Headline News 2014 June 24

China's top legislature opens bi-monthly session A bi-monthly session of China's top legislature is now open with bills on food safety and speedy trials for minor offenses on the table. A draft revision to the food safety law was submitted for first reading. It is the first proposed revision of the law since it took effect in 2009. The bill pledges to impose the harshest civil, administrative and criminal penalties on offenders and tightest punishment on supervisors who neglect their duties. Lawmakers are also deliberating on a bill that proposes piloting fast-track trials for minor criminal offenses. Terrorist groups using Internet to recruit, plan attacks: Office China's Internet Information Office says terrorist groups are using the Internet to recruit people, raise funds and plan attacks in China. A spokesman for the office also says terrorist groups have sought to spread terrorism and violent beliefs and teach terrorist skills online. He described audio and video materials that promote terrorism as a "cancer" of the Internet. On Friday, China launched a campaign to rid the Internet of audio and video materials that promote terrorism and violence. Guangdong sells local govt bonds Investors have shown confidence in the 14.8 billion yuan of local government bonds issued by the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. The five-year, seven-year and 10-year local government bonds have yields basically flat with comparable treasuries on the secondary market. The bonds were 1.85 times oversubscribed. In the past, the Ministry of Finance issued and repaid all local government debts. Last month, the State Council approved 10 regions to directly float and repay local government bonds in 2014 in a pilot program. Iraqi key oil refinery falls: ISIS Sunni rebels in Iraq say they have fully captured the country's main oil refinery at Baiji, north of Baghdad. The refinery had been under siege for 10 days with the militant offensive being repulsed several times. The complex supplies a third of Iraq's refined fuel and the battle has already led to petrol rationing. A rebel spokesman says the Baiji refinery would now be handed over to local tribes to administer. Earlier, US Secretary of State John Kerry vowed "intense and sustained support" for Iraq after meeting key politicians in the capital, Baghdad. He called the rebel attack a threat to Iraq's existence, and said the next days and weeks would be critical. Australian gov't vows to fight for journalist's release The Australian government has vowed to continue efforts to free journalist Peter Greste after he was jailed for seven years by an Egyptian court. Australia's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister have condemned the verdict and said the government would take the issue up with Egyptian authorities at the highest levels. Greste and his two Al Jazeera colleagues have been found guilty of airing false news and colluding with the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood. The verdict and jail terms have sparked outrage around the world. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the case "chilling and draconian", while United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay said the real target in Egypt was freedom of expression. Israel says Assad forces behind Golan attack that killed boy Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman says forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were responsible for an attack on Sunday that killed an Israeli boy on the occupied Golan Heights. The boy's death drew Israeli tank fire and air strikes on Syrian army positions, which a monitoring group said had killed 10 Syrian soldiers. Israel had earlier described the incident as intentional and the most serious on the frontier since the start of the three-year-old Syrian conflict. Opponents of Thai military regime launch campaign for democracy Opponents of Thailand's military rulers have launched a campaign to restore democracy, the first sign of organized resistance to the army since it seized power last month. The campaign was led by Jarupong Ruangsuwan, chairman of the Puea Thai Party that led the government ousted by the military. In an open letter, he said the military council had no legitimacy and cast doubt on its promise to transfer power back to civilian authorities at some point. It's unclear how Jarupong's movement, the Organization of Free Thais for Human Rights and Democracy, would oppose the junta and his letter did not reveal where it is based. S.Korean PM nominee offers to withdraw candidacy South Korea's prime minister nominee has withdrawn his name amid mounting criticism of his allegedly pro-Japanese views. Moon Chang-keuk's withdrawal comes two weeks after President Park Geun-hye named him to the post in a Cabinet reshuffle aimed at restoring public confidence in her administration following the deadly ferry disaster in April. Moon is a former chief editorial writer for the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper. He has been under pressure to quit following revelations that he described Japan's colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula and the subsequent division of the peninsula as God's will.