The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- China leftists urge parliament not to expel Bo Xilai
- With 16 days to go, Obama and Romney neck and neck
- U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. due back at Mayo Clinic for more tests
| China leftists urge parliament not to expel Bo Xilai Posted: 21 Oct 2012 08:41 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) - A group of Chinese leftists has issued a public letter calling on the country's largely rubber stamp parliament not to expel disgraced former top leader Bo Xilai from its ranks, saying the move is legally questionable and politically motivated.
Stripping membership from Bo - the one-time Communist Party chief of Chongqing who is accused of abusing power, taking huge bribes and other crimes - also removes his immunity from prosecution, and paves the way for formal charges against him. Bo's ouster has exposed deep rifts in the party between his leftist backers, who are nostalgic for the revolutionary era of Mao Zedong, and reformers, who advocate for faster political and economic reforms. The letter, carried on the far-left Chinese-language website "Red China" and addressed to the parliament's standing committee, says the party is fuelling doubts about the accusations against Bo by refusing to discuss them publicly. "What is the reason provided for expelling Bo Xilai? Please investigate the facts and the evidence," says the letter. "Please announce to the people evidence that Bo Xilai will be able to defend himself in accordance with the law." Parliament and its members are there to provide oversight and make laws, not to "act as a rubber stamp" for attacks on people for personal reasons by political factions, it added. Since Bo was ousted in March, he has not been seen in public and has not been allowed to answer the accusations against him. At a news conference days before his removal, Bo rejected as "filth" and "nonsense" the then unspecified allegations against him and his family. The once high-flying Bo now faces a criminal investigation that stems from the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood in Chongqing last year. Bo will almost certainly be jailed, following the imprisonment of Bo's wife Gu Kailai and his former police chief Wang Lijun. The letter said there were still many doubts over the Heywood case, including how the defendants were allowed to defend themselves and the shortness of the two court cases. "Is this not a big joke we are playing on the world when we have been telling people left, right and centre that we are a country with rule of law?" "Red China", which has issued a torrent of commentary defending Bo, is blocked to the many Chinese users who do not know how to evade censorship barriers, and the letter is likely to fall on deaf ears in any case. Parliament's standing committee, its top decision making body, meets for three days from Wednesday and is expected to throw Bo out of parliament, removing another hurdle for the smooth handling of a generational leadership transfer kicking off at a key party congress next month. Bo, 63, was widely seen as pursuing a powerful spot in the new political line-up before his career unravelled after his former police chief fled to a U.S. consulate for more than 24 hours in February and alleged that Bo's wife Gu had poisoned Heywood to death. After his appointment as party chief of Chongqing in 2007, Bo, a former commerce minister, turned it into a showcase of revolution-inspired "red" culture and his policies for egalitarian, state-led growth. He also won national attention with a crackdown on organised crime. His brash self-promotion irked some leaders. But his populist ways and crime clean-up were welcomed by many of Chongqing's 30 million residents, as well as others who hoped that Bo could take his leftist-shaded policies nationwide. His likely trial could still stir that ideological contention. China's party-run courts rarely find in favour of defendants, especially in politically-sensitive cases. Copyright © 2012 Reuters | ||
| With 16 days to go, Obama and Romney neck and neck Posted: 21 Oct 2012 08:36 PM PDT DELRAY BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney were tied in a dead heat on Sunday with 16 days to go until the election, increasing the stakes for their third and final debate.
A NBC/Wall Street Journal poll had both Romney and Obama at 47 percent among likely voters, marking a comeback for the Republican since a series of missteps including the release of a secretly recorded video in which he suggested almost half of the electorate lives off government handouts. The squeaky tight nature of the race brings an air of unpredictability to the last, intense round of campaigning and raises the importance of the face-to-face encounter between the pair on Monday night in Boca Raton, Florida. Romney has been on a roll since soundly thrashing Obama at their first debate in Denver on October 3. The Democrat rebounded with a solid performance two weeks later in Hempstead, New York, but it wasn't enough to vault him back into a sizeable poll lead. Improving economic conditions, like a drop in the jobless number and signs of recovery in the housing market, have also failed to give the incumbent a safe cushion in the polls ahead of the November 6 election. Trying to putting a positive spin on the poll numbers, Obama aides said they felt good about their position in some of the battleground states where the election will be decided. Obama has been clinging to a small lead in all-important Ohio, for example, and early voting looks to be favouring the Democrats. "We feel we're even or ahead in these battleground states. If you look at the early voting that's going on around the country, it's very robust and it's very favourable to us. And we think that's a better indicator than these public polls, which are frankly all over the map," said Obama senior adviser David Axelrod on NBC's "Meet the Press." The final debate would seem to play more to Obama's strengths since it is focused on foreign policy. Obama gets credit for the U.S. mission that led to the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and for pulling troops out of Iraq. Romney's campaign has made the weak U.S. economy the central issue and he is not a foreign policy expert although he is now getting regular U.S. intelligence briefings. IRAN LEAK? The Romney side brought up a New York Times story on Saturday about possible one-on-one talks between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, accusing the Obama administration of engaging in national security leaks to the news media. "I don't know if it will be a big story. Both the White house and the Iranians have said it's not true. It sounds to me that it's another example of a national security leak from the White House, they've done a lot of that," said Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who plays Obama in mock debates to help Romney prepare. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a long-time Obama confidant, said the Obama policy toward Iran has paid off. "Iran is isolated from the rest of the world. Now that was steady, determined, dogged leadership, setting out a course," he told ABC's "This Week." Both Obama and Romney were locked in weekend debate preparations sessions - Romney in Delray Beach, and Obama at his Camp David, Maryland, presidential retreat. Romney emerged briefly to perform the coin toss for a beach football game between senior members of his staff and several reporters who cover his campaign. Huddling with his staff, Romney joked to them: "Figure out which of their players are the best and take them out early... Don't worry about injuries, guys. This counts. Win!" The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll said Obama still led Romney 49 percent to 44 percent among registered voters, but that this was down from a seven-point edge the president had among registered voters in late September. "I like what I see because the trend is in our direction ... that's where you want to be at this point in the campaign," said Portman. It was the latest poll showing Americans divided between giving Obama more time to fix the economy, or choosing a former business executive who argues he knows best how to create jobs. A Reuters/Ipsos online poll on Saturday showed Obama with a razor-thin lead, 46 percent to 45 percent. The margin had narrowed from Friday when he had a three-point lead. After Monday night's debate, Obama travels later in the week to battleground states of Iowa, Colorado, Nevada, Florida, Virginia and Ohio in a two-day campaigning blitz. (Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Deborah Zabarenko in Washington; Editing by Alistair Bell and Sandra Maler) Copyright © 2012 Reuters | ||
| U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. due back at Mayo Clinic for more tests Posted: 21 Oct 2012 08:14 PM PDT CHICAGO (Reuters) - Embattled U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., who is being treated for bipolar disorder, will return to the Mayo Clinic this week for a re-evaluation by his doctors, his father, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, said on Sunday.
The civil rights leader and former presidential candidate did not give a specific day when his son, a nine-term Illinois Democrat, would return to the clinic, or say whether he would be re-admitted to the facility. "That has not yet been determined. It's a re-evaluation of his status and that will then determine what should happen," the elder Jackson told Reuters. Congressman Jackson, 47, was treated for at least six weeks at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, this summer for bipolar disorder, a psychological condition marked by extreme mood swings, and has been on medical leave from the House of Representatives since June. Since leaving the hospital last month to continue his recovery at home in Washington, the lawmaker has been seeing two doctors a day and "struggling with his own desire to get back to his work, which ... seems to be premature if he does not have strength to handle that challenge," his father said. The younger Jackson made his first public statement about his absence in an automated "robocall" to constituents on Saturday, saying he was anxious to return to work. "But at this time, it's against medical advice. And while I will always give my all to my constituents, I ask you to continue with your patience as I work to get my health back," he said. Jackson's congressional office confirmed on Wednesday that he remains on the ballot for the November 6 election, which he is favoured to win. He has not been campaigning for the heavily Democratic Chicago-area seat he has held since 1995. In addition to his health issues, Jackson has been the subject of a congressional ethics committee probe over an alleged bribe offered by a Jackson supporter in 2008 to then Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The bribe was said to be intended to entice Blagojevich into appointing Jackson to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama. Jackson has admitted to lobbying for the seat, but denied knowing about any money offered to Blagojevich, who has since been convicted on corruption charges and imprisoned. According to news reports citing unnamed sources, Jackson is also under investigation by the FBI over possible misuse of campaign money. The FBI has not confirmed this. Jackson's Republican challenger, Brian Woodworth, urged voters to pray for Jackson's recovery but said the district needs to elect someone who can be a voice for constituents. His possible return to the Mayo Clinic shows "he is not getting better and it's another indication that says he's not going to be ready to serve, even when January comes around," Woodworth told Reuters. Repeated calls to Jackson's congressional and campaign representatives went unanswered. His father said he could not give a timeline on when Jackson would recover and get back to work. Copyright © 2012 Reuters |
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