Troops capture ‘Al-Qaeda terrorist’

KABUL, Nov 6: Troops in eastern Afghanistan captured a "known Al-Qaeda terrorist", who has ties to the network’s leadership, and five other extremists including Saudis and Pakistanis today, the US-led coalition said.

The force would not identify the captured men, who were rounded up in an early morning operation by Afghan and coalition troops in the eastern city of Khost.

"The detainee, who has known ties to Al-Qaeda leadership, was taken into custody along with five other terrorists found in the compound, including Saudi and Pakistani nationals," the force said in a statement.

The troops also found grenades, military equipment, armour-piercing rounds and AK-47 assault rifles during a search of the compound where the men were arrested.

They also found a camera containing surveillance video of nearby military installations, the statement said.

The coalition has been in Afghanistan since leading the operation that toppled the hardline Taliban government in 2001 because it would not hand over Al-Qaeda leaders after the September 11 attacks on Washington and New York.

The operation, called Enduring Freedom, continues today with the coalition—which now numbers about 10,000 troops—hunting down Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters behind an insurgency that has been its most virulent this year. (AFP)

China’s foreign trade expected to hit record USD 1.7 trillion

BEIJING, Nov 6: China’s foreign trade volume is expected to hit a record 1.7 trillion US dollars this year, up more than 20 per cent over last year, a senior trade official has said.

China’s foreign trade has maintained rapid growth in the first nine months, with imports and exports volume reaching 1.27 trillion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 24.3 per cent, Assistant Minister of Commerce Fu Ziying said at the China Industrial Development Forum yesterday.

Chinese exports totalled 691.2 billion US dollars, up 26.5 per cent from the same period last year, and imports reached 581.4 billion US dollars, up 21.7 per cent.

Fu said China’s foreign trade rose from the sixth to the third in world rankings in the past five years, with imports and exports volume growing at an average annual rate of 24.6 per cent.

China has set the goal to keep foreign trade volume at 2.3 trillion US dollars in 2010, with a balance between imports and exports. The growth rate will be maintained at 10 per cent annually, according to the 11^{th Five-Year Plan of the Ministry of Commerce.}

^{"China reported a robust growth in foreign trade in recent years, but only achieved meagre profits due to low value added in export products," Fu said, emphasising that it is time to shift the growth mode from quantity-oriented to quality-oriented. (PTI)}

Japan urges ‘concrete’ action by N Korea amid diplomatic drive

TOKYO, Nov 6: Japan called today for "concrete" action by North Korea to end its nuclear programme as incoming UN chief Ban Ki-Moon and two US envoys visited in a bid to form a united front on Pyongyang.

The rush of diplomacy comes after North Korea, which last month conducted its first atom bomb test, agreed to return to six-nation talks on ending its nuclear programme following a one-year boycott.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki met with visiting US undersecretaries of state Nicholas Burns and Robert Joseph, and said Washington and Tokyo had agreed to press North Korea to give up its nuclear arms.

"While we welcomed the expected resumption of six-way talks, we also agreed that Japan and the United States must continue to cooperate and to use dialogue and pressure to demand concrete measures from North Korea," Shiozaki said.

The Japanese government spokesman told reporters that the two countries would further step up coordination at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which will take place in Hanoi on November 18-19.

"We have agreed to use the foreign ministers talks and summit talks at APEC in Hanoi to closely coordinate our efforts over various problems affecting the international community including the North Korean problem," Shiozaki said.

Ban, who is South Korea’s foreign minister, was in Japan on a world tour of major countries before he becomes UN secretary general in January.

He met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who unlike South Korean leaders has pushed for strong action to punish North Korea for its nuclear test. (AFP)

Chinese provincial Vice Governor sacked for corruption

BEIJING, Nov 6: China’s ruling Communist Party has sacked yet another senior official for corruption and abuse of power.

After being kept in custody for several months, Deputy Governor of east China’s Anhui Province, He Minxu has had his Party membership revoked and was sacked from his post for taking bribes and abusing his powers.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China found him guilty of taking bribes worth several million yuan, ‘China Daily’ quoted a provincial newspaper as saying.

He abused his powers by offering cheap land use, tax cuts and job promotions to people who paid him bribes, the report said.

He was also alleged to live a "villainous life," it said.

He is one of the latest corrupt high-ranking officials to be unveiled during this year’s anti-corruption campaign launched by the Communist Party of China (CPC).

In late September, Shanghai Communist Party Secretary Chen Liangyu was sacked for channelling pension funds into illegal investments and helping enrich crony companies and his relatives.

The latest scandal involves the alleged illicit investment of at least a third of the city’s 1.2 billion US dollars social security fund in potentially risky real estate and road projects, reports said. (PTI)

AIR official wins Broadcast Engineering Excellence Award

BEIJING, Nov 6: Engineer-in-Chief of All India Radio Ansu Sekhar Guin has bagged the annual Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) award for excellence in broadcast engineering.

Guin was selected for the award in recognition of his outstanding contributions in broadcast engineering and related disciplines at All India Radio and Doordarshan, the ABU said in a press release here today.

Guin is the technical head of All India Radio (AIR), responsible for the management and operational aspects of AIR's network.

He holds the position of President of the Broadcast Engineering Society of India.

In AIR, Guin has been responsible for the implementation of many new services such as digital radio studio automation, digital video archives, digitalisation of the satellite based networking system and digital audio broadcasting, the release said.

The ABU, which is holding its 43rd General Assembly here, also conferred the ABU Engineering Industry Excellence Award on Senior Managing Director of Pioneer Corporation, Dr Osamu Yamada for the most outstanding engineering contribution made by an individual to the broadcasting industry in the Asia-Pacific region.

"The awards are conferred in appreciation of their dedication and endeavours in the promotion of technical developments in the broadcasting industry. The ABU congratulates Guin and Yamada," ABU Secretary-General, David Astley said.

Each award comprises a commemorative trophy, a citation and a lifetime 'Distinguished Observer' status at ABU Technical Committee meetings. (PTI)

Actress Zhang Jingchu makes Hollywood debut with ‘Rush Hour 3’

HONG KONG, Nov 6: Rising Chinese actress Zhang Jingchu will make her Hollywood debut in the Jackie Chan movie "Rush Hour 3," following in the footsteps of fellow star Zhang Ziyi, a publicist for the film said today.

In her 20s, Zhang Jingchu will play Soo Yung, the daughter of Chinese ambassador Han who is kidnapped in the first installment of the "Rush Hour" series, which also stars Chris Tucker, said publicist Guy Adan in an e-mail to AP.

Zhang, whose credits include "Seven Swords" and "Peacock," is considered one of China’s rising female actresses, and has drawn comparisons to Zhang Ziyi, who has successfully crossed over to Hollywood.

Her casting in "Rush Hour 3," which has been filming in Los Angeles and Paris, will likely intensify the comparison. Zhang Ziyi also made her Hollywood debut in the "Rush Hour" series, playing the villain Hu Li in the second installment, and has since gone on to international stardom, starring in the recent "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Zhang Jingchu’s appearance in "Rush Hour 3" contradicts her earlier statements that she isn’t interested in the US market.

"I don’t plan to go to the US and I haven’t signed with an American talent agency," she said recently in response to written questions from the AP.

The actress, however, has said in her blog she’s studying English. She’s reportedly fluent.

Zhang, who studied at China’s Central Academy of Drama, is known for her sharp personality on screen. In "Peacock," which won a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 2005, she plays a petulant, conniving homebound daughter who tries to chart her own course in life. (AP)

China introduces new family planning policy

BEIJING, Nov 6: Central China's Hunan has become the first Chinese province to provide financial aid to couples whose only child is dead or disabled, a move to further consolidate the one child per couple family planning policy in the world's most populous nation.

One person, either in rural or urban areas, can get USD 75 annually from the provincial government after he or she is 50 years old and if their only child is dead or disabled, the new plan says.

Hunan is the first province in China to implement such a plan, director of the provincial family planning commission, Li Wanbin said.

China has announced financial rewards to farmers who have few children.

Couples who have one child and those with two daughters in the rural areas will receive an annual payment of USD 75 when they reach the age of 60.

Li said the new plan will enable those whose child is dead or disabled to get financial support 10 years before they would have through the national plan, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, when they reach the age of 60, they would no longer be covered by the provincial plan but would benefit from by the national plan, Li added.

It is estimated that more than 6,000 people would come under the ageis of the the provincial plan by the end of this year.

Hunan will spend USD 462,500 on the plan this year. (PTI)

Five Chinese sentenced to 20 years for drug production

TANGERANG, INDONESIA, Nov 6: An Indonesian court sentenced five Chinese men to 20 years in prison today for ties to an Ecstasy and methamphetamine factory capable of producing millions of illegal pills a year.

Eight other men were awaiting verdicts, including a Dutch and a French national both facing a maximum penalty of death, said Fahrial, a clerk at the Tangerang District Court.

Indonesian police launched a Nov 11, 2005, raid on a sprawling factory on the outskirts of Serang, a town 100 kilometres west of the capital Jakarta, following months of surveillance with Australian and US drug enforcement officers.

The factory was capable of producing 300,000 Ecstasy tablets per week, some destined for overseas markets, prosecutors said.

They said police seized an estimated USD 142 million worth of Ecstasy, methamphetamines, ketamine and chemical ingredients from the site.

Judge Maha Nikmat said five Chinese men were given 20 years because they were found guilty of producing methamphetamines, known locally as shabu-shabu.

Sentences for the other suspects in the case will be read out later today and tomorrow.

"Execute them!" chanted dozens of demonstrators who gathered in front of the court on Jakarta's outskirts.

Ecstasy is widely used across Indonesia. In recent years, criminal gangs have taken advantage of the country's poor law enforcement and rampant corruption to produce the drug for export. (AGENCIES)

China provincial boss expelled from party for graft

BEIJING, Nov 6: A provincial vice-governor has been expelled from China's ruling Communist Party and removed from office for taking bribes and abusing power, the latest casualty of a nationwide crackdown on corruption.

The Beijing Times said today that the party's anti-graft Central Commission for Discipline Inspection had found He Minxu, vice-governor of the eastern province of Anhui, guilty of taking bribes worth several million yuan (several hundred thousand dollars).

The case of He, who was taken into custody in June, is one of many lurid corruption scandals to have come out of Anhui.

Several former judges were tried last month for taking bribes while serving in the province's city of Fuyang.

Quoting the official Anhui Daily newspaper, the Beijing Times said He abused his power by offering cheap land, tax cuts and job promotions to people who paid their way.

''He's suspected crimes will be handled by the judicial organisations,'' said the paper.

State media reported in July that He was questioned for accepting 300,000 yuan ($37,500) in bribes from a real estate developer from the wealthy coastal province of Zhejiang.

He is the latest high-ranking official to be netted by this year's corruption purge. A vice-governor is equivalent to a Cabinet vice-minister.

In late September, Shanghai Communist Party chief Chen Liangyu was sacked for channelling pension funds into illegal investments and helping enrich crony companies and relatives.

An ally of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Chen was the first member of the party's 24-strong, decision-making Politburo to lose his seat since 1995, when Beijing party boss Chen Xitong was purged and jailed. (AGENCIES)

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