Palestinians shot by Israeli troops
Two Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli soldiers close to the northern border of the besieged Gaza Strip. Palestinian witnesses said that the men were collecting scrap metal when they were killed late on Saturday, but Israeli officials said they were fighters trying to launch rockets into Israel. The deaths came just days after Israel distributed leaflets warning the 1.5 million Gazans not to come within 300 metres of an internationally condemned border wall. But Israel has said there has been an increase in rocket and mortar attacks in recent weeks. On Wednesday, at least three Palestinians were killed after Israeli forces launched a series of air raids which it said were a response to Palestinian attacks. Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, told his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that 20 mortar bombs and rockets had been fired at Israel in the last week. "I view this very seriously," he said. "The government's policy is clear, any shooting at our territory will receive an immediate and powerful response." Rocket and mortar attacks were also cited as the reason for Israel's 22-day offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which began in late December 2008 and left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the conflict.
Source: Al Jazeera
China 'overtakes Germany as world's largest exporter'
China's exports rose 17.7% in December, state media has reported, suggesting the country has overtaken Germany as the world's largest exporter.The rise, compared to a year earlier, breaks a 13-month decline in trade as a result of the global downturn. Xinhua said total exports for 2009 were $1.2tn (£7.5tn), but that total foreign trade over the year was down 13.9%. Correspondents say the figures will lead to new demands from China's competitors that it devalue the yuan. Last year saw a continuing decrease in China's trade as the global economic downturn led to a fall in demand for its products. But in the last few weeks of the year, there was a far greater rise than forecasters had expected, with foreign exports reaching $130.7bn, up 17.7% on the previous December. China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) said exports overall in the year were $1.2tn, down 16% from in 2008, while imports were 11.2% down from a year earlier at $1.01tn. The politically sensitive total trade surplus was down 34.2% to $196.1bn, a fall of almost a third. The figures suggests China will surpass Germany's export total for the whole of 2009, although this will not be confirmed until Germany's full-year data is published in February.
Yuan demand
A spokesman for GAC said the increase was "an important turning point" for the country."It is safe to say now that Chinese exporters have come right through the period of weakness," Xinhua quoted statistician Huang Guohua as saying.The BBC's Chris Hogg in Shanghai says many of China's producers are low-cost manufacturers who assemble equipment such as i-Pods using foreign components. The latest figures are being seen as an indication that those manufacturers have proved resilient in the downturn and are benefiting as their customers restock, says our correspondent. But the figures are likely to lead to renewed complaints from China's trading competitors that its currency is undervalued, he added. Led by the US, they say it is unfair that China has been able to make its good cheaper by keeping the yuan weak, but Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has said China "will not yield" to foreign demands that it revalue the currency. Beijing has long said that it will not allow the yuan to trade freely until its domestic economy was strong enough to pick up any resulting decline in exports. The slowing decline in Chinese trade has also been taken as a sign that the country's stimulus package is working. Beijing raised tax rebates on exports several times in 2009, increased tax refunds and improved export credit insurance.
Source: BBC
