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Thursday, February 7, 2008

Parlimen Turki setuju tarik balik larangan bertudung



ANKARA 7 Feb. - Parlimen Turki hari ini bersetuju menarik balik secara rasmi larangan bertudung di universiti walaupun ia masih mendapat bantahan kuat dari puak sekular di negara ini.
Timbalan Speaker Dewan Perwakilan, Nevzat Pakdil mengumumkan dua undi rahsia yang terus mencerahkan peluang majoriti dua pertiga ahli-ahli dewan yang sebelum ini bersetuju untuk menarik balik larangan itu.
Namun masih terdapat pengundian peringkat kedua pada Sabtu ini bagi semakan terakhir sebelum dikemukakan kepada Presiden Turki Abdullah Gul bagi mengubah di peringkat perlembagaan.
Usul kebenaran memakai tudung itu dibawa ke Parlimen oleh parti pemerintah, Parti Pembangunan dan Keadilan (AKP).
Menurut AKP, larangan yang dikuatkuasakan sejak 1980 oleh pihak tentera boleh menyekat kebebasan untuk mendapatkan pendidikan.
Namun pihak sekular, termasuk tentera, kehakiman dan para akademik begitu marah terhadap usul itu kerana ia bertentangan dengan amalan sekular sejak 84 tahun republik itu ditubuhkan.
Menurut Hakki Suha Okay dari Parti Rakyat Republik (CHP) parti pembangkang selaku pendukung utama sekular di Turki, larangan itu akan menggalakkan lagi kepada meluasnya fahaman radikal di negara ini.
CHP sebelum ini mengancam untuk mencabar di mahkamah jika kerajaan berjaya membenarkan pemakaian tudung di universiti itu.
Kebimbangan seperti ini menyebabkan seramai 125,000 orang melakukan tunjuk perasaan pada Sabtu lalu dan berarak menuju ke kubur, Mustafa Kamal Atartuck, iaitu Bapa Kemodenan Turki.
Sementara semalam, ramai lagi terutama dari badan-badan sivik dan kesatuan sekerja berkumpul di hadapan pintu pagar Parlimen menuntut supaya kerajaan tidak membuat sebarang reformasi terhadap larangan bertudung itu.
– AFP

Satu Juta Penumpang Terperangkap di Gaungzhou







China's transport and energy systems have been caught in a perfect winter storm, with hundreds of thousands of people stranded during the peak travel season after train delays caused by heavy snow and power failures.

The power crisis, the worst in China for many years, has been caused by an acute shortage of the supply of coal, the country's staple fuel. Brownouts have affected about half of China's 31 provinces and regions.

The problem has been amplified by unseasonally large snowfalls in northern and central China, but the root cause is Beijing's attempt to reimpose and tighten price controls on numerous commodities, such as coal and oil.

Beijing is using old-fashioned price controls in an effort to stop high food inflation- which has pushed the consumer price index to an 11-year high- from spreading to the rest of the economy.

Power company spokesmen insist the brownouts are the result solely of coal shortages, but executives admit privately the industry may have exacerbated the situation to drive home to Beijing the unfairness of price controls.

The price of power remains largely fixed by Beijing, while the coal market has become increasingly deregulated in recent years, creating tensions between the two industries.

Global coal prices have surged in recent months, adding to the pressure for the rises to be passed on in China. Power industry margins have also been cut by higher freight costs.

"The shutdown of power stations by the generators is not force majeure [the canceling of contracts due to a major unforeseen event]. This is price majeure," said a China-based energy executive.

The Chinese media estimated that 150,000 travellers were stuck on Monday at the main rail station in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province, with hundreds of thousands more expected in coming days.

Every lunar new year millions of migrant workers labouring at factories in the country's southern industrial heartland stream through the station -- and also the nearby provincial bus station -- during the peak "spring rush" travel period.

About 2,500 police have been deployed at the station to maintain order. The Guangzhou Railway Group also announced that it was suspending new ticket sales through February 6 -- new year's eve on the lunar calendar -- to help clear the backlog, potentially stranding hundreds of thousands of more workers far from home over the week-long holiday.

The company estimates that it will be up to 5 days before the Beijing to Guangzhou rail line is operating at normal capacity.

Beijing has dictated a series of measures to alleviate the growing crisis, including ordering coal companies to delay price rises negotiated in the new year and to deliver the fuel immediately to power stations.

Li Chaolin, a Beijing-based energy expert, said the coal shortage had also been caused by the closures of scores of small mines on safety grounds. "But I understand the supply situation is getting better now because Beijing has paid so much attention to the issue," he said. "Coal mines have been encouraged to increase their production, and transportation has been boosted."

Hunan Paling Teruk Dilanda Salji






Snowstorms raging across central China's Hunan Province have lasted for over 10 days, making situation graver in the province, reported by Xinhua News Agency on Friday.
Hit by the strong cold front, Hunan province suffered its coldest winter as well as the longest snowfall in record in the past 50 years.

The freakish weather is China's worst in five decades, paralyzing the country's densely populated central and eastern regions just as tens of millions of travelers were seeking to board trains and buses to return home for this month's Lunar New Year holiday.
The severe weather swept over 13 cities and 82 counties in Hunan, affecting more than 13 million people with three fatalities reported.

China Dilanda Ribut Salji



Tiada warna di Jiaxin




Beijing, Feb 2 (Xinhua) The worst winter weather to hit central, eastern and southern China in decades could persist further, weather officials said.

The severe weather, which has killed at least 60 people and left millions of people facing a cold, dark Lunar New Year holiday, could last until Feb 9, according to the latest forecasts from the Central Meteorological Station Saturday.

It said heavy snow would continue Saturday in the central province of Hunan and in Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang to the east. A new round of snow is likely to fall Monday and Tuesday.

In Zhejiang, a snowstorm that began in the early hours of Friday has lasted 30 hours, causing record snow accumulation in many areas.

By midday Saturday, snowfall reached 31 cm in the provincial capital Hangzhou, breaking the all-time record of 29 cm, according to the provincial meteorological station.

Thousands of troops, armed police, residents and volunteers began to clear snow on the main roads early Saturday as forecasters warned of road ice early Sunday.

The international airport in Hangzhou was closed late Friday and 5,000 passengers were delayed. Snow on the runway measured about 20 cm Saturday morning.

Warmer temperatures are unlikely even after the snow begins to end around Feb 8, chief weatherman Yang Guiming warned.
'In many provinces, roads will remain icy, and it takes time to return to warm temperatures,' he said. 'When it gets warm and the ice and snow melt, we will have to watch out for road mishaps, floods and other problems.'

Ice on runways and aircraft almost closed Shanghai's two international airports Saturday morning.

Many of the air passengers rushed to railway and bus stations hoping to get lucky. More than 78,000 passengers took trains or buses for the Spring Festival's family get-together.

To ease transport pressure, the local government called for migrant workers in Guangzhou not to return home and instead observe the Spring Festival in the province. So far, more than 2.2 million migrants have agreed to stay behind while another 4.1 million insisted on going home.

In Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, 25,000 motor vehicles were caught in traffic jam along a 100-km stretch of highway in Hezhou City.

'Traffic police are making full efforts there to ensure safety of the thousands of passengers and drivers on the road,' local transport officials said.

A week after a snow cut off power in central Hunan Province, traffic on the key Beijing-Guangzhou railway line was yet to return to normal.

At least 240,000 passengers were still stranded at the Guangzhou Railway Station Friday and 5,300 police - a sixth of the city's force - were sent to maintain order.

The State Grid of China said power could be partially restored Saturday in Chenzhou, a city of 4 million that was one of the hardest-hit areas.

In Hengyang, a city of 1 million people about 100 km from Chenzhou, residents welcomed back electricity and water supplies Friday.

Many households had run out of food and drinking water over the past week. Some had to fetch water from Xiangjiang River for drinking and flush toilets with snow water.