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| Asia : Chinese dissident's wife and activists welcome rights award |
By: amanger  9 November 2008 view: 55
Chinese dissident's wife and activists welcome rights award
(BEIJING) - The awarding of a major European human rights prize to jailed Chinese activist Hu Jia on Thursday is welcome foreign recognition of his and other campaigners' work, his wife and dissidents said.
"I think Hu Jia would be very happy because his work has now received everyone's validation," Zeng Jinyan, Hu's wife, told AFP by telephone.
The European Parliament awarded the prestigious Sakharov Prize to Hu for his years of efforts to highlight human rights abuses in communist-ruled China.
Hu, 35, won despite China warning that giving him the prize would damage ties with Europe, with the announcement coming one day ahead of a major summit in Beijing between Asian and European leaders.
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| Asia : China voices anger over EU rights prize for 'criminal' Hu |
By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 45
China voices anger over EU rights prize for 'criminal' Hu
(BEIJING) - China expressed its anger and disappointment at the European Union decision on Thursday to give a major human rights award to Chinese dissident Hu Jia, insisting he was a criminal.
The European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize to Hu, who is serving a three-and-a-half year jail term on charges of subversion, saying it was "a clear signal of support to all those who defend human rights in China."
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao described the EU move as "gross interference in China's domestic affairs".
"We express strong dissatisfaction at the decision by the European Parliament to issue such an award to a jailed criminal in China, in disregard of our repeated representations," Liu told reporters.
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| Asia : EU-Asia summit should seek release of Myanmar dissidents: MEPs |
By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 43
EU-Asia summit should seek release of Myanmar dissidents: MEPs
(STRASBOURG) - The European Parliament on Thursday called on Asian and European leaders meeting in Beijing this week to launch a joint appeal to the Myanmar junta for the release of all political prisoners there.
In a non-binding resolution, adopted unanimously by the 68 euro deputies still present at the end of a four-day sitting, the parliament denounced "the arbitrary charges behind the arrests of many dissidents and the harsh conditions of detention of political prisoners including widespread use of torture and hard labour."
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| Forex News : Need big rate cuts to avoid deep recession-BoE's Blanchflower |
By: inter01 9 November 2008 view: 58
Need big rate cuts to avoid deep recession-BoE's Blanchflower
By David Milliken
CANTERBURY, England, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The credit crisis could turn out to be more far-reaching even than the 1929 crash and big interest rate cuts are needed to avoid a deep recession, Bank of England policymaker David Blanchflower said on Wednesday.
Blanchflower, who has consistently been the most dovish member of the Bank's nine-member monetary policy committee, criticised his fellow policymakers for not being more forward looking and said inflationary pressures were now "clearly dissipating".
"My view remains that interest rates do need to come down significantly -- and quickly," Blanchflower told an academic audicence in Canterbury. "If rates are not cut aggressively we do face the prospect of a relatively deep and long-lasting recession."
Blanchflower said the energy price shock, which took oil prices to a record high of $147 a barrel in July, would be less damaging than that faced in the 1970s. In contrast, the international financial problems may turn out to be more severe.
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| Asia : US presses China to free EU prize-winning dissident |
By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 44
US presses China to free EU prize-winning dissident
(WASHINGTON) - Washington said Thursday it hopes Beijing will move to free Chinese dissident Hu Jia from prison, after the European Parliament awarded him a human rights prize on the eve of an EU-Asia summit.
"We are deeply concerned about the imprisonment of human rights activist Hu Jia and have pressed the Chinese authorities for his immediate release on many occasions and at the highest level," said State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid.
"We hope that the recognition the European Parliament has given Hu Jia by awarding him the prestigious Sakharov Prize will demonstrate to China's leaders the enormous esteem the international community holds for his important work as a human rights defender and that China will release him immediately."
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| Asia : Vietnam rejects EU criticism on human rights |
By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 44
Vietnam rejects EU criticism on human rights
(HANOI) - Vietnam's government on Friday rejected a European parliament resolution this week that accused the communist country of "systematic violation of democracy and human rights."
The resolution, passed by a 479-21 vote Wednesday, recommended that the European Union reassess its cooperation with Vietnam and said the human rights dialogue "must lead to tangible improvements in Vietnam."
Vietnam's Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung in an online statement praised recent cooperative EU-Vietnam relations and ongoing talks about a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement that would further improve bilateral ties.
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| Forex News : CHRONOLOGY-Financial crisis in October |
By: inter01 9 November 2008 view: 53
CHRONOLOGY-Financial crisis in October
Oct 29 (Reuters) - Here is a chronology of the global financial crisis in the last month:
Oct. 2 - Irish lawmakers vote to enact radical legislation guaranteeing Irish bank deposits and debts up to a total of 400 billion euros ($554 billion).
Oct. 3 - The U.S. House of Representatives passes a revised $700 billion U.S. bailout plan which will take toxic mortgage assets off financial companies.
-- Wells Fargo & Co says it has agreed to buy Wachovia Corp for about $16 billion, thwarting a planned Citigroup Inc deal announced on Sept. 29. However, Citigroup wins a court order on Oct. 4 blocking the deal until the court rules otherwise. The two remain locked in an intense battle.
-- The Dutch government buys Fortis for 16.8 billion euros ($23.28 billion). Belgium and Luxembourg scramble the next day to find a buyer for the remainder of the company.
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| Forex News : U.S. arms deals rose nearly 50 percent in 2007 |
By: inter01 9 November 2008 view: 77
U.S. arms deals rose nearly 50 percent in 2007
By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The value of worldwide U.S. arms deals soared nearly 50 percent last year to $24.8 billion from $16.7 billion in 2006, according to a newly released report for the U.S. Congress.
The United States accounted for 41.5 percent of all such agreements in 2007, followed by Russia, with $10.4 billion, or 17.3 percent, the Congressional Research Service said in the annual report dated Oct. 23.
Britain was third, with arms deals valued at $9.8 billion, up from $4.1 billion in 2006, said the report, titled "Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 2000-2007." The report is based on unclassified data from unspecified U.S. government sources.
Last year's 48.5 percent jump in U.S. arms deals "may be a high water mark for the foreseeable future because of the economic difficulties now confronting major purchasers," the report's author, Richard Grimmett, said in a telephone interview.
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| Asia : EU envoy urges lifting of Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest |
By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 52
EU envoy urges lifting of Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest
(ROME) - The European Union's Special Envoy for Myanmar, Italian Piero Fassino, called on the country's ruling junta Friday to release Aung San Suu Kyi on the thirteenth anniversary of her house arrest.
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| Asia : MEP expects SKorea-EU trade pact this year |
By: amanger 9 November 2008 view: 71
MEP expects SKorea-EU trade pact this year
(SEOUL) - South Korea and the European Union are expected to finalise a free trade agreement this year after narrowing their differences on key points, a visiting senior European legislator said Tuesday.
"All the signals we have received from our partners are very positive," said Hubert Pirker, leader of a European Parliament delegation on relations with Korea.
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