Military spending rise is moderate
The State Council, or Chinese Cabinet, has proposed that the country's 2007 defense budget be increased by 17.8 percent year-on-year. It will be deliberated and approved by the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), which opens its last session today, NPC spokesman Jiang Enzhu said.
During the session, the top legislature will also discuss and decide on drafts of the property law, the corporate income tax law, and other important issues, Jiang, also a secretary-general of the meeting, told a press conference in
The proposed 350.9 billion yuan ($44.94 billion) defense spending accounts for 7.5 percent of the year's fiscal expenditure budget, a ratio similar to previous ones, which ranged between 7.3 percent and 7.7 percent in the 2004-06 period, he said.
Beijing Accelerates Its Military Spending
Jiang Enzhu, a spokesman for the National People’s Congress, the Communist Party-controlled national legislature, said
“We must increase our military budget, as it is important to national security,” Mr. Jiang said at a news conference. “
$100 laptop sports truly innovative UI
Interface, called Sugar, does away with traditioinal desktop
The so-called $100 laptop that's being designed for school children in developing nations is known for its bright green and white plastic shell, its power-generating hand crank, and for Nicholas Negroponte, the technology futurist who dreamed it up and who tirelessly promotes it everywhere from
What has not received much attention is the graphical user interface — the software that will be the face of the machine for the millions of children who will own it. In fact, the user interface, called Sugar, may turn out to be one of the more innovative aspects of a project that has already made breakthroughs in mesh networking and battery charging since Negroponte unveiled the concept two years ago.
Sugar offers a brand new approach to computing. Ever since the first Apple Macintosh was launched in 1984, the user interfaces of personal computers have been designed based on the same visual metaphor: the desktop. Sugar tosses out all of that like so much tattered baggage. Instead, an icon representing the individual occupies the center of the screen; "zoom" out like a telephoto lens and you see the user in relation to friends, and finally to all of the people in the village who are also on the network.
US should Recognise
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has been urged to recognise Pakistan’s legitimate interests in Afghanistan, such as its concerns about India, while remembering that it is an “article of faith” with Islamabad and part of its national security doctrine that the US is an “unreliable ally”.
In an extended testimony before the Senate Armed Service Committee on March 1, Barnett R Rubin of the Centre on International Cooperation,
Asian Marts, Jobs on Stocks' Radar
REUTERS
NEW YORK -- Licking their wounds after stiff losses, jittery investors will be looking for relief this week in the form of reassurance that the
They will nervously watch for news on how the Asian markets fare on Monday, with the Nikkei's drop to a seven-week low a sign that Wall Street could be in for a stomach-churning day. Last week's sharp sell-off began on Tuesday with the sharpest drop in
Early on Monday, the Nikkei was down 2.2 percent, or about 382 points, at 16,836.35, a seven-week low as investors remained wary after last week's global equities sell-off and the yen's strength gave them a reason to sell shares …
NAACP President Resigns after 19 Months
Gordon cited growing strain with board members over the group's management style and future operations.
"I believe that any organization that's going to be effective will only be effective if the board and the CEO are aligned and I don't think we are aligned," Gordon said. "This compromises the ability of the board to be as effective as it can be."
Kids in Libs' Sights Again
TEENAGERS could be jailed for six months if they disobey antisocial behaviour orders the Coalition says it will introduce if it wins power.
The Opposition Leader, Peter Debnam, said yesterday that under the plan youths could be prevented from going out at night, associating with certain people or visiting certain areas.
Once a troublesome youth was brought to the attention of a magistrate by police, the magistrate could impose the orders, similar to an apprehended violence order, even though the youth had not been charged with anything. Juveniles who breached the orders would face sentences of up to six months.
Flaherty to discuss ABM fees with bank execs
Automated banking machine fees will be under scrutiny Monday as federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty sits down with bank executives to discuss the charges.
The private meeting in
Flaherty has said his goal is to ensure competition and choice, after the issue was keyed up last month by NDP Leader Jack Layton.
Layton launched a scathing criticism of fees imposed on clients who withdraw money from their bank accounts at machines of other institutions, calling the levy of between $1.50 to $2.50 "very, very high and unfair."
