In This Edition

 

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says Turkey will retaliate without hesitation if its border with Syria is violated again.

Thousands of demonstrators rally in cities across Spain and Portugal to voice their anger at austerity measures.

Officials of Japan's Tepco admit for the first time that last year's nuclear crisis in Fukushima was avoidable.

And Smart City Exhibition now underway in Beijing.

 

Hot Issue Reports

 

Turkish FM pledges to retaliate Syria if violence remains not contained

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says Turkey will retaliate without hesitation if its border with Syria is violated again.

 

The Foreign Minister was speaking Saturday after meeting visiting German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle over the Syrian crisis.

 

"Turkey's retaliation was inevitable in terms of self-defence and deterrence. So we have retaliated. Turkey will retaliate again if its border with Syria is violated again and if we feel that Turkey's national security is in danger."

 

Davutoglu added that Turkey's border to Syria is as important to NATO.

 

Turkey on Wednesday forced a passenger plane flying from Russia to Syria to land in Ankara, saying it was carrying Russian-made munitions for the Syrian army, but the charge was denied by Damascus and Moscow.

 

In the ongoing debate about alleged Russian weapons, the German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle clearly sided with Turkey.

 

"Turkey has the right to inspect if they have information that military material is sent via their airspace to Syria, inspecting the planes if necessary. And according to international law, Turkey does not have to tolerate that weapons or other relevant material is being transported to Syria via their airspace."

 

Turkey has moved troops to its border with Syria following Syrian bombardments hit Turkish villages last week.

 

Anti-austerity protest hits Madrid

Thousands of people have gather in Madrid to voice their anger at austerity measures introduced by the Spanish government.

 

Protesters banged pots and pans and chanted slogans against cuts.

 

Some waved placards reading "We don't owe, we don't pay," a reference to the debt that Spain has to pay back to the European Union.

 

"We are here because we shouldn't have to pay the debt that others have imposed on us and now we have to pay it ourselves."

 

"Basically the government is constantly cheating us, so now we are all paying for what they have done to profit themselves and not for us."

 

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has pushed through waves of austerity measures over the last nine months.

His administration's 2013 draft budget will cut overall spending by 40 billion euros, freezing the salaries of public workers, and cutting spending for unemployment benefits.

 

The government is trying to prevent Spain from being forced into the same kind of bailouts taken by Portugal, Ireland and Greece.

 

But Spain has an unemployment rate of nearly 25 percent, and the jobless rate is more than 50 percent for those under the age of 25.

 

Portuguese march against austerity

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of demonstrators from across Portugal have marched through Lisbon's streets to protest against European Union imposed austerity measures.

 

Protesters reached the National Assembly, holding banners and chanting slogans against the government and the so-called Troika of International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission.

 

The march was called by the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers, the largest union group in Portugal, with some 600-thousand members.

 

Joao Santos is a university professor who joined the march in Lisbon.

 

"I'm here with great feelings of indignation and also with the will to change and present alternatives. These people are here in an organised manner to fight for employment, for a job and they are saying that there are alternatives and that they know how to achieve them. That's why we are here."

 

Portugal's unemployment rate has climbed to a record high of 16 percent, the third highest in the Eurozone, only behind Spain and Greece.

 

The deep austerity cutbacks adopted by the government include higher taxes, a reduction in benefits to some workers and cuts to welfare entitlements.

 

The government has been imposing those measures to try and pull Portugal out of its crippling financial crisis, and told Portuguese people to brace themselves for tough times ahead over the next two years.

 

The General Confederation of Portuguese Workers has already announced a general strike against austerity on November 14.

 

Hundreds of Japanese protest against IMF/WB meetings

Hundreds of people have marched through the streets of Tokyo, protesting against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings underway in Japan.

 

The protesters walked down a luxury shopping street in downtown Tokyo, a stone's throw from the summit venue.

 

Some of them waved wads of fake cash and were dressed in grotesque costumes meant to mimic the super rich.

 

"Our daily lives are only deteriorating under the IMF's rule over the world economy. This sort of meeting should never be held again."

 

"The Japanese government should spend money for the people in northern Japan and Fukushima who are suffering from the earthquake and the nuclear accident rather than giving it away to the IMF."

 

A large conference venue in central Tokyo has been hired out for the summit, using money contributed by the Japanese government and international institutions, which the protesters are against.

 

Police have increased their presence on the streets around the conference venue this week, as officials from around the world descended on Tokyo.

 

It's reported that about 5,000 officers are being deployed every day in the surrounding area by the city's police force during the summit.

 

This week's semi-annual IMF and World Bank meetings kicked off on Thursday and will run until Sunday.

 

IMF downplays risk of hard-landing of China economy, says growth will occur

The International Monetary Fund is downplaying the likelihood of China's economy falling into recession.

Anoop Singh is the IMF's director for Asia and the Pacific.

 

"China is not having a hard landing and the numbers are clearly recognising that China will grow this year about seven and three quarter."

 

The IMF says it expects growth in China to slow to 7.8 percent this year.

 

It's forecasting a rebound to 8.2 percent next year.

 

The fund also says growth in the Asia-Pacific region slowed to 5.5 percent in the first half.

 

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.

 

"Today, the global economy's at a critical juncture. What unites our diverse members is that all are searching for new solutions to secure a more prosperous, more sustainable, and more inclusive future,"

 

The IMF this week scaled back its global growth forecast for this year to 3.3 percent from 3.5 percent.

 

Peace agreement raises economic expectation in Southern Philippines

A landmark peace agreement ending decades of conflict in the southern Philippines has raised expectations of economic development in the resource-rich region.

 

A week ago, the Philippine government reached a framework peace agreement with local rebels in the southern Mindanao region, ending a 40-year conflict there.

 

The deal provides for a new autonomous region in the south, where Muslims are a majority in a mainly Catholic country.

For businessmen in Cotabato City, a commercial hub in Mindanao, the peace agreement raises exciting prospects for the local economy.

 

Abdul Kahar Nul is building an upscale hotel and a mall that will offer the first modern cinema in the city on a one-hectare property just off the main highway.

 

Nul says he can only see his clientele grow and his property projects boom, pending the success of the peace agreement.

 

"We've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. This is a big deal for us, that this agreement is signed, especially for me. I have a lot of plans to expand my business."

 

Neeraj Jain, the Asian Development Bank's country director for the Philippines, says the peace agreement could further boost investor confidence in the Philippines.

 

"The expectation that that area of Mindanao, a very large and resource-rich area of Mindanao, will finally see peace and political stability -- by itself will generate expectations, will generate optimism and will generate investor interest."

 

Mindanao is rich in mineral resources, including gold, copper, nickel, and iron. The mineral reserves account for about two-fifths of the total in the Philippines.

 

Nuclear crisis in Fukushima Daiichi plant avoidable: Tepco

The head of the new internal panel for Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, says the company "blew it" on nuclear plant safety, admitting for the first time that last year's nuclear crisis was avoidable.

 

The previous management claimed that the disaster was unavoidable due to an unexpected force of nature.

 

Dale Klein is the chair of an independent advisory body tasked by Tepco to carry out internal reform of its controversial nuclear section.

 

"It's a normal process when anyone makes a mistake. The first stage is denial; the second stage is probably blame others. I think it just took a while for it to really soak in that they understand that they blew it."

 

The Fukushima Daiichi plant, 240 kilometers north of Tokyo, was hit on March 11, 2011 by a massive earthquake and tsunami that swamped its backup power and cooling systems, resulting in meltdowns for three of its six reactors.

 

About 150,000 people were forced to flee as radioactive materials were spewed from the plants.

 

The oversight committee has released a draft nuclear reform plan, singling out Tepco's failure to prepare for meltdowns in the event of a disaster.

 

The draft said it was possible to take action in regard of tsunami defense based on the company's earlier tsunami evaluations as well as diversify safety systems by referencing severe accident measures taken in other countries.

 

Tepco, struggling under huge costs for compensation, cleanup and decommissioning, was nationalized earlier this year with a 1 trillion yen injection of public funds in exchange for a turnaround plan that includes restarting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant.

 

Afghan teenagers express solidarity with Pakistani activist Malala

Around 500 Afghan schoolgirls rallied to show their support for wounded 14-year-old Pakistani activist Malala Yousufzai after she was shot by the Taliban earlier in the week.

 

The teenagers gathered at a high school in the western Herat Province, expressing solidarity with the girl.

 

"Today we have gathered here to support the Pakistani girl Malala and condemn this brutal act from the Taliban."

"We support Malala Yousufzai and ask the Pakistani government to stop such crimes and arrest the perpetrators."

Yousufzai is an anti-Taliban activist and advocate for girls' education rights.

 

She was shot and seriously wounded on Tuesday as she was leaving her school in her hometown in the Swat valley, northwest of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

 

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

 

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has visited the girl in hospital and vowed to fight violence directed at children in Pakistan.

 

BBC to launch inquiry into sexual abuse allegation against Jimmy Savile

Britain's public broadcaster, the BBC, will launch two internal inquiries into allegations that its late presenter, Jimmy Savile, a household name to millions, used his fame to sexually abuse children over four decades.

 

Accusations against Savile, who hosted children's shows and raised tens of millions of pounds for charity, have surfaced since his death last year at the age of 84.

 

The BBC shelved an investigation into Savile by its Newsnight programme, saying editors were concerned that claims of abuse could not be substantiated.

 

BBC Director General George Entwistle said the independently-led probes would look at the reasons behind that decision.

 

"These will be forensic, but also soul-searching examinations. Our audience's trust in us is paramount. We will do everything in our power to maintain that trust. And we will do that by holding ourselves to account fully and openly, as we have always done and as our audiences expect."

 

Police have so far have received 12 allegations of sexual offences and are investigating 340 leads.

 

Steve George is an alleged victim from the top security psychiatrist hospital Broadmoor, where Savile worked as a volunteer.

 

"We we're perfect victims. Because in a place like Broadmoor, immediately people say, 'well you're mad, you're bad, you're a nutter, therefore we don't believe anything you say.' And that was exactly my experience."

 

Some of the alleged victims have said there was a culture of sexual abuse inside the BBC involving Savile and other celebrities during the 1970s and 80s.

 

A Smart City Exhibition Leads to Innovation in City Development

A total of 82 works on information design, which have been collected from around the globe, are on display in Beijing's Museum of Digital Arts. These works of design are expected to offer city planners an insight that how data visualization would help improve the way they administrate the city.

 

Murray beats Federer to set up final with Djokovic

Two-time defending champion Andy Murray beat top seed Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Saturday to set up a repeat of the U.S. Open final against Novak Djokovic.