Israeli MPs pass referendum bill

The Israeli parliament has passed the first reading of a bill requiring a referendum to approve a pullout from annexed east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

At least 31 members of parliament were absent from the voting on Wednesday, 68 were in favor of the bill, 22 were against and one abstained.

The bill requires that any peace agreement reached between the Israeli government which entails an Israeli withdrawal from annexed territories must first be approved by a 61-MP majority in the 120-member parliament.

The passing of the first reading of the bill is seen as a boost to those opposing Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Golan Heights under a future peace deal with Syria.

The bill concerns the strategic Golan plateau and east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed, in moves not recognized by the international community.

Syria has repeatedly demanded a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan in exchange for peace and the Palestinians want to make east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.

Yariv Levin, a supporter of bill and a member of the Likud party, rejected criticism that the bill sought to impede peace.

"It is only appropriate that fateful and significant questions such as the country's borders should be voted by the widest possible majority and not only in Knesset," he told AFP.

The government-backed bill needs to pass two additional readings before becoming a law.

If approved in parliament, the agreement will have to be put to a national referendum within 80 days.

Jordan's King appoints new PM

Jordan's King Abdullah has named a new prime minister after the monarch dissolved the country's parliament last month.

Samir Rifai, a former royal cabinet minister, will form a new cabinet to push forward economic reforms before parliamentary elections next year, officials said.

Wednesday's appointment comes after Abdullah accepted the resignation of Nader Dahabi, who has held the post of prime minister since November 2007.

Last month the king made an abrupt move to dissolve parliament, prompted by the government's failure to implement investor friendly laws and maintain fiscal restraint to spur growth.

Jordan faces a contracting economy after several years of robust growth.

The boom was supported by strong foreign direct investments, including remittances from a large skilled workforce in the Gulf Arab region.

Economic reforms

The new cabinet line-up is likely to continue Jordan's free market reforms that critics accuse of deepening the divide between rich and poor, officials told the Reuters news agency.

They said Abdullah will count on Rifai to win support for his economic and social reforms among the conservative establishment, the backbone of the king's power base.

His father, Zeid Rifai, the current speaker of the upper house of parliament, was prime minister several times in the 1970s and 1980s.

In the designation letter, King Abdullah instructed the new prime minister to form a government that would have the primary aim of arranging new general elections, saying the ballots should not be held later than the fourth quarter of 2010.

"The elections should represent a qualitative transition in Jordan's democratic march and presents the kingdom as a model in transparency, fairness and impartiality," the monarch said.

He also directed Rifai to amend the controversial election law and to take all necessary steps that ensure the participation of all citizens in the polling process.

Vietnam to sell 400,000 tons of rice to Philippines

Hanoi - Vietnam has won a contract to export 400,000 tons of rice to the Philippines, authorities said Wednesday. Officials at the Vietnam Food Association confirmed Vietnam had won four out of six 100,000-ton lots to export to the Philippines at an auction held Tuesday. The other two lots went to South Korea and Germany.

The rice will be delivered between February and May at an average price of about 650 dollars for Vietnam 25-per-cent broken white rice, the state-run newspaper Thanh Nien reported.

Domestic rice prices in Vietnam have risen sharply in recent days on rumors of shortages. Unhusked rice has risen to 5,000 dong (0.28 dollar) per kilogram, from 4,000 dong two weeks ago.

Nguyen Ngoc Nam, head of the Tien Giang Food Company, said some companies had failed to stockpile enough rice to meet their export contracts and were rushing to buy, driving up prices. Other food executives blamed speculative hoarding by farmers.

But Nguyen Thanh Bien, the deputy minister of industry and trade, said the domestic price was simply following rising world rice prices, the official Vietnam News reported. Bien noted erratic weather and the shift of India and the Philippines from exporters to importers.

Bien said Vietnam would still have 1 million tons of rice in stock after this year's exports are complete, and expects an additional 700,000 to 1 million tons from its winter-spring crop.

Vietnam exported 5.7 million tons of rice in the first 11 months of this year, with revenues of 2.3 billion dollars.

In 2008, Vietnam exported 4.6 million tons of rice, earning 2.9 billion dollars. That was double the previous year's earnings, due to high global prices that hit 900 dollars per ton in May.

Ireland braces for toughest budget in history of the state

Dublin - Ireland was Wednesday bracing itself for what is expected to be the toughest budget in the history of the state, aimed at making savings of around 4 billion euros (5.9 billion dollars). Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan is expected to announce cuts in public sector pay, capital spending and social welfare including children's allowance.

Few changes are expected to the tax system apart from the introduction of a carbon tax.

The 2010 budget comes amid threats of industrial action by public sector workers over pay cuts, with even the police force taking the unprecedented and illegal step of threatening to hold a ballot on industrial action.

Up to 250,000 public sector workers could have their salaries cut by between 5 per cent and 6 per cent, with higher earners possibly facing higher cuts.

The public sector unions have warned that they will engage in a "long and sustained" campaign of industrial action if pay cuts are introduced.

There was no indication of what form that industrial action would take or when it would begin.

Public sector workers, including teachers and nurses, already held a one-day strike on November 26.

Talks aimed at reaching agreement on reducing the public sector pay bill by 1.3 billion euros next year collapsed last Friday.

Doubts had been raised about the ability of the coalition government of Fianna Fail and Green to get the budget through parliament.

Several independent members and backbenchers had threatened to withdraw their support for the deeply unpopular government. However, some last-minute deals are said to have been enough to avert a government defeat.

Ireland has gone from economic boom to bust in less than two years due to the bursting of its housing bubble, the global recession and alleged mismanagement of public finances by successive Fianna Fail governments.

India's Hyderabad city simmers as protests mount for separate state

New Delhi - Tension mounted in India's southern city of Hyderabad Wednesday as students clashed with police over demands for a separate state, news reports said. The police arrested at least 100 students and teachers of Osmania University, which has become the epicenter of the campaign for a separate Telangana state carved out of the state of Andhra Pradesh, NDTV news channel reported.

The students, who were trying to hold a rally on the campus, were charged with violating orders banning gatherings and rallies the Telangana region.

The region covers 10 districts of Andhra Pradesh is largely populated by people speaking the Telugu language.

The movement for a separate Telangana state dates back over 50 years. Supporters say the region has been neglected compared to other parts of Andhra Pradesh and this can be remedied only through the formation of a separate state.

Students prevented from holding a rally at the Osmania University campus threw stones at the police. More than 20 vehicles were damaged in the ensuing clash, NDTV reported.

The government has deployed more than 12,000 policemen to the university campus.

The Andhra Pradesh state legislative assembly adjourned amid angry scenes a second day as members of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) demanded a resolution supporting a separate state.

Police was deployed across the city amid concerns that a deterioration in the health of TRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao, who has been on a hunger strike since November 29, may lead to violent protests.

A bulletin issued by the medical institute in Hyderabad were the 55-year-old was being treated said Rao was conscious but weak and should resume eating as his health condition was deteriorating.

Rao has said he would stop fasting only if the government gave a categorical assurance on formation of a Telengana state.

Most political parties have come round to supporting the cause of a separate Telangana state but their are divisions within the ruling Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh.

A key issue of contention is Andhra Pradesh capital Hyderabad, a growing center for information technology businesses, which the Telangana activists claim should be part of the new state.

Congress Party leader and federal Minister for Law and JustiCe Veerappa Moily told reporters in New Delhi: "It is a sensitive issue and no decision can be taken in haste."

Guinea accuses French government of coup d'etat attempt

Paris - The junta in Guinea has accused French secret services of complicity in the attempt on the life of its chief, Captain Moussa 'Dadis' Camara, and of trying to overthrow the government, RFI radio reported Wednesday. "This was not an assassination attempt, it was a coup d'etat," junta spokesman Idrissa Cherif told RFI. He said some people detained after the December 3 shooting of Camara said they were encouraged to take action by French intelligence agents.

Cherif also accused French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of helping to prepare the alleged coup through a meeting with Guinean opposition figure Alpha Conde.

A French Foreign Ministry spokesman "energetically denied" what he referred to as "absurd rumors" about French involvement in the assassination attempt.

Camara was shot on December 3 by presidential aide Aboubakar Toumba Diakite, who is currently on the run.

The wounded junta chief is being treated in Morocco, where little information has been made available about his condition. However, Cherif said that he was expected to return to Guinea "soon."

Nationwide rallies mark anti-corruption day in Indonesia - Summary

Jakarta - Thousands of people rallied across Indonesia Wednesday to mark international anti-corruption day, demanding the government take swift measures to end rampant graft in the country. Hundreds of anti-riot police were stationed at strategic locations across the capital, including outside the presidential palace, backed up by water cannon.

In South Sulawesi's capital of Makassar, a brief clash broke out when anti-riot police blocked the protesters' attempts to force their way into the governor's office, leaving one student injured. Tear gas was fired to disperse the protest, MetroTV reported.

The protesters also vandalized shops, pelted fast-food outlet with rocks and damaged a police post, but there were no reports of casualties or arrests.

In the city of Bima in West Nusatenggara, at least two protesters were injured after clashing with police, while a similar scuffle broke out in Pamekasan on the island of Madura off East Java province, leaving four students with bruises.

Anti-corruption rallies also took place in other cities, such as Bandung, Semarang and Solo in central Java, Palembang in West Sumatra and Jayapura in the province of Papua.

Anti-corruption activist Andi Faralay collapsed and died while speaking at rally in Jakarta, witnesses said.

The government's effort to fight corruption has been damaged by a conflict between the country's anti-graft agency and senior police and prosecutors.

The public was outraged last month when two anti-corruption officials were detained by the police.

Many believe the Corruption Eradication Commission had become a target of the police and the attorney general's office because of its reputation for putting corrupt officials behind bars.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono addressed the nation in a televised speech in an attempt to placate the public, saying the case of the two officials should be settled out of court.

The two men were finally reinstated to their original positions but the public was not satisfied.

Yudhoyono also said he would play a leading role in the fight against corruption.

Yudhoyono faces questions over last year's 6.7-trillion-rupiah (716-million-dollar) government bailout of a minor bank, which critics alleged was full of irregularities.

Outside the presidential palace, demonstrators torched images of Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who both face criticism over the bank bailout.

Indonesia remains one of the world's most corrupt countries.