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Monday, August 11, 2008
News
Monday, August 11, 2008
125 dead, missing after storms hit northern Vietnam Agence France-Presse
AP Photo/Xinhua, Shen Qiao
In this photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, police officers clean the bombing site in the compound of the public security station in Kuqa County, northwest China’s Xinjiang Ugyur Autonumous Region, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008.
Police attacked in China’s Muslim northwest Agence France-Presse
BEIJING - Security forces killed five attackers who bombed a police station in China’s mainly Muslim far northwest on Sunday, state media said, in the latest violence there to coincide with the Olympics. Explosions shook the remote city of Kuqa while it was still dark on Sunday morning, with the assailants targetting the police station and a government office, Xinhua news agency reported. Two policemen and a security guard were injured in the bombings, while security personnel killed five attackers, according to Xinhua, which was the only official source in tightly controlled China for details of the incident. The violence was the latest to rock the region of Xinjiang, a vast area in China’s northwest that borders central Asia, where Islamic separatists have vowed to stage attacks in an effort to wreck the Beijing Olympics. In one of the deadliest attacks in China in years, two alleged Muslim militants using explosives and knifes to attack policemen out jogging in the Xinjiang town of Kashgar on August 4, leaving 16 dead and 16 wounded. China blamed that attack, which occurred four days before the start of the Games, on Islamic militant Uighur separatists.
Xinjiang has about 8.3 million ethnic Muslim Uighurs, many of whom express anger at what they say has been decades of repressive Communist Chinese rule. Two short-lived East Turkestan republics emerged in Xinjiang in the 1930s and 1940s, when Chinese central government control was weakened by civil war and Japanese invasion. China has repeatedly accused Uighur militants of the banned East Turkestan Islamic Movement of plotting attacks on the Olympics and has implemented sweeping security in Xinjiang and in Beijing in the lead-up the Games. The army and police quickly imposed heavy security in Kuqa, which has a population of about 400,000, following Sunday’s violence, according to Xinhua and a local resident. “Don’t come today, the town centre is closed,” a receptionist at the Kuqa Hotel told AFP by phone. Kuqa is about 740 kilometres (460 miles) from Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang, and over 3,000
kilometres (1800 miles) from Beijing. Uighur separatists in Xinjiang have released two video statements threatening to attack the Olympics. But Olympic organisers sought to reassure the hundreds of thousands of foreigners in China to attend the Games that Sunday’s attack should be of no concern for them. “I do not believe this will have an impact on the Olympic Games... I do not think it is related to the Olympics,” Wang Wei, vice president of the organising committee for the Games, told reporters in Beijing. He emphasised that security had already been stepped up in Xinjiang. Chinese authorities on Friday announced they had stepped up controls on religious figures and potential “trouble-makers” in Kashgar to guard against future incidents. Critics say China’s communist rulers have exaggerated the security threat in Xinjiang and elsewhere to justify the repression of unhappy minorities such as the Uighurs.
Peaceday...
attention of the children and their education. The young generation will struggle for the peace of their country and the world. In the event, tenths of Voss’s students who came from all over the world sang spiritual songs about world peace accompanied by guitar, percussion, and violin. According to Voss, simple word can make us realize that we can gain something. Together we are strong and quietly we can overcome the limitation in life. Meanwhile, Anak Agung Rai, the
founder of Arma Museum said that his museum had become the bridge of the cultural relathionship between the east and the west. “even tough Bali is a small island but it is one of the main attraction in the world. Because of that, if there someone from the west wanted to find the eastern part of the world then we would like to facilitate them,” added Mr. Rai The event was attended by the newly elected Bali’s Governor Made Mangku Pastika and other Balinese priests.
From page 1 However, often happen that the human born today was filled with holes and patches which made us hate other and always made us want to fight. Mr. Voss explained, “It needed understanding of spiritual things so our clothes will become clean.” Furthermore, if a country want to be peaceful then the country must pay
HANOI - At least 125 people were dead or missing in mountainous northern Vietnam on Sunday after heavy rains brought by tropical storm Kammuri triggered widespread flash floods and landslides. Thousands of troops, police and emergency services were rushed to flooded towns in the poor and heavily deforested region to deliver drinking water, food and medicines to people stranded on the roofs of their houses. By early Sunday, two days after the rains first hit the area, 86 people were confirmed dead and 39 listed as missing, according to reports compiled by AFP from central and provincial emergency relief agencies. One train engine was overturned by floods, but no one was injured, on the railway line between the capital Hanoi and Lao Cai near the Chinese border, while the parallel highway was cut by landslides in several places. About 300 homes were destroyed and 3,500 damaged by the floods, which had also wiped out about 5,000
BUSINESS
hectares (12,000 acres) of crops, authorities said. “We have mobilised all forces, including the military and police, to overcome the effects of the floods,” Bui Quang Vinh, Communist Party chief of the worst-hit Lao Cai province, told state broadcaster VTV by telephone. “We are trying to get to the flood victims, bury the dead and provide medical treatment to the injured,” he said, adding that the family of each person killed would receive three million dong (175 dollars). At least 36 people were killed and 31 remained missing in Lao Cai, but officials said the toll could rise as some areas, including Bat Xat district, remained isolated due to blocked roads. “Many portions of road have been destroyed,” said Vinh. “Telecommunications cables have been cut. In some areas it takes half a day to walk from the local commune headquarters to the places were victims are stranded.” At least 29 people were killed and four were missing in Yen Bai province, five were dead in Phu Tho, and one was missing in Bac Kan.
New economic challenges for China hamper currency’s rise Agence France-Presse
SHANGHAI - At a time when the world’s top athletes strive to set records at the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese currency has unexpectedly put on hold its steady move towards new highs. Over the past nine trading days, the Yuan has declined against the US dollar six times, throwing into doubt the conventional wisdom that its strengthening was the inevitable result of China’s rise as an economic world power. “The current noticeable weakening in the Yuan has never happened before,” said Liu Dongliang, a Shenzhenbased foreign exchange analyst with China Merchants Bank. The markets appear to be betting that this is more than a short-term phenomenon. Non-deliverable forwards, which reflect expectations for future movements in the exchange rate, show a decidedly less bullish mood on the Chinese currency. While in March, non-deliverable forwards still implied a forecast of an 11.5 percent strengthening of the Yuan against the dollar; it has now fallen to a modest 3.4 percent, according to
Georgia... From page 1 Russian jets have been roaming Georgia’s skies since Friday. They raided several air bases and bombed the Black Sea port city of Poti, which has a sizable oil shipment facility. The Russian warplanes also struck near the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline which carries Caspian crude to the West, but no supply interruptions have been reported. U.S. President George W. Bush called for an end to the Russian bombings and an immediate halt to the violence. “The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia. They mark a dangerous escalationin the crisis,” Bush said in a statement to reporters while attending the Olympic Games in Beijing. Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili called it an “unprovoked brutal Russian invasion.” A Russian raid on Gori near South Ossetia Saturday which apparently targeted a military base on the town’s outskirts left numerous civilian casualties. An Associated Press reporter who visited the town shortly after the strike saw several apartment buildings in ruins, some still on fire, and scores of dead bodies and bloodied civilians. The elderly, women and children were among the victims. Russian officials said they weren’t targeting civilians, but Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Georgia brought the airstrikes upon itself by bombing civilians and Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia. He warned that the small Caucasus country should expect more attacks. “Whatever side is used to bomb civilians and the positions of peace-
keepers, this side is not safe and they should know this,” Lavrov said. Saakashvili on Saturday proposed a cease-fire, but Russia said it wants Georgia to first pull its troops from South Ossetia and sign a pledge not to use force against the breakaway province. The diplomatic standoff continued Saturday in the U.N. Security Council, which met for the third time since late Thursday night to try to help resolve the situation. Another meeting requested by Georgia was scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Georgia, a U.S. ally whose troops have been trained by American soldiers, launched the major offensive to regain control over South Ossetia overnight Friday. Heavy rocket and artillery fire and air strikes pounded the provincial capital, Tskhinvali. Lavrov told reporters Saturday that some 1,500 people had been killed in South Ossetia since Friday, with the death toll rising. The figures could not be independently confirmed. But Tskhinvali residents who survived the bombardment by hiding in basements and later fled the city estimated that hundreds of civilians had died. They said bodies were lying everywhere. Utiashvili, the Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman, said the Georgian troops were still in control of Tskhinvali on Sunday morning but added that Russian troops were attacking the city from several directions. A Russian general said Saturday that his troops had driven the Georgian troops out of the city, but another Russian officer, Maj. Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov, admitted in televised remarks Sunday that the fighting in the city was continuing.
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AP Photo/Richard Vogel
A gas station attendant lowers gas prices at a filling station in Los Angeles on Saturday, Aug. 9,2008. The average price of a gallon of self-serve regular gasoline has dropped in Los Angeles County for 32 consecutive days, falling 48.9 cents since hitting a record high, the Oil Price Information Service reported today.
Oil sinks on stronger dollar, slips below $116 Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Oil prices resumed their descent Friday, dropping briefly below $116 a barrel as a huge jump in the U.S. dollar and expectations of slowing global demand offset supply concerns over a sabotaged pipeline in Turkey. Light, sweet crude for September delivery slumped $3.47 to $116.55 a barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after dipping as low as $115.61. Prices for gasoline, heating oil and natural gas also dropped. In London, September Brent crude plunged $3.93 to $113.93 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Many analysts have pointed to the $117-a-barrel mark for crude oil as technically significant - a move below this level suggests, they say, that oil’s recent slide is more than a brief pullback. Crude peaked at $147.27 on July 11. With the dollar launching a massive rebound against the euro and yen after the European Central Bank and the Bank of England both left their benchmark interest rates unchanged, energy traders found reason to sell - especially since the ECB indicated that there probably wouldn’t be any more rate hikes to come. Higher interest rates make a country’s currency more attractive to invest in.
Capital Economics, a London-based consultancy. Although the US dollar has generally strengthened on a global scale, this may only be part of the explanation of why the Yuan has weakened. Subtle changes in the economic conditions facing China may be the real reason, according to economists. “We attribute it to the shift in domestic policy — the central bank has adjusted its policy for a slower speed in appreciation,” said China Merchant Bank’s Liu. The central bank statement, issued last month, said it would “use various monetary policy tools to create good conditions for stable, relatively fast growth,” while mentioning in passing that “upward pressure on prices is clear.” This was a change from the firstquarter report in which the central bank had placed its priorities squarely on fighting inflation, and it reflected
changes in macroeconomic dynamics. China’s economy expanded by 10.4 percent in the first half and 10.1 percent in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said earlier this month, down from growth of 11.9 percent recorded for all of 2007. Growth in the consumer price index peaked at 8.7 percent in February — nearly a 12-year high — but softened to a more manageable 7.1 percent in June. This removed some of the rationale for a continued strengthening of the yuan, which had been to ease inflation by lowering the prices of imported goods. At the same time, a slowdown in the rise of the yuan might comfort the export sector, which is suffering from the weakened global economy. In the first half of the year, the trade surplus declined nearly 12 percent from the same period in 2007.
Spain facing worse economic slowdown than expected
Agence France-Presse
MADRID - The Spanish economy, long a motor of growth and job creation in the eurozone, is facing a deeper and faster-thanexpected slowdown as the impact of the end of a property boom spreads to other sectors. “The economy is decelerating sharply, the correction in the construction sector is still ongoing, and the outlook for the near to medium term is rather bleak,” investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a report issued last week. “We believe the deterioration of Spain is just in the beginning stages,” it added, predicting “the bulk of the pain will be suffered in 2009.” Last month Economy Minister Pedro Solbes slashed the government’s economic growth forecast for this year and the next from 2.3 percent to 1.6 and 1.0 percent respectively. The Spanish economy, the fourth-largest in the eurozone, began to stumble last year as rising interest rates and the international
credit crunch put the brakes on a decade-long property boom. The country is especially vulnerable to higher lending costs because the majority of mortgages have variable rates and the housing sector accounts for a much larger share of the economy than in the rest of the European Union. One desperate Spaniard who could no longer pay the mortgage on a Madrid flat he bought in 2005 tried to dispose of it through an Internet lottery in May before authorities pulled the plug on the venture because it lacked the proper authorization. Last month Martinsa-Fadesa became the first major Spanish property developer to seek bankruptcy protection from creditors since the property boom ended and industry analysts expect more firms will follow its lead. The slump in the property sector has fuelled a sharp rise in unemployment which, combined with rising food and fuel prices, has hurt consumer confidence and retail sales. New car sales plunged 27.5 percent in July from the same time last year, the third consecutive monthly drop in
sales of over 20 percent, according to Spanish automobile manufacturers’ association ANFAC figures. Retail sales fell 7.9 percent in June in calendar-adjusted terms from the same time last year, its worst plunge since Spain began registering the results in 2004. The drop is putting the squeeze on many multinationals whose results had been boosted until recently by Spain’s credit-fuelled expansion. Last month British cellphone operator Vodafone, Europe’s largest mobile operator, warned that its results would suffer in 2008 due to the sharp slowdown in Spain. British luxury goods group Burberry have told shareholders that Spain has become a “very complicated market” while Coca-Cola has reported a drop in sales in Spain. The number of registered unemployed in Spain rose by 1.5 percent in July from the previous month to a 10-year high of 2.43 million, with nearly two of every three layoffs taking place in the construction sector.