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STUDENT AGE THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2013

INTERNATIONAL & ECONOMY

to work with Russia NO DECISION YET ON SYRIA Iran to stop strike on Syria MILITARY STRIKE: OBAMA
Syrian government in fact carried these out. And if thats so, then there need to be international consequences, the U.S. president said. Meanwhile, holding President Assad responsible for the alleged use of chemical weapons by his regime, U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said there is no point in going forward in the U.N. Security Council. We see no avenue forward given continued Russian opposition to any meaningful council action on Syria. Therefore, the United States will continue its consultations and will take appropriate actions to respond in the days ahead, Ms. Harf told reporters. We have no reason to believe that efforts at the Security Council would be any different than these previous efforts that have failed, she argued, throwing up a strong indication that that the U.S. and its allies are gearing up to bypass the U.N. Security Council in this regard. Commenting on the developments, Russia said that calls for a military strike against Syria are an undisguised challenge to the U.N. charter. Declared plans by some states to inflict a military strike on Syria are an undisguised challenge to the key provisions of the U.N. charter and other norms of international law, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement today said quoting Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as telling U.N. chief Ban Kimoon at a meeting at The Hague on Wednesday. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi have urged all sides concerned to keep calm and restrain, saying they should wait for the results of the U.N. inspection team. A political solution is always the only realistic means to resolve the Syria issue, Wang said, warning that military interference from the outside will exacerbate the turmoil. Stating that he is consulting with the world community, Mr. Obama said, I have no interest in any kind of openended conflict in Syria, but we do have to make sure that when countries break international norms on weapons like chemical weapons that could threaten us, they are held accountable. DAMASCUS, SYRIA, AUGUST 29: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said his country will press efforts to ward off military action by the U.S. and its allies against the Tehranbacked regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Iranian state TV reported on Thursday. The report said the remarks came late Wednesday during a phone conversation between Mr. Rouhani and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Mr. Rouhani was quoted as saying military action will bring great costs for the region and it is necessary to apply all efforts to prevent it. According to the report, he said both Iran and Russia would work in extensive cooperation to prevent any military action against Syria. Rouhani also called such military action an open violation of international laws. While condemning chemical weapons, Mr. Rouhani was quoted as saying, Early judgment can be dangerous, before clarification can be

made of allegations that Syria used the weapons. Western countries have found some excuse to prepare the ground to weaken the stance of Syria in further talks after the Syrian government has won the upper hand in confronting rebels, Mr. Rouhani said. The president also predicted regional consequences for any military strike. Syria has a strategic and sensitive situation, and any sort of military invasion would lead to instability in the entire Middle East, he said.

WASHINGTON, AUG 29: President Barack Obama has said he had not yet decided whether to attack Syria in response to alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, but a strike appeared likely as the U.S. stopped seeking a U.N. mandate. We have not yet made a decision, but the international norm against the use of chemical weapons needs to be kept in place. Hardly anybody disputes that chemical weapons were used on a large scale in

Syria against civilian populations, Mr. Obama told the PBS News Hour in an interview yesterday. I think its important that if, in fact, we make a choice to have repercussions for the use of chemical weapons, then the Assad regime, which is involved in a civil war, trying to protect itself, will have received a pretty strong signal, that in fact, it better not do it again, he said. Syrian opposition and the West have accused President Bashar Al-Assads govern-

ment of using chemical weapons last week in a Damascus suburb, a charge denied by the government. We have looked at all the evidence and we do not believe the opposition possessed nuclear weapons or chemical weapons of that sort. We do not believe that, given the delivery systems, using rockets, that the opposition could have carried out these attacks, Mr. Obama asserted in response to a question. We have concluded that the

FRANCE TONES DOWN ITS RHETORIC ON SYRIA

PARIS, AUGUST 29: Although France dispatched one of its most modern frigates the Chevalier Paul from the southern naval base of Toulon to the waters around Syria, President Franois Hollande, taking his cue from Barak Obama and David Cameron scaled back some of his sabrerattling rhetoric on Thursday. The President who held talks with the President of the Syrian National Coalition, Ahmed Jarba said a political solution had to be found to the Syrian question. However, he added, a political solution will become possible only if the Syrian coalition is able to present itself as an alternative especially with the force of its army. The international community has to put a halt to the escalation in violence, Mr Hollande said. The international community should give an appropriate response to the use of chemical weapons, the President said. The French President did not refer to any more military aid to the Syrian rebels but spoke of humanitarian assistance. This toning down of the rhetoric is in sharp contrast to the tough words he used on Tuesday while addressing a gathering of French ambassadors in Paris when he said France was ready to punish those who took the infamous decision of gassing innocents. The French parliament is to meet on September 4 to discuss the justification for and repercussions of eventual military action. However, the impression created on Tuesday that air strikes against Syria were imminent has now receded. Mr Jarba, the President of the Syrian National Coalition told a French newspaper that he expected a punitive strike against the regime and political and military support for the Free Syrian Army. In France, like in Britain or the United States, the general public is overwhelmingly against military involvement in Syria.

MALAYSIA PLANS TO IMPOSE SALES TAX BY 2015

KUALA LUMPUR, AUGUST 29: Malaysia hopes to impose a goods and services tax by 2015 to boost revenue and curb its fiscal deficit, a senior government official said on Thursday. The announcement comes as Malaysias economy and financial markets come under pressure amid rising domestic debt, a swollen fiscal deficit and a shrinking current account surplus. The central bank recently cut the countrys growth forecast this year to 4.5-5 per cent, while Fitch Ratings downgraded Malaysias credit rating outlook to negative from stable, citing a lack of fiscal reforms. The government deferred plans to introduce a broad goods and services tax amid fears of a backlash in Mays general elections. With polls over, it is now moving to tackle the fiscal deficit, which hit 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product last year. The GST is a must, its not an option, said Treasury SecretaryGeneral Mohamad Irwan Serigar Abdullah. Mr. Irwan said the new tax could be announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak when he unveils the 2014 federal budget in October, but it will take 14 months before it can be implemented. He said the tax plan will encompass a total package that includes reforms in corporate and income tax but declined to give details. If they announce it now, it will come online in 2015, he told an economic forum. Mr. Irwan said the sales tax rate, previously mooted at 4 per cent, hasnt been decided yet. Staple foods such as rice and milk powder will be exempted to ease the burden on the poor, he said. The government previously said a 4 per cent GST could boost its revenue by 1 billion ringgit annually and help cut reliance on income from state oil company Petronas. The confidence boost from plans for a new tax regime could also help dampen capital outflows. Malaysia and other Asian nations have come under stress as China slows and investors anticipate a scaling back of monetary stimulus in the U.S. The Malaysian stock market has slid while the local ringgit has lost nearly 7 per cent since April. The GST is expected to replace the current narrowly applied 10 per cent sales tax and five per cent services tax. The GST will be levied on transactions at all stages of production of goods and services. Malaysias current sales and services taxes are single-stage taxes applicable to selected goods and services.

Mr. Irwan said the government will also announce plans to rationalize subsidies for fuel, food and other items next month so they benefit the poorest rather than being broadly applied. With the new tax regime, he said the

government is confident of trimming its fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of gross domestic product by 2015 and hit a surplus by 2020. Hopefully if there is no major recession ... we will be on target to achieve a surplus in 2020, he said.

RUSSIA SENDS MORE SHIPS UN INSPECTORS TO LEAVE TO MEDITERRANEAN SYRIA BY SATURDAY: BAN
MOSCOW, AUGUST 29: Russia is sending more warships to east Mediterranean in apparent response to the buildup of U.S. and British forces in the region as the crisis over Syria continues to escalate. Moscow is dispatching a large anti-submarine ship and a missile cruiser to Mediterranean, the Interfax newswire reported on Thursday. The well-known situation in eastern Mediterranean has dictated the need to make some adjustments to our naval group in the region, the Interfax quoted a source in the Russian General Staff as offering a carefully worded comment. The anti-submarine ship will head for Mediterranean in the next few days and the missile cruiser, Moskva, will join in later, the source said. The Moskva guilded missile cruiser, the flagship of Russias Black Sea Fleet, which is currently paying a visit to Venezuela, will head for Mediterranean later on Thursday, according to the press service of the Black Sea Fleet. A spokesman for the Russian naval command said that the deployment was part of a planned rotation and had no connection with the situation in Syria. Another Russian Navy spokesman two days ago also said that Russia had no immediate plans to increase its naval strength in Mediterranean, but stressed that the Russian task force in the region, while it has no fighting orders, is ready to take any action to defend Russias national interests. Russia does not say how many warships it has in the Mediterranean, but earlier this year it decided to reestablish permanent naval presence in the region it had in Soviet times. Russia staged its largest war games in Mediterranean in January involving more than 20 surface ships and submarines, as well as strategic bombers and other aircraft. The Russian naval beefing in Mediterranean comes as the U.S. is increasing the number of its aircraft carriers from one to two in the Persian Gulf and Britain is deploying six Typhoon jets to its base in Cyprus. Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said his country would not go to war with the West over Syria but would staunchly oppose unilateral military action against the country. top Russian diplomat said that a Western military strike in Syria would fly in the face of international law and entail dire consequences. This will be a violation of all norms and principles of international law and the U.N. Charter, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Itar-Tass news agency. This will have the most unpredictable consequences for both the situation in Syria and the region as a whole. Russias special envoy for the Middle East Mikhail Bogdanov received Chinas Ambassador to Russia Li Hui to discuss further Russian-Chinese political and diplomatic interaction in connection with a sharp escalation of the situation around Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. LONDON/CAIRO, AUGUST 29: UN chemical weapons inspectors are to leave Syria in 48 hours, and the British parliament was to debate on late Thursday a response to the Syrian regimes alleged chemical weapons attacks. The 20-member UN chemical weapons team is due to leave Syria by Saturday morning, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in Vienna. In a move seen by the West as a delaying tactic, the Syrian government had requested on Wednesday that the team stay longer in order to investigate three other sites. The push by Western leaders for military intervention has been stalled by political rows and diplomatic deadlock. Efforts to reach a consensus among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council made little headway

on Wednesday as China and Russia continued their objection to Western military intervention in Syrias 30-monthold civil war. The meeting was called to discuss a British resolution authorizing all necessary measures to

protect civilians in Syria. In Syria, rebels called on civilians to leave areas near alMezzeh military airport, on the outskirts of Damascus, following reports that the likely Western strike would hit government military facil-

ities in the area. Activists also said troops started to evacuate several military facilities in and around Damascus. The al-Mezzeh military airport is a key base for launching attacks by regime forces across Damascus.