In This Edition

 

?The Turkish military returns fire after a mortar bomb shot from Syria lands in southern Turkey.

 

?Preparations get underway across Venezuela ahead of Sunday's presidential elections.

 

?Around a thousand activists march in Lima to protest the possibility of a presidential pardon for former President Alberto Fujimori.

 

?And a Chinese business leader warns domestic firms would face more challenges than simply trade conflicts in their globalization effort.

 

 

Hot Issue Reports

 

?Turkish military return fire after mortar bomb shot from Syria

The Turkish military returned fire after a mortar bomb shot from Syria lands in southern Turkey.

 

It is the fourth day of Turkish strikes in retaliation for mortar bombs by Syrian forces that have killed five Turkish civilians.

 

A local resident says Syrian shells were landing very close to the Turkish village.

 

"Artillery shells and mortar rounds are hitting around 20 meters from the Turkish border. They are even firing at vehicles that are bringing wounded people here."

 

The latest strike came a day after Turkish Prime Minister called on Syria not to make a "fatal mistake" by testing its resolve.

 

Turkish artillery bombarded Syrian military targets on Wednesday and Thursday, killing several Syrian soldiers after Syria's initial fatal bombardment.

 

Damascus said the mortars landed in Turkey accidentally.

 

The strikes and counter-strikes have been the most serious cross-border violence so far in Syria's conflict.

 

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed alarm at the border tensions and warned that the risks of a region-wide conflict are increasing.

 

Also on Saturday, intense clashes are reported between Syrian rebels and the government forces across the border in Syria's Idlib province.

 

?Panetta says Karzai should be thankful to US war effort

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has rejected the Afghan President Hamid Karzai's recent criticism of the American war effort, saying it would be helpful if the Afghan leader expressed gratitude for the sacrifice of US military.

 

The remarks came a day after Karzai told a news conference in Kabul that the United States was playing a double game in his country by fighting the war in Afghan villages rather than going after those in Pakistan who support insurgents.

 

"Those lives were lost fighting the right enemy not the wrong enemy. I think it would be helpful if the President every once in a while expressed his thanks for the sacrifices that have been made by those who have fought and died for Afghanistan, rather than criticizing them."

 

Panetta also noted that 2,000 U.S. troops were among those who had been killed in the war, which has been spearheaded by the United States, NATO allies and the Afghanistan government.

 

Tensions between Washington and Kabul have risen in recent weeks, driven in part by an increase in attacks by Afghan troops on their U.S. and international counterparts as well as tensions over uncertainty about the coming withdrawal of international forces by the end of 2014.

 

 

?Pakistanis march against US drone attacks

Pakistan's cricketer-turned-politician, Imran Khan began a peace march from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad to South Waziristan on Saturday in protest against U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas.

 

Khan said he was hopeful for a big turnout despite security concerns.

 

"Remember there are peace activists who have come thousands of miles away. They are our guests, so the last thing we want is their life in danger. And the Taliban have not at any stage said they'll attack. All they said they won't provide security. Security was always going to be provided by the people of Waziristan."

 

Pakistani officials earlier said they had intelligence reports that militants might attack the rally and that the political administration did not have the capacity to provide security to thousands of participants at the event in Kotkai, where the rally is due to end.

 

Meanwhile, dozens of U.S. and British protesters marched in Pakistan's Islamabad on Friday. The group will be joining Khan's march to South Waziristan.

 

A report by Stanford Law School and New York University's School of Law in the US said American drone strikes in Pakistan have killed far more people than the United States has acknowledged.

 

Reports say more than 3000 people in Pakistan had lost their lives between June 2004 and mid-September 2012, including hundreds of civilians.

 

?Merkel warns EU is facing one of its most difficult economic experiences

German chancellor Angela Merkel warns the European Union is facing one of its most difficult economic experiences.

She made the remarks at the annual meeting of the youth wing of the Christian Democratic Union.

 

"We do accept certain risks, by giving guarantees for certain countries, in order to buy time for ourselves so those countries can rectify all the things that went wrong in their countries in the last past 10 years. That is a responsible approach, but still this is one of the most difficult situations, or maybe the most difficult that the European Union's ever had."

 

The German leader also said she understood the hardship countries like Greece or Spain faced with austerity measures, but she said these austerity measures are not imposed "to anger some people".

 

Merkel will travel to Athens next week for her first visit since the crisis began in late 2009.

 

The visit appears to signal Europe's most powerful leader has decided it is essential to keep Greece in the single currency area despite its repeated failure to meet fiscal targets and economic reform commitments under two bailout programs.

 

Merkel faces strong resistance in her own centre-right coalition against giving any further aid to Greece, depicted by rebel lawmakers as a bottomless pit.　

 

Greek unions are calling on everyone to show strong resistance in Athens and some people on the street said they expected a noisy reception.

 

?Preparations Underway for Venezuela Presidential Election

Preparations are underway across Venezuela ahead of Sunday's presidential elections.

 

Over 18 million Venezuelans will cast their votes to decide whether to give President Hugo Chavez another six-year term.

 

Chavez is facing Henrique Capriles, a rising political star who won a primary held by a coalition of opposition parties earlier this year.

 

Capriles is regarded as the strongest opposition contender that Chavez has faced in his nearly 14 years in office.

 

Leaders from other Latin America countries fear that a change in the presidency could end Chavez's Bolivarian ideals which provide favorable oil prices and financial assistance to regional allies.

 

Carlos Romero is the Bolivian Government Minister.

 

"We are convinced that President Chavez is going to continue his mandate with the immense backing of the Venezuelan people. It's also important to point out that this outcome doesn't just consolidate the Venezuelan process, but it also strengthens democracy in the region. Candidate Capriles' statements have signaled that there would be many issues with Bolivia that he would review if he became president."

 

Earlier, the center-left Capriles said he would look to undo some Chavez reforms including nationalizing the country's economy and reducing aid to allies.

 

He also promises jobs, a stronger infrastructure and an end to cronyism.

 

Some recent polls show Chavez with a lead of about 10 percentage points over Capriles, while others put the two candidates roughly even.

 

?Peru activiists protest presidential pardon for former President Alberto Fujimori

Around a thousand activists have marched in Lima to protest the possibility of a presidential pardon for former President Alberto Fujimori.

 

The former Peru president who is in poor health due to oral cancer is currently serving a 25 year prison sentence for corruption and human rights crimes.

 

His relatives call on President Ollanta Humala to grant the 74-year-old a pardon on humanitarian grounds.

 

Carmen Oyague is a protester whose daughter was kidnapped at gunpoint by a military squad in 1992.

 

"He shouldn't get out because that man not only killed my daughter, but he robbed the state. He must return all the money he stole and hand over the remains of the rest of the students."

 

It is reported that President Humala could grant a humanitarian pardon after a series of medical and judicial reviews.

The move might allow Humala to gain support in Congress from Fujimori's right-wing party, but anger Peruvians on the left who tried for years to unseat Fujimori.

 

Fujimori served as the country's president from 1990.

 

He is credited for opening Peru's economy to trade and foreign investment, enabling it to become one of the fastest-growing in Latin America.

 

He fled to Japan in 2000 amid a corruption scandal.

 

?Protest after 12,000 miners reportedly fired by Anglo American Platinum

Hundreds of miners marched through Rustenburg, South Africa, on Saturday, protesting at the news that 12-thousand of their colleagues at the Anglo-American platinum mines had been dismissed overnight.

 

The miners were fired for staging an unlawful strike that is one of several that are slowly paralyzing South Africa's crucial mining sector.

 

About 80-thousand miners, representing 16 percent of the country's mine workforce, are currently striking in a wave of work stoppages that have serious economic and political implications for South Africa.

 

Strike leader Gaddafi Mdoda warned on Saturday that Anglo American's actions would lead to serious repercussions.

 

"This is the division that Anglo is making between us the black people, us the working class. So bad things are going to happen and I am not sure if Anglo American and the leaders of the land in South Africa are going to take the responsibility of that blood that is going to be shed."

 

Miners at the Anglo platinum mine outside Rustenburg have been on strike for up to 5 weeks, demanding higher wages.

On Saturday, the miners began gathering at the Blesbok stadium just outside Rustenburg to discuss their reaction to the mass dismissals.

 

Despite recent violence around the stadium and a heavy police presence there on Saturday, there were no reports of violence on Saturday morning.

 

?US authorities identify more clinics to track down meningitis outbreak

US Health officials have identified about 75 medical clinics across the country to help track down patients who got steroid shots linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak.

 

Local health authorities report the tally from the outbreak rose to nearly 50 cases, and spread to seven US states.

The number of deaths remains at five.

 

Teresa Russell says her mother is a meningitis victim.

 

"She's in ICU , and she has headaches and she cannot eat, she cannot even take a sip of water and hold it down to take her medication orally - the medication she does have orally - and she has been sick for a very long time now - more than any person should have to go through."

 

All the outbreak patients had got shots of the steroid for back pain and inspectors found at least one sealed vial contaminated with fungus.

 

Once infected, it can take as long as a month for symptoms to appear.

 

Investigators have focused on a steroid custom-made by a specialty Massachusetts pharmacy as the source.

 

The company, which is now closed, said in a statement that despite the warning, "there is no indication of any potential issues with other products."

 

So far, over 17,000 single-dose vials of the steroid have been recalled.

 

?Chinese Telecom Companies Face Trade Conflict Rather Than Ideological Barriers

China's dominant telecommunications firms ZTE Corporation and Huawei Technologies Company have recently been before several US congressional hearings regarding alleged Chinese spy threats to the US telecommunications infrastructure.

 

However, an expert has pointed out it's not new at all for a Chinese company to come under fire in the US due to trade conflicts. Meanwhile, the top management of ZTE Corporation has said that domestic businesses would face more challenges than simply trade conflicts in their globalization process.

 

?China Opens up Civil Aviation Market, Pushing Airlines to Improve Service

The Civil Aviation Administration of China is easing its regulations beginning from October 1, allowing international airlines to use global distribution systems to distribute air fare to travel agents in China. This move could break the monopoly enjoyed by the State-owned Travel Sky Technology Ltd. What does the new policy indicate and how would it impact domestic airline companies?

 

 

?Animation industry in Shenzhen

As one of the main animation bases in China, Shenzhen is home to more than 500 enterprises in the industry.

 

But these enterprises have experienced ups and downs, and even a make-or-break period, over the past 20 years of the market economy.