text:
The Global Intelligence Files,
files released so far...
Index pages
by Date of Document
Our Partners
Al Akhbar - Lebanon
Al Masry Al Youm - Egypt
Asia Sentinel - Hong Kong
Bivol - Bulgaria
Carta Capital - Brazil
CIPER - Chile
Dawn Media - Pakistan
L'Espresso - Italy
La Repubblica - Italy
La Jornada - Mexico
La Nacion - Costa Rica
Malaysia Today - Malaysia
McClatchy - United States
Nawaat - Tunisia
NDR/ARD - Germany
Owni - France
Pagina 12 - Argentina
Philip Dorling - Fairfax media contributor - Australia
Plaza Publica - Guatemala
Publica - Brazil
Publico.es - Spain
Rolling Stone - United States
Russian Reporter - Russia
Ta Nea - Greece
Taraf - Turkey
The Hindu - India
The Yes Men - Bhopal Activists
Sunday Star-Times - New Zealand
Community resources
courage is contagious
The Global Intelligence Files
On Monday February 27th, 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files, over five million e-mails from the Texas headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. The e-mails date between July 2004 and late December 2011. They reveal the inner workings of a company that fronts as an intelligence publisher, but provides confidential intelligence services to large corporations, such as Bhopal's Dow Chemical Co., Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and government agencies, including the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Marines and the US Defence Intelligence Agency. The emails show Stratfor's web of informers, pay-off structure, payment laundering techniques and psychological methods.
Released on 2012-10-15 17:00 GMT
Email-ID | 831157 |
Date | 2010-07-01 12:30:12 |
From | firstname.lastname@example.com |
To | email@example.com |
1) Editorial Discusses India-Canadas Deal For Civil Nuclear Cooperation
Editorial: Another feather in Indias cap
2) Renmin Ribao Article on Hu Jintao's Attendance at G20 Summit in Toronto
Article by staff reporter Wu Qimin: "Consensus, Action -- Notes on
President Hu Jintao's Attendance at the Fourth Summit Conference of the
G20 Leaders"
3) First Lady Arrives In Barcelona To Cheer Cloud Gate Dancers
By Huang Ya-shih and Sofia Wu
4) Xinhua 'Roundup': British Columbians Furious as New Tax Looms
Xinhua "Roundup" by Al Campbell: "British Columbians Furious as New Tax
5) Canadian Friends of Burma Urge Probe of Ivanhoe Mines Over
'Arms-for-Copper' Deal
Report by Thomas Maung Shwe from "World" section: "Canada urged to probe
Ivanhoe over 'arms-f or-copper' deal"
6) No Big Changes to Korea-u.S. FTA, Trade Minister Promises
7) ECFA: US Welcomes the Signing of Cross-Strait Trade Pact
Unattributed article from the "Taiwan" page: "ECFA: US Welcomes the
Signing of Cross-Strait Trade Pact"
8) Lee Presses Flesh, Talks Trade, in Central America
9) Korea Provides Growth Example For C. America
By Korea Times correspondent Na Jeong-ju: "Korea Provides Growth Example
For C. America"
10) President Lee in Mexico for FTA, UN Diplomacy Against DPRK
Updated version: adjusting metadata; replacing 1511 GMT version with
source-supplied 2102 GMT update, which "UPDATES throughout with arrival;
CHANGES dateline"; Yonhap headline: "(LEAD) Lee in Mexico For FTA, U.N.
Diplomacy Against Pyongyang" by Lee Chi-dong
11) US State Dept Repeatedly Calls on Chin a to Condemn DPRK for Ship
Yonhap headline: "U.S. Repeats Calls on China to Condemn N. Korea For Ship
Sinking: State Dept." by Hwang Doo-hyong
12) Yeni Ozgur Politika Headlines 26 June 2010
The following is a list of news headlines from the Yeni Ozgur Politika
website on 26 June; to request additional processing, please contact OSC
at (800) 205-8615, (202) 338-6735, fax (703) 613-5735, or
13) 45 Regions Of Russia Have Access To Interpol Databases
14) Spy Scandal Puts Strength Of Russian-US Relations To Test
15) Premier Wen Jiabao on PRC's Economy Moving in 'Expected Direction'
16) Xinhua 'Analysis': G20 Chair S. Korea Gears up for More Concrete
Outcomes at November Summit
Xinhua "Analysis" by Na, Haejung: "G20 Chair S. Korea Gears up for More
Concrete Outcomes at November Summit"
17) Indian Daily Report Says Canada's Draft Bill Offers Tips on Nuclear
Liability Cap
Report by Ramesh Ramachandran: India Can Take Tips From Canada on Nuclear
Liability Bill
18) Editorial Flays NSGs Discriminatory Approach To Pakistan, Iran Nuke
Editorial: Nuclear Discrimination
19) Xinhua 'Roundup': U.S., Russia To Avoid Diplomatic Meltdown Amid Spy
Xinhua "Roundup": "U.S., Russia To Avoid Diplomatic Meltdown Amid Spy
20) US Top Military Commander Says Delay of Wartime Command Transfer to
Deter DPRK
Updated version: "ADDS quotes by nominee for South Korea's chairman of
Joint Chiefs of Staff in paras 8-10; RECASTS first two paras;" Upgrading
precedence; Yonhap headline: "Delay of wartime command transfer to deter
N. Korea: U.S. general"
21) Nigeria Records 4,000 Research Works on Traditional Medicine<
br>Xinhua: "Nigeria Records 4,000 Research Works on Traditional Medicine"
22) ROK Trade Minister Says ROK Not to Revise Free Trade Deal With US
Updated version: Upgrading and refiling to replace 0258 GMT text with
source-supplied update of 0513 GMT and at 0618 GMT, which clarifies quotes
in graf 11, adds more details in grafs 13-14, and last graf. Yonhap
headline: "S. Korea not to revise free trade deal with U.S. (ATTN: ADDS
more details throughout)"
23) Indian PM returns after attending G20 summit in Canada
24) Ethiopians in Canada rally in support of government
25) Iran Responds To G8 Statement
26) ROK Trade Minister Says ROK Not to Revise Free Trade Deal With US
Updated version: Upgrading and refiling to replace 0258 GMT text with
source-supplied update of 0513 GMT. Yonhap headline: "S. Korea not to
revise free trade deal with U.S. ( ATTN: ADDS more details throughout)"
27) Cabinet Approves Immediate Sale of Chiadzwa Diamonds
Report by Takunda Maodza: "Cabinet Okays Diamond Sales"
1) Back to Top
Editorial Discusses India-Canadas Deal For Civil Nuclear Cooperation
Editorial: Another feather in Indias cap - Pakistan Observer Online
Thursday July 1, 2010 04:48:17 GMT
WHILE Pakistan has been sucked in war on terror by the United States and
India too very cleverly and shrewdly put it on the defensive under the
pretext of Mumbai terror attacks, all our energies are focussed on giving
explanations that the country itself is a victim of terrorism. There is no
doubt that Pakistan suffered the most in terms of human lives and material
and financial losses in war against terrorism, yet one should not hesitate
that it is Indian diplomatic victory that has put us on the defensive.
The Government in New Delhi led by economist, soft spoken and humble
nature Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is all intent to make India a mini
super power through farsighted policies. India has become the fast growing
economy and Dr Manmohan Singh realising the vital need of energy for the
economy has entered deals first with the United States while on Sunday
last with Canada for civil nuclear cooperation. The deal is a major
breakthrough and another feather in Indian cap in view of Canada's strong
attitude in the past when it slapped sanctions against New Delhi after
1974 and 1998 nuclear tests. On the contrary Canada continues its ban on
supply of fuel and equipment for Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUP),
though Pakistani engineers and scientists had been successful to run it on
indigenously developed fuel. At this point of time when the country is
facing acute energ y crisis and the world is turning to alternative, cheap
and clean fuel, Pakistan must redouble its efforts to acquire nuclear
technology to meet the power shortages. Pakistan is grateful to the
friendly country China which is going all the way to help establish
nuclear power plants at Chashma, yet we need more plants with capacity to
generate 1000 MW of electricity. We need to impress upon the West that
while they are getting full cooperation from Pakistan in the war on
terror, they must reciprocate and provide us this technology without
discrimination. There would be hurdles and diplomatic pressures from our
neighbour to deny Pakistan this technology, yet we need to build a strong
case that the nuclear power plants would be under IAEA safeguards and
there would be no chances of nuclear proliferation.
(Description of Source: Islamabad Pakistan Observer Online in English --
Website of the pro-military daily with readership of 5,000. Anti-India,
supportive of Saudi poli cies, strong supporter of Pakistan's nuclear and
missile program. Chief Editor Zahid Malik is the author of books on
nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan; URL: http://www.pakobserver.net)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
2) Back to Top
Renmin Ribao Article on Hu Jintao's Attendance at G20 Summit in Toronto
Article by staff reporter Wu Qimin: "Consensus, Action -- Notes on
President Hu Jintao's Attendance at the Fourth Summit Conference of the
G20 Leaders" - Renmin Ribao Online
Thursday July 1, 2010 03:59:18 GMT
As a summit after the institutionalization of the G20 summit, and as a
summit ag ainst the backdrop of the world economic recovery, the fourth
G20 summit focused the discussions on promoting strong, sustainable, and
balanced growth in the world economy.
1. Chinese President Hu Jintao attended the summit conference and held
discussions with G20 leaders, leaders of some Asian, African, and European
countries and regional organizations, as well as responsible officials of
the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Financial Stability
Council, the World Trade Organization, and the International Labor
Organization on the world economic situation, Europe's sovereign debt
crisis, the "strong, sustainable, and balanced growth framework," the
international financial institutional reform, and international trade and
financial supervision.
During the two-day summit conference, Hu Jintao's agenda was, as in the
past, tightly scheduled. He conducted more than a dozen multilateral
activities, six bilateral meetings, and frequent infor mal talks. At the
Toronto Convention Center by the Lake of Ontario, Hu Jintao's clarion and
forceful speech received extensive attention and positive responses.
2. Different countries have different national conditions, different
pursuits, and diverse interests. This is an issue the international
community should face. For this reason, various countries need to make
efforts to broaden their consensus with the perspective of seeking common
ground and win-win results. In the past two years, the G20 has conducted
three summit conferences to profoundly expound this point.
-- The Washington summit demonstrated the significance of forming
consensus and taking joint action. To deal with the outbreak and spread of
the international financial crisis, developing countries and developed
countries conducted equal discussions on urgent international economic
affairs, released an explicit political signal on jointly tackling
challenges, and formed a common choice of promotin g global economic
-- The London summit demonstrated the force of forming consensus and
taking joint action. This specifically manifested in the main
international financial institutions increasing their capital, opposing
protectionism, and major progress in other fields. For example, the summit
conference agreed to provide funding of $1.1 trillion for international
financial institutions to help the countries that had fallen into
difficult circumstances; agreed to establish a $250-billion foundation to
be used for trade capital accommodation so as to promote global trade
-- The Pittsburgh summit demonstrated the intensity of forming consensus
and taking joint action. The G20 became the main platform for
international economic cooperation and started the institutionalization
process of the G20 leaders summit. It achieved major progress in the
international financial institutional reform and set the policy goals of
transferring at least 3 per cent of the World Bank's voting right from
developed countries to developing countries, and at least 5 percent of the
IMF proportion from developed countries to developing countries.
The aforesaid process and achievements have given us this in-depth
enlightenment: The spirit of helping each other in the same boat is an
important guarantee for dealing with serious challenges and achieving
practical results in international economic cooperation. Entering the
phase of gradual world economic recovery, what spirit should the G20
uphold? At the current summit, Hu Jintao made an important speech entitled
"Make Concerted Efforts To Jointly Create a Better Future," in which he
explicitly pointed out that "we must profoundly understand the seriousness
and complexity of the in-depth impact of the international financial
crisis and continue to carry forward the spirit of helping each othe r in
the same boat and the spirit of cooperation for win-win results."
3. In his speech, Hu Jintao profoundly expounded the inherent logic of
strong, sustainable, and balanced growth; systematically explained the
Chinese side's viewpoints and proposals; stressed the need to "hold firm
to the organic unity of strong, sustainable, and balanced growth";
explicitly pointed out that "ensuring strong growth is the most important
task in global economic development at present, sustainable growth is a
long-term goal, and materializing balanced growth through transforming the
economic development mode is an objective requirement."
To achieve the goal of strong, sustainable, and balanced growth in the
world economy, Hu Jintao put forth three proposals, which consist of
"changing the G20 from an effective mechanism for dealing with the
international financial crisis to a major platform for promoting
international economic cooperation," "speeding up the building of a just,
fair, inclusive, and orderly new int ernational financial order," and
"promoting the establishment of an open and free global trade system." In
the meantime, he stressed: "To truly materialize long-term sustainable
growth in the world economy, it is necessary to help the large numbers of
developing countries bring about full development and narrow the gap of
development between the north and the south."
"The G-20 members are mainly developed countries, newly emerging market
countries, and developing countries with a relatively higher degree of
industrialization. The aggregate GDP of the member countries accounts for
85 percent of the world's total. But we should not ignore the demand for
development of other developing countries, which account for more than 85
percent of the total number of countries in the world. The G20 has the
responsibility to provide a stronger political propelling force, more
economic resources, and a better institutional guarantee for resolving the
de velopment issue." His rational and logical speech demonstrates the firm
stand of China as a responsible developing large country.
While holding discussions with other countries' leaders, Hu Jintao
actively pushed the summit for positive and pragmatic results. He
repeatedly expressed the hope to strengthen macroeconomic policy
communication and coordination through the summit conference so as to
secure the impetus of the world economic recovery; help the IMF fulfill
the proportional reform goal at the Seoul summit and increase newly
emerging market countries and developing countries' representativeness and
right to speak; pay more attention to the development issue so as to
provide political support for the high-level conference on the UN
millennium development goals to be held in September; and continue to
oppose all forms of protectionism.
The Fourth Summit Conference of the G20 Leaders concluded on the evening
of 27 June. Amid the dim light of night, Hu Jintao's special plane took
off toward the sky...(ellipsis as published)
(Description of Source: Beijing Renmin Ribao Online in Chinese -- Online
version of the daily newspaper (People's Daily) of the CPC Central
Committee. URL: http://paper.people.com.cn)Attachments:rm0629g.pdf
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
3) Back to Top
First Lady Arrives In Barcelona To Cheer Cloud Gate Dancers
By Huang Ya-shih and Sofia Wu - Central News Agency
Thursday July 1, 2010 03:34:35 GMT
Barcelona, Spain, June 30 (CNA) -- First lady Chow Mei-ching arrived in
Barcelona Wednesday in her capacity as honor ary director of the
world-renowned Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, which will perform at the Grec
Festival in the Spanish city July 1-4.
Chow flew to Barcelona from Italy where she attended the Taiwanese dance
company's performances at Villa Adriana on the outskirts of Rome and the
Ravenna Festival in northeastern Italy.The first lady was greeted by a
number of Taiwanese expatriates when she arrived at her hotel in the
company of staff members of Taiwan's representative office in Spain.Chow
has consistently kept a low profile on her current trip, and her entourage
was tight-lipped on the first lady's itinerary in Barcelona.According to
Cloud Gate sources, Chow will attend the ensemble's July 1 performance at
the Grec Festival and a post-performance reception.This is the second time
that the renowed dance company has been invited to perform at Grec
Festival that includes theatrical, dancing, musical and creative circus
performances by famous performing troupes from around th e world.Cloud
Gate founder Lin Hwai-min gave interviews to major Spanish media outlets
Wednesday on the troupe's program and development plans.Chow is scheduled
to return to Taipei with Cloud Gate dancers on July 5 after concluding
performances of the company's widely acclaimed "Wild Cursive" at the Grec
Festival.Chow assumed the role of Cloud Gate's honorary director for the
first time early this year when she accompanied the group on a tour of the
United States and Canada in late January and early February.She also led
Cloud Gate dancers on a tour of Russia, where they performed "Whisper of
Flowers" at the 2010 Chekhov International Theatre Festival from June
10-13.(Description of Source: Taipei Central News Agency in English --
"Central News Agency (CNA)," Taiwan's major state-run press agency;
generally favors ruling administration in its coverage of domestic and
international affairs; URL: http://www.cna.com.tw)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
4) Back to Top
Xinhua 'Roundup': British Columbians Furious as New Tax Looms
Xinhua "Roundup" by Al Campbell: "British Columbians Furious as New Tax
Looms" - Xinhua
Thursday July 1, 2010 03:27:33 GMT
VANCOUVER, Canada, June 30 (Xinhua) -- British Columbia, one of Canada's
most expensive provinces, is set to become more costly.
As the country celebrates its 143rd anniversary on Canada Day on July 1,
the experience will be more expensive for residents of Ontario and British
Columbia as the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) takes effect.In British
Columbia, the tax effectively marries the federal 5-percent Goods and
Services Tax (GST) and the 7-percent provincial tax (PST) into a single
12-percent tax, adding 7 percent to a wide-ranging items and services that
were previously taxed by the GST.Among the items and services now taxable
are postage stamps, restaurant food, vitamins, domestic airline tickets,
museum visits, swimming lessons, haircuts, therapy massage, cleaning
services, as well as new homes, among others.Statistics Canada estimates
the tax will cost the average British Columbia household an additional 521
Canadian dollars (488 U.S. dollars) annually as about 1.9 billion Canadian
dollars (1.78 billion U.S. dollars) in taxes previously levied on big
businesses will be shifted to consumers.News of the pending tax has drawn
huge opposition in the western province of British Columbia. Average
citizens felt betrayed by the ruling provincial Liberal Party, which
promised during its 2009 election campaign it would not bring on the
tax.Three days after getting re-elected on May 15, the Liberals announced
the tax.Raj Chouhan, a member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for the opposition New Democrat Party, told Xinhua the tax was being
imposed without any consideration of how harmful it would be to ordinary
citizens.He added it would cost more for everybody except the big
corporations, the mining and forestry sectors being two of the biggest
beneficiaries in the resource-rich province."Of course they will be making
more profit, but the B.C. (British Columbia) Liberals are so arrogant they
are not listening," said Chouhan, the founding president of the Canadian
Farmworkers'Union."The only reason we can see (for implementing the tax)
is that they just want to support their big corporate friends. There's no
benefit to ordinary people having the HST... It's a betrayal of public
trust and people are really angry."Comparable to the Value Added Tax (VAT)
in Britain or France, cri tics say the implementation of the HST could be
the start of further taxation.Bill Tieleman, a Vancouver-based political
commentator, points to Britain where the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat
government recently announced the VAT will increase from 17.5 percent to
20 percent starting next January."Anyone who is concerned right now about
the HST should be very concerned looking around Europe and other countries
where they continually raise it to record high levels and it's a very
painful expensive tax."Tieleman has actively been involved in trying to
derail the tax in running the "Fight the HST" campaign with former British
Columbia Premier Bill Vander Zalm. The pair attracted 705,643 people to
sign a petition protesting the tax in a last ditch effort to get current
British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell and his party to call off the
plan.He said a lot of economists favored the harmonized tax as it was
"cleaner and easier to see." But the r eality is any tax at that level is
a regressive tax and not a progressive tax. Income tax, for example, is a
progressive tax as it goes up with the more a person earns. A regressive
tax like the HST, however, hits everybody at the same basic amount,
favoring those better off who can afford to pay the 7-percent extra on
restaurant meals versus someone who is on a modest income."Clearly for
wealthy people and corporations they'd much prefer a VAT or an HST because
they've got consumers subsidizing them," Tieleman said. "What really
happened in B.C. is we're being asked to write a check personally to large
business to subsidize their profits and their operations and nobody asked
us that."With Canada's Approved Destination Status (ADS) now finalized
following Chinese President Hu Jintao's trip to Canada last week, Tieleman
added the new HST would make the country a more expensive destination for
Chinese visitors.The ADS allows Chinese tourists to visit the co untry in
organized, pre-sold tourist groups."Absolutely, this is going to hurt the
tourism industry severely. Tourists coming from China and other countries
are going to have to pay an extra 7 percent on all restaurant foods,
concerts, theater tickets. There are so many things covered by this (HST)
and many of them are going to be paid by tourists when they come here
because so much of it is around the hospitality industry."Overall, it's
going to be hurtful to our economy which is in a fragile state," he
said."In a time like this," adds Chouhan, "people need more money in their
pocket so they can go out and spend more, rather than being punished. As a
result there will be less spending and the small business people will be
hurt the most."(Description of Source: Beijing Xinhua in English --
China's official news service for English-language audiences (New China
News Agency))
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyright ed by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
5) Back to Top
Canadian Friends of Burma Urge Probe of Ivanhoe Mines Over
'Arms-for-Copper' Deal
Report by Thomas Maung Shwe from "World" section: "Canada urged to probe
Ivanhoe over 'arms-for-copper' deal" - Mizzima News
Thursday July 1, 2010 01:18:19 GMT
Chiang Mai (Mizzima)--The Canadian Friends of Burma has called on the
government of Canada to investigate reports first made by Mizzima that
Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines violated Canadian sanctions by allowing its
50 per cent stake in Burma's largest mine, the Myanmar Ivanhoe Copper
Company Limited (MICCL), to be sold to junta cronies closely connected
with Chinese business interests late last year.CFOB executive director Tin
Maung Htoo told Mizzima his organisation was also calling on the Canadian
government to probe Ivanhoe's role in what CFOB called the
"arms-for-copper" howitzer (artillery guns) deal. The deal was first
reported by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), in which the Burmese
regime was alleged to have exchanged copper from Monywa for howitzers
built by Chinese weapon's manufacturer China North Industries Corporation
(Norinco).Norinco, revealed on its web site last week that early this
month its chairman, Zhang Guoqing, had signed the "Monywa Copper Mine
Project Co-operation Contract" with Major-General Win Than of the Union of
Myanmar Economic Holdings, which Burma analysts document is a profit
vehicle that provides secondary incomes for ruling military junta
personnel and their families.While the Norinco release omitted details of
the Monywa agreement, DVB reported yesterday that it had learned from
sources that several weeks prior to the official signing ceremony senior
members of the Burmese regime visited China to "check on the shipments" of
SH-1 155mm self-propelled howitzer cannons made by Norinco. The howitzer
vehicles were then sent to Burma.Jane's Defence Weekly reported online
that the SH-1 is a self-contained six-wheeled truck bearing the 155mm
howitzer and a 12.7mm machine gun. It has a top road speed of 90km/h and
the artillery piece has a maximum range of 33 miles (53
kilometres).Analysts contacted by DVB speculated that the howitzers were
exchanged for copper from Monywa. CFOB's Tin Maung Htoo said these latest
allegations were extremely disturbing but very credible, pointing out that
senior executives from Daewoo were convicted in a Korean court for helping
the Burmese regime build a weapons factory as part of a deal to pave the
way for Daewoo's access to Burma's offshore gas."The Norinco
arms-for-copper deal is a win-win f or both China and Burma; the weapons
manufacturer gets cheap copper and the Burmese regime gets howitzers to
use against its own people," Tin Maung Htoo said. "Sadly, more innocent
civilians will die because of this; we can thank Ivanhoe Mines and its
chairman Robert Friedland for building one of 'the lowest-cost copper
mines in the world' for the Burmese regime."Tin Maung Htoo told CFOB that
his organisation was preparing an official letter to be sent to the
sanctions division at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade. He added that it would also send a letter to Marketa
Evans, the department's recently appointed extractive sector corporate
social responsibility counsellor. Evans' office is mandated to investigate
whether Canadian firms comply with a set of voluntary corporate social
responsibility guidelines.The exact status of the Monywa mine has remained
unclear since February 2007 when Ivanhoe announced it had "sold" its 50
per cent stake in MICCL, the operator of Burma's largest mine, to an
"independent third-party trust" in return for a guarantee that when the
trust sold the stake, Ivanhoe would then be paid.As part of the trust deal
Ivanhoe continued to receive money from the mine and by way of the trust
remained owners of half of MICCL. Ivanhoe Mines spokesperson Bob
Williamson told Mizzima last week that the secretive "independent trust"
had not sold Ivanhoe's 50 per cent stake in the mine. Mizzima learned
however from a source close to Burmese commercial affairs that the
"independent trust" had concluded a deal at the end of last year to sel l
its stake in MICCL to Burmese cronies of the military regime who have
strong connections to Chinese business interests.If indeed Ivanhoe's stake
in the lucrative Monywa joint venture was sold to junta cronies this would
contradict Ivanhoe's claim that the "independent trust" would not sell the
stake to Burmese or American citizens. More importantly, such a sale would
also violate US and Canadian sanctions.In light of the apparent violation
of Canadian sanctions Tin Maung Htoo also believes Canadian authorities
must confront Ivanhoe and force the firm to publicly disclose everything
it knows about Monywa and seriously examine whether any violation of
Canadian sanctions has occurred. He added: "Ivanhoe can't hide behind
their secret trust forever; Canadian civil society and the Canadian public
won't allow it." Ivanhoe chairman 'Toxic Bob' Before he went into business
with the Burmese regime, Ivanhoe chairman Robert Friedland was chief
executive of Galactic Resources, a Canadian firm that operated the
Summitville gold mine in Colorado during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Under his management, tens of thousands of gallons of toxic mining waste
containing heavy metals and acid seeped from the mine's ponds into creeks
and the Alamosa River causing havoc with the area 's delicate ecosystem.
The run-off from the mine killed all fish in the river for at least 17
miles (27 kilometres), thus earning Friedland the name "Toxic
Bob".Friedland's lawyers fought American officials for nearly 10 years
before he agreed in December 2000 to personally pay US$27.5 million for
his role in the disaster. The payment however represented a fraction of
the mine's total clean-up cost and the profits his company had made. The
US and Colorado governments have so far spent a combined total of more
than US$200 million on remediation at Summitville. It is often referred to
as the most expensive environmental disaster in American mining.Before it
was closed, the mine had extracted at today's prices, US$366 million in
gold and about US$5.9 million in silver. Friedland versus the Mongolian
people Ivanhoe is presently constructing a massive mine at its new project
in Oyu Tolgoi, Mongolia. Because of the enormous ecological footprint the
joint venture with Rio Tinto and the Mongolian government will create,
many Mongolians are strongly opposed to it.Friedland also earned the ire
of Mongolians when the local media reported that while promoting Oyu
Tolgoi at an international mining conference in Florida, he had boasted
that Mongolia was a great location for a mine because it was devoid of
people. According to Friedland: "The nice thing about this, there's no
people around ... There's no NGOs ... You've got lots of room for waste
dumps without disrupting the population."Unsurprisingly, he was later
burned in effigy at an anti-Ivanhoe protest in the Mongolian capital in
April 2006, one of the largest mass gatherings in the nation's history.
(Description of Source: New Delhi Mizzima News in English -- Website of
Mizzima News Group, an independent, non-profit news agency established by
Burmese journalists in exile in August 1998. Carries Burma-related news
and issues; URL: http://www.mizzima.com)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
6) Back to Top
No Big Changes to Korea-u.S. FTA, Trade Minister Promises - Chosun Ilbo
Thursday July 1, 2010 01:10:14 GMT
(CHOSUN ILBO) - Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon on Wednesday made it clear
that there will be no substantial revision of the Korea-U.S. free trade
agreement. The minister was speaking to reporters ahead of bilateral talks
to fine-tune the FTA, which was originally signed almost three years ago
but still awaits ratification in both countries.
"There will be no revision to the Korea-U.S. FTA. I promise that the
upcoming working-level talks will focus on the contents of the agreement
rather than on the deadline," he said. "You say that removing even a
single comma from the agreement constitutes a revision of it, but there
will be no such thing. We're not going to rush to the deadline at the
expense of the contents."U.S. President Barack Obama in a meeting with his
Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak (Yi Myo'ng-pak) on the sidelines of the
G20 Summit in Canada on Saturday said he asked the U.S. Trade
Representative to conclude the new round of talks by November, when
mid-term elections are held in the U.S.Kim appeared to suggest that the
November deadline is less important than a satisfactory outcome of the
talks. The Obama administration has misgivings about some parts of the
FTA, especially the automobile part.Kim also dismissed rumors that Seoul
made a large concession behind closed doors in order to persuade Obama to
delay the handover of full operational control of South Korean troops to
Seoul, such as of fering to give substantial ground in the FTA."President
Obama pledged to submit the Korea-U.S. FTA to Congress before the mid-term
elections. It appears that he's resolved to take his own political risk,"
Kim said.(Description of Source: Seoul Chosun Ilbo Online in English --
English website carrying English summaries and full translations of
vernacular hard copy items of the largest and oldest daily Chosun Ilbo,
which is conservative in editorial orientation -- strongly nationalistic,
anti-North Korea, and generally pro-US; URL: http://english.chosun.com)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
7) Back to Top
ECFA: US Welcomes the Signing of Cross-Strait Trade Pact
Unattribut ed article from the "Taiwan" page: "ECFA: US Welcomes the
Signing of Cross-Strait Trade Pact" - Taipei Times Online
Thursday July 1, 2010 00:56:57 GMT
By William Lowther and Shih Hsiu-chuan
STAFF REPORTERS, WASHINGTON AND TAIPEIThursday, Jul 01, 2010, Page 3
The US has officially welcomed the Economic Cooperation Framework
Agreement (ECFA), which Taiwan and China signed on Tuesday.
After refusing to comment on the agreement while it was under negotiation,
the US State Department made a short statement following its signing."I
would like to note that today the chairpersons of China's Association for
Relations Across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan's Straits Exchange
Foundation signed a cross-strait economic cooperation framework
agreement," acting deputy spokesman Gordon Duguid said during his regular
press briefing on Tuesday. "The Un ited States welcomes the increased
dialogue and interaction between the PRC (People's Republic of China) and
Taiwan that this new agreement represents.""We are encouraged by recent
improvements in cross-strait relations and hope those relations will
continue to expand and develop," Duguid said.Later, Duguid was asked if
the ECFA would bring any changes to the region and if other countries
might want to have similar ties to China."China being an economic power, I
don't think it's limited to other states in the region. Most of the states
in the region have very strong economic relations with China," he said.
"This particular agreement is one of a framework for tariffs, and so the
two, both PRC and Taiwan, will be looking at their tariff structure to try
and increase trade."At the G20 Summit in Canada last week, US President
Barack Obama urged the US Congress to pass a free-trade agreement (FTA)
with South Korea and promised that he would work for it.This week, the US
Chamber of Commerce endorsed a South Korean FTA as "a top priority for our
country" and as a "linchpin to continuing our economic recovery.""This
pact has the potential to be a model for other agreements across the
Asia-Pacific region," said Tami Overby, the chamber's vice president for
Asia. "This is a region that now accounts for half of the global economy.
We're talking about the future here."Obama's interest in pushing for a
Korean FTA has brought new optimism to supporters of the stalled proposal
for a US FTA with Taiwan."If President Obama is finally moving forward
with a free-trade agenda, then this helps the case for a US-Taiwan FTA,"
said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business
Council.He said if Obama were able to reach consensus with the Hill and
his union allies on a trade -framework with South Korea, then it would
open up the possibility that the US would re-engage w ith Asia on trade
issues."This includes Taiwan, where the recently consummated ECFA leaves
the US conspicuously absent from north Asia liberalization,"
Hammond-Chambers said.In Taipei, American Institute in Taiwan Director
William Stanton yesterday said that the US government "was encouraged by
the development" that Taiwan and China signed the ECFA.However, Stanton
said the US government had no comment on the ECFA per se because it hadn't
read the complete text and hadn't had a chance to study it."You know there
are many particulars (that) may rise, but in general, we emphasize its
positive development. (The ECFA) indicates the level of interaction and
-cooperation, and that's welcome for the region and for the world. It's
good," he said.On US-Taiwan trade relationships, Stanton said the US
wished to resume negotiations for the Trade and Investment Framework
Agreement (TIFA) with Taiwan and make progress on it.Negotiations on the
TIFA talks have been stalled since July 2007 over Taiwan's ban on US
beef."We haven't had trade talks for a while because of the dispute (over)
the beef, but we hope to resume," Stanton said.The US has a great trading
relationship with Taiwan, its ninth--largest trading partner, he said.The
EU yesterday issued a statement welcoming the ECFA, sayingexpansion of
cross-strait economic relations has the potential to benefit trade and
investment links in East Asia.(Description of Source: Taipei Taipei Times
Online in English -- Website of daily English-language sister publication
of Tzu-yu Shih-pao (Liberty Times), generally supports pan-green parties
and issues; URL: http://www.taipeitimes.com)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
8) Back to Top</ a>
Lee Presses Flesh, Talks Trade, in Central America - JoongAng Daily Online
Thursday July 1, 2010 00:46:50 GMT
PANAMA CITY - President Lee Myung-bak (Yi Myo'ng-pak) held a series of
bilateral talks here Tuesday with his counterparts from Guatemala,
Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica, which he used to seek closer
economic cooperation and request tougher safety measures for Korean
residents in the Central American countries.In his summit with Guatemalan
President Alvaro Colom, Lee asked for help in resolving the growing
problem of crimes against South Koreans there, according to his office.
More than 10,000 South Koreans live in Guatemala, the largest number among
Central American nations.Lee also asked the Guatemalan government to
continue support for 145 South Korean firms operating in the country.Colom
promis ed to step up efforts to protect Korean firms and nationals, saying
they are contributing greatly to Guatemala's economic development, the
Blue House (ROK Office of the President) said in a press release.Meeting
Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, Lee made a more specific request.He
raised the issue of a 27-year-old Korean woman, Han Ji-soo, who is accused
of being involved in a murder case. Han, a diving instructor, was indicted
as an accomplice in the 2008 killing of a Dutch backpacker in Honduras.
Han was arrested by Interpol in August 2009 in Egypt on her way back to
Korea. She is awaiting trial after being released on bail in December,
while claiming innocence."A young Korean woman is on trial in Honduras. I
hope you will pay special attention to the issue," Lee was quoted as
saying by his office.Lee and El Salvador's President Mauricio Funes agreed
in a separate summit to expand partnerships between the two nations in
trade, investment, infrastructure and energ y fields.In a summit with
Costa Rica's President Laura Chinchilla, Lee noted the country's campaign
for green growth."The leaders agreed on close cooperation with regard to
environmental issues on the global stage," the Blue House said.Earlier in
the day, Lee met with Dominican Republic Vice President Rafael
Alburquerque and asked for support for Korean companies there.Lee is on a
three-day visit to Panama from Monday to attend the first group summit
between Korea and the Central American Integration System (SICA) since
2005, which also includes Belize and Nicaragua. Lee had a one-on-one
summit with Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli Monday.Lee is
scheduled to leave for Mexico on Wednesday, the third and last leg of his
weeklong trip, which also took him to Canada for the G-20 economic summit.
Lee plans to return to Seoul on Saturday.(Description of Source: Seoul
JoongAng Daily Online in English -- Website of English-language daily
which provides English-langu age summaries and full-texts of items
published by the major center-right daily JoongAng Ilbo, as well as unique
reportage; distributed as an insert to the Seoul edition of the
International Herald Tribune; URL: http://joongangdaily.joins.com)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
9) Back to Top
Korea Provides Growth Example For C. America
By Korea Times correspondent Na Jeong-ju: "Korea Provides Growth Example
For C. America" - The Korea Times Online
Wednesday June 30, 2010 23:00:56 GMT
(KOREA TIMES) - PANAMA CITY South Korea and a group of Central American
countries agreed Tuesday (l ocal time) to boost their economic and
political ties and cooperate closely to ensure the region's stable growth.
At the third summit between Korea and the Central American Integration
System (SICA), an eight-member economic bloc, the two sides adopted a
13-point joint action plan aimed at reshaping their relations, especially
in the areas of energy, infrastructure, information and technology as well
as mineral resources development.President Lee Myung-bak (Yi Myo'ng-pak)
pledged to share Korea's growth experience and expand technology transfer
to Central America to help the region become a new driver of global
growth."South Korea was once a recipient of development aid, but has
become a major donor. It is a unique example of the world's history," Lee
said at the meeting. "We want to share our growth experience with you and
contribute to the region's social and economic development."Seoul plans to
triple its Official Development Assistance of under developed nations to
0.25 percent of the gross national income by 2015.The country has included
the issue of the widening global economic imbalance on the agenda for the
Group of 20 Summit slated for Seoul in November and pledged to represent
emerging and poor countries on the international stage.Launched in 1993,
SICA aims to promote economic, political, and cultural cooperation among
Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic,
Guatemala, Honduras and Belize. Panama is currently holding the rotating
presidency of the group.President Lee arrived in Panama on Monday after a
two-day visit to Toronto, Canada, where he co-chaired the G-20 meeting
with Prime Minister Stephen Harper as host of the next meeting in Seoul.On
Wednesday, he flew to Mexico, the final leg of his weeklong trip, for a
summit with Mexican President Felipe Calderon on bolstering economic
ties.Under the agreement between Korea and SICA, Korean firms will be
allowed to play a greater ro le in the development of Central America by
expanding and diversifying investment in energy, infrastructure, mineral
resources development, and information and technology."SICA leaders shared
the perception that it is important for South Korean firms to expand
investment in the Central American region," they said in a joint
statement.Lee promised to expand financial and technical assistance for
the development of Central America.He also expressed the country's intent
to join SICA as an observer to deepen cooperative relations between the
two sides.SICA leaders welcomed that step and instructed the secretary
general of SICA to initialize related consultations.According to Seoul
officials, SICA grants the status to a country only when the group regards
it as a strategic partner for regional development. Currently, only five
non-American countries, Spain, Germany, Japan, Taiwan and Italy, are
acting as observers.Leaders of SICA also emphasized the importance of
Seoul' s joining of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration
(CABEI). The two sides agreed to hold working-level talks to discuss
concrete conditions for Korea's membership.After the summit, meanwhile,
the two sides issued a special declaration condemning North Korea for its
attack on the South Korean Navy vessel Ch'o'nan (Cheonan) in March.In the
statement, SICA leaders called for the Ch'o'nan (Cheonan) incident to be
resolved in accordance with international law and the U.N. Charter,
pledging to cooperate with the international community to promote peace
and stability in Northeast Asia.(Description of Source: Seoul The Korea
Times Online in English -- Website of The Korea Times, an independent and
moderate English-language daily published by its sister daily Hanguk Ilbo
from which it often draws articles and translates into English for
publication; URL: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited . Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
10) Back to Top
President Lee in Mexico for FTA, UN Diplomacy Against DPRK
Updated version: adjusting metadata; replacing 1511 GMT version with
source-supplied 2102 GMT update, which "UPDATES throughout with arrival;
CHANGES dateline"; Yonhap headline: "(LEAD) Lee in Mexico For FTA, U.N.
Diplomacy Against Pyongyang" by Lee Chi-dong - Yonhap
Wednesday June 30, 2010 22:30:37 GMT
(Description of Source: Seoul Yonhap in English -- Semiofficial news
agency of the ROK; URL: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
11) Back to Top
US State Dept Repeatedly Calls on China to Condemn DPRK for Ship Sinking
Yonhap headline: "U.S. Repeats Calls on China to Condemn N. Korea For Ship
Sinking: State Dept." by Hwang Doo-hyong - Yonhap
Wednesday June 30, 2010 21:58:18 GMT
(Description of Source: Seoul Yonhap in English -- Semiofficial news
agency of the ROK; URL: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
12) Back to Top
Yeni Ozgur Politika Headlines 26 June 2010
The following is a list of news headlines from the Yeni Ozgur Politika
website on 26 June; to request additional processing, please contact OSC
at (800) 205-8615, (202) 338-6735, fax (703) 613-5735, or
firstname.lastname@example.com - Yeni Ozgur Politika Online
Wednesday June 30, 2010 19:18:05 GMT
State Searches for Bomber - In the aftermath of the bombing assault on a
three-bus military convoy in Halkali, Istanbul, 30 people, most of them
BDP members and Kurds, were taken into custody; 16 of this group were
later released and three arrested.
Two Villages Burned Down in Hasankeyf - The Turkish army is resorting to
practices that are reminiscent of the 1990s. Soldiers set alight and
destroyed two villages in Hasankeyf. Human rights advocates who carried
out an investigation at the site said they were "shocked" by this
Skirmish in Erzincan - It was announced that a skirmish occurred near the
Hurrempalangasi village, which is located on the 20-kilometer point of the
Erzincan-Sivas Road
(They Say) Professionals Will Protect the Border! - The Turkish General
Staff said that the military positions located in th Gediktepe region of
Semdinli, that were visited by Prime Minister Erdogan and Chief of Staff
Ilker Basbug, are a military necessity. The General Staff said that from
now on the border would be protected by professional troops.
Shouts of Revenge at Guerrilla Funeral - Promises that revenge would be
taken were shouted out at the funeral of Omer Ataman, an HPG (People's
Defense Forces) member who lost his life in a skirmish in Elazig.
"The Idea of Eradicating Should be Forsaken" - Writer and sociologist Oya
Baydar said the Turkish government's insistence on eradication is only
making the Kurdish issue worse.
Kurds Protest Iran in Britain - Kurds living in Great Britain are
continuing the series of demonstrations they started to draw attention to
the Iranian policies aimed at eradicating the Kurds.
March of Those Who Want "Another Europe" - Participants of the European
Social Forum will be meeting this year in Istanbul with the motto of
"Another Europe is Necessary." Besides discussions of economical, social
and ecological crises, the group will also discuss the Kurdish issue and
possible solution models.
Pro-Kurdish Italian Deported - Upon the decision of the Minister of the
Interior to deport him, Italian citizen Aldo Canestrari, who has been
living in the Kulp district of Diyarbakir since 2002, said he would start
a "struggle" to get the decision overturned.
Concrete Steps Should be Taken - Saying that the use of violence has to be
replaced by common sense, representative of the non-governmental
organizations in Amed (Diyarb akir) called on the Turkish state to stop
their military operations and to take concrete steps by listening to what
the Kurds have to say.
Soldier's Bullet for 70-Year-Old Woman - The Turkish army killed a
70-year-old woman after a skirmish in which two soldiers were killed in
the Karakocan district of Elazig. In a statement they published, the HPG
drew attention to the recent rise in civilian casualties.
Ehmedi Xani Festival Postponed - It was announced that the city's eighth
annual Ehmede Xani Cultural Art and Tourism Festival that was scheduled to
be held between 9-11 July in Bazid (Dogu Beyazit), Agiri (Agri), has been
Kurdish-German Dictionary Published - The Germany Kurdish Institute, which
its centered in Cologne, has added a Kurdish-German, German-Kurdish
Dictionary to its list of publications.
Kazim Koyuncu Commemorated by His Fans - Fans gathered to commemorate
Kazim Koyuncu, a performer whose rebellious heart beat for the bro
therhood of peoples and struggle of the Black Sea and whose short life was
filled with a revolutionary spirt.
Two More Child Mothers in Urfa - It has been reported that two more 16-
and 17-year-old children in Harran, Urfa, who were married with religious
(non-legal) ceremonies, are now pregnant.
Hakkari Kilims in London - Eva Eppler, a senior lecturer in the English
Language and Literature Department of Roehampton University in London,
England, played a leadership role in getting Hakkari kilims exhibited in
her country.
"Do You Know about the Deaths?" - Attention is being drawn to the fact
that the suspicious deaths of four women have occurred in the last 20 days
in Diyadin, Agri. In her request to the parliament for an investigation,
Fatma Kurtulan, a BDP Deputy representing Van, said: "Even if the deaths
were registered as suicides, suspicion is being aroused by both the
manners of their deaths and the fact that so many women have died in one
Woman Killed in Istanbul - Hilal Demir, a woman who was stabbed in the
chest by her husband following an argument, later lost her battle for life
at the Dr Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital.
"Equality" Efforts Started - GABB (South Eastern Region Union of
Municipalities) have begun their provision of a two-day training session,
"The Equality Commission in Local Administration," to the women employees
of the Batman municipality.
New Ocean Being Born - Scientists say that they are witnessing the birth
of a new ocean on the continent of Africa.
Marxists Gather in London - The Marxist Festival is being held in London
between 1-5 July with the motto of "Concepts to Change the World." Many
famous names such as Tony Benn from the Anti-War Coalition, writer and
artist Haifa Zangana, Philosopher Slovaj Zizek, and Author Tariq Ali will
share their thoughts at the festival, which will also includ e a large
number of seminars and art exhibits.
Raids Against Catholic Church - Reacting to the increase in sexual
molestation charges in Belgium, police conducted a raid on the St. Rombout
Cathedral in the center of Mechelen.
One of Five in Switzerland a Foreigner - The Federal Swiss Refugee Office
has released its 2009 report on foreigners. According to the report, last
year Switzerland led in Europe as the country with the highest proportion
of foreign population.
Summit Debates Begin - Because of differences of opinion, leaders who
gathered in Canada to attend the G8 and G20 summits, began to divide into
groups. The summit is being held under the shadow of protest
Germany's Supreme Court Gives Green Light to Passive Euthanasia -
Following years of debate on euthanasia, the Federal Supreme Court has
decided to make "patient request" the determining factor. In those cases
where they will be unable to recover, the reques ts of patients who, while
still cognizant, ask they be euthanized or given a "mercy death," will be
implemented. Kurdish news:
Historical Artifacts are Disappearing - The Armenian churches of Dera Sor,
Dibistana Varcetun, and Kevire Qul in Malazgirt, Mus, are on the verge of
disappearing due to neglect and treasure-seekers.
ASF (European Social Forum) to March for "Another Europe" - Attendees of
the ASF will gather in Istanbul under the motto of "Another Europe is
Necessary," where they will discuss possible solutions to economical,
social, ecological problems and the Kurdish issue.
Proposals of the TUSIAD (Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's
Association) - TUSIAD met two days ago in Istanbul. According to
long-standing tradition, a certain part of the meeting was opened to the
press initially and then the rest of the meeting was closed. Despite this,
the basic items that arose from the closed meeting were also announc ed.
Return to Burning of Villages Worrisome - Yesterday soldiers burned the
villages of Bizinka Xerbekur and Semse in Hasankeyf on grounds of
"security." Thousands of fruit trees and nearly 500 hectares of land were
burned in the village.
"Work and Learn Kurdish" - The Peyas municipality added the condition of
learning Kurdish to the collective employment contract.
People-Oriented Town: Ovaeymire - The level of social services it renders
and its environmental services makes the town of Ovaeymire, which is led
by a BDP administration, a model for neighboring city governments.
Story of Child Brides Documented - Director Bingol Elmas has brought the
marrying of children to the silver screen with the documentary Evcilik
Oyunu (Playing House).
"Are they Academicians?" - The work they produce gives lie to the
declarations by Turkish university professors that they are specialists
and scientists and that they should b e recognized as academicians.
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
13) Back to Top
45 Regions Of Russia Have Access To Interpol Databases - ITAR-TASS
Wednesday June 30, 2010 16:46:54 GMT
MOSCOW, June 30 (Itar-Tass) -- Law enforcers in more than half of Russia's
regions have direct access to Interpol databases, the head of Interpol's
National Central Bureau (NCB) under the Interior Ministry, Timur Lakhonin,
told a news conference at Itar-Tass on Wednesday.Over the past two years
within the framework of the European Union's TACIS program direct access
to Interpol databases conta ining information about people featuring on
the international lists of wanted offenders or suspects, about stolen
vehicles and about lost passports has opened for 45 regional offices of
the NCB."The effectiveness of work increased sharply. Last year alone the
Interpol databases were addressed for checking information about more than
5 million items. By now there have been more than 8 million queries
concerning individuals and documents," Lakhonin said. Within a very short
period fifteen persons on the international wanted lists and several dozen
others on the federal lists were tracked down. Dozens of stolen vehicles
were identified.Apart from the Russian Interior Ministry access to
Interpol databases today is open to the federal security service FSB, the
National Anti-Terrorist Committee and the Prosecutor-General's Office
Investigation Committee. A decision is about to be made to provide this
service for the border guard service, the Customs and the federal migra
tion service FMS.In September this year it will be 20 years since the
Russia' s admission into Interpol."In the first half of this year alone we
have actively cooperated with 150 Interpol member-countries (of the total
of 188), provided support for 2,300 criminal cases," Lakhonin said. The
amount of information requests and messages between foreign and Russian
law enforcers this year grew by 15 percent (more than 57 thousand
documents). Of these more than 30 percent were requests concerning
economic crimes.Alongside the hunt for criminals in hiding Interpol
searches for missing persons. During the six months the fate of twelve
people was cleared up and another 20, who had lost contact with relatives
were tracked down. As an example Lakhonin cited a recent case in which the
Moscow office of Interpol received a request from one of the European
countries "for finding in Moscow a woman journalist from a very well-known
publishing house and for preventing, if possi ble, the suicide the woman
might be planning.""Without going into details I can say that it took us
fifteen minutes to identify the person in question and to report to our
partners. In reality the woman journalist proved to be working for a
different publishing house and she had no suicidal inclinations," he
added.The head of the Russian bureau of Interpol admitted that although
cooperation in policing was developing successfully, extradition matters
were one of the stumbling blocks. In the first half of this year 22
persons have been extradited to Russia from non-CIS countries. Seven
extraditions were denied, including two from Germany, because both persons
in question had that country's citizenship. France and Bulgaria refused to
extradite one each because the statute of limitations had expired, and
Canada refused to extradite a car thief due to the lack of an extradition
treaty.The Lithuanian authorities refused to extradite two persons
enjoying the refugee status."That status was granted to two persons
accused of terrorist activities, murder and attempts on the life
enforcement officials. As they say, no comment," said Lakhonin."The
responsibility for such decisions rests not on our colleagues - the
police, but on courts that make decisions in line with someone's political
interests. I cannot rule out that such 'refugees' may soon become a
nightmare for the law enforcement authorities of the countries that have
agreed to have them. Such examples already exist," he said."The best
cooperation is with the G8 countries. We cooperate very well with the
Europeans and with the Americans, when it comes to professional matters. I
mean the exchange of information of a criminal nature," Lakhonin said.
With colleagues from Asian, African and Arab countries there may be
language problems (not all members of local offices have command of
Interpol's working languages, including English).(Description of Source:
Moscow ITAR-TASS in English -- Main government information agency)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
14) Back to Top
Spy Scandal Puts Strength Of Russian-US Relations To Test - ITAR-TASS
Wednesday June 30, 2010 12:29:34 GMT
MOSCOW, June 30 (Itar-Tass) -- The sensational news a group of Russian
undercover agents has been exposed and arrested in the United States,
which brought memories of the 'cold war' era back to mind, will put to
test the strength of the ongoing process of 'resetting' relations between
Russia and the United States, analysts say. It looks like neither the
Kremlin, nor the White House wishes the row to cause serious effects on
bilateral relations.A group of eleven suspects - allegedly Russian secret
agents - were arrested last weekend by the FBI in the course of a
large-scale operation in the states of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts
and Virginia, and also in Cyprus, the US Department of Justice said. All
of the arrested were accused of illegal intelligence activity, and some,
also with money laundering attempts. If the charges are supported and
accepted by a court of law, these people may face a prison term of up to
five years in jail for illegal intelligence activity. And those found
guilty of money laundering may spend up to 25 years behind bars.Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was in Israel on a visit on Tuesday,
told a news conference with a pinch of sarcasm, "We were not told what
this is all about. It is to be hoped they will tell us in the end. The
time was picked with great elegance."It all ha ppened two days after the
end of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's official visit to the United
States.Indeed, just a couple of days ago Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev
had friendly chats and enjoyed burgers at a fast food joint. Russian and
US experts are certain that in this particular case the FBI's departmental
interests prevailed over the interests of the state, says the daily
Kommersant. The reaction of political circles in both countries to the row
indicates that neither the Kremlin, nor the White House wishes the scandal
to grow into a big quarrel.In the meantime, all these detective stories,
so graphically described by the FBI, have left many questions unanswered,
for instance, if the suspects managed to cause the slightest damage to the
security of the United States, the daily says. In contrast to an
overwhelming majority of the Russia-related spy rows of the past fifteen
years in this particular case the FBI's documents mention just a few
episodes, and all of t hem are very far-fetched ones.From the outset
Moscow was reluctant to interpret the row as a crafty plot by the White
House."The degree of trust in bilateral relations that has been achieved
between Obama and Medvedev is so great that if the US president had prior
knowledge of the forthcoming operation during his Russian counterpart's
visit, he would have certainly informed him," a senior Russian diplomatic
source said. "That he did not do that indicates he learned about the
operation at the very last moment."The Russian Foreign Ministry said that
none of the suspects in question have committed any actions aimed against
the interests of the United States. It proceeds from the understanding
that the arrested citizens will enjoy normal treatment and conditions, and
that the US authorities will guarantee access to them for Russian consular
officials and lawyers. Moscow hopes that "the American side will display
due understanding, particularly so in the context of the positive nature
of Russian-US relations at the current stage.""Your police have gone on
the rampage. They are grabbing people and putting them in jail," Russian
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday in his opening remarks at a
meeting with the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton. Putin
voiced the hope that the detention of those suspected of spying for Russia
would not harm the relations between Moscow and Washington."I do hope that
the positive potential that was accumulated lately will not be greatly
harmed," Putin said.Such a reserved reaction indicates that Moscow would
like to play down the row and forget it as soon as possible. The daily
Kommersant's source confirmed this. He said that "all speakers have been
given unwritten instructions not to comment on the incident." And it looks
like this order is being followed diligently. In any case, on Tuesday
Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko, pre sidential press-secretary
Natalya Timakova, and even the chairman of the State Duma's committee for
international affairs, Konstantin Kosachyov, emphatically refused to say a
word about the spy scandal.The US side preferred to act likewise. On
Tuesday, in response to media requests for saying something about the
affair Obama replied curtly, "Thank you." All attempts to worm out details
from the US president failed. Only Assistant Secretary of State Philip
Gordon said that the United States sought to develop relations with
Russian further on and suggested viewing the spy scandal in this
context.The head of the Moscow center of the Carnegie Endowment, Dmitry
Trenin, believes that several groups might have been involved in provoking
the scandal. Firstly, "those American politicians who think that Barack
Obama has established an unduly close relationship with the Russians and
is playing into their hands."Secondly, there are the secret services
proper, which, after a string of major failures that eventually resulted
in last month's resignation of the national intelligence chief, Dennis
Blair, may have decided to demonstrate professional zeal."After the
attempted terrorist attack in Times Square the FBI feels obliged to
demonstrate its competence," he said.The political scientist described the
charges brought against the detainees as not very convincing ones."Had
they been really responsible for something really criminal or for spying,
this would have been stated at once. The FBI has kept an eye on that group
for many years, but it has not produced any evidence of spying yet. What
we have heard so far sounded pretty much like a story of a murder suspect
who has been convicted of wrong parking."The deputy director of the
Institute of US and Canada Studies, Viktor Kremenyuk, is quoted by the
daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta as saying that he is pretty certain the timing
of the operation was deliberate."America is n ot yet prepared to go as far
in establishing a normal relationship with Russia as Obama would like it
to. Very many Americans doubt if Russia deserves this," he explained. The
expert also speculated that the opponents of the current US
Administration's policies have made an attempt to discredit the results of
the latest Obama-Medvedev summit, and also to upset the ratification of
the new strategic arms reduction treaty."The US secret services have been
working with the sweat of their brow, and it is not surprising that from
time to time they manage to catch some agents," the RBC Daily quotes
Alexei Malashenko, an expert at the Moscow center of the Carnegie
Endowment as saying. "But the public at large seldom learns about the
successes of such operations. This is a matter of political expediency."In
the United States these days, the analyst said, many loath the idea of
'resetting' relations with Russia, and the Republican Party has put strong
pressure s on the law enforcers.Russia's human rights commissioner
Vladimir Lukin, who was Russia's ambassador in the United States in
1992-1993, sees no direct link between Medvedev's visit and the spy
row."Internal political struggle in the United States is not ruled out. In
any case this scandal will not influence relations between our countries.
Relations get worse only when countries are really eager to spoil them and
are looking for a pretext. Now the situation is different."Author Mikhail
Lyubimov, a former KGB officer, believes that "the intelligence service
has to remind everybody about itself in order to get financing." Besides,
in his opinion secret services often act contrary to the president's will.
The US secret services have always been closer to the Republicans, while
Obama is from the other side of town. Lyubimov is certain that Russia
should not respond to the scandal in any way."When the documents have been
presented - and this is unlikely to happen, because the Americans have not
unearthed anything that might look like spying and so far all their talk
has been about money laundering - then it would be possible to react," he
said.And a member of the foreign and defense policy council, Fyodor
Lukyanenko, told the daily Novyie Izvestia that the spy affair cannot but
affect US-Russian relations."This may influence the ratification of the
civilian nuclear power agreements (currently in Congress) and the one on
strategic offensive arms (the latter is in the Senate). There had been
doubts they would be ratified even before the spy scandal. Now the
opponents have received an extra trump card," he said.(Description of
Source: Moscow ITAR-TASS in English -- Main government information agency)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
15) Back to Top
Premier Wen Jiabao on PRC's Economy Moving in 'Expected Direction' - AFP
Wednesday June 30, 2010 11:02:00 GMT
the world's third-largest economy is moving in the "expected direction",
the government said Wednesday, amid fears that it may be losing steam.
"The domestic economy is developing in the expected direction under the
government's macroeconomic controls," Wen said during two days of meetings
this week with economists and business executives.The comments were posted
on the central government's website ahead of the release of key economic
data next month which is expected to show that economic growth slowed in
the second quarter.Wen said policymakers must continue to strike a balance
between maintaining stable and reasonably fast economic growth, carrying
out economic restructuring and managing inflation expectations."The
domestic and international economic situation is still extremely complex,"
Wen said.Wen made no mention of the government's pledge earlier this month
to pursue a more flexible yuan exchange rate. The currency has appreciated
about 0.50 percent against the greenback.His comments came after Chinese
President Hu Jintao, in a speech to the Group of 20 summit in Canada at
the weekend, called for caution in exit strategies from economic stimulus
programmes to safeguard the global recovery.China's economy expanded by a
blistering 11.9 percent in the first three months of the year, fanning
inflationary pressures and raising fears it was at risk of
overheating.Royal Bank of Scotland economist Ben Simpfendorfer has
forecast 11.1 percent growth in the second quarter after government
measures aimed at reining in the real estate sector and a slowdown in
manufacturing activity.(Des cription of Source: Hong Kong AFP in English
-- Hong Kong service of the independent French press agency Agence
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
16) Back to Top
Xinhua 'Analysis': G20 Chair S. Korea Gears up for More Concrete Outcomes
at November Summit
Xinhua "Analysis" by Na, Haejung: "G20 Chair S. Korea Gears up for More
Concrete Outcomes at November Summit" - Xinhua
Wednesday June 30, 2010 10:24:25 GMT
SEOUL, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Wrapping up the Toronto Group of 20 (G20)
Summit held last weekend, South Korea announced the agendas for the next
G20 summit it will host in upcoming November.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, at the last meeting of the Toronto
summit, introduced the main agendas of the Seoul Summit, which will be
economic growth and global financial safety net.The president also made a
remark on the goal of the Seoul summit, saying his country aims to make
the G20 summit more legitimate, credible organization.TORONTO
ACHIEVEMENTSThe Fourth Meeting of the G20 Summit was held in Toronto,
Canada from June 26 to 27, which came jointly with the G8 Summit in a
nearby city of Huntsville.First held in line with the G8 Summit, which has
long been the main committee to deal with global issues, the G20 was once
again confirmed that it now is the core global body to promote cooperation
among economies."G20 is the central committee to deal with economic,
financial issues, that's what we have confirmed again this time," Choe
Wongi, Professor at the state-run Institute of Foreign Affairs and
National Secu rity, said in an interview with Xinhua.Also, with respect to
main agendas, such as the exit strategies, financial sector regulation,
global financial institution reform, and fiscal soundness, the Toronto
summit brought about considerable outcomes, settling some basic principles
for future talks.Particularly, with regard to fiscal soundness, the G20
leaders agreed on fiscal plans to at least halve deficits by 2013 and
stabilize or reduce government debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016.The financial
regulation issue was also highlighted and the leaders agreed on the four
pillars on which the reform agenda stands, a strong regulatory framework,
effective supervision, resolution and addressing systemic institutions,
and transparent international assessment and peer review.The summit,
however, did not bring forward detailed measures on most of the issues,
tossing all the more detailed discussion process to following ministerial
level meetings and the Seoul Summit."Although the Toronto Summit has its
own meaning, there really didn't come so many resolutions. It means there
will be a lot of things to discuss and reach agreements in November at the
Seoul G20 Summit," Yun, Chang-hyun, professor at the University of Seoul,
told Xinhua."There will be a considerable amount of work to cover at the
Seoul summit, and it will have a greater meaning," Yun said, summarizing
the meaning of the Toronto summit in Seoul's point of view.KOREA
INITIATIVE AND CHALLENGESIn addition to the existing agendas that have
been on the table for the past four meetings, South Korea is eager to add
new issues, as a representative of emerging countries.Seeking to focus on
economic development and global financial safety net in November, South
Korea is hoping to contribute to growth of numerous emerging or developing
countries."Up to now, we have been continuously raising the issues at the
finance minister meetings, but at the recent summit we made a proposal at
the s ummit level, and the top leaders have reached a common understanding
that the issues are important enough to be brought up as main items at the
G20," Professor Choe told Xinhua, evaluating it as Seoul's accomplishment
in Toronto.The so-called Korea Initiative comes as the G20 represents a
broader global community than the existing committee, such as the G8, did,
reflecting South Korea's firm intention to bridge the gap between advanced
and emerging economies, according to Seoul's analysts.Global financial
safety net, for instance, is an advanced form of the Chiang Mai
Initiative, which is an agreement between Asian countries to cooperate in
the face of foreign liquidity shortage.The Chiang Mai Initiative, which
started as a bilateral swap line, began to grow as more non-U.S. dollar
economies, acknowledging its need, joined the group.Expanding the
successful regional model of financial collaboration, South Korea is
trying to contribute to solving the financial liquidity dry-up problem
that hurt emerging countries more deeply at financial collapses."The idea
(of the global financial safety net) has so far reached a point where
leaders formed a political common understanding," Choe said, adding that a
more tangible result will likely be seen in Seoul in November.The other
issue of economic development comes as developing countries are in need of
newer development cooperation strategies, such as experiences of an
economic development or success and development strategies based on them,
according to Choe.South Korea is focusing on such issues as they are
trying to devise ways for emerging or developing economies to avoid or
prevent financial crises."South Korea is paying attention to the issue to
prevent financial crises, reviewing many plans so that a resolution and an
agreement can be reached at the November Summit," said Professor Yun, of
the University of Seoul.Not only the agendas that it presented, but South
Korea, as chair, will have to deal with other issues in depth.At the same
time, the South Korean government is taking the critical job of how to
intervene the different interests and circumstances of member countries.In
particular, as the financial crisis is gradually fading out, it has become
more difficult to reach a common agreement now than in the middle of the
crisis."But as most economies have hit the bottom, it became more
important that countries focus on domestic political factors, or domestic
economic circumstances rather than global collaboration, making it
increasingly difficult to agree on concerted efforts," Professor Choe
said, calling it a new challenge that the G20 faces."It is not an easy
task to coordinate policies but we think it' s the aim of the G20 not to
take individual countries' gripes or individual countries' policies and
champion them, but to really look at the whole picture," Sohn Jie-ae,
spokesperson for the Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit, told
Xinhua at an interview, acknowledging the challenge for the chair
country."But I think there is a common understanding that this is what
everybody wants, and if we work on that assumption, I think we are making
pretty good progress," Sohn said.(Description of Source: Beijing Xinhua in
English -- China's official news service for English-language audiences
(New China News Agency))
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
17) Back to Top
Indian Daily Report Says Canada's Draft Bill Offers Tips on Nuclear
Liability Cap
Report by Ramesh Ramachandran: India Can Take Tips From Canada on Nuclear
Liability Bill - The Asian Age Online
Wednesday June 30, 2010 09:01:00 GMT
The Canadian draft legislation contains at least five amendments adopted
by the House of Commons standing committee on natural resources during its
study of the earlier version in the previous session of Parliament. For
instance, the Canadian minister of natural resources is required to review
operators' liability limits taking into consideration nuclear liability
limits in other countries.The minister's first review of the liability
limit must take place within the first 15 months of the Act coming into
force.Also, when reviewing financial liability limits, the minister must
consult with both industry and non-industry stakeholders and refer the
matter to parliamentary committee.
Furthermore, the minister is required to table reinsurance agreements
before each House of Parliament together with any assessment studies
undertaken concerning those agreements.In India, raisin g the amount of
liability is seen as leading to an increase in insurance premium which
means more financial liability for the government. This is because under
the Atomic Energy Act of 1962, only Government of India or its public
sector units (PSUs) can operate a nuclear installation. Therefore, there
are only two operators in India today: the National Power Corporation of
India Limited (NPCIL) and the Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (or
BHAVINI).The Indian government has said that there will be three tiers of
liability: one at the level of the operator, another at the level of the
government and a third tier, if signed, at the level of the Convention of
Supplementary Compensation.Accordingly, if the liability exceeds the
stipulated Rs 500 crores, then the government may shell out up to Rs 1,600
crores ($343.31million).If the liability exceeds this amount too, then
India can withdraw funds of up to about Rs 2,350 crores ($504.23 million)
if it has signed the Conven tion of Supplementary Compensation.The Indian
bill is likely to come up for discussion and voting during the Monsoon
Session of the Parliament, which is likely to be convened later this
(Description of Source: New Delhi The Asian Age online in English --
Website of the daily The Asian Age, with its flagship edition in New
Delhi; also published from Kolkata, Mumbai, and London. Run by T.
Venkattram Reddy, the owner of Hyderabad-based Deccan Chronicle group.
Maintains pro-government, centrist editorial policy. Chronicle and Age
share editorial content and their combined circulation is claimed to be 1
million; URL: www.asianage.com)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
18) Back to Top
Editorial Flays NSGs Discriminatory Approach To Pakistan, Iran Nuke
Editorial: Nuclear Discrimination - The Nation Online
Wednesday June 30, 2010 09:55:56 GMT
The Indo-Canadian nuclear deal signed in Toronto by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and his Canadian counterpart would further confirm the
notion that the right to nuclear technology in the present day unipolar
world is the privilege of friends and cronies of the US. After all, how
the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) cartel has rushed to provide New Delhi
all the cooperation it needs in the nuclear field, despite knowing well
how the country had earlier hoodwinked the international community by
using its civil nuclear programme to produce bombs, reeks of rank
discrimination and double standards. The pity, however, is to see the
countries, claiming to be dedicated to nuclear nonproliferation and
nuclear dis armament like Canada and Japan also jumping on the bandwagon.
Canada first put India on the road to nuclear weapons capability in 1974
when it used Canadian civil nuclear technology for its test - something
Canada has conveniently forgotten. Japan recently pledged to extend
cooperation to New Delhi in the field of civil nuclear technology, while
in the case of Pakistan, it has insisted that aid should be contingent
upon signing the NPT. Both these NSG members are contravening their NPT
legal commitments since the NSG is merely a suppliers cartel.
It is also a shame that a completely different yardstick is applied when
it comes to the Muslim world, especially Pakistan and Iran. How Iran has
been ruthlessly sanctioned for venturing to use nuclear power for peaceful
purposes, to which it is entitled under the NPT is most outrageous and
should be severely condemned. Iran's record in nonproliferation is
impecable, contrary to that of the US, which has blatantly violated th e
NPT, yet it is simply denied the fruits of nuclear technology for being a
Muslim country. The US on the other hand is acting as if it is impervious
to international rules and norms, arming India and Israel to the teeth
with nukes.
However, Iran has decided to hit back through suspension of negotiations
over its nuclear programme for at least two months. The case of Pakistan
likewise tells a story of a highly discriminatory approach that has
hardened to such an extent that now it is strictly focused on depriving
Pakistan of its nuclear muscle under the pretext of nuclear assets falling
into the hands of the terrorists. The fact that the nuclear club has
become a preserve of the few rich countries, which think they can dish out
not only nuclear weapons technology but also civil nuclear technology to
whomsoever they choose, while ignoring those who are in genuine need of it
will not just prove counterproductive as in the case of Iran but broadly
speaking, it would make the world a far more dangerous place to live in.
(Description of Source: Islamabad The Nation Online in English -- Website
of a conservative daily, part of the Nawa-i-Waqt publishing group.
Circulation around 20,000; URL: http://www.nation.com.pk)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
19) Back to Top
Xinhua 'Roundup': U.S., Russia To Avoid Diplomatic Meltdown Amid Spy
Xinhua "Roundup": "U.S., Russia To Avoid Diplomatic Meltdown Amid Spy
Scandal" - Xinhua
Wednesday June 30, 2010 08:00:54 GMT
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON, June 30 (Xinhua) -- With the will to reset their re
lations, both the United States and Russia are trying to avoid the spy row
from escalating into a diplomatic meltdown.
Following the detention of 10 alleged Russian spies in the United States
on Sunday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko chastised
the detention as "groundless" and with "unseemly goals," adding that a
public statement of the U.S. Department of Justice was made "in the spirit
of the Cold War."Nikolai Kovalyov, former chief of the Federal Security
Service, said some of the U.S. charges against the alleged spies resembled
a "bad spy novel."Nevertheless, the Russian government are cooling off its
rage in their most recent statement despite persistent denial that these
alleged spies had done anything harmful to the United States.While meeting
with former U.S. President Bill Clinton in his country residence on
Tuesday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hoped the spy row would not
jeopardize Russia -U.S. ties."I understand that back home police are
putting people in prison. That's their job," said Putin, whose words drew
a laugh from Clinton."I hope very much that the positive trend that was
collected recently in our interstate relations will not experience any
harm because of the recent events," Putin added.The Obama administration
is also laboring to word its positions in case the spy row may breed any
further political consequences.President Barack Obama on Tuesday dodged
reporters' questions related to the spy scandal twice.Apparently in
response to Putin, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the spy row
will not impact the recently warmed-up U.S.-Russia relations."I think we
have made a new start to working together on things like in the United
Nations dealing with North Korea (DPRK) and Iran. I do not think that this
will affect those relations," he said.Instead of being initiated by the
president, Gibbs said, the arrests were no more than a law enforcement
matter.However, Gibbs admitted that before President Obama met with
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the White House last Thursday, he was
aware of the spy scandal, though without the knowledge of the exact timing
of the arrests. And the president did not raise the issue with his Russian
guest.After taking office, the Obama administration has attached massive
importance to improving its relations with Russia, and it has followed
that strategy.Trying to build a foundation for a strategic partnership
with Moscow, the U.S. has renewed with Russia a nuclear disarmament deal,
the New START treaty, and has courted its support in throwing another
round of UN sanctions over Iran's nuclear program.Phil Gordon, top Russia
policy official in the U.S. State Department, said: "We were not going to
forgo the opportunity to pursue our common interests because there are
things we disagreed on.""I think you should see this spying issue in that
c ontext. We feel we have made significant progress in the 18 months that
we have been pursuing this different relationship with Russia," he
added.However, not all are happy with that.Victor Kremenyuk, deputy
director of the Russian Institute for U.S. and Canada studies, was
convinced the entire affair had been a "provocation.""In the United
States, there are forces unhappy with the rapprochement of the two
countries and warming up of their relations," Kremenyuk told Xinhua.
"Perhaps, somebody wants to shift the opinion of the U.S. lawmakers in
light of current START ratification process and to disrupt the
process."Alexander Torshin, first deputy speaker of the Russian Federal
Council, the parliament's upper house, urged caution."This is not a return
to the Cold War, and this incident will not become a large-scale spy
scandal," Torshin said.Andrew Kuchins, the top Russia expert at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies, took a similar view."My guess is
that like most spy scandals this is going to blow over," Kuchins
said.(Description of Source: Beijing Xinhua in English -- China's official
news service for English-language audiences (New China News Agency))
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
20) Back to Top
US Top Military Commander Says Delay of Wartime Command Transfer to Deter
Updated version: "ADDS quotes by nominee for South Korea's chairman of
Joint Chiefs of Staff in paras 8-10; RECASTS first two paras;" Upgrading
precedence; Yonhap headline: "Delay of wartime command transfer to deter
N. Korea: U.S. general" - Yonhap
Wednesday June 30, 2010 08:45:48 GMT
(Description of Source: Seoul Yonhap in English -- Semiofficial news
agency of the ROK; URL: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
21) Back to Top
Nigeria Records 4,000 Research Works on Traditional Medicine
Xinhua: "Nigeria Records 4,000 Research Works on Traditional Medicine" -
Wednesday June 30, 2010 08:45:46 GMT
ABUJA, June 30 (Xinhua) -- About 4,000 research works on traditional
medicine have been documented in Nigeria, an official with the Natural
Medi cine Development Agency (NNMDA) has said.
Director General of the agency Tamunoibuomi Okujagu disclosed this in
Abuja on Tuesday, adding that the documentation is done in line with
procedures of the World Health Organization (WHO).The volume of one of the
collations, which contains 1,050 abstracts and covers researches from 1970
to 2004 has been completed and published, Okujagu said, noting that
compilations for subsequent volumes are in progress.He said there is
urgent need to collate, document and preserve the researches and knowledge
on traditional medicine to avoid the extinction of some species to retain
the knowledge from generation to generation."WHO acknowledges this growing
need and potential of natural medicine and continues to encourage and
support its promotion, documentation, research and development through
several initiatives," he told reporters.According to Okujagu, the African
Union, in recognition of the vast potential of traditional medici ne and
its immense contribution to health, and poverty alleviation, has directed
that research on African traditional medicine should be made priority.He
said other African nations such as Zambia, South Africa, Ghana, Egypt and
Morocco have keyed into the initiatives and maintained specific
institutional mandates to fast-track the coordination of research and
development, promotion and documentation of traditional medicine.He said
traditional medicine records global trade of about 100 billion U.S.
dollars annually, adding that China and India usually record between 2 to
5 billion dollars while Germany records 1.2 billion dollars annually."In
view of the vast healthcare delivery and economic potential of traditional
medicine, countries like China, India and Germany who had developed their
traditional health system have supported agencies and universities on
researches into traditional medicine, " Okujagu added."The WHO estimated
that annual complementary and al ternative medicine expenditure stand at
80 million dollars, 2.4 billion dollars and 2.3 billion dollars for
Australia, Canada and Britain respectively," the official
said.(Description of Source: Beijing Xinhua in English -- China's official
news service for English-language audiences (New China News Agency))
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
22) Back to Top
ROK Trade Minister Says ROK Not to Revise Free Trade Deal With US
Updated version: Upgrading and refiling to replace 0258 GMT text with
source-supplied update of 0513 GMT and at 0618 GMT, which clarifies quotes
in graf 11, adds more details in grafs 13-14, and last graf. Yonhap
headline: "S. Korea not to revise free trade deal with U.S. (ATTN: ADDS
more details throughout)" - Yonhap
Wednesday June 30, 2010 07:04:43 GMT
(Description of Source: Seoul Yonhap in English -- Semiofficial news
agency of the ROK; URL: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
23) Back to Top
Indian PM returns after attending G20 summit in Canada - PTI News Agency
Wednesday June 30, 2010 07:06:56 GMT
Text of report by Indian news agency PTINew Delhi, 29 June: Prime Minister
of India Manmohan Singh returned home Tu esday night after attending the
G20 summit in Canada where he met world leaders, including US President
Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron.Singh arrived here
this evening from Toronto after a brief halt in Frankfurt.During his
two-day visit in Toronto, the Prime Minister, besides attending the G20
summit, also signed a landmark civil nuclear agreement with Canada.The PM
attended the meeting of G20 leaders who discussed the global economic
crisis and stimulus measures by governments and the need to sustain the
economic stimulus.Besides Obama and Cameron, Singh also met French
President Nicholas Sarkozy, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Canadian
Prime Minister Stephen Harper.(Description of Source: New Delhi PTI News
Agency in English )
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of Comme
24) Back to Top
Ethiopians in Canada rally in support of government - ENA Online
Wednesday June 30, 2010 07:49:36 GMT
Text of report in English by state-owned Ethiopian news agency ENA
websiteCanada, June 29, 2010 (Addis Ababa) - Ethiopians and Ethiopian
origins residing in Canada held a rally in support of developmental
activities by the government of Ethiopia.Nearly 200 demonstrators gathered
from all Canadian territories and rallied despite heavy rain, according to
Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA).The demonstrators chanted
slogans that conveyed their good wishes for the development of
Ethiopia.They appreciated the role played by Ethiopia to the African cause
and interests at international fora.Some of the demonstrators told ERTA's
reporter on the spot that they were proud of the development activities
carried out by the Ethiopian government.They also expressed their
gratitude to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi for his outstanding role in
continental and global fora.They said the participation of the Ethiopian
diaspora living in Canada in various investment sectors in Ethiopia has
been increasing. Many others are doing their level best to follow
suit.Some Eritrean citizens who participated in the rally said Ethiopia
was playing an important role that could benefit East African
countries.Eritreans joined the demonstration to welcome Prime Minister
Meles according to a report filed by ERTA.(Description of Source: Addis
Ababa ENA Online in English -- Website of the state-controlled Ethiopian
News Agency; URL: http://www.ena.gov.et)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
25) Back to Top
Iran Responds To G8 Statement - Iranian Labor News Agency
Wednesday June 30, 2010 07:17:05 GMT
the recent statement of the Group 8 has been issued without considering
the existing realities.
In a meeting in Canada, the G8 leaders Saturday claimed that they were
concerned by Iran's "continued lack of transparency" regarding its nuclear
activities and its stated intention to continue and expand enriching
uranium.Mehmanparast said the group considers the Resolution 1929 (2010)
as a matter of concern while the international community is concerned
about the Zionist regime's crimes and the silence of the UN Security
Council over the crimes.The support of the 118 member Non-Aligned Movement
(NAM) body for IRI's peaceful nuclear activities ind icates that a few
certain countries which possess nuclear weapons are misusing the UN
Security Council."Their claims regarding lack of transparency in IRI's
peaceful nuclear activities does not comply with constant presence of the
International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) inspectors in our country's
nuclear installations and the Agency's cameras which record all activities
in the nuclear sites round the clock," he added."While Iran has always
announced its readiness for entering negotiations based on mutual respect
and justice," he said, "the G8 claim that it imposes sanctions against the
Iranian nation so as to convince the country's officials to enter
negotiations is a baseless one."He described Tehran Declaration as a base
for negotiations and an opportunity for the other sides to show their
goodwill.Concerning an article in the G8 final statement which deals with
human rights in Iran, the Foreign Ministry Spokesman said while they
remain s ilent towards the Zionist regime's crimes in attacking the
Gaza-bound aid flotilla, their claim about Iran's internal situation seems
ridiculous.Mehmanparast advised the G8 member states to observe the other
nation's rights.(Description of Source: Tehran Iranian Labor News Agency
in English -- moderate conservative news agency; generally supports
government policy, but publishes some items reflecting non-official views,
such as interviews with 2009 presidential candidate Musavi; operates under
the supervision of the Labor House and has links to the pro-Rafsanjani
Kargozaran (Executives of Construction); www.ilna.ir)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
26) Back to Top
ROK Trade Ministe r Says ROK Not to Revise Free Trade Deal With US
Updated version: Upgrading and refiling to replace 0258 GMT text with
source-supplied update of 0513 GMT. Yonhap headline: "S. Korea not to
revise free trade deal with U.S. (ATTN: ADDS more details throughout)" -
Wednesday June 30, 2010 06:10:55 GMT
(Description of Source: Seoul Yonhap in English -- Semiofficial news
agency of the ROK; URL: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of
27) Back to Top
Cabinet Approves Immediate Sale of Chiadzwa Diamonds
Report by Takunda Maodza: "Cabinet Okays Diam ond Sales" - The Herald
Wednesday June 30, 2010 06:29:07 GMT
(Description of Source: Harare The Herald Online in English -- Website of
state-owned daily that frequently acts as a mouthpiece for ZANU-PF and
nominally distributed nationwide; URL: http://www.herald.co.zw)
Material in the World News Connection is generally copyrighted by the
source cited. Permission for use must be obtained from the copyright
holder. Inquiries regarding use may be directed to NTIS, US Dept. of