Daily International News 06.30.11

Daily International News
June 30, 2011

Northeast Asia
Japan
Japanese gov’t, DPJ agrees on doubling consumption tax by mid-2010s [Xinhua]
Toyota recalls 110,000 hybrid cars on safety concerns [BBC]
Koreas
Kim Jong-il’s Train Stops Short of Russian Border [Chosun]
N. Korea increases grain imports from China [Yonhap]
S. Korean pastor gets reduced sentence for illegal trip to N. Korea [Yonhap]
South is spurned on trip to Mt. Kumgang [JoongAng]
North Korean defector learns to live outside the world’s biggest prison [Guardian]
Football: Sweden out for second win against N. Korea [AFP]
China
U.N. rights boss raps China for not arresting Bashir [Reuters] and China bolsters economic ties with Sudan [Al Jazeera]
Amnesty Int’l: China crackdown on lawyers expands [AP]
China to celebrate CPC’s 90th birthday [Xinhua]
Philippine president to visit China in August [Kyodo]
Ai Weiwei Photography Exhibit: A Chinese Dissident Views New York [NYT]
China opens world’s longest sea bridge near Qingdao [BBC]
Taiwan unveils upgraded fighter jet [AP]
Taiwan ex-President Lee Teng-hui ’embezzled $7.8m’ [BBC]
China raises income tax threshold [BBC]

Southeast Asia/Pacific
Japan to offer aid to improve living standards of Myanmar people [Kyodo]
Burma: Australian publisher Ross Dunkley convicted [BBC]
Yeoh ‘saddened’ by deportation from Myanmar [AP]
U.N.-backed court concludes hearing on 4 Khmer Rouge leaders [Kyodo]
Saudi Arabia bars Indonesia and Philippines workers [BBC]
Three British students killed in Thailand coach crash [BBC]

South/Central Asia
Nato ‘kills senior Haqqani militant in Afghanistan’ [BBC]
Obama weighed military, political risk for Afghan plan [Reuters]
Pakistan stops US from using ‘drone base’ [Al Jazeera]
French journalists held hostage by Taliban return home [BBC]
Bangladesh abolishes caretaker gov’t for elections [AP]

Middle East
Indictments issued in Hariri death probe [Al Jazeera]
U.S. Monthly Combat Deaths in Iraq at 3-Year High [NYT]
Strategic Site Is Captured by Militants in Yemen [NYT]
Bahrain halts military-style trials for protesters [AP]

Africa
Egypt police clash with youths; over 1,000 hurt [Reuters]
U.S. hifts to closer contact with Egypt Islamists [Reuters]
Morocco prepares for vote on king’s powers [Al Jazeera]
NATO says not involved in arms aid to Libya rebels [Reuters]
Spain: al-Qaida possibly buying Libyan war weapons [AP]
NATO Airstrike Kills Militant Leader Linked to Kabul Hotel Attack [VOA]
Libyan crisis tops agenda of AU summit in Equatorial Guinea [Xinhua]
Rival Sudan forces to quit border ahead of independence [BBC]

Europe
Greece clears final hurdle to get bailout funds [AP]
Rebel Greek MP votes against part of austerity bill [Reuters]
Sarkozy involved in scuffle during handshake tour [Reuters]
Putin says Russia will expand presence in Arctic [AP]
UK public sector strike hits services and schools [BBC]
Jellyfish force Torness nuclear reactor shutdown in UK [BBC]

Western Hemisphere [non-US]
Venezuela suspends summit over Hugo Chavez’s illness [BBC]
U.S. Drops Deportation Proceedings Against Immigrant in Same-Sex Marriage [NYT]
William, Kate off to Canada, US in first tour [AP]

Domestic
Senate cancels July 4 recess [POLITICO]
Dysfunctional Congress ‘worse’ than ever? [POLITICO]
GOP governors huddle on 2012 race [POLITICO]
TIME’s Halperin apologizes for calling Obama ‘a dick’ [POLITICO]
Minn. braces for government shutdown [AP]
Suspected Tucson gunman can be forced to take antipsychotic drugs, judge rules [LAT]
Bill to Aid Farm Workers Union Is Vetoed [NYT]
Nigerian flies from NY to DC with invalid pass [AP]
Birthers Sue Esquire Over Parody, Seeking More than $200 Million [Forbes]

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Daily International News 11.02.10

Daily International News – because there’s a whole world of news today…but I also got your midterm news, too.
November 2, 2010

Northeast Asia
Koreas
NKorea makes point-by-point denial of ship sinking [AP]
N Korea to give torpedo sample [BBC]
North Muddies Korea’s ‘Brand,’ But South Won’t Take a Hard Line [WSJ]
‘North Korea may become part of China’ [Korea Times]

China/Taiwan
China objects to US offer over disputed islands [AP]
Clinton Says China Will Need More Political Freedom [Bloomberg]
UN chief criticized for failing to press China [AP]
British PM Cameron to visit Beijing next week [AP]
At Odds with the U.S., Pakistan Deepens Ties with China [TIME]
‘Chinese double agent’ arrested in Taiwan [BBC]

Japan/Northern Territories
Japan Summons Envoy to Russia Over Islands Dispute [NYT]
Dmitry Medvedev ‘planning new visit to disputed Kurils’ [BBC]

Southeast Asia
Vietnam’s Cam Ranh base to welcome foreign navies [AP]
Myanmar’s ethnic minorities prepare for war [AP]
Myanmar storm killed dozens, 81,000 left homeless – U.N. [Reuters]
US Endorses Malaysia’s Call For Religious Moderation [Bernama]
Indonesian volcano forces flight cancellations [AP]

South/Central Asia
Afghan candidates and MPs call for new election [Reuters]
US to Hand over Small Bases to Afghan Army [Tolo News]
Plan in Pakistan to Export Wheat Generates Criticism [WSJ]
India hikes interest rates to contain inflation [AP]

Middle East – Yemen AQAP Threat
Militants ‘blow up Yemen pipeline’ [BBC]
Yemen begins hunt for plot suspect [Al Jazeera] and Yemen charges US-born radical cleric al-Awlaki [AP]
Germany, U.K. Restrict Flights, Parcels After Bombs [Bloomberg] and World airlines call for improved cargo-screening [AP]
Earlier Flight May Have Been Dry Run for Plotters [NYT]

Middle East – Other
Iran envoy dismisses tougher terms for atom fuel swap [Reuters]
Iraq TV station taken off air after deadly church raid [BBC]
Syria must wield influence in Lebanon to help U.S. relations, says top diplomat [WaPo]
Jewish-Arab relations in Israel hit boiling point [AP]
Fayyad cancels Jerusalem visit after Israel warning [Reuters]
Israeli soldier jailed over Palestinian prisoner photo [BBC]

Africa
Tanzania: Chaos Reigns as Electoral Commission Delays Releasing Results [All Africa]
‘Historic’ turnout in Ivory Coast’s presidential poll [BBC]
Guinea election boycott threat is averted [BBC]

Europe
4 small mail bombs explode in Athens [AP]
Cameron and Sarkozy hail UK-France defence treaties [BBC]
UK government may allow convicted prisoners to vote [BBC]
More Than 100,000 Pay for British News Site [NYT]
BP back to profit after oil spill [BBC]
Russian imprisoned oil tycoon Khodorkovsky verdict to be delivered Dec. 15 [AP]

Americas
President-elect Rousseff names business-friendly transition team [MercoPress]
Haiti cholera ‘resembles South Asian strain’ [BBC]
Widowed Argentine President Fernandez in tearful speech [BBC]

Domestic – Midterms
Issue Guide: 2010 Midterm Elections [CFR]
9 Secret Election Day Surges [Daily Beast]
Democrats bracing for major losses [WaPo]
5 Reasons Democrats Could Beat the Polls and Hold the House[NYT]
Sarah Palin Endorses Third Party Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Tancredo [ABC]
California Looks for Cash Under Proposal to Legalize Marijuana [Bloomberg]
Pressure Builds on Obama to Shake Up Inner Circle [WSJ]
Op-ed: Obama may just be an interlude [FT]
Op-ed: Go Small and Stay Home [FP]
EU and US ‘must work together’ after midterms, says diplomat [DW]

Domestic – Other
Google sues US in software battle [BBC]
Federal Appeals Court Weighs Arizona Law on Immigrants [NYT]
Fed Will Probably Start $500 Billion of Bond Buying [Bloomberg]
Tim Lincecum, Edgar Renteria deliver Giants’ first title since 1954 [ESPN]

POST: Poolside Prince of Darkness: Why Does Labour Keep Lord Mandelson Around??

For the past two days, no one has been running the UK.

Thing I’m joking? Here’s the scoop.  Two weeks ago, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown left 10 Downing Street for his summer vaca, leaving Labour MP from Camberwell/Peckham (next door to my old house in East Dulwich!) Harriet Harman in charge.  She was overwhelmingly omniscient in her two weeks at Number 10. No joke.  She proceeded to create a veritable layer cake of Harman-osity: beginning with a five layers of public appearances, then adding a quite superfluous I’m “not going to become a shrinking violet,” and finishing it all off with a healthy dollop of  “financial collapse would have been averted if women had been in charge.” Scrumptious.

But Mandelson seems nearly unperturbed with his stint in the office. So much so that he’s doing the first four days of it ALSO on vacation (if all that one needs to run the British government is a BlackBerry and a pool to sit by, I can be on the job in a few hours…). Yes, Lord Mandelson is in Corfu, after having accepted an invitation to return to the villa at which he spent last year.

Well, maybe Mandelson simply doesn’t want to be rude. I mean, if you RSVP to the villa, you mustn’t break your plans for the simple matter of helping to run a country.

My favorite picture of Lord Mandelson - "The only thing green about the Prince of Darkness" - after he got slimed by that G20 protester. Plus it's right outside of my old workplace!

The only reason I find this so frustrating is because it’s added to my previous incredulity over why Labour keeps Mandelson around.  More than that – why they insist on bringing him back into the fold over and over again. Has everyone forgot his first (yes, there has been more than one…) resignation after he received a tax free ‘loan’ of 373,000 GBP from the Paymaster General? And not to mention his second resignation after attempting to push through the naturalization of a wealthy Indian businessman after contributing heavily to the Faith Section in the Millenium Dome. THEN, after these scandals, they thought it appropriate to make him a life peer, allowing him to join the House of Lords and thus have permanent access to British politics.

What FURTHER frustrates me is that it makes me agree even further with the Conservative Party (something I don’t want to do…) and with their Chairman, Eric Pickles, when he said “Lord Mandelson’s vice-like grip on power means he’s untouchable and can do whatever he wants.” But, I am forced to.

Why, oh why, do they keep him around? Thoughts?