NAGASAKI, JAPAN: Full text of Nagasaki Peace Declaration 2010

The following is the full text of the Peace Declaration presented Aug. 9 by Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue at a ceremony to mark the 65th anniversary of the Aug. 9, 1945 atomic bombing of the city.

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This year's peace ceremony has commenced with a song by hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bombing.

The song was full of the strong hope that that fateful day must never be repeated.

On August 9, 1945 at 11:02 a.m., a single atomic bomb dropped by a United States military aircraft devastated Nagasaki instantly. The intense heat rays, blast winds, radiation, and ceaseless fires.... They claimed the precious lives of 74,000 people, while inflicting deep physical and mental wounds on those who narrowly escaped death.

Some 65 years have passed since that day. In the atomic bombing survivors, I see the hope of people singing from the bottom of their hearts, and always walking with invincible strides toward "a world without nuclear weapons."

We call upon the leaders of the nuclear weapons states never to trample on humanity's efforts for "a world without nuclear weapons."

This May, at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, concrete steps toward nuclear disarmament with specified timelines were proposed by the chairperson. This proposal was widely supported by non-nuclear weapons states. Expectations were raised among non-governmental organizations assembling in New York from around the world and among the people of Nagasaki, a city that has suffered the horror of atomic bombing.

The chairperson's proposal was later rejected by the government representatives of the nuclear weapons states of the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France and China. The lack of sincere commitment from the nuclear weapons states toward nuclear disarmament could provoke antipathy and lead to the emergence of more new nuclear weapons states, increasing the threat of nuclear proliferation around the world. The NPT regime must be strongly supported as a minimum requirement to be observed, so that the number of nuclear weapons states does not increase.

We believe that a new treaty is necessary in order to take the steps to eliminate nuclear weapons. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has already urged U.N. member countries to commence consideration of the Nuclear Weapons Convention. At the NPT Review Conference, many countries referred to the possibility of such consideration. As citizens of a city that has experienced atomic bombing, we strongly support the Nuclear Weapons Convention, which equally prohibits all countries from conducting any activities involving nuclear weapons, such as their production, possession and use.

Nagasaki and Hiroshima have long worked together to tell the world of the catastrophes caused by the atomic bombings, and to appeal for the weapons' abolishment. The government of Japan, a nation that has endured two atomic bombings, manifested its position as a non-nuclear country by stating the Three Non-Nuclear Principles as national policy. However, this year, 65 years after the atomic bombings, the Japanese government has revealed the existence of a "secret nuclear pact." We harbor profound distrust of the government's past responses that have turned the Three Non-Nuclear Principles into a mere formality. Moreover, the government has recently been promoting negotiations on a nuclear agreement with India, a non-NPT member country with nuclear weapons. This means that a nation that has suffered atomic bombings itself is now severely weakening the NPT regime, which is beyond intolerable.

The first thing the Japanese government should do is to enact the Three Non-Nuclear Principles into law in order to restore the trust of the Japanese people. Also, the government should seek the denuclearization of Japan, South Korea and North Korea in a bid to realize security that does not rely upon a nuclear umbrella. We urge the Japanese government to propose the concept of a Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone and to demonstrate to the international community its own leadership as the government of nation bombed by atomic weapons.

At the NPT Review Conference, the Japanese government, together with the governments of 41 other countries, including Russia, issued the Joint Statement on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education. We support this statement, and at the same time, look forward to the Japanese government promoting non-proliferation and disarmament education for young people around the world. In Nagasaki, there are still memories and scars left from the atomic bombing. There are atomic bomb survivors who believe it is their mission to tell, for the future, the story of their experiences, even as they continue to suffer from physical and psychological pain. There are many adults and young people who have never experienced an atomic bombing, but who are actively working for peace in a determined effort to follow the wishes of the hibakusha. Nagasaki, a city that experienced a nuclear attack, will continue contributing to non-proliferation and disarmament education.

I would like to remind everyone around the world that it is we ourselves who have the power to decide which path we should take, "a world with nuclear weapons" filled with distrust and threat, or "a world without nuclear weapons" based on trust and cooperation. For our children, we have responsibility for creating a future without the fear of nuclear weapons. Even though on our own each of us might be small and weak, by joining together we can become a force to make governments act and to create a new history. Let us convey our intention fully and clearly to our governments.

Many people in the world are continuing their peace efforts toward the abolishment of nuclear weapons. In cooperation with them, the city of Nagasaki will establish an extensive global network of peace citizens to unite with a city that has suffered nuclear attack.

The average age of the remaining survivors has now exceeded 76; fewer and fewer of them are able to attend this ceremony each year. From the perspective of providing relief for aging atomic bomb survivors both in Japan and overseas, we call on the Japanese government to hasten in offering them further support.

We offer our sincere condolences on the deaths of the atomic bomb victims, and pledge to continue our utmost efforts together with the city of Hiroshima, until the day when nuclear weapons no longer exist on the earth.

(Mainichi Japan) August 9, 2010

RUSSIA: Travel Alert

The State Department alerts U.S. citizens of the risks of travel to the Russian Federation due to fires in Russia and their impact on safety, air quality, and transportation.  This Travel Alert expires on September 5, 2010.

Forest fires and extreme high temperatures in the Moscow region and surrounding areas of central Russia have produced hazardous levels of air pollution and caused numerous flight delays and cancellations in Moscow.

Persons contemplating travel to Moscow and surrounding areas should carefully consider their plans in light of these developments.  The hazardous air quality means that persons with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should remain indoors and keep activity levels low.  Everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

The situation has prompted the Russian government to declare a state of emergency in Moscow, Vladimir, Ryazan, Voronezh, Novgorod, the Republic of Mordovia, and the Republic of Marii-El.

Fire related conditions can change quickly, due to changes in wind direction and weather conditions.  Persons planning travel to the Moscow area should monitor weather conditions and stay in touch with their airline.

We recommend U.S. citizens register their travel plans with the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy through the State Department's travel registration website.

If you require further information or assistance, please visit the U.S. Embassy Moscow website or e-mail us at MoscowWarden@State.gov.  The U.S. Embassy Moscow consular section is located at Novinskiy Bulvar 21, Moscow.  The nearest metro stations are Barrikadnaya and Krasnapresenskaya.  You can reach the embassy's switchboard at (7) (495) 728-5000, and the American Citizen Services Unit at (7) (495) 728-5577. In the event of an after-hours emergency, please contact the main switchboard. You may also contact the American Citizens Services Unit by fax at (7) (495) 728-5084.  The U.S. Embassy Moscow website is also available in Russian at www.usembassy.ru.

U.S. Consulates General are located in:

St. Petersburg
15 Ulitsa Furshtadtskaya, St. Petersburg 191028
Tel: (7) (812) 331-2600
Fax: (7) (812) 331-2646
After-hours emergencies: (7) (812) 331-2600
Email: StPetersburgACS@state.gov

Vladivostok
32 Ulitsa Pushkinskaya, Vladivostok 690001
Tel: (7) (4232) 30-00-70
Fax: (7) (4232) 30-00-91
After-hours emergencies: (7) (4232) 71 00 67
Email: vladcons@state.gov

Yekaterinburg
Ulitsa Gogolya 15a, 4th floor, Yekaterinburg 620151
Tel: (7) (343)379-3001
Fax: (7) (343) 379-4515
After-hours emergencies: (7) 8 902 84 16653
Email: consulyekat@state.gov

Travelers may obtain up-to-date information on security conditions by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the U.S. or outside the U.S. and Canada on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.

For information on general crime and security issues, U.S. citizens should also consult the Department of State's Country Specific Information of Russia as well as The Worldwide Caution Located on the Bureau of Consular Affairs website.

HIROSHIMA, JAPAN: Full text of Hiroshima Peace Declaration

The following is the full text of the Peace Declaration presented Aug. 6 by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba at a ceremony to mark the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.

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In the company of hibakusha who, on this day 65 years ago, were hurled, without understanding why, into a "hell" beyond their most terrifying nightmares and yet somehow managed to survive; together with the many souls that fell victim to unwarranted death, we greet this August sixth with re-energized determination that, "No one else should ever have to suffer such horror."

Through the unwavering will of the hibakusha and other residents, with help from around Japan and the world, Hiroshima is now recognized as a beautiful city. Today, we aspire to be a "model city for the world" and even to host the Olympic Games. Transcending the tortures of hell, trusting in the peace-loving peoples of the world, the hibakusha offer a message that is the cornerstone of Japan's Peace Constitution and a beacon to the world.

The results of the NPT Review Conference held this past May testify to that beacon's guiding influence. The Final Document expresses the unanimous intent of the parties to seek the abolition of nuclear weapons; notes the valuable contribution of civil society; notes that a majority favors the establishment of timelines for the nuclear weapons abolition process, and highlights the need for a nuclear weapons convention or new legal framework. In doing so, it confirms that our future depends on taking the steps articulated by Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the more than 4,000 city members of Mayors for Peace, and the two-thirds of all Japanese municipalities that formally supported the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol.

That our cry of conscience, the voice of civil society yearning for a future free from nuclear weapons, was heard at the U.N. is due in large measure to the leadership of His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, who today has become the first U.N. Secretary-General to attend our Peace Memorial Ceremony. President Obama, the United States government, and the 1,200-member U.S. Conference of Mayors also wielded their powerful influence.

This ceremony is honored today by the presence of government officials representing more than 70 countries as well as the representatives of many international organizations, NGOs, and citizens' groups. These guests have come to join the hibakusha, their families, and the people of Hiroshima in sharing grief and prayers for a peaceful world. Nuclear-weapon states Russia, China and others have attended previously, but today, for the first time ever, we have with us the U.S. ambassador and officials from the UK and France.

Clearly, the urgency of nuclear weapons abolition is permeating our global conscience; the voice of the vast majority is becoming the pre-eminent force for change in the international community.

To seize this unprecedented opportunity and actually achieve a world without nuclear weapons, we need above all to communicate to every corner of our planet the intense yearning of the hibakusha, thereby narrowing the gap between their passion and the rest of the world. Unfortunately, many are unaware of the urgency; their eyes still closed to the fact that only through luck, not wisdom, have we avoided human extinction.

Now the time is ripe for the Japanese government to take decisive action. It should begin to "take the lead in the pursuit of the elimination of nuclear weapons" by legislating into law the three non-nuclear principles, abandoning the U.S. nuclear umbrella, legally recognizing the expanded "black rain areas," and implementing compassionate, caring assistance measures for all the aging hibakusha anywhere in the world.

In addition, the Prime Minister's wholehearted commitment and action to make the dreams of the hibakusha come true would lead us all by 2020 to a new world of "zero nuclear weapons," an achievement that would rival in human history the "discovery of zero" itself. He could, for example, confront the leaders of the nuclear-weapon states with the urgent need for abolition, lead them to the table to sign a nuclear weapons convention, and call on all countries for sharp reductions in nuclear and other military expenditures. His options are infinite.

We citizens and cities will act as well. In accordance with the Hiroshima Appeal adopted during last week's Hiroshima Conference for the Total Abolition of Nuclear Weapons by 2020, we will work closely with like-minded nations, NGOs, and the U.N. itself to generate an ever-larger tidal wave of demand for a world free of nuclear weapons by 2020.

Finally, on this, the 65th anniversary of the atomic bombing, as we offer to the souls of the A-bomb victims our heartfelt condolences, we hereby declare that we cannot force the most patiently enduring people in the world, the hibakusha, to be patient any longer. Now is the time to devote ourselves unreservedly to the most crucial duty facing the human family, to give the hibakusha, within their lifetimes, the nuclear-weapon-free world that will make them blissfully exclaim, "I'm so happy I lived to see this day."

(Mainichi Japan) August 6, 2010

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CHINA: Travel Alert

This Travel Alert is being issued to warn U.S. citizens residing or traveling in China about the ongoing threat of flooding in many places in the country.  U.S. citizens in the region should monitor local weather reports and use caution when travelling in flooded areas. This travel alert expires on October 15, 2010.

Since June, more than 1,000 people have died or are missing as a result of flooding, landslides, and collapsed roads and bridges caused by torrential rains. Over three quarters of the provinces in China have been affected, with Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Henan Provinces most heavily impacted since mid-July. More than 25 major rivers are over flood stage. 

While less-developed, remote rural areas have been most affected, some U.S. citizen tourists have reported travel disruptions in other areas.  Trains have been stopped or diverted, roads closed and flights delayed by severe storms.  Travelers should expect further closings, detours, and danger from flooding and landslides if the rains persist. 

U.S. citizens traveling in China are urged to check with local authorities for weather and safety updates before starting out on long overland trips or going to rural areas.  Travelers should also consider carrying extra food, water and prescription medicine as a safeguard for unexpected delays.

We encourage all U.S. citizens abroad to register with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate through.  the Department of State’s travel registration website.  By registering, you can receive the embassy's or nearest consulate's most recent security and safety updates during your trip.  Registration also ensures that we can reach you during an emergency either abroad or at home.  While consular officers will do their utmost to assist you in a crisis, please be aware that local authorities bear primary responsibility for the welfare of people living or traveling in their jurisdictions.  In case of difficulties registering online, please contact the closest U.S. embassy or consulate.

Beijing: The U.S. Embassy is located at No. 55 An Jia Lou Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100600. You can reach the American Citizen Services section between 8:00 a.m. and noon and 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. and for after-hours emergencies at (86) (10) 8531-4000.  For detailed information please visit the U.S. Embassy website. The Embassy consular district includes: the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin and the provinces/autonomous regions of Gansu,Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, and Xinjiang.

Chengdu:  The U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu is located at Number 4, Lingshiguan Road, Section 4, Renmin Nanlu, Chengdu 610041; tel. (86)(28) 8558-3992, 8555-3119; after-hours emergencies (86)(28) 1370-800-1442, and can be contacted via email This consular district includes: the provinces/autonomous region of Guizhou, Sichuan, Xizang (Tibet) and Yunnan, as well as the municipality of Chongqing.

Guangzhou: The main office of the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou and the mailing address is Number 1 South Shamian Street, Shamian Island, Guangzhou 510133. The Consular Section, including the American Citizens Services Unit, is located on the 5th Floor, Tianyu Garden (II phase), 136-146 Lin He Zhong Lu, Tianhe District; tel. (86)(20) 8518-7605.  For after-hours emergencies, call (86)(20) 8121-8000; and. can be contacted by email. This consular district includes: the provinces/autonomous region of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, and Fujian.

Shanghai: The Consular Section of the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai is located in the Westgate Mall, 8th Floor, 1038 Nanjing Xi Lu, Shanghai 200031; tel. (86)(21) 3217-4650. For after-hours emergencies, call  (86)(21) 6433-3936; inquiries can be made via email. This consular district includes: Shanghai municipality and the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Shenyang: The U.S. Consulate General in Shenyang is located at No. 52, 14th Wei Road, Heping District, Shenyang 110003; tel. (86)(24) 23221198; for after-hours U.S. citizen emergencies,  call (86)(24) 137-0988-9307. Contact may be made via email. This consular district includes: the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning.  

For further information about travel in China, U.S. citizens should consult the Department of State's Country Specific Information for China as well as the Worldwide Caution located on the Bureau of Consular Affairs website.

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RUSSIA: Russia for Russians

SHANGHAI, CHINA: Destination Shanghai

Terry McCarthy travels to Shanghai to find out why it is fast becoming the nation's business epicenter.

View Video: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6711874n&tag=cbsnewsVideoArea.0#ixzz0uj4Yu3xu

CHINA: THE MIDDLE CLASS

As recently as two decades ago there was no distinct middle class in the People’s Republic of China. Today, any meaningful discussion of China’s economy, politics, or society must take into account the rapid emergence and explosive growth of the Chinese middle class.[1]

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[1] July 14, 2010 5:00:00 PM PDT,  China’s Emerging Middle Class:  Beyond Economic Transformation,  The Brookings Institution

JAPAN: Tough Task for DPJ

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CHINA & ITS NEIGHBORS: INDIA

A densely packed crowd in front of Jama Masjid in New Delhi Photo: ALAMY

Officials say the rise in population to more than 1.6 billion by 2050 will threaten the country's rapid economic development.

India will overtake China to become the world's most populous nation within the next 16 years, according to new government figures.[1]

•   India's current population of 1.1 billion will swell by 371 million in 2026, the report said, taking it beyond China's current 1.35 billion.
•  The report's publication provoked a clash between India's population experts and leading commentators over whether the rise will help or hinder the country's remarkable growth story.
•  India's economy is currently growing at more than nine per cent – second only to China.
• A quarter of India's teenage girls were either pregnant or mothers by age eighteen.

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[1] July 12, 2010 1:55:18 PM PDT, India to overtake China as world's biggest country by 2026, says report, The Telegraph

RUSSIAN FAR EAST: Siberia's Status in Russia on Par With Russia's in the World

12 July 2010

By Paul Goble

VIENNA — Siberia increasingly is to Russia what Russia is to the world, a supplier of raw materials that those who are consuming them take without much thought to what is happening at their source economically or ecologically, a pattern that Siberians find increasingly unacceptable, according to a leading economist in that region.

At an academic conference last week in Ulan-Ude, Viktor Suslov, the deputy director of the Institute of Economics at the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, called for new laws that would require Moscow to pay rent for its exploitation of Siberian resources...

View The Moscow Times Article...

A Changing Japan in a Changing World

On July 8, the Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies at Brookings (CNAPS) hosted His Excellency Ichiro Fujisaki, ambassador of Japan to the United States, for an address on the changing politics and policies under Japan’s new Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Ambassador Fujisaki discussed Japan’s response to ongoing global challenges and also commented on Japan’s critically important alliance with the United States.

ASIA: Launching Pad for Tomorrow's Emerging Markets

July 1, 2010

• Enduring lessons from Asia's dynamic emerging markets
• Asia's low-income countries have enormous potential
• New development challenges, opportunities in today's world

Following in the footsteps of Asia’s dynamic emerging markets, low-income countries in the region are poised to become the emerging markets of tomorrow, in the view of IMF economists. This will further help to propel Asia’s global economic leadership.

With the Fund predicting that Asia will become the largest economic region in the world in about 20 years, the future of low-income countries in the region is a keenly debated topic. Speaking at an IMF-sponsored conference in Vietnam earlier this year, IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky said that “the region’s developing countries should be central participants and beneficiaries … by moving up the ladder.”

The IMF is committed to supporting these countries make the transformation into emerging markets. How best to do this will be a major topic discussed at a high-level conference co-hosted by the Government of Korea and the IMF in Daejeon, Korea on July 12–13.

Min Zhu, who will open the conference session on this topic, said, “This discussion will allow us to hear a wide range of views of how Asia’s low-income countries can improve their growth prospects. We can find lessons in the path taken by today’s emerging markets in the region, but how countries take advantage of new opportunities and manage risks will also be a crucial factor in determining tomorrow’s emerging markets.”

Rise of Asia’s emerging markets

Asia has had enormous success in transforming low-income countries into emerging markets, raising their level of development and average incomes. Sustained economic growth and expanding employment opportunities have been crucial.

A 2008 report by the Commission on Growth and Development, chaired by Michael Spence who is a keynote speaker at the Korea conference, identified only 13 economies worldwide that had grown on average by 7 percent or more per year, for 25 years or longer. Of those 13 economies, nine are in Asia: China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan POC, and Thailand. India and Vietnam may soon join this list.

Experience in these dynamic emerging markets points to several common success factors.
An important part of their development strategies focused on building competitive manufacturing sectors to export goods to the rest of the world. They also managed to have high rates of saving and investment, and used foreign investment as an important source of financing and new technologies.

But, according to the Commission’s report “no economy can flourish in the midst of macroeconomic instability.” Macroeconomic policies that helped to reduce economic volatility and uncertainty, allowed these economies to attract investment and expand the private sector.

Many of these factors are behind Asia’s recent economic success.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn underscored this point in a recent interview with Yonhap news agency, citing Korea’s sound macroeconomic policies and reforms over the past decade. As a result,

“the Korean economy faced the latest global economic and financial crisis from a relatively strong position, which helped facilitate the economy’s impressive rebound from the downturn,” Strauss-Kahn said.

Analysts wonder if the performance of Asia’s emerging markets can be repeated by employing similar export-oriented growth strategies.

The next emerging markets

Anoop Singh, Director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, recently blogged about the “Flying Geese Paradigm”—first conceived by Japanese economist, Kaname Akamatsu—as a way of explaining “the successive waves of Asian countries achieving … emerging or developed market status”. He identified Cambodia, Laos, and Nepal as among the Asian economies preparing to take off. “These countries have huge potential,” said Singh.

For one, they still have lower labor costs than in the region’s emerging markets. But, compared to their predecessors, low-income countries today also face new challenges and new opportunities.
Stricter environmental standards and multilateral trade agreements today limit countries’ pursuit of policies that strategically manage industrialization. The more interconnected global economy means that countries are also more vulnerable to adverse developments in other countries and regions. During a recent visit to Singapore, IMF Deputy Managing Director Naoyuki Shinohara said that, in the wake of the global crisis, weaker demand could disrupt Asia’s export markets.

However, Asia’s low-income countries also have access to a broader pool of technologies that can help them exploit lower communication costs to export services, rather than relying mainly on exporting goods.

And, even if demand elsewhere in the world remains subdued, the expanding middle class within Asia will provide a new export market. “I believe we will see ... emerging Asia becoming a centerpiece of a whole new global trade pattern,” said IMF Special Advisor Min Zhu in an interview for the June 2010 issue of Finance and Development.

Discussing new ideas for growth

With this new economic environment, an open question is whether existing ideas or new ideas, or some combination of the two, can best nurture growth in low-income countries.

Sharing Anoop Singh’s views about the potential of low-income countries in the region, John Lipsky said that, “at a fundamental level, Asia’s developing countries are qualitatively different from their counterparts in other regions. Living standards are higher, populations are less marginalized, and the middle class is more prominent.”

“Of course possessing potential and realizing it is not the same thing. Countries need to make the most of their potential by being well prepared with sound macroeconomic policies and a robust financial sector,” Singh said.

The IMF’s latest Asia and Pacific Regional Economic Outlook said that low-income countries in the region “also need to make significant progress in a series of structural reforms needed to raise their competitiveness.” Priority areas include improving the business environment and ensuring a sound banking sector.

The IMF is committed to helping these countries reach the next level of development through policy advice and capacity building, but also by taking the policy dialogue to the region.

The challenge of achieving emerging market status was the focus of a conference earlier this year in Hanoi organized by the IMF. Speaking at the conference, John Lipsky emphasized that boosting long-term growth in low-income countries requires investment in infrastructure and stronger social safety nets. In this regard, the conference identified the need for increased investment in health and education, and the importance of achieving equitable growth—not just high growth—to reduce poverty.

The IMF will continue its dialogue with member countries in Asia and their development partners, with a session dedicated to this topic, at the high-level conference in Korea in July.


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RUSSIA: Russia and U.S. downplay spy case

Thu Jul 1, 2010 3:39pm EDT

Michele Kambas

(Reuters) - Police in Cyprus issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for a suspected Russian spy wanted by the United States who vanished shortly after being freed on bail on the Mediterranean island.

Christopher Robert Metsos, 55, who American authorities accuse of being the paymaster for a network of Russian agents in the United States, failed to report to a police station on Wednesday, violating terms of his bail granted a day earlier.

A police statement issued on Thursday said Metsos was wanted for "disobeying a court order" on June 30. "We have no indications of where he may be," Michalis Katsounotos, a police spokesman, said, adding that he had cleared out his apartment.

The spokesman declined to speculate about whether he had fled Cyprus. Police were searching for him on the island.

Police released a photograph of Metsos on Thursday. The suspect was of medium build, balding with grey hear, rimless spectacles and a neat mustache. It was taken in Cyprus on June 29, shortly before he was released on bail, police said.

Metsos is accused by U.S. authorities of having managed payments to a group of agents collecting information for Russian intelligence for at least a decade. Ten suspects were arrested in the United States on Sunday, causing a diplomatic stir.

A Canadian passport holder, Metsos was arrested as he attempted to fly out of Cyprus in the early hours of June 29 for Budapest. On the same day, a local court ordered he be freed on bail, rejecting a request from police he remain in custody until an extradition hearing scheduled for July 29.

Metsos had checked in with police on the first day of his bail, on June 29. On Wednesday, the day of his disappearance, he was expected to discuss terms of his case with his lawyer, but Metsos did not communicate with him, the lawyer told Reuters.

RISK OF FLIGHT

It is unusual for Cypriot courts to grant foreigners bail, since prosecutors cite the risk of flight from the island, particularly through a breakaway state in northern Cyprus.

Larnaca, a pretty seafront town where Metsos had been staying from June 17 is about 20 kilometres away from the ceasefire line which splits the island.

There are a number of designated checkpoints linking Cyprus's estranged Greek Cypriot community in the south, and the Turkish community in the north.

A spokesman for Turkish Cypriot police said they had no knowledge of Metsos being in the north.

After checking out of one hotel on Tuesday, Metsos checked in to another complex of modest holiday apartments off the Larnaca seafront promenade.

In the United States, Metsos and his 10 co-accused face charges of collecting information ranging from research programs on small-yield, high-penetration nuclear warheads to the global gold market, and seeking background on people who applied for jobs at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The 55-year-old had specifically been accused of receiving and making payments to the other members of the group.

U.S. Justice Department documents say he received payments during a brush-pass with aRussian government official who was affiliated with the Russian mission to the United Nations in New York, and of burying cash which was then retrieved by other suspects.

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JAPAN: NYT's Photo of the Week

Itsuo Inouye/Associated Press

A diver feeds fish at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, and aquarium in Yokohama, Japan.

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CHINA: Google tweaks China site in bid to keep license

(Reuters) - Google Inc is tweaking its China website in a last-ditch effort to save its search business in the world's largest Internet market after butting heads with Beijing over Web censorship.

The google.cn search site will stop automatically redirecting users to Google's uncensored search portal in Hong Kong -- instead, visitors will be required to click a link to access the Hong Kong site, Google said on Tuesday.

The move comes ahead of a Wednesday deadline for China to renew Google's operating license. Google said Beijing had made it clear it was unhappy with the company's three-month old system of re-routing Chinese Web surfers to google.com.hk.

"It's clear from conversations we have had with Chinese government officials that they find the redirect unacceptable, and that if we continue redirecting users, our Internet Content Provider license will not be renewed," Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond wrote on the company's corporate blog.

"Without an ICP license, we can't operate a commercial website like Google.cn so Google would effectively go dark in China," he wrote.

There was no immediate comment from China. Google shares were down 3 percent by early afternoon trading, in line with the Nasdaq stock market's fall.

The website tweak is Google's latest attempt to strike a delicate balance between standing up to China's policy of Internet censorship while maintaining a presence in a market considered key to its future growth.

Google's shares have fallen roughly 23 percent since the company announced its intention in January to stop censoring search results in China.

"It seems like investors have already taken China out of the valuation of the company. I don't think there's much more incrementally negative for the stock," said UBS analyst Brian Pitz.

CHINA SILENT

Google, which battles Baidu for China's 380 million Internet users, said in January it might quit the country over censorship and after it was hit by a hacking attack that it said came from within China.

But after keeping its promise to end self-censorship by automatically rerouting users to its Hong Kong site, Google now seems reluctant to abandon the Chinese market entirely.

"China, with its business potential, is a hard market to give up," said Cao Jun Bo, analyst at Beijing-based technology research company iResearch.

It is unlikely Google would have moved without some blessing from Beijing, and there certainly would have been negotiations about the change, said Cao.

China's foreign ministry on Tuesday declined to comment on Google's decision to end automatic rerouting, but Drummond said he hoped it would be acceptable to the Chinese government.

A Google spokeswoman declined to comment further on the details of negotiations with Beijing.

Google's challenge to China's online policies has provided a new source of tension to Sino-US relations. The State Department has backed Google and demanded that China explain the alleged hacking attacks.

The new google.cn page has an image of the Google logo and a non-functioning search box. A short message says, "We have already moved to google.com.hk" and "Please save our new website." Clicking on much of the page redirects users.

If accessed from China, the Hong Kong search engine does not offer unfettered access to information the government wants blocked as domestic firewalls prevent connections to many websites that Beijing objects to.

The Google.hk.com site is also periodically unavailable from mainland China, and searches can be unstable.

LUCRATIVE MARKET

Analysts estimate Google's China business is a modest 1 percent to 2 percent of its $6.5 billion in annual net profit, but the country had been considered a major long-term growth opportunity.

Besides Web search, Google has other operations in China, such as the Android mobile operating system.

China Mobile has released smartphones into the China market using Android, and Credit Suisse analyst Wallace Cheung expects Android to one day become the most popular mobile operating system in China.

Google, which runs two research centers and has several hundred employees in China, may already have paid a price in lost talent for its spat with the Chinese government.

It has seen an exodus of executives from its China operations, as well as from partners under its advertising AdSense program.

"It seems clear they want to have some engagement or business in China. But they are at a point right now where an increasing number of partners and AdSense partners are leaving Google," said Mark Natkin, managing director of Marbridge Consulting.

Natkin said at least three other licenses for Google business units in China are due for renewal in June.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee and Emma Graham-Harrison; Additional reporting by Michael Wei in Beijing and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Editing by Anshuman Daga and Robert MacMillan.)

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RUSSIA: Putin says U.S. police "out of control" in spy case

(From L to R) Russian spy suspects, Anna Chapman, Vicky Pelaez, Richard Murphy, Cynthia Murphy and Juan Lazaro, are seen in this courtroom sketch during an appearance at the Manhattan Federal Court in New York June 28, 2010. The arrests -- days after a warm Washington summit between President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev -- thrust a Cold War-style spy scandal into the midst of the U.S. leader's ''reset'' of long-strained ties with the Kremlin.  Credit: Reuters/Jane Rosenburg

(Reuters) - Moscow angrily rejected U.S. accusations on Tuesday that Washington had cracked an undercover Russian spy ring, and said the Cold War-style cloak and dagger saga seemed timed to wreck a recent thaw in relations.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said U.S. police had gone "out of control" after 10 suspected spies were arrested in the United States in the biggest espionage case for years.

"I hope that all the positive gains that have been achieved in our relationship will not be damaged by the recent event," he told visiting ex-U.S. President Bill Clinton.

An 11th suspect was arrested in Cyprus on Tuesday and was released on bail, police on the Mediterranean island said.

The suspects, some of whom lived quiet lives in American suburbia for years, were accused of gathering information ranging from data on high-penetration nuclear warhead research programs to background on CIA job applicants.

The arrests came days after a warm Washington summit between President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, part of what the U.S. leader describes as a "reset" of long-strained ties with the Kremlin.

"The choice of timing was particularly graceful," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists sarcastically during a trip to Jerusalem.

Other Russian officials also suggested the timing was no coincidence.

"We do not understand what prompted the U.S. Justice Department to make a public statement in the spirit of Cold War espionage," the Foreign Ministry said, calling the accusations baseless.

It said lawyers and diplomats should be given access to the suspects.

"We deeply regret that all of this has happened against the background of the relations reset declared by the U.S. administration itself," the ministry said in a statement.

With buried banknotes, coded communications and other cinematic details, the accusations echoed spy scandals of the 20th century and the more recent chill in relations with a Kremlin which, under the 2000-2008 presidency of ex-KGB spy Putin, often accused the West of trying to weaken Russia.

Britain and Ireland both said they were checking reports suspects had traveled on false passports from their countries.

Moscow has repeatedly accused Western powers of maintaining spying operations against Russia despite the end of the Cold War. Western powers also complain of Russian activity, especially in the commercial and scientific areas.

BLOW TO OBAMA

Russian analysts said the timing suggested it was an attempt to undermine the "reset" which Obama's administration has hailed as a major foreign policy achievement, citing Moscow's support for sanctions against Iran and cooperation on Afghanistan.

"It's a slap in the face to Barack Obama," said Anatoly Tsyganok, a political analyst at Moscow's Institute of Political and Military Analysis.

He predicted Russia would follow Cold War etiquette and uncover an equal number of alleged U.S. spies.

Military analyst Alexander Golts said the scandal would be unlikely to deal a major setback to ties. Obama's administration would aim to "soft-pedal the situation" to avoid damage to improved relations it sees as a foreign policy success, he said.

Tatyana Stanovaya, political analyst at Moscow's Center for Political Technologies, said the accusations could widen a rift in Russia's elite between advocates and opponents of better U.S. ties, with the scale of the response hinting at who is ascendant.

Stanovaya said it could dent the authority of Medvedev, who is struggling to emerge from Putin's shadow and has made engagement with Washington a hallmark of his presidency.

The U.S. Justice Department accused the 11 people of operating as "illegals"; the term applied in the intelligence world to agents infiltrated under false identities, rather than officers who use diplomatic or other legitimate cover.

They were accused of collecting information ranging from research programs on small-yield, high-penetration nuclear warheads to the global gold market, and seeking background on people who applied for jobs at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), according to criminal complaints filed in a U.S. court.

Authorities said 10 were arrested on Sunday in Boston, New York, New Jersey and Virginia on charges including conspiracy to act as unlawful Russian agents and money laundering.

They sought to "become sufficiently 'Americanized' such that they could gather information about the United States for Russia and can successfully recruit sources who are in, or are able to infiltrate, United States policy-making circles," court papers said.

The U.S. Justice Department said they received extensive training in coded communications, how to evade detection and how to pass messages to other agents.

After the 2001 arrest of FBI agent Robert Hanssen, accused of selling secrets to Moscow over 15 years and sentenced to life in prison, Washington expelled four Russian diplomats and ordered 46 to leave the country. Russia responded in kind.

In 2006, Russia accused British diplomats of running a James Bond-style spy ring and communicating with agents via an electronic device disguised as a rock. The next year, British officials said Russian spying was "at Cold War levels."

(Additional reporting by Dmitry Zhdannikov and Amie Ferris-Rotman; Writing by Conor Humphries and Steve Gutterman; Editing by Peter Graff)

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TRAVEL: Inspectors find safety flaws where airline food is prepared

By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY

Six months ago, Food and Drug Administration inspectors say, they found live roaches and dead roach carcasses "too numerous to count" inside the Denver facility of the world's largest airline caterer, LSG Sky Chefs.

They also reported finding ants, flies and debris, and employees handling food with bare hands. Samples from a kitchen floor tested positive for Listeria, a bacteria that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. It's also dangerous to pregnant women.

LSG Sky Chefs, which annually provides 405 million meals worldwide for more than 300 airlines, says conditions at the Denver plant didn't meet company standards. It took immediate measures to remedy the problems, says spokeswoman Beth Van Duyne.

The Denver facility is one of many catering operations that provide food to airlines where FDA inspectors saw unsanitary and unsafe conditions in the last two years, according to inspection reports obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by USA TODAY.

The reports show "caterers for many of the nation's air carriers are contaminating foods in a number of ways," says Roy Costa, a consultant and public health sanitarian who voluntarily agreed to review the reports.

Frequent flier Arthur Debowy, an architect from Highland Mills, N.Y., says the findings are "sickening," and he'll be more careful on future flights if food doesn't smell or taste right.

USA TODAY requested inspection reports since January 2009 for the two biggest airline caterers, LSG Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet, and a third large caterer, Flying Food Group. Combined, the three companies have 91 kitchens preparing in-flight food for many big U.S. and foreign airlines at U.S. airports.

As of Friday, the FDA's regional offices had sent reports for 46 facilities. At 27 of them, FDA inspectors noticed suspected food-preparation violations or objectionable practices. Among them:

•An FDA inspector spotted a mouse, rodent nesting materials and rodent feces under a pallet of food and in other areas at LSG Sky Chefs' Minneapolis facility during a May 2009 inspection.

•The Dulles, Va., facility of Gate Gourmet, the second-largest caterer in the USA, failed to keep shrimp, filet mignon, Chilean sea bass, chicken and vegetables, and pastrami and cheese sandwiches at the proper temperature during an inspection in August. When an inspector mentioned the unsafe practice to company personnel, the shrimp and the pastrami and cheese sandwiches were not thrown in the garbage.

Employees with "unclean hands" were handling food. A lab report found a "high coliform count" in rice.

•At Gate Gourmet's San Diego facility in November, the director of operations said the company would cook any food to an airline's specification without regard to food safety guidelines, an FDA inspector wrote. He also wrote that a Gate Gourmet official said the company doesn't verify if food is from approved sources or frozen for "parasite destruction." Raw meats aren't cooked to adequate temperatures — a repeat violation that was also cited in 2008.

•A Los Angeles facility of Flying Food Group had a corroded and taped ice-machine door that failed to "hold ingredients in bulk or in suitable containers to protect against contamination," an inspector wrote in an April report.

Making improvements

After the Los Angeles, San Diego, Dulles and Minneapolis inspections, Flying Food Group, Gate Gourmet and LSG Sky Chefs were issued a document called Form 483 by FDA inspectors. The form is only issued, the FDA says, when there are "significant" suspected violations of regulations or objectionable practices.

In the inspection reports, several LSG Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet facilities received Form 483s on two or three consecutive inspections. Repeat violations were noted at some facilities.

When serious violations occur — such as those at LSG Sky Chef's roach-infested Denver facility — the FDA may issue a warning letter. A company has 15 days to address the problems.

Sky Chefs facilities have received 18 warning letters since 1996, according to a USA TODAY analysis of the agency's online database. Three were received after German airline Lufthansa acquired controlling interest in the company in June 2001, and the company has taken many steps since then to ensure food safety, spokeswoman Van Duyne says.

Besides the warning letter sent in December, the company's Denver facility received one in May 2001 for a number of deficiencies.

Two years ago, LSG Sky Chef's facility in East Granby, Conn., was issued a warning letter because tilapia filets and shrimp meals were "prepared, packed or held under insanitary conditions" that may be "injurious to health." There was concern about botulism, caused by toxins that are among the most poisonous to humans.

Sky Chefs implemented a global quality and safety system "harmonizing food safety at all its kitchens" in 2002, says Van Duyne. Since then, the company has served more than 3 billion meals, and "there has never been a report of a food-borne illness outbreak related to our facilities," she says.

Gate Gourmet's most recent warning letter was issued in April 2005 to its Honolulu facility. Among other violations, FDA inspectors found cockroaches and fruit flies, food stored at improper temperatures, mold in a refrigerator and "a pink, slimy substance" dripping onto a conveyor for a pot-washing machine.

Eight months earlier, 47 passengers became ill — and 116 other passengers probably became ill — after eating food on 12 flights from Hawaii catered by Gate Gourmet, according to the Hawaii State Department of Health. The likely cause was raw carrots, says agency spokeswoman Janice Okubo.

Gate Gourmet Vice President Norbert van den Berg says the company has an excellent system to ensure safe food, including temperature-controlled facilities and use of an independent auditor. His company's food-safety standards are superior to any restaurant, he says. "We can guarantee the safest product out there," van den Berg says.

Flying Food Group received a warning letter for 11 deficiencies — including inadequately protecting food from contamination — at a Jamaica, N.Y., facility in 2000. The company has since moved to a "state-of-the-art" facility at nearby JFK airport, says Glenn Caulkins, vice president of quality assurance.

Caulkins says Flying Food Group has invested a lot of money to ensure that its facilities prepare and process food safely. The company quickly addresses or corrects any concerns in FDA inspection reports, he says.

After the April inspection at the Los Angeles facility noted concerns about the ice machine, the company installed a new one, he says.

Fewer meals, fewer problems

FDA officials say the number of warning letters issued to airline caterers has declined in recent years.

Cost-cutting airlines are serving fewer fresh meals. Some have eliminated meals. And airline caterers have incorporated government food-safety guidelines into their own guidelines, says FDA spokesman Ira Allen.

"With less ready-to-eat fresh food offered in coach class and substitution with prepackaged, shelf-stable foods, the opportunity for poor preparation, storing foods at improper temperatures and food-handling violations is much lower," Allen says.

Mary Ann Dowd of the International Flight Services Association, which represents airlines and caterers, says the inspectors' findings are a concern because the trade group works hard to promote food safety. The group will soon distribute a new edition of food-safety guidelines for caterers and airlines.

Despite fewer warning letters, inspection reports show that caterers are ignoring the guidelines and FDA requirements on fresh food they're preparing, says Costa, the public health consultant.

"The airlines, which have the primary liability for the safety of their passengers, have a serious supplier control problem," he says.

Airlines say they require their caterers to provide government inspection reports, and they do their own unannounced inspections.


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CHINA: Growing Organic in China

6/23/2010 10:04:51 AM

In a country hit by food safety scandals, the interest in organic produce is growing fast. Video courtesy of AFP.

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CHINA: China's Currency Announcement and the U.S. Congress

June 22, 2010

With the G-20 Summit set to begin in Toronto on June 26, China announced over the weekend that it would increase the flexibility of its exchange rate and allow its currency to appreciate.  In this video, Kenneth Lieberthal discusses China’s exchange rate and how the U.S. Congress has responded to the issue.

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JAPAN: Big Election Victory for Japan's Ruling Party?

One of America's leading experts on Japanese politics, Columbia professor Gerald Curtis, handicaps the July 11 upper house elections, and discusses the implications for U.S.-Japan relations and tax policy.

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JAPAN: Japan pledges to beat deflation

New premier Naoto Kan wants to cut Japan's debt levels

Page last updated at 20:30 GMT, Friday, 18 June 2010 21:30 UK

Japan's new government has pledged to slash corporation tax and beat deflation to achieve stable economic growth of 2% a year.

It said it aims to defeat deflation by April 2011, but revealed few details on how it would achieve this.

The government also said it would cut corporate tax from 40% to nearer 25%.

Earlier this week, Japan's central bank announced plans for up to 3 trillion yen (£22bn; $33bn) in loans to spur economic growth.

The plans mark the first time Japan has set a time frame for tackling deflation, which has plagued the economy for much of the last two decades.

JAPAN IN FIGURES

• Government debt: 200% of GDP
• Government deficit: 8% of GDP
• External surplus: 2.5-3.5% of GDP
• GDP growth: 3%
• Inflation: -1.5%
• 30-year bond yield: 2%

Source: Daiwa

Persistent deflation has hampered economic growth, with consumers opting to hold off on making major purchases, expecting prices to fall even further.

However, the ambition of the new government was met with scepticism by some analysts.

"The growth targets don't sound like anything new to me, just wishful thinking," said Junko Nishioka at RBS Securities.

Japan's growth averaged just 1.3% a year before the recession brought on by the financial crisis.

Like many other developed economies, Japan is also suffering from high levels of sovereign debt.

Its plans for cutting borrowing levels are due to be announced next week.

New Prime Minister Kaoto Kan has made cutting the country's deficit his priority.

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RUSSIA: Let Russia Join the WTO

Epsilon/Getty Images

JUNE 18, 2010

BY ANDERS ÅSLUND, C. FRED BERGSTEN

Here's how the White House can earn an easy win next week.

On June 24, U.S. President Barack Obama will welcome his counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, to the White House. If there's one thing that the two presidents must accomplish, on an issue that has fallen off most observers' radar screens amid all the nuclear diplomacy and talk of "resetting" relations between Washington and Moscow, it's Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) -- a potential game changer for the country's economy and foreign policy.

After hitting a low with the Russia-Georgia war in August 2008, U.S.-Russia relations have rapidly improved. Two milestones are the strategic nuclear arms reduction treaty that was signed in April and the new U.N. Security Council resolution on stricter sanctions against Iran. The next step is to improve economic cooperation.

The WTO currently has 153 members, accounting for 96 percent of world trade. Russia, which accounts for 2 percent of global commerce, is the biggest country outside the organization. Having applied in 1993, it has waited for membership longer than any other country, though the United States has recognized Russia as a market economy since 2002 -- a status it does not accord to WTO member China.

It's true that Russia needs the WTO less than many other countries, since it largely exports commodities that enjoy free-market access in any case. Yet Russia's potential gains from WTO accession have been assessed at 3.3 percent of GDP a year, a major jump for the economy. The main benefits would arise from freer trade of services and foreign direct investment.

Russia has never been closer to WTO accession. The remaining hurdles are modest: sanitary rules for U.S. exports of chicken and pork, limits on future agricultural subsidies, rules for encryption, regulation of state-owned enterprises, and export tariffs for lumber. By and large, these issues can be settled bilaterally with the United States. If any query remains after the Obama-Medvedev summit, it can be concluded at the G8 and G20 summits in Toronto that follow on June 26-27. Russia is the only member of the G8 or G20 outside the WTO.

The real obstacle is the lack of mutual trust. Russian trade negotiators fear that the Americans will raise new concerns after they think they have settled all the outstanding issues. A year ago, American negotiators were thrown off balance by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's assertion that Russia's customs union with Belarus and Kazakhstan had priority over its WTO accession, but Russia has now made clear that WTO entry comes first and should proceed on its own. Therefore, Russia's accession needs to be decided politically by the presidents, and the outstanding technicalities could then be sorted out in a few months.

Russia stands at a crossroads after the global financial crisis. The Kremlin is still shocked by Russia losing 8 percent of its GDP last year, more than any other G-20 nation, despite having the third-largest international currency reserves in the world. The economy is now recovering quickly, but Moscow faces the choice of opting for modernization and economic liberalization that would allow its well-educated labor force to thrive, or remaining a slow-growing and corrupt petrostate living on oil rents. (Russia's main gains from WTO accession will not be from enhanced market access, although Russian steel and chemicals exports will benefit. Instead, the greatest economic benefits are anticipated on the domestic market for services and greater attraction of foreign direct investment -- leading to improved competition at home.)

Medvedev speaks persistently about the need for modernization and control of corruption, which reached new heights when Putin was president. An invitation by Obama to integrate Russia fully into the world economy would be a noteworthy manifestation of improved relations. It would also mark the first significant trade policy achievement of the administration.

The United States still maintains the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, adopted in 1974 denying favorable trade status to Russia, citing its restrictions on the free emigration of Jews from the Soviet Union. The law, a relic of the Cold War, has no practical effect but is a serious irritant in relations between the two countries. And as a practical matter, if Jackson-Vanik remains in force, Russia would simply not apply WTO rules to the United States, perpetuating trade discrimination against American companies. Hence the amendment should be scrapped immediately after Russia joins.

Now is the right time for Obama and Medvedev to resolve the last obstacles on the way to Russian entry to the WTO. The resulting encouragement of Russia's modernization is very much in the interest of both countries. Russia urgently needs to modernize, and the United States, bogged down in Afghanistan and facing the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran, needs Russian cooperation more than ever.

C. Fred Bergsten is director and Anders Åslund a senior fellow of the Peterson Institute of International Economics.

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