Beijing criticize EU scrutiny of textile imports

Beijing criticized EU scrutiny of textile imports from China on Sunday amid mounting trade dispute with the United States and Europe, after the 25-nation bloc took its dispute with Chinese textile imports to the World Trade Organization, forcing an immediate curb in shipments of T-shirts and flax yarn.

China lashed out at the European Union, saying it violated the spirit of free trade.
“The Chinese side thinks that the European side launched an investigation and made a decision … based only on three months of data,” Commerce Ministry spokesman Chong Quan said in a statement posted on the ministry’s Web site. “It’s an inaccurate assessment and an incorrect decision.”

The EU Executive Commission, in charge of trade policy in the 25-nation bloc, said intensive talks would take place starting on Monday at all levels with China over its textile exports.
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IRS - 68 taxpayer assistance centers closing due to budget pressure

The Internal Revenue Service said on Friday that it planned to close 68 taxpayer assistance centers, nearly a fifth of its walk-in centers where people can receive help with their tax issues. IRS Commissioner Mark Everson said taxpayers increasingly look for telephone and online tax help.

“One of the greatest problems in government is, it continues to limp along and try to do everything,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is recognize where things are growing.”

The agency said it would close 68 of 400 Tax Assistance Centers sometime in the early fall in an effort to become more efficient, as an increasing number of people use the Internet and person-to-person phone services for assistance.

“We’ve been seeing change in taxpayer usage through the years,” the commissioner of the I.R.S., Mark W. Everson, said in a telephone interview on Friday. “We’ve improved our access in ways where people get the best service.”

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Iraqi Insurgent group kill and post footage of Japanese hostage

An Iraqi insurgent group said in an Internet posting Saturday that it had killed a Japanese hostage, seized in Iraq and posted footage on the Internet showing his bloodied corpse.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry and the hostage’s brother confirmed the video footage showed the body of Akihiko Saito.
“We have to conclude, with regret, that it is Mr. Saito,” a ministry source told reporters in Tokyo.
“I saw the footage and confirmed that it was my older brother,” Hironobu Saito said in a handwritten statement to media organizations.

The Iraqi national security minister, Abdul-Karim Enizi, condemned the killing in a statement and said efforts had been made to negotiate Saito’s release, but that “the assassination came before we reached a decision with the other side.”

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Bush promise support to Palestinian president

US President George W. Bush met with Palestinian President Mohmoud Abbas and warmly praised the Palestinian president, for what he called Mr. Abbas’s commitment to democracy on Thursday, then reiterated that Israel had obligations it must fulfill as both sides work toward a peaceful future for the Middle East.

Bush promised to provide 50 million US dollars in aid for the PNA. He also announced that he had asked Rice to travel to Jerusalem and Ramallah before the planned Israeli withdrawal.

Mr. Bush’s relatively strong support for Mr. Abbas during his visit to Washington this week was constructive and necessary.

The political decisions being made now will have an impact on one of the fundamental issues affecting the likelihood of achieving Mr. Bush’s stated preference for a two-state solution of two democracies, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.

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