Nato: Libya air strike went astray

Nato has acknowledged that one of its air strikes in the Libyan capital Tripoli went astray and may have killed civilians.

The military alliance said the errant strike early on Sunday may have been due to "a weapons system failure".

Libyan officials say nine civilians were killed, including two children. Officials took reporters to the building that was hit, where children's toys, teacups and dust-covered mattresses could be seen amid the rubble.

A Nato commander said it "regrets the loss of innocent civilian lives and takes great care in conducting strikes".

The incident gave supporters of Muammar Gaddafi's regime a new rallying point against the international intervention in Libya's civil war. The foreign minister called for a "global jihad" on the West in response.

In a statement issued by Nato late on Sunday, it said air strikes were launched against a military missile site in Tripoli, but "it appears that one weapon did not strike the intended target and that there may have been a weapons system failure which may have caused a number of civilian casualties".

"Nato regrets the loss of innocent civilian lives and takes great care in conducting strikes against a regime determined to use violence against its own citizens," said Lt Gen Charles Bouchard, commander of the anti-Libya operation.

But Libyan foreign minister Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi said the strike was a "deliberate attack on a civilian neighbourhood" and follows other alleged targeting of non-military targets such as a hotel, oxygen factory and civilian vehicles.

"The deliberate bombing ... is a direct call for all free peoples of the world and for all Muslims to initiate a global jihad against the oppressive, criminal West and never to allow such criminal organisations as Nato to decide the future of other independent and sovereign nations," Mr al-Obeidi said.

Before the strike, Libya's health ministry said 856 civilians had been killed in Nato air attacks since they began in March. But the figure could not be independently confirmed and previous government tolls from individual strikes have proven to be exaggerated.

European Stocks Slide

By TOBY ANDERSON

LONDON—European stocks were lower Monday, with investors frustrated that European finance ministers were unable to reach a concrete solution to the Greek crisis despite meeting over the weekend.

Volumes have also been affected by the late start to trading on NYSE Euronext's stock exchanges in Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon and Paris because of a technical problem.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was recently 0.9% lower at 264.80. London's FTSE 100 Index fell 1% to 5660.56, Frankfurt's DAX was 1.1% lower at 7084.82, and Paris' CAC-40 Index dropped 1.4% to 3770.35, having opened late.

Fears about Greece and a potential default on its debt dominated market mood. "Until markets see some solid plans put in place to deal with Greece, the markets are only going to be heading in one direction," said Simon Furlong at Spreadex. It was the banking sector which suffered the bulk of the selling, with the Stoxx Europe 600 banks index down 1.5% at 182.36.

Euro-zone politicians said they had narrowed their differences over how to get Greece's private-sector creditors to contribute to the country's financing in coming years, but that they wouldn't have a final plan in place until early July.

After meeting in Luxembourg on Sunday, the finance ministers left crucial details unresolved, most importantly how to get creditors to participate without causing a Greek sovereign default. In a statement, they pledged to avoid any form of default, which many fear could throw the euro-zone financial system into chaos.

Eyes will turn to the second day of this meeting in Luxembourg on Monday for more detail on the payout of the next tranche of the European Union/International Monetary Fund loan and a voluntary bondholder rollover pact.

In Asia earlier Monday, stock markets largely pushed lower on disappointment over the meeting on the Greek crisis. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average closed just 0.1% higher, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended down 0.7%, at a nine-month low, and South Korea's Kospi Composite closed down 0.6%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged down 0.1%, and China's Shanghai Composite edged down 0.5%.

In the U.S. Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 42.84 points, or 0.4%, at 12,004.36, its fourth gain in the last five sessions. For the week, the blue-chip index inched up 0.4%. That still left it down 6.3% since notching a three-year closing high on April 29.

Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 3.86 points, or 0.3%, to 1271.50, driven by gains in the financial, telecom and retail sectors. Energy stocks lagged as crude oil futures fell to a four-month low. The broad index barely snapped a six-week losing skid, rising 0.52 point for the week.

In foreign-exchange markets, the Greek debt crisis was the focus, with the euro suffering from news the E.U. has deferred details of the Greek package until July.

"All eyes remain on Greece, but news this morning that the Eurogroup's final decision on the country's second bailout package has been delayed until early July will result in more uncertainty filtering through markets," Crédit Agricole said. "Consequently the tone this week is likely to be cautious, with risk aversion remaining elevated."

At 0815 GMT, the single currency was fetching $1.4214, from $1.4302 late Friday in New York, and ¥113.95, from ¥114.51. The dollar was at ¥80.19, compared with ¥80.20.

The September German bund contract was up 0.48 at 126.55, while spot gold was at $1,538.50 per troy ounce, up 35 cents from its New York settlement on Friday. The August Nymex crude oil futures contract was down $1.62 at $91.78 a barrel.

Japan exports drop more than expected in May

Japanese exports dropped more than expected in May, renewing worries about the pace of Japan's recovery from an earthquake and tsunami.

Exports fell 10.3% from a year earlier, the finance ministry said. Analysts were expecting a drop of 8.4%.

Power shortages and supply chain issues in manufacturing continue to disrupt production and hurt overseas sales.

The trade balance also suffered a deficit for a second month because of a jump in imports.

"Over all the data shows that Japan's economy appears to be bottoming out, but the speed of the recovery will be moderate," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.

Trade woes

Carmakers saw exports drop 38.9% in May from a year earlier.

But while that is a significant drop, it was actually less than the 67% slump seen in April.

At the same time, shipments of semiconductors, auto parts and other electronic components also suffered.

As the country rebuilds after the tsunami, imports have picked up, rising 12.3% in May from the year before.

That has resulted in a trade deficit for the country of 853.7bn yen ($10.6bn; £6.6bn), the ministry said.

It is Japan's second-biggest trade deficit after a 967.9bn yen deficit in January 2009.

BBC

South Korea military sorry for firing at plane

SOUTH Korea's military has apologised to the country for an incident in which two Marines fired at a civilian airliner after mistaking it for a North Korean warplane.

But it reiterated that the pair will not face punishment for the pre-dawn firing last Friday.

"The military sincerely apologises to our people for causing worries over the incident," said Colonel Lee Bung-woo, a spokesman at the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But Lee, quoted by Yonhap news agency, said the Marines will not be reprimanded since they acted in line with rules of engagement.

Instead, the military would strengthen training for soldiers at frontline guard posts so they can distinguish between civilian and military aircraft.

With cross-border tensions high, the Marines guarding an island near the Yellow Sea border fired their K-2 rifles at an Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 flying in fog over the sea.

The plane, which was descending to land at Incheon International Airport, was out of range and undamaged.

Lee said the pair fired a total of 99 rounds towards the plane for some four minutes, with tracer accounting for nearly half of the total.

They opened fire immediately after reporting what they believed to be a North Korean military aircraft to their platoon leader.

The platoon leader in turn reported the incident to the Air Force's Master Control and Reporting Center (MCRC).

But the spokesman said it took about 20 minutes for the centre to notify the guard post that the aircraft was a civilian Airbus.

"While the MCRC tried immediately to notify the guard post using a telephone, the Marines at the post didn't come on the line because they were taking additional measures to track the plane at that time," Lee said.

The plane, with 119 people on board, was following a normal route from the southwest Chinese city of Chengdu, the airline said.

South Korean soldiers are on alert for possible attacks by North Korea amid simmering cross-border tensions, and following two deadly border incidents last year.

Defence Minister Kim Kwan-jin has told frontline troops that if the North Koreans attack, they should strike back immediately without waiting for orders from top commanders about how to respond.

Herald Sun

After Gaddafi

With the NHS sorted (or not) the prime minister now has two more big problems to crunch before packing his trunks and heading for the beach. They are sentencing - more on this later - and Libya.

No subject is, I'm told, taking more of David Cameron's time than Libya. No subject is causing him greater concern. After four months of bombing, Gaddafi remains in place and now, after weeks of willing it, after weeks of meticulous NATO efforts to avoid it the colonel has the propaganda boost of civilian casualties to rally his people and to unnerve the world.

The prime minister is pushing daily for ways to increase the pressure on the Libyan regime. I hear, however, that the military keep reminding him to focus more on what happens if/when Gaddafi does fall.

After all, that was the lesson of Iraq - winning the war was easy, winning the peace proved nigh on impossible and hugely costly both in terms of cash and men.

The generals are, I hear, echoing Colin Powell's famous warning to George Bush that "china shop rules" apply after you take military action - "you break it, you own it".

So today the focus may be on how to remove Gaddafi without further loss of civilian life. Perhaps it's time we all started to ask - what then?

BBC

Finally, an E. coli answer: It was the sprouts

BERLIN (AP) — After a month of searching and testing thousands of vegetables, simple detective work trumped science in the hunt for the source of the world's deadliest E. coli outbreak. The culprit: German-grown sprouts.

Health officials announced Friday that sprouts from a farm in northern Germany caused the outbreak that has killed 31 people, sickened nearly 3,100 and prompted much of Europe to shun vegetables.

"It was like a crime thriller where you have to find the bad guy," said Helmut Tschiersky-Schoeneburg, head of Germany's consumer protection agency.

Health officials said they tracked the bacteria's path from hospital patients struggling with diarrhea and kidney failure, to the restaurants where they had dined, to specific meals and ingredients they ate, and finally back to a single farm.

There are more questions to answer, including what contaminated the sprouts in the first place: Was it tainted seeds or water, or nearby animals? The answer is still elusive.

Still, it was little surprise that sprouts were the culprit. They have been blamed in least 30 food poisoning cases over the past 15 years in the U.S. and a large outbreak in Japan in 1996 that killed 11 people and sickened more than 9,000.

While sprouts are full of protein and vitamins, their growing conditions and the fact that they are mostly eaten raw make them ideal transmitters of disease. Cultivated in water, they require heat and humidity — precisely the same conditions E. coli needs to thrive. Sprouts have abundant surface area for bacteria to cling to — and washing won't help if the seeds themselves are contaminated.

"E. coli can stick tightly to the surface of seeds used to grow sprouts and they can lay dormant on the seeds for months," said Stephen Smith, a microbiologist at Trinity College in Dublin. Once water is added to make them grow, the bacteria can reproduce up to 100,000 times.

Interviews with thousands of patients — mostly women ages 20 to 50 with healthy lifestyles — led investigators to conclude initially that salads could be the problem.

Health officials immediately warned consumers to avoid cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce — causing huge losses to European farmers as demand plummeted for their produce. But the seemingly ubiquitous alfalfa, radish and other sprouts weren't yet on anyone's radar.

"You get this stuff in every cafeteria," said Gert Hahne, spokesman for the Agriculture Ministry in Lower Saxony, the state where the contaminated sprouts were found.

"But after two weeks of diarrhea, most people don't remember if they had a few sprouts on top of a ham sandwich or mixed into a salad."

Inspectors visited more than 400 farms in Lower Saxony alone and the state put 1,000 people on the case, including health authorities, food inspectors and veterinarians.

Experts conducted microbiologic tests — a total of 4,645 nationwide. They visited farms and checked their hygienic conditions, especially whether manure was used and could have contaminated produce.

Then on May 26, some pieces began to fall in place: Patients mentioned they had eaten sprouts and inspectors visited a small organic farm near the village of Bienenbuettel that grows many different types, including alfalfa, radish, onion, broccoli, garlic, linseed, wheat and sunflower varieties.

Although tests turned up negative — a common result in E. coli investigations, when the offending food is usually consumed before the probe begins — authorities started looking into the farm's delivery records.

That took them to a golf club in Lueneburg, a restaurant in Luebeck, another in Rothenburg/Wuemme and cafeterias in Frankfurt, Darmstadt and Bochum — all places where customers had fallen ill.

The Robert Koch Institute, Germany's disease control center, questioned 112 people who had eaten at a single restaurant, including 19 who had fallen ill. All of the sick people had consumed produce from the suspect farm.

"They even studied the menus, the ingredients, looked at bills and took pictures of the different meals, which they then showed to those who had fallen ill," said Andreas Hensel, head of Germany's risk assessment agency.

The result was that customers who ate sprouts were nearly nine times more likely to be infected than other diners. Twenty-six clusters of sickened people were identified — and another 30 are under investigation — all connected to the farm.

Then came the nearly-smoking gun: On Wednesday, it was confirmed that three farm workers had fallen ill from E. coli in early May, when the outbreak first started.

On Thursday night, German medical and agriculture officials held a conference call.

"That's when we were told: 'Your sprout lead is foolproof,'" Hahne said.

Reinhard Burger, the president of the Robert Koch Institute, said the investigation produced enough evidence to pinpoint the sprouts as the source even though no laboratory tests came back positive.

"It was possible to narrow down epidemiologically the cause of the outbreak of the illness to the consumption of sprouts," Burger said Friday at a news conference. "It is the sprouts."

Burger warned the crisis was not yet over and people should not eat raw sprouts. While the Bienenbuettel farm was shut down last week and all of its produce recalled, some tainted sprouts could still be in the food chain.

Investigators were still testing seeds and other samples from the farm.

Officials in North Rhine-Westphalia state also reported Friday that tests had confirmed the deadly E. coli strain in a bag of sprouts from the farm that was in the garbage of a family near Cologne where two people had been sickened.

The outbreak has sickened nearly 3,000 people in Germany, with 759 of them suffering from a serious complication that can cause kidney failure. Twelve other European countries have 97 cases and the United States has three.

On Friday, authorities lifted the warning against eating cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce, and Russia agreed to remove its ban on European vegetable imports. European farmers, forced to dump tons of unwanted produce, breathed a sigh of relief.

But consumers were not yet fully convinced.

"It is a relief to finally get some definite information," said Heinz Schirnig, a 74-year-old resident of Uelzen, near the contaminated farm. "But I don't know if we can trust this."

Angelika Peilert, a 59-year-old Berlin resident, agreed.

"I will not eat any fruit or vegetables until they have an ultimate proof," she said. "Only fruit like bananas which you can peel. The risk is still too big. I have a small grandson and I want to see him grow up."

iPads replacing note pads as Asian schools go high-tech

SINGAPORE : Apple's iPad and other tablet computers are replacing traditional note pads in some Asian schools and making the lives of thousands of students a whole lot easier.

Soon pupils could be reading on their tablets about a quaint old communication device called "paper", especially in Asia's advanced economies where many schools are racing towards a paperless classroom.

The slim glass slabs slip easily into a bag and can store thousands of textbooks, making a fat school bag full of heavy books, pens and note pads a thing of the past.

"I like the iPad because it is portable and we do not have to carry so many bags and files around," said 13-year-old Nicole Ong, who now makes notes on her iPad during class at Nanyang Girls' High School in Singapore.

A sample group of more than 120 students and 16 teachers at the school have been given iPads, at a cost of over US$100,000. By 2013, every student in the school will have one.

The number of software applications -- or apps -- that can be used for educational purposes on tablet computers is set to explode.

It's a brand new business that even media mogul Rupert Murdoch has identified as an area of huge potential growth.

Murdoch said his News Corp Group is to push into the education technology market in a speech to the e-G8 conference of Internet entrepreneurs and European policymakers in Paris last month.

He described education as the "last holdout from the digital revolution" and outlined a vision for personalised learning with lessons delivered by the world's best teachers to thousands of students via the Internet.

"Today's classroom looks almost exactly the same as it did in the Victorian age," Murdoch added.

But many Asian schools are already way ahead of the game.

"No longer is language learning solely based on the teacher commenting on students' works -- classmates can feedback on one another," said Seah Hui Yong, curriculum dean of Nanyang.

Rene Yeo, head of the information technology department at Tampines Secondary School, also in Singapore, teaches science with his iPad. His students learn factorisation by simply moving the numbers around on the screen.

They also read about animal cells and the human brain structure by clicking on the various parts. And tablet computers make the double helix structure of a human DNA practically come to life before a student's eyes.

There are apps to learn English and maths, pupils can do cause and effect analysis on iBrainstorm, prepare for oral exams and speeches with AudioNote and even strum the guitar for a music lesson on GarageBand.

The rise of classroom technology will mirror its rise throughout society, says Sam Han, a US-based expert on the role of technology in education.

Han, instructional technology fellow at the Macaulay Honors College, City University of New York, said he expects some Asian countries to leapfrog the West.

"While the Internet was birthed in the US, Singapore and South Korea (for example) boast far greater broadband Internet access penetration and infrastructure than the US," he said.

Japan's communications ministry has given tablets to more than 3,000 under-12 pupils at 10 elementary schools and even fitted classrooms with interactive electronic blackboards under the so-called "future school" pilot project.

In South Korea, where schools have WiFi zones, the education ministry has been testing 'digital textbooks' in some schools since 2007. In 2012, the ministry says it will decide whether to supply tablets to schools nationwide.

Singapore has a hugely competitive education system known for its high level of science and mathematics instruction. The education ministry provides a grant for schools to buy this kind of equipment, as well as software and services.

Many schools already have WiFi, making it easy for students to connect to the Internet.

But some teachers acknowledged there are students who get distracted by playing games or surfing Facebook and other social media sites like Twitter.

Education psychologist Qiu Lin cautioned against schools getting carried away and promoting the blind use of technological devices, and neglecting the real goals of education.

"The trend of integrating technology into education will definitely increase," said the assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University.

"But after one month when the novelty of iPads wears down, a good curriculum and teaching materials that can increase deep thinking and problem solving in students need to be in place."