China Nearly Doubles Security Budget for Xinjiang

By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — The government of the vast western region of Xinjiang, which last July was rocked by China’s deadliest ethnic violence in decades, is almost doubling its security budget this year compared with 2009, according to a report on Wednesday in China Daily, an official English-language newspaper.

The move is an indication of how deeply worried Chinese officials are that members of the Uighur and Han ethnic groups could clash again in the cities and desert oasis towns of the oil-rich region, and of the extraordinary measures the officials are taking to clamp down on the area.

The Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking, primarily Muslim people who often say the ethnic Han, who make up the majority of China’s population, discriminate against them. The Uighurs are the largest ethnic group in Xinjiang but are concerned by the displacement of their culture as growing numbers of Han migrants settle in the area.

At least 197 people were killed and more than 1,700 injured, most of them Han, when Uighurs rampaged through parts of the regional capital of Urumqi on July 5, Chinese officials say. Han vigilantes sought revenge over the next few days. The Uighurs had rioted partly in reaction to government handling of an earlier ethnic brawl in southeast China.

This year, the regional government will spend $423 million on public security, up 88 percent over last year, China Daily reported, citing a budget proposal released Tuesday during an annual official conference.

“The government decided to increase the spending on public security this year to enhance social stability in Xinjiang,” said Wan Haichuan, director of the region’s finance department.

Speaking at the conference, Nur Bekri, chairman of the regional government, repeated the official assertion that the “three forces” of terrorism, separatism and religious extremism were responsible for the rioting. He added that the authorities foiled other “organized plots” after the July 5 violence in Urumqi, China Daily reported.

In the aftermath of the rioting, the Chinese government sent units of the People’s Armed Police, a paramilitary force, into cities and towns across Xinjiang and bolstered the presence of regular uniformed police officers. But the rioting had deeply shaken the faith of many Chinese in the abilities of the security forces. Han residents of Urumqi in particular criticized the police for not reacting quickly and forcefully to the outbreak of violence, and later called for the resignation of Wang Lequan, the senior Communist Party official in Xinjiang.

The announcement this week of the expanded security budget could help restore confidence among Han residents but could also raise fears among some Uighurs. Uighur families in Urumqi have said that security forces detained hundreds of Uighur men in the days and weeks after the rioting, and nearly two dozen prisoners have received death sentences, some of which have been suspended.

The government also blocked access to the wider Internet and text messaging for most residents of Xinjiang and set up internal Web sites heavy on political propaganda. The government began relaxing the blocks late last month, but residents still cannot freely access the Internet.

Source: New York Times.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/world/asia/14xinjiang.html.

Parliament divided over Uighur situation

There are continuing divisions this morning in parliament over whether Switzerland should take in two Guantanamo detainees, minority Uighurs from China.

Two parliamentary committees have issued opposing appeals to influence the cabinet on the matter.

Members of parliament’s committee on human rights published a letter earlier this week, urging the federal cabinet to stick to their decision to house the two men. They also criticize China for what they describe as a ‘campaign to denigrate’ the Guantanamo detainees.

But yesterday, following the publication of the letter, the country’s political institutions committee called on the cabinet to reject the Uighurs, saying they would pose a threat to national security and relations with China.

Anne Seydoux is a Christian Democrat MP and a member of the human rights committee. She says she hopes the cabinet will stay the course and honor its commitment to the U.S. government.

Whatever the divisions in parliament, the final decision rests with the Cabinet.

— Catherine Allen, World Radio Switzerland

Source: World Radio Switzerland.
Link: http://worldradio.ch/wrs/news/wrsnews/parliament-divided-over-guantanamo-detainees.shtml?17462.

Arthur and the astronauts: New PC games for January

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Berlin - Clanking armor and clashing swords are standard elements of computer and video games. Two new releases in January are taking a different path, though. Vancouver 2010 offers the chance to rake in the gold medals in various Winter Olympics disciplines, even before the real Games get started. Airport Tower Simulator puts players into a flight controller's shoes. Yet there's still plenty of clanking and clashing, including in the strategic role-playing mix King Arthur. A sequel to the successful space adventure game Mass Effect is also expected.

Mass Effect 2 seems likely to be among the most important titles at the start of the new year. After all, gamemaker Bioware has traditionally been considered among the best developers in the role-playing game genre. It most recently re-established its pedigree this past autumn with Dragon Age: Origins.

Like its predecessor, Mass Effect 2 draws its inspiration from sources beyond the medieval fancy of most role-playing games. The plot takes place in space, with a variety of dialogues, a well-developed story and plenty of action. The storyline picks up two years after the events of the previous installment.

As might be expected in a game of this type, the protagonist Commander Shepard has to save not just the planet, but the entire universe from a new threat. He's not alone on his quest. Various astronauts and other space travelers join him and his ship as they travel through the vacuum. Veterans can import their characters and statuses from the first part to continue the story directly. Mass Effect 2 is expected on January 28 from Electronic Arts for around 55 dollars.

King Arthur is a familiar figure in books and films. He's popular in games too, with Ubisoft's new Kind Arthur due in stores in January. The gamer slips into the role of king and must unite the provinces of Britain. At first glance the basic structure resembles that of the Total War titles: a 3D map is used to plan actions, while fights and skirmishes are then conducted in a real-time mode.

The similarities end there, though. King Arthur is intended as more of a mix of a strategy and a role-playing game. The king's decisions impact his standing among the people - which in turn impacts how the game unfolds. King Arthur is expected in January for around 50 dollars.

Sega's Vancouver 2010 brings with it an entirely different kind of competition. Players can try their hand at a series of Winter Olympics disciplines, with 14 different gold medals up for grabs. That includes the giant slalom, downhill, bob and snowboard cross. Vancouver 2010 will hit the stores in January, well before the torch hits Vancouver, and is expected to cost around 45 dollars.

Rondomedia is hoping that 2010 brings a continuation of one of the most unusual success stories in recent computer gaming history: a plethora of simulations that also found a plethora of buyers. Previous games tackled subjects ranging from farming equipment to bus simulators, and beyond. This time the developers opted for a lofty perch, namely the air traffic controller's seat.

The task in ATC - Airport Tower Simulator is guiding incoming airplanes to a safe landing. It sounds easy, but things can get harried in a hurry, especially at higher degrees of difficulty. Airplanes don't usually have the airspace all to themselves. At times up to a half-dozen jets may be flying in at once.

Fuel supplies must be tracked, as must the flight speed and spacing between the machines. The air traffic controller can work with any of twelve airports for international metropolises - including Berlin, London and New York. It's ultimately the exact opposite of most video games: the 20 dollar game encourages you to try your best to keep anything from clanking and clashing.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302905,arthur-and-the-astronauts-new-pc-games-for-january.html.

Computer and internet briefs 10 January 2010

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Washington - New tabs in Internet Explorer take you to a blank, useless page by default. You can change that behavior, though, by opening the Tools menu and clicking Options. From the Options dialog box, click the Settings button in the Tab section. Finally, from the "When a new tab is opened" drop-down list box, select the type of page that should be displayed when you open a new tab.

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Washington - You can pay a lot of money for image browsing and cataloging applications. Or you can download the free IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com). This tool, now at version 4.25, has been around for years and has garnered a solid reputation among photo enthusiasts. Among its many features are multiple thumbnail and preview options, support for RAW camera formats, as well as email and batch conversion options.

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Washington - Firefox users have an advantage when it comes to reading webpages in foreign languages, thanks to the BabelFish plugin (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/add-on/7004). BabelFish provides instant access to two translation services, enabling users to get almost instantaneous translations of webpages in languages they do not know. The plugin is free.

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Washington - Want control over open Windows applications with your keyboard? The Alt-Spacebar key combination is one of the least used but handiest ways to access a program's control menu, from which you can minimize, maximize, resize, close, or move an application without ever touching the mouse. Get used to this shortcut and you'll find that it's far faster than performing the same actions with the desktop rodent.

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Washington - What's the difference between a directory and a folder in Windows? Nothing! Both terms are used synonymously to describe a location on your hard drive in which files are stored. In the old days of the command-line DOS, the term "directory" was used exclusively. When Windows came along, the word "folder" was introduced, with the idea that the concept of a file folder as a place where documents was stored was easier for new computer users to grasp.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302906,computer-and-internet-briefs-10-january-2010.html.

Detroit prepares for annual auto extravaganza

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Washington - The US car industry was putting the finishing touches Sunday on the continent's premier annual auto show, hoping to put behind it a rough 2009 and promising smaller, greener and competitive models for the coming year. More than 5,000 journalists were headed to Detroit for the two-day press preview, starting Monday, of the North American International Auto Show. Global carmakers will present 700 models they hope will tempt US consumers back into the market after a deep, two-year economic recession that brought the industry to its knees.

About 700,000 visitors are expected from January 16-24, when the Detroit auto show opens to the public, but attracting new buyers in 2010 will still be a hard sell.

The "Detroit Three" of General Motors, Chrysler and Ford are racing to adjust to the harsh reality of a shrinking and transforming market. All three will be touting some smaller cars more in keeping with the lean economic times.

GM brand Chevrolet will unveil new versions of its Cruze and Aveo, while Ford will highlight its popular European model Fiesta, which will go on sale in the United States over the summer. It is also releasing a new Taurus.

Asian makers like Toyota, Honda and Nissan shifted to smaller models earlier, and now rival the US giants for sales on their home turf.

But Toyota, the world's largest carmaker, is also hoping for a rebound in 2010 after posting its first annual loss in history in 2008 and suffering a similar fate in 2009. The company that has cornered the hybrid market with its Prius will launch a new hybrid concept car at the Detroit show.

Like last year, the auto show will be scaled back from its traditional extravagance amid the still-sputtering US economy. There will be fewer glitzy unveilings - no fashion shows like those held during Detroit's prime.

The US car market was in the doldrums for most of 2009. Vehicle sales dropped more than 20 per cent to about 10 million as the country battled through its worst recession in generations. Sales averaged about 16 million vehicles for the rest of the decade.

GM and Chrysler went through bankruptcies in 2009 and emerged with the help of billions of dollars in emergency government loans.

GM left bankruptcy majority-owned by President Barack Obama's government. Its exhibit at the auto show will be without some major brands that have been shed over the last year: Pontiac, Hummer, Saturn and Sweden's Saab.

GM is refocusing on four core brands: Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick. Chief executive Ed Whitacre, who took on the job in December, said this week he believes the company can become profitable in 2010.

GM's smaller rival, Chrysler, emerged from bankruptcy largely controlled by Italian maker Fiat. Its new CEO Sergio Marchionne will also be highlighting smaller models like the Fiat 500 that he plans to sell on the US market in coming years, as well as an electric car.

Unlike GM and Chrysler, Ford avoided government bail-outs in 2009 and has already started to see a turnaround. The company saw sales jump more than 30 per cent in December compared to the same month in 2008.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302909,detroit-prepares-for-annual-auto-extravaganza.html.

US cold wave sprinkles rare snow on Florida

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Washington - The frigid air mass holding much of North America hostage put Florida in a deep freeze early Sunday after sprinkling a rare phenomenon on the sunshine state of Florida: snow. The state was bracing for temperatures of minus-10 to minus-4 degrees Celsius through Sunday morning as orange and strawberry growers fought to save their crops.

Large flakes of snow fell over the southern state, traditionally the refuge for sun lovers fleeing the grey winter of more northerly states.

"This is very unusual," a spokesman for the National Weather Service said.

Bismarck, North Dakota, was the coldest spot, with temperatures dipping to minus 30 degrees.

Icy wind gusts and drifting snow have brought chaos to the roads across the Mid-west and North-east. In Tennessee, several people froze to death in unheated homes. Homeless shelters were packed to the brim in Alabama.

On the East Coast in Maryland, dozens of brown pelicans who failed to join the flock flying south in the autumn were rescued from freezing cold. Their frost-bitten feet were bathed in warm water, The Washington Post reported.

Manatees, the large marine mammals in the inland waterways of the south, gathered near water outlets kept purposely warm by wildlife officials, CNN reported. Sea turtles were brought into marine sanctuaries.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302911,us-cold-wave-sprinkles-rare-snow-on-florida.html.

Croats vote in presidential run-off poll

Sun, 10 Jan 2010

Zagreb - Croats began casting ballots Sunday in a presidential run-off poll pitting the opposition Social Democratic Party's Ivo Josipovic against the independent Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandic. Last-minute opinion polls predicted an easy win for Josipovic, giving him between 56-69 per cent support. His rival has just 31-40 per cent.

Josipovic, 52, won the first-round vote two weeks ago, collecting more than 30 per cent and twice as many votes as Bandic, 54. However, he did not gain the necessary threshold of 50 per cent of the votes to win outright without a run-off.

The December 27 vote was marked by voter apathy, with only 44 per cent of the 4.5 million voters casting ballots.

Ruling Croatian Democratic Union's candidate, Andrija Hebrang, received a humiliating 12-per cent in the first round.

Josipovic, who is seen as a safe pair of hands but a dull and dry politician, and Bandic, colorful but perceived by many as corrupt and inadequately-educated, did little to stir interest for the elections.

The Social-Democrat Josipovic promises to wage war on the booming corruption and fight for a "new justice."

Bandic, thrown out of the SPD for deciding to run against Josipovic, fought on an array of populist slogans addressing all ends of the political spectrum, though mostly playing on the nationalist sentiment.

The polling stations will close at 1900 (1800 GMT) and first official results are due a few hours later.

Croatian election results are often delayed because 400,000 of the registered voters live abroad, mostly in the neighboring Bosnia, and the counting of those ballots takes additional time.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/302912,croats-vote-in-presidential-run-off-poll.html.