CRI中国国际广播电台 News & Reports 2012-10-21

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In This Edition

 

?Protesters demand Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati step down following the most serious bomb attack since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in 2005.

 

?Israeli troops raid a Gaza-bound ship that tried to break through Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled seaside strip.

 

?A controversial theatrical performance based on the testimony of Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik hits the stage in Germany.

 

?And Apple's largest store in Asia opens in Beijing.

 

 

Hot Issue Reports

 

?Protesters Urge Lebanon's PM to Step down

Protesters have gathered in central Beirut urging Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati to resign.

 

People also lighted candles during vigil for those killed in Friday's car bomb including Wissam al-Hassan, a senior Lebanese intelligence official.

 

Mikati said on Saturday he suspected that the bombing was related to the indictment in August of former minister Michel Samaha, a supporter of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, over a plot allegedly aimed at stoking violence in Lebanon. Hassan had helped to uncover the bomb plot.

 

Many people also believed Syria was involved in the violent attack. One protester, Mohammed Hmade called on the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon to be expelled.

 

"We came here today to reiterate that we are not leaving here until the Syrian ambassador and his accomplices are kicked back to Syria, we are here a nation for all the Lebanese."

 

Another protester criticized Mikati government's failure to prevent the car bomb.

 

"The government wasn't up to the responsibility sadly with my respect to everyone in the government, the ministers and Prime Minister Mikati. They were not up to the responsibility so they should leave."

 

Lebanese politicians have accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of being behind the attack.

 

The opposition March 14 bloc had called for the government, which includes ministers from the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, which is close to Assad, to step down.

 

?Israel Yhwarts Gaza-bound Ship

Israeli troops have commandeered a Gaza-bound ship that tried to break through Israel's blockade of the Hamas-ruled seaside strip.

 

European lawmakers and other pro-Palestinian activists aboard did not resist, and the Finnish-flagged vessel was diverted to an Israeli port.

 

Israeli army spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich.

 

"Our Israeli Navy has intercepted a ship called Estelle. The ship and the members aboard it, called that they are going to Gaza, they are heading to Gaza, for some kind of humanitarian provocation gig. We have boarded the ship quietly, successfully, there was nobody harmed, nobody was hurt. We then offered the people on the ship, the passengers, food and drinks and currently the ship is being towed away to the Ashdod port."

 

Sweden-based activist group "Ship to Gaza" sent the Estelle.

 

Victoria Strand, a spokeswoman for the group, said that armed, masked soldiers boarded the boat and cut their communications when it was some 30 nautical miles from Gaza.

 

She said activists on board told her that some six naval boats surrounded their vessel.

 

Hamas government spokesman Taher Al-Nunu said he wanted the action punished.

 

"We ask that the boat and the activists be allowed to reach the Gaza Strip. We are also asking for a declaration of a United Nations resolution to end the siege on the Strip completely."

 

The Swedish-owned, Finnish-flagged Estelle left Naples in Italy on October 7 with about 30 people from eight countries.

 

It carries items like cement, basketballs and musical instruments.

 

The voyage marked the latest challenge to the air, land and sea embargo of Gaza that Israel imposed after Hamas seized the territory in 2007.

 

?Demonstrators Take Part in Anti-austerity Protest around UK

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have poured into streets in central London protesting against a government austerity measure aimed at slashing the nation's debt.

 

They argued that spending cuts are hitting jobs, services and living standards, and called for a new approach which puts focus on growth and an economy that works.

 

Police clashed with the protesters.

 

The regional secretary of the UNITE trade union in Wales, Andy Richards said the march was just the beginning of action against the austerity cuts.

 

"This isn't just about the march, this is to show all of the opposition to what this government are doing. And I can tell you this, it will be channeled into direct action as well, that's what it's going to be."

 

The British government announced an austerity plan to reduce public sector spending as a way of putting Britain's debt under control.

 

However, the UK economy has shrunk for three consecutive quarters amid cuts at home and economic downturn around the world.

 

Opposition Labor Party leader Ed Miliband, known for his close ties with unions, admitted that some cuts are necessary but also criticized the austerity plan as self-defeating.

 

Similar protests were also held in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

 

?Peruvians Protest Amnesty for Former President Fujimori

Hundreds of activists have demanded that Peruvian President Ollanta Humala deny a presidential pardon to former President Alberto Fujimori.

 

They insisted that Fujimori is unpardonable regardless of his poor health since he was charged with corruption and abuses of human rights.

 

However, members of Fujimori's right-wing Fuerza 2011 party have backed the amnesty request.

 

Gisela Ortiz's brother was a leftist student during Fujimori administration. Along with eight other students and a professor, he was kidnapped, shot to death and burned by state security forces that prosecutors say were acting on presidential orders.

 

Ortiz said a pardon would be an insult to the victims, including his brother.

 

"…It truly makes us indignant that the long, 20-year struggle by relatives to defend our right to justice be suddenly endangered by some sort of political negotiation to benefit a murderer responsible for violating human rights, which is what Alberto Fujimori is."

 

Under Peruvian law, a presidential pardon is not permitted if the prisoner has been convicted of human rights crimes, with an exception if the prisoner is deemed gravely ill and close to death.

 

Earlier this month, Fujimori's adult children said he had asked Humala for a humanitarian pardon on medical grounds.

 

Fujimori's government collapsed in 2000 after a decade in power. He was extradited to Peru in 2007 and later sentenced in a series of trials for theft and cracking down on insurgents.

 

?African Leaders Reach No Agreement on Mali's Security Crisis

Regional leaders and international organizations meeting in Bamako to solve Mali's security crisis have failed to reach consensus as opinion split between military intervention and dialogue.

 

Mali remains paralyzed by twin crises, with the leadership in Bamako still divided since a coup in March that toppled the president and a rebel take-over of the north of the country.

 

The situation has created a safe haven for Islamist militants and international criminal gangs.

 

Despite any concrete agreements, the leaders meeting in Bamako did all agree that something needs to be done.

 

Daniel Kablan Duncan is Foreign Minister of Cote D'Ivoire and representative of the Economic Community of West African States.

 

"As a matter of urgency we should put an end to this situation which has become unacceptable in the region. Our meeting should launch an appeal to all the countries and international organizations to help us by providing coordinated aid, particularly in the form of military training and equipment, and other type of materials in the fight against the terrorists and other extremist groups affiliated to them."

 

The United Nations Security Council last week gave African leaders 45 days to draw up a plan for military intervention to retake control of the north.

 

Some West African leaders who worry that Mali's conflict will spill over into their own largely fragile states favor military action.

 

But diplomats warn such intervention is months away and say there is still no agreement over whether an election should be held to replace Mali's caretaker government before a military operation takes place.

 

?Pre-trial Hearings for Alleged 9/11 Plotters End with Few Decisions

A week-long hearing into the legal framework for the trial of five Guantanamo prisoners accused of plotting 9/11 attacks on the United States has come to an end without any major decisions.

 

After hours of often arcane debate at the US Navy base in Cuba, Colonel James Pohl, the military judge presiding over the case, deferred most decisions until later.

 

Notable among them were proposed rules for handling classified evidence that prosecutors said are necessary to protect national security and defense lawyers argued are overly broad and restrictive.

 

Judges heard arguments on nearly 20 motions and did resolve some matters, including issuing a ruling that the five men may sit out their pretrial hearings.

 

None of the defendants appeared in court on Friday.

 

But in the spectator section of the court, the entire week were nine relatives of people who were killed in the September11 attacks.

 

Al Acquaviva, whose 29-year-old son Paul was killed in the World Trade Center, said he has been frustrated by the slow pace of the proceedings.

 

"I'm a reasonable person, but what happened to: 'Justice delayed is justice denied?' We're on eleven years now, where's the justice for this, my boy. He hasn't gotten any justice yet. My wife cries all the time; she hasn't gotten any justice yet."

 

While the extent of the progress was in dispute, both the chief prosecutor and defense lawyers agreed the case was unlikely to be ready for trial in 2013.

 

The five defendants facing terrorism and murder charges include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind who grew up in Kuwait and attended college in North Carolina.

 

?South Korea Named to Host UN-Operated Green Climate Fund

South Korea has won a bid to host the Green Climate Fund at its new international business city, Songdo.

 

Six countries, Germany, Mexico, Namibia, Poland, South Korea and Switzerland, competed to be named as the host country for the fund.

 

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak visited the chosen city after his country won the bidding.

 

"Yearly 100 billion U.S. dollars will be collected for the fund, which means we will be operating a much bigger fund than World Bank or International Monetary Fund. If we manage to gradually increase the funding, the organization will be expanded as well. Therefore, I expect this will become the largest international organization."

 

Developed nations agreed in 2009 to raise climate aid from about 10 billion US dollars a year now to an annual 100 billion from 2020 to help developing countries curb greenhouse gas emissions and cope with floods, droughts, heat waves and rising sea levels.

 

South Korea has promised to provide free office space and 2 million dollars to help the fund secretariat's establishment and another 7 million to help its operation.

 

The fund is South Korea's largest scale international organization.

 

The selection of the headquarters would have to be endorsed by environment ministers at U.N. climate talks in Doha at the end of the year.

 

The fund, operated by the United Nations is a mechanism to transfer money from the developed to the developing world as an effort to fight climate change.

 

?Breivik's Court Testimony Hits German Stage

A controversial theatrical performance based on the testimony of Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik has hit the stage in the German town of Weimar.

 

The performance - entitled "Breivik's Explanation" - was produced by Swiss theatre director Milo Rau.

 

The performance relies on excerpts from the 17-page, hour-long speech that Breivik gave at his trial in Oslo in April earlier this year.

 

He was later jailed for 21 years for the 77 murders he carried out in July last year.

 

The transcript of Breivik's speech was never published in full, with both the judge and the media wary of giving his xenophobic beliefs too great a platform or attention.

 

According to director Rau, however, his theatre company wants to focus attention on the fact that the speech contains arguments which would find acceptance across much of Europe.

 

"These are evil thoughts. But, as Breivik showed in his statistics, these thoughts are shared by majorities in Europe. I'm interested in politics and, as a theatre director, I'm fortunate that I found an example of a widespread ideology hidden in Breivik's speech."

 

A Turkish-German actress read out Breivik's bizarre courtroom speech on stage.

 

The manager of the National Theatre in Weimar previously blocked the performance, saying he didn't want the theatre to provide a platform for Breivik's extremist beliefs.

 

"Breivik's Explanation" will be performed again, in Berlin next week.

 

?Apple's Largest Store in Asia Opens in Beijing

Apple's largest store in Asia has opened in Beijing.

 

The store, located on the city's commercial street of Wangfujing, is Apple's third in Beijing and its sixth on the Chinese mainland.

 

With an area of 2,300 square meters and more than 300 employees, the mega-store shows the growing market for Apple products in China.

 

Wei Tong has more.

 

With its massive glass windows looking out onto Beijing's iconic Wangfujing walking street, Apple brought it's third store to the capital this morning to the cheers, enthusiasm, and fans queuing that have become a given at any Apple event in China.

 

At 9 am the doors opened and let the fans in to the beautifully constructed new three story retail store. Staff cheered and greeted customers throughout the morning, and many of the early visitors were given a commemorative T-shirt with the word "Wangfujing" together with the Apple logo.

 

18-year-old Li Yong Qiang waited through the night in the hopes of a surprise iPhone 5 launch at the store, which has not yet been released in the mainland.

 

"I've been waiting here for about 16 hours, because I heard a rumor that the iPhone 5 would be released at 9 AM today, so I got in line to check it out. Actually, I'm not that bothered that it didn't happen. I just enjoy the whole experience. I like the exciting atmosphere of standing in line."

 

24-year-old Han Jinglei was here for the door opening as well, though he didn't see any reason to wait in line through the chilly autumn night.

 

"I got up at 7 to come here, because I didn't think it was necessary to come any earlier. I just wanted one of the commemorative t-shirts and to see the biggest Apple store in Asia. I didn't care about my place in the line. I'm happy this store has opened, because Beijing only had 2 Apple stores before. It's the biggest in Asia, and the exterior, the atmosphere, and the 3-level glass spiral staircase have made a strong impression on people."

 

Some Apple executives were in attendance at the launch, which provided even more excitement for the crowds. Han Jinglei says this just proves how important the Chinese market is becoming for Apple.

 

"I saw online that the senior vice president of retail would be attending this launch, and that they're also going to open a new Apple store in Shenzhen. This shows how important the Chinese market is. Opening a store in this area, with its very high rental costs, shows that Apple has a lot of confidence in China. And look at the excitement here!"

 

Throughout the morning, Apple staff enthusiastically greeted visitors and cheered as customers left with newly purchased items. The party-like atmosphere that Apple can generate with the launch of a new store or product is impressive, and Han Jinglei hopes Apple can keep it up in the future.

 

"I don't know if this store will always be like this, but I think their enthusiasm, their boldness, and the "Think Different" culture of Apple is really apparent here. I hope this culture will stay with Apple, in China and everywhere. It should always have this youthfulness and enthusiasm, like the staff has now. The Xidan store is like this too - it makes you so excited!"

 

John Browett, Apple's senior vice president of retail, said a store in the south China city of Shenzhen is about to open and there will be more stores across China in the future.

 

For CRI, I am Wei Tong.

 

Xinhua: Punitive Tariffs Won't Solve U.S.-China Trade Disputes

 

Earlier this week, the US government launched anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty investigations into hardwood and decorative plywood imported from China.

 

The moves came after rounds of similar investigations into imports of Chinese products by Washington within an election year.

 

A commentary by China's Xinhua News Agency urges the US government to avoid such moves as they would undoubtedly hurt the overall US-China trade relations and the world economic recovery.

 

The article notes that the surge of US trade protectionism against China has much to do with the election politics, and it's also closely linked to the country's sluggish economic recovery.

 

But it points out that the recent protectionist moves would not only harm Chinese exports, but also victimize the US economy as US companies would have to bear higher costs in a slack economy.

 

Therefore, the commentary says the United States should adopt a rational attitude to settle trade conflicts with China through candid dialogue and fair negotiations.

 

With regard to the latest case, the U.S. International Trade Commission is scheduled to make its preliminary injury determination on or before November 13.

 

If the commission determines that there is a reasonable indication that imports from China materially injure or threaten the domestic industry, the probes will continue.

 

The Xinhua commentary urges policymakers in Washington to bear in mind that for its own good, it should honor its commitment to free trade and make a rational decision.

 

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China Daily: Chinese Protest S. Korea Killing of Fisherman

 

China has strongly protested against South Korea after a Chinese fisherman was killed by a South Korean Coast Guard officer during a raid on a Chinese fishing boat earlier this week.

 

China has asked Seoul to make a thorough investigation and to make sure that its coast guard officers enforce the law in a civilized manner.

 

An editorial in the China Daily newspaper argues that China always demands its fishermen to carry out their activities in the Yellow Sea according to its fishery agreement with South Korea. As a result, South Korea should rein in its fishery law enforcers and protect the legal rights of Chinese fishermen so as to maintain a peaceful environment for fishermen from both sides to operate in the waters.

 

The article adds that the law enforcement authorities from both countries should communicate and cooperate more closely in a timely manner to prevent such incidents from happening again.

 

Meanwhile, a 16-year-old Chinese national was killed and more than 90 Chinese miners were arrested by Ghanaian authorities during an investigation into illegal gold mining by foreigners.

 

This editorial cites suggestion from the Chinese Foreign Ministry urging Chinese citizens in Ghana and other parts of the world to abide by all local laws and regulations.

 

Given the fact that an increasing number of Chinese citizens are suffering misfortune overseas, the editorial reminded Chinese people to raise their awareness of self-protection and enhance their capabilities to avoid various kinds of security risks when traveling or working abroad.