Democratic Syria Impossible with Assad
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Syria cannot be peaceful, stable or democratic with President Bashar al-Assad in power.
Speaking to reporters Thursday in Istanbul, Clinton said Assad has "doubled down on his brutality and duplicity" and that the time has come for the international community to plan for a post-Assad Syria.
"We have to unite the international community behind a plan that is achievable and keeps faith with those inside Syria who are protesting and demonstrating, suffering and dying for their universal human rights," Clinton said.
UN briefing
Her comments come as United Nations-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan is due to brief the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly on the situation in Syria, as activists have accused pro-government militia and security forces of carrying out a new massacre in the central province of Hama.
The activists said at least 78 people, including women and children, were killed on Wednesday. They said some of those killed in the villages of al-Kubeir and Maazarif were stabbed to death and at least 12 bodies were burned.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 'shabiha' militiamen armed with guns and knives carried out the attack after regular troops had shelled the area.
The exiled opposition Syrian National Council called on the Free Syrian Army and other armed opposition groups to respond by escalating their resistance.
British Prime Minister David Cameron called the reported attack "brutal and sickening," and said if true, then the international community must do more to condemn "absolutely" the government of President Assad.
The Syrian government blamed a terrorist group for the violence.
China cuts key interest rates to boost growth
China has cut its key interest rates for the first time since 2008, in an attempt to boost its slowing growth.
The benchmark one-year loan rate was cut by a quarter of one percent to 6.31% while deposit rates were cut from 3.5% to 3.25%.
The People's Bank of China also gave banks flexibility to offer higher rates to savers and lower rates to borrowers.
"It's a significant move - it's a first step in rate liberalisation," said Qinwei Wang of Capital Economics.
"The lower floor for lending rates creates more competition between banks, so banks cannot guarantee their profits as before."
In addition, China has delayed the implementation of tougher bank capital rules amid concerns that they may hurt lending.
The rules, delayed until January next year, will increase the minimum cushion of capital a bank must keep to absorb losses on their loans.
There were fears that such a move may curb lending at a time when Beijing has been trying to boost growth amid a slowdown in its economy.
China had planned to introduce the rules at the start of this year.
The banks will be given a reasonable transition period to meet the new capital requirements "to help maintain appropriate credit growth", China's cabinet said in statement on its website late on Wednesday.
These are the latest in a series of attempts designed to stimulate the world's second biggest economy.
China's economy grew at an annual rate of 8.1% in the first three months of the year, the slowest pace in almost three years, but still extraordinarily fast compared with most countries.
Earlier this year, the International Monetary Fund warned that the eurozone crisis could almost halve China's growth in 2012.
The head of its sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corporation, which is in charge of the country's huge reserves, said in an interview published on Thursday that it was scaling back its European investments due to fears of a eurozone break-up.
Concerns about slowing growth in key export markets have also prompted China to reduce the amount of money banks need to hold in reserve three times in the past few months to give banks more cash to lend to consumers.
On Wednesday, it introduced fresh measures to boost lending to small and medium-sized companies, which are among the biggest contributors to growth.
The cabinet said it would lower the risk weighting assigned to loans given to such companies when calculating the cushion of capital a bank must keep.
It said the change was designed to, "expand the small micro-enterprises and personal loans to more effectively serve the real economy".
Spain bond auction: Borrowing costs edge up
There was strong demand for Spanish bonds at an auction on Thursday, which was seen as a key test of the country's ability to raise funds, but it had to pay a higher interest rate.
The rate on the 10-year bonds was 6.044%, up from the 5.743% paid when bonds were last sold in April.
Spain sold 2.1bn euros ($2.6bn; £1.7bn) in medium and long-term bonds.
It comes as European authorities are said to be working on a way to help Spain's troubled banking sector.
UK Chancellor George Osborne said: "I know they are working very hard on an imminent solution."
"I am optimistic that people are working hard on a solution, and a solution, I think, is coming," he told the BBC.
Borrowing costs had not been as high as feared due to these efforts in Brussels to try to find a way to help Spain, analysts suggested.
Spain remains the focus of international concerns. In other developments:
- The head of China's sovereign wealth fund, which invests China's huge reserves around the world, said it was scaling back European investments due to the risk of a eurozone break-up
- UK Prime Minister David Cameron met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin
- Mrs Merkel called for "more Europe", saying: "we need a political union first and foremost"
- Mr Cameron urged immediate action, calling for measures to calm nervous markets
- Cyprus, which is edging closer to asking for international help, moved to protect its UK savers by bringing them under the government-backed UK protection scheme
Digicel sues Govt for ‘misfeasance’
Digicel Bermuda is suing Government for substantial damages “for misfeasance in public office” as part of the protracted legal battle over its launch last year of international long distance.
The Royal Gazette understands from a legal source that Digicel’s latest legal action is against the Ministry of Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Strategy and is based mainly on an affidavit sworn by Permanent Secretary Dr Derrick Binns.
Digicel’s recent judicial review proceedings included the claim for damages, which Government applied to set aside. The proceedings were adjourned last week, but both sides are due back in court soon.
It’s been Government’s case, as stated in previous affidavits, that the Digicel ILD offered through sister company and ISP Transact was not lawful. However, Digicel claims Government approved it to carry ILD.
It’s Digicel’s case that it met with Government before it purchased Transact and was “absolutely clear” what its intentions were with regard to offering ILD.
“Government understood this and approved the matter on that basis,” Digicel has stated. “Digicel proceeded to purchase Transact following Government’s express approval.”
Digicel contends that key meeting took place last September 16 and was attended by Ministry/Telecoms officials.
The approval Digicel says Government gave it appeared to be supported in a letter of October 20, 2011, obtained by The Royal Gazette.
The letter, submitted to the court, was from acting director of Telecommunications Michael Wells and states: “In your query 3 you stated/questioned ‘It is acceptable to offer all three services of ISP/Mobile and ILD (utilising VOIP) to customers who request this under the Digicel brand using our Mobile Licence and Transact licence’. In our noted response we gave you a conditional “Yes”. “Yes, if you provide an Interconnection Agreement between yourself and Transact, outlining the terms and conditions of such billing arrangements”. Please be reminded that under Transact Class C Licences it can offer ILD over VOIP only.”
We have obtained another letter, which appears to further back Digicel’s claim Government understood it planned to offer ILD.
This letter, to the Ministry of Finance dated July 4, 2011, concerns Transact’s application for exemption under the Companies Act/Section 114B.
Under the heading “Business to be carried on,” the letter states: “The amalgamation (of Digicel and Transact) will enable Digicel to carry international traffic to all customers and to provide fixed DSL services alongside existing mobile data services.”
And under the heading “Benefits of grant of the licence”, the letter lists “Enhanced provision of telecommunications services in Bermuda”.
The letter continues: “(a) Long Distance Telecommunications Services: Digicel has established an International Hub in New York and Miami to route all international traffic to the rest of the world. We will leverage the existing Digicel’s presence in these international hubs to offer lower long distance tariffs to customers in Bermuda.”
The Telecoms Commission has advised Government that it has found Digicel and Transact are not in compliance with their licences. But Minister of Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Strategy Marc Bean has told the Commission that before he makes his decision in the case he needs more information on how it reached its findings.
Long distance provider TBi is joined with Government in objecting to Digicel’s launch of ILD.
Bermuda seeks Islamic finance business
“Open for Islamic business:” That’s the message Business Bermuda took to the World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit in Singapore.
“After a whirlwind of meetings, events, conferences, and media interviews in Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, and Hong Kong, Business Bermuda concluded the 2012 Asia Business Development Drive on a high note,” A Business Bermuda statement said.
The WIBC took place yesterday and Tuesday.
“This year, for the first time, Business Bermuda was invited to be a part of the WIBC Asia 2012 through exhibiting and the opportunity to speak,” the statement said.
Leading the delegation was Cheryl Packwood, CEO of Business Bermuda, joined by Mr. P Jeyaratnam, Business Bermuda’s representative in Southeast Asia, Srikumar TE, managing director of Apex Funds Services Ltd, Kung Whooi Phing, director at Conyers Dill & Pearman in Singapore, and Yelena Packwood, marketing and sales executive of Business Bermuda.
“With over 500 industry leaders in attendance, there was an overwhelming interest in the opportunities available for Islamic finance clients in Bermuda, especially in the areas of Takaful and Re-Takaful in light of Bermuda’s strength as one of the top re/insurance jurisdictions in the world,” the statement said.
“As one of the few Islamic finance centres in the Western hemisphere, Bermuda’s unique position to expand the Islamic finance market, now valued at over $1.1 trillion, was cause for much excitement.”
Hussain AlQemzi, CEO of Noor Islamic Bank said that “in order to ensure an orderly evolution of Islamic finance from a niche segment into the mainstream international financial markets, it is vital to further enhance the industry’s capabilities for cross-border activities, which in turn will encourage innovative product development, robust and standardised regulatory frameworks and the long term stability of the industry”.
Ravi Menon, Governor of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, opened the conference by stating, “Islamic Finance must strike roots in the key financial centres of the world … and it can grow into diverse areas such as trade and infrastructure development.”
Ms Packwood then gave a speech on how Bermuda was ideally suited bridge the gap between Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America.
She presented and participated in a panel discussion on the topic, “Opening New Frontiers for Islamic Finance — New Geographies, New Developments, and New Products.”
After the panel discussion, Ms Packwood was invited to be a guest speaker to present on the role of Bermuda in bridging the divide between East and West at an invitation-only Islamic finance forum hosted in Malaysia in September for decision makers in the world of Islamic Finance.
LIME & Digicel Could Face Legal Action In Fees Battle
Caribbean Cellular Telephone (CCT) has not ruled out the possibility of seeking legal action against regional carriers, LIME and Digicel to recover what the company termed as "massive loss" due to anti-competitive behaviour.
Jose Luis Fernandez, CCT's General Manager told BVI Platinum News that the company is disappointed that the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) took three years to deliver a ruling on the company's compliant against LIME and Digicel.
He further stated that the decision to seek legal action against LIME and Digicel will have to be made by the shareholders of CCT and such a decision has not been made as yet, but remains on the table for consideration.
"The TRC has taken three years to reach this decision which in our opinion is unfortunate. We initially filed this complaint in July 2009. The conclusion of the TRC is that they confirmed all the points that CCT raised in its complaint and they took three years to reach that conclusion. That three-year time, which seems to be excessive under any circumstances, CCT has suffered massive damages by the anti-competitive behaviour of LIME and Digicel," Fernandez stated.
CCT had asked the TRC to investigate practices of Digicel and LIME as regards to calls made from the BVI to other islands within the Caribbean region. CCT alleged that the retail prices charged by Digicel to call specific Digicel locations in the Caribbean and the retail prices charged by LIME to call specific LIME destinations in the Caribbean, prevented CCT from competing effectively in the mobile market in the BVI.
Story courtesy of BVI Platinum News
Carrie Underwood triumphs at CMT awards
Country singer Carrie Underwood has won the top award at the CMT Music Awards in Nashville for the third time in six years.
The former American Idol winner picked up the coveted video of the year prize for her track Good Girl.
Underwood was the only multiple winner at the ceremony, also winning collaborative video of the year with Brad Paisley for Remind Me.
Other winners included Miranda Lambert, Lady Antebellum and Luke Bryan.
Bryan's I Don't Want This Night to End and Lambert's Over You were named male and female video of the year respectively, while Lady Antebellum won the group video category for We Owned The Night.
Jason Aldean won for CMT Performance of the Year - a special category for live performances featured on the music channel - for Tattoos on This Town from the 2011 CMT Artists of the Year special.
Thompson Square picked up duo video for I Got You and last year's American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery, received the breakthrough video of the year award for The Trouble With Girls.
Despite receiving three nominations, Taylor Swift - who has also won three CMT video of the year prizes - came away empty-handed on the night.
The ceremony, hosted by singer Toby Keith and Kristen Bell, featured performances from acts including Lady Antebellum, Lambert, Underwood, Zac Brown Band, Rascal Flatts and Willie Nelson.
Radio deal sparks royalties row
The first deal allowing a record label and its performers to be paid for AM and FM radio airplay in the US has been welcomed by the record industry.
But the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) said the deal between radio giant Clear Channel and the Big Machine label was not enough.
RIAA chairman Cary Sherman said an "industry-wide solution" was required.
The US radio industry has long resisted paying royalties for sound recordings, saying its airplay boosts record sales.
Songwriters and song publishers currently receive royalties when their compositions are played on US terrestrial radio, but there is no equivalent law for labels and performers to be paid for the sound recordings.
Speaking to a Congress committee hearing on the future of audio, Mr Sherman said: "We're obviously delighted that the biggest radio group has acknowledged that something should be done and has actually gone and done something.
"That's a breakthrough. We've been advocating for this for about 80 years. But we need an industry-wide solution, not a label-by-label piecemeal solution."
Big Machine's artists include country superstars Taylor Swift and Tim McGraw.
Jazz bassist and composer Ben Allison, speaking to the committee, said: "Terrestrial broadcasters have an inexplicable 'free ride' when it comes to performance royalties."
He described the radio industry as "the only business in America that can legally use another's intellectual property without permission or compensation".
But the National Association of Broadcasters [NAB], which represents radio stations, said there was no need for legislation.
"NAB remains steadfastly opposed to a government-mandated performance tax on local radio stations," a statement from NAB said.
Broadcasters have argued that their airplay provides promotion for musicians and the extra financial pressure could force many stations to close.
A law that would have entitled rights owners to compensation was proposed in Congress in 2009.
Attempts by broadcasters and the record industry to agree a framework for the payment broke down and the plan has not made it into legislation.
Kony’s LRA Still Recruits Chilren
The United Nations says that the Ugandan rebel group known as the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) continues to perpetrate violations against children, including recruiting them as soldiers.
A new report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the rebel group led by Joseph Kony has abducted close to 600 children, almost half of them girls, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR), and in South Sudan in recent years.
In his first report to the U.N. Security Council on the subject, Mr. Ban documents violations committed against children, and measures taken to address the LRA threat between July, 2009 and February, 2012.
The group has waged a 26-year reign of terror in Central Africa, attacking and looting villages, killing and abducting their inhabitants, and turning kidnap victims into child soldiers and sex slaves with the idea of turning Uganda into a Christian theocracy. Kony's initial popularity has waned over the years following reports of atrocities that led to thousands of deaths and displacement of close to 2 million people.
The latest U.N. report says that by 2004, the LRA had largely been driven from Uganda through a sustained military effort and Kony then exported its terror campaign to neighboring countries. In 2005, he was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, but has evaded capture.
A U.N. report last month said the group managed to avoid capture by being constantly on the move between Uganda, the Central African Republic and South Sudan. It is believed that Kony currently has between 200 and 500 fighters.
The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, told reporters at the U.N. headquarters in New York Wednesday that the LRA “continues to cast a long shadow across central Africa, causing enormous suffering for children.”
The Special Representative's office monitors six grave violations against children: recruitment and use of child soldiers; killing and maiming; sexual violence; denial of humanitarian access; abduction; and attacks on schools and hospitals.
A multinational force, including 100 U.S. Special Forces, has been searching for him in his native Uganda, neighboring South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic.
Kony was the subject of a Web video called Kony 2012 that intended to spread the word about his actions.
Report of First Doctor to Treat Wounded President Lincoln Found
Historians at the National Archives in Washington have made an astounding find — a written account by the first doctor to treat the mortally-wounded President Abraham Lincoln.
The long lost report was discovered in a box at the National Archives last month after being filed away 147 years ago.
The notes, soon to be available on line, give a unique first-hand account of what emergency treatment was available in 1865.
Twenty-three year old Army doctor Charles Leale was sitting near Lincoln's box during the fateful performance of Our American Cousin in Ford's Theater in Washington, April 14, 1865.
Leale writes that he heard the shots, saw the assassin John Wilkes Booth jump to the stage, and immediately rushed to the president's box. Leale says he was met by Mary Todd Lincoln, who implored him to do whatever he could for the wounded president.
Leale writes he sent for brandy and water, broke up a blood clot on the president's head and stuck his finger in Lincoln's wound to examine it. He also resuscitated the president who had stopped breathing and restarted his pulse. Lincoln never regained consciousness.
Leale remained by the president's side as he was carried into a house across from the theater, where he died the next day.
Historians say Leale wrote his report for a Congressional investigation into Lincoln's murder.