U.S., Japan slam China's 'destabilizing' move on East China Sea airspace

 Japan and ally the United States sharply criticized China's move to impose new rules on airspace over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute with Tokyo, warning of an escalation into the "unexpected" if Beijing enforces the rules.
China's government-run Xinhua news agency published coordinates for a newly established "East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone," which covers most of that sea and includes the skies over the disputed islands.
Beijing warned that it would take "defensive emergency measures" against aircraft that failed to identify themselves properly in the airspace.
Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the move was unacceptable. "It could well lead to an unforeseen situation," he told reporters on Sunday.
Ties between the Asian powers, the world's second and third biggest economies, have been strained for months by the dispute over the islands in the East China Sea, called the Diaoyu by China and the Senkaku by Japan. The islands are currently under Japanese administrative control.
Saturday's announcement suggests that foreign aircraft merely passing through that zone would have to follow China's procedures - or face unknown, potentially dangerous consequences.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged China to exercise caution and restraint, saying freedom of overflight was essential to stability and security in the Pacific.
"We urge China not to implement its threat to take action against aircraft that do not identify themselves or obey orders from Beijing," he said in a statement.
"We remain steadfastly committed to our allies and partners, and hope to see a more collaborative and less confrontational future in the Pacific."
A U.S.-Japan security treaty commits Washington to intervene in defense of Japan if there is an attack on Japanese-administered territory. The United States has a hefty military presence in Japan, including on the southern island of Okinawa, which is close to the disputed isles.

Xinhua said in a commentary the "air zone could contribute to regional peace and security by curbing the increasing rampancy of Japan's right-wing forces, as well as the continuous and dangerous provocations of Japanese politicians, which even Washington should be vigilant against".

Tensions flared last year when the government bought three of the islands from a private landowner to fend off a potentially more inflammatory purchase by the Tokyo metropolitan government, at the time headed by nationalist governor Shintaro Ishihara.
Tokyo lodged a strong protest through the Chinese embassy, calling the action "totally unacceptable" and warning that the overlap of the air defense identification zone could lead to an "unexpected occurrence of accidents in the airspace".
A senior diplomat in China's Tokyo embassy, Han Zhiqiang, dismissed Tokyo's protests, saying in a statement that "Japan has no right to make irresponsible remarks".
Han said the Chinese government's aim was to defend its national sovereignty and territorial airspace and was not aimed at a specific country or target. He added it did not affect the freedom to pass through the airspace.
Xinhua said the latest rules came into force on Saturday and China's air force conducted its first patrol over the zone. The patrol included early warning aircraft and fighters, it said.
Japan, for its part, scrambled fighter jets on Saturday afternoon against two Chinese reconnaissance planes over the East China Sea, the Japanese Defense Ministry said.

HAGEL SAYS MOVE IS DESTABLIZING
In a strongly worded statement, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called Beijing's move a "destabilizing attempt to alter the status quo in the region".
"This unilateral action increases the risk of misunderstanding and miscalculations," he said.
One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Beijing's move was being interpreted as "a direct challenge" to Japan's operations in the area, believed to be surrounded by energy-rich seabed.
Security experts echoed the concerns about an escalation, saying that if China were to enforce the air defense identification zone, a non-military Chinese aircraft's flying into it could lead to a military face-off between the two sides.

"If two fighter aircraft - one from their side and one from our side - meet in the air, that would create a precarious situation," said Narushige Michishita, director at Japan's National Graduate

Institute for Policy Studies. "That's very dangerous."
Tensions in the region are expected to be a topic of discussion when Vice-President Joe Biden travels to China, Japan and South Korea in early December.
The United States has not taken a position on sovereignty issues in the regional maritime disputes, but has stressed the need for the free flow of commerce, a reduction in tensions, and peace and stability in the region.
China's move comes on the heels of a visit there last week by a delegation of Japanese business leaders in the hopes of improving economic ties. Trade between the two countries amounts to $250 billion annually, but Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping have yet to hold an official meeting.

ECB says bank health test to strengthen confidence

The European Central Bank vowed on Wednesday to submit the euro zone's top banks to a comprehensive batch of tests next year, staking its credibility on a review that is crucial to rebuilding confidence in the sector.
Setting out its plans to scrutinize 128 top euro zone lenders, the ECB said the exercise aimed to improve transparency in the sector, to identify and implement "corrective action" where needed and to build confidence in banks.
"A single comprehensive assessment, uniformly applied to all significant banks, accounting for about 85 percent of the euro area banking system, is an important step forward for Europe and for the future of the euro area economy," ECB President Mario Draghi said in a statement.
"Transparency will be its primary objective," he said. "We expect that this assessment will strengthen private sector confidence in the soundness of euro area banks and in the quality of their balance sheets."
The ECB said it would conclude its assessment in October 2014, before assuming its new supervisory tasks in November 2014. If capital shortfalls are identified, banks will be required to make up for them, the ECB said.
"For the success of the exercise, the ex ante availability of backstops is critical

Slain Boston Marathon bombing suspect linked to triple killings

Slain Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev took part in a 2011 triple homicide in a nearby town, according to a Chechen immigrant who was himself killed when approached by investigators for questioning, federal prosecutors said on Monday in newly filed court papers.
Ibragim Todashev, 27, who has been identified as an acquaintance of Tsarnaev from their days as mixed martial-arts fighters in Boston, told investigators Tsarnaev participated in the murders of three men found stabbed to death in September 2011 in an apartment in Waltham, Massachusetts, according to the filing.
U.S. media had previously reported that one of the victims was a close friend of Tsarnaev and authorities believe the killings were drug related.
The FBI has said Todashev was shot and killed by a federal agent about a month after the marathon bombings when he suddenly turned violent while being questioned about possible links to Tsarnaev.
The latest disclosure about Tsarnaev came in a 23-page brief arguing against a motion by lawyers for his younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is in custody on federal charges related to the marathon bombing that carry the death penalty.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's lawyers are seeking to force the government to share with defense attorneys investigative materials pertaining to his deceased older brother, Tamerlan.
The two siblings, both ethnic Chechens, are suspected of planting two pressure-cooker bombs that detonated at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15, killing three people and injuring 264 others.
After allegedly shooting a police officer to death in an ambush three days later, the pair went on to engage in a late-night gun battle with police in nearby Watertown that ended with Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, dead, and 20-year-old brother, Dzhokhar, escaping.
Police later captured the younger Tsarnaev after a daylong manhunt in which most of the Boston area was placed on a security lockdown.
Dzhokhar has since pleaded not guilty to charges related to the bombing and the policeman's slaying.
Lawyers for the younger Tsarnaev have argued that information about the investigation of his older brother's possible role in the Waltham murders might be a mitigating factor in the government's case against Dzhokhar. But prosecutors said disclosure of the materials sought by his defense could jeopardize the continuing investigation into the triple homicide.

French investigation into Kurdish murders eyes Turkey connections

  French investigators trying to solve the murder of three Kurdish activists in Paris have collected evidence about the chief suspect's connections to Turkey, four sources with knowledge of the investigation told
Police sources told Reuters the magistrate in charge of the case was about to lodge a formal appeal for information to Turkey about Omer Guney, a Turkish immigrant placed under formal investigation for the triple murder eight months ago.
The move could mark a turning point in the case, which has become a rallying cry for Europe's large population of ethnic Kurds. It comes after disclosures that Guney took at least three trips to Turkey and made dozens of phone calls to contacts there in the months before the killings, lawyers with access to investigation files told Reuters.
The Turkish justice ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on cooperation with France in the case.
The murders of Sakine Cansiz, 55, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK); Fidan Dogan, 32, a spokeswoman for the cause in France and Europe; and a trainee named Leyla Saylemez, 25, sent a shockwave through Europe's large Kurdish community. The women were shot as ceasefire talks to end 29 years of war between the PKK and Turkey were starting.
The key question asked by lawyers and victims' family members is who ordered the killing. Kurds who gather each week by the crime scene say it was a political assassination.
French police quickly arrested Guney, 30. Surveillance footage placed him at the scene, and partial DNA from one of the victims was found on a parka belonging to him, lawyers said.
Guney, who says he is innocent, has been awaiting trial for eight months in solitary confinement near Paris. His lawyer, Anne-Sophie Laguens, said she planned to apply to have him freed under court supervision because he was not receiving proper treatment for a brain tumor that induced seizures.
Laguens said she was also waiting for answers from Turkey regarding her client's trips. Guney told investigators he had travelled to Turkey to find a wife and had bought tickets with disability payments he received from the French state.
POLITICAL FALLOUT
Lawyers both for Guney and the victims' families in France and in Turkey say the investigation has dragged due to concern about political fallout from a case involving two NATO allies linked by a 2011 bilateral security accord.
"It's my impression that we (the French investigation) have received more information in this case through Turkish media than through international cooperation," said Antoine Comte, a lawyer for the Kurdish victims in France.
Police sources said Turkish authorities had earlier provided some biographical information about Guney, but the French magistrate was expected to seek responses to recent disclosures.
A spokesman for France's foreign ministry said the French state exerts no influence over judicial investigations. Paris' anti-terrorism court denied that political tension was slowing down the case.
New evidence could upset a ceasefire brokered between the PKK and Turkey: Kurdish rebels are disappointed with Turkish efforts to address their grievances and have said they are considering whether to maintain the deal.
Lawyers also questioned the efficiency of judicial cooperation after the Turkish pro-government newspaper Bugun wrote that the prosecutor in Ankara had accused French authorities in August of failing to respond to his requests for details in the case.
Turkish media wrote earlier this year that the Ankara prosecutor is conducting a separate probe under an article of penal law which says a person who commits a crime abroad while in the service of the Turkish state can be tried in Turkey, even if he is already found guilty abroad and/or has served time.
Turkish media said the Ankara prosecutor is seeking to establish whether Guney was in the service of the Turkish state. The prosecutor's office did not respond to requests for comment.
"We feel that since the crime was committed in France, the real interlocutors are the French authorities. They must respond to the Turkish requests for information," said Meral Danis Bestas, a lawyer in Turkey for the victims' families.
Two pieces of evidence in investigation files highlight Guney's alleged ties to people in Turkey: three trips in August, October and December of 2012, and phone records from one of five cell phones that police say belonged to Guney. The latter show "dozens" of calls to Turkish numbers in the same period.
PHONE RECORDS
Comte said records of Guney's phone activity with Turkey were placed in the investigations file in July, five months after his arrest. These contacts could be crucial to finding out whether Guney was involved in the killings and, if so, with or without foreign backing. However, the details cannot be checked without help from Turkey, Comte said.
"You need an order from a Turkish judge to identify the interlocutors," said another lawyer for the victims' families, Jean-Louis Malterre.
In France lawyers for victims can join criminal proceedings. They have access to investigation files and participate in trials. The Turkish system has similar provisions.
While the French magistrate prepares to seek information from Turkey, one of the lawyers with access to the investigation file pointed also to hold-ups on the French side.
A month after Guney's arrest, investigators from the French anti-terrorist unit, Sdat, checked the contents of a borrowed Peugeot car he used on the day of the killing; it was their second try. Dismantling the car, they found a passport behind the radio with stamps for three trips to Turkey, and a dry-cleaning bill dated a few days after the killings, Comte said.
"When Guney was brought in, they missed half the things in his car," the lawyer said. "The dry-cleaning bill didn't enter the investigation file until a month later. If you look at the transcripts of the first hours of questioning, all they are doing is trying to update their archives about PKK activities."
Police sources had no comment on allegations that evidence was missed in the first search of Guney's car. They said questioning had focused on his links to the PKK because he claimed to be a member. PKK officials have denied Guney was a member of the group.
The appeal to Turkey for judicial help, to be lodged by investigating magistrate Jeanne Duye, comes after similar requests were sent to Holland and Germany - where Guney lived for nine years - and received replies.
Other factors are also complicating the investigation. On September 25 Duye's computer containing judicial files was stolen from her home. Duye's office did not respond to a request for comment. Duye has not spoken publicly about the murder case.
(Additional reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul and Nicolas Bertin in Paris; Editing by Richard Woods and Giles Elgood)

Former Military dictator, Babangida advocates devolution of powers

ibrahim Babangida

The former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, who exercised maximum powers over the affairs of Nigeria for eight years, on Monday called for the devolution of powers between the federal, state and local governments in the spirit of true federalism. Babangida made the call when the Chairman of Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Chief Elias Mbam, paid him a visit at his residence in Minna. 
It is however pertinent to state that if General Babangida really believed in true federalism, he had all the powers to restructure the country along that line when he was a maximum ruler.
The former president said that besides proper devolution of powers, there was need for a review of revenue sharing formula in favour of the states and the local government councils.
He said that a greater percentage of revenue should go to the state and local governments because their of closeness to the masses.
The former military president also canvassed for diversification of the economy from the current mono-source - oil, to other revenue alternatives.
Babangida commended the commission for carrying out its assignment diligently in spite of the challenges.
Earlier, Mbam said the visit was part of extensive consultation with all stakeholders before drawing up a new revenue sharing formula.
He noted that the review of the revenue sharing formula was last held during the Babangida regime.
The chairman said that the new revenue sharing formula would be ready by December.