Turkish PM says West unfair, insincere in Iran row: report

ANKARA — Turkey's prime minister Saturday accused Western powers of lacking a "fair and sincere" approach on Iran in a mounting row over a nuclear swap deal with Tehran, Anatolia news agency reported.

Speaking to Turkish journalists during a visit to Brazil, Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated criticism of the West for staying mum on Israel, widely believed to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, Anatolia reported.

Without naming the Jewish state, he said: "You do not show the same approach here but you stir up the world concerning Iran. I do not see this as a fair, honest and sincere approach."

Turkey and Brazil, both non-permanent members of the UN Security Council, have been in a deepening confrontation with the United States over its dismissal of a nuclear swap deal the two hammered out with Tehran on May 17.

Washington insists the Security Council should press ahead with fresh sanctions against the Islamic republic, which the West suspects of seeking to develop an atomic bomb under the guise of nuclear energy production.

Erdogan hit back at US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who said Thursday that the Brazilian-Turkish deal's effect of "buying time for Iran... makes the world more dangerous, not less."

"The step that we took is not one that puts the world in danger. On the contrary, it is a step to prevent attempts to put the world in danger," Anatolia quoted Erdogan as saying.

"We have said it from the very beginning -- we do not want nuclear weapons in our region," he said.

The accord commits Iran to depositing 1,200 kilogrammes (2,640 pounds) of low enriched uranium in Turkey in return for 120 kilogrammes of more highly enriched uranium suitable for research and medical use.

France and Russia had previously offered to supply Iran with the higher-enriched fuel.

Erdogan accused Western leaders of backpedalling from conditions they had set for Iran after Turkey and Brazil secured those terms in the accord, and he named French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

"In our previous contacts, they had said they can give the (highly enriched) uranium to Iran in 10 months... We put a clause of one year, securing an advantage of two extra months.

"Now they are saying these 120 kilogrammes (of uranium) cannot be made before two years... Mr. Sarkozy says so. It is impossible to understand that," he said.

Erdogan said he and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would maintain diplomatic efforts to drum up support for the swap deal.

He said he was likely to discuss the issue with US President Barack Obama during a G-20 summit in Canada next month.

Ninja students foil Aussie mugging

SYDNEY — Three Australian muggers who struck near a martial arts school got the fright of their lives when five black-clad ninjas foiled their attack.

The trio, who were beating and kicking a trainee medic from Germany, fled in panic when the student ninjas aged 18 to 47 raced out of the nearby hall where they had been training.

"They all just froze," said Kaylan Soto, 42, who was training the students. "Then they just took off. I've never seen guys running that fast. They should have been in the Olympics -- they would have won gold."

Soto said the ninjitsu class was wrapping up late on Tuesday when one of his students went outside and saw the men attacking the 27-year-old German, who was near the end of an eight-week exchange visit.

"He called out to me, 'Sensei (teacher), someone's getting mugged on the road outside!'" Soto told AFP.

"We just ran outside and started running at them, yelling and everything. These guys have turned around and seen five ninjas in black ninja uniforms running towards them. They just bolted."

Police said two men aged 16 and 20 had been arrested over the attack and released a picture of a third aged between 15 and 17.

Soto said the German, who had his mobile phone and iPod stolen, could have escaped the beating with training in ninjitsu -- a Japanese martial art focusing on stealth, pressure points and weaponry.

"For the attackers it was a very unlucky place to do it -- somewhere where you've got a martial arts ninja school up the road," he said.

"You read stories like this but you would think it never happens. They just picked the wrong spot."

Vancouver Games hit by two-million-dollar ticket scam

VANCOUVER — The 2010 Winter Olympics were hit by a two-million-dollar (Canadian) ticket scam by a Latvian criminal ring, the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) revealed.

VANOC confirmed at the first board meeting since the February Games that the criminal gang, thought to number more than 30, used stolen Visa credit cards to purchase tickets on its "Fan to Fan Marketplace" website.

The site was set up in December as the official and most secure method for fans to re-sell tickets at any price. For the service, VANOC took a 10 percent commission from both the buyer and seller.

Three Latvians - Maris Latvijas Avens, 32, Andris Stuks, 30, Arturs Abroskins, 20 - were arrested by police when picking up the tickets.

Stuks and Abroskins were found guilty in British Columbia provincial court in March. The three men were later deported.

VANOC Chief Financial Officer John McLaughlin said they became aware of the scam in the last week of the Games after an examination of the volume and transactions going on in certain accounts. The site had more than 13,000 accounts but only about 200 were "compromised".

"The credit cards were actually approved so went through the protocol you've got for any kind of online sale - we followed that," he said.

McLaughlin wouldn't speculate how many tickets were involved but said it was in "the thousands".

VANOV, which held all the money for transactions carried out through the site, have delayed payment to the ticket sellers.

They plan to honor all payments and are currently talking with their insurer about how to recover the losses.

"We took the position that they (the sellers) didn't know who they were selling to because it came through us. We felt that they were following what we had asked people to do, which was go on our website and sell it here as a safe way to do it. We didn't feel right that they get left in the cold."

McLaughlin said there was no doubt the lost revenue could affect the bottom line for VANOC's long-held goal of achieving a balanced budget. Financial figures will not be available until the fall.

Federer, Nadal set-up dream Madrid final

MADRID — Rafael Nadal fears the huge game of Roger Federer in Sunday's final of the Madrid Masters after the elite rivals set up a re-run of their 2009 title match which was won by the world number one Swiss.

The title clash will be the pair's 21st meeting with Nadal holding the advantage at 13 wins to seven.

Nadal, crowd favourite and hero at the Caja Magica, moved onto the cusp of more ATP history with his stirring 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 defeat of fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro in his semi-final.

Federer, meanwhile, put his style on show for a 10th consecutive victory against Spaniard David Ferrer, with the Swiss going through 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

"He's playing really well and conditions here are perfect for him," said Nadal, who could earn a hat-trick of Masters 1000 titles this season after lifting Monte Carlo and Rome should he beat Federer for a 14th time and for the 10th time in 12 claycourt meetings.

"He can win a lot of free points with serve and forehand. This court is perfect for him. He is the favourite here for sure."

Federer is looking to earn his second title of the year after the Australian Open and prime his clay campaign for a trophy defence starting next Sunday at Roland Garros.

"It's very strange that we have not played in a year," said Federer. "I'm really looking forward to playing Rafa again. It's exciting for tennis that we can face off again.

"I thought I served really well tonight. David is one of the best returners in the game, he fought like crazy. I was worried. He's always a danger, I'm glad I was able to win.

"I was hoping something like this would happen in Madrid. I feel my game is coming together."

The Swiss star slugged it out with Nadal's compatriot Ferrer for just over two hours, finally earning a key break for 5-3 and polishing off the battle with an eighth ace.

Federer rose to the occasion against the noted claycourt grinder, winning 12 of the last 16 points and producing 38 winners.

Another title at the elite ATP level on Sunday would give Nadal a record 18 for his career, one more than Andre Agassi or Federer.

Nadal improved to 14-0 on clay this season and will now return to world number two behind Federer by virtue of reaching the final.

"The match was very close to getting away from me in the second set," said Nadal.

"Getting into another final is a huge joy. It's been a long spring season on clay and being in this final is a dream.

"Whatever happens tomorrow, this has been very good. Not in my wildest dreams could I have thought of winning two Masters 1000 and getting to the final of a third."

Nadal rallied after dropping his serve three times in the opening set against Almagro, a winner this week over French Open finalist Robin Soderling, Nadal's Paris conqueror a year ago in the fourth round.

"My serve was terrible in that first set. Very strange," complained the four-time Roland Garros champion.

The second seed from Mallorca powered through the second set in typical style and went up a break in the third to drain the life out of Almagro's challenge.

Nadal raced away to 4-1 in the deciding set and broke for victory in the final game as Almagro saved a match point before going down in two and a quarter hours.

"The way I was playing at the start was the way I had to play," said Almagro. "I'll have to keep working and maybe sooner or later I can manage to beat Rafa. I managed to be very aggressive and took his game to the limit in the first set."

Nadal now has a 6-0 career record against Almagro, the world number 35 whose last title came on clay in 2009 in Mexico.

Europe slams Facebook's privacy settings

BRUSSELS — Europe slammed as unacceptable the changes by social networking website Facebook to its privacy settings, that would allow the profiles of its users to be made available to third party websites.

"It is unacceptable that the company fundamentally changed the default settings on its social-networking platform to the detriment of a user", the group of European data protections authorities said in a letter Wednesday.

The EU group, known as the Article 29 Working Party, met on May 11-12 in Brussels to discuss safer networking principles.

It reminded Facebook that user profile information "is limited to self-selected contacts" and any further access "should be an explicit choice of the user."

On April 21, the social networking site rolled out a series of new features including the ability for partner websites to incorporate Facebook data, a move that would further expand the network's presence on the Internet.

North Korea's Kim committed to disarmament talks: KCNA

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il said the isolated state remains committed to nuclear disarmament, Pyongyang's official media reported Saturday, a year after quitting talks on its atomic arsenal.

During a visit this week to Beijing, he also said ties with China will be unchanged by the "replacement of one generation by a new one," amid reports he is paving the way for his son to take control of the isolated communist state.

North Korea, which has tested two nuclear bombs, last year bolted from six-nation talks but in remarks reported Saturday, Kim "expressed the DPRK's (North Korea's) willingness to provide favourable conditions for the resumption of the six-party (disarmament) talks."

He said the North "remains unchanged in its basic stand to preserve the aim of denuclearising the Korean peninsula, implement the joint statement adopted at the six-party talks and pursue a peaceful solution through dialogue."

The comments, carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), came with the first North Korean confirmation of a secretive five-day trip to China and echoed statements reported by official Beijing media on Friday.

"Both sides decided to make joint efforts to attain the objective of denuclearising the peninsula in accordance with the stand clarified in the September 19 joint statement," KCNA said, referring to a 2005 agreement under which North Korea agreed to give up its nuclear programme in return for badly needed aid and security guarantees.

Professor Koh Yu-Hwan of Dongguk University said Pyongyang was unable to promise to return to the talks in more explicit terms due to the unexplained sinking of a South Korean warship near the border with the North in March.

South Korea and the United States indicated that the resumption of talks with North Korea, also grouping China, Russia and Japan, should wait for the outcome of an investigation into the sinking, which claimed the lives of 46 sailors.

"This is a step forward for the North which in the past said it would not come to the dialogue table unless its demands for a peace treaty with the United States and lifting of UN sanctions are met," Koh said.

Referring to close ties with Beijing, Kim, who himself inherited control of the nation from his father Kim Il-Sung, made comments likely to stoke speculation that he is grooming his third son, Jong-Un, for succession.

The bilateral friendship will remain unchanged "despite the passage of time and the replacement of one generation by a new one," Kim said.

Hu, speaking at a state dinner hosted in Kim's honour, said the two countries should maintain and improve the traditional friendship "along with the passage of time and convey it down through generations," KCNA reported.

Professor Kim Yong-Hyun, also of Dongguk University, said expressions of bilateral friendship lasting for generations were commonly used at summits between the two countries.

"However, it is noteworthy that this rhetoric was repeated at a time when the North is believed to be raising Jong-Un as an heir," he told AFP.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the North Koreans, during the visit, briefed the Chinese side on their plan for a possible succession by the son and Chinese people listened to them carefully."

Succession speculation has intensified since Kim senior, 67, reportedly suffered a stroke in August 2008. He is widely thought to have chosen Jong-Un to inherit power.

Information is scant about Jong-Un, the second son of Kim Jong-Il's third wife Ko Yong-Hee. Some reports say Jong-Un, born in 1983, attended an international school in the Swiss city of Berne under a pseudonym.

Kenji Fujimoto, a former personal chef to Kim Jong-Il, has described the son as "a chip off the old block" who closely resembles his father physically and in terms of personality.

US urges Nepal Maoists to end strike

WASHINGTON — The United States called Thursday on Nepal's Maoists to end a strike that has shut down much of the country, voicing fear that the standoff could spiral into violence.

Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs, encouraged all sides to try to resolve differences peacefully as hopes fade that Nepal will meet a May 28 deadline to complete a new constitution.

Blake, who visited the Himalayan nation last month, said that the general strike called by the Maoists "is creating serious hardships for the people of Nepal and the risk of dangerous confrontation is growing."

"We call on the Maoists to end or suspend their strike and ease these hardships," Blake said. "We urge both the Maoists and the government to exercise restraint and good judgment to prevent the outbreak of violence."

Maoist guerrillas fought a bloody insurgency against the state for 10 years before a peace deal was signed in 2006, through which the former rebels achieved a key goal of abolishing the Hindu monarchy.

But Nepal's politics have remained unstable and deep divisions remain in drafting a constitution. The Maoists won 2008 elections, fell from power the following year and called the current strike to oust the ruling coalition.

The United States branded Nepal's Maoists as terrorists following a 2004 attack on the American Center in Kathmandu but has agreed to reconsider the blacklisting if the former rebels move ahead in the peace process.