Maniolas

BEIJING – China’s foreign minister defended yesterday his government’s controversial policy of reclamation on disputed isles in the South China Sea which has sparked regional concern, and said Beijing was not seeking to overturn the international order. Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping tried to set Southeast Asian minds at ease over the country’s ambitions, but Beijing’s reclamation work in the Spratlys underscores its drive to push claims in the South China Sea and reassert its rights. China claims about 90 percent of the South China Sea, displaying its reach on official maps with a so-called nine-dash line that stretches deep into the maritime heart of Southeast Asia. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to parts of the potentially energy-rich waters that are crossed by key global shipping lanes. China has already undertaken reclamation work on six other reefs it occupies in the Spratlys, expanding land mass five-fold, aerial surveillance photos show. Images seen by Reuters last year appeared to show an airstrip and seaports. The work on the islands has become possibly the most visible sign of Xi’s more muscular form of diplomacy, even as he promises more than $120 billion in funds for Africa, Southeast Asia and Central Asia. Speaking at his annual news conference on the sidelines of the ongoing meeting of parliament, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China was undertaking “necessary” construction that was not aimed at any third party. “We are not like some countries which have carried out ‘illegal Read More …

Workers stand by the construction of Petrobras oil platforms in the BrasFels shipyard in Angra dos Reis, Brazil. AP                                                                     RIO DE JANEIRO — Oil was to have been Brazil’s “passport to the future,” but the grand dreams tied to state company Petrobras have been brought to a screeching halt not only by falling crude prices, but by a crisis of its own making. An expanding investigation into a kickback scandal at Brazil’s largest company is rippling through the industry, suspending contracts, cutting off credit supplies and forcing layoffs at shipyards and other firms that had been gearing up for the anticipated oil boom. Not long ago, President Dilma Rousseff had promised that exploration of rich, offshore fields would create hundreds of thousands of jobs and provide royalty income to finally improve Brazil’s schools and health care system. But with no end to the investigation in sight, it’s anyone’s guess as to when Brazil will reap the rewards of its oil wealth. “In 2008, everyone thought Brazil was becoming an oil superpower,” said Adriano Pires, an energy consultant and former official at the government National Petroleum Agency. “Those big plans of expansion are all being reviewed.” Federal investigators say that over the last decade, construction firms paid about $800 million in bribes and other funds by overvaluing contracts with Petrobras and funneling some of the money to the ruling Workers’ Party and its affiliates. Eighty-seven people have been charged so far, including two former Petrobras directors. And on Friday night, the Supreme Read More …

THE USS Enterprise has lost another of its crew. Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock, the starship’s first officer, has died at age 83. Nimoy was the original Spock in the Star Trek TV series and he carried over the half-Vulcan, half-human character to film. Hands down, Spock is Star Trek’s most beloved hero, overshadowing even his commander, Captain James Kirk. Nimoy’s passing is in many ways also Spock’s. Actor and character have become so fused the distinctions have blurred. While there have been many reincarnations of Spock, the role will always belong to Nimoy. He tried to shuck off the spiky ears and the Vulcan hand salute by taking on other movie, TV and stage roles (he also published a book of children’s stories,) but the multitude of Trekkies never let him forget that he was Spock. Nimoy himself was fascinated by Spock’s huge cult following and attributed it to the fact that people “recognize in themselves this wish that they could be logical and avoid the pain of anger and confrontation.” I grew up on Star Trek. It was in black and white, the stories were campy and melodramatic, but it teleported me to alien, exotic worlds. Starships flew at warp speed, Kirk fired phasers, and the Enterprise transported its crew by “energizing” them (“beam me up, Scotty”). Captain Kirk commanded a multinational, multiracial crew, something radical for a TV series at the time. The helmsman, Mr. Sulu, was Japanese. The navigator, Mr. Chekov, was Russian. The communications Read More …