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Foreign ministers and representatives from OSCE states will convene to take “Corfu Process” forward and reach an consensus on its framework and a declaration, Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said on Monday.

Droutsas, representing the Greek OSCE chairmanship, told a press briefing that “the Greek OSCE Chairmanship launched the Corfu Process this year to foster an open and honest dialogue on the challenges and new threats for our security in the 21st century.”

The Corfu Process, which aims to tackle European security challenges with concrete steps to restore confidence, was carried out following the informal meeting of OSCE foreign minister on the Greek island of Corfu in June.

“As the only regional security organization to bring together the United States, Canada and Europe, including the Russian Federation and the rest of the former Soviet Union, the OSCE is a natural forum for this dialogue,” said Droutsas.

The meeting of the Ministerial Council of OSCE will take place from Dec. 1 to 2 in Athen. The council is the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE.

The meeting, held annually, provides the foreign ministers of the 56 OSCE participating States an opportunity to review and assess the organization’s activities during the past year and offer national viewpoints on security matters.

As Kazakhstan will be the first central Asian country and the first former Soviet republic to hold the OSCE Chairmanship next year, Droutsas said he was fully hopeful for it and support Kazakhstan’s upcoming presidency.

On Nov. 29, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev formally proposed a draft “European security treaty” designed to overcome the Cold War’s legacy and sent it to international organizations and concerning countries.

Greek Foreign Ministry spokesman Gregory Delavekouras confirmed at the briefing that OSCE had received the draft which would be carefully discussed. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, who will attend the meeting, is expected to discuss the draft with other ministers, he said.

Both Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola and his Real Madrid counterpart Manuel Pellegrini have injury doubts ahead of Sunday’s clash in the Camp Nou stadium.

Although Cristiano Ronaldo played 20 minutes of Real Madrid’s dull 1-0 win over Zurich in the Champions League, he didn’t appear to be fully fit.

The Portuguese international says he wants to start in the CampNou, but whether his is full fit yet is still a doubt.

Pellegrini will probably take a risk on his star player. ShouldRonaldo not start and Real Madrid then lose, the consequences would be serious for the coach, whose job is still in danger after Real Madrid’s Cup defeat to Alcorcon.

There is also a doubt over the fitness of central defender RaulAlbiol, who damaged his right knee in the Zurich game. If he does not recover Ezequiel Garay will step into central defense.

The remaining doubt in the Real Madrid side is whether Karim Benzema or Gonzalo Higuain starts in attack. If the decision was down to recent form, Higuain would start, but if other factors, such as the money Real Madrid spent on Benzema, play a role, then the Frenchman will start.

Meanwhile in Barcelona, everything depends on the fitness of Leo Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovich.

Messi strained his groin last weekend and was on the bench for Barcelona’s impressive 2-0 win over Inter Milan on Tuesday. Ibrahimovich was also on the bench as he tries to shake off the effects of a hamstring problem.

It was clear that Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola didn’t want to risk either of his players in midweek and it is uncertain whether either will start on Sunday.

Friday’s training session showed the Swede to be closer to full fitness than Messi, who could start on the substitutes’ bench with Thierry Henry playing on the right of the Barcelona attack and Andres Iniesta on the left.

Meanwhile the only other doubt is whether Sergio Busquets or Toure Yaya will partner Seydou Keita and Xabi Hernandez in midfield.

Real Madrid will be keen to mark Xabi out of the game and once again it looks as if the Spain international will be vital to the outcome of this match.

Last season Barcelona won 2-0 in the Camp Nou before humiliating Madrid 6-2 in the Santiago Bernabeu.

At the moment, however Real Madrid leads the BBVA Primera Liga by one point and Pellegrini’s men know that a draw would be a good result.

China pledged Friday to “actively” deal with climate change next year by well implementing measures to cut its carbon intensity.

The plan was agreed at a meeting held by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, chaired by President Hu Jintao. The conference studied guidelines for the country’s economic work in 2010.

The country would step up construction of major projects related to energy conservation and environmental protection in 2010, attendees at the meeting agreed.

The vice-foreign minister said the RMB rate’s flexibility may widen, echoing the nation’s central bank a month ago.

The announcement by Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun comes after the People’s Bank of China, which has the power to oversee the yuan and financial institutions, said it was in the process of reforming the exchange rate system.

China is also starting to receive more international pressure to let its currency appreciate. The nation adopted the policy of loosely pegging the RMB to the US dollar since the financial recession began.

“China will increase the flexibility of the RMB exchange rate at a controllable level in the future,” Zhang said, “based on the market demand and with reference to a basket of currencies.”

But he said, China will further work on the exchange rate policy on its own initiative and in a constructive and controllable manner.

Foreign exchange rates are expected to be the focus of the 12th China-European Union Summit scheduled next week in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province. The affluent Jiangsu province accounted for 18 percent of the total China-EU trade volume last year.

Three EU policymakers are due to hold talks in Nanjing a day before the summit with Premier Wen Jiabao and central bank officials, the Ministry of Finance as well as with the National Development and Reform Commission on Nov 29.

The trio are European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet; Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker; and Joaquin Almunia, the EU’s commissioner for economic and monetary affairs.

The summit, initiated in 1998, will be co-chaired by Wen, European Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

Newly elected EU president Herman Van Rompuy and foreign policy head Catherine Ashton are not coming to the summit as they prepare for their new roles.

At the summit, China hopes to forge a common stance with Europe against protectionism, said Sun Yongfu, director of the Department of European Affairs with the Ministry of Commerce.

“We welcome more products from foreign countries to China and also from the EU,” Sun said.

China and the EU will also discuss ways to tackle climate change at the summit, Zhang said.

“The upcoming China-EU summit is very important leading up to the Copenhagen conference,” he said.

This will be the second China-EU Summit and the third meeting between leaders from both sides this year.

The last China-EU Summit was held in Prague in May, postponed from last December by China after French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with the Dalai Lama.

“The EU is practical in economic ties with China but ideal-oriented in human rights and values,” said Zhao Junjie, an expert in European studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Newell’s Old Boys were held 2-2 by Rosario Central in the Argentine championship on Sunday.

Central raced into a two-goal lead in 12 minutes, but Newell’s tied the score line with goals from Uruguayan Joaquin Boghossian at the 15th minute and Paraguayan Jorge Achucarro at the 28th minute.

After this match Newell’s have 33 points, followed by Banfield and Central.

Up to 100 fires are burning across New South Wales (NSW) as a large swathe of the state begins a day of total fire bans, local media reports Saturday.

The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) says more extreme heat is on the way, propelling the “difficult and challenging” conditions for firefighters on Saturday.

The fires were moving slowly late on Friday as crews worked with heavy machinery to establish containment lines.

No homes are under threat at present, but residents of Bilpin and Mountain Lagoon are advised to activate their bushfire survival plans.

A number of fires are also alight in remote and rugged terrain within the Blue Mountains.

Firefighters worked overnight to construct containment lines which will be strengthened with the use of heavy machinery and aircraft on Saturday.

A community information point will be established at the Mt. Wilson Rural Fire Brigade station, where residents can receive updates and advice on Saturday.

The extreme conditions forced the closure of the Blue Mountainsational Park, which will remain shut until further notice.

A total fire ban has been issued for Saturday in the Greater Hunter, Greater Sydney, central ranges, northern slopes, north western, upper central west, lower central west, far western and central ranges regions.

Record-breaking hot temperatures, storms and wild winds on Friday sparked and fueled a series of bushfires, mostly in remote and inaccessible terrain in the Blue Mountains, the Hawksbury region and the state’s northeast.

The 15th Teochew International Convention opened here Wednesday, a biennial gathering of entrepreneurs originally from south China who started successful businesses abroad.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), sent a congratulatory message to the convention.

Jia said in the massage that the gathering was a grand event for Teochew people living worldwide and an important platform for these people to exchange and cooperate with others so as to seek for common development.

He praised the 30-year old organization for its role in bringing together Teochew people in participating China’s development and reunification, as well as promoting friendship between the Chinese people and people of different countries and regions.

Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, attended the opening ceremony.

Wang Yang, Guangdong Party chief and member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau also attended the gathering. Zheng Wantong, vice chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, made an opening address.

More than 3,500 delegates from 27 countries and regions attended the convention.

Teochew, or Chaozhou, refers to a section of the coastal areas in south China’s Guangdong Province. Many people living there migrated overseas in the past century and started flourishing businesses in other countries.

The conference has been held once every two years since 1981.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said on Monday that the country’s economy will continue its recovery next year, but warning more challenges ahead.

The flow of credit remains constrained, economic activity weak, and unemployment much too high, said the chairman at the Economic Club of New York. “Future setbacks are possible.”

“We are seeing early evidence of that recovery, most forecasters anticipate another moderate gain in the fourth quarter,” but “how the economy will evolve in 2010 and beyond is less certain,” he added.

CONSTRAINED BANK LENDING, WEAK JOB MARKET

A year after the financial crisis, real gross domestic product in the United States rose an estimated 3.5 percent at an annual rate in the third quarter, following four consecutive quarters of decline. Partly as the result of these and other policy actions, many parts of the financial system have improved substantially.

“My own view is that the recent pickup reflects more than purely temporary factors and that continued growth next year is likely. However, some important headwinds — in particular, constrained bank lending and a weak job market — likely will prevent the expansion from being as robust as we would hope,” said the chairman.

Access to credit remains strained for borrowers who are particularly dependent on banks, such as households and small businesses. Bank lending has contracted sharply this year, according to the Fed’s Senior Loan Officers Opinion Survey.

Partly as a result of these pressures, household debt has declined in recent quarters for the first time since 1951. Many small businesses have seen their bank credit lines reduced or eliminated, or they have been able to obtain credit only on significantly more restrictive terms.

The Fed will continue to work with banks to improve the access of creditworthy borrowers to the credit they need, said Bernanke.

“We continue to encourage banks to raise additional capital to support their lending. And we continue to facilitate securitization through our Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility and to support home lending through our purchases of mortgage-backed securities,” he added.

Since December 2007, the U.S. economy has lost, on net, about 8million private-sector jobs, and the unemployment rate has risen from less than 5 percent to more than 10 percent. Both the decline in jobs and the increase in the unemployment rate have been more severe than in any other recession since World War II.

“The best thing we can say about the labor market right now is that it may be getting worse more slowly,” said Bernanke.

Declines in payroll employment over the past four months have averaged about 220,000 per month, compared with 560,000 per month over the first half of this year. The number of initial claims for unemployment insurance is well off its high of last spring, but claims still have not fallen to ranges consistent with rising employment.

“Overall, a number of factors suggest that employment gains maybe modest during the early stages of the expansion,” said Bernanke.

MONETARY POLICY

Bernanke said that the U.S. central bank will pay attention on the depreciation of the U.S. dollar and help ensure the dollar is strong.

“We are attentive to the implications of changes in the value of the dollar and will continue to formulate policy to guard against risks to our dual mandate to foster both maximum employment and price stability,” said the chairman.

“Our commitment to our dual objectives, together with the underlying strengths of the U.S. economy, will help ensure that the dollar is strong and a source of global financial stability,” he stressed.

However, Bernanke reaffirmed the Fed would keep low interest rates for an extended period.

“The Federal Open Market Committee continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period,” said the chairman.

“Of course, significant changes in economic conditions or the economic outlook would change the outlook for policy as well. We have a wide range of tools for removing monetary policy accommodation when the economic outlook requires us to do so, and we will calibrate the timing and pace of any future tightening to best foster maximum employment and price stability,” he added.

China has channeled 497.9 billion yuan (72.9 billion U.S. dollars) of central investment by September for the stimulus package to shore up the economy, a senior official has said.

The figure accounted for 42.2 percent of the total amount of 1.18 trillion yuan central budget earmarked to boost the recovery, Ding Xuedong, vice minister of China’s Ministry of Finance, said Friday here while attending a seminar.

The government unveiled a 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package in November last year to be spent over the next two years to bolster the world’s fastest-growing economy, with 1.18 trillion yuan from the central budget.

“The government has adopted an active fiscal policy to cope with the global financial crisis in the past year, which proved to be effective,” Ding said.

China’s fiscal expenditure grew at a faster pace of 23 percent year on year for the first 10 months this year to 4.99 trillion yuan, triple the pace of revenue growth, according to figures revealed by the ministry on Friday.

The notice listed 14 petitioning actions including some not listed in a petition regulation issued by the State Council, such as lodging complaints by shouting slogans, waving banners, wearing clothes emblazoned with petitions, handing out leaflets or holding sit-ins at public places, according to a report in Wednesday’s Southern Metropolis Daily.

Also banned are actions that “may cause public panic,” such as self-mutilation, suicide and jumping off buildings, displaying corpses or funeral urns or spreading infectious viruses such as HIV, the announcement said.

The notice also pointed out some “politically sensitive” spots in Beijing that should be off limits for petitions, such as Tiananmen Square and the locations of the central government, the State Council, and embassies.

People who have a record of carrying out two ‘abnormal petitions’ will be detained if they attempt to hold a petition a third time, and those who have been detained for ‘abnormal petitions’ may be subjected to indoctrination through labor if they try again, the notice said.

The controversy of petitioning has intensified in recent years in China. There is a dilemma between the government’s protection of the right to petition and repeated petitions for personal interest and even actions of confrontation.

Some experts suggested “malicious petitioning” should be restricted and even asked for its abolishment, calling the petitioning system part of “the rule of men by men.” But their opinion has not gained support from the public, especially among Web users, who are accustomed to backing petitioners.

The issue of ‘abnormal petitioning’ became a focus on various Web forums after the report was published, with a number of questions and criticisms popping up.

“The notice is a further restriction of petitioners, but who should the petitioners turn to if they are not treated fairly?” the Oriental Morning Post said Thursday.

A comment on the Nanfang Daily’s website argued that authorities should make more efforts to improve their working procedures and take the initiative to help resolve the problems of petitioners.

Legitimacy questioned

The controversy over petitioning is hardly anything new. Dating back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the petition system is like a last chance saloon for those seeking redress for perceived injustices from officials. The system permeates all levels of government above county level, and most cabinet ministries have their own petition offices in Beijing.

The issuing authorities in Shenzhen told the Southern Metropolis Daily in a written answer that the notice is based on the relevant article of the Constitution and several other relevant laws and regulations.

The notice is not meant to restrict citizens’ legal petition rights, which can be applied for by letter, phone, email or by visiting specific agencies, the authorities said.

Some lawyers, however, challenged the legitimacy of the notice. Chen Tao, a member of the criminal law committee of the Beijing Bar Association, said the notice is only a government regulatory document that could only be seen as a reference, instead of a basis, for law-enforcement.

Some of the clauses are reasonable and benefit the regulation of petitioning, others are beyond the scope of local authorities, Chen said, citing indoctrination through labor as punishment.

0.2 percent reach resolution

Wang Yukai, a professor with the China National School of Administration, told the Global Times that the notice could serve to guide petitioners to express their requests, but it failed to differentiate the reasons behind each and every petitioner.

“Most people seek a proper resolution of their problems by filing petitions. Some may become frustrated by the inefficient response of the government in dealing with their requests and therefore choose a more extreme way to get heard,” Wang said.

The phone number listed on the State Bureau of Letters and Calls’ website is an automated message, which informs callers where to send letters and where to visit.

One out of every 500 petitioners, or 0.2 percent, have their problems actually solved, noted Yu Jianrong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in his 2004 report ‘The Deficiency of the Petition System and its Political Consequences. ‘

Wang said that the notice is not conducive to the resolution of petitioners’ requests from Shenzhen, the frontier of China’s economic development, which faces a rising number of social conflicts as the city embraces a growing population and further economic boom.

Three new advisory documents were released in May by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, stipulating that all township officials must receive petitioners at any time and all county Party leaders must set aside one day a month to receive petitioners.

Central and provincial government leaders are also encouraged to receive petitioners.