China - lowers growth goal, targets lower inflation

Published on Mar 5, 2012 by Euronews

http://www.euronews.net/ China has cut its economic growth target for this year to the lowest level in eight years -- 7.5 percent -- and Beijing said its top priority will be getting Chinese people to buy more.

The intention is to reduce the country's dependence on exports and foreign investment.

China's chief economic planner, Zhang Ping, said the long-term upward fundamentals for Chinese economic growth have not changed.

But the Director General of China's National Development and Reform Commission added that they have set the growth target at 7.5 percent, down from last year's 9.2 percent growth rate, because they want to "slow down economic growth a little bit" and better implement and speed up reforms.

The 7.5 percent target is down from the longstanding eight percent goal which China's economic growth has repeatedly exceeded.

It slowed only during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis and last year from the euro area debt crisis and a sluggish US economy. GDP was 10.4 percent in 2010.

Beijing also promised to address inflation, which remained stubbornly above the official four percent target every month last year. The annual rate for 2011 was 5.4 percent.

The chief planner said he was confident on prices, but he warned about influences such as rising labour and land costs.

USA - Rick Santorum: Money Won't Decide Election

Published on Mar 5, 2012 by AssociatedPress

Republican Presidential candidate Rick Santorum heavily criticized his chief rival, Mitt Romney, as well as President Obama, during a campaign stop in Miamisburg, Ohio. Ohio is one of the states holding a Super Tuesday primary tomorrow. (March 5)

Russian - Putin win boosts Russian stock markets

Published on Mar 5, 2012 by Euronews

http://www.euronews.net/ Shares prices rose on the Moscow stock exchanges on Monday as investors reacted to Vladimir Putin winning the presidential election in the first round which removes uncertainty.

However the gains were not big and analysts said investors were closely watching to see how anti-Putin protests develop and how he responds to them.

Among the shares that gained were energy giants Gazprom and Rosneft.

Stock markets remain near a seven-month high but there is much wariness ahead of the street protests that are symbolic of the emergence of a new wave of opposition in Russia.

The demonstrations are due to anger over widely-reported election fraud in last December's parliamentary vote and Putin's dominance of politics.

The rouble was virtually unchanged against the euro and the dollar on Monday.

Russia's currency continues to be supported by high oil prices, well above the average price that was factored into Russia's 2012 budget calculations.

Spain - Rajoy no cede a las exigencias de Bruselas

Uploaded by cyltelevision on Mar 5, 2012

http://www.rtvcyl.es/Noticias.aspx
El presidente del Gobierno mantiene en situar el objetivo de déficit para este año en el 5,8% por ser "lógico, rezonable y sensato".

Britain - David Cameron congratulates Tesco on massive job creation plans

Uploaded by telegraphtv on Mar 5, 2012

The Prime Minister visits a store in Leytonstone, east London, to meet
apprentices and staff after the company announced plans to create 20,000 new
jobs in the UK

Russia - opposition says Putin has no legitimacy / Россия - Оппозиция говорит, Путин не имеет легитимности

Published on Mar 5, 2012 by Euronews

http://www.euronews.net/ Russian opposition leaders said on Monday that allegations of fraud have undermined Putin's legitimacy.

Chess champion-turned-activist Garry Kasparov said that many Russians would not accept Putin as "a legitimate president".

"He's badly wounded, maybe even deadly wounded as a political leader and I have no doubt that he will not survive the next six years," he said.

A one-time Putin ally also turned on the election victor.

Mikhail Kasyanov served as prime minister during the former KGB man's first tenure as president.

As leader of the People's Democratic Union, he is calling on his old boss to announce early elections and make real democratic reforms.

"We understand what the constitution is about," Kasyanov said, referring to the limit on serving two successive terms in the Kremlin.

Europe - euronews I talk: International justice - is it working?

Published on Mar 5, 2012 by Euronews

 

http://www.euronews.net/ I-talk host Alex Taylor asks: "Since the Second World War, justice has become an international affair, war criminals are tried for crimes not only against their victims, but also for crimes against humanity. But are the cases that bring these criminals to justice effective? And are they really objective? Your questions today to Serge Brammertz, Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia who joins us from The Hague."

'Mr Brammertz, hello, thank you for joining us. So you are ready to respond to questions from viewers of euronews?"

Serge Brammertz: "Hello"

Alex Taylor: "First question on I-talk to Serge Brammertz."

"Hello, my name is Miriam. I'm from Belgium. Do you have the legal right to judge all criminals throughout the world? Who has the power to ask you to intervene?"

Serge Brammertz: "Yes the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has jurisdiction limited to the territories of the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The Tribunal was established in 1993 by the Security Council to prosecute and try those responsible for crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the territories of the former Yugoslavia."

Alex Taylor: "Who can ask you to intervene an individual, a State?"

Serge Brammertz: "No, actually, as this court is an offshoot of the Security Council, theoretically, there is an obligation for all UN member countries to cooperate with our Tribunal, but at the point of referral. It is the prosecutors office which opens the investigation and who decides which files go before the judges and which ones are transferred to national courts."

Alex Taylor: "Ok, the second question from Brussels to The Hague."

"Hello Mr. Brammertz. My name is Florence, I am Belgian and I live in Brussels. My question for you is this: Is the tribunal really independent since it is partly funded by NATO how do you prevent it from coming under pressure from NATO?


Alex Taylor: "Are you focusing too much on the interests of the West, there has been criticism in the past."

Serge Brammertz: "Well, it is certainly not correct to say that we are funded by NATO. We are a creation of the Security Council, so it's the UN budget that funds the Tribunal, a budget which is discussed and decided every two years. Can it be objective in its work? Certainly.You know, we have lawyers, judges, investigators, analysts from 65 countries and all or mostly all come from the courts and national authorities and they are professionals who work independently and impartially."

Alex Taylor: "Who do you nominate for example?"

Serge Brammertz: "The attorney is appointed by the Security Council on the proposal of UN Secretary-General."

Alex Taylor: "Ok a third question for Serge Brammertz at the Hague."

"Hello, my name is Laurie and I am French. I want to know if the Tribunal could judge the U.S.military for crimes they have committed in Afghanistan,in Iraq, or widen your brief to include for instance, President Bush who decided to invade countries without the backing of strong evidence?"

Alex Taylor: "It's question not unlike the first two."

Serge Brammertz: "Yes, as I said at the beginning, in fact, the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has a very limited jurisdiction, namely in relation to crimes committed on the territories of the countries of the former Yugoslavia. In The Hague there is also the International Criminal Court, a permanent court that obviously has a much broader jurisdiction and is responsible for crimes committed in the territories of countries that have ratified the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, or which are responsible for the records that were transferred, referred by the Security Council to this international court. That has been the case notably for Sudan and Libya."

Alex Taylor: "Another question now. Do you believe that Croatia has done enough in solving crimes committed to Serbian People?"

Serge Brammertz:"Well, I would say generally that it is very important that in the coming years, both in Croatia but also in Serbia and Bosnia, more investigations are conducted at national level. I'd say it's the challenge for the coming years. There are hundreds or thousands of files waiting to be investigated and prosecuted and it will be the biggest challenge and this applies particularly to crimes committed in Croatia and of course also includes crimes committed against Serbs, whether in Croatia or in other countries."

Alex Taylor: "But the Serbs clearly feel that these trials are always against them."

Una aplicación que bloquea el móvil mientras conduces

Uploaded by cyltelevision on Mar 5, 2012

 

http://www.rtvcyl.es/Noticias.aspx | Por mucho empeño que pongamos para mantener la atención al volante, el ser humano no es infalible. Puede ceder a la tentación de distraerse por ejemplo contestando a su teléfono móvil. Una nueva aplicación hace que el propio terminal nos impida utilizarle cuando circulemos a más de 25 kilómetros por hora.

Somos conscientes de sus riesgos, pero puede ser difícil resistirse a contestar al móvil y muchas veces lo hacemos con un resultado funesto.

Una compañía estadounidense ha decididio fortalecer la máquina. Ha desarrollado Securaphone, una aplicación para móviles encaminada a combatir las distracciones al volante, que también sirve de ayuda a los servicios de emergencia para localizar un posible problema en carretera.

Se activa automáticamente cuando el teléfono detecta un desplazamiento a una velocidad superior a 25 kilómetros por hora. Entonces bloquea las funciones del móvil de respuesta a llamadas y de escritura de mensajes o correos electrónicos.

Así se espera que los conductores estén más seguros en el coche, e incluso sus padres. También incluye una opción para que los progenitores controlen a qué velocidad llevan sus hijos el coche. Si excede cierto límite marcado por ellos, reciben un mensaje de texto en sus teléfonos.