Month: January 2009

Categories
Russia

Rights Lawyer Gunned Down in Moscow

In a brazen street-side killing that is remeniscent of late 1990s, when Russia’s near collapse saw a surge of Mafia-inspired violence, a masked man shot and killed on Stanislav Markelov on Monday. Markelov was a Russian human rights lawyer known for his work on abuses by the Russian military in the breakaway region of Chechnya. Anastasia Baburova, a journalist who was with Mr. Markelov, was also killed in the attack which took place not far from the Krelim in broad daylight. Officials have not identified any suspects.

Categories
Cambodia & Laos

Cambodia to Open Stock Exchange in December

You can’t blame them for trying…

Cambodia, the second-poorest country in Southeast Asia, plans to complete the listing requirements for its first stock exchange by April in preparation for a December opening, a top exchange official said today.

Categories
Vietnam

Vietnam’s overseas investment hits US$4.4 bln

Asia is Vietnam’s largest investment destination, with 257 projects worth US$2.85 billion, followed by Europe, America and Africa.

Categories
China Culture & History

China Sees Separatist Threats

In a white paper on national defense released by the State Council, the paper said that “China’s security situation has improved steadily,” but that “being in a stage of economic and social transition, China is encountering many new circumstances and new issues in maintaining social stability.”

According to the nytimes, the paper portrayed China as a power that would use military force only defensively and sees territorial integrity as the top defense priority.

Interestingly, the paper said that China wanted to find a way to counterbalance the American military presence in Asia because it believed that America had a history of intervening.

Categories
Cambodia & Laos Culture & History

Long Time Comin’

Five former leaders of the Khmer Rouge, which caused the death of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians from 1975 to 1979- nearly a quarter of the population – will finally face judgment. A U.N.-backed tribuanl announced that the first hearing, for Kaing Guek Eav, 65, known as Comrade Duch, will begin on February 17. Duch commanded the Toul Sleng prison in Phnom Penh, where at least 14,000 people were tortured, killed or sent to the nearby burial site of Cheong Ek to be executed and disposed of.

Categories
Cuba

Cuba struggles with recovery after three hurricanes

The Cuban government has put the cost of the damage at $5 billion — an overwhelming amount for such a small country, equivalent to more than one-tenth of its annual economic output.More than 530,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, reports USA Today. More than 30% of the island’s crops were wiped out, forcing a country that already imports about $2 billion a year in food to bring in even more to keep people from going hungry.

Categories
China

China to inject US$1.5b into power sector

China is expected to inject at least ten billion yuan (1.5 billion dollars) into the struggling power sector in its latest efforts to prop up key industries, reported Channelnewsasia.

The five power producers expected to get financial aid from the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission are China Huaneng Group, China Datang Corp, China Guodian Corp, China Huadian Corp and China Power Investment Corp.

Categories
China Culture & History

China to Mark Defeat of Tibetan Rebellion

Tibet’s Communist Party-controlled legislature has voted to create a holiday to remember China’s defeat of a pro-independence uprising 50 years ago, adding that it was a day of liberation from feudalism, media reported.

The legislators all voted to make March 28 as ”Serf Liberation Day.” The date marks the flight of Tibet’s leader into exile into  India as Chinese troops came in om March 1959. On March 28 of that year, Beijing announced the dissolution of the Tibetan government and the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region under Communist rule.

Categories
Culture & History North Korea

S. Korea on alert after Pyongyang’s warning

tension is brewing once again between the two koreas. the South Korean military is on high alert after the DPRK army spokesman released a statement warning about an “all-out confrontational posture. ” South Korean officials told local media they are taking the DPRK’s threat seriously and are preparing for “all possibilities.”


Categories
Culture & History Russia

Gazprom: Russia, Ukraine to ink gas deal today

on the news:

Russia will sign a new gas deal with Ukraine today to settle their gas dispute and resume gas supplies to Ukraine and European countries, local media reported on Sunday.

Under the new deal, Russia would sell Ukraine gas at a price “based on the European price formula” but would offer a 20-percentdiscount for 2009. In return, Ukraine agreed not to raise its transit fee for Russian gas to Europe.

Russia cut off gas supplies via Ukraine to Europe on Jan. 7, one week after it halted gas supplies to Ukraine due to failed talks on pricing and terms of fees.