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| A madeover Berlin struggles for top city status BERLIN, Nov 21: The massive cranes that towered over Berlin for much of the past decade, an omnipresent symbol of.....more World’s
official oldest NEW YORK, Nov 21: Fred hale Sr, the oldest man in the world according to Guinness world records, has died less than........more Latin
Americans back SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA, Nov 21: Used to hearing US calls for support against west Asian terrorism, Latin American.......more Egypt
tells Israel CAIRO, Nov 21: Egypt has told Israel, which killed three Egyptian policemen at the Egypt-Gaza border earlier this week.......more |
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Britain plans tough new anti-terrorism laws LONDON, Nov 21: Britain is considering new tough anti-terrorism laws to prevent an Al-Qaeda attack including plans.....more Malaysian
of JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA, Nov 21: Depressed after his second wife left for another man......more No date
set for NEAR FALLUJA, IRAQ, Nov 21: US forces engaged in the painstaking task of restoring basic......more US troops
see enemy MOSUL, IRAQ, Nov 21: From the Minaret of a Mosque, two men appear to be watching US troops, one peering through........more |
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A madeover Berlin struggles for top city status BERLIN, Nov 21: The massive cranes that towered over Berlin for much of the past decade, an omnipresent symbol of the city’s renaissance, no longer dominate the skyline. Potsdamer Platz, until recently a giant construction zone, shines again thanks to the futuristic sony center and a handful of modern skyscrapers that give the square the look of a mini-New York. A gleaming new Chancellery and renovated reichstag just to the north attest to Berlin’s bold vision of itself — as the pulsating political heart of a bigger, Brasher Germany. But 15 years after the wall separating east and west Berlin fell, this city of 3.4 million is struggling to live up to the hopes that many people within and outside Germany had for it. Instead of emerging as the new capital of an enlarged Europe, as some predicted, its population has stagnated, its economy languished, and many of the ambitious commercial and residential properties built after fall of the wall stand empty. One in five Berliners is unemployed, an even higher rate than in the depressed former east as a whole. "The idea was that Berlin would become the gateway to a huge eastern economic territory," said David Clay Large, a professor of history at Montana State University and author of a history of the city. "That has not materialised." Berlin continues to lure tourists, who flock to the 767-year old city on the river spree for its rich history and culture. Few cities in the world can rival the German capital’s dynamic young art scene, its museums and opera. But the fall of the wall and relocation of the German Government from bonn five years ago have not sparked the mass migration of money and people that many expected. One problem is that big parts the Government stayed put. In a nod to those who vigorously opposed the move, half a dozen ministries kept the bulk of their staff in bonn and some federal agencies, such as the cartel office, were actually moved from Berlin to the old sleepy capital on the Rhine. Another factor has been Berlin’s trouble establishing itself as a major business destination. Starting in the late 19th century and up to the start of the third Reich in 1933, the city was a major manufacturing centre, home to German corporate icons like siemens. But the division of Germany and Berlin after World War Two prompted companies to relocate to the west and they have not returned. Some smaller businesses, which received subsidies for locating in west Berlin during the cold war, lost that aid when the wall fell, and were forced to fold or leave. Businessmen cite a number of reasons why corporations have stayed away. Berlin does not have a single ‘’hub’’ airport nor does it offer direct trans-Atlantic flights — two reasons why it currently ranks fourth in Germany in terms of passenger traffic behind Frankfurt, Munich and Duesseldorf, cities with a combined population less than Berlin’s. And then there is the red tape. The city Government is run in part by the party of democratic socialists, whose predecessors erected the Berlin wall. Investors say that has not been a recipe for business-friendly policies. Perhaps the clearest evidence of Berlin’s struggle can be found in its real estate market. Jean-Marie Solvay, a Belgian real estate investor, bought up 19 buildings in the Trendy Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg areas of Berlin in the late 1990s, convinced the market was set to boom. But as property prices in other European capitals like London and Paris soared, the opposite happened in Berlin. "It has been tough, very tough," said Solvay. "We bought because we saw Berlin had the potential of a world capital. But the idea that a whole lot of people would move to Berlin was all wishful thinking. There are simply no jobs here." "For rent" signs stare out from residential buildings all over the city. Close to 1.8 million square metres (19.38 million square feet) of office space stands empty, according to a report issued last month by property consultants Jones Lang Lasalle. "The city’s economic potential, based on its image as a Government and administrative centre, was in retrospect overdone," the report said. Still, some positive signs have begun to emerge. Easyjet, Europe’s second-biggest low-cost carrier, began operating from schoenefeld airport in the former east Berlin back in April, boosting tourism to the capital. In August, German authorities gave the green light for a 1.7 billion euro overhaul of dilapidated schoenefeld. Berlin Brandenburg international would open in 2010 and be capable of handling 20 million passengers a year, 50 percent more than all three of the capital’s current airports serviced in 2003. Mayor Klaus Wowereit — whose Motto is "get Berlin moving" — has vowed to turn the city, currently saddled with a (57 billion euro) 74.24 billion dollars debt load, into a magnet for the medical and media industries. The eastward enlargement of the European Union also gives Berlin reason to believe it can eventually emerge as a world-class capital. "Berlin will become a major city again," said Montana state’s large. "It is just going to take longer than some people expected." (AGENCIES) |
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World’s official oldest man dies in US at age 113 NEW YORK, Nov 21: Fred hale Sr, the oldest man in the world according to Guinness world records, has died less than two weeks shy of his 114th birthday. Hale died in his sleep on Friday at an assisted living home near Syracuse, New York, after recovering from a bout of Pneumonia, Fred Hale III, 51, the youngest of Hale’s nine grandchildren, said yesterday. Hale, one of two children, was born on a farm in new Sharon, Maine, on Dec 1, 1890, before cars and airplanes and in the same year Sioux Indians were massacred at wounded knee, south Dakota. "He was 17 or 18 before he saw his first car," his grandson told . "His dad and him heard one was coming to town and went down by the fence and waited for the car to come by. He was basically too old to serve in world war one. He already had two kids by then." Hale worked as a railroad postal carrier, retiring 51 years ago. After his wife, Flora, died in 1979, he continued to live independently in south Portland, Maine, until he was about 109, when he moved closer to his son Fred Hale Jr, now 82. He was listed with Guinness as the world’s oldest driver when he renewed his license at age 104. He gave up driving four years ago. "He probably should have given it up a little sooner," his grandson said. Hale became the world’s officially oldest man after Joan Riudavets moll of Spain died on March 5 this year at the age of 114. Guinness lists Hendrikje Van Andel-Schipper of the Netherlands, who celebrated her 114th birthday in June, as the world’s person. Hale is survived by two of his five children, nine grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and 11 great-great-grandchildren. His grandson chalked up part of his grandfather’s longevity to his new England temperament. "He was a very even-keeled person," Fred Hale III told . "A lot of people could take a lesson from him, not to get so worked up about things." (AGENCIES) |
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Latin Americans back Cuba, Venezuela on terror SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA, Nov 21: Used to hearing US calls for support against west Asian terrorism, Latin American leaders added their own warning by condemning lesser-known terrorist acts against anti-American Governments in the region. Cuba and Venezuela yesterday won the backing of their neighbors, many of whom have swung to the left in recent years, to censure terrorism in all its forms, not just attacks aimed at the United States. It was a rare diplomatic victory for Cuba, which persuaded an Ibero-American summit in Costa Rica to denounce the pardon of four dissidents who tried to assassinate President Fidel Castro in 2000. Panama’s outgoing President Mireya Moscoso released the four, jailed for their involvement in a failed bomb plot at a summit in Panama, just before leaving office in August. Havana broke diplomatic relations with Panama in anger at the pardon and accused the United States of double standards in its war against terror for allowing three of the plotters to fly to Miami. "We observe with deep concern the recent freeing of four known terrorists of Cuban origin," the leaders from Latin American countries plus Spain and Portugal said in a statement. Panama’s new President Martin Torrijos has criticized the pardon, and Cuba and Panama restored consular relations at the summit on Friday, in a step toward renewing full ties. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque represented his country at the gathering instead of Castro, who has rarely traveled to summits in recent years. The leaders also condemned Thursday’s killing of Venezuelan prosecutor Danilo Asderson, who was probing a 2002 coup against President Hugo Chavez. Anderson was killed by a car bomb, and Venezuela blamed radical opponents it said were training in the United States. "The heads of state and Government expressed a radical condemnation of the terrorist attack suffered by the special prosecutor in Venezuela," Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told journalists. Spain took a turn to the left with the election this year of Zapatero, who pulled Spanish troops out of the US-led coalition in Iraq and focused foreign policy back on traditional areas like European integration and Latin America. The Prime Minister called for political reform in Cuba. "It is obvious that Cuba needs to make changes, but it is a country that is there, a member of the Ibero-American community," he said. Since 2002, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay have all chosen Leftist leaders who challenge the US idea of Latin America as its "backyard". Even Nicaragua’s opposition sandinistas, who fought US-backed rebels in the 1980s, have regained strength with victories at local elections this Monthgu. (AGENCIES) |
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Egypt tells Israel to pick more disciplined troops CAIRO, Nov 21: Egypt has told Israel, which killed three Egyptian policemen at the Egypt-Gaza border earlier this week, it must choose more disciplined troops, Egypt’s official Middle East news agency reported today. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit also told his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom that Egypt "would absolutely not accept the repetition of this type of incident". "Israeli leaders and soldiers with a greater degree of discipline must be picked so that they don’t open fire randomly and hit others, leading to the complication of relations with Egypt," Aboul Gheit told Shalom in a phone call. Aboul Gheit said the way Israeli troops act on the border and in the occupied Palestinian territories indicated that "the fingers of those Israeli soldiers on the Egyptian border are on the trigger ... Therefore I was expecting this kind of incident". Egypt has criticised what it says are heavy-handed Israeli military tactics against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza strip over the last four years. Aboul Gheit, whose country in 1979 became the first Arab state to make peace with Israel, and Egypt’s intelligence chief Omar Suleiman have cancelled a visit to Israel scheduled for this week. Israel’s Army Chief apologised to Egypt on Friday for the killing of the policemen the day before and said his troops had mistaken them for Palestinian militants. (AGENCIES) |
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Britain plans tough new anti-terrorism laws LONDON, Nov 21: Britain is considering new tough anti-terrorism laws to prevent an Al-Qaeda attack including plans to target suspects even if they have not committed an offence, Home Secretary David Blunkett will say today. The proposals would see the creation of special anti-terror courts which would sit without juries, allowing information obtained from phone taps to be used as evidence in trials, and civil orders against people suspected of planning terrorism. Those breaching such orders could face jail even if they have not committed a crime. The measures are likely to provoke anger from civil liberty campaigners who say emergency anti-terror laws already passed in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States are draconian and discriminatory against Muslims. Outlining the plans in an interview with ITV’s Jonathan Dimbleby programme to be aired later on Sunday, Blunkett said any new laws would not be brought in until after the next general election widely expected next year. "It’s not my intention to try and push a bill through this side of the general election whenever the Prime Minister calls it," he will say. Britain, Washington’s closest ally in its war on terror, has long been seen as a top target for Al-Qaeda because of its support for the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Blunkett, an uncompromising hardliner, has been instrumental in seeking new police powers which he says are vital for Britain’s security. Critics accuse him of using fear to trample over the rule of law. In October nine foreign terror suspects held indefinitely without charge under the emergency legislation went to Britain’s highest court to challenge the validity of their detention. Britain had to declare an emergency and suspend parts of the European convention on human rights to enact the law and the detainees’ lawyers argued the new powers were illegal. The court is yet to deliver its verdict. (AGENCIES) |
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Malaysian of Indian origin kill children JOHOR BARU, MALAYSIA, Nov 21: Depressed after his second wife left for another man, a Malaysian of Indian origin has strangled his three young children and tried to hang himself in the southern Peninsular Malaysia town of Kulai. "It is believed that he discussed the plan with this children before ending their lives together and they agreed to do it, Malaysian media reports said today quoting Johor Baru north criminal investigation department Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Zamri Awang. P Vellutorey, 46-year-old security guard, strangled his son and two daughters, aged three, five and six while his 14-year old daughter looked on. After killing them the father and the eldest daughter tried to hang themselves, but a neighbour heard the girl’s screams and rushed into the house and freed them. DSP Zamri said the family was believed to moved from Kuala Lumpur and were staying in the house for a month. (UNI) |
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No date set for residents return to Falluja NEAR FALLUJA, IRAQ, Nov 21: US forces engaged in the painstaking task of restoring basic services and clearing Falluja of explosives have set no date for civilians to return to the Iraqi city, an officer said. "This will be driven by events, not dates. We have to restore basic services such as water and electricity first," Major Francis Piccoli said yesterday. "We are also going from house to house to clear out any insurgents and weapons." Up to half the city’s 300,000 residents fled during daily air strikes before a major offensive was launched almost two weeks ago. The eight-day US-led assault on Falluja killed what US commanders said were more than 1,000 foreign militants and Saddam Hussein loyalists and reduced parts of the western city to rubble. Houses were flattened by air strikes and artillery and damaged buildings that are still standing may not be safe. Bodies are still being removed from rubble-strewn streets. Piccoli said it would take time to ensure the safe return of civilians to Falluja, which US and Iraqi officials said was the epicentre of Iraq’s insurgency. The fighting turned two-storey villas into three-feet-high (one metre) piles of bricks and reduced outdoor vegetable markets to pieces of twisted metal. Before the destruction, US marines had about 50 million budgeted for Falluja reconstruction, Piccoli said. Now that figure is likely to jump as marines and the US-backed Interim Government try to stabilise Falluja ahead of nationwide elections scheduled for January. (AGENCIES) |
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US troops see enemy all around as Mosul simmers MOSUL, IRAQ, Nov 21: From the Minaret of a Mosque, two men appear to be watching US troops, one peering through binoculars while the other talks on a mobile phone. A few hundred metres away, Lieutenant Noel Rodriguez is watching them back through his own pair of binoculars. "There’s definitely something going on," says the 23-year-old from Miami, Florida, dispatching four men and a translator to go and take over a nearby home and set up an observation point from the roof. "Often there’ll be guys up there spotting us and directing car bombs over the phone," he explained yesterday as he led a patrol through an upscale district in northeast Mosul, a city that has been shaken by severe unrest for the past 10 days. "I would even say that most of the car bombs that have hit us have been detonated near Mosques," he said. As it turns out, the men are merely mounting new speakers on the Minaret to amplify the call to prayer. But in a city that has gone from relative calm to the brink of chaos in the space of days, Rodriguez’s fears were not out of place. Ten days ago, groups of up to 50 insurgents stormed through the city, attacking convoys and police stations, nine of which were overrun and looted of weapons, uniforms and vehicles. Several of them were then set alight and others were blown up. On and off for the next 48 hours, US forces fought gun battles with rebels across the city, trying to suppress the revolt. Iraqi national guards helped out, but not the Iraqi police — 3,200 of Mosul’s 4,000-strong force deserted. Since then, the security situation has been "tenuous and tense", according to Brigadier General Carter Ham, the commander of US forces in the city, Iraq’s third largest. (AGENCIES) HK democracy party leader to resign: Paper HONG KONG, Nov 21: The Chairman of Hong Kong’s biggest pro-democracy party will stand down next month to take the blame for the party’s poor showing in the city’s legislative elections, local media reported today. Democratic party chairman Yeung Sum said he would take the blame for the outcome of the September elections, when voters, wary of alienating China’s communist leaders, chose the stability offered by the Beijing camp. "If a party loses ground in an election, the party chairman should bear responsibility," the Sunday Morning Post quoted Yeung as saying. Yeung’s successor has not been named. The election for the city’s 60-seat Legislative Council had been portrayed by pro-democracy figures as a referendum on gaining the right to elect all of Hong Kong’s leaders. The pro-democracy camp won 18 directly elected seats, one more than in the last election and well below expectations despite a record 55.6 percent voter turnout. The pro-Beijing camp took 12 of the 30 popularly chosen seats, up from seven in 2000. The Legislative Council has been dominated by pro-Beijing members since 1997, when the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule. (AGENCIES) China plane crashes into lake, over 50 feared dead BEIJING, Nov 21: A China eastern plane carrying more than 50 passengers and crew crashed into a frozen lake seconds after takeoff in inner Mongolia today and all were feared dead, state media said. The plane had taken off from Baotou, nearly 600 km west of Beijing, en route to Shanghai, Xinhua news agency said. "There are slim chances of survival for the 47 people aboard," it said, adding later that there were six crew and 47 or 48 passengers on board. China eastern’s web site said the plane was a crj200, made by canadian company bombardier. "Witnesses said that the plane broke into flaming fragments, a house beside the park was damaged by the falling aircraft and several Yachts nearby were scorched," Xinhua said. The fire had been put out at the lake and firefighters and police were breaking the ice to search for bodies. China’s last major crash was on May 7, 2002, when a China northern flight from Beijing to Dalian fell into the sea after the pilot reported a fire in the cabin. That crash killed 112 people. The 21-metre bombardier crj200 was the world’s first 50-seat commuter jet. (AGENCIES) Panama’s ex-president may face spending probe PANAMA CITY, Nov 21: Mireya Moscoso, the jewelry-loving former President of Panama, is to be stripped of her immunity from being questioned by prosecutors and could face a probe over her role in a Government fund scandal, her lawyer said. Panama’s electoral tribunal voted unanimously to take away the immunity at the request of the public prosecutor in a bid to gather evidence for possible criminal charges, Rogelio Cruz, Moscoso’s lawyer yesterday told . "We have not received official notification, but we do know that they will remove her electoral immunity," said Cruz, adding the ex-President planned to appeal. Cruz stressed Moscoso has not yet been accused of any crime. An official announcement of the stripping of the immunity for Moscoso, who ran Panama from 1999 until the end of August this year, is expected tomorrow. As President of a political party, Moscoso had immunity from being called to give evidence in any political investigation. Without immunity, prosecutors can now question Moscoso in its probe into the whereabouts of 23 million of public funds labeled as "unforeseen expenditures" in Moscoso’s Government. Moscoso admitted earlier this month that she had spent up to 3 million in expenditures on personal effects such as jewelry and clothing. She defended the spending by saying she wanted to present a professional image. In office, she was seldom seen in public without several pieces of jewelry prominently displayed. Panama’s new President Martin Torrijos has blamed her for loose public spending. Torrijos’ Presidential Office Minister, Ubaldino Real, has said that receipts for spending in the previous Government are missing. (AGENCIES) Chavez replaces Foreign Minister, state oil chief CARACAS, VENEZUELA, Nov 21: Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez named Ali Rodriguez, the chief of state oil firm PDVSA, as his new Foreign Minister and said Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez would head South America’s largest oil company while keeping his minister’s post. The late-night cabinet change had been widely expected and comes after Chavez consolidated his political power with a victory in an aug 15 referendum on his Government in the world’s fifth largest oil exporting nation. Ramirez, a close ally of Chavez, was named oil minister in July 2002 and experts see little change in the energy policy of Venezuela, an OPEC nation and a key supplier of crude and gasoline to the United States. Rodriguez, a former oil minister, has served as OPEC’s secretary general and replaces Jesus Perez as the nation’s top diplomat. He took the helm of PDVSA following a brief 2002 coup against Chavez. Chavez, a left-winger who vows to fight poverty, made the announcement yesterday on the eve of a planned trip to Spain, Russia, Libya and Iran. The former army officer has moved to break his country’s dependence on the US and presents himself as a regional voice against US economic dominance. (AGENCIES) |
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