Warning: Sunspot cycle beginning to rise

Guardian.co.uk 

RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP foreign, Monday May 11 2009 

It's time for the sun to move into a busier period for sunspots, and while forecasters expect a relatively mild outbreak by historical standards, one major solar storm can cause havoc with satellites and electrical systems here. 

Like hurricanes, a weak cycle refers to the number of storms, but it only takes one powerful storm to create chaos, said scientist Doug Biesecker of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's space weather prediction center. 

A report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a storm as severe as one in 1859 occurred today, it could cause $1 trillion to $2 trillion in damage the first year and take four to 10 years to recover. 

The 1859 storm shorted out telegraph wires, causing fires in North America and Europe, sent readings of Earth's magnetic field soaring, and produced northern lights so bright that people read newspapers by their light. 

Today there's a lot more than telegraph lines at stake. Vulnerable electrical grids circle the globe, satellites now vital for all forms of communications can be severely disrupted along with the global positioning system. Indeed, the panel warned that a strong blast of solar wind can threaten national security, transportation, financial services and other essential functions. 

The solar prediction center works closely with industry and government agencies to make sure they are prepared with changes in activity and prepared to respond when damage occurs, Biesecker said in a briefing. 

While the most extreme events seem unlikely this time, there will probably be smaller scale disruptions to electrical service, airline flights, GPS signals and television, radio and cell phones. 

On the plus side, the solar storms promote the colorful auroras, known as the northern and southern lights, high in the sky over polar areas. 

An international panel headed by Biesecker said Friday it expects the upcoming solar cycle to be the weakest since 1928. 

The prediction calls for the solar cycle to peak in May 2013 with 90 sunspots per day, averaged over a month. If the prediction proves correct it will be the weakest cycle since a peak of 78 daily sunspots in 1928. 

Measurement of sunspot cycles began in the 1750s. 

The panel described solar storms as eruptions of energy and matter that escape from the sun. At least some of this heads toward the Earth. 

Solar cycles of more and fewer sunspots last several years and the cycle currently building up will be number 24 since counting began. 

It's only the third time researchers have tried to make such a forecast. In 1989 a panel predicted Cycle 22, which peaked that year. And in 1996 scientists predicted Cycle 23. 

Both earlier groups did better at predicting timing than intensity, according to Biesecker. 

The last solar minimum occurred in December, the researchers said. 

W. Dean Pesnell of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the forecasts are based on such indicators as the strength of the sun's magnetic field at the poles and the reaction of the Earth's magnetic field to the sun. Both are weak right now, he said, with only a few sunspots visible since 2007. 

A preliminary forecast issued in 2007 was split over the outlook for the upcoming cycle, Biesecker said the researchers have now reached consensus.

NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov 

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov 

Space Weather Center: http://www.spaceweather.gov

 

Iran president says ready for nuclear talks

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Isfahan, Iran | Fri, 04/10/2009 8:26 AM

Iran's president said Thursday his country is open to talks offered by the U.S. and other countries over its nuclear program. But he insisted the talks must be based on respect for Iran's rights, suggesting the West should not try to force Tehran to stop uranium enrichment.

Hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the comments during celebrations for Iran's Nuclear Day, in which a number of advances in Iran's nuclear program were announced.

Among them, officials said the number of centrifuges at Iran's uranium enrichment facility had increased to 7,000 - up from 6,000 announced in February - and that a new, more advanced type of centrifuge had been tested. Ahmadinejad also announced the opening of a new plant for developing uranium fuel for a planned hard-water reactor.

Ahmadinejad's comments came after the United States and other nations invited Iran to direct talks over resolving the standoff over its nuclear ambitions. The Obama administration's announcement that it would join the talks marked a shift from the policy of former President George W. Bush, whose administration generally shunned such meetings.

Ahmadinejad said past talks with European nations failed because "they were insisting on stopping our peaceful activities, they were trying to impose that. It was clear the Iranian people would not accept that."

"The Iranian nation has always been for talks," Ahmadinejad said. But, he said, "dialogue has to be based on justice and respecting rights ... Justice means both sides are treated equally and bilateral rights are respected."

The United Nations has demanded Iran halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce nuclear fuel but also the material for a warhead. Iran denies any intention to build a bomb and has refused to halt enrichment, saying it has a right to develop peaceful nuclear technology.

In past talks, European nations offered a package of economic incentives for Tehran to suspend enrichment, but Iran refused.

In the enrichment process, uranium gas is pumped into a series of thousands of centrifuges, which spin it at super-sonic speeds to remove impurities. Uranium enriched to a low degree is used to fuel a light-water nuclear reactor, but when enriched to a high degree it produces the basis of a warhead.

Thursday's ceremony celebrated the National Day of Nuclear Technology, the day in 2006 when Iran first enriched uranium at its facility in the town of Natanz. Since then, it is believed to have enriched enough uranium to build a bomb - though first the uranium would have to be more highly enriched, and it is not known if Iran has perfected such techniques. Iran says the enriched uranium is for its first domestically produced nuclear plant, due to open in several years.

Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, who is also the nuclear chief, announced to the gathering that Iran has increased the number of centrifuges in its enrichment plan to 7,000, up from 6,000 announced in February. He also announced that a new, more advanced centrifuge has been produced.

Ahmadinejad said the new centrifuge has been tested, and has several times more capacity more than the P-1 centrifuges currently used at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant in central Iran. Neither gave details on the new centrifuge or said when it might be brought into use.

Ahmadinejad also said the country has inaugurated a ne facility producing uranium fuel for a heavy-water nuclear reactor that is under construction in the town of Arak and is expected to be completed in 2009 or 2010.

Heavy-water reactors use a different process than light-water ones, but has its own nuclear proliferation concerns. The West fears that Iran cold eventually reprocess spent fuel from the heavy-water reactor to produce plutonium for a warhead.

Iran has been building the 40-megawatt hard-water reactor in the central town of Arak for the past four years. Hard-water reactors do not need enriched uranium for fuel, and can instead use more easily produced uranium oxide ore, fashioned into pellets.

Tribal vote

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 04/09/2009 6:05 PM

Tribal vote: Papua tribal man casts his ballot into a traditional bag made of woven tree bark called "Noken" in Jayawijaya, Papua province, Thursday, April 9, 2009. Indonesians flooded polling stations across the sprawling island nation Thursday, celebrating a decade of democracy in a parliamentary election that will gauge the reform-minded president's chances of re-election. AP/ANTARA, Prasetyo Utomo

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Election Results:

Antara, Sat 10 April 2009

Some polling stations officers are carrying ballot boxes after counting of general election in Somba Opu Village, Gowa district, South Sulawesi province, Friday (Apr 10). Some voting officer was late to report election result due to transportation limitedness in cloistered region. (ANTARA photo/Yusran Uccang)

Delivering logistics

The Jakarta Post | Wed, 04/08/2009 4:32 PM

Workers in tourist island, Lombok, load boxes that will be used as vote containers in the upcoming general elections on Thursday in Gili Meno Village. (Antara/Budi Afandi)

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Syria willing to talk peace with new Israel govt

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Damascus | Wed, 04/08/2009 8:10 PM

Syria says it's willing to resume indirect peace talks with Israel's new government as long as the talks focus on an Israeli withdrawal from the entire Golan Heights to lines that preceded the June 1967 Mideast war.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem made the statements Wednesday during a news conference with Italy's foreign minister. Indirect talks through Turkish mediation broke off after Israel's Gaza offensive started in December.

The extent of withdrawal is a major issue. Israel has not confirmed it would pull back to the pre-war lines, which Syria insists on.

Syria's President Bashar Assad said recently the talks failed because Israel would not make an unambiguous commitment to return all the territory.

Zimbabwe 'to re-engage with West'

BBC World

Zimbabwe's new coalition government has adopted a 100-day renewal plan aimed at mending ties with the West after years of isolation under Robert Mugabe.

Ministers on a three-day retreat hammered out the plan which is meant to yield a new constitution by next year.

Restrictions on foreign media are due to be lifted and human rights restored.

Correspondents at the talks say there is some scepticism that such ambitious targets can be met in such a short space of time.

After Zimbabwe quit the Commonwealth in 2003, the EU and US imposed travel bans on Mr Mugabe and his circle.

Obama promotes nuclear-free world

BBC World

Barack Obama has outlined his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons in a major speech in Europe.

The US president called for a global summit on nuclear security and the forging of new partnerships to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

He said he hoped to negotiate a new treaty to end the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons.

North Korea's "provocative" rocket launch earlier in the day underscored the need for action, he said.

Although his nuclear goals might not be realised in his lifetime, he said he would strive to achieve them.

Mr Obama said that as long as Iran continued to pose a potential nuclear threat, the US would continue to work on a controversial missile defence shield, parts of which would be stationed in Poland and the Czech Republic.

He was speaking ahead of a meeting with EU leaders in the Czech capital, Prague, hours after North Korea launched a rocket despite international warnings.

Mr Obama condemned the launch: "Now is the time for a strong international response," he said.

"North Korea must know that the path to security and respect will never come through threats and illegal weapons."

Extermination of cities

Speaking to a 20,000-strong crowd in front of Prague's historic castle, Mr Obama said the US had a moral responsibility to act in ridding the world of nuclear weapons.

"The existence of thousands of nuclear weapons is the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War," he said.

"Today the Cold War has disappeared but thousands of those weapons have not."

He pledged to reduce the US nuclear stockpile, and urged others to do the same.

But as long as a nuclear threat existed, the US would retain its nuclear capability, although it would work to reduce its arsenal.

He said his administration would work to bring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) into force in order to achieve a global ban on nuclear testing.

The agreement would ban all nuclear explosions for any purpose, but cannot currently come into effect as nuclear powers such as the US and China have not ratified it, and India and Pakistan have not signed it.

Massive destruction

The most immediate and extreme threat to global security, the president said, was the possibility of terrorists possessing nuclear weapons.

"One terrorist with a nuclear weapon could unleash massive destruction," he said.

"Al-Qaeda has said it seeks a bomb. And that it would have no problem in using it. And we know that there is unsecured nuclear material across the globe."

Mr Obama announced a new effort to secure sensitive nuclear material within four years and break down the black market in the trade in illicit weapons.

He also said he would negotiate a new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia by the end of this year.

The speech came days after he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev - meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in London - agreed to reopen negotiations about reducing nuclear warheads.

They aim to produce a new arms control treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) that expires at the end of the year.

Under Mr Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, tensions arose between the two sides over the US plan for a missile defence shield, parts of which would be stationed in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The new US administration is currently reviewing the plans, which are meant to counter nuclear attacks from countries like Iran and North Korea, but which Moscow sees as a threat.

Mr Obama said his administration would also seek to engage with Iran, presenting Tehran with a choice between getting access to peaceful nuclear energy, or risking isolation with its current nuclear strategy, which he said posed a clear threat.

"As long as the threat from Iran exists, we will go forward with a missile defence system," he said.

European pledges

His wide-ranging speech - which also touched on the need for a united approach to combat the global financial crisis and climate change - was rapturously received by the crowd.

Mr Obama is to meet EU leaders to discuss issues such as climate change and energy security.

He will then fly to Turkey for the final stop of his European tour.

The US president arrived in Prague late on Saturday from the Nato summit in Strasbourg, where he secured pledges from European nations to send more troops to Afghanistan to provide security for elections in August.

Ahead of his arrival several hundred people gathered in Prague to protest against the missile shield.

Mr Obama's first trip to Eastern Europe, 20 years after the end of the Cold War, was supposed to be the highlight of the Czech presidency of the EU.

But his official engagements there have been scaled down in the wake of Prime M

inister Mirek Topolanek's resignation late last month, after losing a no-confidence motion.

Mr Topolanek - who has also described Mr Obama's stimulus plan as "the road to hell" - will remain in office until a new cabinet is appointed or fresh elections are held.

• All numbers are estimates because exact numbers are top secret.
• Strategic nuclear warheads are designed to target cities, missile locations and military headquarters as part of a strategic plan.

Israel

Israeli authorities have never confirmed or denied the country has nuclear weapons.

North Korea

The highly secretive state claims it has nuclear weapons, but there is no information in the public domain that proves this.

Iran

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported in 2003 there had been covert nuclear activity to make fissile material and continues to monitor Tehran's nuclear program.

Syria

US officials have claimed it is covertly seeking nuclear weapons.

An Antarctic ice shelf has disappeared: scientists

Reuters, Sat Apr 4, 2009 7:06pm EDT

A view of the leading edge of the remaining part of the Larsen B ice shelf that extends into the northwest part of the Weddell Sea is seen in this handout photo taken on March 4, 2008.(REUTERS/Mariano Caravaca/Handout)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One Antarctic ice shelf has quickly vanished, another is disappearing and glaciers are melting faster than anyone thought due to climate change, U.S. and British government researchers reported on Friday.

They said the Wordie Ice Shelf, which had been disintegrating since the 1960s, is gone and the northern part of the Larsen Ice Shelf no longer exists. More than 3,200 square miles (8,300 square km) have broken off from the Larsen shelf since 1986.

Climate change is to blame, according to the report from the U.S. Geological Survey and the British Antarctic Survey, available at pubs.usgs.gov/imap/2600/B.

"The rapid retreat of glaciers there demonstrates once again the profound effects our planet is already experiencing -- more rapidly than previously known -- as a consequence of climate change," U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement.

"This continued and often significant glacier retreat is a wakeup call that change is happening ... and we need to be prepared," USGS glaciologist Jane Ferrigno, who led the Antarctica study, said in a statement.

"Antarctica is of special interest because it holds an estimated 91 percent of the Earth's glacier volume, and change anywhere in the ice sheet poses significant hazards to society," she said.

In another report published in the journal Geophysical Letters, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that ice is melting much more rapidly than expected in the Arctic as well, based on new computer analyses and recent ice measurements.

The U.N. Climate Panel projects that world atmospheric temperature will rise by between 1.8 and 4.0 degrees Celsius because of emissions of greenhouse gases that could bring floods, droughts, heat waves and more powerful storms.

As glaciers and ice sheets melt, they can raise overall ocean levels and swamp low-lying areas.

(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Xavier Briand)

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G20 leaders seal $1.1tn global deal

BBC World

Gordon Brown said banking secrecy was now over

Leaders of the world's largest economies have reached an agreement to tackle the global financial crisis with measures worth $1 trillion (£681bn).

To help countries with troubled economies, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will get extra resources worth up to $750bn.

There will also be sanctions against secretive tax havens and tougher global financial regulation.

And the G20 has committed about $250bn to boost global trade.

On behalf of the G20, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the following steps:

Bankers' pay and bonuses will be subject to stricter controls

A new Financial Stability Board will be set up to work with the IMF to ensure co-operation across borders and provide an early warning mechanism for the financial system

There will be greater regulation of hedge funds and credit ratings agencies

A common approach to cleaning up banks' toxic assets has been agreed

The world's poorest countries will receive extra aid.

IMF boost

The IMF has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the G20 summit.

The resources it has to help troubled economies will be increased to $500bn.

An overdraft facility will also be increased to $250bn (in the IMF's currency, so-called Special Drawing Rights) that the world's poorest countries can call on.

"This is the day that the world came together to fight back against the global recession, not with words, but with a plan for global recovery and for reform and with a clear timetable for its delivery," Mr Brown said.

NEW FUNDING PLEDGES

• $500bn for the IMF to lend to struggling economies
  
  
• $250bn to boost world trade
  
  
• $250bn for a new IMF "overdraft facility" countries can draw on
  
  
• $100bn that international development banks can lend to poorest countries
  
  
• $6bn increase in lending for the poorest countries.

Source: BBC

He said there was "no quick fix" for the world economy but there was a commitment to do whatever was necessary.

Mr Brown said the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development would publish a list of tax havens later on Thursday and actions would be taken against those that did not comply with international rules.

"We have agreed tough standards and sanctions for use against those who don't come into line in the future," he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that the conclusions of the G20 summit were "more than we could have hoped for".

Earlier, there had been suggestions of rifts between France and Germany and the US and the UK.

Mr Sarkozy had threatened to walk out of the meeting if it did not yield concrete results.

World leaders: We can unite to defeat economic crisis

CNN World

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Leaders attending the G-20 summit in London Thursday said they were confident they could bridge their differences to unite on a plan to help address the economic crisis.

Barack Obama, Silvio Berlusconi and Dmitry Medvedev share a laugh at the G-20 summit.

There had been concerns that a rift was opening up between the approach being championed by the U.S. and Britain and that favored by France and Germany.

The U.S. and Britain want countries to agree to more economic stimulus ahead of new rules for the banking system.

France and Germany want the rules first -- and tougher ones than initially suggested -- and remain resistant to pumping more money into their economies.

However, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he was confident about the result of the summit.

"There is a great degree of convergence," he told CNN Thursday morning.

British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson was less upbeat, telling CNN there were some "strains" among the delegates.

"I hope very much that they will be ironed out and we'll come out with agreement at the end of the day."

The leaders say they want to find ways to stabilize financial markets throughout the world and pull the world out of a deepening recession.

They sat at the table Thursday for their first session with several targets in their sights, including tax havens and protectionism.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde called for a firm stand on tax havens.

Barroso backed her up.

"We have to be clear that those that want to keep shadow banking systems that are kind of underground (with) clandestine finances have to suffer sanctions, because it's once again a problem of confidence," Barroso said.

"We are for open economies and open markets, but open economies and open markets have to respect some rules."

Britain will push for the same regulation of banks and financial institutions that operate in a "shadow banking world," Mandelson said. He said an international body should oversee the regulation.

Leaders will also be pushing for more fiscal stimulus.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is arguing for world leaders to maintain their investments and fiscal stimuli while also giving more money to institutions like the International Monetary Fund, Mandelson said.

The IMF can then deliver those resources to poorer countries and emerging economies, he said.

"They are becoming major drivers of growth in the global economy," Mandelson said of those countries. "So we want a strong commitment, a hefty infusion of resources."

Barroso and Mandelson called for concrete commitments on the economy.

Earlier this week French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that if the summit's final communique failed to contain strong language and clear steps, he may even walk out of the meeting.

He and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday they could accept debate and negotiation as long as firm steps were taken.

There were only a few protesters outside the summit when it started Thursday -- a marked difference from the thousands who gathered in central London 24 hours earlier.

Police said they arrested nearly 90 people on Wednesday and were expecting more problems.

China asks Indonesia to maintain ASEAN regional security

Beijing (ANTARA News) - China has asked Indonesia to jointly step up security in ASEAN region, especially during the global financial crisis which led to a significant change in the field of security and defense.

"The global financial crisis has a negative impact on a number of countries, including those in East Asia, and has changed the security situation in East Asia and ASEAN," Chinese Military and Science Academy(AMS) spokesman Lt Gn Liu Chengjun said in a China-ASEAN Defense dialog here on Monday.

Present in the dialog were among others Indonesian Defense Ministry`s Strategic Environmental Analysis director Brig Gen Subekti, Indonesian Defense Attache in Beijing Col Infantry Yayat Sudrajat, and a number of ASEAN and Chinese military officials.

Chengjun said the global crisis had already caused social conflicts and regional instability.

In addition, he said several terrorist activities and separatism, cross border crime such as piracy, and human trafficking would probably escalate.

"Therefore, China and Indonesia, including ASEAN should have a joint security system," he said.

To maintain peace and security in the region, he said China would like to be Indonesia and ASEAN partner as good neighbors.

"China has so far built a strong foundation in defense cooperation with ASEAN and it would continue to be developed in the future," he said, adding that every year China had a defense consultation mechanism with Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore.

In addition, China also had a defense cooperation agreement with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore, and strategic cooperation with Thailand.

3 teens arrested in Hong Kong after making bombs

The Jakarta Post, The Associated Press, Hong Kong | Sun, 03/29/2009 2:53 PM

Three Hong Kong teenagers have been arreste for possession of explosives, and tests are being made to determine if the material is the same type used in the deadly 2005 London subway bombings, police said Sunday.

The arrests came after one of the youths set off a homemade bomb Saturday and almost had his hand blown off.

Police spokesman Lawrene Li said experts were trying to confirm that the explosive used by the boys, aged 13 and 14, is triacetone triperoxide, known as TATP.

Chief inspector Chan Wai-man was quoted by Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper as saying the explosive was believed to be TATP.

That explosive was used by the four suicie bombers who killed 52 commuters in London in 2005.

Police found the injured 13-year-old Saturday at a food store managed by his family. He had ignited a fuse attached to two plastic bottles containing explosive powder, the Sunday Morning Post reported, adding that he suffered two broken fingers and injuries to his face and eyes in the explosion.

Officers later seizedix more bottles of explosives and a computer from a 14-year-old's home, and arrested another 13-year-old, the Post reported.

The newspaper said police believed the 14-year-old learned to make the explosives on the Internet, then gave the bottles to his classmates two months ago.

Japan says ready to shoot down N.Korea missile

The Jakarta Globe, Friday 27 March 2009

TOKYO (AFP) | by Kyoko Hasegawa | 04:49 PM. 03/27/2009

Japan on Friday gave its military the green light to shoot down any incoming North Korean rocket, with tensions high ahead of a planned launch that the US and allies say will be an illegal missile test.

Japanese and US warships have already deployed ahead of the April 4-8 window, when the secretive North has said it will launch a communications satellite -- warning that shooting it down would be seen as an act of war.

But South Korea, Japan and the United States have all warned the North that any launch would be unacceptable, amid fears the regime is actually intending to test a long-range missile that could reach North America.

Russia -- which with the two Koreas, China, Japan and the US is part of a six-party forum working on the North's nuclear disarmament -- urged Pyongyang not to carry out the launch, saying there was no need to "ignite passions".

The security council in Japan, officially pacifist since the end of World War II, decided ahead of time to shoot down any incoming missile that could hit its territory rather than wait until a launch.

"The security council this morning decided to issue a destruction order in advance," said Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada. "We will do our best to handle any flying object from North Korea."

The North said Thursday that even referring a launch to the United Nations would ruin the long-running and erratic six-nation nuclear disarmament talks, during which North Korea has already tested one missile and an atomic bomb.

US National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said the North wanted to show it had the technology to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The North is believed to be preparing to test a Taepodong-2 that could hit Alaska.

"North Korea is attempting to demonstrate an ICBM capability through a space launch," Blair said.

Japan has announced no plans to strike the North Korean rocket unless it appears to pose a direct threat, for example due to a mishap that could send an errant missile or debris flying toward the country.

"There are various scenarios -- for example, a case of failure," Hamada said. "It's extremely unpleasant that an object flies over our territories."

Pyongyang has reportedly already put a rocket onto one of its launch pads, raising the stakes in a delicate diplomatic stand-off that has come just two months into the new US administration of President Barack Obama.

Enigmatic North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il reportedly suffered a stroke in August, and some analysts speculate he is trying to demonstrate he remains firmly in control of the country.

Though a recent photo showed him looking thin, the North's official media have reported more than three times as many public appearances by Kim so far this year than over the same period in the previous year.

The six-nation talks have offered the North aid and security guarantees in exchange for dismantling its nuclear programme.

North Korea said Thursday that bringing any launch to the United Nations would be a "hostile action" that would end the negotiations.

The United States, which says the launch would violate a UN Security Council resolution, has vowed to do so.

"The six-party talks will become non-existent," a spokesman for the North's foreign ministry told official media.

In Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin told reporters: "North Korea would be better off refraining from it."

"There is no need to ignite passions around this problem," he was quoted as saying by Russian news agencie

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Questions pour in for Obama's online town hall meeting

By Stephanie Chen, CNN

(CNN) -- During the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt reassured anxious Americans through his famous fireside chats over the radio.

Americans can submit questions on WhiteHouse.gov for President Obama to answer live online Thursday.

Now, in the 21st century, President Obama has found his own fireside equivalent, launching an online town hall meeting Thursday where he will answer citizens' questions about the troubled economy and his efforts to fix it.

Americans can submit questions on WhiteHouse.gov
for President Obama to answer live online Thursday.

"We're going to try something a little different. We are going to take advantage of the Internet to bring all of you to the White House to talk about the economy," he says in an introductory video on the site.

As of late Wednesday afternoon, more than 30,000 people had submitted more than 32,000 questions on the official administration Web site, WhiteHouse.gov.

Americans may submit questions, and vote on others' queries, until 9:30 a.m. ET Thursday. Obama has promised to answer the most popular questions through a live video stream on WhiteHouse.gov. beginning Thursday at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The site had recorded more than 1 million votes as of late Wednesday afternoon.

The White House's Web site asks people to agree to post "only questions related to the economy (including topics essential to long-term economic growth, such as education, fiscal responsibility, green jobs and energy, health care reform, and home ownership)."

A quick review of questions revealed deep concerns among Americans trying to make ends meet.

"What is the government doing to make higher education more affordable for lower and middle class families?" asked James of Bloomington, Indiana, who described himself as a full-time student who also works full time, "only to break even at the end of the month."

"Why do I have to be to the point of foreclosure to get any help with my mortgage? Why aren't you helping the people who want to prevent foreclosure?" asked another questioner from Providence, Rhode Island.

Observers say Obama, who revolutionized the use of technology as a political tool during his campaign, will be the first president to address questions from the public live on the Internet. By allowing people to submit any question they want and answering them live on the Web for the entire world to see, the administration hopes to create a more transparent style of governing that will help win public support.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Don Tapscott, author of "Growing Up Digital," a book exploring the generation that has grown up on the Web. "It turns out that the Internet is a new medium of human communication that not only helps you get elected, it changes the way you govern."

Along the presidential campaign trail, Obama was praised for his innovative use of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to announce events, rally volunteers and raise money.

Nine years ago, when George W. Bush ran for president, Internet media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube didn't exist.

Bush and former President Bill Clinton engaged in online chats with citizens, but neither relied on the Internet as a platform for reaching the American public as Obama does, said Andrew Rasiej, co-founder of the Personal Democracy Forum and the techPresident blog.

"It's changing the relationship between the president and the country," Rasiej says. "It's building on a 21st-century information age platform. We want to make sure our president isn't stuck in a bubble."

Some observers wondered whether Obama's creative social media initiatives, dubbed Obama 2.0, would continue once he entered office. But Thursday's online meeting -- the first of many, according to the government -- reaffirms his commitment to engaging with Americans through technology, Rasiej said.

While Obama's staffers have stopped posting updates on social networking sites since the election, they are sill reaching constituents through WhiteHouse.gov, which is more interactive than previous administrations' Web sites.

Launching an online town hall meeting will allow more effective communication with citizens, said Ellen Miller, executive director at the Sunlight Foundation, a group that advocates government transparency. Americans can submit their own questions and receive direct responses without questions or answers being filtered by the media, she said.

"There might be a question asked that wouldn't have been asked at a press conference," she said. "It's a significant step forward for new-media communications."

Adam Ostrow, editor of Mashable.com, a guide to social media, said the online town hall-style meeting will encourage Americans to get involved beyond the election.

"It gives people a sense of participation and what is going on and to be able to shape some of the decision that will be made," he said.