Taxi barrels..[ 1406 ]

Taxi barrels through Osaka's crowded Dotonbori district, injuring 7

Police inspect a taxi that plowed into a building after running into several pedestrians in Osaka on July 8, 2010. (Mainichi)

OSAKA -(Mainichi Japan) July 8, 2010- 

A taxi barreled through Osaka's bustling Dotonbori district at around 1:30 a.m. on July 8, hitting pedestrians and plowing into a restaurant information center, injuring seven.

According to Osaka police, the taxi's driver, 73-year-old Motoichi Makino, said, "The engine RPM suddenly shot up, and even when I pushed the brakes nothing happened." Police are investigating the cause.

Police say the taxi belonged to the company "Hato Taxi," located in nearby Sakai City. The taxi was heading south from the direction of Souemoncho, crossed the Dotonbori River on Tazaemon-bashi, a 4-meter wide pedestrian-only bridge, then continued straight and crashed into the first floor of the information center. In addition to the two women in the taxi, five pedestrians who were on or near the bridge sustained light injuries. One witness said the taxi was "going at about 60 kilometers per hour."

Makino reportedly told police, "About 20 meters north of the police box the engine suddenly revved up. I purposefully aimed for the railing of the bridge, but the car still wouldn't stop," and "about three days ago the car had the same problem, and I asked the company to repair it."

Hato Taxi, meanwhile, said, "We received a report from the driver and replaced the part that regulates engine revolutions. We are very sorry for the incident, but it is impossible that a maintenance error was the cause." They also said the driver has over 10 years of experience.

Click here for the original Japanese story

The IMF ib Global Recovery..[ 1405 ]

IMF warns on global recovery

By Alan Beattie, FT.com

July 8, 2010 -- Updated 0501 GMT (1301 HKT)

International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn looks on during the 'Long-Term Investments in the Age of Globalisation' conference at Accademia dei Lincei on June 17.

(FT) -- The risk of a slowdown in the global economic recovery has risen sharply, but governments should continue planning to tighten fiscal policy, the International Monetary Fund has said.

Updates to the IMF's regular world economic outlook and assessment of global financial conditions, released on Thursday, said jitters in financial markets in May and June threatened confidence and growth worldwide.

"In the near term, the main risk is an escalation of financial stress and contagion, prompted by rising concern over sovereign risk," the world economic outlook said.

"This could lead to additional increases in funding costs and weaker bank balance sheets and hence to tighter lending conditions, declining business and consumer confidence, and abrupt changes in relative exchange rates."

The IMF did not change its forecast for 2011, regarding these problems as a threat rather than a central projection. But it warned that the stress in financial markets would pose difficult challenges for policymakers.

"Potential downside economic risks and the strains in interbank and sovereign markets have complicated exits from the extraordinary fiscal, monetary and financial policies initiated some months ago," the report said. The fund was one of the first big economic institutions to call for fiscal stimulus to help the world economy ride the storm created by the credit crunch in 2007-2008.

But in recent months it has fallen into line with many others, including the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, in emphasising fiscal consolidation rather than keeping the public spending taps open.

"Most advanced economies do not need to tighten before 2011, because tightening sooner could undermine the fledgling recovery, but they should not add further stimulus," it said.

The IMF called for most governments in advanced economies to use monetary rather than fiscal policy as the "first line of defence" to any weakening in demand, in spite of the fact that interest rates across much of the industrialised world are near zero.

It also urged the European Central Bank to give stronger signals to the bond markets that it was prepared to intervene if necessary to boost liquidity.

China : Top Official executed..[ 1404 ]

China executes top Chongqing official for corruption

BBC.,  Wednesday, 7 July 2010 10:29 UK

 

The corruption scandal has involved dozens of officials in Chongqing

China has executed the top justice official in the city of Chongqing as part of a crackdown on corruption.

Wen Qiang, former director of the Chongqing Municipal Judicial Bureau, was the highest-ranking official charged in connection with the scandal.

He was convicted of accepting bribes, rape and shielding criminal gangs.

Dozens of officials have been prosecuted as part of the clampdown, initiated by Chongqing's Communist Party boss Bo Xilai.

Wen served as the huge municipality's deputy police chief for 16 years before becoming its top judicial official.

According to Xinhua news agency, he was convicted of taking more than 12m yuan ($1.76m, £1.16m) in bribes either in person or through his wife.

He also took bribes to protect five organised crime gangs and, in August 2007, raped a university student.

 

In May Wen lost an appeal against his death sentence, after the high court said the evidence against him was clear.

His wife and three of his associates were tried alongside him and jailed.

His sister-in-law, Xie Caiping, was also sentenced last year to 18 years in prison, for running illegal gambling dens.

To date more than 90 officials have been prosecuted as part of the high-profile crackdown, which began in the southern city in mid-2009.

It has increased the popularity of Bo Xilai, and is being seen by some as an attempt on his part to secure a spot in the governing politburo.

But despite this high-profile campaign corruption among officials remains widespread, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas in Beijing.

This worries China's leaders, who are seriously concerned that public anger at levels of corruption is undermining support for the Communist Party.

Moldovan wine has sanitary problems...?..[ 1403 ]

Moldovan wine should be used to paint fences - Russia's chief sanitary official

Russia's chief sanitary official Gennady Onishchenko

22:10 06/07/2010,,© RIA Novosti. Alexei Druzhinin

MOSCOW, July 6 (RIA Novosti) 

Russia's chief sanitary official said in a live radio interview with Ekho Moskvy on Tuesday that Moldovan wine should not be consumed and should be used to paint fences.

"Moldovan wine should be used to paint fences," Gennady Onishchenko said.

"It should not be consumed just in Russia (*) but also nowhere else as the product is not interesting," he continued.

Onishchenko said dangerous ingredients were found in 18 batches of Moldovan wine on June 30-July 2, 2010.

"The situation is that between June 30 and July 2, in 18 batches [of wine] or in 102,000 bottles of three companies we found dangerous ingredients such as dibutyl phthalate, which should not be in wine at all," Onishchenko said. "This indicates that during fermentation... the wine was kept in plastic containers," he continued. "And the second was the fungicide metalaxyl, which exceeded the limits."

Dibutyl phthalate is used as a plasticizer and is added to adhesives and printing inks. Metalaxyl is a fungicide used against root rot.

Russia, which previously imported 80% of all wine produced in Moldova, imposed an embargo on Moldovan imports in March 2006. The ban dealt a severe blow to the small, impoverished ex-Soviet nation's economy, bringing many winemaking enterprises close to bankruptcy.

The ban was introduced after tests revealed the presence of pesticides and heavy metals in Moldovan wine.

Russia resumed imports in 2007 of Moldovan wine, meat, as well as apples, grapes, tobacco, and sunflower seeds, following a resolution to some of the "quality issues," but imposed strict standards on imports.

In July 2009, Russia lifted all restrictions on the import of Moldovan wine and was even prepared to open extra custom points.
---------------------------------
( * ) : Russians are invited to  use the  Greek Wines , the real  "Nektar" of the gods.
* 

Russian Oil to USA....[ 1402 ]

Russia becoming major oil supplier to U.S. - WSJ

The increase in oil supplies is thanks to the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline system..

07:34 07/07/2010.© RIA Novosti. Igor Zarembo

MOSCOW, July 7 (RIA Novosti)

Russia is becoming a key oil supplier for the United States, the Wall Street Journal said Tuesday.

"Imports have gone from zero to an estimated 100,000 barrels a day in a matter of months since a pipeline bringing crude from deep inside Eastern Siberia came online," the newspaper wrote.

The paper said the increase in oil supplies is thanks to the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline system, which is designed to export Russian crude to the Asia-Pacific markets.

Amrita Sen, a commodities analyst for British investment bank Barclays Capital in London, said the United States is diversifying its oil sources because OPEC members, who "historically have been key suppliers to the U.S., are sending more of their oil to Asia."

She said production from other U.S. suppliers, like Mexico, is declining at "hefty" rates, and added that "Russian crude will be important."