China corruption problem 'still very serious' - report
China says its corruption problem is "still very serious" and has set out new measures to tackle it.
In a new report on the fight against corruption, the authorities say more than 200,000 cases have been investigated since 2003.
They say their efforts to date have "yielded notable results" but resolve to make them more effective.
Critics say that corruption is ingrained in the system and new regulations will not solve the problem.
The report carried by the official state news agency Xinhua says that between 2003 and 2009, prosecutors investigated more than 240,000 cases, including embezzlement and bribery.
It highlights new rules requiring members of the governing Communist party to report incomes and investments.
The party also says it will curb excessive spending on official parties and seminars.
The document praises the role of the news media and the internet in exposing corrupt practices, declaring that "sunshine is the best antiseptic".
'Huge sums'
The report acknowledges that tackling corruption will be a massive task.
"Since the relevant mechanisms and systems are still incomplete, corruption persists, with some cases even involving huge sums of money," it says.
"The situation in combating corruption is still very serious, and the tasks are still abundant."
China has launched several anti-corruption campaigns in recent years.
One of the biggest involved a powerful party boss in Shanghai, Chen Liangyu, who was jailed for 18 years in 2008 for his role in a pension fund scandal.
In July 2010, the top justice official in the city of Chongqing, Wen Qiang, was executed after being convicted of accepting bribes, rape and shielding criminal gangs.
Israel ex-President Moshe Katsav found guilty of rape
Israel's former President Moshe Katsav has been convicted of rape by a court in Tel Aviv and could go to jail.
He was found guilty of raping an employee in the 1990s when he was tourism minister and of later sexual offences while he was president.
The judges said they believed the evidence of the woman whose testimony had led to two charges of rape.
Moshe Katsav resigned from the largely ceremonial post of head of state in 2007 and was indicted in March 2009.
While his resignation caused shock across Israel, it had limited political consequences.
Rape commands a jail term in Israel of at least four years, although Katsav is thought to be likely to contest the conviction in Israel's supreme court.
State prosecutor Ronit Amiel said the verdict carried a message to other victims of abuse of power that they should not remain silent.
The former president, 65, who was in office for seven years from 2000, had denied the charges, the most serious ever levelled against an Israeli head of state.
When he stepped down in 2007, he initially agreed to plead guilty to sexual misconduct and avoid more serious charges, but he withdrew the plea bargain the following year.
According to the indictment, the rape charges dated back to April 1998 when the former employee described as Woman A alleged he had first raped her at the tourism ministry office and later at a hotel in Jerusalem.
The further charges related to claims of sexual harassment of two women in 2003 and 2005 during his presidency.
Reading the verdict, Judge George Karra who presided over a panel with two other judges, said: "We believe the plaintiff [Woman A] because her testimony is supported by elements of evidence, and she told the truth."
Katsav's evidence, the judges decided, was "riddled with lies".
Although members of his family were with him in court, his wife Gila was not. He appeared to be visibly distraught as the verdict was read out and one of his sons was heard saying repeatedly "it's not true".
Sentencing is expected to take place next month and before the former president left court, he was told to surrender his passport.
His son, Boaz, told reporters the family would fight on to prove his innocence. "We will continue to walk with our heads high, so all the nation throughout its generations, with God's help, will know that father, the eighth president of the State of Israel, is innocent."
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Khodorkovsky facing new jail term at second trial
The judge at the second trial of imprisoned Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky has ruled out a suspended sentence.
His former business partner Platon Lebedev likewise faces a new prison sentence, correspondents report.
"Khodorkovsky and Lebedev may only be reformed if they are isolated from society," the judge's verdict says.
The two men were convicted of fraud on Monday but the reading of the 800-page verdict has still to be completed.
Vatican sets up watchdog to combat money laundering
The Vatican has set up a new financial authority to fight money laundering and make its financial operations more transparent.
The Pope has signed into law new rules to bring the Vatican's banking regulations in line with international efforts to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The move comes ahead of an EU deadline.
It follows accusations the Vatican had been contravening international rules on money laundering.
In September, Rome prosecutors formally put the director of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, and his deputy under criminal investigation after receiving a tip-off from the Bank of Italy about possible money laundering.
The Italian justice authorities seized 23m euros ($30m; £19m) which the Vatican had deposited at a branch of an Italian commercial bank near Saint Peter's Square, allegedly without properly identifying either the depositor or the recipient.
The Vatican said there had been a misunderstanding and there had been no wrongdoing by their bank or its employees.
On Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI signed the documents, saying the Vatican wanted to join other countries in cracking down on legal loopholes that have allowed criminals to exploit the financial sector.
The Vatican is acting ahead of a 31 December deadline to create a compliance authority to oversee all its financial operations, which is required by the EU and other international organisations.
The Vatican's centuries-old secrecy over the way it handles its money will no longer be an excuse to avoid its obligations under international and Italian criminal law to combat money-laundering operations by third parties, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome.
Exempt
The Vatican Bank - known officially as the Institute for Works of Religion - has hitherto exempted itself from international banking regulations on the grounds that it is not a real bank in the normal sense of the word, our correspondent says.
It handles accounts for the Pope, his cardinals and religious orders, and has only one branch inside the apostolic palace in Rome.
The new laws are due to come into effect by 1 April, after the new authority is set up and its members chosen, the Vatican said.
It will take some time, however, for the Vatican to be put on the so-called "white list" of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, our correspondent adds. The list identifies countries that have agreed to share tax information and crack down on tax havens.
The Vatican Bank was:
- Set up by Pope Pius XII in 1942
- Its based in Vatican City, has no other branches, operates as offshore institution outside EU rules
- Headed by professional banker overseen by commission of cardinals
- No shareholders, no policy-making functions
- All profits set aside for charitable or religious works
Riot charges for opponents of Belarus leader Lukashenko
Four Belarus opposition figures have been charged with organising riots after a protest against the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko.
The four men, who are being held along with a number of campaigners and journalists, face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Three other opposition figures are also being investigated.
The US and EU condemned the post-election crackdown and said the ballot itself had been flawed.
Police made some 600 arrests when they broke up the protest in the capital, Minsk, on 19 December.
Hundreds of those detained, including 11 Russian citizens, were released on Wednesday.
The four men charged were named by lawyers as Vladimir Neklyaev, Andrei Sannikov, Nikolai Statkevich and Vitaly Rymashevsky.
Mr Neklyaev has been receiving hospital treatment after being severely beaten up on election day, his lawyer said.
Also under investigation are Rygor Kostusev, Dmitry Uss and Alexei Mikhalevich.
All seven men stood as candidates against Mr Lukashenko, with none polling more than 3% of the vote, according to official results.
Mr Lukashenko was officially re-elected for a fourth term with nearly 80% of the vote.
Police dispersed at least 10,000 anti-Lukashenko demonstrators in Minsk on 19 December, officials said.
Some demonstrators tried to storm a government building, but were pushed back by riot police. Dozens of people in the crowd were injured in clashes after being beaten with batons, according to eyewitnesses.
Australia: Queensland floodwaters still rising
Water levels are continuing to rise in some parts of the Australian state of Queensland as it battles its worst floods in decades.
Days of torrential rain have led rivers to burst their banks, swamping homes, closing roads and forcing residents to evacuate.
The rain has eased but flooding is getting worse in some places as water drains from higher ground.
In Emerald, a flood peak that could inundate 80% of the town is expected.
A helicopter has also crashed in the town, injuring at least two people, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation said.
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh warned that for some communities the worst lay ahead.
"We've still got a number of communities that are facing the prospect of increased flooding over the next couple of days.
"So this disaster that's unfolding on an unprecedented scale is far from over."
Ms Bligh visited Emerald, a town of about 11,000 residents in central Queensland.
About 700 residents have been evacuated from Emerald ahead of a predicted flood peak in the early hours of Friday on the Nogoa River that is expected to deluge the town.
"The worst case scenario is that 80% of the town will be inundated with water. That means a large number of people will be seeking evacuation," said Greg Goebel, director of the Australian Red Cross.
"So, you never know which way the water is going to go, but we've actually got a plan to make sure that people are properly housed and looked after during this time of, you know, real distress for many, many people."
Helicopters including Army Black Hawks have been ferrying residents to safer locations.
A pilot and a boy suffered minor injuries when a helicopter flipped on to its side after taking off from the local race course, the ABC said.
Further south, the town of Theodore has been completely evacuated and 100 residents are also being airlifted from Condamine ahead of another expected flood peak there.
The city of Bundaberg has been split in two by the swollen Burnett River. Four hundred people had been evacuated and 120 properties flooded, the deputy mayor said.
The river has now peaked but officials said the damage could not be assessed until the water levels went down.
Hundreds of residents across southern and central parts of the state are sheltering in evacuation centres, and officials have warned of severe damage to homes, crops and livestock.
"We've got a long way to go ahead of us and when these waters recede, that is when we're really going to know the size of the problem," Ms Bligh said.
Army helicopters are to be used to drop food supplies into isolated areas and officials are also looking at ways of making sure larger communities remain stocked.
"We might have to look at some creative ways of doing that, we may have to look at moving product by sea, by plane," Bruce Grady of Emergency Management Queensland told the ABC.
"There's a whole range of planning that's currently going on."
SOURCE:BBC
Boney M singer Bobby Farrell dies aged 61
Bobby Farrell, lead singer of the 1970s disco group Boney M, has died at the age of 61, his agent has announced.
The singer was found dead in a hotel room in St Petersburg, Russia where he had been performing, John Seine said.
Farrell, he continued, had complained of breathing problems before and after the show on Wednesday. The cause of his death has yet to be established.
Farrell, the only male member of the popular four-piece, had been due to perform in Italy on New Year's Eve.
Born Alfonso Farrell in Aruba, he had been touring with three female backing singers under the name Bobby Farrell of Boney M.
The original Boney M, known for such hits as Daddy Cool and Rivers of Babylon, disbanded in 1986.
Beaten British couple criticises Trinidad and Tobago
A British couple who was badly beaten while vacationing in Tobago has launched a bitter attack on the government of Trinidad and Tobago for its failure to compensate them.
The couple published their ordeal in the British newspapers and called on tourists not to visit the twin island republic.
The adverse publicity had accelerated the appointment of a board to deal with compensation for victims of crime.
Minister of Justice Herbert Volney, in an interview with the Trinidad Express newspaper, said that he empathises with the situation of the English couple, Peter and Murium Green and commits to assisting them as far as the governing Acts and Laws under which the Ministry of Justice operates.
The Greens were attacked in Tobago on August 1, 2009, and on Sunday went public in an interview with the Daily Mail in London about the ordeal they suffered, levelling a barrage of criticism against medical institutions and broken promises from the Tobago House of Assembly.
Volney said it is the government's intention that some compensation under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act will be forthcoming in early 2011.
Large numbers of Caribbean nurses and other health workers migrate to developed countries
A recent World Migration Report states that a large number of Caribbean nurses migrated to developed countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.
According to Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data, the top five countries in terms of emigration of nurses are all from the Caribbean: Haiti leads with an expatriation rate of 94 percent, followed by Jamaica at 87.7 percent, Grenada 87.6 percent, St Vincent and the Grenadines 81.6 percent and Guyana 81.1 percent.
India is the top country of origin of migrant doctors to OECD countries, with more than 56,000 Indian doctors in these countries. India also figures in sixth place in the expatriation of nurses to OECD countries (about 23,000). In terms of percentages, however, these figures constitute just eight percent and three percent respectively of the doctor and nurse population in India, comfortingly low compared to some of the small countries severely affected by emigration of doctors such as Mozambique (7 percent) and Angola (70 percent)
The World Migration Report talks about the problem of "medical brain drain" especially in African countries.
One thousand Indian farmers to travel to Cuba
The government of the Indian southern state of Karnataka will send some 1,000 farmers to Cuba during the next few months to learn organic agriculture techniques, reported Prensa Latina news agency.
Farmers owning over 5 acres of land and practicing these techniques will be eligible to travel to Cuba, according to the head of the Karnataka’s Organic Agriculture Mission A. S. Anand.
Anand said they have started the paperwork for the first group of 350 farmers.
In statements to local daily Deccan Herald, the official assured that this trip will allow them to learn about this kind of cultivation, on the disadvantages of using chemical fertilizers, and then pass on that knowledge to others.
The newspaper reported how Cuba was forced to develop strategies to grow its own food without the use of chemical fertilizers due to the US economic, financial and commercial blockade against Cuba that prevents it from getting them in its closest market, among other hurdles.
The Cuban embassy in India confirmed that the first steps for the trip are already underway, according to Prensa Latina.
Ambassador Miguel Ramirez said this is an important example of cooperation among the two nations that share 50 years of diplomatic relationships.
Source:(ACN)