Gangnam Style, like the Korean Psy?

Psy Breaks Down Greatest Assets Of 'Gangnam Style' Vid

'I want to tell you the reason why for the first time in the United States: honestly, I love butt,' Psy tells MTV News.

Psy's "Gangnam Style" doesn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. In less than a month, Psy has appeared at the Video Music Awards, the "Today" show, appeared in the season premiere of "Saturday Night Live" and currently has the #1 song on the iTunes charts.

In what was meant to be a music video just for Psy's Korean fanbase, the clip's infectious dance moves soon sparked an Internet firestorm, with nearly 200 million people on YouTube watching the colorful, spontaneous and sometimes ridiculous music video that was shot over the course of 48 hours in July.

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"With this video and director we kept on focusing on to be ridiculous as possible, that was our point," Psy recently told MTV News about the video. "So we were so serious thinking to be ridiculous."

With so many unexpected twists and turns throughout the four-minute clip, we had Psy break down his favorite scenes and explain the thought process behind the "dress classy and dance cheesy" phenomenon.


Beach Turned Playground

The video kicks off with Psy lounging in style at the beach, but as the camera zooms out, one can see that Psy is sunbathing at a local playground and is joined by an extremely talented child dancer.

"This is playground for kids, and it looks like I'm sitting at the beach," Psy said. "See this kid he is 5 years old. As you have 'America's Got Talent,' we have 'Korea's Got Talent' and he was from there, so I picked him, and he did all the Michael Jackson moves when he was 3 without any education."


Sleeping in the Sauna

Rapping and dancing for 48 hours straight can take a lot out of you, which is what happened to Psy. Once they began filming the final scene at the sauna, the Korean star was out of creative ideas and opted to nap instead.

"This was the very last scene of filming so me and all the staff was totally exhausted and too ridiculous for 48 hours without sleeping, it's awful and we were all exhausted," Psy said. "We were getting panic like 'What were we doing all these two days?' and everybody is like 'what are we going to do in the sauna?' and let's just go in and play music and as you can see I was so tired."


Psy's Favorite Part of a Woman

When creating this video there was one thing that Psy just couldn't ignore — a woman's butt. In the scene where a group of women seem to be toning their bodies, Psy yells at them, but he promises, it's all in good fun.

"I'm yelling at her butt," Psy said. "I want to tell you the reason why for the first time in the United States: honestly, I love butt. I'm sorry, but I literally love butt. Honestly, what can I say?"


Dirty Dancing in the Elevator

For one of the most-talked-about scenes in the video, Psy enlisted friend and Korean comedian Noh Hong-cheol to step in, even if he had no idea what he was getting in to.

"He is a huge comedian in Korea and he didn't expect even filming this, he just came to the scene and he was there because he's a good friend of mine and he was there to cheer me up," Psy said. "We were suddenly getting on the elevator to move and to the next spot and I asked him 'Hey, why don't we make some film in the elevator?' and he did the dance move. This move is really dirty and really famous in Korea so I said, 'I'm gonna go underneath between your legs,' so it was really ad-libbed."


Toilet Talk

In what looks to be a close-up shot of Psy fiercely rapping the lyrics to "Gangnam Style," the camera quickly pans out to reveal Psy in an awkward position.

"The purpose of this music video was just for fun, just for entertaining, but the director said 'Hey Psy just for one scene let's be serious let's make something look good so," Psy said. "They filmed this and I said, 'All right, I'll do this to satisfy you and then I'm going to take off my pants, and then you're going to zoom out and it's going to be a toilet.' Isn't this lovely? I love this scene."

What is your favorite scene in "Gangnam Style"? Let us know in the comments.

By Christina Garibaldi (@ChristinaMTV)  
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IBM scientists take image of atomic bonds

How’s this for a close-up: an image that can differentiate between the different chemical bonds in an individual molecule? That’s what IBM’s Zurich research lab is claiming in a paper published in Science.

The paywalled piece is titled with the pizazz typical of science papers – Bond-Order Discrimination by Atomic Force Microscopy – but it’s worth browsing because the image is so cool.

IBM's image of a nanographene molecule: the bonds at the centre involve more electrons and are shorter than those at the edge. Image: IBM

Created with an atomic force microscope (AFM), the image shows a nanographene molecule and clearly visualises the bonds in the molecule, showing different lengths of bonds. The scientists say the imaging technique will help them characterise graphene, the wonderstuff of developments in electronics.

"This can increase basic understanding at the level of individual molecules ... in particular, the relaxation of bonds around defects in graphene as well as the changing of bonds in chemical reactions and in excited states were observed", IBM says.

To quote IBM scientist Leo Gross from its announcement: "We found two different contrast mechanisms to distinguish bonds. The first one is based on small differences in the force measured above the bonds. We expected this kind of contrast but it was a challenge to resolve.”

"The second contrast mechanism really came as a surprise: bonds appeared with different lengths in AFM measurements. With the help of ab initio calculations we found that the tilting of the carbon monoxide molecule at the tip apex is the cause of this contrast.”

The AFM uses a single carbon monoxide molecule as the sensing tip. The molecule oscillates above the sample to measure the forces between the CO molecule and the sample to create the image.

Update: The original version of this story identified the image as showing C₆₀. That has now been corrected. IBM imaged both nanographene and C₆₀ "buckyballs". There are more images on Flickr, here

By Richard Chirgwin

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Related stories:

• IBM tells electrons to strictly come dancing in spintronics first (13 August 2012)
• IBM carbon probe views electron movement in molecule (27 February 2012)
• IBM boffins claim phase change memory breakthrough (30 June 2011)
• IBM makes superdense magnetic Lazarus (16 May 2006)

China announces geographic codes for Diaoyu Islands baseline to UN

BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Releasing the geographic coordinates of Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets marks China's latest move to affirm its sovereignty and administrative jurisdiction over the islands, according to a maritime expert.

China has had the islands under continuous surveillance for a long time, said Jia Yu, vice director of the China Institute for Marine Affairs attached to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA), in an interview with Xinhua on Saturday.

The SOA announced the exact longitude and latitude of Diaoyu Island and 70 of its affiliated islets while publishing location maps, three-dimension effect graphs and sketch maps for the islands on Saturday.

Since 2009, the SOA carried out a general survey of all Chinese islands, including the Diaoyu Islands, and announced their standard names and locations in March, Jia said.

"Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets have been an inherent part of Chinese territory since ancient times and China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands," Jia said.

Announcing the geographic codes is an important step for the country to exercise its administrative jurisdiction over the islands, he said.

"Only the sovereign state and its government can do that and no other nation, organization or individual has the right to do it. Even if they did, the announcement would be invalid," he said.

The move also aims to help the public learn about the islands more vividly through the location maps, three-dimension effect graphs and sketch maps, provided that it remains difficult for the general public to visit the islands, Jia said.

"Through these documents, the country will conduct better surveillance and protection over the islands for future development," Jia added.

On Monday, the Chinese government announced the base points and baselines of the territorial waters of Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islets, as well as the names and coordinates of 17 base points.

Also on Thursday, China's permanent representative to the United Nations Li Baodong met with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and filed a copy of the Chinese government's Diaoyu Islands baseline announcement with the United Nations.

"The two sets of coordinates are meant to maintain China's sovereignty over the land as well as its adjacent waters," Jia said.

UN receives China announcement on Diaoyu Islands baseline

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 VIDEO: UN RECEIVES CHINA ANNOUNCEMENT ON DIAOYU ISLANDS BASELINE CCTV News - CNTV English

The United Nations has received a copy of Chinese government’s Diaoyu Islands baseline announcement, submitted by China’s permanent representative to UN, Li Baodong.

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the document will be dealt with appropriately on the basis of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. On Thursday, Li Baodong met with Ban Ki-moon, and filed the copy, officially fulfilling the country’s obligations as stipulated in the UN Convention.

Under the Convention on the Law of the Sea, coastal states are required to deposit with the UN chief charts showing straight baselines and archipelagic baselines, as well as lists of geographical coordinates.

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• China announces geographic codes for Diaoyu Islands 2012-09-15
• Assistant foreign minister: Japan's tricks cannot change China's sovereignty over Diaoyu Islands 2012-09-15
• China: Patrol mission around Diaoyu Islands is legal

	Roundup: Chinese rally in U.S. cities against Japan's provocations over Diaoyu Islands
•	China's non-CPC parties condemn Japan's "purchase" of Diaoyu Islands
•	Chinese literary, art circles condemn Japan's "purchase" of Diaoyu Islands
•	Meeting held in Sydney to protest against encroachment of Japan to Diaoyu Islands

 

Anti Japanese rally over Diayo Island erupted in twenty over cities in China :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAOsRNLb0vQ&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Us2WQdbhM&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73wXdmuVUH8&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adsJETC5h4U&feature=player_embedded

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Baying for blood, again

Nobody wants to have a war with Iran except Israeli premier Binyamin Netanyahu, so it could still happen.

IF a deeply troubling international situation suddenly looks too good to be true, it usually is just that – and so desperately bad as to need looking good.

And so it is with the positions of the permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) over Israel’s push to attack Iran, a situation that can soon become much more desperate.

China and Russia have long resisted the Israel-United States axis’ efforts to recreate West Asia in its own image, or at least to its own preference. The point was driven home when, under cover of “protecting innocents” through a ceasefire and no-fly zone in Libya last year, Western countries openly attacked government forces.

Now that Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya are gone, the only Muslim nation capable of standing up to the axis is Iran. But how to fashion a case against Iran that looks at least half-credible internationally?

On attack mode: If the United States still insists on staying away, without even red lines or deadlines for Iran to conform to, Israel may well go it alone and attack Iran. — EPA

 

Israel, the only nuclear-armed country in the region, does not pretend it has evidence of Iranian plans for nuclear bombs. So its best pretext is that Iran may one day have them, despite Teheran’s repeated assurances that its nuclear energy production and medical research are not a prelude to nuclear armaments.

China and Russia have no desire to see a nuclear-armed Iran either, in fact quite the reverse. Their intelligence services report that there are no grounds to assume that Iran has or even wants to have nuclear weapons.

The conclusion is shared by US and Israeli intelligence, and cited by no less than Israel’s military chief, among others. But that is “only” the pure outlook of professionals and technocrats before getting tweaked by politicians.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu seems bent on creating an imploding situation, pushing and pulling to make it want to explode and involve other countries in supporting roles. Chinese and Russian diplomats have consistently kept well clear of it all.

Sensing that Obama’s Washington had lately also been keeping its distance, Netanyahu piled on the pressure for days on end. Then his ultimatum was delivered on Tuesday: that if the US still insists on staying away, without even red lines or deadlines for Iran to conform to, Israel may well go it alone and attack Iran.

And if that happened, Washington could be made to look bad in failing to live up to its God-given mission of protecting the free world. In an election season, those kinds of terms can make a difference, and they did.

News then came the next day that Beijing and Moscow had at last “agreed” to add their weight to Western-Israeli condemnation of Iran’s attitude, if not its actions or policies. That may seem like the hitherto elusive consensus among the UNSC’s permanent five, except that it never was.

After Israel’s quiet ultimatum following long days of hard lobbying, its bottom line finally made Washington scramble – not the fighter jets, but UN diplomats in persuading Beijing and Moscow to swing their support behind an alternative approach pre-empting Israel’s further war cries.

At any rate, the resolution at the IAEA (UN nuclear watchdog) on Thursday would have no binding effect. If diplomatic declarations are mere symbols of policy intentions, then the proposed resolution is the most symbolic of all.

Yet at the most superficial of official levels, Israel also agrees that diplomacy should still be the first option before military action. But there is no denying that Netanyahu is gung-ho on another attack on another Muslim nation, preferably with other countries rather than Israel doing the work.

Walking the tightrope

Iran has no plan or policy for nuclear weapons, much less those weapons themselves. For Netanyahu’s campaign to target Teheran it needed to spread fear and vilification, while official texts could refer only to Iran’s attitude and posturing.

Yet despite all his huffing and puffing, or rather because of them, he is making matters worse for the entire region. Anyone in a less emotional state can see the thin tightrope he is treading.

By seeking to force Iran, a country justly proud of its history and culture, to bow to unreasonable demands, Netanyahu is only making a rebuff from Teheran inevitable. That would in turn force Israel to plummet into war, since it would also not want to lose face.

Then by making clear that the push for war “has to come now” rather than later when Iran may possess nuclear weapons, Netanyahu is confirming to Teheran that nuclear weapons work as a deterrent against foreign attacks. Even if Iran never wanted nuclear weapons before, it would be sorely tempted to seek them now.

One result is that Israeli leaders themselves are divided over an attack on Iran. Its military leaders, President Shimon Peres and Netanyahu’s own Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor (in charge of intelligence and nuclear affairs) are among those who disagree with him on the need to attack Iran.

Meanwhile, a top-level US report bearing the seal of more than 30 retired diplomats, admirals, generals and security chiefs advise that a war with Iran will be more painful and costly than the Iraq and Afghan invasions combined.

Previous estimates had found that an attack on Iran would only delay its nuclear programme by several months. This latest report says that a full-scale attack involving aerial bombardment, ground troops, cyberwarfare and a military occupation, among other requirements, would only delay a nuclear programme by several years, not stop it.

However, the likes of Netanyahu are determined to press on regardless. He seems to have calculated that a US election season can give him an edge by pressuring incumbent Obama to lend him unambiguous support.

Iran may also be hoping that public anxieties in the US over jobs and a faltering economy can, in an election season, constrain the urge of US hawks to join Israel. So far Teheran appears to not want to relent by appeasing the doubters.

Nonetheless, the prospect of war is still closer than anyone other than Netanyahu would wish. There are at least five reasons for this.

First, by pushing the option of a military attack to the maximum, Israeli policymakers would be loath to effect a turnaround short of a major Iranian concession. And that would be highly unlikely.

Second, Netanyahu’s primary aim is not the destruction of Iran but key surgical strikes against suspected nuclear sites. He and his advisers may well see this as “doable”, even though the consequences can easily and quickly become unmanageable.

Third, Iran is likely to retaliate in more ways than one, including through forms of asymmetrical warfare. Israel has launched “spot attacks” on Iraq’s and Syria’s installations before and got away with it, but it has never engaged a country as large and powerful as Iran.

Fourth, an attack by Israel, or jointly by Israel and the US, would immediately invite endless rounds of counter-attacks by militant Muslim groups and individuals around the world. These are just some of the consequences that are not clearly foreseeable or controllable.

Fifth, when push comes to shove, both Democratic and Republican candidates in the US presidential election are likely to side with Israel.

Once Netanyahu as Prime Minister sets the country on a war footing, even the naysayers in his own administration will feel the need to acquiesce in the national decision.

Behind The Headlines By Bunn Nagara

China's vessels patrol Diaoyu Islands after Japan illegally purchases and nationalizes them

Move displays jurisdiction as tensions keep growing over sea dispute

China Marine Surveillance 15, one of six patrol ships sent by China, arrives at the waters off Diaoyu Island on Friday. Zhang Jiansong / Xinhua

Six Chinese surveillance ships patrolled the waters around China's Diaoyu Islands Friday morning, Xinhua News Agency reported, amid few signs that tensions over the territorial dispute were subsiding.

Television footage showed a Chinese Marine Surveillance officer aboard one of the ships radioing Japanese vessels to demand they leave.

"The actions of your ships violate China's sovereignty and rights," the officer was shown saying. "Any unilateral act from your side regarding the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islands is illegal and invalid. Please stop any infringing acts. Otherwise, your side will bear the consequences caused by your actions."

The patrols are aimed to demonstrate China's jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated waters and ensure the country's maritime interests, a government statement said. The government has vowed that more action will be taken if the Japanese government doesn't withdraw its deal to "purchase" and "nationalize" the islands.

It was the first surveillance mission by Chinese vessels in waters around the islands in the East China Sea since Beijing announced on Monday the base points and baselines of the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islets, as well as the names and coordinates of the 17 base points.

"Announcing base points and baselines is the basis of establishing waters under national jurisdiction, on the basis of which the sea territory, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf can be established according to the provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea," Assistant Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said on Friday at a symposium.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's cabinet approved the plan to "nationalize" the Diaoyu Islands on Monday, and the next day the Japanese government signed a deal to buy three of the Diaoyu Islands from "private owners".

There is a "sinister tendency inside Japan that is taking Japan and China-Japan relations down an extremely dangerous road", Le said.

"China will in no way recognize Japan's illegal occupation of and so-called actual control over the Diaoyu Islands," Le said.

The Japanese government's "nationalization" of the Diaoyu Islands has sparked protests and countermeasures in China. The diplomatic standoff between Beijing and Tokyo has led to a series of canceled visits and exchanges.

A trip to Beijing later this month by a bipartisan group of incumbent and former Diet members was called off at the request of the Chinese host, according to Kyodo News.

China Comfort Travel Group stopped accepting reservations to Japan at its 220 affiliated travel agencies across China, according to Xinhua.

The company said the group will not resume Japan-bound tours unless the territorial issue is resolved.

China has a major holiday period from late September to the first week of October and if other agencies follow suit, Japan-bound tourism during the period could plummet.

The Japanese government's moves over the Diaoyu Islands have scuttled bilateral cultural events, further dimming prospects for any fanfare to fete the 40th anniversary of ties.

Chinese pop singer Sun Nan canceled a concert scheduled for Tokyo later this month, and Japanese singer-songwriter Shinji Tanimura will postpone a Sept 25 concert in Beijing.

Both concerts had been organized to mark the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties.

Panetta visit

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta departs this weekend on an Asian tour with stops in Japan, China and New Zealand. He has decided to stop in Japan prior to his China visit, given the escalating tensions between the two countries, according to Kyodo News.

Panetta is scheduled to meet Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto and Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba on Monday.

"The US government should stay neutral," said Gao Hong, deputy director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The US was directly involved in making the Diaoyu Islands a dispute.

In 1951, the Treaty of Peace with Japan was signed between Japan, the US and other countries, placing the Ryukyu Islands (known as Okinawa today) under the administration of the US. In 1953 the Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands under control of the US arbitrarily expanded its jurisdiction to include the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islets, which are Chinese territories. In 1971, Japan and the US signed the Okinawa Reversion Agreement, which included the Diaoyu Islands and other islets to be reverted to Japan.

China has firmly opposed and never recognized the backroom deals between Japan and the US.

By Cai Hong and Zhang Yunbi ( China Daily)

Related:

Anti Japanese rally over Diayo Island erupted in twenty over cities in China :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAOsRNLb0vQ&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8Us2WQdbhM&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73wXdmuVUH8&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adsJETC5h4U&feature=player_embedded

Japan, the deputy sheriff in Asia?
China defense ministry acts as Japan buys its Diaoyu Islands
Purchase' of Diaoyu Island reflects weakened Japan 2012-09-14 19:44
Japan is trying to cover up Diaoyu's theft: official 2012-09-14 19:08
Chinese files Diaoyu Islands baseline announcement 2012-09-14 11:24
Diaoyu Islands 'Purchase' reflects weakened Japan: experts 2012-09-14 23:12
Surveillance ships start patrol around Diaoyu Islands 2012-09-14 09:12

Anti-American world-wide stirred up by US film 'Innocence of Muslims'

Tara Todras-Whitehill for The New York Times

Egyptian protesters threw stones at riot police officers during clashes near Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo on Friday.







Anti-American rage that began this week over a video insult to Islam spread to nearly 20 countries across the Middle East and beyond on Friday, with violent and sometimes deadly protests that convulsed the birthplaces of the Arab Spring revolutions, breached two more United States Embassies and targeted diplomatic properties of Germany and Britain.

The broadening of the protests appeared to reflect a pent-up resentment of Western powers in general, and defied pleas for restraint from world leaders, including the new Islamist president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, whose country was the instigator of the demonstrations that erupted three days earlier on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The anger stretched from North Africa to South Asia and Indonesia and in some cases was surprisingly destructive. In Tunis, an American-run school that was untouched during the revolution nearly two years ago was completely ransacked. In eastern Afghanistan, protesters burned an effigy of President Obama, who had made an outreach to Muslims a thematic pillar of his first year in office.

The State Department confirmed that protesters had penetrated the perimeters of the American Embassies in the Tunisian and Sudanese capitals, and said that 65 embassies or consulates around the world had issued emergency messages about threats of violence, and that those facilities in Islamic countries were curtailing diplomatic activity. The Pentagon said it sent Marines to protect embassies in Yemen and Sudan.

The wave of unrest not only increased concern in the West but raised new questions about political instability in Egypt, Tunisia and other Middle East countries where newfound freedoms, once suppressed by autocratic leaders, have given way to an absence of authority. The protests also seemed to highlight the unintended consequences of America’s support of movements to overthrow those autocrats, which have empowered Islamist groups that remain implacably hostile to the West.

“We have, throughout the Arab world, a young, unemployed, alienated and radicalized group of people, mainly men, who have found a vehicle to express themselves,” Rob Malley, the Middle East-North African program director for the International Crisis Group, a consulting firm, said in a telephone interview from Tripoli, Libya.

In a number of these countries, particularly Egypt and Tunisia, he said, “the state has lost a lot of its capacity to govern effectively. Paradoxically, that has made it more likely that events like the video will make people take to the streets and act in the way they did.

Some of the most serious violence targeted the compound housing the German and British Embassies in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, causing minor damage to the British property but major fire damage to the German one. The foreign ministers of both countries strongly protested the assault, which The Associated Press said had been instigated by a prominent sheik exhorting protesters to storm the German Embassy to avenge what he called anti-Muslim graffiti on Berlin mosques.

The police fired tear gas to repulse attacks in Khartoum, where about 5,000 demonstrators had massed, news reports said, before they moved on to the United States Embassy on the outskirts of the capital.

In Tunis, the United States Embassy was assaulted at midday by protesters who smashed windows and set fires before security forces routed them in violent clashes that left at least 3 dead and 28 hurt. Witnesses and officials said no Americans were hurt and most had left earlier.

The worst damage was inflicted on the American Cooperative School of Tunis, a highly regarded institution that, despite its name, catered mostly to the children of non-American expatriates, nearly half of whom work for the African Development Bank. School officials, who had sent the 650 students home early, said a few protesters scaled the fence and dismantled monitoring cameras, followed by 300 to 400 others, some of them local residents, who looted everything including 700 laptop computers, musical instruments and the safe in the director’s office, and then set the building on fire.

“It’s ransacked,” the director, Allan Bredy, said in a telephone interview. “We were thinking it was something the Tunisia government would keep under control. We had no idea they would allow things to go as wildly as they did.”

The school’s director of security, David Santiago, said a group of staff members formed a posse armed with baseball bats to chase lingering looters away hours after the assault. “Our elementary school library is burning as we speak,” he said angrily as he and his colleagues sought to assess the damage. “It’s complete chaos.

Thousands of Palestinians joined demonstrations after Friday Prayer in the Gaza Strip. Since there is no American diplomatic representation in Gaza, the main gathering took place in Gaza City, outside the Parliament building, where American and Israeli flags were placed on the ground for the crowds to stomp. Palestinians also clashed with Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and held protests in the West Bank.

Witnesses in Cairo said protests that first flared Tuesday grew in scope on Friday, with demonstrators throwing rocks and gasoline bombs near the American Embassy and the police firing tear gas. The Egyptian news media said more than 220 people had been injured in clashes so far.

In the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, where J. Christopher Stevens, the American ambassador, and three other Americans were killed Tuesday, militias fired rockets at what they thought were American drones overhead, prompting the government to temporarily close the airport as a precaution. The bodies of Mr. Stevens and the others killed in the Libya attack were returned to the United States on Friday.

In Lebanon, where Pope Benedict XVI was visiting, one person was killed and 25 were injured as protesters attacked restaurants. There was also turmoil in Yemen, Bangladesh, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, India, Pakistan and Iraq, and demonstrations in Malaysia. In Nigeria, troops fired into the air to disperse protesters marching on the city of Jos, Reuters reported. In Syria, about 200 protesters chanted anti-American slogans outside the long-closed American Embassy in Damascus, news reports said.

In the Egyptian Sinai, a group of Bedouins stormed an international peacekeepers’ camp and set fire to an observation tower, according to Al Ahram Online, a state-owned, English-language Web site. Three people, two Colombians and one Egyptian, were injured in the ensuing clashes.

In Yemen, baton-wielding security forces backed by water cannons blocked streets near the American Embassy a day after protesters breached the outer security perimeter there, and officials said two people were killed in clashes with the police. Still, a group of several dozen protesters gathered near the diplomatic post, carrying placards and shouting slogans.

In Iraq, where the heavily fortified American Embassy sits on the banks of the Tigris River inside Baghdad’s Green Zone and is out of reach to most Iraqis, thousands protested after Friday Prayer in Sunni and Shiite cities alike.

Raising banners with Islamic slogans and denouncing the United States and Israel, Iraqis called for the expulsion of American diplomats from the country and demanded that the American government apologize for the incendiary film and take legal action against its creators.

In Egypt, in particular, leaders scrambled to repair deep strains with Washington provoked by their initial response to attacks on the American Embassy on Tuesday, tacitly acknowledging that they erred in their response by focusing far more on anti-American domestic opinion than on condemning the violence.

The attacks squeezed Mr. Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood between conflicting pressures from Washington and their Islamic constituency at home, a senior Brotherhood official acknowledged. During a 20-minute phone call Wednesday night, Mr. Obama warned Mr. Morsi that relations would be jeopardized if the authorities in Cairo failed to protect American diplomats and stand more firmly against anti-American attacks

On Friday, Mr. Morsi, on a scheduled state visit to Rome, called attacks on foreign embassies “absolutely unacceptable.”

By RICK GLADSTONE

Banks to sue Dubai Group's US$10 billion loans in debt pile

DUBAI: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and two other banks have begun legal proceedings against an investment vehicle owned by Dubai's ruler, an unprecedented move to secure repayment after two years of unsuccessful debt talks.

RBS, along with German lender Commerzbank and South Africa's Standard Bank, had threatened legal action after walking away from negotiations over Dubai Group's US$10bil debt pile, sources said in July.

The banks began legal proceedings in a London court on Sept 6, breaking with the precedent in previous restructuring cases involving Dubai state-linked entities because of the opaque and untested insolvency system in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Given the complexities of the case, in particular the lack of precedent, the London filing threatens to extend debt talks well into the future, having dragged on since Dubai Group missed interest payments on two facilities in late 2010.

“Arbitration could be two years and we don't want to see the destruction of shareholder value just because these banks have thrown their toys in the corner,” said a source.

In a statement, RBS said it was forced to take action after several concessions offered to the group failed to secure a solution.

“We do, however, want to make clear that our preference was always to conclude an agreement without formal legal proceedings and we therefore remain open to such an outcome if an acceptable commercial resolution is forthcoming,” it said.

Such sentiment adds fuel to the belief that the legal action is more likely a negotiating tactic on behalf of the three banks all of which are unsecured creditors to secure a better deal from Dubai Group.

“They are unsecured and have nothing so they are doing it out of desperation or because they expect the Dubai government will bail out the group,” said one UAE-based banker.

The government walked away from debt talks in January, dashing any hope creditors had of state support.

Dubai Group, a unit of Dubai Holding which is the investment arm of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, was hard hit by the global financial crisis in 2008 due to excessive use of leverage in its investments and a sharp decline in the value of its portfolio companies.

Like a number of other state-linked entities in the emirate, it embarked on talks with creditors to restructure debt and extend maturities.

The London filing comes at a time when others on the restructuring are considering a proposal, put to the group before the summer, which would see all lenders extend their obligations to allow for Dubai Group's asset values to recover before they are sold.

Debt extensions range from 3 years for secured creditors up to 12 years for unsecured creditors. The sheer length of time is the main concern for the three banks because of the cost it would impose on unsecured lenders to extend cash for so long.

“Over 35 banks are working towards an agreement and a global term sheet is now being considered by bank credit committees, a number of which have indicated their support,” Dubai Group said in a separate statement. “We believe that we can reach a consensual agreement with our creditors.” - Reuters