in Musudan-ri, North Korea in 2009. South Korea's national security director said the North may be planning a missile launch or another provocation around Wednesday.

Kim Jang-Soo, chief national security adviser to President Park Geun-Hye, said a test-launch or other provocation could come before or after Wednesday, the date by which the North has suggested that diplomats leave Pyongyang.

North Korea, incensed by UN sanctions following its nuclear and missile tests and by South Korean-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks.

It has also reportedly loaded two medium-range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast, raising speculation it is preparing for a provocative launch.

"There are no signs of a full-scale war as of now, but the North will have to prepare for retaliation in case of any local war,'' said Kim.

The spate of threats was intended to force the South and the United States to reach out with face-saving concessions, he said.

Diplomats fear the rhetoric has created a situation which could spiral out of control, and the US delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test to avoid stoking tensions with the North.

A US defence official said Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel postponed the Minuteman 3 test at Vandenberg Air Force Base until next month due to concerns it "might be misconstrued by some as suggesting that we were intending to exacerbate the current crisis with North Korea''.

And South Korea and the US postponed a major military meeting due to take place in Washington, Seoul's military said Sunday, reportedly due to fear of a provocation while Seoul's military chief is away.

Pyongyang tells diplomats: We can't guarantee your safety

Diplomats in Pyongyang huddled at the weekend to discuss a warning from the North's authorities that their safety could not be guaranteed after April 10 if a conflict broke out.

Most of their governments have made it clear they have no immediate plans to withdraw personnel, and some suggested the advisory was a ruse to fuel growing global anxiety over the crisis.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle reiterated that "any deadline after which North Korea would no longer ensure the security of embassies is unacceptable'', his ministry said.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he saw no immediate need to withdraw his country's diplomats.

Hague also told the BBC the North is showing no sign of gearing up for "all-out conflict'' by repositioning its armed forces, and called for calm.

He said there was a "danger of miscalculation by the North Korean regime which has worked itself up into this frenetic state of rhetoric in recent weeks and the danger that they would believe their own paranoid rhetoric''.

"But it's also important to stress that the international response to this, including our response, must be clear, united and calm,'' Hague added.

China is the North's sole major ally but its patience with Pyongyang also shows signs of wearing thin.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China opposes"provocative words and actions'' from any party in the region and would ``not allow troublemaking on China's doorstep'', in sharply worded comments to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

Beijing said it had asked the North to ensure the safety of its diplomats.

China 'must do more' to rein-in North

But US senior Republican senator John McCain on Sunday criticised China for not doing enough to keep North Korea in check.

"China does hold the key to this problem. China can cut off their economy if they want to. Chinese behaviour has been very disappointing,'' he said, speaking on CBS's Face the Nation talk show.

The North's mobilised missiles are reported to be untested Musudan models which are believed to have a range of around 3000km that could theoretically be pushed to 4000km with a light payload.

The North has no proven inter-continental ballistic missile capability that would enable it to strike more distant US targets, and many experts say it is unlikely it can even mount a nuclear warhead on a mid-range missile.


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What these bosses can't live without

This is what Ms Shih carries with her everywhere. Picture: Clara Shih/LinkedIn Source: Supplied

Richard Branson says he just can't function without his wonderful assistant Helen. Picture: Richard Branson/LinkedIn

THEY may be some of the world's most powerful and influential business people, but when push comes to shove, there are some things they simply can't function without.

From personal assistants to gadgets, and an old fashioned book, we've selected ten of the best company leaders who reveal some of the secrets behind their success.

The full list, as featured on job networking site LinkedIn, quizzed more than 50 influential people to find out just what made them tick and what it was they had to have on them at all times.

1. First off the bat is Virgin king pin Richard Branson who might seem on the go and on the ball, but admits he'd be hopelessly lost without his personal assistant Helen.

He says: "I couldn't get through the workday without my assistant, Helen. While gadgets like smartphones and tablets certainly do have a huge positive impact upon my working life, it is the people around me who really make the difference."
The Virgin founder insists having an assistant who is on the ball 24/7 is one of the main ways he stays on top of business.

2.Meg Whitman may be the most powerful person at Hewlett-Packard, but when it comes to the things she always carries it's clear cut: her laptop, swimsuit and country music are a must.
The HP CEO says spending more than 60 per cent of her time on the road means she needs to focus, tune out and stay flexible.
"When traveling, I always carry a swimsuit and try to stay at a location near a pool so I can get in a morning swim regardless of time zone," she says.
And in terms of staying flexible she says she can't travel without her HP Envy x2, which allows her to do business around the clock while her music lets her to tune out.

3. Indian-born American physician Deepak Chopra has these things he says he just can't travel or work without: "Mybasis, Dream Weaver, and my iPhone and iPad in my toolkit."
He says travelling around so much means it's vital he has all these with him.
His mybasis acts as his online personal dashboard recording information about his body, while his Dream Weaver helps him relax and his iPad keep him connected to family, office and friends, something he says is important to him.

4. For Peter Guber, CEO of Mandalay Entertainment and owner of Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Dodgers, it's simple - he can't function without his smartphone which he admits he's addicted to.
"I have become habituated, if not addicted to my mobile and all of its benefits." The author also reveals he's gone back home to get his phone if he's forgotten it but not his wallet.

5. Then there's Vivian Schiller Chief Digital Officer, at America's NBC News who admits to carrying almost nothing.
Having gone from carrying over-sized bags filled with makeup, multiple pens and notebooks, snacks, shoes etc in the past, she admits she's cut right back on what's essential.
"When I travel, which is now two or three times a week, the goal is to carry nothing with me - or as close to nothing as possible. No laptops, just an iPad; no printouts, no books, they're all on my Kindle," she says.

6. Neil Weinberg, Editor-in-Chief at American Banker, used to be hooked to be hooked to his smart phones and laptops until he realised it was raising his blood pressure and stress so he changed tack and stepped back.
"That's when I decided to start packing a non-volatile, random access analog device whose origins hark back to 2400 BC. It's called a book," he says.

7.Clara Shih, CEO of Hearsay Social & Author of The Facebook Era, says being on the go as head of a fast-growing tech company means she can't be without her Droid 4 (phone), her Tory Burch ballet flats and one business card with an important reminder: to slow down and take a deep breath.

8.RedBalloon founder Naomi Simson says she never gets by without a smile.
"It's far easier to get things accomplished with a smile on your dial," she says.

9. Jennifer Dulski, President and COO at Change.Org simply can't live without her calligraphy pens because "I find that a handwritten personal note can be especially precious."

10. Finally Craigslist.com founder Craig Newmark says he can't function without his Samsung Galaxy Note II which he uses 80 per cent of the time. Having also worn a watch most of his life he says he also depends on a Martian Watches Passport, which "functions as a little speakerphone with caller ID"


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Aussie resort manager shot dead

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 07 April 2013 | 14.41

An Australian man has been shot dead at a beach resort in the Philippines.

The Blue Rock Beach Resort in the Philippines, where an Australian was shot dead. Source: Supplied

AN Australian has been shot dead execution-style at the beach resort he was managing in the Philippines.

Blue Rock Beach Resort general manager Paul Dean Davy, 53, was shot in the back of the head while talking to another Australian man at a resort restaurant in Olongapo, 120km north of Manila, on Friday night.

Police said the gunman approached Mr Davy from behind at the beachside restaurant, holding a .45 pistol.

He then pointed it at the back of his head and fired.

Witnesses said the restaurant was full of holiday makers and families at the time of the attack.

Mr Davy was rushed to hospital but later died.

Police described the shooter as a Filipino man aged 30-35 wearing a blue cap and clear prescription glasses.

It is understood Mr Davy knew his attacker.

It was not clear if police had apprehended the suspect.

Mr Davy is believed to be from Brisbane and was the general manager of the popular resort, well-known for its yearly beauty pageant involving local women.

Resort staff were in a meeting and were unable to comment on the incident.

Police have said it was an isolated attack. Officers were still at the crime scene.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman said: "We can confirm the death of a 53-year-old man in the Philippines."


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Korean tension delays US missile test

A South Korean soldier stands on a military guard post near the demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas in the border city of Paju. Source: AFP

THE United States has delayed testing one of its own intercontinental ballistic missiles as some analysts say they believe North Korea can launch nuclear warheads.

A senior defence official has said the Pentagon delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test in order not to inflame already flash-point tensions with the rogue state.

Scheduled to be launched this week from the  Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the official said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel decided to put off the long-planned Minuteman 3 test until sometime next month.

The test was not connected to the ongoing U.S.-South Korean military exercises that have been going on in that region and have stoked North Korean anger and fueled an escalation in threatening actions and rhetoric.

North Korea's military warned earlier this week that it was authorized to attack the U.S. using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons.

However, North Korea is generally regarded as being years away from perfecting the technology to back up its bold threats of a pre-emptive strike on the United States.

But a recent string of successful tests has introduced a strong measure of doubt.

On Sunday afternoon it was reported that Japan will order its armed forces to shoot down any North Korean missile headed towards its territory.

Under the order, Aegis destroyers equipped with sea-based interceptor missiles would be deployed in the Sea of Japan so they could intercept a North Korean missile if it appeared likely to land in Japanese territory, Kyodo said.

Meanwhile most foreign diplomats in North Korea appear to have taken the decision to stay put, ignoring a warning by Pyongyang that they should consider evacuating amid the soaring tensions.

Pyongyang had informed embassies it could not guarantee their safety if a conflict broke out as concerns grew that the isolated state was preparing a missile launch.

But most of their governments made it clear overnight that they had no immediate plans to withdraw personnel, and some suggested the advisory was a ruse to fuel growing global anxiety over the current crisis on the Korean peninsula.

A British Foreign Office spokeswoman, commenting on the North's advisory, said: ``We believe they have taken this step as part of their country's rhetoric that the US poses a threat to them.''

Diplomatic family and staff are given final check by North Korean military police before boarding an aircraft to leave the country yesterday.

Western tourists returning from organised tours in Pyongyang - which have continued despite the tensions - said the situation on the ground appeared calm, with life going on as normal.

"We're glad to be back but we didn't feel frightened when we were there,'' said Tina Krabbe, from Denmark, arriving in Beijing after five days in North Korea.

GILLARD WARNS ON GROWING MILITARY THREAT.

WHAT WILL CHINA DO IF NORTH KOREA ATTACKS?

The embassy warning on Saturday coincided with reports North Korea had loaded two intermediate-range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast.

"The North is apparently intent on firing the missiles without prior warning,'' South Korean news agency Yonhap quoted a senior South Korean government official as saying.

North Koreans go about their business in Pyongyang oblivious to their leader's threats of war. Picture: Brown James

They were reported to be untested Musudan missiles which are believed to have a range of around 3000 kilometres that could theoretically be pushed to 4000 kilometres with a light payload.

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach US military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said yesterday Washington "would not be surprised'' by a missile test, which would fit the North's "current pattern of bellicose, unhelpful and unconstructive rhetoric and actions''.

US DEPLOYS UNMANNED SPY DRONE.

THE TWO FACES OF KIM JONG-UN.

No one can tell with any certainty how much technological progress North Korea has made, aside from perhaps a few people close to its secretive leadership. And it is highly unlikely that Pyongyang would launch such an attack, because the retaliation would be devastating.

In this Feb. 22, 2008 file image from television North Korean workers operate equipment at North Korea's main nuclear reactor in Nyongbyon, also known as Yongbyon.

The North's third nuclear test on February 12, which prompted the toughest UN Security Council sanctions yet against Pyongyang, is presumed to have advanced its ability to miniaturise a nuclear device. And experts say it's easier to design a nuclear warhead that works on a shorter-range missile than one for an intercontinental missile that could target the US.

The assessment of David Albright at the Institute for Science and International Security think tank is that North Korea has the capability to mount a warhead on its Rodong missile, which has a range of 1280 kilometers and could hit South Korea and most of Japan. But he cautioned in his analysis, published after the latest nuclear test, that it is an uncertain estimate, and the warhead's reliability remains unclear.

Albright contends that the experience of Pakistan could serve as precedent. Pakistan bought the Rodong from North Korea after its first flight test in 1993, then adapted and produced it for its own use. Pakistan, which conducted its first nuclear test in 1998, is said to have taken less than 10 years to miniaturize a warhead before that test, Albright said.

North Korea also obtained technology from the trafficking network of A.Q. Khan, a disgraced pioneer of Pakistan's nuclear program, acquiring centrifuges for enriching uranium. According to the Congressional Research Service, Khan may also have supplied a Chinese-origin nuclear weapon design he provided to Libya and Iran, which could have helped the North in developing a warhead for a ballistic missile.

But Siegfried Hecker at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation, who has visited North Korea seven times and been granted unusual access to its nuclear facilities, is skeptical the North has advanced that far in miniaturisation of a nuclear device.

"Nobody outside of a small elite in North Korea knows - and even they don't know for sure," he said in an e-mailed response to questions from The Associated Press. "I agree that we cannot rule it out for one of their shorter-range missiles, but we simply don't know."

South Korean anti-aircraft armoured vehicles move over a temporary bridge during a river-crossing military drill in Hwacheon near the border with North Korea.

KIM JONG-UN ORDERS ARTILLERY PRODUCTION.

MISSILE THREAT TO AUSTRALIA `REAL'.

"Thanks to A.Q. Khan, they almost certainly have designs for such a device that could fit on some of their short or medium-range missiles," said Hecker, who last visited the North in November 2010. "But it is a long way from having a design and having confidence that you can put a warhead on a missile and have it survive the thermal and mechanical stresses during launch and along its entire trajectory."

The differing opinions underscore a fundamental problem in assessing a country as isolated as North Korea, particularly its weapons programs: Solid proof is hard to come by.

For example, the international community remains largely in the dark about the latest underground nuclear test. Although it caused a magnitude 5.1 tremor, no gases escaped, and experts say there was no way to evaluate whether a plutonium or uranium device was detonated. That information would help reveal whether North Korea has managed to produce highly enriched uranium, giving it a new source of fissile material, and help determine the type and sophistication of the North's warhead design.

The guessing game about the North's nuclear weapons program dates back decades. Albright says that in the early 1990s, the CIA estimated that North Korea had a "first-generation" design for a plutonium device that was likely to be deployed on the Nodong missile - although it's not clear what information that estimate was based on.

This picture taken by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on March 31, 2013 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un attending the plenary meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang.

"Given that 20 years has passed since the deployment of the Rodong, an assessment that North Korea successfully developed a warhead able to be delivered by that missile is reasonable," Albright wrote.

According to Nick Hansen, a retired intelligence expert who closely monitors developments in the North's weapons programs, the Rodong missile was first flight-tested in 1993. Pakistan claims to have re-engineered the missile and successfully tested it, although doubts apparently persist about its reliability.

Whether North Korea has also figured out how to wed the missile with a nuclear warhead has major ramifications not just for South Korea and Japan, but for the US itself, which counts those nations as its principal allies in Asia and retains 80,000 troops in the two countries.

US intelligence appears to have vacillated in its assessments of North Korea's capabilities.

In April 2005, Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that North Korea had the capability to arm a missile with a nuclear device. Pentagon officials, however, later backtracked.

According to the Congressional Research Service, a report from the same intelligence agency to Congress in August 2007 said that "North Korea has short and medium-range missiles that could be fitted with nuclear weapons, but we do not know whether it has in fact done so."

In this March 11, 2013 file photo released by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) and distributed by the Korea News Service, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves at military officers after inspecting the Wolnae Islet Defense Detachment, North Korea, near the western sea border with South Korea.

In an interview in Germany, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. does not know whether North Korea has "weaponised" its nuclear capability.

Still, Washington is taking North Korea's nuclear threats seriously.

In December, North Korea launched a long-range rocket that could potentially hit the continental US According to South Korean officials, North Korea has moved at least one missile with "considerable range" to its east coast - possibly the untested Musudan missile, believed to have a range of 3000 - 4000 kilometers.

This week, the US said two of the Navy's missile-defence ships were positioned closer to the Korean peninsula, and a land-based system is being deployed for the Pacific territory of Guam. The Pentagon last month announced longer-term plans to beef up its US-based missile defences.

South Korea is separated from North Korea and its huge standing army by a heavily militarized frontier, and the countries remain in an official state of war, as the Korean War ended in 1953 without a peace treaty. Even without nuclear arms, the North positions enough artillery within range of Seoul to devastate large parts of the capital before the much-better-equipped US and South Korea could fully respond.

And Japan has been starkly aware of the threat since North Korea's 1998 test of the medium-range Taepodong missile that overflew its territory.

Yet in the latest standoff, much of the international attention has been on the North's potential threat to the US, a more distant prospect than its capabilities to strike its own neighbours. Experts say the North could hit South Korea with chemical weapons, and might also be able to use a Scud missile to carry a nuclear warhead.

Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, acknowledges the North might be able to put a warhead on a Rodong missile, but he sees it as unlikely. He says the North's nuclear threats are less worthy of attention than the prospects of a miscalculation leading to a conventional war.

"North Korea understands that a serious attack on South Korea or other US interests is going to be met with overwhelming force," he said. "It would be near suicidal for the regime."

- With AP, AFP


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