Hawaii's governor wants to reveal Obama birth info

2010-12-29 03:02:00 GMT2010-12-29 11:02:00 (Beijing Time) SINA.com

President Barack Obama smiles with a shave Ice at Island Snow at Kailua Beach Center while on vacation with the first family in Kailua, Hawaii, Monday,Dec. 27, 2010. AP photo

HONOLULU – Democratic Gov. Neil Abercrombie wants to find a way to release more information about President Barack Obama's Hawaii birth and dispel conspiracy theories that he was born elsewhere.

Abercrombie was a friend of Obama's parents and knew him as a child, and is deeply troubled by the effort to cast doubt on the president's citizenship.

The newly elected governor will ask the state attorney general's office about what can be done to put an end to questions about Obama's birth documentation from Aug. 4, 1961, spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said Tuesday.

"He had a friendship with Mr. Obama's parents, and so there is a personal issue at hand," Dela Cruz said. "Is it going to be done immediately? No, the first thing on our list is the economy."

It's unclear what Abercrombie could do because Hawaii's privacy laws have long barred the release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who doesn't have a tangible interest.

Hawaii's health director said last year and in 2008 that she had seen and verified Obama's original vital records, and birth notices in two Honolulu newspapers were published within days of Obama's birth at Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu.

So-called "birthers" claim Obama is ineligible to be president because they say there's no proof he was born in the United States, with many of the skeptics questioning whether he was actually born in Kenya, his father's home country.

"What bothers me is that some people who should know better are trying to use this for political reasons," Abercrombie told the Los Angeles Times last week. "Maybe I'm the only one in the country that could look you right in the eye right now and tell you, 'I was here when that baby was born.'"

Abercrombie was unavailable for additional comment Tuesday because he was vacationing on Maui, Dela Cruz said.

The Obama campaign issued a certificate of live birth in 2008, an official document from the state showing the president's birth date, city and name, along with his parents' names and races. The certificate doesn't list the name of the hospital where he was born or the physician who delivered him, information collected by the state as part of its vital records.

Abercrombie, originally from New York, befriended Obama's parents at the University of Hawaii after he moved here in 1959, the same year the islands became a state.

Abercrombie, 72, has said he remembers seeing Obama as a child with his parents at social events, although he acknowledged that he didn't see his parents with their newborn son at the hospital.

The number of requests for Obama's birth information increased this month as the Obama family prepared to vacation in Hawaii.

The Department of Health had received 27 requests for the president's birth information this month as of last Thursday, up from 16 in November, said spokeswoman Janice Okubo.

Information requests rose despite a new state law allowing officials to ignore persistent and repetitive inquiries, a law that has been used about six times by the department, Okubo said.

"It's just a few people, and some of their requests are the same," she said. "The requests fluctuate from month to month."

Nearly all birth certificate information seekers are from the mainland United States, with requests rarely coming from Hawaii residents, said Cathy Takase, acting director for the state Office of Information Practices.

Takase usually responds to appeals for Obama's birth records by telling requesters that the information they're seeking is contained in records protected by statute.

(Agencies)

53 animal parks ordered to stop abuse

2010-12-29 00:57:26 GMT2010-12-29 08:57:26 (Beijing Time) China Daily

A man climbs onto an elephant's back at the Wuhan Zoo on Oct 4, while visitors line up to shoot photographs with the animal. [Provided to China Daily]

BEIJING - The State Forestry Administration (SFA) has ordered 53 wildlife parks and zoos that stage animal shows to improve their management after inspections found animals' welfare had not been well protected.

The administration also nullified the certifications of seven other parks and zoos that violated laws.

The measures came after a nationwide inspection revealed commercial performances have led to animals' frequent abuse and exploitation.

The central government has sent six teams to monitor and evaluate 500 wildlife parks and zoos nationwide since October.

The inspections found poor management and illegal activities in some zoos and wildlife parks were increasingly causing rare species' deaths. There were also incidents in which animals injured visitors, SFA department of wildlife conservation and nature reserve management director Zhang Xiwu was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying.

Some zoos were found unable to provide animals' basic care because of their insufficient profits and others were found to be engaged in illegal wildlife product sales, Zhang told a meeting in Guangzhou on Monday.

"Both the security of endangered species and the safety of the public are threatened by improper management," SFA deputy head Yin Hong told Xinhua.

An estimated 700 public zoos, wildlife parks and circuses organize animal performances, which attract about 150 million visitors a year.

International Fund for Animal Welfare Beijing office campaign manager Hua Ning told China Daily she viewed the restrictions on animal performances as a positive step toward animal rights protection.

"I believe many Chinese would be unhappy if they knew the baby tigers they hold in their arms for photos (in some zoos) have had their canine teeth pulled out," Hua said.

"The government needs to help zoos and aquariums cancel some performances that entertain visitors but harm animals."

It is important the government enforces the restrictions through surprise inspections, Hua said.

"In the long run, the government should guide zoos back to the purpose of educating people about nature's beauty and informing the public about how to better protect Earth's magnificent creatures."

Administration official Zhang Xiwu said the crackdown on illegal wildlife performances will continue over the long term, although it remained difficult to monitor circuses and individual trainers.

Artist Liu Xiaodong returns to his roots

2010-12-29 09:41:43 GMT2010-12-29 17:41:43 (Beijing Time) City Weekend

For anyone who has migrated to a place far from where they were raised, heading home is often a bittersweet experience that throws into sharp relief the passage of time. While the average Zhou relies on memory to process a visit to old friends and family who age seemingly overnight, artist Liu Xiaodong, originally from the small town of Jincheng in Liaoning, brought his pen, paintbrushes, canvases and a film crew from Taiwan headed by legendary director Hou Hsiao-Hsien to record his trip.

The result of this massive effort is Hometown Boy, an extensive series of journal entries, old photos, large scale paintings and a documentary. Taken together, they pry open one man's memories of life growing up in small town China, and recreate how it looks to a middle-aged man returning to the place of his youth.

The journal entries, handwritten in Chinese and translated into English, provide an incredibly intimate look into the artist's younger years, and his observations and adventures working in present-day Jincheng. Through his notes, the audience comes to know his friends and family, and get a grasp of what life in Jincheng is like.

The exhibit is an exercise in imagination that gradually becomes more real. Journal entries solicit viewers to create the characters of the artist's friends and family in their minds. These creations are then compared with the artist's painted portraits, then finally with the moving images in the documentary. The result is the closest one could get to accompanying Liu Xiaodong back to Jincheng without ever having actually been there.

The rhythms of small town life will ring true for those who have grown up in one, whether on this or that side of the Pacific. Liu portrays his friends with obvious affection, admiration and warmth, but he is not blind to the eccentricities often found in small town folk. From minor culture clashes with the Taiwanese film crew to the eventual destruction of the small hut where he paints by a drunk driver in a pickup, he faithfully records his trip with a fascination that audiences eventually come to share.

Hanging coffins in Sagada

2010-12-29 00:39:46 GMT2010-12-29 08:39:46 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

Tourists take photos of the famous hanging coffins in Sagada, a mountain Province in the north of Manila, capital of Philippines, Dec. 28, 2010. Sagada is a famous trekking site in northern Philippines with its pine woods, past stone-walled terraces and the famous hanging coffins. (Xinhua/Jon Fabrigar)

Photo taken on Dec. 28, 2010 shows the famous hanging coffins in Sagada, a mountain Province in the north of Manila, capital of Philippines. Sagada is a famous trekking site in northern Philippines with its pine woods, past stone-walled terraces and the famous hanging coffins.(Xinhua/Jon Fabrigar) Photo taken on Dec. 28, 2010 shows the famous hanging coffins in Sagada, a mountain Province in the north of Manila, capital of Philippines. Sagada is a famous trekking site in northern Philippines with its pine woods, past stone-walled terraces and the famous hanging coffins. (Xinhua/Jon Fabrigar) Photo taken on Dec. 28, 2010 shows the famous hanging coffins in Sagada, a mountain Province in the north of Manila, capital of Philippines. Sagada is a famous trekking site in northern Philippines with its pine woods, past stone-walled terraces and the famous hanging coffins. (Xinhua/Jon Fabrigar)

PetroChina sells gas pipeline stake for US$2.9b

2010-12-29 01:58:37 GMT2010-12-29 09:58:37 (Beijing Time) China Daily

A man visits the booth of PetroChina's parent China National Petroleum Corporation at the China International Green Industry Expo 2010 in Beijing. [Photo / China Daily]

HONG KONG - PetroChina Co agreed to sell its stake in a gas pipeline operator to subsidiary Kunlun Energy Co for 18.9 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) to help make fuel distribution the main business of the Hong Kong-listed oil producer.

Kunlun Energy will buy the 60 percent stake in PetroChina Beijing Natural Gas Pipeline Co, according to a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday. Beijing Gas Group Co, a unit of Beijing Enterprises Holdings Ltd, owns 40 percent.

Shares of Kunlun Energy rose as much as 3.2 percent on Tuesday on speculation the company will benefit from rising demand for gas in Beijing, where the city government forecasts consumption will increase 17 percent this year. The oil producer's stock has more than quadrupled since PetroChina agreed to buy a majority stake in August 2008 and turn Kunlun into a gas distributor.

"The acquisition of the Beijing pipeline operator will take Kunlun's gas business to a new level and contribute to its earnings growth," Grace Liu, an analyst with Guotai Junan Securities Co, said by telephone from Shenzhen. "The deal will have very limited impact on PetroChina, affecting less than 1 percent of earnings."

China wants to triple the use of cleaner-burning gas to about 10 percent of energy consumption by 2020.

Kunlun Energy said on Oct 11 that it won a bid to buy a 75 percent stake in Dalian LNG from PetroChina for 2 billion yuan. In May, Kunlun said it will pay 500 million yuan for a share in PetroChina LNG Jiangsu Co. Kunlun plans to acquire more assets from PetroChina.

"PetroChina wants to focus on upstream exploration and production and Kunlun will do downstream natural-gas distribution," Yukkei Lee, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Core Pacific Yamaichi, said by telephone. "We expect more of such asset injections into Kunlun Energy next year."

Shares of Kunlun Energy fell 3.38 percent to HK$12 ($1.54) on Tuesday, as the benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 0.93 percent. PetroChina declined 1.61 percent to HK$9.77.

Kunlun Energy didn't say in the statement how it would fund the acquisition of the pipeline operator, formed in 1991 by PetroChina's parent China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Beijing municipality to transport gas from the northwestern province of Shaanxi to the capital. Formerly known as CNPC Hong Kong Ltd, Kunlun Energy said in January that it may spend as much as HK$10 billion on gas projects this year. PetroChina owns 50.75 percent of the company.

First-half net income gained almost fourfold to HK$1.25 billion as crude oil prices rebounded and sales of natural gas increased, Kunlun Energy said in August. Full- year profit may more than double to HK$2.56 billion, the median estimate of six analysts in a survey compiled by Bloomberg shows.

Chinese acrobats perform for holiday in Manila

2010-12-29 03:28:04 GMT2010-12-29 11:28:04 (Beijing Time) China Daily

Chinese acrobats perform during the "Grand China National Acrobatic Circus Splendide!" at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City Metro Manila Dec 28, 2010. Over 100 award-winning acrobats, jugglers, aerialists, contortionists will be in Manila for a series of family entertainment acts this holiday season. [Photo/Agencies]

Chinese acrobats perform their plate-spinning skills during the "Grand China National Acrobatic Circus Splendide!" at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City Metro Manila Dec 28, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

Chinese acrobats balance plates spinning three at a time atop slender sticks during the "Grand China National Acrobatic Circus Splendide!" at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City Metro Manila Dec 28, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

Chinese performers ride on a bicycle during the "Grand China National Acrobatic Circus Splendide!" at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City Metro Manila Dec 28, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

Chinese acrobats performed at the "Grand China National Acrobatic Circus Splendide!" at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City Metro Manila, the Philippines, Dec 28, 2010.

Over 100 award-winning acrobats, jugglers, aerialists, contortionists will be in Manila for a series of family entertainment acts this holiday season.

Suicide bombers hit Iraqi police HQ, kill chief

2010-12-29 12:43:13 GMT2010-12-29 20:43:13 (Beijing Time) SINA.com

An Iraqi policeman stands guard while hundreds of vehicles are in queue, waiting to be searched, at a checkpoint in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010. (AP Photo)

BAGHDAD – Three suicide bombers attacked Iraq's federal police headquarters in Mosul on Wednesday, leveling the building and killing the top police commander in the northern city, a prominent figure who had escaped several past assassination attempts, officials said.

While violence has subsided significantly in Iraq in the past years, insurgents frequently target the country's government institutions and security forces in an effort to destabilize the U.S.-backed Iraqi authorities as American troops prepare to leave by the end of next year.

The attack in Mosul, a former al-Qaida stronghold, began when three men with explosives vests slipped though an opening in the blast walls surrounding the compound housing Iraq's 1st Battalion of the National Police at around 6 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

Police shot one of the attackers in an open-air yard, and his vest exploded — but while the police were distracted by the blast, the other suicide bombers charged into the police headquarters building, police said.

One of the bombers entered the ground floor office of the battalion's commander, Lt. Col. Shamil Okla Ahmed al-Jabouri, where he was sleeping, and blew himself up, killing al-Jabouri instantly, a police officer at the scene said.

The other bomber detonated his explosives-laden vest on the ground floor of the building shortly after the first blast, police said.

The twin explosions were so powerful that they brought the police headquarters down, burying the slain commander and possibly others under the rubble, police said.

Hospital officials in the city, located 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, confirmed the fatality and said they've treated one policeman who was wounded in the blast. Morgue officials in the city said they have not received any bodies.

Rescuers worked frantically to clear the rubble of the collapsed building to get to those possibly trapped underneath.

Abdul-Raheem al-Shemeri, a top security official on the Mosul Provincial Council, said he believed al-Jabouri, who fought to rid the northern city of al-Qaida militants, was the target of Wednesday's attack.

"We've lost a sword of Mosul, who chased al-Qaida terrorists out of the city," al-Shemeri said, adding that al-Jabouri was believed to have been one of few people in the building since the official work day had not yet started.

Militants had tried to kill al-Jabouri several times before, al-Shemeri and several police officials said. A few months ago, al-Jabouri's guards shot a suicide bomber who approached the commander in an attempt to blow himself up, police said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday's attack.

But suicide bombers have been al-Qaida's most lethal weapon in Iraq, killing hundreds of civilians and members of Iraq's security forces.

On Monday, two suicide attackers blew themselves up in front of a government office in Iraq's provincial capital of Ramadi in Anbar province in the west, killing nine people and wounding dozens.

In a separate incident Wednesday, five civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb hit an Iraqi police patrol in eastern Baghdad, police and hospital officials said.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

(Agencies)