News & Reports 2012-07-15

 Hello and Welcome to News and Reports on China Radio International.

 
In This Edition
 
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urges transition to civilian rule in Egypt after meeting with President Mohamed Mursi in Cairo.
Spanish government approves new sweeping austerity measures that include wage cuts and tax increases despite protests.
The US banking giant JPMorgan Chase says a bad trade has cost the bank 6 billion dollars.
And African leaders meet in Addis Ababa to discuss conflicts amid rising tension.
 
Hot Issue Reports
 
Clinton Urges Transition to Civilian Rule in Egypt
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed Washington's support for Egypt's transition to civilian rule after meeting with President Mohamed Mursi in Cairo.
 
"The president and I discussed the importance of keeping Egypt's democratic transition moving forward and I commended him on his pledge to serve all Egyptians, including women and minorities, and to protect the rights of all Egyptians. The United States supports the full transition to civilian rule with all that entails and we have commended the SCAF for representing the Egyptian people in the revolution."
 
Clinton's visit came as Egypt is in the throes of domestic political chaos, with Mursi in a tug of war with the military leadership. Mursi doesn't have his own Cabinet in place, and there is no parliament.
 
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, formally handed power to the elected president at the end of last month. But the military assumed legislative powers after it dissolved parliament, and continues to wield that power until a new parliament is sworn in.
 
Clinton's visit in Cairo also triggered some anti-U.S. protesters gathering outside Egypt's Presidential Palace as she spoke with President Mursi.
 
The protesters said that they were opposed to what they claim Washington's efforts to control and perhaps divide Egypt.
 
"Hillary Clinton has come to America's dictate on Mursi, in order to carry out their orders, whether to do with the formation of a government, or to surrender land in the north of Sinai to Hamas and settle the Palestinians there, so that Israel can take all of Palestine's land. And we cannot accept that."
 
Clinton is the most senior U.S. official to meet with President Mursi, a member of the long-oppressed Muslim Brotherhood movement to be inaugurated as president two weeks ago.
 
US Diplomat Visits Tripoli, Affirming Support for Transition
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns has met with Libya's interim Prime Minister Abdurrahim el-Keib in Tripoli to discuss bilateral relations.
 
The flash visit came one week after Libyans voted for a national congress, which will be the country's first elected authority since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi last year.
 
Burns told a news conference that his discussions with the Libyan official were thorough and fruitful.
 
"They included the area of security, the efforts that the United States, the United Nations, other international partners are making to support Libyan efforts to improve border security management, the efforts that we and other international partners can continue to make to support the Libyan leadership's efforts to integrate militias and we talked about a range of other areas in which we want to build on existing co-operation, in education and health."
 
Burns also met members of the Justice and Construction Party, an Islamist party launched by the Muslim Brotherhood, and was due to meet with representatives of the National Forces Alliance, a liberal coalition.
 
Libya's electoral commission is still tallying votes and it remains unclear which of the two groups will have the most seats in the next congress.
 
Mass Protest in Pakistan Against Reopening of NATO Supply Lines
Thousands of demonstrators have rallied in Pakistan to protest the government's decision to re-open supply lines for U.S. led NATO troops in Afghanistan.
 
A protester named Imran Khan urged the government to pull out of a war that does not belong to Pakistan.
 
"I ask the Pakistani government to pull out of America's war. This is not our war. Is this our war? This is not Pakistan's war."
 
Khan added that the people of Waziristan were Pakistanis and were innocent victims of the US war on terror and drone strikes.
 
"I ask my government to tell the names of those who are murdered in drone attacks. Who are they? They are Pakistani citizens. It is the responsibility of the Pakistani government to protect their lives and property."
 
Meanwhile, hundreds of supporters of hard-line religious groups kicked off a rally which they called a 'long march', from the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta to the border town of Chaman to protest the reopening of the supply route.
 
Pakistan suspended NATO supply routes to Afghanistan last November after a cross-border NATO air attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. They were re-opened last week after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologised for the strike.
 
Wedding Bomb Kills 23 in Afghanistan
A suicide attack has killed a prominent Afghan lawmaker and at least 22 others at a wedding party in the northern Afghan city of Aybak.
 
Ahmad Khan Samangani is an ethnic Uzbek and anti-Soviet guerrilla leader in the 1980s who later became a member of parliament.
 
He was welcoming guests to his daughter's wedding when the bomber blew himself up in the capital of Samangan province.
 
About 60 people, including government officials, were injured.
 
Many of them were treated in hospital.
 
Doctor Mohammad Mansoor is Head of Samangan Provincial Health Department.
 
"The Afghan National Army and local residents brought around 60 casualties here to this hospital, from which 14 were dead and the rest of them were wounded."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned the bombing, saying it was "carried out by the enemies of Afghanistan."
 
He ordered a team from Kabul to fly to the province to investigate.
 
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.
 
But the Taliban said in May that they would continue to target those who back the Karzai government and the US-led international military coalition.
 
Spain Approves Austerity despite Protests
Spain's government approved new sweeping austerity measures that include wage cuts and tax increases despite protests.
 
Spain is under pressure to get its public finances on track after securing an EU bailout for its troubled banks.
 
The new austerity measures have triggered protests on the streets as the country is struggling under a recession and an unemployment rate of nearly 25 percent.
 
But Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Saenz de Santamaria stresses that the austerity scheme is crucial for the country's economic recovery.
 
"We have to make an effort to consolidate our fiscal situation by cutting spending and increasing tax revenue. We do not have any other alternative than to try and fill in the hole in our public finances, which is pulling down our hopes of growth."
 
The latest package of measures aims to chop 65 billion euros off the budget deficit through 2015, the biggest deficit-reduction plan in recent Spanish history.
 
The conservative government has come under mounting criticism that the austerity measures are hitting the middle and working classes the hardest.
 
JPMorgan Reports $6 Bln Losses
The US banking giant JPMorgan Chase says that a bad trade has cost the bank some 6 billion US dollars this year, almost triple its original estimate.
 
The bank says managers tied to the bad trade has been dismissed without severance pay and that it planned to revoke two years' worth of pay from each of those executives.
 
Mike Cavanagh is a JPMorgan Chase executive overseeing the trading loss.
 
"All of the managers in London with direct responsibility for synthetic credit portfolio are now separated from the firm. None are receiving severance and no 2012 incentive compensation."
 
The bank said an internal investigation had called into question the values that traders had placed on certain predictions, and that the traders may have been seeking to mask losses.
 
JPMorgan Chief executive Jamie Dimon says the bank management will try to fix its problems.
 
"I can tell you this has shaken our company to the core, and what happened here was that most of our management team went back and said lets re-double our efforts to make sure we are running a great company."
 
Dimon's original estimate of the loss, disclosed in May, was two billion US dollars.
 
JPMorgan was viewed as the top American bank just three months ago. But since the disclosure of the trading loss in May, that reputation has been eroded.
 
A Dozen Trapped in Debris of Collapsed Building in Alexandria
Nearly a dozen people remained trapped under the rubble of several buildings in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria after a newly constructed apartment building collapsed.
 
Witnesses said a fourteen-storey building in the city collapsed on top of another residential building as well as a bakery, trapping eleven people under the wreckage of all three structures.
 
Some residents complained the delay of the emergency rescue services.
 
"A new building collapsed with the residents still inside, and we have been waiting for four hours for the emergency services to arrive."
 
Building collapses are common in Egypt because of lax building standards and poor maintenance.
 
100 Plus Killed in Nigeria Fuel Tanker Explosion
More than 100 people are feared dead, and many others are injured from a tanker truck explosion in southeast Nigeria early Thursday morning.
 
Spokesperson for the state police, Ben Ugwuegbulam, confirmed the incident. He said the petrol-carrying tanker crashed into three other vehicles, and a crowd gathered around the truck to pilfer fuel after the blast occurred.
 
More than 80 bodies have been recovered from the site so far.
 
The Nigerian government has given a mass burial to most of the victims from the accident.
 
Some witnesses recalled what had happened.
 
"The engine was very hot, so the driver was telling them that they should leave that place and that the tanker would explode. But they refused; they were still going inside."
 
The witness added that the people didn't report the accident to the authorities immediately.
 
Stealing fuel from an oil pipeline or taking oil from an oil tanker truck is very common in Nigeria, Africa's leading oil producer.
 
The past few years have seen a string of pipeline explosions, with each killing at least a dozen people.
 
AU Member Countries to Jointly Develop Trade & Infrastructure
African leaders have vowed to step up cooperation in developing regional trade and infrastructure at the ongoing African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
 
AU Commission Director of Trade and Industry Treasure Maphanga said that getting African countries to trade among each other is a huge task, one that requires commitment from all parties.
 
"We have an action plan that has been adopted in boosting inter-African trade, which covers a number of essential pillars, which would make this a reality, ranging from trade policy, trade facilitation, trade-related infrastructure and building. This is because we know it is critical to build our competitiveness as a continent."
 
Maphanga added that without regional trade, investment and the accelerated hastening of economic self-reliance, there would be no progress in African integration.
 
"Our focus on boosting intra-African trade does not mean that we are now neglecting the importance of international trade. And in fact, trade has been on the increase, so we as a continent see China as an important partner and South to South trade is a great vehicle for us to move forward."
 
The theme for this summit is "boosting intra-African trade", over which heads of state have been thrashing out ideas aimed at developing the continent.
 
An African Free Trade Area, a 26-nation bloc that will constitute 58 percent of the continent's GDP and 57 percent of its population, is expected to be operational by the end of 2017.
 
China, now Africa's top trade partner, has invested nearly 15 billion dollars in Africa through FDI.
 
Mexico & US Hold Chemical Emergency Drill
Mexican environmental officials had a drill to simulate a chemical emergency to train the government's response.
 
The exercises, which was held in several border cities, included local, state and federal authorities, hospitals, and members of Mexico's Armed Forces, as well as American authorities from across the border.
 
The exercise simulated a traffic accident involving a vehicle containing toxic chlorine gas.
 
In Nuevo Leon, the state's Civil Protection Director, Jorge Camacho, said that the drill was an excellent opportunity to identify aspects of the government's response which needs to be improved.
 
"We think this is a good opportunity to see in which areas we can improve. The result was very positive as far as the emergency response. We experienced some realistic difficulties, such as mechanical failures and improperly functioning fire hydrants, but those were dealt with well. We think there are still areas in which we can improve."
 
The Colombia-Solidarity International Bridge, where one of the simulations was held, is one of four international bridges connecting Mexico with the city of Laredo, Texas.
 
Breakfast Nutrition Highlighted in an Educational Campaign in Beijing
Nowadays more people have come to understand that a healthy breakfast is crucial to their physical wellbeing. Yet, few know what makes for a healthy meal for breakfast. In light of this, some nutrition experts are offering advice to the general public during an ongoing educational campaign in east Beijing. CRI's Wei Tong has more.
 
There are a good number of licensed or unlicensed street vendors who sell breakfast items in Beijing. An elderly woman surnamed Li, who rushed to buy her breakfast - a fried egg filled pancake and a cup of soy bean milk - from an unlicensed street vendor, said she had just sent her granddaughter off to school and didn't want to waste too much time eating.
 
Mrs. Li said ever since she had retired, she usually ate breakfast at home rather than on the go.
 
"Since I was told I have a high cholesterol level, my doctor suggested a decrease in the intake of eggs. In addition to some bread, I usually have a black sesame dessert, soy bean milk or regular milk for my breakfast and eat very little fried food."
 
In fact, a popular breakfast item for Beijingers contains a combination of fried bread sticks and soy bean milk or steamed stuffed buns known as "baozi" and porridge.
 
Qiu Hua is the owner of a store in west Beijing that sells steamed stuffed buns for breakfast. He is proud that his steamed dumplings sell so well.
 
"Lots of people buy my steamed stuffed buns. People have realized the importance of eating breakfast, so now I offer more varieties of the breakfast buns, including green vegetable stuffed buns. The stuffing inside is all very fresh, and sometimes also contains eggs and meat."
 
But do fried bread sticks or "youtiao" make for a healthy breakfast? And is the nutritional value supplied by steamed stuffed buns enough to sustain a person's energy throughout the morning?
 
Wang Yvmei, a nutrition expert who researches nutritional formulas, took part in an educational campaign Friday in Beijing to inform the public of the importance of a healthy breakfast. She said a breakfast that is low in nutritional value leads to a lack of energy to support an entire morning of work or study.
 
"For instance, children often appear absentminded in class, but their parents have been unable to find out what's behind this phenomenon. I think the root cause in reality is a lack of a nutritional breakfast."
 
Bu Lijun, a guest professor at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences shares Wang's concern. She has made a proposal based on survey results about what constitutes a healthy breakfast.
 
"The result of my survey shows that Beijing residents, particularly white-collar workers, usually rush to purchase their breakfast from vendors who prepare food on the street, or else they only bring some bread with them. In fact, one's breakfast should contain four types of nutrition, namely grain, milk products, protein as well as vegetables and fruit."
 
But Bu adds that Beijingers do not have to abandon their tradition of eating steamed dumplings for breakfast.
 
"At least the steamed stuffed buns contain protein and grain. And it would be a perfect choice for breakfast if they complemented them with fruit, milk and a spoonful of protein powder."
 
The Chinese Nutrition Society estimates a person's daily nutritional intake should include 21 grams of protein during breakfast because the first meal of the day supplies 25 to 30 percent of the total energy needed for a day's activities.
 
For CRI, I'm Wei Tong.
 
Xinhua: South China Sea Not an ASEAN Issue
 
A week-long ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting concluded in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh on Friday without issuing a joint communiqué.
 
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong blames the failure on individual ASEAN members that were "taking the communiqué hostage and insisting on turning the 10-nation group to a tribunal."
 
Naming Vietnam and the Philippines, he said that some countries wanted to use strong language in the to-be-released document over their South China Sea disputes with China.
 
A commentary by China's Xinhua News Agency welcomed the stance of Cambodian Foreign Minister, saying that Phnom Penh meetings are not a proper platform for the South China Sea issue.
 
The commentary says that the South China Sea issue is not one between China and ASEAN, but an issue with countries like Vietnam and the Philippines.
 
It points out that the Phnom Penh meetings should focus on ways to boost mutual trust and cooperation among Southeast Asian nations.
 
The Xinhua commentary says that it is preferable and crucial that the Phnom Penh meetings keep to their agenda and leave the South China Sea issue to China and the specific ASEAN countries concerned.
 
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China Daily: Full Support for Annan's Initiative for Syria Needed
 
Clashes and protests broke out Friday as part of ongoing violence across Syria. The international mediator Kofi Annan said he was shocked by a massacre in a central Syrian town.
 
Annan announced earlier that he had agreed to a new approach with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to end the violence and that he would share it with the opposition forces as an effort to rekindle hope for a political solution in the Syrian crisis.
 
An editorial in the China Daily newspaper called for full support of Annan's new initiative and pressed all political forces in Syria to accept the peace solution as keeping the political dialogue rolling is the only hope of preventing more humanitarian disasters in the violence-ravaged country.
 
However, the editorial warned that pushing ahead with Annan's new approach would not be easy. To begin a dialogue and ignite the political process, belligerent parties need to stop fighting. It was the failure to realize a ceasefire that undermined Annan's previous peace plan.
 
The editorial also rebutted US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who accused Russia and China of placing obstacles in the Syrian issue, calling the accusations unwarranted and unjustifiable.
 
The China Daily editorial states that China is dedicated to safeguarding the UN Charter, international relations and the peace and stability of the region.