News Khmer

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A hearse containing a body of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, moves past the mourners after the state funeral for Kim, at the Seoul Plaza in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. Tens of thousands of mourners filled the lawn outside parliament for the state funeral Sunday of ex-President Kim Dae-jung, a longtime defender of democracy and advocate of reconciliation who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reach out to communist North Korea.(AP Photo/ Yonhap, Ha Sa-hun)

Lee Hee-ho, right, widow of the late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, cries after she offered a flower to Kim before a burial, after the state funeral at the National Cemetery in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. Tens of thousands of mourners filled the lawn outside parliament for the state funeral Sunday of ex-President Kim Dae-jung, a longtime defender of democracy and advocate of reconciliation who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reach out to communist North Korea.(AP Photo/Jo Yong-Hak, Pool)

Lee Hee-ho, center, widow of the late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung, and other family members cover Kim's coffin with earth for a burial, after the state funeral at the National Cemetery in Seoul Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. Tens of thousands of mourners filled the lawn outside parliament for the state funeral Sunday of ex-President Kim Dae-jung, a longtime defender of democracy and advocate of reconciliation who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reach out to communist North Korea.(AP Photo/Jo Yong-Hak, Pool)

REFILE - CORRECTING SENTENCE STRUCTURE Honour guards and workers lower the coffin of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung into the ground during his state funeral at the National Cemetery in Seoul August 23, 2009. Kim, who was awarded the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the first summit between the leaders of the two Koreas that led to a dramatic warming of ties, died on Tuesday at the age of 85. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak



Honor guard soldiers carry the coffin of the late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung for a burial, followed by Kim's family members after the state funeral at the National Cemetery in Seoul Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. Tens of thousands of mourners filled the lawn outside parliament for the state funeral Sunday of ex-President Kim Dae-jung, a longtime defender of democracy and advocate of reconciliation who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reach out to communist North Korea.(AP Photo/Jo Yong-Hak, Pool)



Honour guards carry the coffin of former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung for his burial during a state funeral at the National Cemetery in Seoul August 23, 2009. Kim, who was awarded the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for brokering the first summit between the leaders of the two Koreas that led to a dramatic warming of ties, died on Tuesday at the age of 85.REUTERS/Jo Yon

South Korean Buddhist monks pray during the funeral of the late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. Tens of thousands of mourners filled the lawn outside parliament for the state funeral Sunday of Kim, a longtime defender of democracy and advocate of reconciliation who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reach out to communist North Korea.(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)





The hearse containing the body of former South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung passes by city residents during his state funeral in downtown Seoul, August 23. Kim Jong-Il had sent the envoys to Seoul to join national mourning for former president Kim, who pioneered the "sunshine" policy and held the first inter-Korean summit in 2000. (AFP/POOL)

By JEAN H. LEE, Associated Press Writer

Sun Aug 23, 2009

SEOUL, South Korea – In death as in life, Kim Dae-jung managed to bring the two rival Koreas together.

Hours before his funeral Sunday, North Korean officials dispatched to Seoul to pay their respects to the Nobel Peace Prize winner held talks with South Korea's president — the first high-level inter-Korean contact after many months of tension.

They relayed a message about bilateral relations from North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during a half hour of "serious and amicable" talks with President Lee Myung-bak, Lee's spokesman said.

It was a fitting breakthrough on a day of mourning for a man who made history by traveling to Pyongyang in 2000 to meet Kim Jong Il for the first summit between leaders of the two countries.

"Farewell, Mr. Sunshine," read yellow placards held up by mourners who packed the plaza outside City Hall on Sunday to watch a broadcast of his funeral at the National Assembly. Kim died Tuesday at the age of 85.

The two Koreas technically remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in 1953 with a truce, not a peace treaty. Tanks and troops still guard the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone bisecting the peninsula.

Kim Dae-jung, however, was respected on both sides of the border. As president from 1998 to 2003, he advocated a "Sunshine Policy" of engaging the isolated North and sought to ease reconciliation by plying the impoverished nation with aid.

In 2000, he traveled to Pyongyang for the summit with Kim Jong Il. Raising their hands aloft in a sight that would have been unimaginable just years earlier, the two Kims pledged to embark on a new era of peace on the Korean peninsula.

The following years saw a blossoming of reconciliation projects, including the emotional temporary reunions of thousands of family members separated by the Korean War, the restoration of a cross-border cargo train and inter-Korean business ventures.

Some criticized the flow of money to North Korea, which has evaded years of international pressure to dismantle its nuclear program.

Relations have been tense since Lee, a conservative, took office in February 2008, abandoning the Sunshine Policy and insisting that North Korea must prove its commitment to international nuclear disarmament pacts before it can expect aid.

Pyongyang, in response, ditched the reconciliation talks and most of the inter-Korean projects and routinely excoriated Lee in state media as "scum" and a "traitor" to Korean reconciliation.

The North also has been locked in an international standoff with the U.S. and other nations over its atomic ambitions after launching a rocket, test-firing missiles and conducting an underground nuclear test this year.

However, there have been signs the tensions may be easing. After welcoming former President Bill Clinton during his mission to secure the release of two jailed American reporters, the North freed a South Korean citizen held for four months. Pyongyang also said it would allow some joint projects to resume.

Kim Dae-jung's death prompted condolences from Kim Jong Il, who authorized the high-level delegation of six to pay their respects — the first time the North has sent officials to mourn a South Korean president.

Led by senior Workers' Party official Kim Ki Nam and spy chief Kim Yang Gon, the delegation went straight to the National Assembly mourning site Friday to leave a wreath on behalf of Kim Jong Il and bow before Kim's portrait.

Extending their trip by a day, three North Korean officials met Sunday morning with Lee, relaying Kim Jong Il's thoughts on "progress on inter-Korean cooperation," presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said. He declined to quote the exact message, citing the sensitivity of the matter.

The South Korean president then detailed his government's "consistent and firm" policy on North Korea and reiterated the need for "sincere" dialogue between the two Koreas, the spokesman said.

"We're returning in a positive mood," Kim Ki Nam told reporters before departing.

Hours later, a somber funeral took place at the National Assembly, where Kim — who endured torture, death threats and imprisonment during his decades as a dissident — triumphantly took the oath of office as South Korea's president in 1998.

Though best known abroad for his efforts to reach out to North Korea, Kim Dae-jung was admired at home for devoting his life to the fight for democracy during South Korea's early years of authoritarian rule.

A native of South Jeolla Province in the southwest, he went up against Seoul's military and political elite. He narrowly lost to Park Chung-hee in a 1971 presidential election — a near-win that earned him Park's wrath. Weeks later, Kim was injured in a traffic accident he believed was an assassination attempt, and barely survived a Tokyo abduction engineered by South Korean intelligence.

In 1980, tens of thousands took to the streets in Kim's southern stronghold, Gwangju, to protest the junta that seized power when Park was assassinated in office. Kim, accused of fomenting the protests, was sentenced to death.

International calls for leniency resulted in a suspended prison sentence, and he went into exile. Returning in 1985, he helped usher in a new era of democracy in South Korea.

"We love you, Mr. President Kim Dae-jung. We will not forget you," read one banner outside the National Assembly. "Democracy, peace, human rights: We will carry out your will, Mr. President," read another. Yellow ribbons and balloons lined the street leading to parliament.

Memorials nationwide for the man dubbed the "Nelson Mandela of Asia" for his lifelong struggle for democracy attracted some 700,000 people, the government said.

Prime Minister Han Seung-soo praised Kim in a eulogy as a passionate leader who dedicated his life to democracy, human rights, peace and reconciliation. He recalled Kim's resilience during the hard fight for democracy, and his skillful handling of the financial crisis of the late 1990s.

"Today we are overwhelmed with heartbreaking grief and sorrow. The whole of Korea is truly overcome with great sadness," Han said at the multifaith ceremony held under a blistering sun.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was among the dignitaries who joined more than 20,000 for the funeral at parliament. Another 14,000 mourners gathered outside City Hall to watch a broadcast of the ceremony, police said.

"My heart feels so empty. I'm so sad," said Kim Nam-yeop, 53. "He is someone who sacrificed his entire life for democracy, North-South Korean peace, and our economy."

Kim was buried at the national cemetery in Seoul, a blanket knit by his widow and a Bible tucked into his coffin.

"I hope you'll leave with the spirit of reconciliation and forgiveness," his wife, Lee Hee-ho, told mourners at City Hall. "This is my husband's last wish."

There have been enough baseball books written about fathers and sons playing catch, it seems, to fill an entire book store. It is sports literature ad nauseam, and it's never-ending.

As proof, there is yet another book on this very same subject. Only this time, it offers a twist as well as a sense of relief, because the topic isn't just about baseball, but father-son relationships involving different sports. It's titled, appropriately, "Fathers & Sons & Sports." And because it's Father's Day, this book not only would be a great gift for dad, but a great read, too. That's because the book doesn't have just one author, but 24 writers sharing their remembrances of what it was like growing up with the man in the house.

Some of these writers are better known nationally: Norman Maclean, author of "A River Runs Through It"; Buzz Bissinger, John Ed Bradley, and Hall of Fame slugger Hank Aaron. But one of the most revealing, yet moving, pieces is written by Ron Reagan, son of the president.

Sports relationships between fathers and sons sometimes, regrettably, have a competitive edge. This was the case with the Reagans. The son recalls a swimming race with his father, who was very athletic; he was a college football player who had saved 77 lives over seven summers as a young lifeguard on the banks of a river in Illinois.

His son Ron wasn't nearly as athletic, except in the swimming pool, where the son acquired a flip turn that suddenl
made him competitive. His retelling of their last father-son race not only is interesting reading, but it's also revealing because the president, like "The Great Santini," hated to lose — not only to Cold War leaders, but even to family members.

Dad a full-time bookie

Michael J. Agovino, a onetime editor at Esquire and Newsweek, writes about his father, a full-time bookie, who funded his family through both good times and, mostly, incredible financial pressures. Author James Brown — not the great fullback or television studio sports host — revists teaching his sons the same dirty wrestling moves he used to survive his youthful grappling days.

One of the most moving pieces in the book is by Mark Kriegel, author of a biography on Joe Namath, who writes about the relationship between basketball coach Press Maravich and his son Pete, the game's most flamboyant player ever, but who was allowed by his dad to put showmanship over fundamentals — and winning.

Aaron writes about his father taking him to see Jackie Robinson play. Jeremy Schaap recalls how his father, famed journalist Dick Schaap, brought him along to various sporting events that planted the seed for his own journalism career.

Donald Hall does write about throwing baseballs back and forth to his father, but this chapter takes on a slightly different meaning, in that the father gave up a potential baseball career to become a family man, and a 24-7 father to his son.

Then Hall, the son, loses all perspective.

"Baseball is fathers and sons playing catch," he writes to close out his chapter, "lazy and murderous, wild and controlled, the profound archaic song of birth, growth, age and death. The diamond encloses what we are."

Not our only game

It's none of that. Baseball is a game, nothing more, nothing less. It is truly America's game, but it's not our only game, thus it doesn't speak to the core of what we are as a country. Fathers and sons also play catch with footballs. So, possibly, the gridiron encloses who they are. Let's not get too carried away.

Bill Geist, in fact, writes about how a father tries to live through his son in something as far down the baseball totem pole as Little League, and how that whole painful experience goes back to the author's own dealings with his father.

John Buffalo Mailer remembers the first time his father, Norman Mailer, put him in the boxing ring. He was 4, and "when your time came, you just had to fight." His father had well-documented punching skills, but he let his son, then 3, knock him down playfully, thus making the son believe he possessed "the best right hook in the world."

One of the saddest stories, written by John Jeremiah Sullivan, is about his sharing the same house with a sportswriter father who took better care of his prose than himself, and how he deteriorated before his son's eyes, though it didn't prevent the son from launching his own literary dreams.

"Fathers & Sons & Sports" offers a wide, emotional playing field of father-son experiences, which is the strength of the book. There is something here for every father and son whose worlds are dominated by one sport or all sports.

It's a good catch.

Iran's state media has said at least 13 people were killed amid unrest in Tehran on Saturday, as thousands of protesters clashed with police in the fallout of the disputed presidential election.

The television reports on Sunday blamed rioters and "terrorist groups" for the incidents, saying two petrol stations and a mosque had been set alight, and a military outpost attacked.

Manouchehr Mottaki, Iran's foreign minister, denounced outside governments seeking to intervene in the crisis.

Speaking to representatives of foreign diplomatic missions in Tehran on Sunday, he also defended the country's electoral system.

"There may be complaints ... [but] this is what we've been doing well in [the] last 30 years," he said.

He said a mechanism is in place to investigate allegations of election irregularities, so long as they are made "in legal ways".

Capital unrest

On Saturday, about 3,000 opposition protesters had spilled on to Tehran's streets, undaunted by a warning from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, not to continue demonstrations.
Security forces responded with live rounds, batons and tear gas, with the pandemonium continuing well into the night.

Witnesses said that dozens of people were hospitalised after being beaten by police and the pro-government Basiji militia in the capital.

Reports on community-driven websites such as Twitter claim a number of protesters were killed by police in the clashes.

One video uploaded to YouTube on Saturday alleging to show a teenage girl - being called Neda - dying on the street after being shot by police.

Al Jazeera is unable to verify the authenticity of the video or other reports of violence due to an official ban on independent reporting in the capital.

However, on blogs and social-networking websites, Neda is being held up as a symbol and a martyr for the protesters.

Including Saturday's toll, the Iranian government has admitted to the deaths of at least 20 people in unrest since the June 12 election.

As the clashes took place, a suspected suicide bomber blew himself up outside the shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic revolution in 1979, injuring at least two people, local news agencies reported.

Government-run television also said members of the exiled Mujahideen Khalq opposition group were arrested in connection with Saturday's unrest.

The report claimed they were acting under British influence.

Mousavi response

Mir Hossein Mousavi, the defeated reformist candidate who says the election was stolen by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent president, meanwhile, has repeated his demand for the poll results to be annulled.

"If this huge volume of cheating and changing the votes ... which has hurt people's trust, is presented as the very evidence of the lack of cheating, then it will butcher the republican aspect of the system and the idea that Islam is incompatible with a republic will be proven," he said in a statement posted on the website of his Kalemeh newspaper.

Barack Obama, the US president, urged Tehran to allow Mousavi's supporters to stage peaceful protests and called for an end to the violence.

"The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching," he said.

"We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people."

Partial recount

Iran's government has repeatedly denied accusations of election fraud.

The contested result gave Ahmadinejad a tally of about 63 per cent, to Mousavi's 34 per cent.

Iran's highest legislative body, the Guardian Council, has said offered a partial recount of ballots in order to appease protesters.

"Although there is no legal duty on us, we are ready to recount 10 per cent of the whole ballot boxes around the country randomly with presence of the respected representatives of the candidates," Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, a spokesman for the council said on Saturday.

However, it was unclear whether that would be enough to end the more than a week of protests, with fresh calls being made for a general strike on Sunday.

by Susan Nielsen, The Oregonian
Saturday June 20, 2009, 6:03 PM
UnknownYou can hear a faint buzz of dismay any time President Obama falls to behave precisely like a liberal superhero.
Sunday's column: There will always be a fly in the ointment for Obama

Leave it to a fatly buzzing fly to embody the peskiest part of President Obama's job: No matter what the president does, the media will overplay it and someone will find fault with it.

This leaves self-described independents, who now make up the majority of the electorate, with the tough job of assessing Obama fairly as politics heat up and expectations for an economic recovery intensify.

First, a quick recap of Flygate. The cable news network CNBC interrupted its more serious coverage last week to air a long clip of Obama killing a bothersome fly with a single dispassionate slap. Along the bottom of the screen crawled this headline: "BREAKING NEWS: PRES. OBAMA SWATS FLY DURING CNBC INTERVIEW AT WHITE HOUSE."

(The video went viral instantly, complete with YouTube spoofs and a ninja remix.)

The group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals swiftly reproached the president. While conceding Obama's impeccable record on animal rights, the activists said he should set a better example and vowed to send him a Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher.

Picture the laughs heard 'round the world if Obama strapped a bug catcher to his belt, next to his Blackberry. Now imagine the snorts of derision if the president -- the same man trying to be tough on North Korea -- couldn't manage a show of force against a fly.

The fly incident is only the silliest example of backbiting. Civil rights groups glower that Obama isn't in lockstep with them on Guantanamo detainees. Gay-rights groups fume that Obama did not include health benefits last week when he extended, by executive order, partnership benefits to gay federal workers.

Never mind that Obama's trying to untangle a mess at Guantanamo without making new ones. Never mind that he supports extending these health benefits; he simply believes the change should happen through Congress rather than by executive fiat.

So Obama gives 90 percent and gets chided for falling short of 110. That's politics.

Meanwhile, critics on the right pin the entire federal deficit on Obama, capitalizing on voters' growing concerns about government debt. The critics buzz around, complaining about turtle tunnels in Florida and other pork projects in the stimulus bill. They grouse that Obama has been too busy nationalizing the auto industry to do much to create or save jobs.

Again, it's fair to call up the truth squad.

Just think how desperate Oregon and Washington would be without the federal stimulus money, which Obama got through Congress within a few weeks of taking office. Picture unemployment and poverty rising yet higher if countless additional teachers and other state workers had lost their jobs.

As bad as things are now, they're a picnic compared to life without the extra stimulus money, aka deficit spending. This money is keeping us from spiraling into a second Great Depression.

Speaking of deficits, The New York Times recently analyzed the $2trillion swing from the Clinton-era surpluses to today's deficits, using budget numbers and official projections from 2001 through 2012. The recession itself accounts for more than one-third of the shift. Policies from the Bush era, including tax cuts, new Medicare drug coverage, the Iraq war and the bank bailout, account for more than half of the shift.

The stimulus bill accounts for just 7percent.

Obama's agenda on health care, climate change and education? Just 3 percent. (That's assuming Congress finds ways to pay for most new programs, always a big "if" no matter who's in charge.)

Obama's approval ratings remain high. The guy doesn't need defending. The public still trusts him enough to be patient, even as the job outlook stays bleak.

Still, our patience will wear thin eventually. As the debts of the past come due, we'll be tempted to blame Obama for the entire cost rather than admit complicity over the years.

Then we'll start needling Obama to fix the deficit without cutting any programs, raising taxes or touching entitlement spending. Meanwhile, we'll expect the president to solve North Korea, Iran and Afghanistan in his spare time.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans strongly support fundamental changes to the healthcare system and a move to create a government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll published on Saturday.

The poll came amid mounting opposition to plans by the Obama administration and its allies in the Democratic-controlled Congress to push through the most sweeping restructuring of the U.S. healthcare system since the end of World War Two.

Republicans and some centrist Democrats oppose increasing the government's role in healthcare -- it already runs the Medicare and Medicaid systems for the elderly and indigent -- fearing it would require vast public funds and reduce the quality of care.

But the Times/CBS poll found 85 percent of respondents wanted major healthcare reforms and most would be willing to pay higher taxes to ensure everyone had health insurance. An estimated 46 million Americans currently have no coverage.

Seventy-two percent of those questioned said they backed a government-administered insurance plan similar to Medicare for those under 65 that would compete for customers with the private sector. Twenty percent said they were opposed.

President Barack Obama and many Democrats in Congress have argued a publicly run healthcare insurance plan would increase competition and drive down the high cost of care at a time when the U.S. economy is mired in a deep recession.

Republicans argue a public plan would drive insurers out of business and lead to a government-run healthcare system.

Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives suggested this week that all Americans should be able to get insurance regardless of medical history and that coverage should be mandatory for individuals and businesses.

The proposal, contained in the latest House draft of the healthcare bill, would create new insurance exchanges where people shop around for health coverage. Whether a government-run plan has a role in such an exchange has spurred serious political debate.

Republicans, the minority party in Congress, have proposed more modest healthcare changes, but lack the votes in the House or Senate to push them through or derail the Democrats' health reform drive. They have warned about the expected high cost of restructuring the healthcare system, projected at more than $1.5 trillion -- a huge expense for a nation carrying record budget deficits.

The Republicans also hope to gain traction by playing on fears a vast expansion of government could further hurt the economy and reduce the quality of medical care.

The poll found that people were uneasy about heightened government involvement in the healthcare sector, with 77 percent saying they were very or somewhat satisfied with the quality of their own care.

A total of 895 adults participated in the telephone survey, which was conducted from June 12 to 16 and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

(Writing by Paul Simao; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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The iPhone caused upheaval when it appeared two years ago, changing what people thought they could do with their mobile phones.
The ripples are still coming. It's not as earth shattering as before, but it's still significant - and not just for consumers. A number of companies and industries could be affected by last week's launch of the iPhone 3G S and the upgrade to the software that runs the family of iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

The iPhone's latest evolution could affect sales of navigation devices, camcorders and even its own sibling, the iPod Touch. It's expected to boost YouTube uploads, touch off a wave of new accessories and also affect some of its independent developers.

Last week, Apple released iPhone OS 3.0, a software update for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The update included the ability for developers to integrate turn-by-turn navigation services using the Global Positioning System chip on the iPhone 3G and 3G S.

Analysts believe that should undercut sales of dedicated personal navigation devices, which have slowed considerably in recent months.

"We might see more cannibalization of PNDs at the higher end of the market with devices that offer real time traffic and weather and two-way information," said Ross Rubin, analyst with the NPD Group. "Clearly the iPhone has an inherent advantage because it's a two-way device."

Personal navigation device manufacturers acknowledge that equipping the iPhone with turn-by-turn directions will cut into sales. Some, like Magellan, believe there is plenty of room in the market for robust smart phone navigation services. TomTom, another PND manufacturer, is hedging its bets by developing an iPhone application and an iPhone car kit, which will both be out this summer.

"Naturally, some consumers will opt to use the iPhone for navigation exclusively," said Tom Murray, vice president of market development for TomTom. "But as more consumers demand navigation and want to have that functionality in their smart phones, it only makes sense for TomTom to participate in this opportunity."

With the iPhone 3G S, another significant advancement is the inclusion of a video camera, along with slick editing features that allow users to trim clips right on the phone. Users can capture video and easily upload it to YouTube.

While there are already many cameras and phones that enable easy uploading to YouTube, the iPhone's ease of use and editing functions may spur a wave of video capturing and sharing. That could affect dedicated camcorder sales as well as prompt a whole lot of YouTube uploading, said Avi Greengart, research director for Current Analysis.

"It's no question there are other devices that allow you to upload video to YouTube, and yet as we see on the photo side or with the mobile Web statistics, iPhone users just do things more," he said.

Indeed, a Nielsen study last year found iPhone users were 10 times more likely to view video, five times more likely to surf the Internet and nine times more likely to play games on their iPhone than average mobile users.
YouTube welcomes changes

A YouTube spokesman said the company welcomes anything that helps users more easily share their thoughts and experiences via video.

To be sure, dedicated devices will have their place; witness the enduring success of Apple's iPod line even with the release of successive iPhones. Dedicated devices often offer a fuller set of features or better performance without the hassle of a wireless subscription.

Still, even the iPhone 3G S, with its $199 and $299 price for 16- and 32-gigabyte models, could affect sales of its sibling the iPod Touch, which sells for $229, $299 and $399 for 8-, 16- and 32-GB versions, said Rubin. That is at least until Apple either adjusts the price of the iPod Touch or packs in more storage and features.

"We have seen a price-features gap between the iPhone and iPod Touch before and the iPod Touch has still done very well," Rubin said. "But now, the gap is even larger."

The biggest impact could come with the iPhone OS 3.0's ability to allow developers to create hardware accessories that communicate back and forth with the iPhone. That creates the opportunity for a wide array of devices, sensors and controllers that can easily attach to the iPhone and utilize its hardware.
Monitoring blood sugar

A small attachment can turn the iPhone into a blood sugar monitor, a television remote or a garage door opener. At the recent Worldwide Developers Conference, developers showed off remote patient monitoring apps for doctors and a music editing program.

The improvements to the platform are also affecting some loyal iPhone app developers. Retronyms, a San Francisco software company that rode its Recorder voice memo application to big sales last year, now faces competition from Apple, which included its own free voice memo app as part of the iPhone OS 3.0 upgrade.
Retronyms challenged

Dan Walton, co-founder of Retronyms, said he doesn't begrudge Apple for filling what was a clear hole in the original iPhone offering. He said he hopes to improve Recorder and position it as a premium app with more functionality.

"We feel that Apple has helped us build our company," Walton said. "But this is always the case with any platform whether it's the PC or something else. You have to be concerned if the platform decides to build what you're building."

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President Obama defended his proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency in his weekly radio address yesterday, saying it would tamp down the kind of deceptive lending practices and complicated contracts he said often hurt consumers.

Obama proposed the agency as part of his administration's rewrite of rules governing the financial sector. The proposals are now before Congress, and industry lobbyists are pushing back against the proposed agency. They say it would create overlapping layers of regulation and put government in the middle of legitimate business decisions.

Speaking in his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said new regulations are needed to prevent the type of abuses that contributed to the recent financial meltdown. "It's no coincidence that the lack of strong consumer protections led to abuses against consumers," he said. "The lack of rules to stop deceptive lending practices led to abuses against borrowers."
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With the creation of the agency, Obama said "those ridiculous contracts -- pages of fine print that no one can figure out" would be banned at banks and other financial institutions.

"Some argue that these changes -- and many others we called for -- go too far," Obama said. "And I welcome a debate about how we can make sure our regulations work for businesses and consumers. But what I will not accept, and I will vigorously oppose, are those who do not argue in good faith. Those who would defend the status quo at any cost."

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SEOUL — A North Korean cargo ship was reportedly steaming toward Myanmar on Sunday even as it was shadowed by a U.S. Navy destroyer, posing the first test of how far the United States and its allies will go to stop the North’s suspected arms trade under a new United Nations resolution.

The United States began tracking the 2,000-ton Kang Nam after it left Nampo, a port near Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, on Wednesday. U.S. officials have declined to say where the ship was headed and what it might be carrying, but said it was “a subject of interest.”


Fox News quoted a senior U.S. military source as saying the U.S. Navy destroyer USS John McCain was positioning itself in case it gets orders to intercept. North Korea has already said it would consider interception an “act of war” and act accordingly.

YTN, an all-news cable channel in South Korea, reported on Sunday that the ship was headed for Myanmar, a country long suspected of buying North Korean arms and providing transit services for North Korean vessels engaged in illicit trade.

Quoting an unidentified intelligence source, YTN said that the American authorities suspected the ship of carrying missiles or related parts. South Korean officials were not immediately available for comment.

The Kang Nam is the first North Korean vessel to be tracked under the resolution the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted on June 12 to punish the North for its May 25 nuclear test. The resolution bans North Korean trafficking in a wide range of not only nuclear but also conventional weaponry.

But it only “calls upon” countries to search North Korean ships, with their consent, if there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect that banned cargo is aboard. If the crew does not accept inspection on high seas, North Korea was required to direct the vessel to a port for inspection by the local authorities there.

Singapore, a U.S. ally and the regional refueling hub for ships, said it would act “appropriately” if the vessel docks at its ports. But there was doubt that Myanmar would cooperate with such an inspection.

U.S. officials have long sought legal tools to stop North Korean arms trade. In 2002, the Spanish and U.S. navies intercepted a North Korean ship carrying missile parts to Yemen but had to let it go because there was then no legal cause.

Even now, the U.N. resolution, whose wording was watered down because of concerns voiced by Russia and China, left questions about its effectiveness, a loophole highlighted by the Kang Nam’s reported voyage to Myanmar.

The Kang Nam was once detained in Hong Kong shortly after North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 and the Security Council adopted a resolution banning its trade in nuclear and ballistic missile technology. But then the ship was found to be carrying no cargo.

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has criticized the U.S. for reaffirming its nuclear protection of South Korea during a recent summit, saying it exposed a U.S. plot to launch atomic war.

The accusation comes as Washington and regional powers consider a new South Korean proposal to meet soon to find a way to resolve the global standoff over the North's nuclear programs.

In North Korea's first response to last week's meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in Washington, its government-run weekly Tongil Sinbo said Obama's commitment to South Korea's security, including through U.S. nuclear protection, only revealed a U.S. plot to attack the North with nuclear weapons.

"It's not a coincidence at all for the U.S. to have brought numerous nuclear weapons into South Korea and other adjacent sites, staging various massive war drills opposing North Korea every day and watching for a chance for an invasion," said the commentary published Saturday.

The weekly also said the North will also "surely judge" the Lee government for participating in a U.S.-led international campaign to "stifle" the North.

Tension on the Korean peninsula has spiked since the North defiantly conducted its second nuclear test on May 25. The North later declared it would bolster its atomic bomb-making program and threatened war in protest of U.N. sanctions for its test.

North Korea says its nuclear program is a deterrent against the U.S., which it routinely accuses of plotting to topple its communist regime. Washington, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, has repeatedly said it has no such intention and has no nuclear weapons deployed there.

In what would be the first test case for the new U.N. sanctions, U.S. officials said Thursday the U.S. military had begun tracking a North Korean-flagged ship which may be carrying illegal weapons. The officials said the ship left a North Korean port Wednesday.

On Sunday, South Korean television network YTN quoted an unidentified South Korean intelligence source as saying the ship is believed to sailing toward Myanmar. Seoul's Defense Ministry and Unification Ministry said they could not confirm the report.

On Saturday, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said Seoul has proposed five-way talks with the U.S., China, Russia and Japan to find a solution to the North's threats.

The U.S. and Japan have agreed to participate, while China and Russia have yet to respond, the official told The Associated Press, requesting anonymity because he was discussing a plan still in the works.

North Korea and the five countries began negotiating under the so-called "six-party talks" in 2003 with the aim of giving the communist regime economic aid and other concessions in exchange for dismantling its nuclear program. In April, however, the North said it was pulling out of the talks in response to international criticism of its controversial April 5 long-range rocket launch.

The South Korean official said it remains to be seen where or when the meeting — if it materializes — will take place, but one possibility is on the sidelines of a regional security forum scheduled in Phuket, Thailand, in July.

He said the North could be approached for talks, as they are scheduled to attend the Phuket meeting. The communist nation has little interaction with the world, but it does attend the annual ASEAN Regional Forum.

The Foreign Ministry official said Lee proposed the idea of bringing together officials of the five countries during his summit with Obama.

Associated Press Kwang-tae Kim contributed to this report.