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WASHINGTON, June 27 () -- The United States government announced Wednesday that it has asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to take new step to settle a trade dispute with China over its export quotas on rare earths and other materials.The United States has requested the WTO to establish a dispute settlement panel to decide U.S. claims regarding China's export restraints on rare earths, tungsten and molybdenum, the U.S.Trade Representative Ron Kirk said in a statement."It is vital that U.S. workers and manufacturers obtain the fair and equal access to raw materials like rare earths that China specifically agreed to when it joined the WTO," said Kirk.Requesting a panel is the next step in the WTO dispute settlement process after requesting consultations. The U.S. move was joined by the European Union and Japan.In March, the three trading powers requested formal consultations with China, claiming China's export restriction gives it a competitive advantage while hurting producers and consumers in other parts of the world. However, the consultations ended without resolution of the case.For its part, China said its rare earth policy is aimed at curbing irresponsible and excessive mining that has resulted in great environmental damages and put the health of local people at risk.According to Chinese experts, China has only 20 percent of the world's rare earth reserve but is producing 90 percent of the supply. They estimate that China's rare earth resources could be depleted in 20 years if no measures are taken.
GOMBE, Nigeria, Jan. 5 () -- At least six people have been killed in a church by unknown assailants in northeast Nigeria's Gombe State, 's reporter in the state said on phone.The gunmen, believed to be members of the dreaded Islamic extremist sect, Boko Haram, attacked the Deeperlife Bible Church during a service in the metropolis."I counted six dead bodies at the state general hospital," he said.The attack came barely few days after a state of emergency was announced by the Nigerian government in some parts of Borno, Yobe, Niger and Plateau States. Gombe was not listed among the flashpoint states.Spokesperson of the Boko Haram sect Abu Qaqa on Sunday issued a three-day ultimatum to non Muslims and residents from the southern states of Nigeria living in north of the West African country to vacate the area or face the wrath of the group.There were palpable fears among residents residing in Nigeria's northeastern cities of Borno and Yobe as the three-day ultimatum given by the local militant sect expires on Wednesday.Boko Haram is apparently responding to the state of emergency declared on Saturday by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.The state of emergency was imposed in areas targeted by the Boko Haram sect, including Yobe, Borno, Plateau and Niger states. The president also ordered the closure of sections of borders.Boko Haram said afterwards that it got ready to fight government troops in those areas.
christian louboutin bootsFile photo of China's basketball player Yao Ming (/Reuters File Photo)By Sportswriter Wu JunkuanBEIJING, July 17 () -- The 40-year-old Shaquille O'Neal, who retired from NBA in June, up-loaded a twitter video last week to invite the 30-year-old Yao Ming, who is reportedly retiring from the league, to go on vacation."I'm going to miss you bro," O'Neal said in the video message. "You're one of the greatest players to come out of China. One of the greatest players, period. I'm going to miss you brother."Enjoy your time, let's go on vacation bro, me and you."Yao and O'Neal are both among the league's most outstanding centers in the past decade. Yao, who will turn 31 this September, is more fortunate because he has 10 more years to enjoy his time off the court. Or, he is less fortunate, because he has 10 less years to stay on the court.Why does Yao plan to retire early?Since Yao moved to the NBA as the overall top pick in the 2002 draft, his nine-year stint with Houston Rockets, especially his last six seasons, was plagued with a series of injuries and surgeries - the bone spur in his left foot and osteomyelitis in the big toe of the left foot in 2005, the broken bone in his left foot and right knee in 2006, the stress fracture in his left foot in 2008, the hairline fracture in his left foot in 2009 and the stress fracture in his left ankle in 2010.During the 2008-2009 season, Yao was diagnosed with a sprained ankle in the second round series against the Los Angeles Lakers. After he underwent surgery to repair the broken bone in his left foot, Duan Guihua, a Chinese sports medicine specialist said: "The fact that Yao Ming suffered with frequent injuries shows his previous surgeries were not truly successful. There will be little chance for Yao to fully recover. I am afraid he will be injured again soon."Duan's worry proved to be right. After Yao was ruled out for the entire 2009-2010 season, the Rockets limited Yao to no more than 24 minutes a game for the 2010-2011 season, with no plan to play him on back-to-back nights. Their goal was to keep Yao healthy in the long term. However, Yao only played five matches before sustaining a stress fracture in his left ankle, which led to his decision to quit professional basketball.During his NBA career Yao received a series of big surgeries to his left foot. All the screws placed in his foot to strengthen the bones could weigh over 500 grams. His fragile feet just could not withstand the pounding of the NBA game over the long haul.Yao's early retirement may have been already foreshadowed back in his teenage years. Yao was hit by the first serious injury in 1997 when he was still a junior player in the Shanghai Sharks, the Chinese Basketball League side where Yao served before he moved to NBA. Yao broke his left ankle when he stepped on an opponent's foot. Instead of undergoing operation, Yao just received conservative treatment. Two years later his left ankle was fractured again and the same treatment was given.If Yao had undergone surgery to treat either of the two early injuries, maybe his career should have been extended, and the left foot would not have been the "Achilles heel" that brought down the basketball titan.Yao's early retirement reflects a long-existing problem in China's training system of young athletes. The result of a match sometimes transcends the health of an athlete, therefore in China it is usually the coach or the team leader, instead of the team doc, to have the final say on whether to field an injured player.Short-sighted decisions to neglect doctors' expertise often jeopardize an athlete's career. Although China's sports community have begun to realize this problem and the idea of "health comes first" has been accepted in recent years, China is still lagging far behind in terms of injury prevention and scientific treatment.Fighting with injuries is a heroic spirit that deserves high praise in the Chinese culture. But if there's still not enough attention paid to the athlete's health, China may lose more sports stars to injury-forced early retirement.
by Adam GonnJERUSALEM, April 23 () -- Egypt's decision to stop exporting gas to Israel will only have a limited effect on the Jewish state's economy, analysts told on Monday.The state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company notified the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), which operates the gas export to Israel, that they have officially ended the 2005 contract selling up to 7 billion cubic meters of gas to Israel annually for 20 years.Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said in an immediate response that the issue is purely business- related, and will not adversely affect diplomatic relations between Egypt and Israel.LIMITED ECONOMIC IMPACTProf. Michael Beenstock, of Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that the formal decision to end the export to Israel would have little or no effect on the Israeli economy."The damage has already been done," Beenstock said, "The Egyptians have been supplying gas only intermittently for over a year, so already the Israeli economy has adjusted itself to the fact that gas won't be coming from Egypt," he added.The gas to Israel is exported via a pipeline through the Sinai Peninsula.However, following the overthrow for former President Hosni Mubarak in February last year, the new interim military council largely lost control over Sinai, which resulted in at least 14 attacks on the pipeline.As a result of the gas delivery disruptions, EMG in October 2011 turned to international arbitration, demanding billions of U. S. dollars in compensation.To compensate for the drop in gas supplies, Israel Electrical Corporation (IEC), the main electricity provider in Israel, has been buying coal instead."Already electricity prices have risen because IEC has had to import alternatives which are not only more expensive, but also are less clean," Beenstock said."The economy has already been affected through hikes of electricity prices and also increased pollution," he added.Electricity prices in Israel spiked some 20 percent over the last year, due to higher cost of coal over gas.The increased import of coal will likely continue until Israel is able to return to fully rely on gas again. The main sources will be massive gas fields in the Israeli territory in the eastern Mediterranean, which is expected to come on line in 2013."It (to solve the problem) is more important for Egypt than it is for Israel," Beenstock argued, because Egypt will not be able to sell this gas to anybody else for the time being."Gas is very expensive to transport and it was easy for them to sell it to Israel because we live next door," he said."The main sufferers from what is happening are the Egyptians, who have this resource that they can't do anything with," Beenstock said.POLITICAL DIMENSIONIsraeli officials claimed that the decision was based on business rather than political grounds; however, the two are closely intertwined in the deal.Since its signing, the Egyptian people opposed the deal, not only as a sign of normalization of relations with Israel, but also because the price that Israel paid, which was believed to be between one third to half of the market price."It's disingenuous to say that there is nothing political about it," said Dr. Mark Heller, of Tel Aviv University."Any government decision is a political decision; there is no such thing as a non-political decision," according to Heller.Prof. Yoram Meital, of Ben-Gurion University of Negev, added that the cancellation of the contract bears significance on two levels, with effects respectively to the partners of the deal and to the diplomatic relations between the two nations."On the political level, I see it as sending a significant message about the fragility of the relationship between Israel and Egypt since the toppling of Mubarak," Meital said.
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MEXICO CITY, Jan. 16 () -- El Salvador's President Mauricio Funes on Monday apologized on behalf of the nation for the 1981 massacre of 936 people in a Salvadorean village during the country's 1980-1992 civil war."In the name of the Salvadorean government, I apologize to the families of the victims," Funes said in tears at a ceremony in El Mozote, the site of the slaughter."I apologize to the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters who still today do not know the whereabouts of their loved ones. I apologize to the people of El Salvador who suffered such outrageous and unacceptable violence," he said.The ceremony marked the 20th anniversary of the signing of a peace agreement on Jan. 16, 1992 that ended the bloody civil war, which had lasted for 12 years and left 75,000 dead.The massacre, leading to 450 children's death, happened in El Mozote and surrounding villages, 200 km northeast of San Salvador. It was conducted by the Atlacatl Battalion of the Armed Forces during Dec. 11 to 13, 1981. They attacked the villagers in a counterinsurgency operation, accusing them of collaborating with the leftist guerrillas.However, the crimes against humanity went unpunished due to an amnesty in 1993 as a part of the peace agreements required by the government. The Truth Commission, created by the United Nations, blamed the slaughter to several soldiers, some of whom died during the civil war."Just because 20 years of the peace accords, we have a different military institution, professional, democratic and obedient to the civil power, and we can not continue brandishing and presenting the country's military leaders as heroes, who were linked in large violations of human rights," Funes said.He also said he would strengthen the professional role of the military institutions and promote their "deep integration within Salvadorean society."Funes, the first leftist president of El Salvador, said his government had talked with families to define the moral and material compensations.He also announced a series of projects worth 6.4 million U.S. dollars, including a clinic with medical and psychological care and a nursing home.
JOHANNESBURG, July 19 () -- The South African government on Thursday deplored the continued act of violence in Syria and called for an immediate end to the killings of civilians.International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim made the remarks ahead of the vote later in the day at the UN Security Council on the extension of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS)."South Africa deplores the continuing violence in Syria, which is spinning out of control. Our highest priority is to stop the killing and end the suffering of innocent civilians," Ebrahim said in a statement."We have been calling for an immediate end to the violence and for talks to begin to reach a Syrian-led political transition reflecting the will of the Syrian people. There is no military solution to the dispute," the government official said.Ebrahim said South Africa strongly supports the tireless efforts of United Nations (UN) and Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan.South Africa is calling on the UN and other international groups to take urgent action in response to the violence and to call for cease-fire immediately, he said."The international community must urgently respond to the escalating violence in Syria in a stern and balanced manner, based on the realities on the ground. It is incumbent on the UN Security Council to express strong and unified support for Mr Annan and to call on all parties to cease the violence immediately. "South Africa wants the Security Council to make proposals for conflict resolution and address failures of implementation with its decisions, "without prejudice to the rights, claims and positions of the parties concerned.""South Africa will therefore support any decision of the Security Council that is balanced and geared towards supporting Mr Annan's call for all sides in the conflict to adhere to their commitments under his six point plan," Ebrahim said.Special Report: Syrian Situation
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