| UN
Ultimatum |
| Europe
wants talks with Iran |
agencies
European
governments rebuked Iran for intransigence over
its nuclear program on Friday but expressed their
desire for a negotiated solution to the row.
Iran faces the threat of Security Council sanctions
after the U.N.'s atomic watchdog said Tehran
had refused to stop work on its nuclear program
by a deadline which passed on Thursday.
The United States is the driving force behind
possible sanctions but Russia cast doubt on whether
the Security Council could reach a quick consensus
and said threatening Iran would lead to a "dead
end".
The five countries with permanent seats on the
U.N. Security Council -- China, Britain, France,
Russia and the United States -- plus Germany
will meet in Berlin on September 7 to discuss
the way forward, the French foreign ministry
said.
The West accuses Iran of seeking to build atomic
bombs, a charge Iran denies, saying its nuclear
program is designed to produce electricity.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton
said any sanctions should target Iran's leaders
and its pursuit of sophisticated weapons.
"
What we're looking for are sanctions that affect
the Iranian nuclear weapons program, their ballistic
missile program, target the leadership and the
riches that they've accumulated. We're going
to try and have sanctions that don't adversely
affect the Iranian people," he told Fox
News Channel.
In Europe, governments expressed varying degrees
of disappointment at Iran's stance but were
united in keeping sanctions at arm's length.
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin
regretted "very
strongly" what he called Iran's insufficient
response.
"
We think it is possible to go forward with dialogue
but it is important that the international community
show Iran the necessity to change position," Villepin
said after talks with Italian Prime Minister
Romano Prodi in Rome.
NEGOTIATED SOLUTION
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett
stressed her goal was a negotiated solution
on the basis
of an offer by Britain, China, France, Germany
and the United States of a package of incentives
if Iran ceased enrichment.
The U.N. watchdog, the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Thursday that
Tehran had
failed to meet an August 31 deadline to halt
uranium enrichment.
Iran remained defiant on Friday while saying
it was open to talks over its nuclear ambitions.
"
The Islamic Republic of Iran believes the only
possible way to achieve fair and acceptable results
for all parties is through negotiations and by
respecting Iran's legitimate rights," Foreign
Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said.
"
Iran's activities are transparent, public and
have peaceful aims far away from any ambiguities
and it (the issue) can be easily solved through
negotiations," he was quoted as saying by
the official IRNA news agency.
Asefi said the report showed Iran had met
its commitments under international regulations,
including the nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty, and also showed Iran's "extensive cooperation" with
the IAEA.
"
The claims of Western countries who say Iran
seeks nuclear weapons are sheer lies because
we do not need nuclear weapons," President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said. Russia said sanctions would only exacerbate
the situation. "
We take into account the experience of the past
and we cannot ally ourselves with ultimatums,
which all lead to a dead end," Interfax
news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov as saying. "
Yes, there are countries whose policies raise
doubts, and cause discontent, but we all live
in the same world and we need to...draw them
into dialogue, and not isolation and sanctions." EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told
Reuters he hoped to meet Iran's chief nuclear
negotiator,
Ali Larijani, in coming days to seek a clear
answer to the major power's proposals for broad
cooperation if Tehran halted uranium enrichment. The price of oil eased below $70 a barrel on
Friday on the prospect of sanctions on Iran
over its nuclear program receding.
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| Lattes |
| Coca-Cola's
next "real thing" |
agencies
Competition
in caffeinated drinks is about to heat up, with
Coca-Cola Co.'s planned launch of premium brewed
tea and coffee, a move it plans to announce next
week in Toronto.
The world's biggest drink company, which derives
the majority of its revenue from carbonated
beverages, has been experiencing sluggish sales
in developed
markets, as consumers shift from sugary sodas to healthier low- or no-calorie
drinks such as flavored waters.
Coke on Tuesday invited reporters to preview
the hot drinks brand, confirming reports earlier
this year that said the soft drink maker was
planning to launch
a brand called Far Coast that would offer hot drinks such as coffee, tea and
lattes.
Coke spokesmen were not available on Friday to
comment.
John Sicher, editor and publisher of industry
newsletter Beverage Digest, told Reuters on Friday
that sources said Coke will target restaurants
and foodservice
outlets. He said it made sense since Coke is already the restaurant industry's
biggest beverage supplier, mainly through sales of fountain drinks.
"I don't see Coke opening chains of retail stores," which would compete
directly with Starbucks Corp., Sicher said. "I see them opening a bunch
of stores to showcase the brand, but long-term I think it will be more of a brand
and service they provide to restaurants."
He said it was an untapped area of significant
growth which could eventually be a several-billion-dollar
business.
In an e-mail, Coke said it chose Toronto as the launch site for its entry into
the hot beverage category. Sicher said other likely markets include Norway
and Singapore.
Rival PepsiCo Inc. has been lauded by investors
for its success at reducing its dependency
on carbonated drinks by increasing its snack
offerings. Pepsi
owns
Frito-Lay snacks, Quaker cereals, and Gatorade sports drink.
Marc Heilweil, president of Spectrum Advisory
Services, which owns 126,080 Coke shares, said
Coke's anticipated entrance into the java business
was not
at all
surprising.
"Coke has been slow and not had the strongest offerings in noncarbs. That's
part of where they have been going for the last few years," Heilweil said.
"The negative is that they've got to put enough marketing muscle behind
these products and I don't think they have done that in some of their offerings
in the noncarb business," Heilweil said.
Jack Trout, president of marketing strategy firm
Trout & Partners, said that
in terms of marketing it would not be smart for Coke to associate its coffee
and tea with the fizzy black soft-drink.
"This has to be handled like a separate brand or a separate company," Trout
said. Consumers "would never line up Coke with coffee. They're the cold
guys."
Earlier this year Coke introduced a coffee-infused
drink, Coca-Cola Blak, in North America and
France, but analysts have likened it more
to an
energy drink
than a coffee concoction.
Coke also stumbled several years ago when it
acquired a bottled coffee brand called Planet
Java and folded it into a joint venture with
giant
Swiss food
company Nestle AG. The drink floundered and it was shelved.
Coke shares were up 16 cents on Friday afternoon
at $44.97 on the New York Stock Exchange.
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