Hourly News updated 14:00 2011/11/08

 Premier 1 Wen calls for closer regional ties

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has proposed greater cooperation with Shanghai Cooperation Organization members and said China will continue to offer funding for key projects.
Addressing the SCO prime ministers' meeting in St. Petersburg, Wen Jiabao said China hopes to help boost cooperation in trade, finance, transport, agriculture and health. 
The prime ministers of the six member countries adopted a joint 2 declaration on the economic situation, both globally and in the SCO. They also signed several agreements, including a mid-term development strategy of SCO Union Pay.
The SCO groups China, Russia and the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
 
 
7.0-magnitude quake hits East China Sea: CENC
An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale jolted 3 East China Sea at 11am this morning.
According to the China Earthquake Networks Center, the epicenter was at a depth of 220 km.
The quake was felt in cities in east China's Fujian and Zhejiang Provinces.
There's no immediate 4 report on damage or casualties.
 
 
Australia's carbon tax passes parliament
The Australian federal government's carbon pricing legislation has been passed by the Senate, clearing the way for the plan to take effect from July next year.
The carbon laws will force the top 500 polluting companies to pay a 24.5-US-dollar a tonne price for carbon emissions 5 in an effort to fight climate change.
Australia accounts for 1.5 percent of global emissions, but is the developed world's highest emitter per capita due to a reliance on fossil-fuel coal to generate electricity.
 
 
Jury reaches verdict in Michael Jackson doctor's manslaughter case
Michael Jackson's personal physician has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a jury in California.
Conrad Murray showed no emotion as the guilty verdict was read out in court in Los Angeles.
"Doctor Murray's reckless conduct in this case poses a demonstrable risk to the safety of the public. If doctor Murray remains 6 out of custody 7 on bond and even though doctor Murray is a medical doctor and even though he has been practicing, public safety demands that he be remanded."
The jury has determined 8 that Murray acted recklessly in administering a sedative 9 to Michael Jackson which ultimately led to his death in the summer of 2009.
Murray could face up to 4-years in prison, and has been remanded into custody to await sentencing.
 
 
Nicaragua's President Ortega wins re-election
Nicaragua's incumbent 10 president Daniel Ortega has won a landslide 11 re-election in Sunday's polls.
Election authorities say Ortega, candidate of the ruling Sandinista National Liberation Front, obtained nearly 63 percent of the votes, with ballots 12 counted in 86 percent of polling stations in the Central American nation. 
His closest rival Fabio Gadea of the Independent Liberal Alliance had 31 percent.
Gadea has refused to concede defeat, calling the elections an "unheard-of fraud."
 
 
Silvio Berlusconi denies resignation rumors 13
Italian Prime Ministger Silvio Berlusconi is denying reports that he is about to step down, saying the rumors were "baseless." 
Earlier, two journalists close to Berlusconi had reported that he was set to resign in hours. 
Berlusconi's government faces a possible defeat in a procedural vote on last year's budget report later on Tuesday. 
Meanwhile he is also scrambling 14 to gain enough support to pass urgent economic reforms demanded by the EU.
 
 
U.S., Bolivia agree to resume full diplomatic relations
Bolivia and the United States have agreed to resume full diplomatic relations three years after the Bolivian government expelled the U.S. ambassador and anti-drug personnel for allegedly inciting 15 anti-government sentiment.
The two sides have signed a joint statement to establish a framework for restoring relations at ambassadorial level. 
They agreed to return ambassadors to the respective capitals as soon as possible.
 
 
China moves to beef up lending to small firms
China's banking 16 regulator says 28 percent of all outstanding loans by September went to the country's small and micro-sized enterprises.
This came as China implemented 17 a slew 18 of measures to guide banks to loan more to those cash-strapped companies.
The China Banking Regulatory Commission says such loans totaled 14.75 trillion yuan or 2.3 trillion US dollars by the end of September.
Small and micro-sized firms create about 80 percent of the nation's jobs.
 
 
China has over 48,000 centenarians
China has more than 48,000 centenarians, according to a survey published by the China Gerontological Society.
It shows on July 1, the number of people over 100 years old living on the Chinese mainland stood at 48,921, an increase of more than 5,200 from last year's figure.