German broadcaster defends image of Angela Merkel in mock-Islamic garb

German TV bosses have defended their decision to depict Angela Merkel wearing a black Islamic cloak against a backdrop of minarets on the Berlin skyline during a news item about refugees. The ARD television programme Bericht aus Berlin was inundated with complaints on Tuesday after the photomontage of the German chancellor wearing the full-length cloak often worn by Iranian women was used as a backdrop. Many accused the public broadcaster of anti-Islamic propaganda. The onscreen display accompanied an item by presenter Rainald Becker about the threat to German values. Becker asked: “How is life changing? Indeed, how do we react when refugees have problems with equality, with women’s rights, with freedom of the press and free speech? These are questions for which we don’t have an answer, and questions that stoke fear.” But ARD rejected the criticism, saying that the photomontage had been misunderstood “on many levels”. Germany expects up to 1.5 million asylum seekers in 2015, says report Read more A statement posted on its Facebook page, said: “The graphic had a direct connection to the presentation by Rainald Becker of a report about the values of our society. He was speaking about the achievements of our western society: freedom of speech, press freedom and equality. These freedoms were reflected in this graphic.” It admitted its aim had been to polarise, but said it “decisively rejected any accusation that we are peddling anti-Islamic propaganda”. The row comes in a week in which it has been estimated Germany may receive as many as 1.5 million refugees this year, and amid growing concerns as to how the country will cope in both the short and the long term with the challenge of integration. source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/06/german-broadcaster-defends-angela-merkel-mock-islamic-garb

China's President Xi Jinping begins first US visit in Seattle

Chinese president Xi Jinping landed in Seattle on Tuesday to kick off a weeklong US visit that will include meetings with US business leaders, a black-tie state dinner at the White House hosted by President Barack Obama and an address at the United Nations. Xi and his wife touched down in an Air China 747 at Paine Field, adjacent to the massive plant where Boeing Co makes its largest jets, some 25 miles (40 km) north of Seattle. They were welcomed by Washington state governor Jay Inslee. In downtown Seattle, about 100 people – both for and against Xi’s presence – gathered peacefully outside the Westin hotel. Protesters representing Falun Gong, a religious group that says it is repressed in China, held placards, while well-wishers waved Chinese and US flags and large red cloth signs that read “Hello President Xi” in Chinese characters. Xi Jinping: Does China truly love 'Big Daddy Xi' – or fear him? Read more Xi is due to make a policy speech at a banquet at the hotel in the evening in the company of Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates, the chief executives of Boeing Co and Starbucks Corp and other local luminaries. The Chinese leader’s visit to Seattle, which he called “America’s gateway to Asia” in prepared remarks upon his arrival, comes at a delicate time in US-China relations. US government and business leaders aim to strike a balance between forging agreements and improving relations with the world’s second-largest economy, while sending strong messages about allegations of Chinese cyberspying and intellectual property violations as well as internet censorship and China’s disputed territorial claims to islands in the South China Sea. The audio long read What’s behind Beijing’s drive to control the South China Sea? – Podcast China's startling attempt to assert control over vast waters has alarmed nearby countries and escalated tensions with the US. Howard W French reports from Hainan, the island at the heart of Xi Jinping's expansionist ambitions Listen For the Chinese side, Xi’s meetings with Obama and US business leaders offer the chance to bolster the president’s stature at home, building on a high-profile military parade earlier this month to mark the end of the second world war, while deflecting attention from the country’s recent stock market rout, slowing economy and chemical explosions at a Tianjin warehouse that killed over 160 people. The Chinese president is due to tour Boeing’s widebody plant and the nearby Microsoft campus on Wednesday, and will later meet Warren Buffett, Apple Inc chief executive Tim Cook and Amazon.com head Jeff Bezos, among 30 US and Chinese business leaders at a roundtable discussion. US tech companies are seeking to expand access to the Chinese consumer market. Even if no formal agreements are reached, the presidential blessing “sends an important message to Chinese leadership” to help them, said Ed Lazowska, Bill and Melinda Gates chair of computer science at the University of Washington. No policy breakthroughs are likely during Xi’s US trip, which ends with a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 28 September. In comments published in the Wall Street Journal before his arrival, Xi said China’s government does not engage in theft of commercial secrets or support companies that do. “I know that we, like others, will be looking for evidence that the Chinese government is pursuing policies based on those principles,” assistant secretary of state Daniel Russel, the Obama’s administration’s top Asia diplomat, told reporters at a pre-summit briefing. Xi also said China’s economy faces downward pressure but is still operating within a proper range, adding exchange rate reform will continue and there was no basis for sustained depreciation in the yuan. The United States will urge Xi to avoid “quick fixes” for its economy, such as devaluing its currency to boost exports, White House chief economist Jason Furman told Reuters on Tuesday. China’s recent loosening of controls on the yuan currency “caused turmoil” in global financial markets and US officials plan to raise the issue of China’s volatile stock market, Furman said. Xi Jinping says China is not guilty of cyber attacks as he prepares for US visit Read more For Boeing, the visit could bring a formal announcement of plans for an aircraft finishing plant in China. The plant would help Boeing’s Chinese sales, analysts say, and help counter a threat from Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd , which is developing a single-aisle aircraft to challenge the top-selling Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 planes. Xi and Ray Conner, Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief executive, are due on Wednesday to tour the Everett, Washington, factory where Boeing makes widebody planes such as the 777 and 787 Dreamliner. Airbus opened an assembly line in China in 2008 and recently won a landmark, $11bn order from China. Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said on Tuesday he sees scope for additional 737 work going to China as the company continues to increase production rates of the single-aisle jetliner. source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/22/china-president-xi-jinping-first-us-visit-seattle

Hillary Clinton breaks silence on Keystone XL pipeline: 'I oppose it'

Hillary Clinton completed the biggest environmental conversion of her presidential campaign to date on Tuesday, pronouncing herself opposed to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline as a “distraction” in the fight against climate change. Clinton’s newfound stated position on Keystone – offered up during an event in Iowa – follows months in which she has refused to divulge her views on the controversial project, claiming it would be inappropriate as a former member of Barack Obama’s administration. On Tuesday, the former Secretary of State abruptly changed course, telling a student at Drake University in Des Moines that she now opposed the project. “I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline as what I believe it is, a distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate change, and unfortunately from my perspective one that interferes with our ability to move forward to deal with all the other issues,” Clinton said. “Therefore, I oppose it and I oppose It because I don’t think it’s in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change.” With Clinton and the Pope on board, the climate movement has wind in its sails Bill McKibben Read more Campaigners said Clinton’s about-face gave Obama additional reasons to reject the project. “We’ve taken a top-tier presidential candidate’s ‘inclination to approve’ Keystone XL, and turned it into yet another call for rejection,” May Boeve, the director of 350.org, said in a statement. “Today’s news is a huge win for our movement, and ups the pressure even more on President Obama to reject the Keystone pipeline once and for all.” Responding to Clinton’s intervention, TransCanada said in a statement that its focus “remains on securing a permit to build Keystone XL”. “Pipelines are the safest and least greenhouse gas-intensive way to transport needed Canadian and American crude oil to Americans – safer than rail,” the company claimed. Advertisement Clinton, as secretary of state, came under attack from campaigners for saying in 2010 that she was inclined to support the project, and for promoting fracking abroad. On the campaign trail, however, Clinton had claimed it would be inappropriate to express her views on Keystone given her recent service in Barack Obama’s administration. Hillary Clinton has refrained from making her position public before now because, as the Secretary of State who initiated the review of the Keystone XL pipeline, she is in a unique position compared to other candidates. Clinton’s campaign aide, who emailed reporters on the condition of anonymity, repeated that excuse, but did not say why the Democratic frontrunner had chosen to break her silence now – other to say “she owes it to the American people to make it clear where she stands on this issue”. In Iowa, Clinton she said the process had dragged on for so long – seven years – that it was time to go on the record with her views. “I thought this would be decided now, and I could tell you whether I agreed or disagreed. But it hasn’t been decided,” she said. Clinton’s comments, of course, arrived at the start of a six-day papal visit to the US that is putting the focus squarely on climate change. They also mark the second time in a month that she has tried to stake out a more liberal position than Obama on the environment. Her opposition to Keystone XL appeared intended to blunt attacks on Clinton from insurgent candidate Bernie Sanders, who is mounting a solid challenge against the frontrunner in Iowa and New Hampshire. Advertisement While in Barack Obama’s cabinet, Clinton had signalled support for the project to transport crude from the Alberta tar sands to refineries on the Texas Gulf Coast, telling an audience in San Francisco in October 2010 she was “inclined” to give TransCanada, the Canadian pipeline company, the go-ahead to expand Keystone. “We’re either going to be dependent on dirty oil from the Gulf or dirty oil from Canada,” she said at the time. In 2010, those views reflected the political mainstream but in the heat of a primary campaign they left Clinton open to criticism from liberal Democrats. Sanders was quick to point out on Tuesday that his opposition to the Keystone pipeline has been longstanding. “As a senator who has vigorously opposed the Keystone pipeline from the beginning, I am glad that Secretary Clinton finally has made a decision and I welcome her opposition to the pipeline,” he said. “Clearly it would be absurd to encourage the extraction and transportation of some of the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet.”. Martin O’Malley, the former governor of Maryland who is also seeking the Democratic nomination, called out Clinton for political caution. “I oppose #KeystoneXL because it’s bad for our environment and we need to move to a clean energy future,” O’Malley said on Twitter. “Leadership is about forging public opinion, not following it. On #KeystoneXL, @HillaryClinton has followed.” Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who is seeking the Republican nomination, waited no time to attack his Democratic rival, saying her decision confirms that she “favors environmental extremists over US jobs”. source: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/22/hillary-clinton-opposes-keystone-xl-pipeline

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