Most Thai people satisfied with government performance |
- Most Thai people satisfied with government performance
- West has three years to rein in Iran — Israeli minister
- Suicide bombers hit police compound in Iraq's Mosul
- China in 2010: economic power, but more diplomatic isolation
- Facebook in challenge to Google crown
- Royal wedding bells to chime in 2011
- Spanish city seeks revival with Niemeyer project
- S.Korea raises foot-and-mouth disease alert to highest level
- S.Korea's Lee says talks the answer to nuclear crisis
- China in 2010: Economic power, but more diplomatic isolation
- WikiLeaks, a Napster-style Internet gamechanger for 2010
- Organ traffickers target Nepal's poorest
- N.Korea says new nuclear programme is peaceful
- European bond market faces another volatile year
- N.Korea can build a nuclear bomb a year: ex US defence chief
- Slain Lebanon cop's parents hope for justice
- 'Empire Strikes Back,' 'The Exorcist' preserved
- German airport chief urges racial profiling of passengers
- Real construction growth projected at 4% next year
- Gunmen kill 10th journalist in perilous Honduras
| Most Thai people satisfied with government performance Posted: 29 Dec 2010 01:02 AM PST BANGKOK, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (Bernama) -- A recent survey nationwide found that the Thai public are more satisfied with the Democrat Party-led government's performance this year, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.
| ||
| West has three years to rein in Iran — Israeli minister Posted: 29 Dec 2010 12:41 AM PST JERUSALEM, Dec 29 — The United States and its allies have up to three years to curb Iran's nuclear programme, which has been set back by technical difficulties and sanctions, a senior Israeli official said today. Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon, saying Iran remained his government's biggest worry, did not mention possible unilateral military ...
| ||
| Suicide bombers hit police compound in Iraq's Mosul Posted: 29 Dec 2010 12:39 AM PST MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers attacked a police battalion in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Wednesday and killed the commander, police sources said. 
| ||
| China in 2010: economic power, but more diplomatic isolation Posted: 29 Dec 2010 12:14 AM PST BEIJING, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (AFP) - China solidified its financial might in 2010, becoming the world's second-largest economy, but it was often inflexible and isolated on the political stage -- an intransigence typified by the Nobel peace prize drama.
| ||
| Facebook in challenge to Google crown Posted: 29 Dec 2010 12:09 AM PST NEW YORK, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (AFP) - Facebook is challenging Google's supremacy on the Internet with a radically different approach to how people live, work, play and search online.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | ||
| Royal wedding bells to chime in 2011 Posted: 29 Dec 2010 12:07 AM PST LONDON, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (AFP) - An extravaganza of royal glamour should lift the austerity gloom in Britain next year with the wedding of Prince William while Prince Albert II of Monaco will tie the knot in the summer.
| ||
| Spanish city seeks revival with Niemeyer project Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:35 PM PST AVILES, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (AFP) - Spain's northern industrial city of Aviles hopes a new cultural centre designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer will transform it into a cultural capital, as the Guggenheim Museum revived Bilbao.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | ||
| S.Korea raises foot-and-mouth disease alert to highest level Posted: 29 Dec 2010 12:04 AM PST SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea has raised its foot-and-mouth disease alert to the highest level, culling and burying 480,000 pigs, sheep and cattle, and vaccinating livestock to contain a fast-spreading outbreak of the disease. 
| ||
| S.Korea's Lee says talks the answer to nuclear crisis Posted: 29 Dec 2010 12:04 AM PST SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said on Wednesday the nuclear crisis on the peninsula must be tackled by negotiation, but chances of international talks are slim because of a gulf between the parties involved, and a lack of pressure on an emboldened North Korea. 
| ||
| China in 2010: Economic power, but more diplomatic isolation Posted: 28 Dec 2010 03:18 PM PST
As Beijing's global clout steadily mounted, its relations with key world powers became more complicated and could be further strained in 2011, experts say, with the communist leadership's political stance hardening. After surpassing France, Britain and Germany in the race to global economic supremacy thanks to years of double-digit growth, China unseated Japan for the world number two spot behind the United States. The international community sought China's input on pressing issues, especially within the Group of 20, which looked to find a way to rebalance the skewed global economy. Its currency policy and accusations that the yuan was undervalued dominated world summits, its two interest rate hikes in less than three months moved global markets and it earned a bigger say in the International Monetary Fund. "Decisions made in China have repercussions around the world. Because China does now have a much larger economy, its global political clout has increased," said Tom Orlik, an analyst at Stone & McCarthy Research Associates. But this year, the ruling party faced two major headaches – soaring consumer prices and a wave of strikes in the country's industrial heartland in the south – both of which have the potential to stoke mass social unrest. At its annual meeting in October, the party confirmed Vice-President Xi Jinping's march towards the presidency of the world's most populous nation, but appeared divided over the thorny issue of political reform. That debate gained greater significance when jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo, who has long advocated reform of the country's one-party system but was virtually unknown at home and abroad, won this year's Nobel peace prize. Beijing was furious, calling members of the Oslo-based Nobel committee "clowns". It blacked out foreign TV coverage of the ceremony honouring Liu, calling it an example of "political theatre". "Is there a 'plot' among the Western countries against China?" the Global Times, a nationalistic state newspaper, asked. In the more than two months since the Nobel announcement, the constant stream of invective, threats and pressure has painted a picture in the West of an obstinate, bull-headed China -- not exactly how Beijing planned to use its "soft power" to conquer Western public opinion. "The reactions of the Chinese authorities... only served to reinforce a feeling of increasing mistrust vis-a-vis Beijing," said Valerie Niquet, director of the Asia Centre at the French Institute for International Relations. "The perception of China on the international stage see-sawed," she said, adding that the West was "more worried, faced with a China that seems to be choosing ideological withdrawal and nationalistic affirmation". On the diplomatic stage, 2010 was for China a year marked by "setbacks in its relations with most major powers", said Jonathan Holslag, of the Brussels Institute of Contemporary Chinese Studies. "The difficulties with the US showed that there were big differences in interests and expectations that might not be overcome," Holslag said. "In the long run, China does not like American predominance in Eastern Asia." For Niquet, the year saw a "marginalisation of China on the world stage, especially in Asia", where Beijing sent shivers through regional capitals with its uncompromising response to a territorial spat with Japan. Its hardline stance on the arrest of a trawlerman whose boat collided with Japanese coastguard vessels in disputed waters sparked fears over the way its other territorial claims in the South China Sea would be pressed. China was also criticised over its weak response to North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island in November. While Beijing has yet to condemn its long-time yet wayward ally Pyongyang despite intense international pressure, Japan, South Korea and the United States solidified their three-way alliance, Niquet said. China's offer to host emergency talks was rejected by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, who instead met without Beijing. "The shelling on the Korean peninsula did China a great disservice," said Hu Xingdou, a professor of economics and China policy issues at the Beijing Institute of Technology. "In contrast to last year when China was widely praised for its role during the financial crisis, it was largely criticised this year over the Korean crisis." Analysts predicted 2011 could be a tough year. "Relations with the West will continue to be sour. I think China will invest a lot of in restabilising relations with neighbouring countries," Holslag said. "There is a growing group of officials and experts who believe that competition might become inevitable and that China should stand strong," he said. "Yet, at the top level, leaders are still very much aware that China very much needs the rest of the world." - AFP
| ||
| WikiLeaks, a Napster-style Internet gamechanger for 2010 Posted: 28 Dec 2010 03:14 PM PST
Napster, the file-sharing renegade, upended the music industry and copyright in ways still being felt a decade later while WikiLeaks, for better or worse, is likely to have a similar impact on government secrecy and transparency. For now, WikiLeaks has governments, institutions and individuals around the world searching for answers to difficult questions surrounding US policy, free speech, Internet freedom, privacy, secrecy, transparency and the power – and dangers – of the Web. WikiLeaks has argued that its release of hundreds of thousands of secret US documents about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the inner workings of US diplomacy exposes US military abuses on the battlefield and "contradictions between the US's public persona and what it says behind closed doors". Its detractors denounce the release of the documents as a crime carried out by a disgruntled US soldier and abetted by a self-appointed truth-teller in the person of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Clay Shirky, a prominent US writer on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies, said he has mixed feelings about WikiLeaks although he staunchly opposes extrajudicial efforts to shut it down. "Like a lot of people, I am conflicted about WikiLeaks," Shirky said in a blog post on his website, Shirky.com. "Citizens of a functioning democracy must be able to know what the state is saying and doing in our name," Shirky said. "WikiLeaks plainly improves those abilities. "On the other hand, human systems can't stand pure transparency," he said. "People trying to come to consensus must be able to privately voice opinions they would publicly abjure, and may later abandon. "WikiLeaks plainly damages those abilities." Napster moment Assange is on bail in Britain fighting a bid by Sweden to extradite him over allegations of sexual assault made by two women. His strict bail conditions include reporting to police daily, and wearing an electronic tag. Andrew Rasiej, co-founder of technology and politics blog techPresident.com, said he sees WikiLeaks as a "Napster moment in the evolution of how technology changes the relationship between people and their governments". "The way in which we think about power itself is altered as a result of the Web," Rasiej said. "I would hope that after everything calms down that the government recognises that it has to fight for openness and transparency and use classification only in rare occasions," he said. Rasiej said he was concerned, however, that instead of embracing greater transparency, "governments may try to invoke a cure that may be worse than the disease." Washington has been infuriated by WikiLeaks and is believed to be considering how to indict Assange over the huge leak. James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said any cyber clampdown may prove to be WikiLeaks' legacy. He noted that Napster was eventually shut down by the courts although it lives on in myriad reincarnations such as The Pirate Bay. "Ten years from now no one's going to look back and say WikiLeaks was a good thing," Lewis said. "They may have started out with good intentions but it's going to backfire. "I think the thing that's going to happen is people are going to step back and ask 'Is this responsible politics?' 'Is this what we want?' And I think the answer is going to be no," he said. "The WikiLeaks people have been about as irresponsible as you can get and they're going to provoke a response and the response will be to try to constrain this kind of activity in the future," Lewis said. "No government and no company is happy with the idea that somebody can steal their data and these guys can just publish it," he said. Media analyst Jeff Jarvis, in a recent op-ed article for Germany's Welt am Sontag republished on his blog Buzzmachine.com, said WikiLeaks and the Internet have combined to "puncture" the power of government secrecy. "WikiLeaks has made us all aware that no secret is safe," Jarvis said. "Let us use this episode to examine as citizens just how secret and how transparent our governments should be," he said. "For today, in the Internet age, power shifts from those who hold secrets to those who create openness. That is our emerging reality." - AFP
| ||
| Organ traffickers target Nepal's poorest Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:29 PM PST KAVRE, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (AFP) - Seven years ago, Nepalese farmer Madhab Parajuli faced an agonising choice: lose his small plot of farmland to mounting debts, or sell one of his kidneys to an organ trafficker.
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | ||
| N.Korea says new nuclear programme is peaceful Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:24 PM PST SEOUL, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (AFP) - North Korea said Wednesday its new uranium enrichment plant is designed solely to produce energy, hitting back at the United States for questioning its purpose.
| ||
| European bond market faces another volatile year Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:21 PM PST PARIS, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (AFP) - The European bond market is heading for another turbulent year in 2011, with investors groping for direction in the face of an uncertain US recovery and a stubborn debt crisis in the eurozone.
| ||
| N.Korea can build a nuclear bomb a year: ex US defence chief Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:19 PM PST TOKYO, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (AFP) - Former US defence chief William Perry said North Korea was capable of producing one nuclear bomb a year and that Washington should consider high-level talks to defuse tension, in an interview published Wednesday.
| ||
| Slain Lebanon cop's parents hope for justice Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:11 PM PST DEIR AMMAR, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (AFP) - As Lebanon braces for a UN court to issue indictments in the Rafiq Hariri murder, the parents of the policeman believed to have cracked the case are hoping it will also shed light on who killed their son.
| ||
| 'Empire Strikes Back,' 'The Exorcist' preserved Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:06 PM PST WASHINGTON, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (AFP) - "The Exorcist," the "Star Wars" sequel and "All the President's Men" were named Tuesday to the Library of Congress National Film Registry, joining 22 other motion pictures honored this year as key reflections of US culture.
| ||
| German airport chief urges racial profiling of passengers Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:04 PM PST BERLIN, Wednesday 29 December 2010 (Bernama) -- The designated head of Germany's main airport lobby organisation (ADV) called for the racial profiling of airline passengers similar to the one being implemented at 'Israeli' airports, Iranian national news agency, IRNA, reported.
| ||
| Real construction growth projected at 4% next year Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:03 PM PST Real construction growth for 2011 has been projected at 4%, OSK Research said in its 2011 report.
| ||
| Gunmen kill 10th journalist in perilous Honduras Posted: 28 Dec 2010 11:03 PM PST TEGUCIGALPA, Tuesday 28 December 2010 (AFP) - Unidentified gunmen shot and killed radio reporter Henry Suazo, the 10th journalist to be killed this year in Honduras, the most dangerous country for members of the media, Radio HRN said Tuesday.
|
By Pascale Trouillaud
By Chris Lefkow| You are subscribed to email updates from "World" via xBlog® in Google Reader To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment