US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday and Lula expressed his willingness to talk with world leaders about Iran’s nuclear standoff in an effort to establish a peaceful solution.
Lula and Clinton attended a closed meeting and shook hands after the hour-long conversation. Earlier on Wednesday, Lula told reporters that Brazil would support Iran if it used its nuclear technology for peaceful ends and said the international community should not “push Iran into a corner.” On the other hand, after a meeting with Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Clinton said she believed Iran would only negotiate in good faith with the international community after sanctions are imposed. Lula and Clinton also discussed climate change, US’ relations with South American countries and a possible visit of President Barack Obama to Brazil. Clinton’s trip to the South American giant was aimed at winning support of Brazil, a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, for moves to sanction Iran over its nuclear program, which Western powers fear is designed to produce atomic weapons.

Chile Earthquake Earth s Axis, Strong aftershocks have struck Chile again, rocking the battered town of Concepcion and sending panicked residents fleeing.

Soldiers deployed in the city urged people to evacuate following Wednesday’s temblors and the authorities issued a tsunami warning.

Media correspondent said there was pandemonium everywhere as people rushed to get to higher ground even though the city is quite far away from the sea, making the possibility of a tsunami very remote.

No damage or injuries were recorded in the aftershocks that came as Michelle Bachelet, the outgoing president, called for calm and asked people to stop hoarding supplies and help with relief efforts.

Speaking in the Chilean capital, Santiago, on Wednesday, she said: “We don’t have shortage. There is enough food, so everyone has to remain calm in places where stores are closed.

“We will replenish the stores. Banks are beginning to open … that is to say we will return to relative normality,” she said on national television.

Brazil rebuffed a US appeal for new sanctions on Iran about its nuclear programme, vowing not to “bow down” to gathering international pressure during a visit from US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pre-empted Clinton even before she could make the case for new United Nations Security Council penalties. Hours before meeting with Hillary Clinton today, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that Brazil would not “bow down” to international pressure to agree to new UN sanctions on Iran.
“It is not prudent to push Iran against a wall,” Silva said, “The prudent thing is to establish negotiations.” Brazil is currently a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Clinton is traveling there as part of a Latin American tour to try to persuade Brazil to sign off on a new UN Security Council resolution on Iran as early as next month. But it’s a particularly tough Security Council, with key current non-permanent members of the 15 member body such as Brazil and Turkey not certain to support such a resolution, Lebanon likely to vote against it, and at least one permanent member, China, also reluctant. Three past UN Security Council resolutions on Iran passed overwhelmingly, with no “no” votes and only a few abstentions. Lula is due to travel to Iran in May.

Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti denounced suicide attacks as un-Islamic and condemned the killing of civilians, saying such attacks have nothing to do with the Muslim religion.
Terrorism is criminal and spills the blood of innocents, said Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah al-Sheikh, the kingdom’s senior most cleric. It attacks security, spreads terror among the people and creates problems for society. Such acts are forbidden by Islamic law, he said in a statement. It is necessary to fight against the attempts by some to attach terrorism to Islam and Muslims with the goal of distorting the religion and to assail its leadership role in the world, he added.

Iran’s failure to comply with the wishes of the United Nations over its nuclear program is forcing the international community to pursue fresh sanctions against it, the German government said.
The persistent defiance of United Nations resolutions and Tehran’s continuation of a dangerous nuclear policy are forcing the international community to pursue further comprehensive sanctions in New York against the regime in Tehran, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was still extending her hand towards Iran and remained committed to reaching a diplomatic solution, Wilhelm told a regular news conference. UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran may be working to develop a nuclear-armed missile, throwing independent weight behind Western suspicions of an active Iranian weapons program. France urged the world powers to act with determination against Iran’s atomic activities, after a report by the UN nuclear watchdog expressed concern Tehran may be working on a nuclear warhead. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran deems nuclear weapons to be prohibited under Islam and isn’t seeking to build them, after the International Atomic Energy Agency announced the country may have been working on a warhead.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting with the Saudi leadership in Riyadh today, hoping to enlist the kingdom in persuading China to support a tougher stand against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The talks with King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal come as Washington is seeking to rally international support for a fourth round of United Nations sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme. The United States and its allies suspect Iran is attempting to develop a nuclear weapon. Tehran denies this, insisting that its nuclear program is peaceful. As part of the ongoing effort to gain support for sanctions against Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow today.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle threatened new sanctions against Iran, saying that Tehran has the right to make peaceful use of nuclear power, but must refrain from any nuclear armament.

If Iran continues to refuse talks, then talks at the United Nations is inevitable, and we’ll have to talk about new measures, said Westerwelle. He made the statement as Iran announced that it began to produce 20-percent enriched uranium. On Sunday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) to start work on enriching uranium to a purity of 20 percent. Ahmadinejad also said that Iran is still ready for the exchange of nuclear fuel with world powers. Iran handed over a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) informing the UN nuclear watchdog about the Islamic Republic’s plan to produce 20-percent enriched uranium, provoking fresh warnings by western nations of new sanctions.

PARIS: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to see the United Nations slap sanctions on Iran in “weeks, not months.”

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters Tuesday that Gates “clearly thinks time is of the essence.”

Gates is returning to Washington after spending a week in Europe. In Paris on Monday he met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Gates also met with NATO officials in Istanbul to discuss Afghanistan, including ways to address a shortfall of 4,000 military trainers.

Morrell says Gates believes a U.N. resolution would lay the legal groundwork countries need to impose sanctions independently and pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear program.

Haiti and Earthquake Breaking news updates :- Haiti’s president ‘alive’ after massive quake: official, The Haitian capital has largely been destroyed in the most powerful earthquake to hit the country in more than 200 years.

Journalists from The Associated Press described severe and widespread casualties after a tour of streets where blood and bodies could be seen.

The damage is staggering even in a country accustomed to tragedy and disaster. The Associated Press reporters said the National Palace was a crumbled ruin and tens of thousands of people were homeless.

Many gravely injured people sat in the street, pleading for doctors many hours after the quake. Thousands of people were singing hymns and holding hands in public squares.

The 7.0-magnitude quake struck at 4:53 p.m. Tuesday, leaving large numbers of people unaccounted for. The quake collapsed a hospital where people screamed for help and heavily damaged the National Palace, U.N. peacekeeper headquarters and other buildings.

United Nations officials said hours after the quake struck that they still couldn’t account for a large number of U.N. personnel.

Haiti’s President Rene Preval “is alive” after a massive earthquake that destroyed the presidential palace and other buildings in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s ambassador to Mexico said.

“All I can confirm is that president and his wife are alive and well,” Ambassador Robert Manuel said.

“The situation is very serious,” he added at a press conference after meeting with Mexico’s Deputy Foreign Minister Salvador Beltran.

The United Nations has asked Sri Lanka to explain allegations by a former army general that surrendering Tamil rebel leaders were killed in cold blood in mid-May, the government said on Monday.

The presidency in Colombo said the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, sought explanations on what had happened to three rebel leaders and their families who wanted to surrender.

“The government is making a careful study of the UN Rapporteur?s letter, prior to a formal response, and any action that may be necessary,” the president’s office said in a statement.

Two weeks ago, former army chief Sarath Fonseka said that he had been informed by a state media reporter that the defence minister, who is also the president’s brother, had wanted all surrendering rebels wiped out.

Sri Lanka recently staved off attempts by Western nations to launch a UN war crimes probe into the country’s 37-year ethnic conflict that ended in May when the leaders of the Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a major offensive.

A Russian and Chinese veto at the UN torpedoed attempts to launch an investigation, but the new allegations could strengthen the case to bring Colombo before a tribunal.

The UN estimates that up to 7,000 civilians died in the final stages of the war. This figure is disputed by the government.

Alston said in his letter, a copy of which was released by the president’s office, that he wanted clarifications to keep the UN Human Rights Council informed.

The government has accused Fonseka, who was in charge of the army during the final stages of the war, of “betraying” the country and making the statement for political reasons ahead of presidential elections on January 26.

Fonseka, 59, is challenging his former boss, President Mahinda Rajapakse, 64, who is seeking re-election. Fonseka has agreed to face any investigation, while Rajapakse insists he will not allow any war crimes probe.

On May 19, Sri Lankan authorities showed on television the body of Tiger supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, a day after claiming that he was killed in a gunbattle along with a dozen other senior military cadres.

Three Tiger political wing leaders who were arranging his surrender were shot dead on May 17. The government at the time said they may have been killed by the guerrillas themselves.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, had been in telephone contact with a number of guerrillas to arrange their surrender, according to diplomats.

The government had assured Nambiar that surrendering rebels would be safe.

Fonseka said he had learnt only after the war that senior Tiger rebels had used foreign mediators to organise a plan in which they would carry white flags and give themselves up.

The UN estimates that up to 100,000 people were killed in the civil war which began in 1972 when the Tamil Tigers first took up arms.