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Biden tells China: US will never default on debt Posted: 20 Aug 2011 10:05 PM PDT CHENGDU, China: US Vice President Joe Biden said Sunday that the world's biggest economy would never default on its debts, during a visit aimed at boosting Chinese confidence in America's beleaguered finances. In a speech to hundreds of university students in the vast southwestern city of Chengdu, Biden also urged China to "cherish" a free flow of information between the government and public, as the communist state quells dissent anew. Biden said at Sichuan University that the United States remained the "single best bet" for investment — despite the historic downgrade this month of the country's top-notch credit rating by Standard & Poor's. "The United States has never defaulted and never will," he said, on the final day of his first official visit to China as vice president. China is the largest foreign holder of US debt, and Biden has used the five-day trip to assure its leaders that their massive investment remains safe after Washington narrowly avoided a catastrophic default earlier this month. Chinese leaders, including Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice President Xi Jinping, have been publicly conciliatory with Biden — in sharp contrast to state media in recent weeks, which has accused US leaders of acting recklessly. Biden's visit has been aimed partly at building ties with his counterpart Xi, who is slated to become China's top leader next year but remains virtually unknown in US policy circles. On Friday, Wen expressed confidence in the US economy and said Biden had "sent a very clear message to the Chinese public that the United States will keep its word and obligations with regard to its government debt". "In spite of the difficulties facing the US economy at present, I have full confidence that the United States will overcome these difficulties and get its economy back on the track of healthy growth," Wen told Biden. During his speech, Biden also called the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran "a direct and serious threat to the security of the United States and our allies". He urged China to "send a clear message" to Iranian leaders that they "must live up to their international obligation", and also expressed concern about North Korea. Biden raised human rights concerns during his meetings with Chinese leaders last week, US officials have said, but they refused to go into details of whether any individual cases were brought up. Washington last week appealed to Beijing to free prominent rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng, who has defended some of China's most vulnerable people including Christians and coal miners, and has not been heard of since last year. But police have stepped up surveillance on dissidents and warned them against making any high-profile protests or attempting to meet Biden during his visit, rights activists said. "China should cherish an exchange between its citizens and students and their government," Biden told the Sichuan University students. "Liberty unlocks a people's full potential and in its absence, unrest festers." In Chengdu, Biden was to meet Vice President Xi again and witness reconstruction efforts following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which left over 87,000 people dead or missing. Chengdu, a huge conurbation of 14 million people, is the capital of Sichuan province, where nearly 200 of the Fortune 500 largest firms in the world have invested. China and the United States have signed deals worth nearly $1 billion during Biden's trip, according to a US official who requested anonymity. Following his stopover in Chengdu, Biden will visit Mongolia and close US ally Japan. -- AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

Storm lashes pope, pilgrims at youth festival Posted: 20 Aug 2011 09:57 PM PDT MADRID: A violent storm lashed Pope Benedict XVI and around one million pilgrims at an open-air service in Madrid, forcing him to cut short his speech and drenching the faithful who had waited for hours in blistering heat. As the heavens opened during World Youth Day celebrations Saturday night, Benedict's skullcap was swept off and an assistant tried to shelter the 84-year-old pontiff with a large white umbrella. The pope, his white hair blown into disarray, gripped a copy of his sodden speech, the pages and his vestments flapping in the wind. A sea of pilgrims, by some reports more than a million, tried to take shelter under large white and yellow umbrellas at the vast esplanade — the size of 48 football fields — at the Cuatro Vientos (Four Winds) airbase outside Madrid. Others danced in the rain, but the vast majority with no shelter just got wet. When the rain eased some 20 minutes later, the pope declared to cheers: "Thank you for your joy and endurance. Your strength is greater than the rain. "The Lord with the rain has given us many blessings. In this too you are an example." The pope then left the stage to change and returned wearing a golden mitre, draped in a golden cloak and clutching a golden crucifix before resuming his speech. Firefighters were seen checking the stage for storm damage before the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics returned. Police prevented pilgrims sheltering under any structures. Six youths were slightly injured but needed no treatment when the wind blew a down a tent, a spokeswoman for the event said. The pope was seated on a large white throne on a vast white, wave-shaped stage and beneath a giant parasol "tree", made of interwoven golden rods, when the deluge broke. Also attending the service were Spain's Crown Prince Felipe and his wife Letizia. The pilgrims are supposed to spend the night in the open air at the base, eight kilometres (five miles) southwest of Madrid, where Benedict is to celebrate the closing mass of the August 16-21 youth festival on Sunday morning. As he bade farewell to the crowds, the pope said: "We have lived through an adventure together. Firm in the faith, you endured the rain. "Before going I want to say goodnight to you all: May you rest well, with the sacrifice you are making and that I have no doubt you offer generously to the Lord, we will see each other tomorrow, God willing. He then thanked the pilgrims for the "marvelous example" they had given. "Just like tonight, with Christ you can always face the tests of life," the pope said. In the part of his speech that he was able to deliver he called on young people to "be afraid neither of the world, nor of the future, nor of your weakness. "The Lord has allowed you to live in this moment of history so that, by your faith, his name will continue to resound throughout the world." The deluge brought dramatic relief to pilgrims who had been desperately seeking any shade from the fierce August heat, some crouching behind emergency vehicles or portable toilets. The head of the Roman Catholic Church earlier warned against "false gods" as he celebrated mass in Madrid's Almudena Cathedral. In white cassock and a white, gold-embroidered mitre, he told 6,000 young people preparing to join the priesthood: "You may be shunned along with others who propose higher goals or who unmask the false gods before whom many now bow down. "Approach the priesthood only if you are firmly convinced that God is calling you to be his ministers, and if you are completely determined to exercise it in obedience to the Church's precepts." These include "the decision to live in celibacy for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and, leaving aside the world's goods, live in austerity of life and sincere obedience, without pretence". Thousands of child abuse claims, to which the pope made no direct reference, have forced the Roman Catholic Church to be more aware of the psychological maturity of those entering the priesthood. The pope drew a thunderous applause as he announced he would bestow an extremely rare honour on a Spanish saint, Saint John of Avila, by proclaiming him a doctor of the Church. Only 33 doctors of the Church — reserved for figures of eminent doctrine and remarkable holiness — have been proclaimed since 1295, and the last was in 1997. The sheer scale of the celebrations in Madrid has sparked angry demonstrations at a time of economic hardship, with unemployment for under-25s running at more than 45 percent. Thousands of protesters marched in central Madrid late Friday to protest the cost and to decry police crackdowns on earlier demonstrations. But organisers say most of the cost will be covered by a registration fee from the pilgrims, and the celebration will be a massive tourist boost for Spain. About 100 gays and lesbians protested on Saturday against the papal visit and the Vatican's fierce opposition to same-sex marriages. -- AFP Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

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KEEP THE CENSORS AWAY Posted: 20 Aug 2011 05:50 PM PDT 2011/08/21 By G.Shanti, Shuib Taib and Audrey Vijaindren nsunt@nst.com.my KUALA LUMPUR: Media censorship should be done away with, except in "extreme cases", which can threaten national security, such as those which touch on racial and religious sensitivities. Pornography and excessive violence should also be on the chopping block. This is the consensus of a crosssection of Malaysians who feel that the government's move to review its media censorship policy is timely, as freedom of communication and access to information is instrumental in the shaping of a nation. They said any move to arbitrarily censor the media would be futile in this age, where information is available at the click of a mouse. "Censorship is no longer effective, so why not embrace freedom in communication? "If freedom of communication is used with responsibility and respect, it will be a great tool in shaping our nation," said Alan Hoo, founder of the Malaysian Association of Brand Image Consultants. But he stressed that the public must be held responsible for their actions. Concurring with him, AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said it was time for Malaysia "to get rid of media censorship", as it would ensure an open and transparent platform of communication which is important for national unity. By having little or no censorship, he said the country would become more innovative, adding that freedom of speech was important for innovation. "If someone makes defamatory or slanderous statements, there are legal avenues to deal with such matters. "And in the absence of media censorship, we can have media regulators to keep an eye on this." He was saying this in response to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's statement that the government would review its media censorship policy in line with the country's changing socio-political landscape. Najib said the measure was necessary so that the government would not be seen as failing to understand media censorship and how to deal with it. Educational psychologist Kenneth Phun said there was a need for more balanced reporting by the media and not the kind that was based on political patronage. He said the media should provide honest news without treating its readers or viewers as children who did not know how to think. "However, I'm not espousing abandonment in terms of zero censorship because I believe that things like pornography should be disallowed." Giving the media more freedom and allowing the public to express their views would also go a long way in moulding a mature society, said youth worker Michael William. "Everyone has the right to be heard and hearing different viewpoints helps us make informed choices. "I think Malaysians are able to do this if people begin to trust us." Professional image consultant Wendy Lee agreed that people should be allowed to express their thoughts without the fear of being judged or penalised. "Sometimes it's the bitter words that mould us into better people." While members of the film industry welcomed the review, they felt there was still a need to control pornography and extreme violence. Film producer and director Saw Teong Hin said as much as directors like to complain, some degree of censorship was necessary for scenes touching on sex, extreme violence, and racial and religious intolerance. "Having said that, I would like to qualify it by saying that if we were to ban violent or sex scenes, we need to see the context in which they are censored. It must be discussed. It is not as simple as black or white." Actor and writer Tam Suhaimi, who welcomed the prime minister's statement, said the film industry had long suffered from strict censorship. "Nevertheless, certain topics still need to be controlled such as pornographic flicks, sex scenes and things that can incite racial antagonism." Actor Tony Eusoff, however, felt that the question of censorship should not arise in an era where the public had access to various sources of information. "As far as film censorship goes, I don't think anything is worth censoring. After all, if we want to watch a pornographic movie, you can get it from the Net. "However, I feel that moviemakers should be responsible enough to know when and how much love scenes they need to have in their movies. If I were to ban something, I would do it if I felt that it was done in bad taste." Some, however, felt that existing censorship rules were still relevant, given the country's multi-ethnic and multi-religious mix, as issues deemed "sensitive" by some quarters could be blown out of proportion. As such, Hulu Selangor member of parliament P. Kamalanathan said media censorship was important because whatever was published or broadcast could be misconstrued. "If an interviewee has said something sensitive, the onus is on the writer to exercise some form of censorship so that it doesn't lead to a bigger problem. "The pen is mightier than the sword and that is why we need to be careful when we touch on race, religion, language or even culture." Prof Dr Suresh Govind, president of the Sathya Sai Baba Central Council of Malaysia, said media reporting should be done responsibly and with accountability, adding that "censorship should be part of journalism". "The benchmark should be our own families. Would we write anything sensational about our families just to sell the story? "The same should be applied to those who we are writing about." Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

Dam clogs up river travel for interior folk Posted: 20 Aug 2011 05:21 PM PDT 2011/08/20 By Desmond Davidson desmond@nst.com.my KUCHING: River travel for some 30,000 people living in remote areas along Sungai Rajang, between the Bakun hydroelectric dam and Kapit, has been disrupted as that section of the country's longest river is too shallow to navigate. "It was a problem the government had anticipated a long time ago, but no one took the warning seriously," Land Development Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing said yesterday. Masing, who is also the assemblyman for Baleh, a constituency adjacent to the area facing the crisis, said: "There was a distinct lack of planning to tackle the anticipated problem." The express boats have long ceased operating regular services between the administrative town of Kapit and Belaga, a small rural trading town, as the water is too low for even these steel-hulled boats to safely shoot the series of rapids there. The most treacherous is the infamous Pelagus rapids, which had claimed many lives. The water level of the river had plummeted because of the diversion of the river's water in the current impoundment of the Bakun hydroelectric dam. The problem has been further aggravated by the current dry season. Belaga assemblyman Liwan Lagang said the exercise to divert water to fill the Bakun dam's reservoir had made Sungai Rajang in that area shallow, as sediments had built up on the riverbed as the water was too slow to move them. The plight of the people began soon after work to fill the dam's reservoir started in October last year. He said the ethnic group that were most affected were the Ibans from a few hundred longhouses. To get to Kapit to settle administrative matters like registering a birth or applying for MyKad, it's either "wait for a heavy rainfall" when the water level rises high enough for the express boats to start moving again, or take a long detour via logging roads to Bintulu, Sibu and back up Sungai Rajang to Kapit. Masing said the government had approved the construction of a road between Kapit and Belaga to bypass the Pelagus rapids, and funds had been allocated for it. But he is unsure of the status of works on the road. Liwan said so far, there had not been a food shortage for those affected. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search.

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