News & Reports 2012-07-07

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In This Edition
 
Pakistan says it will provide complete security to NATO supply convoys until NATO can make its own security arrangements.
WikiLeaks says it will release what it calls Syrian Files that will embarrass both Syrian political figures and the West.
Romanian lawmakers overwhelmingly vote to impeach the country's President Traian Basescu.
Chinese auto industry insiders call for efforts to promote home brands into high end market.
 
Hot Issue Reports
 
Pakistan to Provide Short-term Security for NATO Supply Convoys to Afghanistan
Pakistani government says it will provide complete security to all NATO supply convoys that are bound for Afghanistan by traveling across Pakistan until NATO can make its own security arrangements.
 
Rehman Malik, Pakistan's Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior affairs told the press that Inspectors-General of Police of all provinces had been directed to provide security cover to the convoys as they passed through their territories.
 
"In the past, NATO forces had made built-in arrangements and had allocated a lot of funds for the security of the NATO convoys. Our request to them is that they should make their own arrangements. But temporarily, we have given the responsibility to the Inspectors General of Police of the provinces through which the convoys will be passing. We are providing them this service for a few days."
 
The safety of the NATO convoys has been a concern in the past with Taliban militants often setting fire to vehicles destined for forces in Afghanistan.
 
The situation is graver since there is evidence to show that Pakistan Taliban is not only plotting attacks against the vehicles but also threatening to behead any drivers they could get their hands on.
 
Pakistan reopened the overland supply routes for NATO after U.S Secretary of State Hilary Clinton apologized earlier this week for a NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last November.
 
WikiLeaks Releasing "Syria Files"
WikiLeaks is releasing over 2 million emails from Syrian political figures, ministries and corporations.
 
WikiLeaks says the "groundbreaking" number of emails over the last 6 years will embarrass not only Syria but its opponents.
 
WikiLeaks spokeswoman Sarah Harrison.
 
"The Syria Files shine a light on the inner workings of the Syrian government and economy. But they also reveal how the West and Western companies say one thing and do another. The range of information extends from the intimate correspondence of the most senior Baath Party figures to records of financial transfers sent from Syrian ministries to other nations."
 
Some of the emails show foreign companies trying to get around US and UN sanctions on Syria.
 
They indicate that some companies were sending engineers and helicopter radio equipment to Syria as recently as February.
 
The emails are in several different languages.
 
The so-called "Syria Files" will be published over the next two months.
 
Romanian Lawmakers Vote Overwhelmingly to Impeach President
Romanian lawmakers have overwhelmingly voted to impeach the country's President Traian Basescu.
 
The move paved the way for a national referendum that could see the unpopular leader ousted from the top job he's held for eight years.
 
The vote of 256-114 in parliament came as Basescu and Prime Minister Victor Ponta have engaged in a bitter power struggle.
 
Basescu's opponents accused him of overstepping his authority by meddling with the prime minister's office and trying to influence judicial affairs.
 
However, not all agree that the impeachment is a step forward for Romanian democracy.
 
Stelian Tanase is Romanian political analyst.
 
"The leaders of the government coalition and the parliamentary majority rushed things too much. We have a parliamentary process with two elections this year which would have been enough for them to settle this conflict."
 
The president has vowed to use "all constitutional resources" to stay in office for his full five-year term, which ends in 2014.
 
A popular referendum on Basescu's fate will be held later this month.
 
Basescu was impeached in 2007 but survived a referendum.
 
Greek PM Outlines Crisis Policy
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has outlined his government's policy plan, focusing on the renegotiation of bailout terms with international lenders and the acceleration of structural reforms.
 
"We will do everything to change that which must change to fight recession, so that the country will meet its targets, so that we can get out of the crisis and the need for a bailout agreement, in order to change the state and our economy so that we will not ever need a bailout program again. But all of this will happen ensuring that our country remains within Europe and the euro."
 
Samaras made the remarks in the Greek parliament at the start of a three-day debate that will end on Sunday night.
 
Samaras stressed that one of the most important changes is the speeding up of privatisation in Greece. He argued for the abolition and merging of state agencies as an alternative measure to mass layoffs of civil servants that would worsen unemployment rates.
 
He also pledged policies that will restore liquidity and counter bureaucracy to attract investments. He called for changes in the political system, such as cutbacks on parties' funding and MPs' benefits, and an all-out war against tax evasion.
 
However, the policy plan has been criticized by the opposition as being unlikely to be carried out.
 
Greek parliament will debate the policy statement and hold a vote of confidence in the three-party coalition government on Sunday.
 
IMF Chief Pushes for More Reform in the Banking Sector
International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde says banks have failed to reform since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, setting back the global economic recovery:
 
"Are we safer today than at the time of the Lehman crisis? I would say not quite yet. Banking institutions, financial institutions in general have to concentrate on what is their core business, which is to finance the real economy."
 
Lagarde says the IMF's global growth forecasts have worsened in recent months and its next economic outlook, due to be published on July 16th, is likely to be lower than the fund's previous forecasts.
 
Lagarde also said a solution to the euro zone's problems would only be achieved with closer regional integration:
 
"From the IMF perspective, we believe more has to be done to really complete the architectural job of the euro zone. A monetary union, a banking union, followed by a fiscal union,"
 
Lagarde made the comments in her speech in Tokyo this Friday.
 
The IMF is due to hold its annual meeting in Tokyo in October, the first time Japan has hosted the summit in almost half a century.
 
Romney Denounces Obama for a Weak U.S. June Jobs Report
US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has pounced on a weak American jobs report on Friday.
 
Romney called the high unemployment a "kick in the gut" in a news conference to respond to the jobs report.
 
"... The President's policies have not gotten America working again and the President's going to have to stand up and take responsibility for it."
 
The monthly jobs report allowed Romney shift the campaign narrative away from healthcare, where he has struggled in recent days.
 
He had difficulty in reacting to a Supreme Court ruling last week that found Obama's overhaul of the U.S.healthcare system constitutional.
 
As a respond, President Barack Obama struck a positive note on jobs.
 
"We can't be satisfied" with the pace of U.S. hiring, following a weak monthly jobs report, but called the latest data on private sector job creation a step in the right direction. I want to get back to a time when middle class families and those working to get into the middle class have some basic security. That's our goal."
 
Obama also criticized his rival Romney's business experience, saying that he had supported outsourcing of American jobs.
 
Voters' concerns over a fragile economy and stubbornly high joblessness threaten Obama's re-election chances in November 6.
 
Mexican Electoral Fraud-5200LA
Mexican presidential runner-up Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has accused the winning Institutional Revolutionary Party, PRI, of taking advantage of the nation's poor to shore up president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto.
 
With 92 percent of polling stations counted, Pena Nieto is holding his lead at 38.4 percent of the national vote, seven points ahead of leftist Obrador.
 
Obrador pointed to the higher-than-average voter participation rates in PRI-governed areas.
 
"In the majority of areas where the PRI governs in rural areas, there is (voter) participation more than 62%. There was great civic participation, we are talking about very poor regions of the country, urban rural areas. There was an open, immoral and blatant trafficking of the poverty of the people."
 
Earlier this week, Obrador accused the PRI of distributing supermarket gift cards, whitegoods and a host of other items in exchange for votes.
 
As a response, officials from Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute announced they would hold a recount of more than half of the country's polling booths.
 
Final election results are expected to be confirmed on July 15.
 
US Plagued by Heat Wave
Heat wave has swept across parts of the United States. Capital Washington DC has suffered the record-breaking hot weather.
 
Meteorologists say it is a feat that has never happened in Washington, DC in 141 years of records when temperatures have exceeded 35 degrees Celsius for nine consecutive days.
 
Some local residents and tourists are plagued by the sweltering heat.
 
"Well I knew it was going to be hot, fetched and everything here. I'm from San Francisco so this is a big change from San Francisco summers."
 
"Man, it's a hot one I'll tell you. We biked up here and we were lucky to have a breeze off the water but man as soon as you stop moving it just bursts on you."
 
"Slightly more than bearable. I mean it's hot but it's been worse this week. As long as you are moving it's not too bad. It's the radiating here when you stop."
 
The heat is expected to radiate well into the weekend. Saturday the temperature in Washington, DC is expected to be hit 41 degrees Celsius which would tie the hottest day ever on record in the city since 1930.
 
The heat wave has also plagued mid-west America.
 
Taiga Fires Cover Several Siberian Cities in Russia
Raging wild fires in Siberia interrupted air traffic and filled several eastern Russian cities with smoke on Friday.
 
Local media reports say the fires were caused by drought and heat.
 
In Novosibirsk, smoke has affected the visibility in airports and many planes were re-routed to alternative airports.
 
"As we were approaching Novosibirsk, we were told that the Novosibirsk (airport) wasn't approving any landings and we had to wait in the waiting zone but moments later they announced that we were landing in the city of Barnaul (Altai region). Of course everybody was happy about it."
 
Another airport northeast of Novosibirsk was also temporarily closed, causing delays and leaving hundreds of passengers stranded.
 
Fires have frequently spread fast across vast Siberian forests in dry summer months in the past few years.
 
Cuba Vows to Keep Revolutionary Principles Alive
Cuba has taken the first step towards general elections scheduled for October.
 
A new electoral commission signed an oath, as president of Cuba's National Assembly, Ricardo Alarcon, urged it to defend revolutionary principles.
 
"It is up to the chosen representatives of the electoral committee to work with zeal, with dedication to guarantee that those principles of the Cuban Revolution not only survive, not only develop, but are applied each time with greater rigor, and are more exemplary, in a better way for everyone."
 
The October elections will choose delegates for municipal and provincial assemblies.
 
China Subsidizes E-waste Recycling
China has started amassing a special fund to subsidize the cost of dealing with consumer electronic waste.
 
Beginning this month, Chinese authorities will be levying fees on manufacturers and retailers of TV sets, washing machines, fridges, air conditioners, computers and other electronic goods.
 
Mu Jingxiang, deputy chief engineer at the China Electronics Engineering Design Institute, says the move is to establish a sound e-recycling system.
 
"Enterprises spend much more on e-waste disposal than small business operators, so the state must establish a recycling system to regulate the business, ensuring the second-hand electronic products and e-wastes flow to regular recyclers that are registered and approved by the state for treatment and dismantlement."
 
Tong Xin, associate professor at Peking University says something should be done to encourage more environmentally-sound practices by manufacturers.
 
"Incentives must be given to manufacturers to consider the costs of recycling and waste treatment in their designing and marketing of a new product. After accounting for the waste treatment cost, manufacturers will have to think about how to minimize this while developing their products. Consumer behavior also counts, and consumers need to be told where they should discard their used phones."
 
Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to discarded, disused electrical and electronic devices. It is the world's fastest growing type of waste with a five to eight percent increase annually.
 
Auto Insiders Calls for High End Development of Home Brands
Chinese auto industry insiders are calling for efforts to promote home brands into high end market.
 
Market shares of home brand cars drop to 27 percent in the first five months this year compared to 31 percent last year.
 
Shi Jianhua, Deputy Secretary General of China Association of Auto Manufacturers, believes home brand autos need upgrade in quality and service facing fierce competition with joint brands.
 
Shi also calls for more support from the government.
 
"Strategies in industry regulations and brand building are necessary to build a strong auto industry. At the same time, we hope the whole society support home brands with government officials leading to take home brand cars. "
 
China became the biggest auto market in 2009. Auto sales last year exceeded 18 million.
 
Federer to Face Murray in Wimbledon Final
Six-time Wimbledon Champion Roger Federer of Switzerland is one step away from a record-tying seventh Wimbledon title. He beat defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia in four sets to face Briton Andy Murray in the final. CRI's London correspondent Tu Yun has the story.
 
It's the first grass court meeting between Federer and Djokovic.
 
The former World No. 1 outperformed the current top player with better serves, less errors, and more winners, grabbing a break in each of the first, third and fourth sets. The score for the match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
 
"Of course, there's a lot on the line for me. I'm not denying that. I have a lot of pressure, as well. I'm looking forward to that. That's what I work hard for. I've worked extremely hard since I lost that match point against Novak last year at the US Open. Now I have a chance at world No. 1, at the title again all at once. So it's a big match for me and I hope I can keep my nerves. I'm sure I can. Then hopefully win the match."
 
Federer will take on Britain's Andy Murray. The Scot beat France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 to reach his first Wimbledon final.
 
"It'll be one of the biggest matches in my life. I've had experience playing Roger in the finals of Slams before. I'm going to use that to my advantage and learn from my mistakes and also the things he did well. It'll obviously be a very tough match. He's playing great tennis as always. I'm very excited."
 
Murray has also become the first Briton to reach the Wimbledon men's singles final in 74 years.
 
His battle against Federer will stage on Sunday.
 
Tu Yun, CRI news, Wimbledon.
 
1. Xinhua
 
The Southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has come under fire after online posts suggested the city had used concrete spikes to stop homeless people living under overpasses.
 
Pictures have been the rounds across China's Internet, showing hundreds of pyramid-shaped spikes densely grouped on the ground under an overpass in Guangzhou ? that's the capital of Guangdong province.
 
It's being suggested city authorities, as part of a campaign to improve the city's image, erected the concrete phalanx to repel homeless people who built homes on the site.
 
The photos have triggered an outpour of anger online, with many netizens saying the "concrete teeth" presented the ugly face of the city, exposing its inhumanity towards disadvantaged groups.
 
An official from the city government said the spikes were a historical legacy, installed more than a decade ago to make the space uninhabitable.
 
Guangzhou isn't the first Chinese city to take such a step. In 2010, the southwestern city of Chengdu added arc-shaped benches at some bus stops. Authorities said the curved design of the benches' could prevent the homeless from sleeping on them.
 
Officials in Shenzhen, another city in Guangdong, recently said urban management officials would risk demotion or performance-related penalties if vagrants or beggars were found on streets within their jurisdiction.
 
2. China Daily
 
A prison in the autonomous region of Ninxia Hui has held a job fair for inmates to be able to seek work after their released from jail.
 
About 60 enterprises offered over 2,000 jobs to nearly 500 prisoners in different areas of construction, mechanics and trades.
 
The prison in the regional capital of Yinchuan has also been providing training in welding, cooking and other skills to more than 600 prisoners.
 
More than 400 of them have already got their certificates.
 
Local prison administration authorities say this helps the prisoners fit back into society after they are released.
 
3. Associated Press
 
A mother in Phoenix has been arrested for putting beer in her 2-year-old son's sippy cup.
 
Phoenix police were called to a pizza restaurant earlier this week after witnesses say they saw 36-year-old Valerie Marie Topete, pour beer from a pitcher into her son's cup ? which the child then drank from.
 
Police say Topete admitted pouring the beer in the cup because the child kept reaching for the pitcher.
 
Officers examined the contents of the cup and determined the liquid was consistent with beer.
 
The child was taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons and was later released in the care of his father.
 
Topete is being held on suspicion of child abuse.
 
4. Associated Foreign Press
 
Drivers in Russia are upset by a new law about the dark tinted glass in cars.
 
Under the new law which came into force July 1, police have the power to remove the number plates of cars that have dark tinting unless the driver scrapes off the protective film on the spot.
 
However, some people are complaining that they are now at the mercy of fans during traffic jams.
 
Darkly tinted windows in cars came into fashion in the 1990s and have never really gone away, despite the distinct lack of sunlight for half a year in most of Russia.
 
The new law may not be very draconian though. It covers windscreens that let through less than 25 percent of light and front side windows that let through less than 30 percent.
 
Tinted windows that allow a higher percentage of light through are acceptable.
 
Police are holding raids and testing cars with light measuring devices.
 
Immediately after the law came in to effect, within a couple of hours, traffic police in Siberia's Novosibirsk region reported they stopped 261 offenders, with 231 stripping off their tinted film on the spot and 30 having their plates confiscated.