US hails imposition of UN sanctions against Iran

WASHINGTON, Dec 24: The United States has welcomed the UN Security Council's unanimous decision to impose sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend nuclear enrichment programmes.

Talking to newsmen in a conference-call shortly after the council's 15-0 vote yesterday, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R Nicholas Burns called the resolution 'significant' and said, ''we want the international community to take further action and we are certainly not going to put all of our eggs in the UN basket.''

''We're going to try to convince countries, especially the European Union countries, Japan to consider some of the financial measures that we have undertaken. We'd like to see countries stop doing business as usual with Iran,'' he added.

Mr Burns said the Security Council vote should clear the way for further steps by countries that had argued they could not act in the absence of prior United Nations' action.

He cited as an example that '10 or 11' European nations have extended substantial export credits to Iran.

''We would like countries to stop selling arms to Iran. We would like countries to try to limit export credits to Iran.''

The Secretary specifically called on Russia and China, two nations that have been far less inclined towards imposing sanctions on the Iranian regime than the United States has been, to take additional steps to follow on the Security Council's action.

''Russia and China tell us that they want to deny Iran a nuclear weapons capability. We need to see more vigorous action by both of them, '' he said.

''We would like to see an end of the business as usual, the export credits that I mentioned, the military sales that are still going on,'' he added.

Before the Security Council vote, US President George W Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed the Iran issue over the phone.

Mr Burns said acknowledged that the resolution was not as comprehensive as the United States might have wanted, and said if the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports a lack of Iranian compliance by a February 21, 2007, deadline, ''then the council has an obligation to take stronger sanctions in the future''.

(UNI)

Foreign businesses in China to loose preferential tax rates

BEIJING, Dec 24: China is set to unify its corporate tax structure for both domestic and foreign businesses at 25 per cent, resulting in substantial tax burden on overseas-funded companies in the booming country.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature began discussing today a new law on corporate income that will unify income tax rates for domestic and foreign companies at 25 per cent.

A unified tax code will create a taxation environment that favours fair competition among all ventures registered in China, Finance Minister Jin Renqing said at the meeting.

Different corporate income tax rules were established for domestic companies in 1991 and overseas companies in 1993 with overseas companies enjoying a lower tax burden.

With the opening up of the Chinese economy, the twin-rate system has been hotly debated by domestic enterprises, who have been clamouring for equal treatment. However, the lower tax rate was one of the major incentives that attracted foreign companies to invest in China.

Chinese companies currently pay income tax at a nominal rate of 33 per cent, while their foreign counterparts -- who benefit from tax waivers and incentives to encourage investment in China - pay an average of 15 per cent.

In fact, when all kinds of tax breaks and incentives are taken into account at both national and local level, domestic companies pay around 24 per cent and overseas-funded businesses 14 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported.

Many people believe that the gap is a disadvantage to domestic players who have been facing tougher competition since China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001. (PTI)

China says Iran sanctions are not the solution

BEIJING, Dec 24: China today called on all sides to resume talks on Iran's nuclear programme, adding that although it supported the UN resolution to punish Iran, Beijing did not think sanctions could solve the problem.

''We hope that the resolution is earnestly enforced, but we also think that sanctions are not the objective and cannot be a permanent solution to the problem,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement.

The UN Security Council, of which China is a permanent member, voted unanimously yesterday to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology, an effort to stop enrichment work that could be used in bombs.

''The Chinese side calls on all sides to continue all-out diplomatic efforts to push for an early resumption of talks and seek a long-term, comprehensive solution,'' Liu said in the statement carried on the Foreign Ministry's Web site (www.Fmprc.Gov.Cn).

''The Chinese side has all along supported protecting the system of international non-proliferation, opposing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and hopes there is no new unrest in the West Asia,'' Liu said.

China ''also upholds political and diplomatic efforts to peacefully solve the Iran nuclear question by talks'', he added.

The resolution demands that Iran end all research on uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for nuclear power plants as well as for bombs, and halt all research and development on methods of producing or delivering atomic weapons.

The thrust of the sanctions is a ban on imports and exports of dangerous materials and technology relating to uranium enrichment, reprocessing and heavy-water reactors, as well as ballistic missile delivery systems.

The measure is less restrictive than the original draft,drawn up by Britain, France and Germany, due to Russian objections. A ban on Iran's oil exports was not considered.

Iran is China's third largest oil supplier after Saudia Arabia and Angola, and Beijing has been wary of angering Tehran so as not to upset these supplies.(AGENCIES)

One in four Saudi marriages end in divorce:Report

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA, Dec 24: Nearly one in four marriages in the conservative Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia ends in divorce, a newspaper quoted the Justice Ministry as saying.

For 105,066 marriage contracts registered in 2005, 24,000 divorce cases were recorded by the ministry, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper said, quoting a ministry report on Saturday.

Officials at the Justice Ministry could not be reached for comment but the statistics come amid intense debate over the surge in divorce rates in the birthplace of Islam.

The High Court in the Red Sea port of Jeddah said earlier this year divorce rates in the city had risen by 60 percent over the last two years against 39 percent in the capital Riyadh and 18 percent in the Eastern Province, home to a Shi'ite minority.

Saudi Arabia, which follows an austere form of Sunni Islam, allows men to repudiate their wives.

''It is impossible to have healthy relationships in Saudi Arabia. The laws have given men full authority while women are deprived of their rights and freedom,'' rights activist Wajiha al-Howeidar told Reuters.

While a few women have grown up in relatively liberal homes and refrain from marriage at an early age, many see in marriage a way out of protective parental homes, al-Howeidar said.

''They end up in arranged marriages where there are no affinities and no romance,'' she said.

(AGENCIES)

UK's Queen Elizabeth praises courage of military

LONDON, Dec 24: Britain's Queen Elizabeth today sent a special Christmas message to her armed forces serving overseas, praising their courage and mourning their losses.

It is only the second time in recent years that the Queen has made a special broadcast message to the troops overseas ahead of her traditional message to the nation tomorrow.

Her grandsons, Princes William and Harry, are both now junior officers in the army, although highly unlikely to do front line duty given their royal status.

''I know it has been an extremely busy year on operations, overseas and here at home,'' said Queen Elizabeth who celebrated her 80th birthday in 2006.

''In Iraq and Afghanistan you continue to make an enormous contribution in helping to rebuild those countries and in other operational theatres you undertake essential duties with a professionalism which is so highly regarded the world over.''

In southern Iraq the insurgency is growing, while the 7,100 British troops are gradually handing over control to Iraqi security forces.

The government has said it hopes to cut the number of British armed forces there by several thousand in 2007.

In southern Afghanistan, where British troops as part of NATO forces are tasked with rebuilding the country's shattered infrastructure, they are instead waging a war with the resurgent Taliban.

''Your courage and loyalty are not lightly taken,'' Queen Elizabeth said. ''This year men and women from across the Armed Forces have lost their lives in action in both Iraq and Afghanistan.''

''My thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends especially at this Christmas season.

''For those servicemen and women who have been injured in the course of their service, I wish each and every one of you a speedy recovery,'' she added.

A total of 126 British service men and women have been killed while serving in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003, with a further 43 in Afghanistan since November, 2001.

Queen Elizabeth is head of the armed forces. Her special message to the troops will be broadcast early today.

''Throughout my life my relationship with the Armed Forces has been marked by my admiration and deep respect for everything you strive to achieve on behalf of all of us,'' the Queen said.

''My father King George VI said that `the highest of distinctions is service to others'.

''There is no higher goal. Your service to our country is, I believe, an outstanding example of that ideal. I am grateful to you all.

''I wish you, and your families, a happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year,'' she added.(AGENCIES)

Infant mortality gap widens for multiple births

NEW YORK, Dec 24: While infant mortality has dropped significantly overall in recent years, the gap between whites and blacks widened with multiple births in the ten years between 1989-1991 and 1999-2001, researchers report.

Drs Barbara Luke of the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, and Morton B. Brown of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, studied the most recent decade on record in the US Birth Cohort Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Sets for changes in overall infant mortality rates and in mortality risk with multiple births. They also assessed the risks by race.

The crude figures, reported in the medical journal Pediatrics, show there were 11,317,895 live births in 1989-1991 and 11,181,095 in 1999-2001. There were 89,823 infant deaths in 1989-1991 and 67,129 in 1999-2001.

Infant mortality risk decreased significantly for singleton, twin and triplet births. The decreases were greater for twins overall and for twins born at less than 37 weeks gestation. For triplets, risk dropped for those born at less than 39 weeks gestation.

When the risks were analyzed by race, infant mortality decreased significantly for all singletons, and for twins and triplets born at every gestational age for whites. For blacks, risk dropped for singletons overall, for twins born at less than 37 weeks gestation and for triplets born between 25-28 weeks gestation.

Drs Luke and Brown point out that ''the improved survival of smaller and more immature infants has long-term social, economic and health implications.''(AGENCIES)

U2's Bono receives honorary British knighthood........

DUBLIN, Dec 24: Irish rock star and rights campaigner Bono has been awarded an honorary British knighthood, the British Embassy in Dublin said.

''Her Majesty The Queen has appointed Bono to be an honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in recognition of his services to the music industry and for his humanitarian work,'' the embassy said in a statement on saturday.

Fellow Irish rocker Bob Geldof, also a high-profile rights campaigner, received the same award in 1986. Honorary knighthoods are awarded to non-British nationals.

A statement on the U2 Web site (www.U2.Com) said Bono was ''very flattered to be honoured, particularly if the honour ... Opens doors for his long standing campaigning work against extreme poverty in Africa.''

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was delighted Bono had chosen to accept the award.

BONO FAN

''I'll leave it to others far more knowledgeable than me to talk about U2's music. All I'll say is that, along with millions of others right across the world, I am a huge fan,'' he said in the letter, reprinted on the No. 10 Web site (www.Pm.Gov.Uk).

The prime minister said he felt more qualified to talk about Bono's personal commitment to tackling global poverty and, in particular, to Africa. ''I know from talking to you how much these causes matter to you,'' Blair said.

The knighthood is the latest award for 46-year-old Bono. In 2003, he was given the Legion D'Honneur by President Jacques Chirac on behalf of the French government, for his contribution to music and his campaigning work.

Last year Bono was awarded the Time Person of the Year 2005, along with Bill and Melinda Gates, for his work promoting justice and equality.

The British Embassy said Bono would receive the award from the British ambassador to Ireland in a ceremony in Dublin shortly after New Year's Day.

Bestowal of an honorary award does not confer the title ''Sir'' on the holder.(AGENCIES)

China sacks Qingdao city Communist Party chief

BEIJING, Dec 24: The Chinese government has sacked a senior Communist Party boss from the booming northern coastal province of Shandong for ''serious discipline violation'', the official Xinhua news agency said today.

Du Shicheng was Party chief for Qingdao city, a magnet for South Korean and Japanese investment and the venue for the 2008 Beijing Olympic sailing events.

He was also deputy provincial Party head.

Xinhua gave no details of Du's alleged wrongdoings in its terse report.

''The Communist Party of China's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection is investigating Du's case,'' it said.

Du, 56, appeared in the official Qingdao Daily newspaper as recently as Friday in a report saying that he had chaired a provincial economic meeting and given a speech.

The resort city of Qingdao is a former German concession and the home base of Tsingtao beer, one of China's most well recognised brands.

China is in the midst of a crackdown on official corruption, which the ruling Communist Party says is so widespread that it could threaten the party's credibility.

Earlier this month the Party expelled the disgraced former vice mayor of Beijing, Liu Zhihua, and judicial authorities launched criminal proceedings against him after he was found to have taken millions of yuan in bribes.

Liu had been in charge of building venues for the Chinese capital's hosting of the Olympics.

(AGENCIES)

Spanish royal murder mystery solved

MADRID, Dec 24: For more than 600 years, Spaniards have believed Prince Sancho de Castile's uncle poisoned him to become king of Spain, but studies of the boy's mummified body show the seven-year-old died of natural causes.

One of Spain's great royal legends may have been put to rest by medical tests that show Sancho, son of King Pedro I ''the Cruel'' of Castile, and a successor to the throne, was likely to have died in 1370 of a lung infection such as pneumonia.

Examinations of the prince's body have found no trace of cyanide, arsenic, mercury or any other poison his uncle, Enrique, was believed to have used to kill him, according to the convent where the prince's remains have lain since 1409.

''It appears the prince wasn't poisoned after all,'' the convent's Sister Maria Jesus Galan said yesterday.

The study led by the University of Granada and the pathology unit of Barcelona's Hospital Clinico found Sancho had inflamed lungs after chronic exposure to smoke, which was likely to have come from an open fire.

Enrique, the illegitimate son of Alfonso XI of Castile, killed his half brother Pedro I in the Castilian civil war in 1369 and became King Enrique I ''the Bastard'' of Castile. (AGENCIES)

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