Thursday, March 5, 2015

Six In The Morning Thursday March 5

South Korea US envoy Lippert 'well' after knife attack

6 minutes ago
From the sectionAsia

A militant Korean nationalist has slashed the face of the US ambassador to South Korea at a breakfast meeting in Seoul, but the envoy was not seriously hurt.

Mark Lippert, 42, was also cut on his left hand, with blood spattered over the breakfast table.

Security officers subdued the attacker, one pinning him down with a shoe on his neck, until he was arrested.

North Korea has described the attack as "just punishment for US warmongers".

South Korean police, who are in the process of obtaining warrants to search the attacker's home, are seeking to establish whether he has close ties with the North, the BBC's Stephen Evans reports from Seoul.

Mr Lippert had hospital treatment but later wrote in a tweet: "Doing well and in great spirits... Will be back ASAP to advance US-ROK [Republic of Korea] alliance!"

Indians defy ban on gang rape documentary 'India's Daughter' by watching and sharing film online

India’s Daughter, which was due to be aired on International Women’s Day, sparked outrage among India’s government when excepts of an interview with a rapist on death row were published ahead of the film’s release, leading to the banning of the film in India.

The film, commissioned by the BBC, which was due to be aired on International Women’s Day, had its airing date brought forward by the broadcaster in the UK and was shown last night.

It was uploaded onto YouTube on Wednesday night and has since been watched more than 300 times.

China's National People's Congress opens with lower growth forecast

China's National People's Congress has convened in Beijing. Though derided as a "rubber stamp" parliament by critics, some 3,000 delegates will meet to determine a host of policy matters over the next 11 days.

China's National People's Congress opened in Beijing Thursday with Premier Li Keqiang lowering the country's economic growth target to near seven percent.

Li's growth projection came at the beginning of the annual ceremonial meeting of the legislature to give final approval to major governmental changes.

China's economy expanded by 7.4 percent last year - the weakest growth in 24 years - missing the target of 7.5 percent announced at last year's Congress.

The lower forecast was expected by economists and reflects an extended slowdown in China after years of regular double-digit growth. Li also said China's annual inflation target would be "around three percent" - but that follows December's inflation low of under 1 percent, with economists warning of a risk of deflation.

Tomorrowland: How Silicon Valley Shapes Our Future

By Thomas Schulz

In the Silicon Valley, a new elite is forming that wants to determine not only what we consume, but also the way we live. They want to change the world, but they don't want to accept any rules. Do they need to be reined in?

The word on the street is that Travis Kalanick, founder and CEO of Uber, can be an asshole. He publicly insults the competition, mocks his own customers on Twitter and believes that politicians are incompetent. A top company executive even went so far as to suggest that journalists be spied on and Kalanick himself has said that it is as easy for him to seduce women as it is for others to call a taxi. In response to unhappy Uber drivers protesting poor pay, Kalanick predicted that they would soon be replaced by computers anyway.

Since December, Uber has been valued at $41 billion, not much less than Germany's largest financial institution, Deutsche Bank. It only took the company five years to spread from San Francisco to more than 260 cities in over 50 countries around the world. Every month, the company adds another couple of countries and a handful of cities to its portfolio.

Execution as spectacle: why the Bali nine duo were treated like the world's most dangerous men

March 5, 2015 - 8:31PM

Tom Allard

National Affairs Editor

ANALYSIS

The absurd display of military muscle during the transfer of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan to the site of their execution was as much about whipping up the nationalist fervour of Indonesians as sending any message to Australia.

Hundreds of masked and heavily armed security personnel took Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, reformed and compliant prisoners by all accounts, to Nusakambangan prison complex on Wednesday, shadowed by Sukhoi fighter jets equipped with missiles.

Meanwhile, on the same day, another drug smuggler, Zainal Abidin was transported in a small van.

The bizarre and disturbing spectacle is part of a trend, not just in the executions of drug felons, but of the presidency of Joko Widodo, widely known as Jokowi.

For refugees, Libya proves perilous stepping stone to new life in Europe (+video)

Libya is a key waystation for African and Middle Eastern refugees hoping to reach Italy. But for these teens, the country's chaos posed a final, potentially deadly challenge.

By Nick Squires, Correspondent

LAMPEDUSA, ITALY — For Merhawi Tesfatsion, the shores of Libya represented the stepping stone to a new life in Europe. But the haunted look in the 15-year-old's eyes attest to the horrors he experienced to reach them, traveling without any family from his home in Eritrea, then across the Sahara, and finally north to the Mediterranean.

From his home in Asmara, the Eritrean capital, he crossed into Ethiopia. After a short detention from which he escaped, he entered Sudan. “We went through the desert by truck, but also by walking,” he says.

Finally reaching southern Libya did not provide relief. "If the police or soldiers catch you, they send you back to the camp in Ethiopia," he says.

Ignoring Asia