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    Sunday, July 12, 2009

    Reuters - North Korea leader Kim has pancreatic cancer: report

    This article was sent to you from bombastic4000@yahoo.com, who uses Reuters Mobile Site to get news and information on the go. To access Reuters on your mobile phone, go to:
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    North Korea leader Kim has pancreatic cancer: report

    Monday, Jul 13, 2009 2:18AM UTC

    By Jack Kim

    SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, 67, has life-threatening pancreatic cancer, South Korean broadcaster YTN said on Monday, citing information gathered from Chinese and South Korean intelligence sources.

    The report raises questions about leadership in Asia's only community dynasty and who will make decisions concerning its nuclear programs.

    Kim's health is one of the most closely guarded secrets in the reclusive state but he is widely thought to have suffered a stroke a year ago, although there has never been official confirmation.

    YTN said the diagnoses of the cancer came around the same time as the stroke.

    A gaunt Kim with thinning hair made a rare public appearance last Wednesday at a memorial for his father and state founder Kim Il-sung. The stark figure he cast furthered speculation he was still ill.

    South Korea's National Intelligence Service could not immediately comment on the report, nor could U.S. officials.

    South Korean financial markets took the YTN report with caution, saying it cast a shadow over sentiment.

    "Such news highlights South Korea's geopolitical uncertainty and risks and one thing that investors hate is any uncertainty," said Lee Kyoung-su, a market analyst at Taurus Investment & Securities.

    North Korea has been raising tension in Asia through missile launches and a nuclear test on May 25 which was met by U.N. sanctions aimed at cutting off it arms trade, one of its few sources of hard cash.

    South Korean officials said this military grandstanding was aimed at helping Kim build internal support as he prepares for succession, with his youngest son seen as the likely heir.

    SURVIVAL RATE LOW

    The U.S. National Cancer Institute puts the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer at 5.5 percent. The pancreas makes insulin and other hormones which help the body use or store energy from food.

    Pancreatic cancer occurs more often in people who have diabetes than in those who do not, it said, and Kim has been long thought to suffer from diabetes.

    Kim Jong-il took power in 1994 when his father died at the age of 82. He assumed the title of general secretary of the ruling Workers' Party and chairman of the National Defense Commission, but has never taken the title of president.

    His youngest son Kim Jong-un, born in late 1983 or early 1984 and educated in Switzerland, is regarded as the most capable of Kim's three known sons with striking resemblance to his father.

    If Jong-un were to take over soon, he is likely to remain weak, vulnerable and at the mercy of the North's old guard for years, experts said.

    North Korea places great emphasis on seniority and the ruling elite around Kim Jong-il, mostly men beyond 70, are not about to take orders from the son, an intelligence source said.

    Separately, Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei of China was holding talks in Seoul on Monday to try to resume six-way talks his country hosts aimed at ending Pyongyang's nuclear arms program in return for massive aid and diplomatic rewards.

    (Additional reporting by Jungyoun Park; Editing by David Fox)

    Reuters - News Corp won't buy Twitter, won't sell MySpace

    This article was sent to you from bombastic4000@yahoo.com, who uses Reuters Mobile Site to get news and information on the go. To access Reuters on your mobile phone, go to:
    http://uk.mobile.reuters.com

    News Corp won't buy Twitter, won't sell MySpace

    Thursday, Jul 09, 2009 3:44AM UTC

    SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Reuters) - News Corp is not interested in buying popular microblogging site Twitter and will not sell its struggling social network MySpace, said the media conglomerate's chief executive, Rupert Murdoch.

    Murdoch, who arrived on Wednesday at the Allen & Co investment bank's Sun Valley media and technology conference, said Twitter would be a tough investment to justify because it has not yet come up with a sustainable way to make money.

    "Be careful of investing here," he said of Twitter.

    Speculation is running rampant at the 27th Sun Valley conference over which company might want to buy Twitter. The service, which lets people post to Web what they are thinking or doing in 140 characters or less, is growing in popularity.

    Twitter co-founder Evan Williams is widely considered one of the darlings of this year's conference. Sun Valley often features hot Internet start-ups that older media conglomerates would like to buy to enhance their own businesses.

    Asked if he was considering buying Twitter, Murdoch said, "No." Asked about selling MySpace, he said, "Hell no."

    News Corp bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million when the social networking service was nearing the height of its popularity, particularly among younger Internet users.

    Since then, it has ceded ground to rival Facebook as well as Twitter. News Corp recently ousted MySpace co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe and installed its own management team.

    In a bid to cut costs, MySpace also has laid off more than 400 workers, or 30 percent of its staff, in the United States. It also has laid off more abroad.

    Murdoch expressed confidence in MySpace and criticized Facebook.

    "Facebook is like a directory," he said. "How they make money is another matter."

    (Reporting by Robert MacMillan, editing by Tiffany Wu, Matt Daily and Steve Orlofsky)

    Reuters - News Corp won't buy Twitter, won't sell MySpace

    This article was sent to you from bombastic4000@yahoo.com, who uses Reuters Mobile Site to get news and information on the go. To access Reuters on your mobile phone, go to:
    http://uk.mobile.reuters.com

    News Corp won't buy Twitter, won't sell MySpace

    Thursday, Jul 09, 2009 3:44AM UTC

    SUN VALLEY, Idaho (Reuters) - News Corp is not interested in buying popular microblogging site Twitter and will not sell its struggling social network MySpace, said the media conglomerate's chief executive, Rupert Murdoch.

    Murdoch, who arrived on Wednesday at the Allen & Co investment bank's Sun Valley media and technology conference, said Twitter would be a tough investment to justify because it has not yet come up with a sustainable way to make money.

    "Be careful of investing here," he said of Twitter.

    Speculation is running rampant at the 27th Sun Valley conference over which company might want to buy Twitter. The service, which lets people post to Web what they are thinking or doing in 140 characters or less, is growing in popularity.

    Twitter co-founder Evan Williams is widely considered one of the darlings of this year's conference. Sun Valley often features hot Internet start-ups that older media conglomerates would like to buy to enhance their own businesses.

    Asked if he was considering buying Twitter, Murdoch said, "No." Asked about selling MySpace, he said, "Hell no."

    News Corp bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million when the social networking service was nearing the height of its popularity, particularly among younger Internet users.

    Since then, it has ceded ground to rival Facebook as well as Twitter. News Corp recently ousted MySpace co-founder and CEO Chris DeWolfe and installed its own management team.

    In a bid to cut costs, MySpace also has laid off more than 400 workers, or 30 percent of its staff, in the United States. It also has laid off more abroad.

    Murdoch expressed confidence in MySpace and criticized Facebook.

    "Facebook is like a directory," he said. "How they make money is another matter."

    (Reporting by Robert MacMillan, editing by Tiffany Wu, Matt Daily and Steve Orlofsky)

    Reuters - Azeri blogger detained, oil major presses case

    This article was sent to you from bombastic4000@yahoo.com, who uses Reuters Mobile Site to get news and information on the go. To access Reuters on your mobile phone, go to:
    http://uk.mobile.reuters.com

    Azeri blogger detained, oil major presses case

    Sunday, Jul 12, 2009 7:20PM UTC

    LONDON (Reuters) - An opposition blogger in Azerbaijan has been remanded in custody pending trial on hooliganism charges, prompting protests from his employer, oil major BP Plc, a media rights group said on its website.

    Adnan Hajizade, a video blogger and member of the "OL!" opposition movement, was arrested along with youth activist Emin Milli at a cafe in Baku on July 8, after they were beaten up by two men, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

    The pair were remanded in custody by a judge for two months, RSF said.

    The incident came ahead of Monday's visit to Britain by Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, who is expected to meet government and BP officials.

    Hadjizade suffered a broken nose in the attack and Milli sustained a leg and other injuries, RSF said.

    Hadjiazde, 26, has worked for BP's public relations team in Baku for several years. A spokesman for BP -- one of the biggest foreign investors in Azerbaijan -- said the company was making representations to the authorities.

    "This is something BP is very concerned about and is taking very seriously," a spokesman said.

    Critics accuse Aliyev of adopting an increasingly authoritarian style including, in recent months, a plan to place curbs on non-governmental organizations.

    Rights groups and Aliyev's opponents accuse the West of muting its criticism on human rights because Azerbaijan is a supplier of oil and gas to the West in the strategically important South Caucasus.

    (Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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