Russia set to move closer to decriminalize domestic violence

January 22, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — In Russia, giving one's spouse a slap is nothing extraordinary for many people. This week, the Russian parliament is expected to take a step closer toward decriminalizing it altogether. Battery is a criminal offense in Russia, but nearly 20 percent of Russians openly say they think it is sometimes OK to hit a spouse or a child. In a bid to accommodate conservative voters, deputies in the lower house of parliament have given initial approval to a bill eliminating criminal liability for domestic violence that stops short of serious bodily harm or rape.

If the measure passes its second reading in the Duma on Wednesday, when the draft can be changed, approval in the third and final reading would be a foregone conclusion. From the Duma, it would proceed to the upper house, largely a rubber-stamp body, and then to President Vladimir Putin's desk.

Data on domestic violence in Russia are obscure, but Interior Ministry statistics show that 40 percent of all violent crimes in Russia are committed in family surroundings. In 2013, more than 9,000 women were reported to have been killed in incidents of domestic violence.

The bill stems from a Supreme Court ruling last summer to decriminalize battery that doesn't inflict bodily harm, but to retain criminal charges for those accused of battery against family members. Conservative activists objected, saying the ruling meant a parent spanking a child could be punished more harshly than a non-relative striking the child.

Ultra-conservative lawmaker Yelena Mizulina, who also authored Russia's "gay propaganda" ban, then introduced the bill to decriminalize domestic violence. It initially was shelved after a disapproving review from the government.

Tables turned at the end of the year when a journalist from a conservative publication pressed Putin about it at his annual news conference. "If the father spanks his child for a good reason as a means of education, a traditional Russian one, he will be sentenced to two years in prison — and if a neighbor does this, he will get away with a fine!" the journalist told Putin.

Putin replied that "it's better not to spank children and refer to some traditions," but then said, "We should not go overboard with it (punishment for battery). It's not good, it harms families." The bill would make battery on a family member punishable by a fine of less than 30,000 rubles ($500) or a 15-day arrest.

The Moscow-based Anna Center foundation, which runs Russia's only domestic violence hotline, received more than 5,000 calls last year. The foundation says many more calls that go unanswered since the line operates only between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m.

The Duma bill "is not going to improve the situation to say the least," said Irina Matvienko, who runs the hotline. "Domestic violence is a system which makes it difficult for a woman to seek help," she said. "It's not a traditional value. It's a crime. "

Calls to the Anna Center hotline show that a lot of Russian women initially don't even realize that domestic violence is an offense, Matvienko says. A survey this month by state-run pollster VTsIOM showed that 19 percent of Russians say "it can be acceptable" to hit one's wife, husband or child "in certain circumstances." The nationwide poll by phone of 1,800 people was held Jan. 13-15. The survey had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

Russian police are notoriously reluctant to react to domestic violence calls, which many regard as meddling in family affairs. Prosecutors in November began investigating a police officer who took a call from a woman complaining about her boyfriend's aggressive behavior. Instead of offering help, the officer reportedly told the woman that the police would only come if she got killed. Shortly thereafter, the man beat the woman to death, prosecutors say.

Activist Alyona Popova, whose online petition against the bill has attracted more than 180,000 signatures, sees the efforts to decriminalize domestic violence as a continuation of the Kremlin's increasingly aggressive policies after several repressive laws targeting various groups, from foreign-funded NGOs to gay people.

"I think it's part of an overall ideology: aggression and violence are on the rise in society in general since war is everywhere and we're surrounded by enemies," Popova said, referring to the state media narrative that portrays Russia as a besieged fortress.

Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland earlier this week sent a letter to the speakers of both houses of Russia's parliament, expressing deep concern at the legislation. Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin dismissed the letter as an "unacceptable" attempt to influence parliament.

Olga Batalina, one of the bill's co-authors, said in the Duma last week that the penalty for battery should be lenient for acts of violence "committed in an emotional conflict, without malice, without grave consequences."

"Battery doesn't even involve grave bodily harm. We're only talking about bruises, scratches, which is bad, too, of course," Batalina said. The comment rattled some lawmakers. "Has anyone tried going around with a bruise for a week?" deputy Oleg Nilov asked Batalina at the hearing. "Does anyone think it's OK?"

There haven't been any significant protests against the bill so far. Activist Popova is not surprised: discussing domestic violence still is taboo in Russia. "Society is judgmental," she said. "It goes like this: you're a bad woman if you allow this to happen to you, or you're airing dirty laundry and you're to blame, or it's he beats you it means he loves you. And a lot of people don't want to go public about it."

Champagne corks pop in Moscow at Trump's inauguration

January 20, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — Champagne corks popped Friday in Moscow as Russians celebrated the start of Donald Trump's presidency, confident of better relations ahead between the two countries. "It's weird, but it's great, and for the first time ever Russians are applauding the victory of a U.S. presidential candidate," political analyst Stanislav Byshok said.

Trump's promises to fix ravaged relations with Moscow have elated Russia's political elite following spiraling tensions with Washington over the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

"We are ready to do our share of the work in order to improve the relationship," Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Facebook. About 100 Trump sympathizers, nationalists and spin doctors gathered at a trendy loft just a few hundred meters away from the Kremlin to celebrate Friday, with a triptych of Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French nationalist politician Marine Le Pen in the center of the hall.

An hour before Trump took the stage in Washington, the sound of opening champagne bottles echoed in the vaulted hall. The party was co-sponsored by the conservative Tsargrad TV channel, which is led by ultra-right ideologue Alexander Dugin.

"Yes, it's a holiday," said a beaming Dmitry Rode, a communications executive with a glass of champagne in his hand. "We all hope that relations between our countries and more importantly between our peoples will help to develop our economies. We're neighbors, we're just 50 kilometers (30 miles) away from each other."

Some party-goers wore Guy Fawkes masks, associated with hackers, in a sly reference to charges that Russia interfered in the U.S. election. "I'm happy for all Russian hackers," said 27-year-old IT professional Filip Nikolsky, who wore a sweatshirt with the "You've Been Hacked" slogan.

He said he doesn't know if the hacking allegations are true but "if it's true, why shouldn't we be happy?" Still, the mood at the party in downtown Moscow was subdued compared to outbursts of joy at the news of Trump's victory in November.

Revelers on Friday watched Trump make his inauguration speech in silence, and no one stood up for the American anthem, although the host suggested that all Americans should do so. At another Moscow nightclub, several dozen people began toasting Trump late Thursday.

Willi Tokarev, 82, a singer who emigrated to the U.S. in the mid-1970s and later became a music legend in Russia, topped the entertainment bill with his song "Trumplissimo America!" Trump's praise for Putin has raised expectations that he could move to normalize ties, although Trump hasn't articulated a clear policy and some of his Cabinet nominees have made hawkish statements on Russia.

Leonid Slutsky, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of parliament, expressed hope that Trump will move to establish constructive ties with Moscow, but cautioned there is no "magic button" to instantly achieve that.

"We expect a slow but steady revival of our relations," he said. Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, predicted that Moscow will face a pragmatic but very tough partner in Trump. "Russia's potential is incomparable to that of the United States," he said, adding that Moscow will have to apply a lot of skills "to play from the position of weakness and not lose."

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov voiced hope that Trump will work with Putin on solving the Ukrainian crisis and other problems, but warned against expectations of quick progress.

"Difficulties will remain," he said.

Angela Charlton in Davos, Switzerland contributed to this report.

India state polls test Modi popularity after currency chaos

February 04, 2017

NEW DELHI (AP) — Nearly three years ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a sweeping national election victory with promises to develop the economy and root out corruption. But with a series of key state elections beginning Saturday, Modi's popularity — and his surprise currency decree that sparked months of financial uproar — is about to be tested.

India is just emerging from the fallout of the November decision, which withdrew India's two-largest currency notes from circulation and caused weeks of chaos as people waited to get their money back in new bills.

Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party hailed the move as a way to curb tax fraud and corruption and push India toward more digital spending. Opponents say it was a self-inflicted blow on the world's fastest growing economy, causing enormous hardship for the vast majority of Indians, who rely often completely on cash.

While the five state elections will not decide whether Modi remains in office, a loss would be seen as a serious blow to his political image. Most important is northern Uttar Pradesh state, whose immense population of 204 million people means state elections often help shape the national political agenda.

"In these elections, Uttar Pradesh is the real biggie," said Ajoy Bose, a political analyst in New Delhi. "If the BJP were to lose in Uttar Pradesh, it would be a huge setback, both for the party and for Modi. It would destroy the myth of Modi, who has been projected as this political juggernaut of invincible proportions," Bose said.

The elections begin Saturday in the northern state of Punjab and the beach resort state of Goa. The Himalayan state of Uttarakhand votes on Feb. 15, and remote northeastern Manipur votes on March 4 and 8.

Elections in northern Uttar Pradesh begin on Feb. 11, but because of the state's size, voting is divided into seven phases. Results from all the elections will be declared on March 11. In 2014, the BJP had won an overwhelming 71 out of 80 parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh, or 15 percent of all national legislators in the powerful lower house, ensuring that it emerged as the single largest party in Parliament.

But Modi now faces a tough fight in Uttar Pradesh, with the state's current top official, Akhilesh Yadav, in a political alliance with the Congress Party led by Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family that ruled India for decades. While the Congress Party is a shadow of its former self, it remains the country's second most popular. The alliance is seen as a way to boost the chances of Yadav's Samajwadi Party while the Congress tries to remain relevant in a politically key state.

All those candidates must also face Mayawati, a former chief minister of the state and a master of caste-based politics. Mayawati, who uses only one name, is a Dalit, the name given to the lowest rung of India's caste hierarchy. She commands strong support among the state's Dalits, who form more than one-fifth of the population.

Uttar Pradesh voters are divided over the currency withdrawal, analysts say. "People in rural areas of the state saw the currency withdrawal as an equalizer, where the rich and the poor were hit by the same shortage of currency notes," said Nomita P. Kumar, an economist at the Giri Institute of Development Studies, a think tank in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh's capital. "Poor people were happy that, for once, the rich were in the same boat as themselves. They think it was a smart move by Modi to curb corruption."

Not so in Punjab, where the ruling coalition of the BJP and the regional Shiromani Akali Dal party face the twin challenges of a strong anti-incumbency sentiment and a palpable anger against the chaos unleashed by the currency withdrawal. Voters appeared to hold Modi responsible for the economic disruption that followed the abrupt removal of currency.

"The people's anger is directed against Modi and this will be reflected in the way they vote," said Bose, who returned Tuesday from a trip through that state. The BJP-led coalition also faces a strong challenge from the upstart Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man Party, which has tapped into the voters' disappointment with the state government.

In Goa, the ruling BJP was beset with divisions among its political allies, while the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress were also putting up a strong fight. Modi's performance in the current state-level elections is also likely to determine his political strategy in the run-up to the next national elections due in 2019, when he is hoping to wrest a second term in office, analysts said.

"This makes the outcome so important. It could be a make-or-break election for Modi," said Bose. The state elections are also significant for their power to help elect a new president. While the Indian presidency is largely ceremonial, it is a very high profile position and the president can wield significant power in times of political crisis.

The current president is Pranab Mukherjee, a Congress Party stalwart, whose term ends in July. Presidents are elected by a combination of national and state lawmakers. For Modi to bring in his own president, he needs to win Uttar Pradesh and at least one other state.

China to develop prototype super, super computer in 2017

Beijing (AFP)
Jan 17, 2017

China plans to develop a prototype exascale computer by the end of the year, state media said Tuesday, as it seeks to win a global race to be the first to build a machine capable of a billion, billion calculations per second.

If successful, the achievement would cement its place as a leading power in the world of supercomputing.

The Asian giant built the world's fastest supercomputer, the Sunway TaihuLight machine, in June last year, which was twice as fast as the previous number one.

It used only locally made microchips, making it the first time a country has taken the top spot without using US technology.

Exascale computers are even more powerful, and can execute at least one quintillion (a billion billion) calculations per second.

Though a prototype was in the pipeline, a complete version of such a machine would take a few more years to complete, Xinhua news agency cited Zhang Ting, application engineer at the National Supercomputer Center in the port city of Tianjin, as saying.

"A complete computing system of the exascale supercomputer and its applications can only be expected in 2020, and will be 200 times more powerful than the country's first petaflop computer Tianhe-1, recognized as the world's fastest in 2010," said Zhang.

The exascale computer could have applications in big data and cloud computing work, he added, noting that its prototype would lead the world in data transmission efficiency as well as calculation speed.

As of last June, China for the first time had more top-ranked supercomputers than the US, with 167 compared to 165, according to a survey by supercomputer tracking website Top500.org.

Of the top 10 fastest computers, two are in China and five in the US as of November, the ranking said. Others are in Japan and Switzerland.

China has poured money into big-ticket science and technology projects as it seeks to become a high-tech leader.

But despite some gains the country's scientific output still lags behind, and its universities generally fare poorly in global rankings.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/China_to_develop_prototype_super_super_computer_in_2017_999.html.

China Communist party expels former spymaster

Beijing (AFP)
Dec 30, 2016

China's ruling Communist Party has expelled the former deputy chief of the country's top intelligence agency, it said Friday, the latest high-ranking figure to face prosecution in a much-publicized corruption crackdown.

Ma Jian, former deputy head of China's ministry of state security, was suspected of taking bribes and abusing power, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) -- the party's internal watchdog -- said in a statement on its website.

He "seriously violated political discipline and the code of conduct, confronted an organisational probe, as well as transferred and hid money and property related to his case", it said.

Ma was first put under investigation for "serious disciplinary violations" -- standard code for graft -- in January 2015.

His case is being transferred to the judiciary, the CCDI statement said, where he will almost certainly be prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to prison.

The announcement is part of the ongoing corruption crackdown announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping after coming to power in 2012.

Since that time, the drive has punished more than one million members of the ruling party, from lowly "flies" to powerful "tigers" like Ma and his former boss domestic security czar Zhou Yongkang, although critics liken it to a factional purge.

The campaign has gained "crushing momentum", the CCDI said Wednesday in a statement on its website that looked back at the office's annual achievements.

Moving forward, it will seek to "purge the Party's political ecosystem", it added, suggesting it could intensify its efforts.

It has already swept through the ranks of the party, which has 88 million members.

This week alone, Chinese official media have reported the convictions of a vice-chair of the national legislature and a provincial vice-governor, the trial of a senior provincial official, the indictment of a deputy head of the Taiwan affairs office and a second vice-governor, and a probe into a senior general.

Ma's case is linked to other top officials who were thought to pose a threat to Xi, who last month lashed out at what he described as "political conspiracies" against him.

Earlier this month, Ling Jihua, the brother of a senior aide to former Chinese President Hu Jintao, was sentenced to more than a decade in prison and fined 1.5 million yuan ($215,000) for accepting bribes.

Ma is "closely linked" to Ling, according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.

Another brother, Ling Wancheng, has fled to the US, where he is reported to have shared Chinese state secrets with Washington.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/China_Communist_party_expels_former_spymaster_999.html.

China to build $1.5 billion power line across Pakistan

Islamabad (AFP)
Dec 30, 2016

China's State Grid Corporation is set to build a $1.5-billion power line across Pakistan to enable the transmission of 4,000 megawatts of electricity from the country's north to south, the government said Friday.

Pakistani and Chinese officials signed an investment agreement in Beijing on Thursday to build the country's first high-voltage, direct current (HVDC) line, according to a government statement.

The power transmission line would link the national grid between the southern Pakistani town of Matiari and easternmost city of Lahore, some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) apart.

Pakistan has been struggling to provide enough power to its nearly 200 million citizens for years, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has vowed to solve the crisis by 2018.

Sharif inaugurated Pakistan's fourth nuclear power plant on Wednesday, a joint collaboration with China that adds 340 megawatts to the national grid as part of the government's efforts to end a growth-sapping energy deficit.

The energy sector has traditionally struggled to cover the cost of producing electricity, leading the government to divert $2 billion annually as a subsidy, according to a recent report commissioned by the British government.

China is ramping up investment in its South Asian neighbor as part of a $46-billion project unveiled last year that will link its far-western Xinjiang region to Pakistan's Gwadar port with a series of infrastructure, power and transport upgrades.

Last week Pakistan's main bourse announced that a Chinese consortium was set to acquire a 40 percent stake in the stock exchange in a deal estimated at $84 million.

Shanghai Electric announced in August it would buy a majority stake in the utility that supplies energy to Karachi for $1.7 billion, in the country's biggest ever private-sector acquisition.

Source: Energy-Daily.
Link: http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/China_to_build_15_billion_power_line_across_Pakistan_999.html.

China resumes ties with Sao Tome in triumph over Taiwan

December 26, 2016

BEIJING (AP) — China and Sao Tome and Principe officially resumed diplomatic relations Monday in a triumph for Beijing over rival Taiwan after the African island nation abruptly broke away from the self-ruled island last week.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterpart from Sao Tome, Urbino Botelho, signed books at a ceremony in front of their flags at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. Wang said the re-establishment of relations would bring benefits to both countries and they would hold exchanges in tourism, the media and other areas.

The move is a victory for Beijing, which considers the self-governing island of Taiwan a part of China's territory and has been outraged by suggestions by President-elect Donald Trump that he could rethink U.S. policy that acknowledges this. Beijing and Taipei have competed for allies for much of the nearly seven decades since the end of China's civil war in 1949, when the defeated Nationalist government fled across the Taiwan Strait.

Most of the world does not formally recognize Taiwan as a condition of maintaining relations with China. Sao Tome and Taiwan broke ties last week, leaving 21 countries and governments, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean, that have official ties with Taiwan. Taiwanese Foreign Minister David Lee last week accused Sao Tome of demanding "an astronomical amount of financial help," though he did not say how much.

Sao Tome and Principe is an island nation off the coast of west-central Africa with a population of almost 200,000. The impoverished former Portuguese colony relies heavily on foreign aid. Beijing suspended its relationship with Sao Tome in 1997 after the island nation established diplomatic ties with Taiwan.

In re-establishing relations with Beijing, Botelho said Monday, "We want to redeem our mistakes in the past." He said he hoped that more Chinese businesses would invest in his country and more Chinese tourists would visit.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry in a statement expressed its "strong disappointment and regret that Sao Tome has been confused by the diplomatic money campaign of mainland China and ignored the years of our great contributions to the health and wellbeing of the people of Sao Tome."

As its economic, military and political clout has grown, China has become more successful in pulling away governments in a bid to diplomatically isolate Taiwan, though some countries, including the United States, maintain strong unofficial ties with Taipei.

Relations have worsened between Beijing and Taipei since independence-leaning Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was elected in January. In March, China established formal diplomatic ties with the small African nation of Gambia, which had severed relations with Taiwan in 2013. That was seen as a move toward abandoning the unspoken diplomatic truce between the sides that lasted eight years under Tsai's China-friendly predecessor.

Beijing suspended contact with the main Taiwan liaison body in June, blaming Tsai's refusal to endorse the concept of a single Chinese nation. While just a few countries and governments still have official ties with Taiwan, Beijing is eager to play up its latest addition after Trump suggested he might not adhere to the policy that recognizes only one China unless the U.S. gains trade or other benefits, analysts say.

Wang Dong, a professor of international relations at Peking University, said Monday's re-establishment of diplomatic ties was a warning to Taiwan that Beijing has "a lot of counter-measures" up its sleeve should they pursue independence, as well as a warning to the United States.

"The U.S. won't gain anything if they play with the one-China policy," he said. "It is also a warning to those in the U.S. who tolerate and support the Taiwanese independence forces."

Associated Press researcher Yu Bing contributed to this report.