Scottish salmon leaps into China

Giant pandas from China help seal new business deals with UK
Scotland's cultural and external affairs minister Fiona Hyslop stands next to a picture of Tian Tian, one of a breeding pair of Giant Pandas who will be coming to Edinburgh Zoo. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA A total of £2.6bn worth of business deals were struck between the UK and China today with agreements of Chinese funding to secure the future of Scotland's biggest mainland Oil Refinery. It was also announced that China will send the first Giant Pandas to the UK for 17 years, to Edi...

In first, China buys salmon from Scotland
EDINBURGH, Scotland, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The Chinese Government, for the first time, reached an agreement to import Atlantic salmon from Scotland, the fisheries secretary said from Edinburgh. Chinese demand for salmon and salmon products is more than Scotland produces in a year. China is one of the largest Seafood markets in the world and the Scottish Government said it expected demand for Atlantic salmon to increase. Scotland is the third-largest producer of Atlantic salmon in the world. "The Scot...

As West woos China, no word about missing rights activist
When the Chancellor, George Osborne, and Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, hosted visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang at a cosy dinner at Mansion House on Monday, it is a fair bet that the extra-judicial Torture of the man formerly on China's official list of its 10 best lawyers was not among the topics discussed. The details of what the Chinese police did to Gao Zhisheng during his mysterious 10-month disappearance would have ruined anyone's appetite. The brilliant Human Rights lawyer, ...

Gao Zhisheng, Missing Chinese Lawyer, Described Torture Before Disappearing
Beijing — The police stripped Gao Zhisheng bare and pummeled him with Handguns in holsters. For two days and nights, they took turns beating him and did things he refused to describe. When all three officers tired, they bound his arms and legs with Plastic Bags and threw him to the floor until they caught their breath to resume the abuse. "That degree of cruelty, there's no way to Recount it," the Civil Rights lawyer said, his normally commanding voice quavering. "For 48 hours my life hu...

Panda politics: China sending 2 pandas to Scotland (AP)
London – Call it panda politics. China is sending a pair of Giant Pandas to the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland as the Asian nation's deputy leader visits the U.K. to boost relations. Vice Premier Li Keqiang, in London for trade talks with senior British officials, led the signing of the agreement Monday to send the animals to Edinburgh. A zoo spokeswoman says the male and female pandas are about seven years old. They will be on a 10-year loan to the zoo and are expected to arrive in the next ...

Two giant pandas destined for Scotland
EDINBURGH, Scotland, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Scottish and Chinese officials say they've have signed an agreement to bring two Giant Pandas to Edinburgh Zoo, the first in the United Kingdom in 17 years. Officials of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association signed the agreement in London, the BBC reported Monday. The outcome represents the culmination of five years of political and diplomatic negotiations at the highest level, the BBC said. Tian Tian and ...

China fails on human rights plan, group says
China's Human Rights were fully in the spotlight last year when imprisoned author and critic Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Liu's wife, Liu Xia, has been under House Arrest and out of contact since shortly after the award was announced in October. Conn. lawmakers expand role of aging committee Ind. agencies investigate asbestos removal at site 'Internet ID?' No thanks, say online Privacy advocates National Journal cover story, features, include violent Rhetoric! Conn....

China fails on human rights plan: rights group
Source: Associated Press Beijing – The continued use of Torture, illegal detention, Censorship and other offenses means China has failed to deliver on its first Human Rights action plan, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. The New York-based rights group evaluated China's official two-year plan that ended last month. It said China's government deserves praise for openly publishing a Human Rights plan, but said its many failures left it "largely a series of unfulfilled promises." China's human right...

Ignatieff looks to women to defeat Harper
Last updated Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011 9:28PM EST Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals believe female voters can help them defeat Stephen Harper and will fight the next election on a platform designed to show that only Liberals understand the anxiety Canadian families are feeling about The Economy. They think Mr. Harper’s economic message that Canada is better off than other countries is not resonating. Rather, Liberal research shows the Harper macroeconomic message is making Canadians &ldquo...;

Panda politics: China sending 2 pandas to Scotland
LONDON (AP) - China's deputy premier charmed Britain Monday by arriving at trade talks with a loan of two Giant Pandas. Vice Premier Li Keqiang met with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in London to sign commercial deals worth at least 2.6 billion pounds ($4 billion)—but the business dealings seemed overshadowed by the pandas. Li oversaw an agreement to bring a breeding pair to Edinburgh Zoo on a 10-year loan. Seven-year-old "Sunshine" and "Sweetie," also known by their Chinese names Yan...

Overnight Money: South Korean Trade
It's time for another installment of Overnight Money, our take on what's important in the world of business and finance right now.  Thursday’s Big Story:  Ron Kirk, the U.S. trade representative, will make an appearance kicking off a renewed administration offensive to win congressional passage of the U.S.-South Korea trade deal on Thursday morning, at a Union Station event sponsored by Third Way.  Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser at the White House, said Wednesday that passing the K

Analysis: Obama on human rights in China: agree to disagree? (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Few diplomatic rituals are more predictable than U.S. presidents prodding Chinese leaders over China's Human Rights record. So when President Barack Obama hosts Chinese President Hu Jintao next week, the only real suspense will be over how forcefully and publicly he takes his Chinese counterpart to task before they turn to other priorities like currency, trade and North Korea. The consensus among China watchers: Obama, stung by criticism that he was too deferen...

Putin warns of union bureaucracy
MOSCOW, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned Russian union leaders against Bureaucracy during a Speech Wednesday to a labor federation. Addressing the Federation of Independent Trade Unions, Putin said he has heard from union members who complain of union Bureaucrats who are more interested in their own advancement or helping their employers than they are in the Rank and File, Ria Novosti reported. "I believe it is important to listen to such signals, respond to them and draw a...

The Special Council for Tax Reform and Fairness gives its recommendations
 The Special Council for Tax Reform and Fairness gave its recommendations to Georgia lawmakers on Friday. The plan is being touted in the media as a Tax Increase. The plan would put a tax on groceries, Cigarettes, and other consumable products and work to reduce income taxes by 1/3 over a three year period starting in 2012.Governor Deal also stated his intentions to reduce teacher Furloughs by cutting back on some government’s jobs. (AJC, 2011) The state of Georgia, like many oth...

Harper warns of new coalition, sets sights on party subsidies
Mark Kennedy, Postmedia News · Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011 Ottawa — Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he will campaign in the next election to kill direct public financing for political parties, which last year cost Taxpayers $27-million. In an exclusive interview with Postmedia News on Wednesday, Mr. Harper also warned he will not bend to opposition demands to back down on Corporate Tax cuts, which he said are essential for the Canadian economy. “I won’t kid you, and I thin...

Housing market will pick up along with job creation
An improvement in the Housing Market could begin this year if Job Creation picks up pace, industry experts said Wednesday at the International Builders' Show in Orlando.  Still, a full housing recovery isn't expected for at least two years, and could be further hampered through 2011 if hiring doesn't accelerate, according to the forecast reported by The Associated Press.  Although some in the housing industry are pessimistic, choosing to predict that the market won't get any worse, several a...

Fisher: Fed Has Done Enough, Now Congresss Turn
Yahoo! Buzz Believing the Federal Reserve has done enough to aid The Economy, a top Federal Reserve official is calling on Congress to help improve the economy’s outlook by reducing uncertainty and get its financial house in order. “The Fed has done much… to provide the bridge financing until the new Congress gets to work restructuring the tax and regulatory incentives American businesses need to confidently expand their Payrolls and capital expenditures here at home,” Fe...

The Greatest Recovery Part II
The few new jobs are unlikely to satisfy Americans who lost careers. In November, temporary labor represented an astonishing 80% of Private Sector job growth. Companies are transforming temporary labor into a permanent feature of the American Workforce. UPI reports, "This year, 26.2 percent of new Private Sector jobs are temporary, compared to 10.9 percent in the recovery after the 1990s Recession and 7.1 percent in previous recoveries." (9) The remainder of 2010 Private Sector job growth has ...

How The Fed Spent $2 Trillion And In Exchange We Got 650,000 Temp, Leisure And Retail "Jobs"
one month ago, we discovered, to our dismay, that since the start of the Depression, the US labor pool has transformed substantially from a full-time time to an increasingly more part-time dominated one. Specifically we found that "America has lost 10.5 million full time jobs, offset by a 2.8 million increase in part time jobs" and that "the US not only lost 478k seasonally adjusted full time workers in November but has lost full time jobs for 6 months in a row, for a total of 1.6 million job lo...

Does Nick Clegg think he's Tony Benn?
Mr Clegg didn't get the Coalition's memo (Photo: AP) The Deputy Prime Minister came out swinging this morning on Radio 4’s Today programme. When asked how he would tackle the issue f bank bonuses he was robust. Emphasising again and again how the government could force banks to obey them on bonuses: For those people who run particularly the state owned banks we’re very very clear. These state owned banks wouldn’t be in existence if it wasn’t for the generosity o...

PNG set to vote for new GG
Papua New Guinea's parliament will reconvene on Tuesday for a special sitting to vote for a new Governor-general. PNG's opposition coalition is hoping to use the sitting as an opportunity to launch a Vote of No Confidence against the embattled government but there are doubts the acting speaker will allow the motion to be heard. Up to 10 senior PNG figures have indicated they would like the Governor-general posting and MPs are expected to decide on Tuesday afternoon. The vote comes after PNG's Su...

Bankers' bonuses: Blind eye to blind rage | Editorial
Doesn't it make you angry that the banks have been allowed to ride roughshod over our economy, and are still handing out bonuses by the bucket-load? The question is not ours, it is Nick Clegg's - posed in his preface to last year's Liberal Democrat manifesto. Eight months on, as the season of self-enrichment gets going in earnest, he now strikes a more timid tone - yesterday emphasising the structure rather than the scale of the loot, and pleading with those bailed-out financiers who...

Nick Clegg plans to air differences within the coalition government
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 11 January 2011 22.13 GMT Nick Clegg says he is 'very relaxed' about people hearing about the behind-the-scenes debates. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/PA The Liberal Democrats plan to air future disagreements with their Conservative partners in public as Nick Clegg attempts to assert a more distinctive identity for his party in a new phase for the coalition. On the eve of a difficult byelection in Oldham East and Saddleworth, the deputy Prime Minister declared that di...

Simon Hughes: Tuition fees damaged Lib Dems
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 January 2011 21.15 GMT Nick Clegg, left, in Oldham with Liberal Democrat Candidate Elwyn Watkins, centre, and Lib Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes. Photograph: Dave Thompson/PA The Liberal Democrats have been damaged by their failure to explain the U-turn on Tuition fees, the party's deputy leader, Simon Hughes, admitted on the eve of tomorrow's byelection in Oldham East and Saddleworth. The criticisms highlight nerves among Lib Dems who are convinced they stand a...

The phenomenon of pets resembling their masters
The Deputy Prime Minister is starting to resemble - and sound like - his boss....