IGIHE

Tag: InternationalNews

  • Chinese Tycoon Sentenced to Death

    Chinese Tycoon Sentenced to Death

    {{Liu Han, a Chinese tycoon believed to have links to China’s former security chief Zhou Yongkang, has been sentenced to death.}}

    A Hubei court has found Liu Han and his brother Liu Wei guilty of “organising and leading mafia-style crime and murder”, reports Xinhua.

    The two men were among a group of 36 people charged with similar crimes.

    Liu Han’s sentencing is believed to be part of a wider corruption crackdown linked to Zhou’s network.

    The court verdict stated that, among other things, Liu Han and his group had “in an organised fashion obtained financial gains via illegal activities”.

    They had also on multiple occasions “committed murder, harm and illegal detention”.

    The verdict stated they relied on “the cover-ups and collusion of government employees” to illegally control gaming machines in Guanghan in Sichuan province.

    Liu, who is the former head of mining conglomerate Sichuan Hanlong Group, was ranked 148th on Forbes’ list of the richest Chinese business people in 2012.

    His former company once tried to take over Australian miner Sundance Resources Ltd.

    Chinese state media said previously that the Sichuan-based gang had had strong political ties that played a role in Liu Han’s appointment as a delegate in Sichuan’s political advisory body.

  • Thai Military Seizes Power in Coup

    Thai Military Seizes Power in Coup

    {{Thailand’s army chief has announced a coup d’etat, saying the military is taking control of government.}}

    In a televised statement, the army chief said the military would restore order and enact political reforms.

    It came after two days of inconclusive talks by the main political factions. The army sealed off the talks venue and took the leaders away.

    Thailand has been in political turmoil for months. On Tuesday the army imposed martial law.

    The army is to send troops and vehicles to escort protesters away from rally sites, a senior army official told media.

    The latest unrest began in the Thai capital late last year, when then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra dissolved the lower house of parliament.

    Demonstrators have blockaded several areas of Bangkok for months.

    Earlier this month, a court ordered Ms Yingluck’s removal for alleged abuse of power.

    Thailand has faced a power struggle since Ms Yingluck’s brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted by the military as prime minister in 2006.

  • UN Vote On Syria War Crimes

    UN Vote On Syria War Crimes

    {{The UN Security Council will vote on Thursday on a resolution to refer the Syria crisis to the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged war crimes by all sides.}}

    The draft resolution has wide support, with over 50 countries behind the move.

    But Russia, one of the permanent five members of the council, said it will veto the resolution and called it a “publicity stunt.”

    More than 150,000 people have been killed since the war began in 2011.

    The media says Russia argues that the move will destroy any chance of a peaceful solution to the civil war.

    But France’s ambassador to the UN, Gerard Araud, dismissed Moscow’s claim, saying the resolution would not “undermine the political process because there is no political process.”

    The civil war in Syria is now into its fourth year and peace talks have continually failed to yield any significant agreement.

    {{No progress}}

    Earlier this month, the UN and Arab League special envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, stepped down after more than 18 months in the job.

    UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised the veteran diplomat but admitted the UN had “not been able to make any progress” in Syria.

    He said that Mr Brahimi had faced “almost impossible odds” because the international community was “hopelessly divided.”

    wirestory

  • Putin Tells Investors Russia Wants Good Ties, Respect

    Putin Tells Investors Russia Wants Good Ties, Respect

    {{ Russian President Vladimir Putin told foreign businessmen on Thursday that Russia wanted to improve ties with other countries but must be treated as an equal and its interests respected.}}

    “Russia is ready to broaden multi-faceted contacts with all partners on the basis of true equality and respect for one another’s interests,” Putin said in a telegram welcoming participants to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

    He is due to attend the forum, Russia’s answer to Davos, on Friday. A showcase event that is meant to tell investors and governments that Russia is open for business, the conference is being held this year during a standoff with the West over the future of the former Soviet republic of Ukraine.

    The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on officials, lawmakers and companies close to Putin over Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and could impose more if Moscow disrupts Ukraine’s presidential election on Sunday.

    Putin’s statement reiterated a main plank of Russia’s foreign policy by demanding equal treatment from the United States and others, and saying it will not sacrifice its interest for the sake of better ties.

    Putin suggested that Russia does not want to be isolated.

    “Only by acting together, taking account of mutual interests and building on the constructive ties that have been established over decades can the international community move forward and provide for further global development,” he said.

  • China to Begin Internet Security Checks

    China to Begin Internet Security Checks

    {{China will begin checking computer systems used in government departments to protect “sensitive data”, the official Xinhua news agency said via its microblog on Thursday, amid a row over cyberspying with the United States.}}

    The checks would target technology that is important to national security and the public interest, Xinhua said, citing the State Council Information Office.

    A small number of governments and businesses “take advantage of technological monopolies to collect sensitive data on a large scale” from the Chinese government, business and institutions, it added, and there have been large-scale security breaches.

    Xinhua did not give details of which governments or businesses it was referring to.

    The U.S. government recently charged five Chinese army officers with cyberspying and stealing trade secrets, sparking outrage from China.

    Xinhua

  • NFL Players Sue Over Painkillers

    NFL Players Sue Over Painkillers

    A group of retired American football players have sued the National Football League, claiming it illegally gave them painkillers to keep them playing.

    The players named in the suit say they were given narcotics and other drugs without a prescription, and had health issues and addictions as a result.

    A NFL spokesman said their lawyers had not yet reviewed the lawsuit.

    The league previously settled a case that accused it of concealing it knew the risks of multiple concussions.

    It settled that lawsuit for $765m (£454m), without admitting wrongdoing.

    In a complaint filed on Tuesday in a US court, lawyers for the eight named players said the NFL had “intentionally, recklessly and negligently created and maintained a culture of drug misuse, substituting players’ health for profit”.

    The retired players include three members of the NFL champions 1985 Chicago Bears – Richard Dent, Keith Van Horne and Jim McMahon.

    The suit seeks class-action status, and says more than 500 other former NFL players have signed up.

    In addition to unspecified financial damages, the players are seeking to require the NFL to create a testing and monitoring programme to help prevent addiction and health issues from the use of painkillers.

    “The NFL knew of the debilitating effects of these drugs on all of its players and callously ignored the players’ long-term health in its obsession to return them to play,” Steven Silverman, a lawyer for the players said in a statement.

    Mr McMahon alleges said he suffered a broken neck and ankle during his time in the NFL, but was never told about those injuries by team doctors. Instead he received medications and returned to play.

    The complaint also alleges Mr Van Horne played an entire season on a broken leg, and was not told about the injury for five years “during which time he was fed a constant diet of pills to deal with the pain”.

    And former player JD Hill allegedly “received hundreds, if not thousands, of pills from trainers and doctors, including but not limited to NSAIDs [anti-inflammatory drugs], codeine, Valium and Librium”, without a prescription or warning of potential side effects.

    Mr Hill said he left the NFL – after a career in the 1970s – addicted to painkillers, and became homeless as a result.

    In a statement to the Associated Press news agency, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said: “We have not seen the lawsuit, and our attorneys have not had an opportunity to review it.”

  • Cuban Dissident to Launch Newspaper

    Cuban Dissident to Launch Newspaper

    {{Cuba’s best-known dissident blogger, Yoani Sanchez, says she is launching an online newspaper with daily news about the communist-run country.}}

    Ms Sanchez said the website would not be a platform against the government; its aim is to provide essential information to Cubans.

    The paper will be produced in Cuba and will not have a print version.

    Cuban media, including the country’s three national newspapers, are under strict state control.

    But President Raul Castro has eased restrictions on dissidents in recent years, allowing opponents of the government – including Ms Sanchez – to travel abroad.

    In her Twitter account, Ms Sanchez described the new publication as “a space to tell Cuba’s story from inside Cuba”.

    The paper will be called Catorce y Medio, which means Fourteen-and-a-Half. The title makes reference to the year of its publication, 2014, and the word medio, which is Spanish for media.

    {{“No loaded words”}}

    The editor-in-chief will be Ms Sanchez’s husband, fellow activist Reinaldo Escobar in the capital, Havana.

    “We want to produce a newspaper that doesn’t aim to be anti-Castro, a newspaper that’s committed to the truth, to Cubans’ everyday reality,” he told media.

    Mr Escobar said the paper will avoid using loaded words such as “dictatorship” and “regime” and will refer to Mr Castro simply as “the head of state” or “President Gen Raul Castro”.

    About 10 staff have been working for weeks in Havana in preparations for the launch of the first issue, later on Wednesday.

    Critics say the website will reach very few Cubans inside the country, where there is limited Internet access.

    Ms Sanchez achieved international recognition with her prize-winning blog, Generation Y, in which she criticised the restrictions on freedom of speech and movement imposed on the island since the 1959 revolution.

    AP

  • Mexico’s National Power Utility Plans Natural Gas Sales

    Mexico’s National Power Utility Plans Natural Gas Sales

    Mexico’s state-owned power utility plans to start selling natural gas to the private sector for the first time as it builds new pipelines, the company’s top executive said.

    Industrial consumers would be the target market for the sales, Enrique Ochoa, chief executive officer of the Federal Electricity Commission, or CFE, told Reuters late on Monday.

    Before energy reform legislation passed in December, only state-run oil company Pemex was allowed by law to produce and market natural gas.

    “For us, this is a new opportunity that the reform allows,” Ochoa said.

    The legislation also ended the decades-long monopoly on power generation held by the CFE, while calling for private contracts to improve transmission and distribution infrastructure.

    The reform is expected to spur investment across the sector, especially in natural gas production, which is increasingly the country’s low-cost option for power. Congress could approve the rules as soon as June.

    The government has said the reform will lower electricity rates, particularly for industrial users, but Ochoa declined to say how quickly that could occur.

    The CFE’s near-term priority, Ochoa said, is a major expansion of the country’s natural gas pipelines. This should boost capacity to allow for more cheap imports from the United States, where output is booming.

    Ochoa said five new pipeline projects due to be put out to contract later this year are designed to provide better interconnectivity.

  • Iranian Pharrell Fans Arrested

    Iranian Pharrell Fans Arrested

    A group of Iranian fans who created a tribute to Pharrell Williams’ hit song Happy have been arrested.

    The video shows three men and three unveiled women dancing to the song on the streets and rooftops of Tehran.

    Police chief Hossein Sajedinia said the “vulgar clip” had “hurt public chastity”, the ISNA news agency said.

    Iran’s state-run TV broadcast a programme on Tuesday, apparently showing the men and women confessing on camera.

    A subtitled edition of the TV clip, posted on YouTube, identified the detainees as “actors” who claimed they were tricked into making the Happy video for an audition.

    “They told me they are making a feature film and they had a permit for it,” said one man in the video. “They said those things and they fooled me.”

    Another young woman added: “They had promised us not to publish the video.”

    According to some unconfirmed reports, a total of 13 people were arrested in connection with the video, but official sources have not confirmed the exact number of detainees.

    wirestory

  • Russia & China Sign 30 year gas Deal

    Russia & China Sign 30 year gas Deal

    {{Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has signed multi-billion dollar, 30-year gas deal with China.}}

    The deal between Russia’s Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has been 10 years in the making. No official price has been given but it estimated to be worth over $400bn.

    Russia has been keen to find an alternative energy market for its gas as it faces the possibility of European sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.

    Gazprom shares rose 2% on the news.

    The agreement, signed at a summit in Shanghai, is expected to deliver some 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year eastward to China’s burgeoning economy, starting around 2018.

    The main argument has been over price and China is thought to have been driving a hard bargain.

    Over the last 10 years it has found other gas suppliers. Turkmenistan is now China’s largest foreign gas supplier, and last year it started importing piped natural gas from Myanmar.