China greeted the arrival yesterday of the Year of the Ox with fireworks and celebrations, bidding farewell to a tumultuous 2008 marked by a massive earthquake, the Olympics and a global economic crisis.
Colorful pyrotechnic displays lit up the midnight sky over Beijing, as firecrackers exploded deep into the early morning hours in the capital.
Officials reported that 46 people were injured from fireworks-related accidents, a 48 percent drop from the previous year, Xinhua news agency said yesterday.
A fleet of 70 ambulances roamed the city overnight on the lookout for emergencies, it said.
The Lunar New Year is China’s most important holiday. It is generally the time of the year for lavish spending on elaborate meals with friends and family and exchanges of hong bao, or red envelopes stuffed with money.
But the country’s economic outlook this year has been dampened by the deepening global financial crisis, with China’s annual growth down to a seven-year low of 9 percent. Thousands of factories have closed in China’s export-driven southeast and estimates of job losses exceed 2 million.
Communist leaders have worried publicly about rising tensions and possible unrest as laid-off workers stream back to their hometowns.
They have promised to create new jobs and are pressing employers to avoid more layoffs.
Despite the gloomy economic forecast for the new year, merchants in the capital reported that fireworks sales were up 28 percent from the previous year, with some 230,000 firework packages sold by Sunday, Xinhua said.
In Hong Kong, tens of thousands also temporarily shrugged off worries about economic woes, filing into the annual Chinese New Year market at Victoria Park late on Sunday. Shoppers wandered amid a traditionally eclectic mix of goods ranging from popular New Year’s decorations like water lilies to inflatable oxen and furry ox-shaped caps. Small windmills — which symbolizes a change in fortune — were reportedly a big seller.
Meanwhile, another 20,000 visited the Taoist Wong Tai Sin Temple to light up incense sticks and pray for good luck after a year that saw Hong Kong slip into economic recession.
The economic worries capped off a year that saw the country’s leaders juggling one crisis after another, beginning with freak snow storms that paralyzed China’s southern transportation system one year ago during Lunar New Year celebrations.
That was followed by deadly riots in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, which prompted a massive security crackdown.
The tone changed after the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan left almost 90,000 dead or missing, a disaster that was met with international aid and sympathy.
China’s leaders received widespread praise overall for hosting the Beijing Olympics in August, but just weeks afterwards came revelations of a national food safety scandal over tainted milk powder that left at least six babies dead and nearly 300,000 others ill.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS