Asia
Chinese Premier transition begins
The Communist Party congress began today, with the Chinese President Hu Jintao beginning the transfer of power at the end of the ten-year term. The congress will take a week to unveil the new leaders. Addressing the 2000 strong delegate crowd, he condemned corruption as a force that “could prove fatal to the party”. Echoing concerns made at the previous congress. His opening speech focused on sustaining China’s great power structures by aiming “higher and work[ing] harder”. He added, “We must […] continue to pursue development in a scientific way, promote social harmony and improve the people’s lives.” The congress has been criticised by rights groups who claim some of China’s residents have undergone censorship, including house arrest and detainment.
Africa
Sudan rebels claim shooting down government plane
Sudan rebels claim they have shot down a government aircraft moments after it bombed rebel strong holds and targets. The rebel group, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, claim the Antonov bomber crased in the South Kordofan state. The government has not responded to the claims. The nation is currently in a state of civil war, with heavy fighting between government troops and rebel groups in the Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
Europe
Unelected billionaire in Austrian parliament
Austrian-Canadian billionaire, Frank Stonach has been given a parliamentary seat in Vienna with his party ‘Team Stonach’, which was set up only months ago. The eighty year old was awarded parliamentary status by Speaker Barbara Prammer after persuading five MPs to defect from a small right-wing alliance. The party still has no formal party agenda, apart from Mr Stonach’s vow to ‘shake up the Eurozone’. Despite this, the party has attracted support from around ten percent of the Austrian population.
Latin America
Chevron assets seized for environmental damage.
An Argentina judge has frozen the assets of oil company Chevron due to environmental damage in Ecuador. The Ecuadorean plaintiffs claim that Chevron (then Texaco) in 2001, dumped toxic materials in the Ecuadorean Amazon between 1964 and 1992.The assets amount to $19billion USD and have been frozen pending an ongoing investigation. The Ecuadorean plaintiffs charge Chevron with polluting Amazonian land for thirty years. It is believed that Argentina has made the ruling because Chevron doesn’t have significant assets under Ecuadorian jurisdiction. Initially the company was fined $8.6billion USD in Ecuador, but this was doubled because they did not publically apologise.
Middle East
Syria: al-Assad will not step down
The Syria President has said that he intends to continue with his actions and those of his regime. He said, “I am not a puppet, I wasn’t made by the West. I’m Syrian… and I have to live and die in Syria.” It comes just days after the UK Prime Minister David Cameron said he would facilitate a safe route out of Syria for al-Assad, free from international prosecution, if it meant an end to the blood shed. The Red Cross has said it “can’t cope” with the situation in Syria which is worsening. A spokesperson for the organisation said “The humanitarian situation is getting worse despite the scope of the operation increasing.” It raises questions of further intervention, possibly outside a divided UN Security Council. “I am not a puppet, I wasn’t made by the West. I’m Syrian… and I have to live and die in Syria,” Mr Assad told the Russia Today TV channel. The president warned that if this occurred, “the price would be too big” for the rest of the world. If we have a problem in Syria – and we are the last stronghold of secularism, stability and co-existence in the region – it will have a domino effect from the Atlantic to the Pacific. He said he didn’t believe the West would move in that direction, but added: “If they do so, nobody can tell what’s (going to happen) next.”
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