Venezuela opposition pegs back Chavez in parliament

Venezuela opposition pegs back Chavez in parliament

Venezuela opposition pegs back Chavez in parliament

Posted: 27 Sep 2010 12:56 AM PDT

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez won a majority in parliament but opponents took more than a third of the seats, threatening his ability to pass socialist reforms before seeking re-election in 2012.


Q+A - How will North Korean change be received?

Posted: 27 Sep 2010 12:56 AM PDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's ruling Workers' Party starts on Tuesday its biggest meeting in 30 years to pick a new leadership team, possibly signalling the rise of Kim Jong-il's youngest son as successor to the family dynasty.


FEATURE - Jewish settlers claim biblical birthright to land

Posted: 27 Sep 2010 12:56 AM PDT

YITZHAR, West Bank (Reuters) - Jewish settler Avraham Binyamin says any Israeli withdrawal from occupied land would be like severing a limb from his body.


FEATURE - Divided city of Hebron shows challenge of peace

Posted: 27 Sep 2010 12:56 AM PDT

HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) - The growth of a Jewish settlement next to Hany Abu Haykel's home means the Palestinian needs an Israeli permit to use his front gate.


Venezuela on edge ahead of critical vote result

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 03:49 PM PDT

By Sophie Nicholson

CARACAS: Tension gripped Venezuela early today as the opposition called for the release of official results more than six hours after voting closed in a key electoral test for leftist President Hugo Chavez.

Chavez's party sought a majority of the 165 seats in the elections set to shake up the political scene he has dominated for nearly 12 years in the oil-rich nation.

Venezuelans came out in force yesterdat, as the opposition fought for a strong return to the National Assembly, under the umbrella Table for Democratic Unity (MUD), fighting for its first seats since a 2005 election boycott.

Shortly after midnight, the coalition indicated it had reason to celebrate but released no results, respecting Venezuelan law that they must come from official electoral authorities.

"We're waiting to follow the law. They now know what happened, we know what happened," said a frustrated Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, spokesman for the Democratic Unity Table (MUD).

Pre-vote polls suggested a tight race, perhaps giving a slight lead to the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), likely to benefit from recent changes to voting districts.

Under the new system, they could win two thirds of seats with around half of the vote, which could lead both sides to claim victories.

As supporters gathered at all party headquarters, and with no exit polls allowed, enthusiastic commentary exploded on social networks like Twitter.

Populist Chavez said it had been "another great day" on his widely-watched Twitter account, and his party optimistically called for crowds to gather at the presidential palace to celebrate.

"Change is coming!" said a comment on an opposition party account.

Record inflation

Tibisay Lucena, president of the electoral council, earlier said the vote had taken place "in an atmosphere of calm and civic-mindedness" without major incidents.

Chavez, who was welcomed at a hillside slum polling station by cheering, red-clad crowds, claimed turnout would reach 70%, after dominating the end of campaigning two years before presidential polls.

Chavez wants his party to keep a strong grip on the legislature to aid his "socialist revolution," after nearly 12 years in power marked by nationalisations, social projects and a centralising of power.

The opposition sought to tap into public concern over one of the world's highest murder rates and economic woes, including record inflation.

"I'm worried they'll cancel social programs," said 49-year-old Osiris Marcan, after voting in a traditional Chavez stronghold in western Caracas.

Voters in the middle class opposition area of Chacao said Venezuela needed more political diversity, and a change from Chavez.

"I voted for my country," said shopkeeper Alba Correa, 51. "We want a counterweight. That's our big hope."

In more than a decade of rule, Chavez has nationalized public utilities, key industries and media and launched health clinics and subsidized food programs for the poor. He has also increased pressure on opposition groups and dissidents.

The ex-paratrooper has lost only one of 13 votes organised by his government.

More than 17 million people were eligible to take part in the latest vote.

Chavez, 56, is strongly influenced by Communist Cuba and often slams US policy, though the United States remains the main buyer of Venezuelan oil.

- AFP

Australia troops to be charged over Afghan children's deaths

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 03:47 PM PDT

SYDNEY: Three Australian soldiers will face charges including manslaughter over a raid in Afghanistan that left five children dead, the chief military prosecutor said today.

The court action follows an operation in February last year to clear a compound in Uruzgan province where Australian forces believed a Taliban leader was hiding.

Director of Military Prosecutions Brigadier Lyn McDade said the three "will be charged with various service offences, including manslaughter, dangerous conduct, failing to comply with a lawful general order and prejudicial conduct".

A suspected insurgent was also killed in the night raid, while four people were wounded. Two of the servicemen said they would vigorously fight the charges, which are being laid after an Australian military investigation.

"We will strenuously defend the charges and we look forward to the opportunity of publicly clearing our reputations, as well as the reputation of the Australian Defence Force," they said through their lawyers.

A defence department spokesman said at least one soldier will face manslaughter charges, although accusations against one of the accused have not been released as he is currently abroad.

Local media earlier said the case stems from a night-time "capture or kill" mission, involving about 30 Australian soldiers, in which troops exchanged fire with an Afghan man.

The man died, as did five children -- including two babies -- after grenades were thrown, while other women and children were injured, the Sydney Morning Herald said.

The paper said no military historians it had contacted could recall a previous case where Australian soldiers had been charged over the deaths of civilians in battle.

Civilian deaths are a sensitive issue in Afghanistan, where almost 150,000 foreign soldiers from NATO and the United States are battling a Taliban insurgency.

The United Nations reported last month that 1,271 civilians died in violence between January and June this year, with the Taliban responsible for 76% of the deaths.

- AFP

Steel capsule will rescue Chile miners

Posted: 25 Sep 2010 11:58 PM PDT

A cage specially built to help rescue 33 men trapped underground in a mine in Chile has arrived on site.


How skier froze to death and lived

Posted: 27 Sep 2010 12:08 AM PDT

How a skier survived the longest cardiac arrest on record


Sparks as wing was dragged along runway

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 11:37 PM PDT

A passenger plane has made an emergency landing at JFK airport in New York after experiencing landing gear problems.


US begins new Afghan offensive

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 10:54 AM PDT

US and Afghan military forces have begun a new offensive against Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan.


Cheetah's blind date in Lovers' Lane

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 11:49 PM PDT

The UK's first litter of Northern cheetah cubs born were born at Whipsnade Zoo recently, and their birth is largely due to a specially designed part of the animals' enclosure.


US bishop 'will fight sex allegations'

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 04:44 PM PDT

A prominent US evangelical leader Bishop Eddie Long has vowed to fight accusations he coerced four young men at his church into sexual relationships.


Diving with great white sharks in Australia

Posted: 27 Sep 2010 12:04 AM PDT

(AUSTRALIA, Port Lincoln-AFP) - Coming face-to-face with a powerful great white may be the stuff of nightmares for swimmers and surfers. But it's a dream come true for a handful of divers in Australia. Copyright (AFP RELAXNEWS/ AFPTV), 2010.

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Najib the dipolmat par excellence

Posted: 27 Sep 2010 12:02 AM PDT

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has done his best in diplomacy so far, improving the relations with China and broken the deadlock with Singapore. Today, he has also made a breakthrough in the US.

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Singapore's Foreign Affairs Senior Minister dies

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 11:45 PM PDT

SINGAPORE, Monday 27 September 2010 (Bernama) -– Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dr Balaji Sadasivan died here this morning. He was 55.

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Muhyiddin:Govt yet to decide on sale of PLUS Expressways

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 11:43 PM PDT

The government has yet to decide if it will sell its interest in PLUS Expressways Bhd, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin.

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Cambodian garment workers struggle to stitch together living

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 03:39 PM PDT

By Michelle Fitzpatrick

FOCUS PHNOM PENH: It's mid-morning in the Cambodian capital and Pat La is one of dozens of workers breaking for lunch at the Pine Great Garments plant, which makes clothes for US retailers like Gap and Walmart.

The 30-year-old mother was among the tens of thousands of textile workers who took part in a four-day mass strike earlier this month to demand higher wages -- the latest bout of worker unrest in Asia.

She says she joined the stoppage because she cannot get by on the US$50 (RM155) a month she earns making T-shirts.

"I am working to survive," the softly-spoken woman, who left her home province of Prey Veng east of Phnom Penh to eke out a living in the capital, says as she scans nearby stalls for a bite to eat after the early shift.

Half her wages are spent on rent, she explains, and after paying for food, bills and baby formula for her four-month-old daughter, "there is nothing left".

By putting in overtime beyond the basic eight-hour day and working six days a week, Pat La can push her monthly income up to US$60 or US$70.

It is more than many people earn in Cambodia, where gross national income per capita stood at US$640 in 2008, or roughly US$53 a month, according to the World Bank.

Rich-poor gap

The country has a big rich-poor gap, with about 30% of the population living below the poverty line in 2007, according to the Bank's data.

Pat La's colleague Chhom Saroth, 22, who also took part in the walkout, says working at the plant "is a good job".

"But if we don't do overtime, we cannot survive on our basic salary," she adds.

The mass strike from Sept 13 to 16 came after the government and industry set the minimum wage for garment and footwear staff at US$61 a month.

That is more that a textile worker would take home in Bangladesh, where thousands of garment workers also took to the streets of the capital in August to demand higher wages.

But Cambodia's unions say it is not enough to cover living expenses and want a base salary of US$93.

The industrial action only ended when the government stepped in and arranged talks between the two sides that started today.

Pat La has low expectations for the negotiations and says she is willing to settle for less than unions are demanding.

"Maybe from US$80 a month -- that would do," she says.

Brand image

Union leaders say that at the height of the strike, some 200,000 garment workers across the country failed to show up for work.

But secretary-general Ken Loo of the Garment Manufacturers' Association in Cambodia (GMAC) estimates that 45,000 people missed work during the stoppages, of which about 20,000 picketed outside factories.

Ahead of today's talks, manufacturers warned that increasing the minimum wage was out of the question, "but there is always room for negotiation with respect to other allowances or bonuses", says Ken Loo.

Union leader Ath Thun, head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, accepts that the employers are unlikely to budge on the wage issue, and says the unions will instead seek other concessions, such as daily food allowances.

Cambodia's garment industry -- which also produces items for brands such as Benetton, Adidas and Puma -- is a key source of foreign income for the country and employs about 345,000 workers, mainly women.

"I believe working conditions are generally good for the garment workers," says Tun Sophorn, a national coordinator at the International Labour Organisation, who has visited dozens of Cambodian factories.

"Labour inspections have intensified" and there are "strong unions" in the workplace, he explains.

The industry was hit hard last year when the global economic crisis saw exports drop to US$2.7 billion, from US$3.1 billion in 2008.

However, during the first seven months of this year, exports increased 13.4% to US$1.6 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

GMAC says the strike cost the sector US$15 million and harmed its reputation abroad.

"We know that a few factories have had their orders cancelled" as buyers worry about possible damage to their brand image, Ken Loo says, declining to name the plants or customers involved.

But Pat La, who doesn't know the retailers she is sewing for, has more pressing concerns on her mind.

Taking part in the walkout cost her four days' pay so she expects to take home just US$40 this month -- not enough to make ends meet -- and going on strike again would be a luxury she cannot afford.

"I am broke now," she says with a shy smile.

- AFP

 

Cambodian garment workers struggle to stitch together living

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 11:34 PM PDT

PHNOM PENH, Monday 27 September 2010 (AFP) - It's mid-morning in the Cambodian capital and Pat La is one of dozens of workers breaking for lunch at the Pine Great Garments plant, which makes clothes for US retailers like Gap and Walmart.

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Four GOF members killed, three others injured in collision with trailer

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 11:31 PM PDT

Four members of the General Operations Force (GOF) were killed and three others, seriously injured, when a truck they were travelling in collided with a trailer lorry at Batu 19 Jalan Labuk here today.

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Maybank investment expects 50% overseas contribution in next five years

Posted: 26 Sep 2010 11:29 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR, Monday 27 September 2010 (Bernama) -- Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, which has set its sights on expanding into the Singapore, Indonesia and Hong Kong markets, expects to see a 50% overseas contribution in the next five years, says Chief Executive Officer Tengku Datuk Zafrul Tengku Aziz.

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