29 family members of the 12 sailors who were murdered during a hijacking of their cargo ships in on the Mekong River have now arrived in Thailand.

A memorial service has been held at the scene where the attack took place.

The victims' families are now undergoing the process of identifying their loved-ones.

The family members of the victims arrived with a group of Chinese patrol vessels.

Those boats have been dispatched to escort another 164 stranded Chinese sailors and their 28 cargo ships back home.

Meanwhile, one of the 13 Chinese sailors on board the two boats attacked last week remains missing.

 

 

Former Taiwan leader gets new prison term for bribe taking in bank mergers

An appeals court has now re-instated the earlier conviction of former Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian.

Chen has been sentenced to 18-years in prison on the restored conviction of taking bribes in connection with bank mergers.

His wife's previous conviction has also been restored.

She's been sentenced to 11-years in prison by the high court.

The pair was originally convicted in 2009 of taking bribes worth some 600-million New Taiwan Dollars.

Around a year ago, a district court overturned their convictions.

The pair can appeal this latest verdict.

 

 

US, S Korea leaders reassure alliance following approved FTA

US President Barack Obama and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-Bak have met in Washington.

The meeting comes just hours after the U.S. congress approved a long-delayed free trade deal between the two countries.

(Male English soundbites/1014 Obama)

"Our alliance reflects a broader truth. The United States is a Pacific nation and America is leading once more in the Asia-Pacific and with our landmark trade agreement, we will bring our nations even closer, creating new jobs for both our people and preserving our edge as two of the most dynamic economies in the world."

Both Obama and Lee are hailing the new FTA as a win for both countries.

 

 

Slovakia approves the EFSF

Slovakia's parliament has now approved expanding the size and power of the EU bailout fund.

The approval comes after the parliament rejected the proposal in the first vote earlier this week.

Slovakia is the last of the 17 eurozone nations to approve adding to the 440 billion euro bailout fund.

The expanded fund is empowered to buy eurozone government debt and offer lines of credit to both member states and their banks.

 

 

U.S. hedge fund tycoon sentenced to 11 years in jail for insider trading

The man convicted in one of the world's biggest hedge fund scams has now been sentenced to 11-years in prison.

A court in New York has also fined Raj Rajaratnam 10-million dollars.

The co-founder of the Galleon Group was arrested in late 2009, after police discovered Rajaratnam gained close to 64-million dollars in insider trading.

He was later convicted on 14-counts of conspiracy and securities fraud.

The Sri Lanka-born Rajaratnam ran Galleon, worth some 7-billion US dollars at one point, until his arrest, which was part of the largest crackdown on hedge fund insider trading in US history.

 

 

ICTY not to sever Mladic trial

The courts in the Hague have decided not to split the trial of former Bosnian-Serb commander Ratko Mladic into two parts.

The trial chamber has turned down that request by the prosecution, suggesting that making the move because of "speculative and unsubstantiated" reports about Mladic's health aren't enough reason to split the trial.

Prosecutors had asked for the trial to be divided into two parts: The first dealing with the death of some 7-thousand muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, and the second into the 43-month seige of Sarajevo.

Splitting the trial into two parts would expodite the potential conviction of Mladic on at least one of the charges.

 

 

Johnson-Sirleaf leads with 44.5 pct votes in preliminary results of Liberian polls

Liberia's elections commission has now released the official preliminary results of this week's voting.

Incumbent President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf holds a significant lead, garnering 44.5-percent of the vote so far.

Her closest compeditor, Winston Tubman, holds 26.5-percent of the votes cast.

A former warlord, Senator Prince Y. Johnson sits in 3rd in the presidential voting with 13.5-percent of the vote.

Johnson-Sirleaf is hoping to secure her second-straight victory in Liberia's presidental election, which would put her in office for another 6-years.

The final tally won't be complete for at least another week.

 

 

Berlusconi calls for confidence vote

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has now formally called for a confidence vote in his government.

Berlusconi has been forced to ask for the approval of the Italian parliament in his government, following his coalition's failure to have a budget report passed this week.

In issuing the call, Berlusconi has ruled out the idea of an early election, saying it would hurt the country at a critical moment.

While Berlusconi's coalition government is expected to survive the confidence vote, frustrations over austerity cuts in the country are leading to significant political discord in Italy.