China is to reduce the number of people it executes to "an extremely small number", a top court official says. Zhang Jun, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), said the court would in future impose more suspended death sentences. Two years ago China gave the SPC power to review death sentences handed down by lower courts. That has already led to fewer executions. Rights campaigners says China executes more people than any other country. Mr Zhang, quoted in the state-run China Daily, said legislation would be improved to reduce the number of death sentences, and that the SPC would tighten restrictions on the use of capital punishment. He said: "As it is impossible for the country to abolish capital punishment under current realities and social security conditions, it is an important effort to strictly control the application of the penalty by judicial organs." 'Ten-year low' China does not release figures on the number of people it executes.
But in September 2007, after the SPC was given its power to review cases, Chinese state media reported that executions were at a "10-year low". Amnesty International said China executed 1,718 people in 2008 - 72% of the world's total. The death penalty still applies to 60 offences in China, including non-violent crimes such as tax fraud and embezzlement. Mr Zhang told the China Daily that the SPC had been working to ensure that the death sentence was imposed only on those who had committed extremely serious or heinous crimes that led to grave social consequences | |||
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
China to cut number of executions
Iran protesters 'to face trial'
About 20 Iranians detained during protests over the disputed presidential election will face trial next week, Iran's state news agency has said. It said they faced charges including bombings, carrying weapons and attacking security forces. But a considerable number of detainees will be freed by Friday, Iranian media quoted the state prosecutor as saying. And a prominent opposition campaigner, Saeed Hajjarian, is due to be released on Wednesday, the judiciary said. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was re-elected in last month's poll that the opposition says was rigged, has reportedly ordered that all prisoners not accused of serious offences be freed by 7 August. On Tuesday, officials said about 140 people detained during the protests were released from Evin prison. But about 200 others, accused of more serious crimes, remained in the prison. Toll raised Officials also announced on Tuesday that 30 people were killed in clashes between opposition supporters and security forces - up from a previously stated figure of about 20. Opposition groups believe up to 100 people may have died, in the largest mass protests seen in Iran since the 1979 revolution which brought the current Islamic regime to power. Officials also announced on Tuesday that 30 people were killed in clashes between opposition supporters and police - up from a previously stated figure of about 20. Mr Hajjarian, who survived an assassination attempt in 2000, is a key member of a prominent reformist group and was an advisor to former reformist President, Mohammad Khatami. Human Rights Watch had called for his release on Tuesday, saying his life was in danger as his health had deteriorated during harsh treatment in the prison. The opposition groups, led by presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, were planning a memorial event on Thursday to mark the end of the 40-day mourning period for a number of protesters killed during the protests. But the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Tuesday that the interior ministry had refused permission |
Iran exiles 'killed in Iraq raid'
Footage (released by the PMOI) shows Iraqi riot police using batons Seven Iranian dissidents have been killed during a raid by Iraqi security forces on their camp north of Baghdad, Iraqi police have said. Eyewitnesses say Iraqi police have surrounded the People's Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI) camp and clashes are continuing inside. Iran wants the camp closed. The exiles fear they will be forcibly repatriated. The US gave the camp some protection until it handed security control back to Iraq earlier this year. The PMOI said Iraqi riot police stormed the camp using batons and live fire on Tuesday. Amnesty International said it was "seriously concerned" about the incident, and had seen footage which "clearly showed" Iraqi forces beating people repeatedly. There are contradictory reports coming out of Ashraf about what sparked the violence.
Police say residents of the camp fired teargas at them but the PMOI says it was the police who fired the tear gas. An Iraqi official told AFP news agency more than 50 Iranians had been arrested. Iraqi officials said they were trying to establish a police post in the camp, north of Baghdad. "It is our territory and our right to enter, to impose Iraqi law on everybody," a defence ministry spokesman told al-Arabiya television. Presence welcomed The PMOI set up a base in Iraq in the 1980s. The exiles' presence was welcomed by then-President Saddam Hussein, who was fighting a war against Iran at the time. The camp was disarmed by US soldiers following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. But since then relations between Iran and Iraq have improved and the Iraqi government has repeatedly vowed to close the camp. Iraqi forces took over its security from the US earlier this year, and the top US general in Iraq said he had received no advance warning of the raid. A US official said the Iraqi government had given assurances that residents of the camp would not be forcibly transferred. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraq would "not force the Iranians to depart against their wishes". "But they should co-operate with governmental procedures," he said, according to the Associated Press. The PMOI released video of what it said were Iraqi forces using tear gas and water cannon, and pictures showing residents it said had been injured. The group is considered a terrorist group by the US and Iran. It was removed from an EU terrorist list earlier this year after a legal battle. 'Intelligence source' But reports suggest Washington has received intelligence from the group, and has urged Iraqi authorities not to repatriate its members or use lethal force against them. "We have had promises from the government of Iraq that they would deal with the [PMOI] in a humane fashion," said US Gen Ray Odierno. A PMOI spokesman said residents were terrified of being handed over to Iranian authorities. The group says it is ready to return to Iran - but only on condition that none of its members will be prosecuted or persecuted | |
Captives freed in Nigerian city
 Bodies (in the background) of suspected Islamists and their belongings lay in the streets of Maiduguri on Wednesday Nigerian police have freed about 100 women and children being held by a radical Islamist sect in a building in the northern city of Maiduguri. They told the BBC they had been held six days, living on dates and water. Heavy fighting continues in Maiduguri where troops are besieging militants of the Boko Haram sect in an enclave. Boko Haram is blamed for attacks on police stations and government sites in the north this week that led to the deaths of at least 150 people. Boko Haram says it is fighting against Western education. It believes Nigeria's government is being corrupted by Western ideas and wants to see Islamic law imposed across Nigeria.President Umaru Yar'Adua earlier ordered Nigeria's national security agencies to take all necessary action to contain and repel attacks by the extremists. 'Foreign involvement' Boko Haram is led by Mohammed Yusuf, who has his base in Maiduguri, capital of Borno province.
About 1,000 people are inside the Maiduguri enclave, according to the military. Security forces flooded into Maiduguri and began attacking Mohammed Yusuf's compound on Tuesday, shelling it with heavy weapons and exchanging gunfire with militants. Fierce fighting continued through the night and into Wednesday. The militants are well-armed and have been keeping up a steady stream of fire, the officer commanding the operation, Col Ben Ahanotu, told the BBC. He said there were at least 250 armed men guarding Mohammed Yusuf's home, which is also the headquarters of the sect. Col Ahanotu also said papers and personal items found on the bodies of young men indicated that many had come from neighbouring Chad and Niger. One Maiduguri resident, Adamu Yari, told Reuters news agency that soldiers and police were combing the whole city, searching house to house for Boko Haram followers. Newborn babies Police in Maiduguri said they had discovered a building full of women and children who were being imprisoned on the edge of the city. Pictures from Monday in Bauchi show the aftermath of violence Those freed on Wednesday morning were mostly young women - mothers with small children, some of them nursing newborn babies. An earlier report suggested the number of those freed was about 180 but the figure was later revised downward. Many of the women told the BBC their husbands were followers of Boko Haram, and that they had been forced to travel to Maiduguri. It is understood all of the women are from Bauchi State, the BBC's Caroline Duffield reports from Lagos. In other states in northern Nigeria, reports are emerging of abductions linked to Boko Haram. In Katsina State, 10 members of two families went missing last week.
Husbands told the BBC their wives and children had been offered the chance to learn the Koran by a cleric, after which they had been abducted. They believe their loved ones are now in Maiduguri with, the men fear, Boko Haram. Four states in northern Nigeria have been affected by Boko Haram unrest - Borno, Bauchi, Kano and Yobe. A total of 103 deaths were officially reported in Maiduguri and reports say more than 50 people died in Bauchi and Yobe, but the true number of casualties may be much greater. Sharia law is in place across northern Nigeria, but there is no history of al-Qaeda-linked violence in the country. The country's 150 million people are split almost equally between Muslims in the north and Christians in the south |
Microsoft and Yahoo seal web deal
Yahoo and Microsoft have announced a long-rumoured internet search deal that will help the two companies take on chief rival Google. Microsoft's Bing search engine will power the Yahoo website and Yahoo will in turn become the advertising sales team for Microsoft's online offering. Yahoo has been struggling to make profits in recent years. But last year it rebuffed several takeover bids from Microsoft in an attempt to go it alone. Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer said the 10-year deal would provide Microsoft's Bing search engine with the necessary scale to compete.
"Through this agreement with Yahoo, we will create more innovation in search, better value for advertisers, and real consumer choice in a market currently dominated by a single company," said Mr Ballmer. In return for ceding control of its search engine, Yahoo will get to keep 88% of the revenue from all search ad sales on its site for the first five years of the deal, and have the right to sell adverts on some Microsoft sites. Yahoo's search team, meanwhile, will have to brace itself for job losses over the next two years. Some staff will transfer to Microsoft, others can stay on with Yahoo, but redundancies would be unavoidable, Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz told the BBC. 'New era' Yahoo said the deal would benefit Yahoo's users and advertisers.
"This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo, our users, and the industry. And I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of internet innovation and development," said Ms Bartz. The deal became possible after Yahoo's co-founder Jerry Yang stepped down as chief executive of the company late last year. "Only a Yahoo outsider like Ms Bartz could do such a deal," said Tim Weber, business editor of the BBC News website. "She has no sentimental attachment to what was once the core of Yahoo, its search business. Microsoft was helped by the fact that at long last it managed to develop a search engine - Bing - that is a credible alternative to search giant Google." Yahoo said the deal would boost annual operating income by $500m and secure $200m in savings. The tie-up will give Microsoft and Yahoo a combined market share in the US search ad market of about 30%. Google would still be the dominant force with a share of about 65%. Negotiations The deal ends years of back-and-forth negotiations between the two companies. Microsoft originally offered to buy Yahoo in January 2008 - with an offer worth about $47.5bn. But Mr Ballmer later withdrew that bid after Yahoo's then boss, Mr Yang, demanded a higher price. Yahoo instead opted for an online advertising partnership with rival Google. But that tie-up was later abandoned because of the risk of a protracted battle with regulators over competition issues |
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Astronauts plan final spacewalk of Endeavour mission
Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn spent the final hours leading up to their task preparing their spacesuits and tools and reviewing procedures, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) officials said.
The final spacewalk is expected to run about six and a half hours.
During their fourth walk on Friday, Marshburn and Cassidy installed new batteries on one of the oldest of the four solar arrays that power the space station 350 kilometers (215 miles) above Earth.
The six newly fitted batteries "function as expected," the US space agency said, noting that the old batteries were stored on a cargo carrier that will be placed in Endeavour's cargo barrier later in the day.
On Wednesday, NASA had ordered spacewalking astronauts back into the space station 30 minutes early after a spacesuit was found to be working improperly.
Higher than normal carbon dioxide levels were found in Cassidy's spacesuit due to a problem with its lithium hydroxide canister, the US space agency said, adding he had not been in any danger.
The carbon dioxide removal unit continued to operate in manual mode Sunday.
Cassidy and his partner Dave Wolf managed to replace only two of the six batteries, so part of Friday's outing was to install the remaining four.
Each ISS battery measures 40 inches by 36 inches by 18 inches (101 centimeters by 90 centimeters by 45 centimeters), weighs 375 pounds (170 kilos) and is designed to last 6.5 years.
Endeavour took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on July 15 for a 16-day mission with a crew of six Americans and one Canadian to help complete construction of the ISS.
On the second Endeavour spacewalk July 19, the astronauts moved equipment from Endeavour onto the ISS and repaired a malfunctioning toilet on the orbiting station.
During a first spacewalk July 18, astronauts completed construction of the Japanese Kibo science lab during an outing that lasted five and a half hours.
The ISS should be completed in 2010, which also is the target date for the retirement of the US fleet of three space shuttles.
Endeavour is expected to land back on Earth on July 31. The launch of the next shuttle, Discovery, to the ISS is planned for August 18 at 4:25 am (0825 GMT).
Meanwhile, in yet another deft maneuver on Sunday, the space shuttle robotic arm grabbed the Japanese Exposed Section cargo carrier from the space station robotic arm, NASA reported.
Endeavour Commander Mark Polansky and Mission Specialist Julie Payette then used the shuttle arm to place the cargo carrier back into the shuttle payload bay.
The cargo carrier was launched with two science experiments and a communication system that were transferred to the Kibo Exposed Facility earlier in the mission