Syria opposition hails French, UK move to arm rebels

LENGTH: 239 words

DATELINE: BEIRUT, March 14 2013

Syria's main opposition National Coalition welcomed an announcement by France on Thursday that it and Britain are ready to arm rebels fighting to oust the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

"We consider it a step in the right direction... Assad will not accept a political solution (to the conflict) until he realises he is faced with an (armed) force that will defeat him," said Coalition spokesman Walid al-Bunni.

"As long as the Europeans and the Americans do not arm the rebels, they are telling Assad to keep fighting.

"So long as Iran and Russia continue to support him (Assad), he will remain convinced that he will win" the war, the spokesman told AFP.

On the eve of the second anniversary of the outbreak of a revolt against Assad's regime, France said it and Britain were ready to arm Syria's rebels even without unanimous support in the European Union.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Paris and London would call for moving up the date of the next EU meeting on the Syria arms embargo, and would decide to arm the rebels if the 27-member body does not give unanimous agreement.

French officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Paris was considering providing the rebels with ground-to-air missiles to retaliate against air strikes by government troops.

The United Nations says at least 70,000 people have been killed in Syria's two-year conflict and another one million forced to flee the country as refugees.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

UN pleads for Syria aid, warns of threat to region

LENGTH: 727 words

DATELINE: DAMASCUS, March 14 2013

The UN urged governments on Wednesday to unlock the funds it desperately needs to assist one million refugees who have fled Syria's war, which a charity said increasingly features child soldiers.

Russia, meanwhile, warned that arming Syria's rebels would breach international law, after Western powers dropped hints about giving military aid.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres warned of the "enormous threat" to the region from the two-year conflict that has already killed at least 70,000 people.

"I appeal to parliaments, governments to approve extraordinary funds to support the Syrian victims and the countries that receive them," Guterres said in Jordan, which hosts 450,000 refugees, almost half of the total.

"If that does not happen, with the normal UN aid budgets we will not be able to deliver," he said, urging world powers to press for a solution or face the "catastrophic scenario" of the conflict spilling over borders.

His plea was echoed by Joel Charny, vice president of the US-based alliance of relief organisations, InterAction, who urged donors to make good on promises made at a conference in Kuwait in January.

So far only around 20 percent of the $1.5 billion pledged has been received, according to figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The appeals came a day after Syria said its army was ready to fight "for years" and ahead of the second anniversary of the March 15, 2011 nationwide protests that triggered the conflict.

The demonstrations broke out after the arrest and torture of children accused of painting anti-regime graffiti in the southern city of Daraa.

Two years on, a British charity reported that children are being increasingly recruited on the front line, with both sides using boys as soldiers and even human shields.

"There is a growing pattern of armed groups on both sides of the conflict recruiting children under 18 as porters, guards, informers or fighters," said Save the Children.

In a report on Tuesday, the UN children's agency said children have been recruited in a conflict it says threatens an entire generation.

UNICEF said nearly two million children in Syria under 18 were in dire need of aid, about 800,000 under 14 were internally displaced and that more than 500,000 children have fled the violence as refugees.

In London, meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met his British counterpart William Hague a day after Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain would consider ignoring an EU arms ban and supply weapons to the rebels.

"Arming the opposition is in breach of international law," Lavrov said at a news conference with Hague, British Defence Minister Philip Hammond and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Western powers have stepped up non-military support for the rebels, even as Russia has continued to arm its ally Assad.

Britain is currently giving "non-lethal" support to the rebels but Hague and Hammond refused to rule out arming them.

"What you can be assured of is that any action we take will be legal, will be clearly with a strong basis in international law," Hammond insisted.

An opposition National Coalition spokesman, meanwhile, told AFP the opposition is to meet next Monday and Tuesday in Istanbul for delayed talks on forming an interim government and electing a prime minister for rebel-controlled areas.

On the ground, a regime air strike targeted the strife-torn district of Baba Amr in Homs after rebels infiltrated the area, and clashes raged near the tense border with Lebanon, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

And 12 people were killed, including several children, by mortar fire in Damascus, said the Observatory, which reported an overall death toll of at least 130, including 52 civilians, in violence on Wednesday.

At the United Nations, diplomats said the world body has halted peacekeeping patrols in the Golan Heights amid fears that fallout from the Syrian war could lead more countries to withdraw from its force.

The four-day abduction last week of 21 Philippine members of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force, which has monitored a ceasefire zone between Syria and Israel since 1974, has heightened security fears.

Canada pulled its troops out in March 2006, while Japan and Croatia withdrew their contingents in recent months, leaving only the Philippines, Austria and India in UNDOF.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

Cyprus crosses red lines for EU bailout

LENGTH: 695 words

DATELINE: NICOSIA, March 14 2013

After nine months of stop-start negotiations, cash-strapped Cyprus is on the verge of securing an EU bailout but analysts say it will come at a hefty price.

Eurozone finance ministers are to meet on Friday after a two-day EU summit in Brussels, to thrash out a bailout plan for Cyprus that will hopefully conclude marathon talks.

"The longer this has gone on, the more drastic the proposed measures have become, the craziest idea being a haircut on deposits, which would only ensure that EU taxpayers never get their money back," analyst Fiona Mullen told AFP.

The government has dismissed any suggestion of a haircut on bank deposits to help pay for a rescue package estimated at 17 billion euros.

But in order to seal an agreement, the newly elected government has had to cross red lines on the island's low corporate tax rate and on the sale of profitable state utilities.

"It looks like it will have to accept an increase in the corporate tax rate to 12.5 percent, which until now was the lowest in the eurozone at 10 percent," said Mullen.

"And of course privatisation used to be taboo, but they will not get a bailout without it."

She said Cyprus may also have to accept more "damaging taxes", such as the financial transaction tax, which will hit the big foreign exchange trading companies.

Cyprus requested financial assistance from the EU in June last year after its two largest banks -- Bank of Cyprus and Popular Bank -- sought state aid following massive losses estimated at â‚¬4.5 billion resulting from a Greek debt haircut.

Nicosia has argued that its eagerness to support Greece and show eurozone solidarity has been its undoing.

With the island's banks being the most exposed to Greek debt, Cyprus simply could not afford to agree a 75 percent write-down of its bond holdings.

And because state finances had deteriorated, the government was unable to access international financial markets to assist its own banks and so applied for aid.

As part of a rescue package reached last year, Greece obtained a partial reduction in debt owed to private creditors, who included Cypriot banks.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has pushed for this to be taken into account in talks with international creditors on the island's own bailout, which has been earmarked for the end of March.

"The consequences of the haircut of Greek bonds was not handled on our side in the best possible manner within European institutions," Anastasiades told To Vima newspaper over the weekend, referring to the administration of his communist predecessor Demetris Christofias.

Cyprus is the fifth financial rescue following those for Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and for Spanish banks, but has proved to be the most difficult to conclude.

The Christofias government tried to avoid the harsh terms of an EU bailout by asking Russia and China for bilateral loans.

But as the amount required soared, it became clear that the troika -- the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- was the only institution with the resources to help.

The mooted 17-billion euro ($22.2 billion) bailout figure is roughly the same as the island's total economic output, and would increase debt to more than 140 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a level considered unmanageable in the long run.

The island's Simerini newspaper said Cyprus had been told to find seven billion euros of the 17 billion euros it needs because lending the government more than 10 billion would make the debt unserviceable.

To help fast-track an agreement, Cyprus has agreed to submit its banks to independent scrutiny to allay suspicions of money-laundering.

The concerns stem from allegations that the island is a favoured destination for the ill-gotten gains of Russian oligarchs.

An independent audit is expected to begin next week and be completed before the end of March as requested by eurogroup finance ministers.

Following the eurozone summit, Finance Minister Michalis Sarris is to fly to Moscow for talks on Monday.

On the agenda will be extending a 2.5 billion euro Russian loan payment due in 2016 and discussing how Russia could contribute to the bailout package, state radio reported.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

Putin congratulates Xi, hails cooperation: Kremlin

LENGTH: 211 words

DATELINE: MOSCOW, March 14 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday congratulated Xi Jinping on officially becoming China's president, hailing the two sides' "strategic partnership" and calling for even closer ties.

Putin told Xi, who is expected in Moscow later this month as part of his first foreign trip as president, that he also looked forward to meeting the Chinese leader, the Kremlin said.

In a telephone conversation, Putin "expressed satisfaction with the development of strategic partnership between Russia and China," the Kremlin said in statement.

Putin also "underscored (Russia's) interest in expanding cooperation in all areas, and also strengthening cooperation on the international arena."

Russia and China jointly blocked three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the past two years, vowing to continue to coordinate their foreign policies.

Although the exact date of Xi's visit has not been announced, Putin stressed "the importance of the upcoming state visit of the Chinese leader to Moscow," said the Kremlin.

Xi, who was formally named as China's new president by the country's parliament, is also expected to visit Africa on his first official trip abroad at attend the BRICS summit of top developing economies in Durban.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

Tennis: Federer and Nadal set up quarter-final showdown

LENGTH: 626 words

DATELINE: INDIAN WELLS, California, March 13 2013

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both battled through three-set thrillers Wednesday to set up a mouthwatering quarter-final at Indian Wells.

Defending champion Federer defeated fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, laboring two hours and 20 minutes to subdue his old friend.

Nadal, playing his fourth tournament since returning from a seven-month injury absence, outlasted the in-form Latvian Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

The other two of the "big four" of men's tennis also reached the quarter-finals of combined ATP Masters and WTA event.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic defeated American Sam Querrey 6-0, 7-6 (8/6) in a match that started after midnight and finished around 2am on Thursday.

World No. 3 Andy Murray beat unseeded Argentinian Carlos Berlocq 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

Djokovic's late night was the result of some long matches Wednesday on stadium court.

Federer had a golden opportunity to make his day much shorter, but serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set he was broken to love.

Unable to convert two break points in the following game he surrendered the set on a tiebreaker when he double-faulted on set point.

Wawrinka then gained the upper hand with a break in the third set, but Federer, winner of 17 Grand Slam titles, broke back and earned the decisive break in the final game.

"I think I was a little little lucky to come through it in the end," said Federer, who continued to say a sore back would not hinder his pursuit of a first title of 2013.

"Overall I'm very pleased that I was able to play today and play at a high level," Federer said.

Nadal is playing his first hard court tournament since left-knee tendinitis forced him out of the Miami Masters last March.

Damage in the same knee later sidelined him for seven months -- from a second-round defeat at Wimbledon until a comeback swing of three clay-court tournaments in Latin America in February that yielded two titles and a runner-up finish.

Nadal had admitted he did not know how his knee would hold up on hard courts, and in qualifier Gulbis he came up against a red-hot player who had won the Delray Beach title as a qualifier the week before Indian Wells and toppled two seeds en route to his meeting with the Spaniard.

"Always against Ernests it's a very difficult match," Nadal said. "He's a very, very aggressive player with a big serve."

Nadal saved the only break point he faced in the third set, and converted his only opportunity to break in the 11th game.

When he finally blasted a forehand winner on his third match point, Nadal gave a little leap of joy

The last time he played Federer was in the semi-finals at Indian Wells last year when he lost 6-3, 6-4.

A packed schedule on stadium court saw Nadal's match, the last of the day session, finish at at 9:47pm.

Then came Maria Sharapova's 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 victory over Italy's Sara Errani in a rematch of the French Open final won by the Russian superstar last year.

Sharapova booked a semi-final clash with Maria Kirilenko, who upset fifth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the only other women's match of the day.

Djokovic took the court at 12:23 against Querrey, but there was no upset for the American this time as the world's top player set aside the frustration of his long wait to win in one hour and 27 minutes.

Djokovic, a two-time winner here in 2008 and 2011, next faces France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 winner over Canadian Milos Raonic.

Murray will take on another Argentinian, seventh-seeded Juan Martin del Potro. Del Potro cruised past German veteran Tommy Haas 6-1, 6-2.

Sixth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych also advanced, beating France's Richard Gasquet 6-1, 7-5 to advance to a quarter-final meeting with South African Kevin Anderson -- a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 winner over France's Gilles Simon.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

China missiles' Syria success to boost image: media

LENGTH: 379 words

DATELINE: BEIJING, March 14 2013

Chinese-made missiles have been used to shoot down two Syrian army helicopters, state media reported Thursday, adding their performance could boost the international sales appeal of Chinese weapons.

The Global Times, a tabloid with close links to the ruling Communist Party, said a pair of videos posted on the Internet by Free Syrian Army rebels showed two Mi-8/17 helicopters being shot down by Chinese shoulder-launched missiles.

The paper said it was not known how the rebels, who have been fighting to topple the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad for the past two years, obtained the missiles.

But it said the success of the FN-6 weapons, which it said were developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, could lift the overall image of China's defence products.

"In regards to export prospects, Chinese weapons need to engage in more conflicts to prove their value," Daniel Tong, identified as the founder of the Chinese Military Aviation website, told the newspaper.

"The kills are proof that the FN-6 is reliable and user-friendly, because rebel fighters are generally not well-trained in operating missile systems," he added.

Chinese weapons have not been tested in battle to the same extent as those built by the United States and Russia, and publicity surrounding the shootdowns will raise the profile of China's air defence products, the paper cited him as saying.

But he lamented the loss of life in the conflict and said: "Any bloodshed is regrettable."

The Global Times said Chinese missiles have shot down targets in several other conflicts, though it added the Syrian conflict is the first time such a success has been recorded on video.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation refused to comment on the report when contacted by AFP. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular briefing that she had not seen it.

China and Russia, both members of the UN Security Council, have joined together to block resolutions that would have introduced sanctions against Assad's regime.

At a press conference Saturday, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said only "dialogue and negotiations" could end the Syrian war and that China was "distressed and concerned" over the "bleeding and suffering" of Syria's people.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

France, Britain to arm Syria rebels 'even without EU support'Â

LENGTH: 444 words

DATELINE: PARIS, March 14 2013

France and Britain are ready to arm Syrian rebels even without unanimous EU support, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Thursday.

Paris and London will call for moving up the date of the next European Union meeting on the Syria arms embargo, and will decide to arm the rebels if the 27-member body does not give unanimous agreement, he said.

Fabius said the regime of President Bashar al-Assad was receiving weapons from Iran and Russia which gave it an edge over the opposition in the two-year conflict.

France and Britain will ask "the Europeans now to lift the embargo so that the resistance fighters have the possibility of defending themselves," he told France Info radio.

"We cannot accept the current disequilibrium with Iran and Russia supplying arms to Assad on the one hand and the opposition unable to defend itself on the other," he said.

French officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Paris was considering providing the rebels with ground-to-air missiles to retaliate against air strikes by government troops.

"Lifting the embargo is the only means of moving things on a political level," Fabius said.

If unanimous EU support for lifting the measure is lacking, the French and British governments will decide to deliver weapons, Fabius said, adding that France "is a sovereign nation."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday said that "arming the opposition is in breach of international law."

But Fabius rejected this saying that one could not take recourse to legal arguments to say that "'we can supply arms to Assad but will not allow resistance fighters to defend themselves.'"

Western powers have stepped up non-military support for the rebels, even as Russia has continued to arm its ally Assad.

Britain is currently giving "non-lethal" support to the rebels but its foreign and defence ministers have refused to rule out arming them.

The next EU meeting to study the embargo is planned for the end of May, but Fabius said Paris and London want to hold the meeting sooner.

"We must move quickly," he said, adding: "We along with the British will ask for the meeting to be moved up."

He did not rule out a gathering before the end of March.

Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday that Britain would consider ignoring an EU arms ban and supplying weapons to Syrian rebels if it would help topple Assad.

The EU last month amended its embargo to allow member nations to supply "non-lethal" equipment and training to the opposition but stopped short of lifting the embargo entirely.

More than 70,000 people have died in the Syrian conflict, according to the United Nations, while the number of refugees has reached one million.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

Russia's Church, Putin welcome new Pope

LENGTH: 384 words

DATELINE: MOSCOW, March 14 2013

The Russian Orthodox Church and President Vladimir Putin said Thursday they expected that newly elected Pope Francis will foster warmer ties between the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

"The Russian Church welcomes the decision of the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, and, as before, counts on relations between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches developing in a positive way," the head of Russian Patriarch Kirill's press service, Deacon Alexander Volkov, told the RIA Novosti news agency.

"We can only hope that he will continue the line of the previous pope and that the positive dynamic in developing relations between our churches will continue," Archpriest Dmitry Sizonenko, secretary of the Patriarch's department for external relations, told RIA Novosti.

Patriarch Kirill has not yet made a public statement on the Pope's election.

President Putin, a Russian Orthodox believer, sent a telegram of congratulations saying that "I am convinced that constructive cooperation between Russia and the Vatican will develop further on the basis of the Christian values that we share."

He wished the new pope "fruitful activity in strengthening peace and promoting dialogue between civilisations and religions," the Kremlin said.

Archdeacon Andrei Kurayev, a reformist cleric, wrote on his blog after the announcement that the new pope "promises huge shocks for the Catholic Church, forcing it to change into a church for the poor, not a church for the prosperous."

He praised the new pope for embracing a simple, humble life: "He has refused to use a limousine. He cooks for himself.. In 2001 he visited a hospice where he washed and kissed the feet of 12 people suffering from AIDS."

The Russian Orthodox Church has troubled relations with the Catholic Church dating back to Soviet times.

Stalin persecuted the Ukrainian Greek Catholic, or Uniate, Church, an eastern rite Catholic Church which is led by the pope, while the Orthodox Church was allowed to operate in a limited way under the control of the authorities.

The Russian Orthodox Church is now concerned over the influence of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, which has enjoyed a revival after the breakup of the Soviet Union. The difficulties have so far ruled out a visit by the pope to Russia or a meeting between the leaders of the two churches.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

Tennis: Sharapova into Indian Wells semi-finals

LENGTH: 310 words

DATELINE: INDIAN WELLS, California, March 13 2013

Maria Sharapova progressed to the semi-finals at Indian Wells on Wednesday with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 victory over Sara Errani in a rematch of last year's French Open final.

The Russian beat the Italian in the Roland Garros title match last year to complete a career Grand Slam and again triumphed this time round.

With a win over the sixth seed, Sharapova reached the semi-finals in the California desert for the sixth time and said she hoped to secure a second title to go with the one she captured back in 2006.

"I'm giving myself an opportunity to be back in the final, and hopefully I will go farther this time," said Sharapova, who was runner-up to Victoria Azarenka last year.

Sharapova was slow out of the blocks against Errani, as she was in her 7-5, 6-0 victory over Spain's Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino.

The Italian broke her in the first game of the match as Sharapova delivered two double faults and although the Russian immediately regained the break she dropped her serve again in the seventh game with another brace of double faults to trail 4-3.

Sharapova buckled down, however, getting the break she needed to force a tiebreak in the 10th game before fending off a set point in the tiebreaker.

She wrapped up the match after two hours and one minute -- just after the clock ticked past midnight in California.

In the semi-finals she'll face Russia's Maria Kirilenko, who beat 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Kirilenko, who beat third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round, improved to 6-0 in three-set matches this year and reached the Indian Wells semi-finals for the first time in 10 appearances.

The remaining women's quarter-finals were scheduled for Thursday. Top seed Azarenka will face eighth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark and fourth seed German Angelique Kerber will take on seventh-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

Tennis: Sharapova reaches Indian Wells semi-finals

LENGTH: 70 words

DATELINE: INDIAN WELLS, California, March 14 2013

Second-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova reached the semi-finals of the Indian Wells ATP Masters and WTA tournament on Wednesday with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 victory over Sara Errani.

In a rematch of last year's French Open final, Sharapova again emerged triumphant, setting up a meeting with Russian Maria Kirilenko for a place in Sunday's final.

Kirilenko advanced with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over fifth-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

Russian Church predicts good ties with new Pope

LENGTH: 248 words

DATELINE: MOSCOW, March 14 2013

The Russian Orthodox Church expects that newly elected Pope Francis will foster positive relations between the two churches, a spokesman said Thursday.

"The Russian Church welcomes the decision of the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, and, as before, counts on relations between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches developing in a positive way," the head of the Moscow Patriarchy's press service, Alexander Volkov, told the RIA Novosti news agency.

"We can only hope that he will continue the line of the previous pope and that the positive dynamic in developing relations between our churches will continue," Archpriest Dmitry Sizonenko, secretary of the Moscow Patriarchy's department for external relations, told RIA Novosti.

Archdeacon Andrei Kurayev, a reformist cleric, wrote on his blog after the announcement that the new pope "promises huge shocks for the Catholic Church, forcing it to change into a church for the poor, not a church for the prosperous."

He praised the new pope for embracing a simple, humble life: "He has refused to use a limousine. He cooks for himself.. In 2001 he visited a hospice where he washed and kissed the feet of 12 people suffering from AIDS."

The Russian Orthodox Church has troubled relations with the Catholic Church dating back to the Soviet times when the Russian Orthodox Church cooperated with the authorities.

Difficult ties are also linked to current concerns over the influence of the Catholic Church in neighbouring countries such as Ukraine.

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

Eternal viewing of Chavez may be impossible: Maduro

LENGTH: 422 words

DATELINE: CARACAS, March 14 2013

For many Venezuelans, the late Hugo Chavez is deeply etched in their minds and souls. But plans for them to be able to view him in perpetuity may have gone awry.

The process of embalming his remains specially so that he could be viewed like Lenin started too late, acting President Nicolas Maduro said Tuesday.

Scientists from around the world and countries like Russia and Germany have been summoned and the news is not good, Maduro said.

The government had said it wanted Chavez's supporters to be able to visit the late standard-bearer of the Latin American left forever in the wake of his March 5 death from cancer after 14 years in power.

The reason is that "preparatory steps would have to have been taken much earlier," Maduro said. "The decision would have to have been made much earlier.

"So I have the duty to report on these steps so that everyone knows that there are difficulties that could make it impossible to do what was done with Lenin, Ho Chi Minh or Mao Zedong," Maduro added.

Maduro said that he got the idea from his love of Chavez -- and from presidents who came from other countries and suggested the late leader be preserved for permanent viewing.

Chavez's casket has been on view for several days in Caracas, with tens of thousands of supporters filing past to bid farewell.

It was only on Monday that Venezuela plunged into a bitter election fight to succeed Chavez, with Maduro and opposition leader Henrique Capriles facing off in a flurry of name-calling.

Thousands of the late president's supporters massed outside the National Election Council as Maduro, dressed in a jacket in the colors of the Venezuelan flag, officially registered his candidacy.

"I am not Chavez, but I am his son and all of us together, the people, are Chavez," he said.

Wearing red berets and T-shirts emblazoned with Chavez's image, his supporters vowed loyalty to the deeply polarizing socialist revolution that the former army paratrooper championed for over a decade.

Capriles, an energetic 40-year-old state governor who lost to Chavez in October presidential elections, kept his followers off the street but warned Maduro on Sunday: "I won't leave you an open path."

"You are going to have to defeat me with votes," Capriles said in accepting the nomination of the main opposition coalition.

Venezuelans will vote in snap April 14 elections after a brief campaign that analysts say heavily favors Maduro, who Chavez picked as his successor in his last public appearance before going to Cuba for cancer surgery in December.

val/mdl/dw/gk

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

Xi: new style for China president

LENGTH: 760 words

DATELINE: BEIJING, March 14 2013

The new president of China's 1.35 billion people is a relaxed, affable contrast to his stiff predecessors -- but whether there will be an accompanying change of substance remains to be seen.

Xi Jinping's first months in power as head of the ruling Communist Party have shown a "new style, but short on delivery so far", said Jean-Pierre Cabestan of Baptist University of Hong Kong, describing him as "old wine in a new bottle".

The 59-year-old is the first Chinese leader to have been born after the Communists took power in 1949, and is one of the party's "princelings" -- the privileged offspring of those who played key roles in the revolution.

Xi was named head of state by the rubber-stamp national parliament on Thursday. But he became China's de-facto supremo in November, when he was elevated to lead the all-powerful Communist Party.

Since then, a barrage of official propaganda has promised reforms on issues ranging from pollution to corruption, while Xi and others have made high-profile tours of poverty-stricken villages.

Warning that corruption could "kill the party", Xi threatened in January to target not only lowly "flies" but also top-ranking "tigers".

An investigation by US news agency Bloomberg last year, however, found that Xi's relatives had amassed hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, hinting at the challenge of implementing reforms that might threaten the business interests of powerful families.

To underscore a commitment to economic reforms, Xi chose the southern city of Shenzhen, where China launched its modernisation drive three decades ago, for his first official visit as party leader.

But any desire for fundamental reforms is likely to be tempered by the overriding fear that drastic change could weaken party control.

Xi reportedly warned officials during his southern trip against letting the party unravel as the Soviet Union did, saying that Gorbachev-style reforms could undermine Communist control.

He rose to the top of the secretive party by serving as a compromise pick able to navigate between competing factions, including those of outgoing leader Hu Jintao and the influential former president Jiang Zemin.

Xi has an impeccable political pedigree as the son of a revolutionary hero, and has a pop star wife, Peng Liyuan, who holds the rank of army general and starred in state broadcaster CCTV New Year's gala for years.

But his father Xi Zhongxun, a respected Communist elder, was purged during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, and Xi himself was sent to the Chinese countryside to live and work alongside peasants, as were many educated youths.

Xi joined the Communist Party while labouring in the poor northern province of Shaanxi and in 1975 moved to Beijing to study at the prestigious Tsinghua University, earning a degree in chemical engineering.

He went on to oversee some of China's most economically dynamic areas, including Fujian and Zhejiang provinces and Shanghai, earning himself a reputation as a proponent of economic reforms and an effective manager.

He created a stir during a 2009 speech in Mexico by scoffing at "foreigners with full bellies and nothing to do but criticise our affairs" -- many Chinese harbour resentment against the West -- but he has unusually longstanding US links for a Chinese leader.

As part of a research trip in 1985 he spent time in Iowa, deep in the farming heartland of the Midwest, and paid his host family a return visit last year, while his daughter Xi Mingze studied at Harvard under a pseudonym.

A diplomatic cable released on WikiLeaks recounted a 2007 conversation between Clark Randt, the then US ambassador to China, and Xi that revealed the future president as a big fan of US films on World War II.

He told Randt that he "tremendously enjoyed" the 1998 Steven Spielberg war epic "Saving Private Ryan", the cable said, adding that Xi noted: "Americans have a clear outlook on values and clearly demarcate between good and evil. In American movies, good usually prevails."

The cables described Xi as pragmatic yet ambitious, willing to tilt with the political winds to get ahead.

They said he was uncorrupted by money yet with a sense of political entitlement, feeling that fellow "princelings" like him "deserve to rule China".

As of Thursday, he fulfils his destiny. But like all incoming Chinese leaders he will need to consolidate power, and whatever his personal beliefs, few expect him to stray far from the Communist template of gradually opening the economy while maintaining tight political control.

Cabestan added: "Frankly I don't see him as a reformer."

LOAD-DATE: March 15, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

Figure skating: Chan leads with record-setting score

LENGTH: 537 words

DATELINE: LONDON, Canada, March 13 2013

Patrick Chan is well on his way to defending his title after producing one of the greatest short programmes of his career at the World Figure Skating Championships on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old Canadian was rewarded Wednesday night with a score of 98.37, the highest ever recorded for the opening round.

The twice world champion delivered a rock solid quadruple-triple jump combination and picture perfect triple Axel in a sublime performance that had the crowd at the Budweiser Gardens on its feet as he wound down his final spin.

"It was so inspirational to be out there. I got into my last spin and there was a rush through my whole body. It was tingling," said Chan.

Chan struggled with shaky performances on the Grand Prix circuit last fall, raising questions about his chances to win again here.

Grabbing second place (91.56) was unheralded Denis Ten, of Kazakhstan, who opened with a beautiful quadruple toe-loop and delivered a flawless, yet less technically difficult, programme than Chan.

Canada's number two, Kevin Reynolds, who scored an upset with his recent win at the Four Continents Championship, posted 85.16 points to sit third.

Known for his rapid rotation on his jumps, Reynolds produced two quadruple jumps -- a salchow and toe-loop, although he had to fight to hang onto the landing of the second.

Ten, seventh at the 2012 worlds, and Reynolds, who was 12th, both expressed surprise and excitement to be among the frontrunners.

Ten, a descendant of the famous Korean general Min Keung Ho, said the small medal he won for his short programme result was the first world championship medal for Kazakhstan.

"I will try to keep my mood and motivation the same for (Friday's) final," said Ten, who now works with the coach and choreographer who were behind US skating star Michelle Kwan's brilliant career.

Chan was the only man among the four gold medal favourites to skate to his potential on a night when stellar performances were the exception.

"It's not a matter of luck," he said. "It's how much work you put in and the confidence you have.

"I worked very hard the last three weeks."

One by one, the other contenders faltered, finishing out of the top three.

While it is unlikely Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu, (ninth with 75.94) can claw his way back in the final and grab a medal, his countryman Daisuke Takahashi (fourth with 84.67)and Spain's Javier Fernandez (seventh with 80.76) still have a shot at the podium.

Fernandez, who was coming off the high of winning the European title, turned his planned triple Axel into a single at huge cost, while Takahashi's quadruple jump attempt was significantly underroated.

Also in contention is veteran Frenchman Brian Joubert in fifth with 84.17.

Earlier Wednesday, Russians Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov finished atop the scoreboard with an assured performance in the pairs short programme.

The twice world silver medallists head into Friday's final with 75.84 points and a slim lead over Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford (73.61) and Germany's four-time world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (73.47).

In all, five couples, including another Russian and Canadian duo, are in podium position with just over six points separating fifth from first place.

LOAD-DATE: March 14, 2013

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newswire

Eternal viewing of Chavez may be impossible: Maduro

LENGTH: 451 words

DATELINE: CARACAS, March 13 2013

Venezuela's acting president Nicolas Maduro acknowledged Wednesday that it could be too late to have president Hugo Chavez embalmed "like Lenin" so that his body could be on view permanently.

"We have welcomed top-level scientists, the best in the world, from Russia and Germany... The scientific reports and opinions we are getting are that it is going to be quite difficult" to arrange special embalming that would enable permanent viewing, Maduro said at an event carried on state television.

The government had said it wanted Chavez's supporters to be able to visit the late standard-bearer of the Latin American left forever in the wake of his March 5 death from cancer after 14 years in power.

The reason is that "preparatory steps would have to have been taken much earlier," Maduro said.

"The decision would have to have been made much earlier.

"So I have the duty to report on these steps so that everyone knows that there are difficulties that could make it impossible to do what was done with Lenin, Ho Chi Minh or Mao Zedong," Maduro added.

Two days after Chavez's death Maduro had announced that he wanted Chavez preserved "eternally" so his body could be on permanent view.