News & Reports 2010-07-24

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In This Edition

North Korea threatens a "physical response" if the US and South Korea go ahead with their joint 1 military exercises planned for this weekend.

All but 7 of 91 European banks pass the much-anticipated "stress tests" aimed at showing Europe's banking 2 system is sound enough to weather the continent's debt crisis.

China's work safety watchdog says a chemical agent used to strip sulphur from oil contributed to the pipeline 3 explosion at Dalian's port last weekend.

And Ships stationed over BP's crippled well in the Gulf 4 of Mexico are ordered to evacuate 5 ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie.

Hot Issue Reports

N. Korea Threatens "Physical Response" against US "Hostile Policy"

North Korea has threatened a "physical response" if the US and South Korea go ahead with their joint military exercises planned for this weekend.

North Korean spokesperson Ri Tong-Il make the comments at the on going ASEAN meetings taking place in Hanoi.

"There will be physical response against the threat imposed by the United States militarily. It is no longer the 19th century which is maintained the gunboat diplomacy 6 at that time, it is a new century and the Asian countries are in need of peace and development and DPRK is also moving to that end."

The North Korean spokeperson has also criticised the new U.S. sanctions on North Korea, calling them "hostile," while at the same time urging Washington to focus instead on restarting the nuclear weapons talks.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is also in Hanoi, says that North Korea must reverse its "campaign of provocative 7, dangerous behaviour" if it wants to improve its relationship with its neighbours and the United States.　　

Ministers of the ASEAN countries and other regional players have been meeting this week to try to tackle a diverse agenda, which includes things like setting up an economic community by 2015 to bolstering 8 ties with the West and regional powers, including China, Japan and India.

Meanwhile, The U.S.-led United Nations Command and North Korea have now discussed forming a joint assessment 9 group to probe the cause of the armistice 10 violations 11 that led to the sinking of a South Korean warship 12 in March.

According to a written statement issued by the UNC after the two sides held a second round of colonel-level meetings today in the truce 13 village of Panmunjom, the two sides exchanged ideas and further details for convening 14 the joint group in accordance with the Armistice Agreement.

The UNC also officially notified the DPRK of the upcoming U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises.

The statement says the two sides have also tentatively agreed to hold another colonel- level meeting next Thursday.

Tadic: Serbia Never Recognize Independence of Kosovo

Serbia's President Boris Tadic now says his country will never recognize the independence of its former province Kosovo.

The statement comes following the World Court ruling that Kosovo's 2008 secession is legal.

Tadic says the ICJ decision is very hard for Serbia.

"The ICJ decision that the unilateral declaration of independence is in accordance with international law is very hard for Serbia, and that should be openly said to our nation. However, it is clear that the ICJ did not want to comment on Kosovo's right of secession, but decided 15 to discuss the technical content of the independence declaration. The declaration itself doesn't break international law, because it doesn't concern it. By that the ICJ refused to answer the main question, and let that decision be made in the UN General Assembly."

The International Court of Justice says in a non-binding ruling requested by Serbia, that Kosovo's secession from Serbia in 2008 does not violate international law.

Tadic says Serbia will continue to push for a United Nations resolution that will urge both sides to start a dialogue.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged parties involved to avoid any provocative steps.

China's position is that the Kosovo issue should be resolved through dialogue, and says the ICJ's ruling will not be an obstacle to properly resolving the issue.

7 European Banks Fail "Stress Tests"

All but 7 of 91 European banks passed the much-anticipated "stress tests" aimed at showing Europe's banking system is sound enough to weather the continent's debt crisis.

Europe tested how banks would cope with another recession and losses on government debt after the Greek crisis hit markets and raised fears the euro zone could unravel 16.

The Chairman of the Committee of European Bank Supervisors 17 Giovanni Carosio announced that 7 banks are not strong enough to withstand another recession.

"In terms of the capital ratio of European banks after the application of the stress test, we have seven banks that would now if the stress materialise, will be under the six percent threshold that we used as a benchmark and the capital shortfall would amount to three billion and half."

Five of Spain's smaller regional lenders, known as cajas, failed the test and their recapitalisation is likely to speed a restructuring of the troubled sector 18. The Bank of Spain said they need 1.8 billion euros.

State-owned Hypo Real Estate was the only German lender to flunk 19 and state-controlled ATEbank was the only Greek bank to fail.

Meanwhile, banks that came close to failing with a Tier 1 ratio of less than 7 percent under the most stressed scenario 20 included Germany's Deutsche Postbank, Greece's Piraeus, Allied 21 Irish Banks, Italy's UBI Banca and Spain's Bankinter.

The findings were deemed modest by analysts 22, casting doubt on the credibility of the tests. Analysts had expected five to 10 banks to fail the test, but estimated the capital shortfall could be over 30 billion euros.

Chemical Agent Factor in China Dalian Oil Blast

China's work safety watchdog says, in a preliminary report, that a chemical agent used to strip sulphur from oil contributed to the pipeline explosion at Dalian's port last weekend. The blast has created a huge oil slick in the sea and has forced the port's temporary closure.

The State Administration of Work Safety and Ministry 23 of Public Security say 88 cubic meters of the agent were injected into the pipeline minutes before the blast a week ago, though it does not say whether the agent directly caused the explosion or whether it increased the oil's flammability.

Tianjin Huishengda Petroleum 24 Technology, a local developer of refining technology, was contracted by PetroChina to pump a desulphurising agent into the oil.

The watchdog agencies also blame the incident on chaotic 25 management and poor communication at the oil terminal.

Meantime, environmental observers say the cleanup efforts are progressing.

Sun Jianli is the Division Commander for the reserve forces in Liaoning.

"We have arranged large numbers of soldiers in recent days to tackle the clean up from different directions. We will continue to be persistent 26, and will win the battle against the oil."

In the wake of the spill and five seperate coal mine incidents over the course of last weekend, which claimed dozens of lives, officials are warning that work safety problems in the country remain serious, and are calling for more thorough safety checks.

Officials: China's Employment Situation "Better than Expected"

China's top labor 27 authority says this country's employment situation is better than expected in the first half of the year.

Official figures show nearly 6.4 million new jobs have been created over the past six months.

Still, the authority is cautioning that expanding employment in the second half of the year isn't going to be easy.

Ships Evacuated 28 from Gulf as Tropical Storm Advances

Ships stationed over BP's crippled well in the Gulf of Mexico have been ordered to evacuate ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie.

Both BP and the US government conceed that Bonnie, which blossomed over the Bahamas and is set to enter the Gulf of Mexico by the weekend, could delay push to plug the well with mud and cement by another 12 days.

And even if it's not a direct hit, the rough weather is going to delay things by at least a week.

The government evacuation order also includes the rig currently drilling the relief wells to permanently 29 stop the leak.

BP's chief operating officer, Doug Suttles, says crews are 10 days to two weeks away from finishing the relief well and the storm could delay them by "anywhere from a few days up to 2 weeks."

"So the preparations that are ongoing 30, you know, if you are offshore 31, it's all about getting all of the equipment on these rigs and these vessels 33 tied down, go through your severe weather plans, make sure we know exactly at what point we have to make the final decision and that varies by vessel 32 and then stay very closely connected to the very best weather forecast, so that we know where were are, when we are and what decision we have to make."

Bonnie has already caused flooding in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, even before reaching tropical storm strength.

The second named tropical storm in the Atlantic of the season currently has wind speeds of 65km per hour.

Downgraded Typhoon Chanthu Brings more Rain after Floods in Southern China

Chanthu has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, after making landfall here in China Thursday afternoon down in Guangdong.

The then-Typhoon hit with winds above 120 kilometers per hour in the city of Wuchuan in southwestern Guangdong, killing 34 two people.

Another person in Hong Kong has also died, after being swept away in a fast-flowing stream bostered by the rains caused by Chanthu.

The storm has since moved north through Guangxi Zhuang's capital of Nanning, and is now tracking westward 35 toward Yunnan.

In the city of Beihai, huge sea waves have forced visitors to cancel their trip.

"The sea wave does seem splendid. We planed to visit Weizhou Island, but now that's not goanna happen until the typhoon is gone."

The government has ordered evacuations in severely 36 affected 37 areas, especially in ports, fish farms and low-lying ground.

Chanthu comes as the country grapples with severe flooding that has left nearly 750 dead and over 350 people others missing so far.

The Hong Kong Observatory 38 indicates that Chanthu is going to continue to lose strength, and will likely be downgraded further to a tropical depression by tomorrow morning.

Rising Costs of Job Hunting and Smart Ways to Save Money

A recent job market survey shows, Chinese college graduates' job hunting expenses have increased rapidly over the past few years, exceeding 3,000 yuan per person in some areas of the country. But smart job hunters also have their own tips for saving money.

Archaeologists unearth 39 Neolithic 40 henge at Stonehenge

Archaeologists have discovered a second henge at Stonehenge, described as the most exciting find there in 50 years.

The circular ditch surrounding a smaller circle of deep pits about a metre wide has now been unearthed 41 at the world-famous site in Wiltshire.

Archaeologists conducting the multi-million pound study believe timber posts were placed in the pits.

Project leader Professor Vince Gaffney, from the University of Birmingham, says the discovery is "exceptional".

"You can't simply understand Stonehenge by looking at Stonehenge. You've gotta look around it, you've gotta understand the landscape it sits within. And when you start appreciating that you realise we know nothing about 95 percent of the landscape."

The new "henge", which means a circular monument dating to the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, is about 900 meters away from the giant stones on Salisbury Plain.

Images show it has two entrances on the north-east and south-west sides, and inside the circle is a burial mound 42 on top, which researchers say appeared much later.

Other wooden structures have also been found in the area.

Data from the site is being collected as part of a virtual excavation 43 to see what the area looked like when Stonehenge was first built.

No one really knows for sure why the famous stone structure was built some 4,500 years ago, though there have been a number of sites discovered in the area around it that many believe are cemetaries, which pre-date Stonehenge by about 500 years.

From the Shanghai Daily: Shanghai is promoting a shake-up in the traditional Chinese medicine sector.

More TCM pharmacies 44 are expected to offer in-store clinics with licensed 45 doctors while experienced TCM doctors are being encouraged to open private clinics.

The central government banned TCM pharmacies from hiring doctors to offer medical consultation 46 and services in 2001 since many didn't have professional qualifications. Some also abused the position to sell medicines and medical appliances.

In 2007, the government allowed trials in some cities after issuing new rules for clinics in TCM pharmacies.

TCM services are now offered at 23 state-owned hospitals and 303 clinics in the city.

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From the Sun out of the UK: A Robot billed as a 'toaster on legs' has smashed a world record by walking 14.3 miles in 11 hours.

The Ranger 47, built by US scientists, strode 108.5 times around a 212m indoor track.

It completed about 70,000 steps before it needed a recharge.

The Ranger, whose parts alone cost around 5,000 dollars, took four years to perfect but runs on batteries and cost less than 2 dollars to travel four miles.

It smashed the previous world record 1.5 miles.

The Ranger is energy efficient because it copies the physics of human walking, using gravity and momentum 48 to roll its legs forward..