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Read MoreWill 'Occupy Central' hurt Hong Kong?

The official also said "the legitimacy of the chief executive will be greatly enhanced if "the election provides the people of Hong Kong a genuine choice of candidates representative of the voters' will."

"We understand that the August 31 announcement is just one step in an ongoing process leading to a final decision on election reform in Hong Kong and will continue to watch as the process unfolds," the official said in Washington.

On the surface, the NPC's decision is a breakthrough that endorses the framework for the first direct vote by a Chinese city to choose its leader. Beijing is already hailing it as a milestone in democratic reform.

However, by tightly curbing nominations for the 2017 leadership poll, some democrats said Beijing was pushing a Chinese-style version of "fake" democracy.

Read MoreChinese interceptions of US military planes could intensify

The NPC statement said all nominations would be carried out according to "democratic procedures" and each candidate would need the endorsement of more than half of a nominating committee that will be similar in composition to an existing 1,200-person election committee stacked with Beijing loyalists.

The proposed electoral framework will still needs to be approved by two-thirds of Hong Kong's 70-seat legislature. With pro-democracy lawmakers holding more than a third of the seats, the proposal will likely be shelved.

In that case, the next leader would likely again be chosen by a small election committee. Wang Zhenmin, a prominent legal scholar and adviser to the Chinese government, said recently that: "Less perfect universal suffrage is better than no universal suffrage," adding that this window of opportunity in Hong Kong was an historical crossroads after "2,000 years of (Chinese) feudal history without any democracy."

Senior Chinese officials have repeatedly warned activists against their "illegal" protests, and say they won't back down.

Originally posted here:
Hong Kong braces for protests

Nigel Farage: "This EU is the New Communism"
How Nigel Farage pulled off Douglas Carswell #39;s defection to Ukip Nigel Farage has succeeded in his biggest coup yet after securing the defection of leading right-wing Tory MP Douglas Carswell...

By: samuel ezerzer

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Nigel Farage: "This EU is the New Communism" - Video

BUCHAREST, Romania: Stefan Andrei, a foreign minister under communism who decreased Romania's dependency on the Soviet Union, has died. He was 83.

Andrei died Sunday at home, according to a foreign ministry official who declined to be named because she was not authorized to report the death.

Andrei was named foreign minister in 1978 and developed ties with African and Asian countries which gave former Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu a reputation as a maverick among Warsaw Pact leaders.

Elena Ceausescu, Ceausescu's powerful wife, reportedly disliked Andrei and appointed a loyalist to replace him as foreign minister in 1985. He was deputy prime minister from 1987 to 1989.

Andrei served 2 years in prison after communism ended for helping to suppress the bloody revolt in which more than 1,000 people died.

He is survived by his wife Violeta, an actress, and a son.

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Stefan Andrei, ex-Romanian foreign minister, under communism dies

Published September 01, 2014

BUCHAREST, Romania Stefan Andrei, a foreign minister under communism who decreased Romania's dependency on the Soviet Union, has died. He was 83.

Andrei died Sunday at home, according to a foreign ministry official who declined to be named because she was not authorized to report the death.

Andrei was named foreign minister in 1978 and developed ties with African and Asian countries which gave former Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu a reputation as a maverick among Warsaw Pact leaders.

Elena Ceausescu, Ceausescu's powerful wife, reportedly disliked Andrei and appointed a loyalist to replace him as foreign minister in 1985. He was deputy prime minister from 1987 to 1989.

Andrei served 2 years in prison after communism ended for helping to suppress the bloody revolt in which more than 1,000 people died.

He is survived by his wife Violeta, an actress, and a son.

Read the original:
Ex Romanian foreign minister who decreased Romania's dependence on Soviet Union dies

Details Published on Monday, 01 September 2014 13:40 RSS Hits: 154 Privacy Policy

The Constituent Assembly (CA) Constitutional-Political Dialogue and Consensus (CPDC) Committee Chairperson Dr Baburam Bhattarai has said that the political parties are nearing a consensus regarding the adoption of an inclusive and socialism-oriented economy.

During his meeting with business reporters of a capital-based national media on Monday, Dr Bhattarai claimed that it was agreed at the political level that socialism-oriented capitalistic economy would be the main base for the country's economic policy.

Political parties have accepted the fact that the State should establish education, health, employment and food security as fundamental rights of the citizens and invest in these sectors.

It must be realised that classical capitalism is not enough to address the problems of poverty and unemployment, he added.

On the occasion, the journalists suggested that the CA give attention to financial aspect of the nation and hold broad discussions about the sharing of natural resources to prevent possible disputes to that end in the future.

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Parties near consensus on socialism-oriented economy, claims Dr Bhattarai