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03/19/13 - Prensa Latina (Habana) - DIRECT FROM HAVANA, PM

LATIN AMERICAN NEWS AGENCY, SA
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Evening Transmission
Tuesday, March 19, 2012
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CUBA NEWS
Reflections by Fidel Castro on Environment to Be Launched in France
Diaz-Canel Presides over Cuban Delegation to Pope's Enthronement
Digital TV on Debate at International Fair Informatica 2013 in Cuba
Cuban Dams with Favorable Water Level despite Dry Season
Santiago de Cuba Hosts Int'l Trova Festival

LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN STORIES
Venezuelan Book Fair Aimed to the People
Spanish Isabel Pantoja to Sing in Dominican Republic
Heavy Rains Leave Some 50,000 Victims in Colombian City
New Economic Measures for Increasing Production in Venezuela
Bolivian Chilling Data on the Treatment of Women
Social Inclusion Stands Out in Venezuelan Government Management
New Anti-smoking Campaign Launched in Uruguay
Rains Keep Mountainous Area of Rio de Janeiro at Standstill
Colombia Presents Candidacy for Soccer World Cup
New President Elected in Trinidad and Tobago

OTHER INTERNATIONAL STORIES
British Teachers Announce Series of Strikes
Baghdad: Attack Death Toll Reaches 23
Beijing Imperial Palace Protected with Mondays half-day Closure
Syria Denounces the Use of Chemical Weapons by Insurgents
Mortar Strikes Near Telecommunications Company in Damascus
State Bank of Vietnam Takes Steps towards Real Estate Recuperation
Russia Ranks Second in Arms Exports
Marine Cooperation Project Between African Countries Highlighted
Pope Francis Enthroned at Vatican
Uncertain Vote in Cypriot Parliament on Rescue Program
Pope Francis Posts Two Tweets after Inaugural Mass
Qatar Company Begins Reconstruction in Gaza Strip
Okinawa Rejects U.S. Base Relocation in its Territory
Russia Demands Clarification over US Missiles
Asia-Pacific Countries Discuss Waste Management

FULL STORIES
CUBA NEWS
 Reflections by Fidel Castro on Environment to Be Launched in France

Paris, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The book  ó El derecho de la humanidad a existir ó  (Humanity's Right to Exist), a compilation of reflections on the environment by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, will be launched this week in France during a solidarity meeting.

 The text will reach readers thanks to the France Cuba partnership and the Bruno Leprince publisher.

  ó The protection of nature and natural resources, as a model for sustainable development, is a longstanding and strong concern of Fidel Castro in many of his speeches, and more recently in reflections published in the Cuban press as of 2007, ó  the publisher says.

 This book will be launched on Saturday, March 23, at a meeting in the town of Bagnolet, adjacent to Paris, with the participation of representatives from all organizations in solidarity with Cuba, Noslen Ocaña, Third Secretary of the Embassy in France, told Prensa Latina.

 Elio Gamez, Vice President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, will attend the event.

 According to the meeting's agenda, the documentary  ó Fidel Castro, caudal de rio, ó  by Mundo Latino, will be screened. It recalls the participation of the leader of the Cuban Revolution at the 1992 World Summit on the Environment.

 The book will also be launched in the city of Bordeaux during the Left Party Congress, intellectual Hernando Calvo Ospina said.

 sc/sa/iff/car 

Diaz-Canel Presides over Cuban Delegation to Pope's Enthronement

Havana, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) Cuba's First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel presides over his country's delegation attending Pope Francis' enthronement, a ceremony held today at the Vatican.

 Diaz-Canel is accompanied by Council of State secretary Homero Acosta, First Deputy Foreign Minister Marcelino Medina, and, Cuba's ambassador to the Vatican State Eduardo Delgado.

 The enthronement of Pope Francis, named 266th in the history of the Catholic Church and the first from Latin America (Argentina), took place in Saint Peter ó s Square.

 sc/iff/wmr 

Digital TV on Debate at International Fair Informatica 2013 in Cuba

Havana, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) A conference on digital television and the opening of the First Forum about the issue stand today at the 15th International Convention and Fair Informatica 2013, being held in this capital.

 The meeting that opened yesterday with the participation of delegates from more than 30 countries, includes today the conference entitled  ó The usability as quality attribute for Digital TV. ó  

The paper  ó Internet in Latin America and the Caribbean: development and challenges, ó  and  ó The 6th Workshop of Quality on Information Technologies and Communication, ó  starting today, are also on the list.

 Parallel to the meeting is the 4th Symposium on Informatics and Community, and the 15th International Congress of Informatics in Education, the 9th Congress on Health Informatics, and the 6th Congress on Technologies, Multimedia Contents and Virtual Reality.

 Also included is the 3rd Business Forum and Business Roundtable at the Pabexpo fairgrounds in Havana.

 After opening Informatica 2013, to be run until Friday, March 22, Deputy Communications Minister Jorge Luis Perdomo said Cuba seeks to carry out its own conception in using those technologies for development.

 At the Havana's Conference Center, the deputy minister criticized the reactionary forces at the service of neoliberalism that pretend to impose consumption patterns and ways of using these technologies that "are alien to our realities." 

He stated that the scientific program of the event includes 89 lectures, 10 of them will be taught by relevant figures from the world of information technology.

 There will also be 17 roundtables discussions, and 1,290 papers organized in 82 thematic panels.

 The exhibition fair, a space to display projects, technologies, products and services related to automatics, telecommunications, electronics and informatics and its applications, will consist of 38 national and 35 foreign entities, the official said.


Cuban Dams with Favorable Water Level despite Dry Season

Havana, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) Cuban dams are at 70 percent of its total capacity, level considered favorable for the period of low rainfall on the island, according to reports cited by the press today.

 Data from the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources state that the Caribbean country's dams store 6,393 million cubic meters of water, also representing 67.3 percent of usable capacity.

 Of 100 underground basins and subsections controlled by that entity, 95 of them are at normal levels, four are in unfavorable condition, and one in critical phase, that institution told Granma newspaper.

 The information states that this volume surpasses more than 835 million cubic meters of water stored on the same period last year, and it is above the historical average for the time in about 727 millions.

 The rains in the current dry season, which runs until April, decreased the accumulation of water lower than planned, registering an average of 119.5 milliliters, equivalent to 59 percent, between November and February.

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Santiago de Cuba Hosts Int'l Trova Festival

Santiago de Cuba, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The Pepe Sanchez International Trova Festival begins in this eastern city today with a tribute to distinguished musicians of that genre at the Santa Ifigenia cemetery.

 On the Day of the Troubadour, as a tribute to the birth in 1856 of the tailor turned artist Jose (Pepe) Sanchez, gets this tribute to him and Miguel Matamoros, Sindo Garay, Nico Saquito, Francisco Repilado (known as Compay Segundo) and Pepe Banderas, among others.

 Prior to the opening at the Cespedes Park tonight, Eliades Ochoa and his group Patria will perform at the "Trova" music house in this city, considered the main center of that gender of the Cuban popular music.

 Together with Cuban musicians, this 51st edition includes artists from Ecuador, Japan, Argentina, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, including Sonia Silvestre, a deep-rooted outstanding singer in Cuba.

 In the re-opening of the headquarters of the Orfeon Santiago chorus, there will be a panel on the presence and significance of trova in choral music, in addition of the screening of the documentary  ó El canto ó  es la vida ó  (Song ... is life) by Richard Abella, about National Music prizewinner Electo Silva.

 The books  ó Como la rosa como el perfume ó  (Like a rose, like a perfume) by Lino Betancourt and Eduardo Ramos,  ó Sindo Garay, memoria de un trovador ó  (Sindo Garay, a troubadour memory) by Carmela Leon, and  ó Trio Matamoros. Treinta y cinco años de vida artística ó  (Trio Matamoros. Thirty-five years of artistic life) will be launched during this event.

 sc/iff/mca 


LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN STORIES
 Venezuelan Book Fair Aimed to the People

Caracas, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The 11th edition of the International Book Fair (Filven) scheduled for next March 20, is aimed to fulfil the interest of Venezuelan people through its diversity in its proposals, informed the organizing committee.

 According to Christian Valles,, President of the National Book Center (Cenal), the Fair was attended by more than 108.000 people from March 13 to 17.

 The figure exceeded the one foreseen, which was 70.000 people.

 As an example Valles mentioned that only in Sunday, the Children Hall hosted almost 10.000 children and teenagers.

 At the hall of the Ministry of Culture, the number of books sold exceeded the 40.000 copies, along with films, records and magazines.

 Valles also mentioned that the show will be rescheduled in other states, taking into account the delay due to the death of President Hugo Chavez.

 sgl/ef/ycf/lac/mem 

Spanish Isabel Pantoja to Sing in Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) Spanish singer Isabel Pantoja return to the Dominican stage on May 24 and 25 after 20 years of absence, reported newspaper reports today.

 According to reports, the show "Asi es la Vida", which includes significant moments in the career of the artist, will be based at the National Theater Eduardo Brito 

These concerts will be dedicated to Mother's Day, which is celebrated in the Dominican Republic last Sunday in May.

 sgl/ef/gpm/lac/dsa 

Heavy Rains Leave Some 50,000 Victims in Colombian City

Bogota, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) Nearly 50,000 people have lost their homes in the Colombian department of Choco, where winter rains have destroyed homes, roads and bridges, leaving several municipalities stranded.

 Choco, where a state of emergency was declared on Sunday, has been severely affected by the intermittent rains in the beginning of the winter season.

 The localities of Medio Baudo, Medio San Juan, Novita and San Jose del Palmar are affected by the overflows from the Italia, San Juan, Baudo and Tamana Rivers.

 Although floods in the last few hours have decreased, there is still no exact figure for the damage caused by the rainy season.

 Choco ó s Governor Hugo Tovar told reporters that some areas lost four or five bridges.

 On the other hand 40 municipalities of Norte de Santander department are on alert for heavy rains, like Caldas, Tolima, Cordoba, Antioquia, Cundinamarca, Risaralda, where a landslide left two people injured, officials said.

 sc/sa/isa/tgj/may 

New Economic Measures for Increasing Production in Venezuela

Caracas, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The new economic measures and mechanisms announced by the Venezuelan government correspond to the need to increase national productivity levels, said deputies from this South American country on Tuesday.

 The Complementary System for Foreign Currency Management (Sicad) will provide funding for those productive sectors less favored by the current structure, said Jesus Cepeda, member of the Foreign Policy committee at the National Assembly in an interview with Venezolana de Television channel.

 Cepeda stressed that it is necessary to give preferential measures to the manufacturing sector, chiefly for small and medium industry, where the country ó s largest number of jobs is found.

 For its part, parliamentarian Hugbel Roa, member of the National Assembly ó s Financescommittee, agreed with Cepeda that Sicad  s main goal is to reinforce the national productive sector.

 Roa said that new measures planned by the Executive must severely sanction those who try to use foreign currencies for hoarding and speculation.

 On Monday evening, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced the creation of Sicad, and stressed that the country has sufficient dollars to meet national economic needs.

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Bolivian Chilling Data on the Treatment of Women

La Paz, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) A little more than a week since a law was passed to ensure women a life free of violence, Bolivia has revealed shocking statistics on the way they are treated.

 Recent data from the Manuela Observatory, which is part of the Women's Center for Information and Development (CIDEM), show that from 2009 to February this year, 621 women were killed in the country.

 CIDEM director, Mary Marca, is alarmed by the situation, especially "because out of the 621 deaths, 62.77 percent were femicides and the other 37 percent by lack of security in the streets." 

These figures show that "every three days a woman is killed in the country," said Marca, adding that there were 29 violent murders of women only in the first two months of this year.

 Marca, who participated in the seminar Femicide, Violence against Women, Protectio Law and Media, said that this is one of the most serious social problems faced by the Bolivian government.  At the same time, she said that while thousands of domestic violence cases are reported, others remain hidden, especially because victims fear for their lives or due to negligence.

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Social Inclusion Stands Out in Venezuelan Government Management

Caracas, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) Social inclusion policies, backed by billions in financial investment, stand out today in Venezuelan government management as part of a trend that began 14 years ago when Hugo Chavez took office.

 According to the Ministry of Planning and Finance, in that period the government spent $551 billion USD for programs with broad impact on the people.

 Those actions include Venezuelans ó  access to pensions, with an increase of 529 percent in the number of beneficiaries from 1998 to 2012.

 The National Statistics Institute revealed that under the Bolivarian Revolution 2.4 million pensioners joined the system.

 The Greater Love mission was created by the government in late 2011 to serve the elderly excluded from social security due to lack of contributions.

 That humanitarian mechanism benefited 516,126 people last year alone.

 Moreover, the contributions of Chavez ó  social policy also involve parity between minimum wage and pensions, and opportunities for informal workers to pay contributions in order to gain future access to pensions.

 sc/sa/isa/tgj/mem 

New Anti-smoking Campaign Launched in Uruguay

Montevideo, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) More than half a million Uruguayans, 23 percent of the population still smoke, said the Ministry of Public Health, which launched this week a new anti-smoking campaign.

 Under the slogan "At what stage of the disease are you?" the new Health Minister Susana Muniz led a day of awareness about the dangers of smoking.

 After recalling that Uruguay has worked for years on the issue, she said that another slogan of the campaign calls for: Uruguayans Smoke one cigarette less a day.

 The head of Tobacco Control Program, Winston Abascal, said there are plans nationwide providing help to stop consuming and stressed that it is an addictive disease.

 Although he assured that the trend of consumption is declining in every age, the fall is less in the lower educational levels. In young people (12 to 17) the number of smokers was reduced from 30 to 13 percent in 10 years.

 He said that women continue to smoke less than men, although the numbers of people who stopped using tobacco declined less among them.

 According to projections if the trend of consumption in the female sector continues, in 15 or 20 years lung cancer will be more common than breast cancer.

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Rains Keep Mountainous Area of Rio de Janeiro at Standstill

Rio de Janeiro, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) Heavy rains left the Brazilian city of Petrópolis without electricity today, in the mountainous area of Rio de Janeiro, where floods and landslides killed 16 people.

 The rains, which began Sunday night, are continuing today and caused the landslide of mud in 21 places, and the overflow of rivers in Piabanha and Quitandinha.

 Both rivers flow through the urban town and flooded a large part of the city, located about 70 kilometers from the capital of this state.

 According to the Civil Defense agency, 16 people were killed, including two members of the of the rescue team when  helping to evacuate a family, whose house had collapsed.

 The most affected areas are located in the neighborhoods of Quitandinha, Doutor Thouzet, Alagoas, Lagoinha, Bingen and Independence 

The city is still without electricity, businesses are closed, and schools, including the university in the area canceled classes. Urban transportation is at a standstill, the strests are flooded and people are waiting at home for the situation to improve.


 Tourists visiting the historic town in the area left their hotels and banks opened late on Monday after delays.

 The state  s governor, Sergio Cabral, said that at least 140 families, including 325 children, were moved to safe houses, located outside of the areas in risk and he urged people to leave their homes located on the slopes of the mountains and other danger zones.

 The prefect Ruben Bomtempo declared a state of emergency and 18 schools were turned into shelters to accept evacuees.

 Authorities also complain about the lack of resources to undertake 14 containment works and move to safe areas the families living in dangerous areas.

 The president of the rain committee in Petropolis, Silmar Fortes, said that the projects were delivered last semester, but everything has been delayed and people are most affected by this situation.

 In other cities like Xerem, Duque de Caixas and Angra dos Reis, the heavy rains also caused flooding and partial mudslides and landslides.

 Petropolis, and neighboring Teresopolis and Nova Freiburg suffered heavy rains last year that left nearly a thousand dead, officials said.

 SC/sa/cgm/tgj/lgo 

Colombia Presents Candidacy for Soccer World Cup

Bogota, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The president of the Colombian Soccer Federation, Luis Bedoya, and Coldeportes director, Andres Botero, have submitted a proposal in Switzerland for the country to host the Soccer World Cup (Futsal) in 2016.

 A note posted on the website of the Colombian Olympic Committee stresses that the official documents were delivered to the President of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Joseph Blatter and secretary general Jérome Valcke.

 Colombia suggested as possible venues the cities of Bogota, Villavicencio, Neiva, Ibague, Bucaramanga and Cucuta.

 Other countries also aspiring to host the World Cup are the Czech Republic, France, Iran, Puerto Rico and Spain.

 The final decision will be announced in the last week of May, during the FIFA congress in Mauritius.

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New President Elected in Trinidad and Tobago

Port of Spain, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The former Superior Court judge, Thomas Anthony Carmona, took over today as president of Trinidad and Tobago, replacing George Maxwell Richards, who had remained in office for a decade.

 In a ceremony broadcast live on radio and television, Carmona, a graduate of the University of the West Indies, was sworn into office by Judge Ivor Archie.

 During the ceremony, he recalled that according to the Trinidad Constitution he has no executive powers; these are borne by the prime minister.

 The new head of State served as judge at the International Criminal Court and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

 According to the laws of this country, the President is appointed by an electoral college composed of members of both houses of the legislature.

 The election coincides with a growing movement to reform the Constitution.

 In that sense, this weekend the former prime minister Basdeo Panday called for electing the president by popular vote and called for creating a 100-member unicameral parliament, to be elected by the principle of proportional representation.

 In his opinion, this would end the racially marked voting pattern that has prevailed in Trinidad and Tobago since independence in 1962.

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OTHER INTERNATIONAL STORIES
  
British Teachers Announce Series of Strikes

London, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) Thousands of British teachers will perform a series of strikes, starting in June, to demand better salaries and pensions, as well as a decrease in the work load, several unions reported.

 The National Teachers' Union (NTU) and the guild Nasuwt, gathering around 4,000 members between both of them, promised to intensify their campaign against Education Secretary Michael Gove by means of demonstrations that will start on June 27.

 According to union representatives, if Gove does not listen to their demands, they will organize a one-day general strike all around the country before the autumn semester ends.

 They will also organize protests in England and Wales during April and May, said the unions in a communiqué, in which they added that intensification of their campaign is due to the Education Secretary's refusal to participate directly with them.

 sgl/ef/iom/lac/mar 

Baghdad: Attack Death Toll Reaches 23

Baghdad, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) Today ó s morning attacks in Shiite areas of the Iraqi capital and its surroundings were followed by others that increased to 23 the death toll, authorized media reported.

 From the first three attacks, one east the city and two in Kadhimiya city, that left 13 dead, the death toll increased up to 23, while 28 people were injured due to a dozen of blasts caused by car bombs, two suicidal attacks and armed actions, according to official reports.

 Husseiniyah, Mashtal, Zafraniyah, Bagdad Jadidah, Kadhimiyah, Sadr City and Shuala, as well as Iskandariyah city were the scenes to all the explosions, official sources noted and reported the death of two more people in Saidiyah and Mansur districts.

 Members of the Iraqi Shiite community, which Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki is part of,  inhabit in these areas.

 It is evident today ó s attacks are part of a conceived plan to cause the greatest amount of victims and destabilize the country, police sources, which preferred to remain anonymous, told the press.

 Army forces and the police set up temporary checkpoints to check over vehicles and blocked zones as a precaution against new attacks.

 No organization has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but some believe they were carried out by Iraq ó s Islamic State, Al Qaeda ó s local representation, which claimed on Monday last week ó s attacks against ministries and other headquarters of the so-called green zone of the capital.

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Beijing Imperial Palace Protected with Mondays half-day Closure

Beijing, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) In order to protect cultural relics and historic buildings by the unstoppable increase in visitors, Beijing's Forbidden City will close half day every Monday from April 1, it was announced here.

 The former home of emperors and now Palace Museum is located in the heart of Beijing, opposite Tian  men square and the Great People  s Palace, which hosts the most important meetings of the Government, the National People  s Congress and the People  s Political Consultative Conference.

 A statement from the administration of the once Forbidden City, one of the most important historical monuments of this ancient Asian state, announced that the doors of the Museum will close every Monday at noon, a half day that will be devoted to inspecting buildings and relics.

 The measure does not apply during holidays and the summer holidays in July and August, when tens of thousands of people travel to the capital to meet this beautiful place, in particular, that brings together more than 80 buildings and show the peculiarities of dynasties that ruled the nation for centuries.

 With more than 15 million visitors a year, a figure in permanent rising since 2010, than in 2012 exceeded 15.34 million visitors, nine percent more than in 2011, people in charge say that the number of visitors causes a lot of pressure to expose relics and preserve buildings.

 Shan Qixiang, curator of the Palace Museum, said at the recent People  s Political Consultative Conference that the safety and fire protection system will be also inspected during the hours that the facility remains closed.

 He also informed that it is in process the installation of an antitheft system, similar to the installed in the Biritsh Museum.

 This is not the first time that the entry of visitors is limited, but last October 2, one of the holidays by the National Day, the palace received 182,000 visitors, a record that exhausted workers from the Forbidden City , with an area of 320,000 square meters.

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Syria Denounces the Use of Chemical Weapons by Insurgents

Damascus, Mar, 19 (Prensa Latina)  Syria accused armed groups today that are fighting to overthrow the government of having used chemical weapons and leaving at least 15 dead in the northern province of Aleppo.

 Terrorist groups launched a chemical warhead over Jan al Asal in Aleppo which caused the death of 15 citizens, mostly civilians, according to the SANA News Agency, which did not provide further details.

 Authorities have denounced similar actions at least twice. In the middle of December, a Presidential Guard commander denounced the death of at least seven soldiers due to the inhalation of a yellow toxic gas emitted by chemical weapons used by terrorists during an attack in Daraya, located southward from the capital city.

 Syria's Ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Ja'afari, denounced last December 17th that foreign nations might be providing chemical weapons to mercenary groups fighting in Syria in order to then claim that the Syrian government had used them.

 The diplomatic referred at the time to the disturbing video posted on Youtube that showed an insurgent group testing lethal gas on rabbits and stating that they were going to do the same to the civilian population.

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Mortar Strikes Near Telecommunications Company in Damascus

Damascus, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) A mortar hit the area behind the headquarters of the Syriatel and MTN telecommunication companies, near the Mazzeh highway in this capital, but no victims were reported in the attack.

 Authorities hold mercenary groups who are fighting to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad responsible for the attack.

 Damascus has seen a notable increase in the number of mortar attacks so far this month, taking the lives of about 20 people and injuring about one hundred.

 Three mortars hit the surrounding areas of Tishreen Presidential Palace on Monday. No victims were reported in the attack.

 A fourth mortar was also launched near the Higher Education Ministry, a downtown area in Damascus, on Monday.

 The violent mainstays of the Syrian insurgent groups funded, encouraged, and armed by western and Middle Eastern governments, are detonation of car bombs, suicide attacks, and mortar attacks.

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State Bank of Vietnam Takes Steps towards Real Estate Recuperation

Hanoi, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The State Bank of Vietnam (BEV) took the first step towards the recuperation of the real estate market to benefit low-income families by granting millions in loans, a proposal that is being debated by the institutions involved.

 The amount to be allocated is 1.5 billion dollars, including an incentive to investment in social housing and a 6-percent interest rate for three years.

 Open to comments from public opinion, the BEV proposes that all state commercial banks reserve at least 3 percent of the loans they grant regularly to distribute them among those investors, public officials, the armed forces and low-income people.

 The latter would include the tenants or buyers of houses that are under 70 square meters at a reduced price of 715 dollars per square meter, and companies from the Ministry of Construction involved in social housing projects.

 Never before, those who had to sign a contract with investors from the sector had benefited from preferential interest rates, said the State Bank, while some experts told local media that even after these measures are taken, it will be difficult for many low-income people to pay the rent or buy a house.

 In late 2012, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung strongly criticized the system to build houses and set out new guidelines to restructure its standards and functioning.

 The commercial banks that will grant loans to low-income families are those of Agriculture and Rural Development, Investments and Development, Industry and Commerce, Foreign Trade and Mekong.

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Russia Ranks Second in Arms Exports

Moscow, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) Russia reaffirmed its condition as the world's second largest arms exporter in 2012, when it reported record sales of nearly 15 billion dollars, local television reported on Tuesday.

 From 2008 to 2012, the United States shared 30 percent of the world market for weapons and the Euro-Asian Federation grew to 26 percent, followed by Germany (7 percent), France (6 percent) and China (5 percent).

 The news on Russian television was based on the latest report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which said that India bought 35 percent of Russian weapons.

 After India, China acquired 15 percent of Russia's arms, followed by Algeria (14 percent) and Vietnam (6 percent).

 Recently, the general director of the company Rosoboronexport, 

Anatoly Isaikin, told reporters that Russia had supplied weapons and military equipment worth 15 billion dollars to the international market.

 Of that amount, Rosoboronexport alone contributed more than 12.9 billion dollars, the sources added.

 When commenting on the sales, Isaikin noted that 37 percent accounted for aviation equipment, and 27 percent consisted of ground means and military equipment.

 sc/jg/tgj/jpm 

Marine Cooperation Project Between African Countries Highlighted

Luanda, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The signing by Angola, Namibia and South Africa of the Benguela Current Commission that protects the marine ecosystem, shows that African countries are working for sustainable development, said an authority from that body today.

 The Executive Secretary of the Commission, the Namibian Hashali Hamukuaya, told reporters in the southern Benguela province that the agreement, ratified on May 18, would ensure that marine resources will be exploited properly for the benefit of the people.

 In addition to promoting the improvement of human capacity and infrastructure, this regional mechanism stipulates the reduction of marine pollution levels and assessments to detect elements affecting the ecosystem, among other measures.

 It also includes the exchange of information between the three African countries to avoid the destruction of habitat and marine species.

 Possessing added values such as important navigation routes and substantial oil and gas resources, the Large Marine Ecosystem of the Current Benguela is located along the southern coast of Africa, bordered by Angola, Namibia and South Africa.

  ó The signing of the document, with 31 articles, represents several years of research, consultation and negotiations, conducted ina spirit of trust and cooperation ó , stressed Hamukuaya.

 He also added that the agreement formally establishes the Benguela Current Commission as a intergovernmental organization in charge  ó of promoting the sustainable management of the larger marine ecosystem of the region ó .

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Pope Francis Enthroned at Vatican

Vatican, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The investiture of Pope Francis with all the symbols of his pontificate took place today during a religious ceremony attended by 130 delegations and hundreds of thousands of faithful who packed St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

 The new pontiff, of Argentinean origin, has become the 266th pope and is the first Latin American to reach the top of the Catholic Church hierarchy.

 The enthronement acts began with a long tour through the streets of Rome in the so-called pope-mobile, where people had gathered to see the new pope.

 In St. Peter's Square, where the investiture mass was held, the crowd carried flags from different countries, chiefly from Latin America, along with posters with welcome messages written in Spanish for the pope.

 During his homily, Francis called on all those who hold political, economic, and social positions to prevent destruction and death from prevailing in the world.

 Francis replaced Benedict XVI, who surprisingly resigned from the ecclesiastic responsibilities in February 11 after serving 8 years as pope.

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Uncertain Vote in Cypriot Parliament on Rescue Program
	
Nicosia, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) Uncertainty prevails today over a vote at the Cypriot Parliament on an international creditor rescue program that demands an extraordinary tax to collect 5.8 billion euros.

 Although some newspapers note the vote could postpone for the third time in less than a week, the environment prior to the decision sows uncertainty since ruling conservative party DISY (20 seats) and its ally, DIKO (nine seats) hold a fragile majority.

 If only two votes are against in a legislative comprised of 56 seats the approval of the agreement reached by the Government and creditors during a recent meeting of the Euro group could fail, while DIKO threatens to back other opposition parties to vote against.

 The initial plan predicted a 6.5 percent tax on the accounts with less than 100,000 euros and of 9.9 percent for the rest, a situation that will especially affect institutions, banks and Russians.

 A fifth part of the 70,5 billion Euros in Cypriot banks belong to Russian citizens.

 The European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank promise to hand over a credit equivalent to 10 billion Euros if Cyprus first collects the figure demanded with the controversial tax.

 A new project could drop up to three percent the tax for accounts with less than 100,000 euros and increase up to 13 that of other accounts.

 In case the approval of the rescue plan fails, Cyprus fall into a default position and would be in a controlled bankruptcy.

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Pope Francis Posts Two Tweets after Inaugural Mass

Vatican City, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The Pope must serve the poorest, Pope Francis wrote today in two posts on Twitter after completing his first Mass at the Vatican.

 His Holiness said in one of his tweets that the real power is in service and "The Pope must serve everyone, especially the poorest, the weakest, the least important." 

This Sunday the new bishop of Rome reactivated the account @ pontifex, launched by Benedict XVI in late 2012, after his first Sunday Angelus, in which he requested that the faithful pray for him.

 Some 130 delegations, including 30 heads of state and government, and tens of thousands of worshippers packed St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for the investiture of the first Latin American pope.

 At the ceremony, the Pope warned that the protection of the environment, nature and the weak and small is a responsibility shared by all men and women.

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Qatar Company Begins Reconstruction in Gaza Strip

Gaza, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) A Qatar company announced today the reconstruction of the road between the locations of Rafah and Khan Younis, as the first phase of a reconstruction project financed by the Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa al Thani.

 The Qatar monarch visited the Gaza strip last October and announced the creation of a $400,000,000 USD fund  for the reconstruction of the area, devastated by Israeli aggression at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009, where more than 1,000 Palestinians died.

 The planned investment is on the order of $70,000,000 USD for the initial phase of the reconstruction, said  Muhammad al-Amadi, president  of the organization in charge of Emirate works.

 He also announced that residents in Gaza strip, one of the poorest and most overpopulated areas of the world, may register in order to acquire apartments in a building project named after Qatar Emir, in Khan Younis, comprising 3,000 apartments of 100 and 300 square meters each.

 The buildings will be sold to Gaza residents at cost and the payments will be used in the construction of houses and the repair of others in poor condition due to the Israeli aggression, the Qatar authority told the Maan News Agency.   During Emir Hamad Bin Khalifa's visit to Gaza strip, the Israeli army attacked several Palestinian towns and later, in November, launched an air, ground and sea aggression that killed 180, half of them women and children, while wounding nearly two thousand.

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Okinawa Rejects U.S. Base Relocation in its Territory

Tokyo, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The governor of Okinawa, Hirokazu Nakaima, reiterated his opposition to relocate a United States (U.S.) base within that southern prefecture.

 Nakaima made his statement during a meeting of the political council of Okinawa, which was attended by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and all members of the Government.

 The governor reacted that way to Abe ó s plan of celebrating on April 28 a ceremony for the restoration of Japanese sovereignty over the southern dependency, which was sealed in 1952 within the Peace Treaty of San Francisco, USA.

 Although the Prime Minister said that the ceremony will be taking into account the history of the towns of Amami, Ogasawara and Okinawa, for the latter that date is meaningless.

 In 1972, the White House gave sovereignty to Okinawa, which in the opinion of the majority originated the current problems of the Pentagon bases.

 The governor added that all residents of the prefecture oppose the central government's plan to transfer the functions of the Futenma air base to some land reclaimed in Henoko, located in Okinawa.

 The southern Japanese prefecture accounts for over 70 percent of the U.S. military in the country of the Rising Sun.

 The military are responsible for numerous criminal acts in the Japanese southern territory as rape, brawls and mistreatment of residents.

 Sc/ls/arc 
Russia Demands Clarification over US Missiles

Moscow, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) The chief of Russia's Defense Ministry ó s International Collaboration Service, Serguei Koshelev, said on Tuesday that the U.S. must explain its changes in its so-called Missile Shield for Europe.

 To understand what exactly is being talked about before arriving at conclusions about those US decisions, it is necessary to keep negotiations going, said the top ranking Russian military official in statements broadcast by Russia Today.

 Amid a prolonged systemic crisis, the U.S. government announced that it is ready to abandon the siting of new anti-missile interceptors in Poland toward the end of this decade, as part of its planned NATO "missile shield" for Europe.

 Simultaneously, the Pentagon announced its decision to reinforce its defense system with the stationing of 14 new "anti-missile interceptors" in Alaska, and a second radar in Japan, due to alleged North Korean threats.

 The fourth stage of the Missile Shield for Europe plans to site units on that continent by 2018, able to destroy intercontinental ballistic missiles.

 Koshelev said that only China and Russia currently have those types of missiles, and that is why Russia finds it very suspicious when NATO says it is creating a system to intercept Iranian missiles that do not even exist.

 Russia has always ruled out the Iranian threat argument to justify any siting of missiles in Poland and Romania.

 Russia considers that plan a threat to its strategic interests and demands binding guarantees from Washington and NATO that the system would not be used to shoot against Russian territory.

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Asia-Pacific Countries Discuss Waste Management

Hanoi, Mar 19 (Prensa Latina) Delegations from more than 20 countries in Asia and the Pacific debate today on how to design policies to manage solid waste, a growing challenge in the region due to its environmental consequences and those for human health.


 Opening the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan said that Vietnam is alarmed by the problem and considers the gathering to be an opportunity for exchange.

 Prasad Modak, president of the UN Environmental Center in Mumbai, India, said the Asian continent generates around 700 million tons of waste every year, with an increasing percentage of electronic origin and a variety of unhealthy materials.

 He highlighted that it is seen especially in the municipalities where there are more waste due to the demographic density, urbanization, and economic growth and even at the very best, waste collection is seen more as a business opportunity than a societal obligation.

 Other participants championed the reduction of waste through recycling, aiming at a circular world economy and decreasing waste production.

 Doctor Heinz Schandl, member of the British Community for Scientific and Industrial Research, said Asia had to take into account the increase of a middle class with a very high rate of consumption.

 He said middle class lifestyles and consumption patterns match those of developed countries, something that needs a change of attitudes to reduce the danger of excessive solid-waste dumping.

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