China’s Image Still Tarnished By Corruption,Despite Efforts to Curb Graft
An index of global perceptions of corruption indicates China is still viewed as corrupt despite efforts to curb official graft.
The Berlin-based group Transparency International scored 183 countries on a 10-point scale, with zero being very corrupt and 10 being the least corrupt.
China ranked 75th on the corruption index, scoring 3.6 on the ten-point scale.
Cobus de Swardt, Transparency International's managing director, told VOA that authorities in Beijing view corruption as a major handicap to China's future development, and thus have attempted to curb official corruption at home. But he said it does not appear China has made the same effort in how it operates in the rest of the world.
New Zealand ranked 1st in the index — meaning it was perceived as the world's least corrupt country — followed by Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland. The United States ranked 24th.
De Swardt says North Korea and Somalia tied for last because they are both dictatorships with no checks-and-balances, no elections, no independent judiciary and no civil society.
De Swardt says corruption remains a major contributor to social and policy problems. In the Middle East, he attributes the popular uprisings called the “Arab Spring” with widespread demands for greater public accountability.
New, Deadly Attacks Rattle Iraqi Province
Iraqi militants are making their presence felt in the country's northeast, killing at least 17 people in two separate attacks.
Officials in Diyala province say a car bomb went off early Thursday as shoppers were starting to arrive at a market in the town of Khalis, 80 kilometers north of Baghdad. The blast killed 10 people and wounded more than 20.
In a separate attack in Diyala province later Thursday, gunmen killed at least seven people, including at least one commander of the Sahwa, or “Awakening Council,” an anti-al-Qaida militia.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has met with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad this week for talks ahead of the final U.S. troop pullout.
During a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Wednesday, Biden said the two countries are embarking on a “new path.”
The U.S. military has about 13,000 troops remaining in Iraq, but they are scheduled to leave by the end of the month. Biden told Mr. Maliki that the completion of that pullout is in the best interests of both the United States and Iraq.
The pullout will end a military presence that began with the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled former dictator Saddam Hussein.
Violence in Iraq has declined from the peak of sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007, but insurgent attacks remain common.
On World AIDS Day, UN Urges Continued Support for Initiatives
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the world is finally in a position to eradicate AIDS, but says funding will be critical to future progress in fighting the epidemic.
In a statement to commemorate World AIDS Day on Thursday, Mr. Ban urged international donors to meet the estimated $24 billion needed annually to fully fund global AIDS initiatives.
Many observers worry that global AIDS efforts may face serious cut backs as governments in Europe and the U.S. try to make up for large budget deficits.
Kumar Chandiramani of the medical charity group Doctors Without Borders says his organization is worried about a potential lack of funding.
A U.N. report released Wednesday said domestic and international funding for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, decreased from $15.9 billion in 2009 to $15 billion in 2010, well below the threshold it says is needed for a comprehensive, global response.
The report found the number of new HIV infections has dropped by 15 percent in the past decade. But it also found that new infections increased by 250 percent in the past decade in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The U.N. estimates that 34 million people around the world are living with HIV.
World AIDS day was first observed in 1988 as a way to increase awareness of the disease and support those affected by it.
This year's theme, which runs until 2015, is “Getting to Zero,” which focuses on eliminating new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths, as well as descrimination against people with the disease.
US confidence, tensions in Iran push oil up
A rebound in US consumer confidence and escalating tensions in Iran pushed oil to US$100 ($8,565) a barrel yesterday.
The price of benchmark crude rose US$1.58 to end the day at US$99.79 per barrel in New York. It rose as high as US$100.15 a barrel earlier in the session.
Oil prices jumped early in the day after a private survey found that US consumer confidence rose this month to the highest level since July. The Conference Board survey followed robust retail sales over the Thanksgiving weekend. The US is the world's largest oil consumer, and its economy is driven by consumer spending.
A surge of violence in Iran also helped boost oil prices. Students angered by sanctions against Iran for its nuclear programmed stormed the British embassy in Teheran and other British diplomatic sites before police restored order. Iran is the world's third-largest oil exporter. While analysts say it's unlikely that Western nations would impose an embargo on Iranian oil, the potential for more violence in the country could keep prices up.
"It's a little frightening, especially for anyone who remembers the Iranian revolution," said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service. From November 1979 until January 1981, 52 American were held hostage after students overran the US embassy in Iran.
Meanwhile, European leaders continued to work on a last-minute strategy to save the euro and prevent a eurozone collapse that could send the region into recession.
While traders kept a wary eye on Europe and Iran, analysts said the consumer confidence numbers in the US show the American economy is on stronger footing. That bodes well for future oil demand.
"Everyone's really focused on the holiday shopping," independent analyst and trader Stephen Schork said. "It's pushed the European situation to the back seat."
Growing consumer spending should boost energy demand for shipping companies and other major US industries. But motorists are still conserving fuel, according to a study released yesterday by MasterCard SpendingPulse. Its analysis of gasoline purchases shows that American drivers have cut way back this year.
Kourtney Kardashian states in US Mag: I’m Pregnant!
Get ready for one more member of the extended Kardashian family to keep up with! Kourtney Kardashian and beau Scott Disick are expecting their second child together, they tell the new Us Weekly in an exclusive cover story.
The E! reality star, 32, took a pregnancy test about five weeks ago — and woke up Disick, 28 (not a morning person!), around 7.a.m. to tell him the positive results.
“Now I’m nine weeks along,” Kardashian tells Us. “You’re supposed to wait 12 weeks to tell people, but I feel confident.”
The son or daughter-to-be will be the second child for the couple of five years, whose son Mason, nearly 2, was a bit of a surprise.
Not so much for baby number two, the happy couple tells Us.
“It wasn’t like we weren’t trying,” Disick, 28, says. “We kind of just said, ‘If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.’”
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No escape for Vybz Kartel
POLICE have thrown cold water on claims that embattled Deejay Vybz Kartel has escaped from the New Horizon Adult Remand Centre early this morning.
Reports have gone viral on the internet and on social networks that the Deejay and seven other inmates held guards hostage at gunpoint minutes after 1:00 am and stole uniforms and a vehicle belonging to the Correctional Services Department before escaping.
he police have also dispelled rumours that a guard died from a heart attack and 12 others were injured.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Les Green told the Observer early this morning that he had no knowledge of the reported jail break.
"I know nothing about that. If that had taken place I would would certainly have known," Green said.
Police at Denham Town Police station, the closest police station to the remand centre were also unaware of the reports as was the Constabulary Communication Network who also claimed ignorance of any jail break.
"It may be an attempt by his cronies to keep him in the news but they don't need to spread rumours to do that because he will be in the news for quite some time," one cop told the Observer.
Vybz Kartel, whose real name is Adijah Palmer, is facing two murder charges, conspiracy to murder, illegal possession of a firearm and possession of ganja charges.
He was arrested on October 1 and has repeatedly been denied bail when he appeared in court.
Source: jamaicaobserver
Buju on the move
IMPRISONED dancehall artiste Buju Banton continues to play musical chairs during the first phase of his 10-year prison sentence.
Buju — whose real name is Mark Myrie — was found guilty on drug charges in a Florida court on June 23 and is presently incarcerated at facility in Groesbeck, Texas
Since his incarceration, the artiste has been transferred from Florida to Oklahoma to Texas, and back to Oklahoma. The Sun Sentinel newspaper in Fort Lauderdale reported yesterday that the Grammy winner will soon be en route to the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami.
Arrangements to place the artiste in a Mississippi prison went awry when prison officials discovered that a co-defendant in the case was already housed there.
Authorities then stowed the artiste in a Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City before moving him to Groesbeck.
David Oscar Markus, Buju’s lawyer, is concerned about the current facility.
“He was at one of the worst places you can imagine — a county facility that had been converted to house federal inmates,” Markus said in the Sun Sentinel report.
“The place was used for short-stay Mexican nationals who were going to be deported,” he added. “It was filled with Mexican gangs. Buju was one of very few black men in there. It was really violent.”
In February, Federal judge James S Moody found the artiste guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, just days after he won a Grammy for Best Reggae Album. The artiste won the award for his 2010 album Before the Dawn.
Both Moody and the Jamaican consulate urged the Federal Bureau of Prisons to move Banton from the Texas facility.
“We’re very appreciative that Judge Moody stood by his initial recommendation that Buju should be in Miami,” Markus said. “And he made a point to comment that Buju is a peaceful person and shouldn’t be housed in a violent facility.”
Markus said he plans to file an appellate brief with the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta later next month.
Ninja Man’s lawyers to seek bail
Lawyers for dancehall deejay Ninja Man, whose real name is Desmond Ballentine, are to seek bail, when his murder trial resumes in the Home Circuit Court on December 9.
Ninja man has been in custody since 2009.
He is charged jointly with his son Jamel and two other men, Dennis Clayton and Seymour Samuels.
Samuels is out on bail while the others remain behind bars.
They are charged with the March 16, 2009 murder of Richard Johnson.
It is alleged that on the day in question, Johnson was sweeping his yard in the company of a friend on Mall Road, St Andrew, when a motor car with three men aboard drove up.
An argument developed between Johnson’s friend and the men, who left but later returned with guns blazing.
Johnson was fatally shot in the incident.
Ninja Man turned himself into the police shortly after the incident, upon hearing that he was being sought as a person of interest in the case.
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn passes $500m mark
The latest Twilight film has now made more than $500 million (£321m) at the worldwide box office, its distributor Summit Entertainment has said.
By Tuesday, its takings had exceeded $508m (£326m) - $223m (£143m) of which was made in North American cinemas.
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 is the fourth instalment in the vampire series. A fifth movie follows in 2012.
It is the top film in both the UK and US box office charts after its second weekend of release.
"We couldn't be more pleased with the success of this film," said Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger, co-chairmen of Summit Entertainment.
The previous three instalments in the Twilight series have collectively made more than $1.8 billion (£1.15 billion) at the worldwide box office.
Breaking Dawn Part 1 was the runaway success at UK and Ireland cinemas this weekend, making £4.5m between Friday and Sunday.
Since opening on 18 November, the film - which stars Kristen Stewart and British star Robert Pattinson - has made in excess of £23m.
Although Twilight's achievements over 12 days were attained by the final Harry Potter movie in six.
When it opened in July, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 promptly set a new record for the fastest film to cross the $500m mark.
Animated fantasy Arthur Christmas remains the number two film in the UK and Ireland, having made £2.5m on its third weekend of release.
Breaking Dawn and Arthur Christmas were the only titles to make more than £1m between Friday and Sunday, with other new releases posting relatively disappointing results.
The most successful new release was biographical drama My Week with Marilyn, which entered the chart at three with £749,819.
50/50, a comedy about a young man with cancer, was ranked sixth, just ahead of the Daniel Craig supernatural thriller Dream House.
Brad Pitt's latest vehicle Moneyball, about a baseball manager trying to rejuvenate his struggling team, took 10th place in this week's Top 10 with a modest £230,848 across the weekend.
UK AND IRELAND BOX OFFICE
- 1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 - £4.57m
- 2. Arthur Christmas - £2.52m
- 3. My Week with Marilyn - £749,819
- 4. The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn - £712,398
- 5. Immortals - £534,163
Source: Screen International
Charlie Sheen pays tribute to late comic Patrice O'Neal
Actor Charlie Sheen has paid tribute to Patrice O'Neal, a comic who mocked him on a TV show earlier this year, following his death at 41.
"The entertainment world as well as the world at large lost a brilliant man," Sheen said on Twitter.
O'Neal, who had diabetes, appeared in numerous US TV programmes, including Arrested Development, The Office and David Letterman's late night chat show.
He died on Tuesday from complications of a stroke he suffered last month.
O'Neal's mocking of Sheen during a Comedy Central "roast" was considered a highlight of the September event.
In his tweet, Sheen admitted he had only known the comic for a few days prior to the show but had been "inspired by his nobility, his grace and his epic talent".
Comedienne Sarah Silverman also paid tribute, saying the Boston-born jokesmith had "made us laugh til we cried".
He is survived by his wife Vondecarlo and his stepdaughter Aymilyon.