Written By Unknown on Senin, 13 April 2015 | 18.19
There have been angry scenes in Hong Kong during protests against mainland shopping tourists
China is to stop issuing multiple entry Hong Kong visas to residents of Shenzhen, state media reports.
The move is an attempt by Beijing to ease growing anger in Hong Kong over shopping trips by mainlanders who are take advantage of lower taxes.
Shenzhen residents will now only be able to enter Hong Kong once per week, and stay for no longer than a week.
Hong Kong officials say 47 million visits were made in 2014 by mainland Chinese people.
About a tenth of those visits were by people who entered Hong Kong more than once a week, a large proportion of them Shenzhen residents holding multiple entry visas.
Many of the visitors buy up household goods in bulk to resell across the border - as Hong Kong does not charge sales tax - despite this being illegal.
There have been angry protests in recent months over this so-called parallel trading, occasionally resulting in scuffles in shopping malls close to the border.
Mainlanders take advantage of lower taxes in Hong Kong and better quality of produce
China's Xinhua news agency, citing the ministry of security, said on Monday that the new rules applied immediately.
It said the decision had been made because of concerns that Hong Kong was struggling to cope with the huge numbers of tourists.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive CY Leung welcomed the move, saying he had raised the issue with Beijing in June.
Chief Executive CY Leung has been under pressure from Hong Kongers to address parallel trading
Mainlanders have to get permission from their government to enter Hong Kong.
Mr Leung warned that existing visas would remain valid, meaning it could take some time for the effect of the change to be seen.
He also cautioned that the "unruly protests" seen in towns close to the border had actually hampered the discussions and "hurt the feelings between the people of Hong Kong and the mainland", the South China Morning Post reports.
Parallel trading has been a key factor in the growing anti-mainland sentiment in Hong Kong.
There is huge demand in China for household items from Hong Kong, in particular milk powder, as they are seen as being both cheaper and better quality.
Hong Kongers say this trade pushes up costs and causes huge delays at border crossings, while also complaining about poor behaviour from mainlanders.
The authorities on both sides of the border routinely arrest people caught smuggling and crack down on commercial operators, but locals have long demanded more decisive action.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has set out for a tour of key states, at the start of her campaign to become the first woman US president.
She is taking a road trip to meet small groups of voters in Iowa, having announced her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination on Sunday.
She had been expected to declare her candidacy for months.
Mrs Clinton ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 but lost to Barack Obama.
'Listening tour'
A few hours into her journey from New York to Iowa, Mrs Clinton tweeted: "Road trip! Loaded the van & set off for IA. Met a great family when we stopped this afternoon. Many more to come. -H."
Mrs Clinton is expected to officially kick off her campaign with a rally in mid-May
Mrs Clinton's team said she would spend the next few weeks building up grassroots support in the early Democratic primary states.
Her first rally, to officially kick off her campaign, is not expected until mid-May. But her trip to Iowa is to be a "listening tour" where Mrs Clinton will meet voters at low-key events.
Later this week, she is expected to meet groups of students, teachers and small business owners.
"Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times," she said, "but the deck is still stacked in favour of those at the top.
She added that she wanted to be a champion for "everyday Americans".
The video features a number of Americans talking about their hopes and aspirations.
Analysis: Gary O'Donoghue, BBC News, Des Moines, Iowa
The launch of Hillary Clinton's campaign for the presidency was meant to be low-key. It was meant to reflect the idea that it was all about ordinary Americans and the everyday concerns of the middle class.
But whether she likes it or not, Mrs Clinton is a huge name in politics and reinventing herself as the embodiment of change won't be easy.
True, she is unlikely to face any stiff competition from her own side for the nomination, but Republicans have been unrelenting in their attacks on her and that will only increase.
She will also have to find a convincing vision for America that will capture the imagination of the voters. Elections are usually about the future and Mrs Clinton has to prove that she's not all about the past.
Mrs Clinton, 67, has already had the backing of Mr Obama, who said on Saturday that she would make an "excellent president".
But the attacks from Republicans have already started.
Jeb Bush, former Florida Governor and brother of George W Bush who expected to stand as a Republican candidate, tweeted: "We must do better than Hillary."
In his own online video on Sunday, he focused on foreign policy, saying: "We must do better than the Obama-Clinton foreign policy that has damaged relationships with our allies and emboldened our enemies."
Another Republican presidential contender. Rand Paul, also criticised Mrs Clinton for her handling of a September 2012 attack on a US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in which the US ambassador was among those killed.
He also said questions remained about funds received by a charity set up by Mr and Mrs Clinton.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio is expected to announce his candidacy for his party's nomination at an event in Miami later on Monday.
Guenter Grass was one of the most significant German writers of the 20th Century
Guenter Grass, German Nobel literature prize winner and author of The Tin Drum, has died aged 87.
His publisher said he passed away at a clinic in the city of Luebeck.
Born in what was then Danzig, Grass served in the German military in World War Two and published his breakthrough anti-Nazi novel, The Tin Drum, in 1959.
Later in life he became a vocal opponent of German reunification in 1990, and argued afterwards that it had been carried out too hastily.
Grass's home town became the Polish city of Gdansk after the war; he spent much of his later life living near Luebeck.
Many of his writings focussed on the Nazi era, the horrors of the war, and the destruction and guilt that remained after Germany's defeat.
Germans were shocked when he revealed in his 2006 memoir Skinning the Onion that as a teenager he had volunteered to join the army and had served in the Waffen-SS.
Previous accounts of his life had suggested he had been an anti-aircraft gunner and had been conscripted into the military.
After the war he spent months in an American prisoner of war camp.
Grass went on to train as a stonemason and then studied sculpture, and he remained active in the visual arts. His first book of poetry was published in 1956.
The author was awarded the Nobel prize for literature in 1999, for portraying "the forgotten face of history".
Praising The Tin Drum, The Nobel committee said that it was "as if German literature had been granted a new beginning after decades of linguistic and moral destruction".
Last week, Ms Le Pen accused her father of committing "political suicide"
The founder of the French National Front, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has said he is pulling out of regional elections amid a row with his daughter.
Marine Le Pen, who now leads the far-right party, condemned her father for his recently repeated claims Nazi gas chambers were a "detail of history".
He told the Figaro he would not be standing in the south-eastern Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur (Paca) region .
But he said he thought he was "the best candidate for the National Front".
Opinion polls suggest Marine Le Pen is likely to make it to the second round of 2017 presidential elections, although she is not predicted to win.
The National Front also made significant gains in local elections last month, polling 25% of votes in the first round.
'Wise move'
Mr Le Pen said his 25-year-old granddaughter Marion Marechal-Le Pen - Ms Le Pen's niece - would be the best person to stand in his place.
"If she accepts, I think she would head a very good list [of candidates]. She is certainly the best, I am not going to say after me, but she is," he told the newspaper's weekly magazine.
Mr Le Pen, who is honorary president of the party, is to publish a statement later on Monday to confirm his intentions regarding the election, the newspaper reports.
Analysis: Lucy Williamson, BBC News, Paris
It is the Greek drama of French politics; the political family, so long attacked from outside, now turning on each other in the full glare of public life.
Whether or not it will prove to be full political parricide is still unknown, but the announcement by Jean-Marie Le Pen that he is withdrawing his candidacy from December's polls is, at the very least, an acknowledgement that his place in the party he founded is not what it was.
But Jean-Marie's influence has long been on the wane. Despite being honorary president of the party, decisions on its direction and personnel are made without him, and a poll this month by Odoxa found that almost 90% of Front National supporters believe it is time for Jean-Marie to withdraw from political life.
The poll also suggests that the party's image would be vastly improved if he were to be ejected. But the question for his daughter now is whether the electoral benefits of political parricide will outweigh the impact of a public feud.
Whatever his future role in the Front National might be, Jean-Marie Le Pen has never been one for keeping his views to himself.
He is currently an MEP and a regional councillor for the Paca region.
The party's deputy, Florian Philippot, described Mr Le Pen's decision as as a "wise" one.
Ms Le Pen has tried to rid the party of its racist image, the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Paris reports.
Last week's defence by Mr Le Pen of his description of the Holocaust as "a detail" of World War Two prompted Ms Le Pen to say she would block his candidacy in the December polls and to demand that his role in the party be discussed at a meeting of party executives on Friday.
Mr Le Pen also gave a couple of interviews earlier this month in which he said the French wartime leader Marshal Petain, who collaborated with the Nazis, was unfairly maligned.
He went on to say that France was governed by immigrants - singling out Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who is of Spanish heritage - and that France needed an alliance with Russia to save the "world of the whites".
Marine Le Pen is widely expected to run for president in 2017.
Jean-Marie Le Pen: Career controversy
1987: First makes his infamous remarks describing the Holocaust as a "detail of history"
1997: Assaults rival Annette Peulvast-Bergeal during parliamentary election campaign
2006: One of many convictions for inciting racial hatred over inflammatory remarks about France's Muslim population
2007: Tells Le Monde newspaper "you can't dispute the inequality of the races"
2015: Repeats views on the Holocaust, prompting Marine Le Pen to accuse him of trying to "rescue himself from obscurity"
Written By Unknown on Minggu, 12 April 2015 | 18.19
The Australian government has announced that it intends to stop welfare payments to parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.
The "no jab, no pay" policy may cost parents more than A$11,000 a year per child in lost benefit payments.
Families with children not immunised have been able to receive childcare cash if they have a philosophical or religious objection to vaccines.
PM Tony Abbott said that the rules would soon be substantially tightened.
He said that there would only be a small number of religious and medical exceptions to the new rules - supported by the Labor opposition and due to come into effect in early 2016.
The prime minister refused to say in detail how much money the initiative would save.
"It's a very important public health announcement, it's a very important measure to keep our children and our families as safe as possible," ABC News quoted him as saying.
The prime minister said that his government was "extremely concerned" about the risks posed to the rest of the population by families who chose not to immunise their children.
"The choice... is not supported by public policy or medical research nor should such action be supported by taxpayers in the form of child care payments," Mr Abbott said in a joint statement with Social Services Minister Scott Morrison.
Anti-vaccination campaigns have been gaining ground in some Western countries in recent years - coinciding with a resurgence in preventable childhood diseases like measles.
The campaigners say that some vaccines against deadly diseases are dangerous. An online petition against compulsory vaccinations - with more than 3,000 signatures over the last five days - states that Australian parents have the right to make "an uncoerced choice".
The government estimates that about 39,000 children aged under seven have not been vaccinated because of the objections of their parents.
Mr Morrison said that no mainstream religions have registered objections to the proposals with the government.
Richie Benaud is said to have wanted a very private funeral
The family of the late former Australian cricket captain and legendary cricket commentator Richie Benaud has rejected Australian PM Tony Abbott's proposal for a state funeral.
His widow Daphne phoned the PM's office on Saturday to "kindly decline" the offer, Mr Abbott said.
The commentator himself had wished for "something very, very quiet and very, very private", he added.
Benaud, 84, is said to have died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday.
He will be remembered in a private funeral attended only by his immediate family, Australian media reported.
Mr Abbott told reporters on Sunday: "I thought it was important that as a mark of the respect that we have long had for him that we should offer a state funeral.
"But my understanding is that Richie's own wishes were for something very, very quiet, and something very, very private."
A pioneering leg-spin bowler, Benaud played in 63 Tests, 28 as captain, before retiring in 1964 to pursue a career in journalism and broadcasting including a long association with the BBC.
His final commentary in England came during the 2005 Ashes series, but he continued to work for Channel Nine in Australia until 2013.
Cricket Australia chairman Wally Edwards described Benaud as "the iconic voice of our summer".
US President Barack Obama has said his meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro will help both countries "turn the page" after decades of hostility.
He described the meeting on the fringes of the Summit of the Americas in Panama as "candid and fruitful".
Mr Obama said that the former foes would continue to have differences but could advance mutual interests.
The meeting was the first formal talks between the two countries' leaders in more than half a century.
"What we have both concluded is that we can disagree with a spirit of respect and civility," said President Obama. "Over time, it is possible for us to turn the page and develop a new relationship between our two countries."
His remarks came at the end of a regional summit which has been dominated by the historic thaw between US-Cuba relations.
'Forgiveness'
Cuban leader Raul Castro said that the two countries had "agreed to disagree" when necessary.
"We are disposed to talk about everything, with patience," he said. "Some things we will agree with, and others we won't."
Earlier, the Cuban leader referred to Mr Obama as an "honest man" after a lengthy speech largely taken up with the history of the relationship between the US and Cuba.
"When I talk about the revolution, the passion oozes out of me," the Cuban leader said. "I have to ask President Obama for forgiveness. He is not responsible for the things which happened before his time."
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff hailed the reconciliation between the US and Cuba as a courageous effort
Latin American and Caribbean leaders at the summit in Panama have welcomed the reconciliation.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff hailed it as a courageous effort to end the last vestiges of the Cold War, which she said had caused great damage in the hemisphere.
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina gave the main credit to Cuba, saying it had fought with unprecedented dignity against the US blockade.
At the scene: Vanessa Buschschluter, BBC News, Panama City
This summit was always going to be about the interaction between President Obama and Raul Castro.
The White House had hinted that they were interested in a one-to-one meeting although none had been officially scheduled.
In the end, it took place in a small nondescript room in a Panama City conference centre.
The two leaders did not look exactly at ease, sitting on small chairs slightly angled towards each other, but their tone was cordial.
Mr Obama called the meeting "historic". Mr Castro said he would continue taking steps to normalise relations between the two former foes.
The meeting was in essence symbolic. With the cameras flashing away, no decisions were made.
But its message was clear: we have our differences, but we can do business with each other.
The US broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1959 after Fidel Castro and his brother Raul led a revolution toppling US-backed President Fulgencio Batista. The Castros established a revolutionary socialist state with close ties to the Soviet Union.
Mr Castro has called for the lifting of the US economic blockade on Cuba and the country's removal from Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism.
For Washington, political reform and human rights in Cuba are key issues. Mr Obama is expected to remove Cuba from the terrorism list in the coming days.
The Summit of the Americas brings together the leaders of North, Central and South America. This, the seventh, is the first which Cuba attended.
Attempts to improve relations between the US and Cuba began in December when Mr Obama declared Washington's approach "outdated".
This seventh summit was the first in which all 35 nations were represented
As US ties with Cuba improve, those between Venezuela and Washington remain fractious.
The US imposed sanctions last month on a group of Venezuelan officials it accuses of human rights abuses. Mr Obama also issued an executive order declaring Venezuela a threat to US national security.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has described the order as "disproportionate".
President Maduro spoke briefly at the summit to President Obama, who stressed that the US was interested in supporting and not threatening Venezuela.
The Venezuelan leader disputed that view, but according to a tweet from one of his aides "there was a lot of truth, respect and cordiality" during the short conversation.
Mr Obama told President Maduro that the US is interested in supporting and not threatening Venezuela
The summit also highlighted differences between President Rafael Correa of Ecuador and the US.
Mr Correa said the US had failed to live up to its ideals: "Let's talk about human rights. In Ecuador we don't have torture, the death penalty or extrajudicial renditions."
In response, Mr Obama said the US does not claim to be perfect. "We make a claim to being open to change," he said.
Pope Francis has used the word "genocide" to describe mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman rule in WW1 100 years ago, at a Vatican church service.
Armenia and many historians say up to 1.5 million people were systematically killed by Ottoman forces in 1915.
But the Pope's statement is expected to anger Turkey, which has consistently denied that the killings were genocide.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan attended the service, to honour a 10th century Armenian mystic.
The dispute has continued to sour relations between Armenia and Turkey.
'Bleeding wound'
The Pope first used the word genocide for the killings two years ago, prompting a fierce protest from Turkey.
At Sunday's Mass in the Armenian Catholic rite at Peter's Basilica, he said that humanity had lived through "three massive and unprecedented tragedies" in the last century.
"The first, which is widely considered 'the first genocide of the 20th Century', struck your own Armenian people," he said, in a form of words used by a declaration by Pope John Paul II in 2001.
Analysis: David Willey, BBC News, Rome
The Pope was perfectly conscious that by using the word "genocide" he would offend Turkey, which considers the number of deaths of Armenians during the extinction of the Ottoman Empire exaggerated, and continues to deny the extent of the massacre.
But the Pope's powerful phrase "concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to bleed without bandaging it" extended his condemnation to all other, more recent, mass killings, including those in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia and today's massacres by Islamic State.
Pope Francis' focus today on Armenia, the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion, even before the conversion of the Roman Emperor Constantine, serves as yet another reminder of the Catholic Church's widely spread roots in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. More than 20 local Eastern Catholic Churches, including that of Armenia, remain in communion with Rome.
Pope Francis also referred to the crimes "perpetrated by Nazism and Stalinism" and said other genocides had followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Burundi and Bosnia.
He said it was his duty to honour the memories of those who were killed.
"Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it," the Pope added.
Many members of the Armenian clergy were at the ceremony Turkey rejects the use of the term "genocide" to describe the 1915 mass killings of Armenians
On Sunday, Pope Francis also honoured the 10th Century mystic St Gregory of Narek by declaring him a doctor of the church. Only 35 people have been given the title, reports AP.
Armenia marks the date of 24 April 1915 as the start of the mass killings. The country has long campaigned for greater recognition of what it regards as a genocide.
'Political conflict'
In 2014, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered condolences to the grandchildren of all the Armenians who lost their lives for the first time.
But he also said that it was inadmissible for Armenia to turn the issue "into a matter of political conflict".
Armenia says up to 1.5 million people died in 1915-16 as the Ottoman empire split. Turkey has said the number of deaths was much smaller.
Most non-Turkish scholars of the events regard them as genocide. Among the other states which formally recognise them as genocide are Argentina, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Russia and Uruguay.
Turkey maintains that many of the dead were killed in clashes during World War I, and that ethnic Turks also suffered in the conflict.
Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 11 April 2015 | 18.19
At least three labourers were wounded in the attack
At least 20 workers accused of working on an army-backed dam construction site in the south-western Pakistani province of Balochistan have been shot dead by a large group of gunmen, officials say.
Police say that the gunmen overpowered eight security guards, and shot the labourers on Friday night.
A separatist group said it was responsible for the attack.
Taliban militants, Baloch separatists and other groups fight in the Balochistan region, which borders Iran.
The separatist Balochistan Liberation Front said it carried out the attack. A spokesperson told the BBC that the target was the Pakistani army and those working for its construction projects in the province.
Police told Pakistani media that the attack appears to have been an act of targeted killing - all the dead were from outside Balochistan. The attackers fled on motorcycles. At least three labourers were wounded.
The security forces maintain a heavy presence in parts of Balochistan A low-level insurgency has been fought in Balochistan for much of the last decade
The attack took place near the south-western town of Turbat, police say, which is considered to be one of the restive areas of Balochistan. It is also the home town of the chief minister.
Senior Balochistan official Akbar Hussain Durran told the AFP news agency that the labourers were lined up and shot at point blank range after identifying themselves.
He said that paramilitary troops guarding the labourers fled when confronted by such a large number of armed attackers.
The Pakistani security forces are often targeted by separatists who accuse them of persecuting Baloch nationalists. Rights groups have also accused government forces of arbitrary killings, torture and enforced disappearances.
The army argues that it is fighting to keep Pakistan together.
Both the military and the insurgents - who want a greater share of revenue from the province's substantial gas and mineral resources as well as more autonomy - deny human right abuses.
Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said that paramilitary Frontier Corps troops were searching in the nearby mountains for the attackers.
"We will chase them down and bring them to justice," Mr Bugti said. "We need help in this war against terrorists. Alone, we cannot fight."
The vehicle was parked in the basement of a shopping mall
Seven people have suffered minor injuries on the popular tourist island of Koh Samui in Thailand after a vehicle exploded, local media say.
The explosion happened at about 23:30 local time (16:30 GMT) in the Central Festival shopping mall.
Six Thais and a 12-year-old Italian girl suffered injuries.
Local officials believe the vehicle may have been brought to Koh Samui from one of three southern Thai provinces where Islamist militants operate.
However, officials say the exact provenance of the vehicle has yet to be established.
"The authorities are still investigating the scene to find out more details before linking it to any insurgency groups,'' said the island's disaster prevention chief Poonsak Sophonpathumrak told the Associated Press.
There were reports of other fires starting nearby at a shopping centre and convenience shop at the same time as the explosion.
The Samui Times said those injured have been treated for shrapnel wounds and shock.
Poonsak Sophonpathumrak said the bomb went off after a fashion show in the basement of the mall near the popular Chaweng beach.
He said a number of vehicles had been damaged.
Koh Samui is in Surat Thani province, further north from the three provinces which have seen repeated Islamist violence since 2004.
More than 5,000 people have been killed since the Islamic insurgency began, seeking more autonomy for the ethnically-Malay region.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha ordered security in the capital, Bangkok, to be ramped up in February after two bomb blasts outside a luxury shopping centre injured one person.
Koh Samui, one of the country's top island destinations for tourists, has not been a target of militant attacks in the past.
