News & Reports 2011-09-24

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In This Edition

 

Palestinians formally ask the United Nations to accept them as a full member state in the hope this dramatic move would re-energise their quest for an independent homeland.

 

Pakistan's government denies links with the Haqqani network, a reportedly Pakistan-based militant² group which was accused of masterminding a recent attack on the US embassy in Afghan capital, Kabul.

 

International Monetary³ Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde says the global economy has entered into a "dangerous new phase".

 

A Chinese scientist says the expected crash of a NASA defunct⁴ satelite could have been avoided had it been put into a higher orbit, or manipulated to drop in the South Pacific when it had abundant fuel.

 

 

Hot Issue Reports

 

Palestinians Formally Apply for UN Membership

Palestinians have formally asked the United Nations to accept them as a member state, in the hope this dramatic move would re-energise their quest for an independent homeland.

 

Addressing the UN general assembly, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas outlined his people's hopes and dreams of becoming a full member of the United Nations.

 

In a scathing⁵ denunciation of Israel's settlement policy, Abbas declared that negotiations⁷ with Israel "will be meaningless" as long as it continues building on lands the Palestinians claim for that state.

 

"Settlement activities embody⁸ the core of a policy of colonial military occupation of the land of the Palestinian people and all of the brutality⁹ of aggression¹⁰ and racial discrimination against our people that this policy entails¹¹. This policy, which constitutes a breach¹² of international humanitarian¹³ law, and UN resolutions are the primary cause for the failure of the peace process."

 

Speaking shortly after Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's commitment to peacemaking is genuine.

 

But the Israeli leader added that his country's security must be guaranteed before the recognition of a Palestinian state.

 

"All these potential cracks in Israel's security have to be sealed in a peace agreement before a Palestinian state is declared, not afterwards.　Because if you leave it afterwards they won't be sealed and these problems will explode in our face and explode the peace.　The Palestinians should first make peace with Israel and then get their state."

 

Netanyahu repeated his offer to meet with Abbas on the sidelines of the UN session - an offer the Palestinian leader has rejected in the past.

 

Analysts¹⁵ say Abbas' appeal to the UN to recognise an independent Palestine would not deliver any immediate¹⁶ changes on the ground.

 

The strategy also puts the Palestinians in direct confrontation¹⁷ with the US, which has threatened to veto their membership bid in the Security Council.

 

The US, like Israel, holds that that a Palestinian statehood can only be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties to end the long and bloody¹⁸ conflict.

 

Palestinians Rally to Support Abbas's UN Speech - Experts' View on Abbas's & Netanyahu's UN Speeches

Palestinians in the West Bank were getting together on the street for the whole Friday afternoon to hear Abbas's speech.

 

Our correspondent Xiaoyu witnessed local reactions in the West Bank city of Ramallah and filed this report.

 

Reporter: In Ramallah, people flooded the city center hours before Abbas's speech at the United Nations. A sea of Palestinian national flags and portraits of Abbas demonstrated the power of solidarity¹⁹ on this historic moment for all the Palestinians.

 

"We are so excited, full of energy, very optimistic about this moment."

 

"We are occupied for 62 years. We should have the right to have a Palestinian state. All the world should support us to have a state."

 

Everyone turned to silence as Abbas began to speak. People lined every rooftop around the center square to watch their president on the big screen erected²⁰ for the occasion.

 

The festive²¹ atmosphere returned after the speech ended. Palestinians were eager to express their excitement.

 

"The message is strong and clear to Israel. They must end the occupation now. The Palestinians demand a state at this moment."

 

"You can see all the people are happy, very pleasant. Because they will see the state."

 

Security is especially tight throughout the day. Clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians stone-throwers took place near Nablus and around East Jerusalem.

 

Local media reported that a Palestinian was shot dead during a confrontation southeast of the Palestinian city of Nablus.

 

Regardless of the result by the UN Security Council to accept Palestine as a full member state or not, experts on both sides believe negotiation⁶ is the only path to peace.

 

Here is Palestinian news analyst¹⁴ Elias Zananiri, who still hopes that the Security Council could fulfill²² Palestine's wish:

 

"Abbas is trying to solidify²³ the Palestinian negotiating position by means of international legitimacy²⁴ and UN resolutions. The rules of the game will change because the Israelis will live with the fact that they are talking to a different state next to it, and settle down all the differences with this state, not with anyone else. "

 

Doctor Jonathan Spyer from the International Affairs Center of Israel told CRI that neither Abbas nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented any new points in their speeches about core issues of the conflict.

 

"We are not really any new positions in terms of the core issues of the conflict, the refugees, the border, Jerusalem. This is something that remains²⁵ the case. If there's really a position, it's that there's a deadlock²⁶ between the two sides. Certainly they (Palestinians) are making themselves center of world attention; this is a very important achievement. But what I'm saying is that in the end of the day you have to go back to the substantive²⁷ issues of the conflict. In regard of this, nothing much has changed."

 

Resumption of negotiations is called upon by all the parties involved, though without any hope of resolutions in the near future.

 

For CRI, this is Zhang Xiaoyu from Ramallah.

 

Pakistan Hits out at US on Kabul Attack Charge

Pakistan's government has denied links with the Haqqani network, a reportedly Pakistan-based militant group which was accused of masterminding a recent attack on the US embassy in Afghan capital, Kabul.

 

Pakistan has warned the United States it risks losing an ally if the US continues to publicly accuse Pakistan of supporting militants²⁸.

 

CRI's correspondent in Islamabad, Wang Qianting, has more.

 

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has rebuffed US Joint²⁹ Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen's accusation³⁰ that the head of the Pakistan's Inter¹ Services Intelligence has close ties with the Haqqani network, which has ties to both al-Qaida and the Taliban.

 

"If you say that it is ISI involved in that attack, I categorically deny it. We have no such policy to attack or to aid attacks through Pakistani forces or through any Pakistani assistance. So please I assure you that is not there. It is not going to be there in future. But what is important, the impression which is being created, that has to go."

 

Malik has warned that the US cannot afford to alienate³¹ Pakistan and its people. He says that if the US continues to do so, it will escalate³² the crisis in relations between Pakistan and the US.

 

Mike Mullen told the US Congress that Haqqani operatives launched the attack last week on the US embassy in Kabul with the support of Pakistan's military intelligence, in which 25 people were killed.

 

"The Haqqani network, for one, acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan's Internal Services Intelligence agency. Haqqani operatives planned and conducted that truck bomb attack, as well as the assault on our embassy. In choosing to use violence extremism as an instrument of policy, the government of Pakistan jeopardizes³³ not only the prospect³⁴ of our strategic partnership³⁵ but Pakistan's opportunity to be a respected nation with legitimate³⁶ regional influence."

 

The U.S. military has said the Haqqani network poses the greatest threat to American troops in Afghanistan.

 

It is the most serious allegation leveled by the US against Pakistan since they began an alliance in the war on terror a decade ago.

 

US-Pakistan ties have deteriorated³⁷ sharply after the killing³⁸ of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin³⁹ Laden⁴⁰ in Pakistan by US commandos earlier this year.

 

Moreover, US strikes targeting militants in Pakistani tribal⁴¹ areas and the controversy⁴² over the release of Raymond Davis, the CIA contractor⁴³ who killed two Pakistani men in Lahore, have all contributed to the rift⁴⁴ between the US and Pakistan.

 

For CRI, I am Wang Qianting from Islamabad.

 

IMF Chief Calls for Sense of Urgency on Debt

International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde has said that the global economy has entered into a "dangerous new phase" during the IMF and the World Bank annual meetings in Washington.

 

"What is needed, and what certainly we hope to be able to help generating on the occasion of the annual meetings is the political leadership and the degree of synchronization⁴⁵ that needs to happen for that past recovery to be made possible. So collective leadership is definitely needed. It's not going to be a matter for one or two countries to lead the show, as I said, each country can be engaged in the process, but can also participate into the resolution."

 

She has also called for political leaders to have a "sense of urgency" on the Eurozone debt crisis and to show leadership in resolving the problem.

 

Under pressure from investors⁴⁸ to show action, finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 economies said they would take all steps needed to calm the global financial system.

 

In a sign the euro zone was working on adding to the potency⁴⁹ of its 440 billion-euro financial rescue fund, the G20 pledged to prevent Europe's debt crisis from undermining banks and financial markets, and said the euro zone's rescue fund could be bolstered⁵⁰.

 

Yemeni President Returns Home

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has returned to Yemen from Saudi Arabia after recieving medial treatment from injuries sustained an assassination⁵¹ attempt bomb attack back in June.

 

Saleh's supporters have held various celebrations around the country upon his arrival. While anti-Saleh protesters demonstrated in capital Sanaa and the second largest city Taiz. Government troops have killed at least one protester in Sanaa and injuring dozens in Taiz.

 

Saleh's return came after six straight days of deadly clashes between his supporters and defected army troops backed by opposition⁵² tribal rebels in the capital Sanaa, which killed at least 111 people and left nearly 1,000 injured.

 

For more on this issue, CRI's Larry Chen earlier spoke⁵³ with Dr. He Wenping, a senior researcher from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

 

Scholars, Experts, Officials Speak Out on Human Rights in China

One of the biggest news to come out of the fourth Beijing Forum⁵⁴ on Human Rights this week was the announcement of major changes in the country's justice system.

 

Feng Cangjian, of the Ministry⁵⁵ of Justice, said China has made strides in protecting the human rights of prison inmates⁵⁶ in recent years, including scrapping⁵⁷ a conduct policy that discriminated⁵⁸ against homosexual inmates.

 

Feng said on the sidelines of the human rights forum that prisons in Beijing that rights of death row inmates have been respected as well, as prison authorities have begun to allow death row inmates to meet their immediate relatives before execution. The use of lethal⁵⁹ injection as a method of capital punishment is also being promoted.

 

In other fields, experts and scholars are speaking out on how many are being left out in China's household registration⁶⁰ system.

 

Zhang Xiaoling, a professor and director of the Human Rights Studies Centre of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said equality, including an equal right to live and the rights to personal development, is the core to human rights. That includes ensuring equal access to education is essential to all.

 

"China's household registration system, with strict restrictions⁶¹, is undergoing reform. The uneven⁶² distribution of educational resources does exist in Beijing, but the capital city, which has a huge population, has already taken steps to resolve the issue. For instance, a school near my work place, the party school, "Beigongmen Primary School" is open to the children of migrant workers".

 

High-ranking officials, human rights scholars and experts from 26 countries, the UN and other international organizations attended this year's forum in Beijing.

 

NASA Says UARS Satellite Expected to Hit Earth on Friday

While North America appears to be off the hook, scientists are scrambling⁶³ to pinpoint⁶⁴ exactly where and when a 6-ton dead NASA climate satellite will plummet⁶⁵ back to Earth.

 

The bus-sized satellite is expected to break into more than a hundred pieces as it plunges⁶⁶ through the atmosphere, most of it burning up on Friday, New York time.

 

Dr. William Ailor, the director of the Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris⁶⁷ Studies, has been monitoring the satellite's re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

 

"The debris, the stuff that falls is basically going to be along the ground track, and only maybe 30 miles to either side of it and that depends on what the winds are, and so forth⁶⁸. It's a very long, thin ellipse, maybe 400 miles long and within that you'll have a few pieces that fall and actually hit the ground."

 

The satellite was launched on the space shuttle almost 20 years ago.

 

It has provided valuable information on the chemistry of the stratosphere and the ozone⁴⁷ layer.

 

The odds⁶⁹ of someone somewhere on Earth getting struck by the NASA satellite are 1 in 3,200.

 

A researcher from the Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology, Pang⁷⁰ Zhihao, says the crash could have been avoided had the satellite been put into a higher orbit, or manipulated to drop in the South Pacific when it had abundant fuel. It would pose no threat to Earth if these measures had been taken.

 

Apple Opens Its Largest Store in China

Apple has opened its largest store in the Chinese mainland, at the heart of Nanjing Road in Shanghai.

 

Droves of Apple fans queued to be the first to step foot in the store on its opening day on Friday.

 

Cui Lizhen, flew in from China's northeast city of Yanbian in Jilin province two days in advance to make sure he could enter the store.

 

"There are products that I like and I have friends here. This is a chance for everyone to gather here and interact. We feel that it's quite rare to have a chance like this."

 

This is Apple's fifth store in the Chinese mainland.

 

Leo Wang is a business Analyst with the China Market Research Group in Shanghai.

 

"Apple has been too American focused in the past. We think China should be the biggest market for Apple in the future, because the consumer demand is so high. We believe Apple should open at least 100 outlets⁷¹ in the next two to three years."

 

Apple, which makes popular electronic devices such as the iPhone and iPad, is an extremely popular brand name in China, especially among the youth and the middle classes.

 

Newspaper Picks

 

ChinaDaily: Basketball superstar Yao Ming and British entrepreneur Richard Branson have joined forces this week to get shark fin⁴⁶ soup off the menu and save some of the species from extinction⁷². The soup, which considered a delicacy⁷³, is widely served at top-class restaurants on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. To cater⁷⁴ for demand about 1.5 million sharks are slaughtered⁷⁵ every week for their fins⁷⁶, this is a move that endangers some species. Yao spoke at a Wild aid conservation event he reckons few people know the importance of sharks in maintaining the ecological⁷⁷ balance. He also says people don't realize the cruelty of the fining process where after the fins are sliced off, sharks are discarded back to the ocean where they are condemned⁷⁸ to a slow, agonizing⁷⁹ death due to diminished speed and maneuverability.

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