{jcomments on}OMAR, AGNEWS, BXL, le 16 avril 2010 – Xinhua- April 16, 2010–UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Thursday welcomed the new development in Sudan’s first national elections in 24 years, which were closed across the African country.

RWANDA

UGANDA

Uganda Opposition FDC Elects Besigye as 2011 Presidential Candidate
FDC leader Kizza Besigye says if elected president of Uganda he would work to reduce corruption and stimulate the economy by creating jobs
www1.voanews.com/James Butty | Washington, DC /16 April 2010

Uganda’s leading opposition party – the Forum for Democratic Change – has elected Kizza Besigye as the party’s presidential candidate in next year’s elections.

Besigye overwhelmingly defeated his challenger Maj. Gen. Mugisha Muntu who gracefully conceded defeat following Thursday’s vote.

This would be the third time that Mr. Besigye will be contesting the presidency against incumbent President Yoweri Museveni who has ruled Uganda for almost a quarter of a century.

Besigye said Ugandan voters have many reasons not to vote for incumbent President Museveni.

“First of all there is no need on the part of any candidate to waste time on whether people should elect President Museveni. I think that is critically up to the electorate. He has been leading our country for a quarter of a century, the levels of poverty in the country, the level of corruption. In fact President Museveni can be summed up as a president for poverty and corruption,” he said.

Besigye said if elected, his FDC party would work to reduce corruption in government and stimulate the economy.

“We have, even in previous elections, projected the kind of policy agenda that certainly redirect our country. Basically an agenda that will deal with rampant and systemic corruption, an agenda that will reduce the burgeoning cost of public administration because the current regime is based on a patronage system. We will be projecting policies that will lead to the stimulation of our economy through having a lower tax regime,” he Besigye said.

He also said an FDC administration in Uganda would resume paying attention again on agriculture which he said has been neglected under President Museveni.

Besigye was defeated by President Museveni in the 2001 and 2006 elections.

He said the FDC has entered into a cooperation understanding with a loose group of five opposition parties.

“We have, over the last year been discussing cooperation amongst the main political opposition parties, especially those with representation in parliament, and we have already managed to establish a protocol for cooperation, including for selection of candidates,” Besigye said.

The Ugandan parliament has begun debating a number of proposals intended to reform the country’s electoral laws.

Besigye said the electoral playing field in Uganda has never been leveled, and he criticized President Museveni for reappointing members of the country’s controversial electoral commission.

“It’s also to be understood that President Museveni reappointed the electoral commissioner recently in spite the damning indictment by the courts of law that the current commission is partisan, biased and grossly incompetent,” he said..

Uganda is one of about 16 African countries that are scheduled to hold presidential elections in 2011, and Besigye said the only way Uganda can avoid a Kenya-type post-election violence is to institute meaningful electoral reforms.

“There is only one course and that is to undertake reforms that can engender an environment free of fear, intimidation, of violence and so forth,” he said.

Besigye said the FDC will be engaging Uganda’s neighbors, the African Union and the international community to apply whatever leverage they have on President Museveni to accept to undertake meaningful electoral reforms.

Invisible Children urges Congressional action
Kevin Muller/media.www.thelamron.com/4/16/10

A group of students from the Geneseo chapter of Invisible Children met with Congressman Christopher Lee’s regional director to urge support for the Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act.

The bill attempts to respond to the terrorization of communities in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo by the LRA. According to lobbyist group Resolve Uganda, the LRA has been attacking civilians and abducting tens of thousands of children throughout central Africa for over 20 years.

The bill has two initiatives. The first is to stop the violent attacks of the LRA by apprehending top LRA leaders including Joseph Kony, who holds no political power but claims to have spiritual powers and has perpetrated the activities of the LRA for years. The second part of the bill calls for the United States to assist with recovery efforts in northern Uganda, which has been most affected by the ongoing conflict.

On Christmas Day in 2008, LRA forces attacked and killed over 200 Congolese civilians, drawing outrage. The LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act was introduced on May 19, 2009 and passed by Unanimous Consent in the Senate on March 10 of this year. The fate of the bill now rests in the House of Representatives, where Lee will have a vote.

Invisible Children is a non-profit organization that was created following the release of the documentary Invisible Children, which examines the abduction and enlistment of children by the LRA. The Geneseo chapter of the organization was founded a year and a half ago.

Senior Brendan Murphy, a member of Invisible Children, said he wrote a letter to Lee’s office shortly after the bill passed in the Senate. Assisted by the resources of Amnesty International, members of Invisible Children drafted an estimated 40 letters to the office encouraging Lee to co-sponsor the legislation.

According to Lee’s regional director Paul Cole, the Geneseo chapter of Invisible Children has been the first to approach Lee regarding this bill. Ten members of the club visited with Cole on Tuesday to explain the bill and their support of it. According to Murphy, Cole expressed concern that the wording of the bill may be too vague and that control over the situation in Uganda is more directly influenced by the U.S. State Department than by Congress. Murphy said that while it seemed unlikely that Lee will co-sponsor the bill, they still hope he casts a “yes” vote when the bill comes to the floor.

“We’re going to see if other organizations – like Invisible Children on other campuses – will join us in supporting the bill,” said senior Katelyn Palumbo, another member of Invisible Children. “Even though the conflict is in Africa, we want Congressman Lee to know that this is such a personal issue to many people here [in his district].”

“I think a lot of positive support for the bill will help get [Lee] to vote ‘yes,'” Murphy said.

Christians, Muslims almost equal in numbers in Africa
Proximity a flash point for conflict
www.washingtontimes.com/By Julia Duin/2010/apr/16

A continent once known more for witchcraft than worship has become a stronghold – and a flash point – for the world’s two largest religions, the Pew Forum said in a survey released Thursday.

With more than 90 percent of the region’s population saying faith is “very important” in their lives, it’s also on one of the major fault lines of religious conflict.

Northern Africa is heavily Muslim and southern Africa is mostly Christian but where the two religions meet in a 4,000-mile belt from Somalia to Senegal has often turned violent, especially in Nigeria, where hundreds of Muslims and Christians have died since January fighting each other.

At least 45 percent of the Christians surveyed in Ghana, Zambia, Mozambique, Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda and Chad – which topped the list at 70 percent – consider Muslims to be violent. Far smaller percentages of Muslims see Christians as violent – Djibouti had the largest percentage at 40 percent, followed by Kenya and Uganda in the low 30s.

“Christians are less positive in their views of Muslims than Muslims are in their views of Christians,” senior researcher Greg Smith said, adding that both Christians and Muslims also showed concern about extremism within their own ranks.

The massive survey, called “Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa,” charts how a region that gave birth to the term “global South” is a world leader in religious practice.

From December 2008 to April 2009, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life conducted 25,000 interviews in more than 60 languages or dialects in 19 countries to ascertain the state of belief and practice among 820 million people in one of the world’s most religiously volatile regions.

The survey had input from scholars at Princeton University, Boston University and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Depending on the country surveyed, it has a margin of error ranging from four to five percentage points for overall answers, and from four to 10 points for answers within the religion.

A century ago, the bulk of world Christianity was concentrated in Europe and in the Western Hemisphere. Today, 20 percent of the world’s Christians now live south of the Sahara Desert. Islam, which was concentrated in sub-tropical countries to the north and east of Africa, now has 15 percent of its worldwide adherents living there.

“It is fascinating to probe the question of why the expansion has happened and the why of the forces behind it,” Mr. Smith said.
“There’s a high percentage of Christians and Muslims in every country who say they are committed to spreading their faith and winning converts over to their side. It’s that commitment at the grass-roots level by Christians and Muslims that is a driving factor.”

And Africa, he added, “is the only continent in the world where you have a roughly equal division of the two largest religions in the world.”

According to the World Religion Database, 48 percent of Africa’s 1 billion inhabitants are Christian (495.8 million); 41 percent are Muslim (423.5 million) and 11 percent are “other” or unaffiliated.

South of the Sahara, Muslim adherents have gone from 11 million in 1900 to 234 million in 2010; Christians have gone from 7 million to 470 million.

A century ago in Sub-Saharan Africa, animist religions made up the bulk of the population with less than one-quarter adhering to either Islam or Christianity.

Now less than 13 percent of the population follows the traditional religions while conversion rates to Islam and Christianity have skyrocketed. Only Liberia reported more than 10 percent of the population as still embracing traditional religions.

“It’s clear, from what other studies have shown, that Islam has spread from the north on down and Christianity has spread from the south and the coasts inward through a combination of missionary activity and independent African activity,” associate researcher Alan Cooperman said. “African-initiated churches are quite active and have been independent of missionary activity for a long time.”

But both faiths are highly syncretistic. More than half the people surveyed in Mali, Tanzania, Senegal and South Africa believed that sacrifices to spirits will protect them from harm. One-quarter of the Muslims and Christians surveyed in several countries said they believed in the power of charms or amulets to protect them.

Large majorities of both religions said they would like governments based on biblical or Islamic sharia law in contrast to the governments they currently live under. Christians in Zambia (77 percent) ranked the highest in favoring biblical law. Muslims in Djibouti (82 percent) ranked highest in desiring sharia law.

Although Christian mission work to Sub-Saharan Africa has been ongoing since Franciscan and Dominican monks’ arrival in the 15th century, bolstered by Protestants in the mid-18th century, the chief form of Christianity is Pentecostal, researchers said.

In Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana and Liberia, one-quarter of all Christians belong to Pentecostal denominations that emphasize the supernatural “gifts of the Holy Spirit” such as healing, prophecy and praying in tongues. Even members of other Christian denominations, the report added, embrace Pentecostal practices.

More than half of the Christians surveyed believe Jesus Christ will return to rule the Earth in their lifetimes. Majorities also believe in the “prosperity gospel;” that God will give health and wealth to people if they have enough faith.

Similar attitudes were common among Africa’s Muslims: About one-third said they expect the restoration of the caliphate – worldwide Islamic rule – in their lifetimes.

More than half of the Muslims surveyed said society as a whole – not individual women – should decide on whether to wear the veil.

Although Muslims often get blamed for allowing female “circumcision,” which is the mutilating of female genitals, the practice is more common among Christians than Muslims in Uganda and Nigeria. However, the highest rates of female circumcision are in the majority Muslim countries of Mali and Djibouti.

Muslim expansion historically came through Islamic traders but in more recent decades, Islamic governments, particularly Saudi Arabia, have spent billions of dollars building mosques and Islamic centers in Africa. Examples include the King Faisal Center in NDjamena, Chad; the Islamic Center in Abuja, Nigeria; the Islamic African Center in Khartoum, Sudan; the Islamic Solidarity Mosque in Mogadishu, Somalia; four mosques in Gabon and two in Burkina Faso; the Zanzibar Mosque in Tanzania; and the Grand Mosque in Senegal.

With most of the populations adhering to one or the other religion, chances are, surveyors said, that neither religion will keep up its current growth rates as the pool of potential converts has shrunk.

Neither religion seems to be converting members of the opposing religion in great numbers, they added, with the exception of Uganda where 32 percent of the respondents who were raised Muslim now say they are Christian.

TANZANIA:

CONGO RDC :

KENYA :

Kenya: Draft ‘Violates Rights of Some Religious Groups’
16 April 2010/Daily Nation On The Web/allafrica.com

Canon Peter Karanja, the general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, has been meeting religious leaders to rally support for the rejection of the draft constitution. He was interviewed in Kisumu by Nation correspondent OUMA WANZALA.

Excerpts:

What is the problem with the draft?

It violates the rights of some religious groups. It has also a clause on abortion and Islamic references that are offensive to the Christian community. This is why we are opposing it.

In what circumstances would you drop your opposition to it?

Only once the clauses on abortion and kadhi’s courts are deleted.

If you succeed and there is a No vote, are you reconciled to living with the present Constitution?

The rejection of the proposed constitution will leave Kenyans grappling with the need for a new constitution. We want our demand to be addressed so that we do not pass a constitution that has contentious issues, which will need to be revisited later.

At the moment it’s a Kenyan issue, and if we happen to accept it and amend it later, as propagated by the Yes supporters, then it will be a contest between Christians and Muslims, which we fear will not be good. As Christians, we will be left with the problem to solve alone.

In October, last year, we gave out a proposal which we called stabilisation reforms that could have kept our country united so that we do not rush to search for a new constitution but we were dismissed. The proposal could have seen fundamental reforms in the current constitution.

Again in December, we proposed that we isolate contentious issues that can be solved, and if not, then Kenyans can vote on those issues alone so that they may say Yes to the constitution.

The kadhi’s courts are provided for in the present Constitution; so what makes the proposals in the draft so offensive to you?

This is what we call category mistakes — the two are not equivalent. The kadhis’ courts in the draft have been expanded.

Do you believe Muslims have rights in Kenya?

Kenya is a multi-faith state and everyone should accept that they are allowed to operate freely, and the current Constitution does provide for that. The clause on religion has omitted the right to propagate one’s religion and the right to convert from one religion to another.

Is Kenya a secular state with Christian holidays such as Easter?

We wanted religious matters to be addressed by religious leaders so that we may accommodate one another, but Parliament and the Committee of Experts denied us the opportunity.

If a law was passed prohibiting abortion would you support the draft?

Even if abortion clause is removed and the kadhi’s court clause retained we will vote No.

Some Christian churches are among the biggest land owners in Kenya; could this possibly be part of the reason for opposing the draft?

Our position of opposing the proposed constitution is not based on land. We are opposing two clauses, abortion and the kadhi’s courts.

ANGOLA :

SOUTH AFRICA:

Unofficial Leader of Boers in South Africa Murdered
By Monica Stone/www.americanfreepress.net/16042010

The Easter weekend murder of Eugene Ney Terre’Blanche is not only a tragedy for those in South Africa who knew and loved him, but is deeply troubling to everyone because it shows the brutal direction in which the African National Congress’s (ANC) leadership is taking the country.

The circumstances surrounding his murder are, as one has come to expect in South Africa, a dense tissue of lies and media spin.

It has been reported that the murder was committed by two young black men who worked for him on his farm and were disgruntled about a wage dispute. The pair—one of them 21, the other barely 15 years old—allegedly called the police with Terre’Blanche’s cell phone to report their crime and turn themselves in. This is clearly nonsense. The pair was obviously promised immunity or rewards for their deed—if indeed they are guilty. Were they patsies? Why would two killers turn themselves in when they could have easily escaped unnoticed?

Reliable contacts in South Africa now reveal that the two weren’t even working for Terre’Blanche. Why was Terre’Blanche alone, when his usual modus operandi was to be accompanied by at least one bodyguard?

Why did President Jacob Zuma immediately call a press conference and beg for calm? Did he know that this deed would start a race war? Did he want to start a race war?

Why did Julius Malema—the leader of the ANC Youth League whose mantra is “Kill a Farmer! Kill a Boer!” (meaning a white man)—conveniently leave the country while the murder was taking place to discuss nationalization of land with Robert Mugabe? Why does Malema deny the ANC has anything to do with the murder?

These questions will never be addressed by the government lapdogs that pass for press in South Africa. No policeman in the employ of the government would risk his job or life by daring to tell the truth.

If Terre’Blanche’s grisly slaying is not to be in vain, the true culprits must be named. More than 3,000 farmers have died horrific deaths. These deaths have never been avenged, and the killers continue their cruelty.

Let Terre’Blanche’s death not become just another statistic. Whatever one thought of him, he was the most famous Boer in the world. He was the leader. His death indicates the end of the white tribe in Africa—unless the world’s attention can be captured by the true nature of the ANC and its reign of terror.

Brazil, India, S. Africa, Call For Changes To Global Framework
online.wsj.com/APRIL 16, 2010

BRASILIA (Dow Jones)–As part of a continued effort to increase the influence of their key emerging-market economies, leaders from Brazil, India and South Africa on Thursday made a joint call for revisions to the international political and economic framework to favor developing countries.

In meetings held alongside a conference of BRIC developing economies, the three nations urged changes in the United Nations security council, world trade rules and practices of international multilateral lenders.

Speaking on behalf of the group following their meeting, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the countries were seeking changes to create greater access and opportunities as developing countries emerge from the recent global financial crisis.

“Our best response to the global crisis is to bet on increased trade and investment,” Lula said, noting that trade within their three countries had quadrupled over the last seven years to around $12 billion.

In attendance at the meeting were Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma.

Items in the countries’ joint communique included a call for changes in the Bretton Woods international economic framework.

“The leaders stressed the need to reform the Bretton Woods Institutions in order to increase their effectiveness and enhance their accountability, credibility and legitimacy,” the statement said. “They stressed the importance of increasing the role of developing countries in these institutions.”

The statement also mentioned an “urgent need” for the reform of the United Nations to render it more democratic and consistent with the priorities of developing countries.

“They particularly emphasized that no reform of the United Nations will be complete without a reform of the UN Security Council, including an expansion in both permanent and nonpermanent categories of its membership, with increased participation of developing countries in both,” the statement said.

On the trade front, the leaders encouraged fair rules for developing country use of intellectual property, including medicines, and also emphasized need for conclusion of multi-lateral trade agreements.

“We agreed that the conclusion of the Doha round of (World Trade Organization) talks can no longer be delayed because it will help correct anamolies in international trade,” Lula said.

Among the group itself, the three countries signed agreements on technical and cultural cooperation, as well as for the development of a joint space satellite program to climate change monitoring and geophysical observation.

The meeting Thursday was followed by talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.

-By Gerald Jeffris, Dow Jones Newswires; (5561) 9162-7863, gerald.jeffris@dowjones.com

Tempers flare as scuffle brews over football World Cup tickets
Last updated on: April 16, 2010 /sports.rediff.com

South African police used pepper spray to stop scuffles on Thursday and a pensioner died in a queue as thousands of fans rushed to buy 500,000 World Cup tickets being sold over the counter for the first time.

Queues began on Wednesday afternoon and frustration built as people inched forward for a chance to get tickets, including some for the final on July 11. Computer crashes tested the patience of crowds at some centres and tempers flared.

“Police were called in,” said Eugene Opperman, South African Police Services spokesman in Gauteng of an incident at Brooklyn Mall in Pretoria where local radio reported that pepper spray was used to restore order.

“There was pushing and shoving among the people and it was decided police should go there for crowd control,” added Opperman.

In Sandton, north of Johannesburg, angry South Africans argued with police who used a vehicle to disperse the crowd.

A 64-year-old man suffered an apparent seizure as he waited in a queue in Cape Town, police said.

FIFA [ Images ] said in a statement that 1,610 tickets were sold at ticketing centres within an hour of counters opening while another 2,166 were bought at banks.

World football’s governing body acknowledged the huge demand had resulted in delays in issuing tickets.

Some banks were not able to process applications when systems crashed, leading to anger and frustration among fans.

“That’s it, I’ve had enough of this,” said Glen Watson, a 43-year-old South African who had queued outside a bank in Sandton for four hours.

Around 120,000 of the tickets are available to South Africans for $20 (12.90 pounds), the lowest price at a World Cup for many years.

Ticket sales in the country had been below expectations until recently and FIFA was criticised for selling them in a complex system over the internet which was alien to poor black football fans accustomed to getting tickets for cash on match days.

Officials acknowledged mistakes had been made and launched a new system of sales through ticketing offices and supermarkets on Thursday, hoping to sell out the tournament after disappointing overseas sales and returned tickets.

MANDELA VOTE

“I’m going to kiss my ticket when I get it,” said one man called Godfrey at the Maponya Mall in South Africa’s [ Images ] biggest black township, Soweto. He did not want to give his name because he was skipping work to queue.

“The last time I waited in a line like this was when I voted for Mandela,” he said, recalling the elections won by Nelson Mandela [ Images ] at the end of apartheid in 1994.

FIFA had previously said the final was sold out but on Wednesday announced another 300 tickets would be released for the biggest match in world football.

“I’m just waiting in anticipation,” said Marlin Fisher, training to be a church minister. “I would love for South Africa to go all the way and I will also put my money on the Brazilian team.”

Tickets are much higher than normal prices for top-level football in South Africa.

Even the special cheap tickets are more than five times the cost of normal top-class games, with costs escalating drastically in higher categories for better seats and after the first-round group phase.

Tickets for premier seats at the final cost $900.

Demand in South Africa had initially been sluggish but the most recent phase saw locals snap up 85 percent of the 240,000 tickets sold between February and the beginning of this month.

FIFA said last week 2.2 million tickets had been sold for the tournament which kicks off on June 11.

A few months ago FIFA officials complained there was not enough atmosphere in South Africa around the continent’s first World Cup but the over the counter sales seem to have changed that with excitement building rapidly.

Ethan Tobias ’12: No apartheid here
By Ethan Tobias/www.browndailyherald.com/Friday, April 16, 2010

Opinions Columnist
If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, don’t call it a chicken. Yet this is exactly what those who constructed a makeshift wall on the Main Green last week were doing. The wall stood as a protest to both “Apartheid in the Occupied Territories” of Israel/Palestine and the U.S.-Mexico border fence.

Whatever you may think about South Africa, Israel/Palestine or the U.S. southern border, the fact is that these situations are very different. Building a wall that conflates the nuances of the three, rather than having a civilized discussion about the effects of certain policies, paints history with a broad brush. It serves to poison the discourse by making weak associations.

The fact is that while some similarities do exist — there were fences in all these places — there are more fundamental differences among these situations. One of the most important is that the U.S. and Mexico are two separate countries. The system of apartheid in South Africa worked to separate people within a single country based on race, while the fence on our southern border separates peoples living in different countries. It is internationally agreed that nations have the right to control who can cross their borders. This right is essential for protecting countries from terrorists, criminals and drug smugglers.

These two examples show how the situation is strikingly different whether the separation is between peoples in different countries or within a single country. When fences attempted to divide a unified country, as in South Africa, it made sense to protest, support sanctions and encourage divestment. However, when fences serve to maintain existing national boundaries and provide security, as in the case of the U.S.-Mexico border, protests and divestment campaigns are misguided.

Given the importance of distinguishing between fences within a nation and fences between nations, how can we understand the situation in Israel/Palestine?
Israelis and Palestinians are very much two different peoples, with their own individual national aspirations. They differ in religion, language and culture. More importantly, they consider themselves to be separate nations. A two-state solution has majority support among both Israelis and Palestinians in polls conducted of both populations.

The leaders of the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government both support a two-state solution. They agree that any solution will be based on the pre-1967 borders, give or take a few land swaps. The groundwork for a major breakthrough is there. The international consensus has continually been for the creation of separate states for Israelis and Palestinians. The Peel Commission of 1937 recommended separate Jewish and Arab states. The United Nations in 1948 voted on a resolution establishing the creation of two separate states. Even today, leaders from all across the world, from President Obama to the Arab League, have endorsed some version of a two-state solution.

Given the overwhelming belief that a two-state solution is the best way to resolve the conflict in Israel/Palestine, it is clear that the situation is much more similar to the fence separating the U.S. and Mexico than the state of affairs in apartheid South Africa.

If the students who made the comparison between apartheid and the U.S.-Mexico border really believe their own rhetoric, then they must accept that they are citizens of an apartheid state, currently dividing the U.S. and Mexico. If I believed I were living under a system of apartheid, I would make sure I was doing everything in my power to end it before I started criticizing a foreign country for doing the same thing. Anything otherwise is pure hypocrisy.

The problem with repainting history is the tendency to subsume the individual nuances of different situations. The situation in Israel/Palestine is very different from the border fence between the U.S. and Mexico or the systematic segregation along racial lines in apartheid South Africa.

You do not have to agree with everything that the U.S. or Israeli governments do, but sincere criticism and protest go a lot further than name calling and guilt by association. It is easy to write off those we disagree with as acting like “Hitler” or “Stalin,” as the Tea Partiers do, but doing so is not intellectually honest. Instead, we should be debating policy respectfully. By associating the U.S. and Israel with the policy of apartheid in South Africa, those students on the Main Green chose to polarize the debate by brushing over important distinctions.

The image that the word “apartheid” brings to mind is a harsh one. Those using such loaded language must make a clear and concise argument explaining why the word applies. Conflating apartheid in South Africa with the U.S.-Mexico border and Israel/Palestine situations diminishes the suffering that millions of South Africans endured. It is an affront to them and to every self-respecting person who values historical accuracy.

Ethan Tobias ’12 likes the view from this side of the Van Wickle gates. He can be reached at Ethan_Tobias -at – brown.edu.

AFRICA / AU :

To fight pirate scourge, follow the money: US admiral
(AFP)/16042010

WASHINGTON — International efforts against pirates off the Horn of Africa need to target the money extorted from commercial ships, a senior US Navy officer said on Thursday.

“We have to go after the money,” Admiral Mark Fitzgerald told reporters at a Pentagon briefing.

Somalis enriched by banditry off the coast are buying up properties in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and in Mombasa, as well as in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, said Fitzgerald, commander of US naval forces in Europe and Africa.

“So it’s not a surprise where this money is going,” he said.

He said it was unrealistic to expect a stable government in Somalia to emerge any time soon, and that governments should instead organize a joint campaign to crack down on the financiers and the logistical supply network for the pirates.

“I think some progress is being made here but I think we need a more international effort on that,” he said.

The cost of skiffs, outboard motors and fuel have “gone up exponentially in countries like Yemen,” where the pirates get much of their supplies, he said.

Efforts to track finances need not be US-led, but should be placed under an international “framework,” he said, pointing to the United Nations or the European Union.

And he cautioned that countering piracy in the Indian Ocean with naval patrols, like those carried out by the US military and an array of governments, would not ultimately fix the problem.

“We could put fleets of ships out there, we could put a World War II fleet of ships out there and we still wouldn’t be able to cover the whole ocean,” he said.

“So this problem is not going to go away until we go after the root causes.”

The admiral also said the United States had yet to decide the legal fate of five suspected pirates captured earlier this month near the Seychelles.

The men were detained after opening fire from a skiff on the missile-guided frigate USS Nicholas, which returned fire and quickly chased down the small boat.

The US State Department and Justice Department were reviewing the case, including evidence seized by the navy crew and photographs of the skiff firing on the American warship, he said.

Kenya is no longer willing to take into custody pirate suspects detained by international navies off the coast, but US officials were approaching other countries, he added.

Pirates are often detained and then let go days later by foreign navies patrolling the region.

“Catch and release is not a very good option,” he said.

The end of the winter monsoon in the region has spurred a fresh spate of attacks by pirates able to venture hundreds of miles (kilometers) from their bases and approach their prey on relatively calm seas.

Armed with AK-47s, GPS navigation and satellite phones, pirates raked in an estimated 60 million dollars in ransoms last year.

Gartner: PCs in higher demand since 2009
Tech research firm details rise in worldwide PC shipments since last year
Omar Dabbagh (Good Gear Guide)/ www.pcworld.idg.com.au/ 16 April, 2010

The popularity of PCs has grown drastically in the past year with a worldwide boost of 27.4 percent in first-quarter sales compared to 2009, according to a survey released by Gartner Inc.

Research by the company shows double-digit growth rates in all regions, with Asia-Pacific shipment numbers reaching 26.5 million units — a 36.9 per cent increase since last year. Results for the U.S. and Latin America were slightly lower than expected at 20.2 and 35.4 percent growth respectively.

Principal Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa stated that these first quarter results have exceeded the company’s previous market outlook, which projected shipments to grow by 22 percent overall. “The stronger-than-expected growth was led by a robust recovery in the Europe, Middle East and Africa PC market, which grew 24.8 percent in the first quarter of 2010.

“With a relatively positive macroeconomic outlook, business demand was more forthcoming. Major PC replacement demand driven by Windows 7 will become more apparent in the second half of 2010 and the beginning of 2011.”

Hewlett-Packard maintained its top spot as the world’s top PC vendor with 15.3 million shipments. Acer represent the Asian competition in second place — its 12 million unit sales represented a sizeable 54 per cent increase in sales. Dell fell to third place with 10.2 million shipments.

Spokesperson for Gartner, Susan Moore, added that the Asia-Pacific PC market is now forecast to grow 17.2 per cent in terms of unit shipments in 2010, with Australia a big mover. “In the (Asia-Pacific) region’s mature PC markets like Australia, we expect stronger growth for 2010 as PC replacements gain momentum,” she said. “This reflects an expectation of increased IT budgets and the adoption of Windows 7.”

Another firm IDC, worldwide PC shipments increased by 24.2 percent during the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period last year.

Disruption to international flights
www.abc.net.au/2010/04/16

Airlines are advising passengers travelling from Perth to international destinations to check their websites for the latest update on flights being affected by volcanic ash across Europe.

Qantas says all passengers leaving Australia for Britain and Europe should check its website for information before leaving for the airport.

A spokeswoman says the website will have the latest information on which flights are affected.

She says it is too early to say how many people will be affected.

Emirates Airlines is also encouraging passengers to check their flights online.

Emirates Airlines has suspended all flights departing for UK destinations.

The company is offering passengers the option to cancel and rebook their flights at no additional cost.

Airport

A spokeswoman for Perth’s International Airport says as yet, no flights have been cancelled.

All passengers flying from Perth to Europe stopover in South Africa, the Middle East or South East Asia.

It is understood Singapore and Dubai airports are experiencing significant delays because of the cancellations of flights departing from there.

High praise for FMD funding injection
sl.farmonline.com.au/ROWENA MCNAUGHTON/16 Apr, 2010

A NEW $5 million program announced to study foot and mouth disease vaccines in neighbouring countries and their suitability for use in Australia has been met with warm praise by industry leaders.
In the new program, Australian livestock industries will fund collaborative research to enhance the nation’s FMD vaccine bank by working at trail sites in South Africa on sheep vaccines, Vietnam on pig vaccines and Argentinean beef vaccines.

It will be managed by Animal Health Australia with the research carried out by CSIRO scientists from the Australian Health Laboratory (AAHL).

It is estimated that over $20 million has been spent in Australia on FMD preparedness programs in recent years and this new research program hopes to accelerate the current one week turn around for FMD diagnosis and vaccine development.

Meat and Livestock Australia managing director, David Palmer, this week announced a $2 million injection to the new program, which was praised by livestock groups which were opposed to a recommendation in the Beale review into quarantine that live strains of the virus be brought to Australia to help with research into the disease.

When announcing the funding, Mr Palmer pressed the importance of Australia retaining its FMD free status.

“It is vitally important we protect our $16 billion (sheep and beef) export business that is so utterly dependent on export,” Mr Palmer said.

“Our continued freedom gives us unparallel market access to over 100 beef and 50 sheep countries.”

Mr Palmer said an outbreak of FMD had the potential to cost the Australian livestock industry up to $4 million a day.

Cattle Council of Australia executive director David Inall praised Meat and Livestock Australia’s joint funding of a new foot and mouth disease (FMD) preparedness program as “extremely valuable” and an “excellent start” in the study of the virus.

Mr Inall congratulated MLA, Animal Health Australia and the Australian Government for resisting the importation of live FMD virus into Australia, arguing that the approach to use neighbouring countries to study the virus was in the best interest of the Australian livestock industry.

“Australia has never had FMD, and we never want FMD, this is the next best option to bringing the virus in which we are vehemently opposed to,” Mr Inall told Rural Press.

Victorian Agricultural minister Joe Helper said FMD remained the “biggest risk to agriculture in Australia”.

He said a vaccine approach to FMD control was becoming the preferred front line combat approach over slaughtering, which brought “huge economic and social consequences” and “needless” killing of a lot of animals.

Global Institute for Animal health director, Jef Hammond said it was important Australia kept up its proactive approach to dealing with the threat of FMD, saying concentrating on vaccine was critical.

“Australia’s livestock population is virtually untouched (by FMD) so there are some issues whether vaccines will work as well on Australian animals,” Mr Hammond said.

Mr Hammond said last year had been the busiest year for FMD tests with 1037 sample from 36 countries tested, up 300 per cent on 2008. Over half these tests had resulted in a positive detection of FMD.

UN /ONU :

India pitches for UN reforms, global anti-terror treaty
Jayanth Jacob, Hindustan Times/16/4/2010

Brasilia, April 16, 2010

India has got an endorsement of its role in Afghanistan at the fourth IBSA summit in Brasilia, that also favoured a peaceful, diplomatic solution to Iran nuclear issue.

The Brasilia declaration adopted at the three-nation meet on Friday, attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Brazil President Lula da Silva and his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma expressed concern at the continuing deterioration of the military and political situation in Afghanistan.

And in consistence with Delhi´s stand the leaders underlined the “centrality of regional aspect” in the reconstruction o and development process in Afghanistan. More importantly, the declaration also condemned the “terrorist attacks targeting Indian humanitarian and development workers” in Kabul on February 26 this year. The attack had the imprints of Pakistan-based LeT. The declaration also stressed the “centrality of regional aspect” in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

Even as Washington has been gathering steam for sanctions against Iran, the summit had advocated the need for a peaceful diplomatic solution of the issue. “The leaders recognized the right of Iran to develop nuclear programmes for peaceful purposes in keeping with its international obligations,” the declaration said. The leaders also called up on Iran to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and comply with the relevant UN security council resolutions.

The Ieaders have also decided for the development of satellites in the areas of space, climate and earth observation. The satellites aims to address challenges in climate studies, agriculture, food security and the space programme among the countries.

And in his speech at the summit, Manmohan Singh made a strong case for the UN reforms and the early conclusion of an international convention to combat terrorism “The systems of global governance have not kept pace with the changing realities of the world,” Manmohan Singh said at the fourth IBSA summit that was held at Itamaraty Palace in the Brazilian capital.

“There is an urgent need for reform of the United Nations, including the Security Council, by making it more democratic and representative,” Singh said.

Alluding to the commencement of text-based negotiations in the UN this month as a positive development, the prime minister stressed that the movement in the UN reforms process was possible due to the efforts of the G-4 countries of India, Brazil, Japan and Germany and South Africa.

Calling for global fight against the scourge of terrorism, Manmohan Singh said “We should make all efforts for the early finalisation of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the UN.” Manmohan Singh also stressed on expanding greater collaborative effort among top emerging economies to tackle leading global issues like climate change, the international financial crisis and the Doha round of international trade negotiations.

UN chief hails new development in Sudanese elections
Source: Xinhua /world.globaltimes.cn/ April 16 2010

UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Thursday welcomed the new development in Sudan’s first national elections in 24 years, which were closed across the African country.
Ban congratulated all those who participated in the polls ” which took place without any major incident of violence” and called on all parties to refrain from actions that could jeopardize the “peaceful conclusion” of the electoral process.
A statement, issued by Ban’s spokesman here, said: “The secretary-general congratulates all those who participated in the elections, which, despite the reported irregularities and opposition boycotts, took place without any major incident of violence.”
In the statement, Ban also welcomed the extension of the voting period from three to five days, which allowed more people to exercise their right to vote.
“In the coming days and weeks, the secretary-general calls on all political leaders and their supporters to refrain from actions that could jeopardize the peaceful conclusion of the electoral process,” the statement said.
Ban also called for electoral grievances to be addressed through legal and institutional channels and reviewed with transparency and fairness.
“The secretary-general welcomes efforts of the ruling parties to engage with opposition candidates and parties, including those who boycotted the polls,” the statement said.
“The secretary-general encourages all political actors in Sudan to tackle issues in a spirit of dialogue, towards a peaceful electoral outcome and ongoing implementation of the CPA,” the statement also read.
The current Sudanese elections constitute a landmark in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), inked between North and South Sudan in 2005, which ended an over-two- decade civil war between the two sides. It also paves the way for the referendum on self-determination for South Sudan, slated for January 2011.

Sudan’s National Elections Commission (NEC) is expected to begin ballot count on Friday and the final results will be announced on April 20.
The polling process has been faced with some difficulties due to technical and administrative errors on the first day when many of the voters could not find their names on the lists.
The participating parties and their candidates have also complained about the missing names and incorrect symbols.
In an attempt to find quick solutions to the errors, the NEC then decided to extend the polling process for an extra two days and would subsequently reprint some of the incorrect ballots.
Around 16 million Sudanese voters have cast their votes in the first multi-party election in the country since 1986 to select their representatives for the presidency, the president of government of South Sudan, the state governors, and members of the national assembly and the state legislative councils.

Ducking a Congo Odyssey
Posted by Joseph Klein and filed under FrontPage/frontpagemag.com/ Apr 16th, 2010

Africa has been a heart-felt concern of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice for years.

Rice joined the Clinton administration’s National Security Council in 1995 as a special assistant to the President and senior director for African Affairs. In 1997, Rice moved into the high-profile role of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. During the years of the Bush administration, she joined the Brookings Institution and wrote about Africa.

Before taking up her present position at the UN, Rice advocated using American military power to directly intervene in African conflicts, including in the Darfur region of Sudan, as part of a large well-funded UN peacekeeping force.

Rice’s Afro-centric agenda may well stem in part from the horrors she saw in the aftermath of the Rwandan massacre. After her visit to Rwanda in 1994, she said:

“I saw hundreds, if not thousands, of decomposing corpses outside and inside a church. Corpses that had been hacked up. It was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen. It makes you mad. It makes you determined. It makes you know that even if you’re the last lone voice and you believe you’re right, it is worth every bit of energy you can throw into it.”

Yet despite all of her concern with African issues, she has decided not to take part in an upcoming Security Council visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo. According to Mr. Gerard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations who will be going on the trip, its purpose is to hold “discussions with the Congolese authorities and all the concerned actors in the Democratic Republic of Congo to prepare the reconfiguration of the mandate of the MONUC [United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo] and to discuss the future of the United Nations presence in Congo.”

Remarking on the fact that France and Great Britain were the only permanent members of the Security Council sending ambassador level representatives on the trip, Ambassador Araud said: “Of course we would have preferred to have more Permanent Representatives for this visit.”

Why is Susan Rice staying home rather than joining the Security Council contingent visiting an African country where, in Ambassador Araud’s words, there “is still sexual violence against women, there are still humanitarian problems, an outburst of violence between displaced persons coming back and the population.”

To put things into some perspective, the so-called Second Congo War, which began in 1998 and supposedly ended officially in 2003 (but has in reality continued), is the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II, killing 5.4 million people. Two hundred thousand Congolese girls and women have been raped, some by the UN’s own peacekeepers and civilians who had been sent to the Congo nation to help its people.

In her testimony before the Subcommittee on Africa, House International Relations Committee in 1998, Susan Rice (who was then the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs) said:

“The Congolese war–an unprecedented regionalized war that has drawn at least six armies onto Congolese soil–is potentially among the most dangerous conflicts on the globe. Credible reports of inter-ethnic violence, communal massacres, and attacks against non-combatants because of their ethnicity echo the tragedies of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the subsequent alleged massacres inside Zaire in late 1996 and 1997…The United States, for our part, must continue to work with the Congo and other fragile African nations and governments, especially during the most volatile and vulnerable stages of their development. Africa’s progress will not be linear, nor is it assured. Yet, our own national security is tied too closely to the continent’s economic and political success for the United States to be a passive bystander at such a critical stage in Africa’s history.”

Conditions have improved somewhat since then, but the situation remains “fragile” according to French Ambassador Araud. The violence continues. The BBC and Human Rights Watch have uncovered evidence of a massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo just last December in which more than 300 people were killed. It was carried out by rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a shadowy group that has committed numerous atrocities in Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Yet Ambassador Rice – who was so moved by what happened in Rwanda – is shirking her responsibility to help lead the UN’s effort to stabilize the Democratic Republic of Congo by failing to join the Security Council visit for a first-hand examination of present conditions and talks with the country’s leaders. Had she decided to go and raise the profile of the trip by her presence, more could perhaps be accomplished including a visit to the area of Congo outside of the capital city of Kinshasa, where the LRA’s most recent slaughter of 300 civilians took place.

I have contacted the press office of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations to inquire why Ambassador Rice is staying behind. No one has returned my calls.

One possible reason for Rice’s decision, according to Russell Lee Matthews of the Inner City Press who also was unsuccessful in getting a straight answer from the U.S. Mission, is that she wants to be present during the beginnings of negotiations on a resolution to impose additional sanctions on Iran. Given the fact that the trip will last just four days, it does not appear that she would miss any substantive negotiations. And the final decisions on the sanctions, which are weeks if not months away, will be made above her pay grade in any event.

Another possible reason is that Ambassador Rice was so personally affected by the suffering she observed on a prior trip to the East Congo, particularly the plight of women and children, that she did not want to experience such emotions again. However, it is precisely those women and children who continue to need her moral support and the spotlight that she can bring to their plight.

Ambassador Rice owes the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo an explanation for her no-show.

USA :

US man gets 10 years for Obama assassination plot
(AFP) /16042010

WASHINGTON — A US white supremacist was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday for having conspired to kill then-presidential candidate Barack Obama and dozens of other African-Americans in 2008.

US District Judge J. Daniel Breen sentenced Paul Schlesselman, 19, of West Helena, Arkansas after he pled guilty in January to a wide-ranging plot targeting US blacks.

He acknowledged having plotted to kill some 88 people and decapitate 14 African-Americans, before a final act assassinating Obama, who was at the time bidding to become the country’s first black president.

Schlesselman’s co-defendant Daniel Cowart, 21, has also pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

Authorities described the pair as white supremacists skinheads and said at the time of their arrest in October 2008 that Cowart, from Bells, Tennessee, and Schlesselman had met over the Internet a month earlier.

Cowart had bought a rifle and stockpiled two handguns, both stolen from his grandfather. Schlesselman also had a short-barreled shotgun and a revolver taken from his father without permission.

“Our nation has made great progress in advancing civil rights, but this unthinkable conspiracy is a reminder that hate-fueled violence continues to be a very real problem in so many communities,” Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Thomas Perez said in a statement.

US District Attorney Lawrence Laurenzi said “crimes committed against individuals because of their race will not be tolerated.”

South Africa: Zuma concludes US trip
Pana /16/04/2010

Cape Town, South Africa – South Africa President Jacob Zuma Wednesday concluded his working visit to the United States, where he attended a nuclear security summit.

The summit, which was convened by US President Barack Obama, ended with the commitment of 47 countries to securing nuclear materials by 2014.

The countries also undertook to ensure effective security of the nuclear material that they possessed.

The leaders pledged to prevent the illegal acquisition of information or technology required to use nuclear material for malicious purposes.

All countries agreed to adhere to a list of best practices and recognise a need for cooperation to effectively prevent and respond to incidents of illicit nuclear trafficking.

Zuma said he was confident that all countries would adhere to these undertakings and said all leaders present had shown much commitment in the fight against nuclear terrorism.

In its contribution at the summit, South Africa emphasised that the only way to combat nuclear terrorism would be the complete and irreversible elimination of nuclear weapons.

Addressing the Summit, Zuma said it was important that emphasis be placed on a multilateral approach in order to uphold the centrality of the United Nations.

Zuma also said that it was important for states to pool their resources in fighting terrorism globally and that multilateral systems should be strengthened to deal with such efforts.

Zuma praised the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in efforts to strengthen nuclear security.

He said the summit should not seek to replace the work of institutions such as IAEA but rather support and complement their work.

“We all know that the IAEA remains the internationally recognised competent authority responsible for verifying and assuring compliance with safeguards agreements to prevent the diversion of nucle ar energy from peaceful uses to nuclear weapons. Nothing should be done to undermine the authority of the IAEA and it should have adequate resources to fulfill its mandate,” he said.
Cape Town

Major Corporations Step Up for Certified Green Electronics Recycling
e-Stewards® Initiative launched with support from Samsung, Wells Fargo, Capitol One, and more
www.commondreams.org/April 16

SEATTLE – April 15 – The Basel Action Network (BAN), the group that first documented the dumping of toxic electronic waste in China and Africa, announced today the official launch of the world’s first global e-waste recycler certification and the first such program backed by environmental organizations and major corporations alike. The accredited, third-party audited certification program has not only been endorsed by Greenpeace USA, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Electronics TakeBack Coalition and 68 other environmental organizations, it has also drawn the support of major corporate “e-Stewards Enterprises” including:

•Apollo Group •Bank of America
•Capitol One Financial
•Indep. Distributors of Electronics Assoc.
•Natural Resources Defense Council
•Nemours Foundation
•Premier, Inc.
•Premier Farnell
•Resource Media
•Samsung
•Sprout Creation
•Stokes Lawrence
•Wells Fargo
“Samsung is honored to be the first electronics manufacturer recognized with the e-Stewards standard for rigorous recycling and e-waste materials management,” said Mr. J. C. Ser, Senior Vice President for Samsung Electronics America. “This is a major validation of our efforts as we have responsibly recycled more than 20 million pounds of e-waste since the beginning of our Samsung Recycling Direct program in 2008 and plan to continue strengthening our commitment and leadership in this industry.”

At the heart of the program is the e-Stewards Standard, created by BAN with the advice of industry leaders and health and environmental specialists. It calls for recyclers to eliminate exports of hazardous e-wastes to developing countries; to halt the dumping of such wastes in municipal landfills or incinerators; and to cease the use of captive prison populations to manage toxic e-wastes. It also calls for strict protection of customer’s private data and occupational health safeguards to ensure that workers in recycling plants are not exposed to toxic dusts and fumes.

“The e-Stewards Enterprise program makes it easy for us to demonstrate that our electronic waste management standards are responsible and align with best practices. By using e-Stewards Recyclers, we know that our old computers and other electronics aren’t going to be disposed of in a way that harms people or the environment and that, when possible, electronic components are recycled and reused,” said Mary Wenzel, director of Environmental Affairs, Wells Fargo.

Currently there are about 50 e-Stewards Recyclers, each of which has passed a rigorous internal review by BAN as a preliminary step to full certification. All are regarded as responsible recyclers, and each has committed to becoming fully certified by September 2011. Today’s announcement names the first companies that have become fully certified. They have passed additional, independent audits conducted by three ANAB accredited certifying Bodies: AQA International LLC, Orion Registrar Inc., and SAI Global. These very first Certified e-Stewards Recyclers are:
•Newport Computer Services, Inc. (one US location)
•Redemtech (all 4 US locations)
•WeRecycle! (one US location)
Already, there are an additional twelve recyclers next in line that have contracted with certifying bodies to begin the process. They are: A greenSpan Computer Recycling, California Electronic Asset Recovery (CEAR), CloudBlue, Creative Recycling Solutions, eGreen IT Solutions, Glezco (Mexico), Materials Processing Corporation, Metech, Nextend, Regency Technologies, Surplus Exchange, and Universal Recycling Technologies.

“We are making history here,” said Mick Schum, President of WeRecycle! “Today, e-Stewards Recyclers and their customers are taking a significant step forward in achieving the most responsible level of management for obsolete electronic equipment. Now, we can provide a competitive domestic alternative to the irresponsible exportation and dumping that runs rampant throughout the industry. Finally, consumers can really know they are doing the right thing when they recycle their old electronics and as Certified e-Stewards Recyclers, we can prove it.” .###
BAN is the world’s only organization focused on confronting the global environmental injustice and economic inefficiency of toxic trade (toxic wastes, products and technologies) and its devastating impacts. Working at the nexus of human rights and environment, we confront the issues of environmental justice at a macro level, preventing disproportionate and unsustainable dumping of the world’s toxic waste and pollution on our global village’s poorest residents. At the same time we actively promote the sustainable and just solutions to our consumption and waste crises — banning waste trade, while promoting green, toxic free and democratic design of consumer products.

CANADA :

Irish unions host ‘anti-Israel’ parley
By JONNY PAUL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT /16/04/2010

Majority of speakers not opposed to a complete boycott of Israel.
Talkbacks (1)
Ireland’s national trade union federation is hosting a conference in Dublin on Friday on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a majority of speakers either firm advocates or not opposed to a complete boycott of Israel.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), which last year voted to support a boycott of Israeli goods and services, described the conference as an “international conference on the Middle East which will feature contributions from Palestine, Israel, the US, Canada, South Africa and the EU.”

Titled “Palestine-Israel: The way forward for Trade Union Solidarity,” the one-day conference for trade union members and affiliates has been accused of aiding those who want to isolate and demonize Israel.

“This kind of one-sided Israel-bashing will do little to promote the goal of peace and reconciliation in the Middle East – but will aid those who want to isolate and demonize Israel,” said Eric Lee, spokesman for the Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine (TULIP), a movement working to unite trade unions and nongovernmental organizations to counter boycott calls of Israel.

There will be two pro-Israel speakers at the conference: the Histadrut’s International Department director Avital Shapira, and Arieh Lebowitz from the Jewish Labor Committee.

But the remaining speakers either do not oppose a boycott or are major players in the “boycott, divestment and sanctions” (BDS) campaign against Israel.

Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin is also addressing the conference. The Irish government is opposed to any trade sanctions or boycotts against Israel.

“The conference arises from the motions passed at successive ICTU conferences in 2007 and 2009 and from the recommendations of a Congress fact-finding visit to Israel and Palestine, in November 2007,” an ICTU spokesman told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

“The primary aim is to build support for our policy, stated in the motions, and learn from other union movements that have undertaken similar campaigns. It also aims to strengthen our relationship with the labor movements in the region, in order to contribute to a peaceful resolution that respects both the UN resolutions and human and trade union rights,” the spokesman added.

“The boycott of Israeli goods was formally adopted as ICTU policy at its conference in July 2007. Only afterwards, in November 2007, did ICTU deem it appropriate to send a mission to the area to assess the situation for itself,” said a spokesman from the Israeli Embassy in Dublin.

“Not surprisingly, this ‘fact-finding’ effort supported the boycott approach and at their conference in 2009, ICTU policy was updated by a motion calling for a full campaign of BDS.

“ICTU’s policy of boycotting Israel ignores completely the myriad programs of exchange and cooperation between the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions and their Israeli counterpart, the Histadrut. Indeed BDS, if implemented, would actually undermine the ability of Palestinian workers to realize their rights and interests,” the embassy spokesman added.

Testimonies from members of the group Breaking the Silence, made during Operation Cast Lead, will also be screened to the conference participants. These testimonies, according to the group’s Web site, “demonstrate the depth of corruption which is spreading in the Israeli military.”

Palestinian representatives at the conference include Omar Barghouti, from the Palestinian National Committee for BDS; Daragh Murray from the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights; Fathi Nasser, Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, and Raed Sadeq, from the Palestinian Democracy and Workers’ Rights Center.

ICTU has also invited a member of a small radical fringe group called the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network and a host of other organizations vocal in the BDS campaign.

These include Dave Moxham from the Scottish Trade Union Congress. Last April, at its annual conference, the STUC voted to endorse a boycott of Israeli goods.

Other invitees and boycott supporters include Owen Tudor from Britain’s Trade Union Congress, which just joined forces with radical fringe group Palestine Solidarity Campaign to call for a boycott of settlement produce. The PSC is committed to a complete boycott of Israel.

Tyotyo Hubert James from the Congress of South African Trade Unions; Mary-Jo Nadeau, Canadian Union of Public Employees and Labour for Palestine Canada, and Mags O’Brien, Trade Union Friends of Palestine, make up the other pro-boycott activists speaking at the one-day conference.

“Could the organizers not have found representatives of, say, the trade union movement in Germany, which is outspoken in its opposition to the boycott of Israel? Or perhaps top trade union leaders in the UK, US and Australia who have lent their support to TULIP?” Lee asked.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions claimed it consulted widely on the lineup of the conference.

“We cannot comment on individual speakers and participants. Suffice to say we consulted widely on the lineup and organization of the conference. It is but one element of an ongoing campaign and we will doubtless hold other conferences and public meetings in the future which will involve other speakers and other viewpoints,” the ICTU said.

“We hope that the ICTU takes the opportunity to foster co-operation between the Israeli and Palestinian trade unions, as they have representatives from both organizations present,” said Stephen Scott from Trade Union Friends of Israel.

“What we don’t want is for an anti-Israel session that will really prove utterly unproductive in what could be a missed opportunity to build some bridges.”

The Israeli Embassy said that boycotts will only perpetuate conflict and do little to bring peace.

“In reality, the campaign to promote BDS against Israel is an exercise which by promoting an absurdly simplistic, black and white picture of the Middle East will only help perpetuate conflict rather than helping to bring reconciliation and peace,” the embassy spokesman said.

“The proponents of BDS do not speak of peace, reconciliation or coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. Their program is not one of encouraging constructive engagement or bridge-building, but one of demonization and zero-sum politics.”

Abusers should be held to account
Fri, April 16, 2010 / www.vindy.com

Abusers should be held to account

Recent newspaper and TV news stories call attention to the pope and the Vatican’s involvement in the worldwide sexual abuse of children. Thousands of children have been abused in the United States by priests. Originally the Vatican claimed the abuse was a problem confined to the U.S., but complaints have been reported all over the world: Africa, Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland and even Italy. The abuse is so widespread the institutional church can no longer keep secret the cover up of abusers by the bishops. London protesters demand the pope resign: Austrians have begun a church-funded commission to investigate abuse claims probably to ward off investigations by civil authorities. The Vatican is out to defend the indefensible.

Previously the Catholic church has done an excellent job of defending itself against scandal and protecting the reputation of its leaders. Secrecy has been its stalwart defense. But the real problem for the church is protecting children. On this matter they have failed miserably. Despite all the flap about screening employees, fingerprinting, psychological testing of seminarians, zero tolerance, etc., the abusing clergy are still transferred from parish to parish, diocese to diocese, country to country. The children are unprotected unless the abusers are prosecuted, jailed or otherwise monitored.

But the real anger comes from the fact that the cardinals and bishops who hid abusers and enabled them are not exposed for their crimes — mistakes, sins, transgressions.

Arguments the church uses to defend itself are ludicrous:

1) The pope and hierarchy are victims of bad press. The media have done nothing but report facts and generally have been very kind.

2) The sex problem is not unique to the Catholic church. Does this exonerate the blame? It is like the immature school child trying to excuse his misbehavior by claiming: “everybody does it.”

3) According to Msgr. Charles Scicluma, a Vatican official, the Vatican insists on secrecy and in countries where there is no legal obligation to report sex abuse accusations to legal authorities, bishops are not forced to denounce their own priests. Good grief. Is there no shame?

John Wirtz, North Jackson

AUSTRALIA :

Lihir May Allow Rival Bidders a Data Room, Financial Review Says
By Jacob Greber/Bloomberg/April 16

April 16 (Bloomberg) — Lihir Gold Ltd. may have prepared a data room for potential bidders as it aims to increase pressure on Newcrest Mining Ltd. to raise a A$9.5 billion ($8.9 billion) takeover offer, the Australian Financial Review said. Canadian miners Goldcorp Inc. and Kinross Gold Corp., as well as South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. may have some interest in bidding, the newspaper reported, citing analysts. Lihir has had soft approaches from third parties, the Review said.

EUROPE :

Sudan: Kufuor hails Sudanese polls as step in democratization
Pana /16/04/2010

News – Africa news .Khartoum, Sudan – Former Ghanaian President John Kufuor has hailed Sudanese elections as “a step forward in democratization,” saying the pols had raised the bar for African countries scheduled to hold elections later in the year.

In exclusive interview with PANA, Kufuor, who is leading a team of 76 African Union (AU) observers, said despite logistical and technical challenges, Sudan’s peaceful and orderly conduct of the polls had elevated the standing of the government and its people above the usually chaotic and violent African polls.

“Despite the serious challenges so far, the people of Sudan have exhibited a level of maturity and tolerance that is rare on a continent where election are synonymous with violence and electoral fraud,” said Kufuor who, together with South African President Thabo Mbeki,, and former Tanzania President Benjamin Mkapa, are respected for stepping down after the expiration of their tenures.

Kufuor was the first African leader to respond when Kenya plunged into a political crisis following contested presidential poll outcome of 2007. He has been hailed as an icon of African democratic transition by US President Barrack Obama, who last year visited Ghana in symbolic acknowledgement of entrenchment of democracy and competitive politics.

“Sudan has set the benchmark higher for democracy in Africa a little higher for countries that will be holding elections later in the year. It has managed to come this far because of the massive attention from observers from all over the world. The awareness of the electorate contributed to the orderliness. I have a feeling this is going to be the trend everywhere [in Africa],” he said.

Later this year, Rwanda and Burundi will hold general elections before July and August, while in Tanzania and Ethiopia, the polls are scheduled for October. Burkina Faso is expected to elect a new parliament and president in October.

“We cannot compare these countries to Sudan because geographically and historically they are so diverse. Yet infrastructurally, the challenges they face are nothing compared to what Sudan has gone through. Given that this is the first time Sudan is holding an election in 24 years, it is incumbent upon other African nations that have a history of electing their leaders periodically to up their game,” said Kufuor.

As he spoke, other international observers hailed the poll as a major success given events preceding it.

The US government, Britain and the European Union (EU) gave the poll thumbs up, despite the hiccups and challenges that saw some 800,000 ballot papers being reprinted and the polling period extended by two days from Tuesday to Thursday.

The government went a step further by declaring the last day of polling a national holiday, which observers hailed as enhancing participation. According to the National Election Commission (NEC), voter turnout has been massive and was expected to rise further as voter rush to beat the 6 o’clock deadline set by the electoral body.

The United States Embassy said that despite earlier misgivings about the credibility of the poll outcome, there were indications that the results would be accepted by the parties that took part. The EU, one of the observer missions with a heavy presence in Sudan, endorsed the poll as free and fair, despite raising questions about whether the same scenario would have prevailed obtained had the political parties not pulled out.

“The complexity of the process is huge. The extension of the voting period will mitigate some of the complaints. There have been reports of some violence in south Sudan, because, we presume there is competition. We cannot tell what would have happened in the North if some (13) political parties had not withdrawn,” said EU chief observer, Veronique de Keyser.

In the run-up to the polls, US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley, expecting violence and massive polling irregularities, had indicated that the Obama Administration had resigned to accepting any verdict as a way of moving forward the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA), signed in 2005 in Naivasha, Kenya.

Crowley said, “We are talking about implementing specific obligations under the comprehensive Peace agreement that lead to the important referenda that will occur next January. We want the CPA implementation to continue on schedule. This election is part of the process. Ultimately we think there is value in giving the people of Sudan an opportunity to participate in the broader political process for the first time in a quarter a century.”

Khartoum –

Submission of DAR for 3AEY by CRD
GB0001646941/GBP/PLUS-exn
16 April 2010/www.marketwire.com

EDEN RESEARCH PLC
(“Eden” or “Company”)

Submission of DAR for 3AEY by CRD

Eden Research plc, a leading UK agrochemical development company, today announces that it has been informed
by the Chemicals Regulation Directorate (“CRD”) that the review of the Draft Assessment Report (“DAR”) for
the Company’s lead product, 3AEY, and its three active components, has been completed and submitted to the
European Foods Safety Authority (“EFSA”). The CRD has recommended that Eden undertakes an additional assay
study as some EU member states may require it for national approval and, in order to expedite sales of
Eden’s product, this will be done in the next few months.

The submission of the DAR to EFSA triggers a milestone payment of £38,000 by one of Eden’s licensees,
Environmental Solutions North Africa Limited, under the licensing agreement.

The completion of the review by CRD is a major step forward in the route to full commercialisation of 3AEY,
a terpene based fungicide. Terpenes are natural compounds which function as defence mechanisms in many
plant groups and are released in response to infection, stress or mechanical injury. Their natural disease
control has been acknowledged for some time, but it is Eden’s unique patented encapsulation process of
3AEY, which allows the slow release of terpenes, that forms the revolutionary aspect of this treatment. The
specific application covered by the DAR is for the control of the fungal disease, botrytis, in grape vines.

Botrytis is a widespread fungal problem that causes “grey mould” on fruits and vegetables, often arising
late in the growing cycle and leading to the rapid reduction in marketable yield and lower quality of
crops. Annual worldwide expenditure on fungicides to control botrytis is typically c.$300m.

The announcement of this “green” development is especially important and timely as the new regulatory
controls on EU pesticides are expected to significantly reduce the already diminished arsenal of control
chemicals available to farmers and growers.

Once the DAR is received by EFSA, the process of gaining national registrations for sale can commence.
Prior to full EU approval, individual countries may issue ‘provisional approval’ for use. Such provisional
approval, subject to the territory, would allow sales of 3AEY to begin through Eden’s existing EU
licensees. It will also benefit our current licensees in other territories, particularly in North Africa
(Environmental Solutions) and East Africa (Lachlan Kenya) where crops are being grown for export to the EU.

Clive Newitt, Managing Director of Eden Research, said:

“The submission of the DAR represents a major milestone in the approval process for our lead product, 3AEY.
This not only paves the way for the commercialisation of 3AEY, but also provides a very firm footing for
the registration of further products from our pipeline as they are based upon the same active substances in
different combinations and ratios.

Our products offer viable alternative methods of controlling damaging pests and diseases which can be fully
incorporated into Integrated Crop Management programmes and thereby minimise future resistance problems.”

The directors of Eden Research plc are responsible for the contents of this announcement.

Enquiries:

Eden Research plc 01993 862761
Clive Newitt, Managing Director

St Helens Capital Partners LLP 020 7368 6959
Mark Anwyl

Threadneedle Communications 020 7653 9850
Josh Royston
Beth Harris

Zimbabwe at 30: strains remain with ex colonial master
April 16/ (AFP)

LONDON,
Britain’s refusal to lift sanctions on Zimbabwe or to channel aid through its government remain sources of tension between Harare and its ex-colonial master, 30 years after independence.

A disinvestment campaign also has fuelled long-standing hostility between London and President Robert Mugabe, even if tensions have eased since the opposition won a share of power last year.

Britain has promised to support the unity government Mugabe formed with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), but continues to back European Union sanctions against the president’s associates.

Although this has infuriated Mugabe, who wants them lifted as a requirement for wrapping up power-sharing talks, Britain says more progress must be made.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown insisted last month that the sanctions “do not target Zimbabwe or Zimbabweans”. They impose an assets freeze and travel ban on members of the ruling elite blamed for human rights abuses.

Britain also continues to send aid, contributing 60 million pounds (92 million dollars, 68 million euros) last year through non-governmental channels.

But Mugabe blames much of his country’s economic woes on sanctions, as well as on what he says is Britain’s refusal to keep a 30-year-old promise to compensate wealthy white farmers in his programme of land reform.

Britain denies making any such deal, although it has supported efforts to tackle the unequal division of land between whites and blacks, an issue that drove the bloody civil war in the run-up to independence in 1980.

It provided 44 million pounds for land purchases up to 1996, but stopped “when it became apparent that much land was not being given to the landless poor, but to senior members of the regime,” a Foreign Office spokesman said.

Professor Stephen Chan of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies said the EU sanctions were of “symbolic importance” and aimed at registering the West’s disquiet at the acceleration in the land reforms after 2000.

“But this was also accompanied by a disinvestment campaign” in which Britain was a “lead actor”, he said — and which had devastating results.

Professor Teddy Brett of the London School of Economics (LSE) argues that it was no surprise foreign and domestic investors backed off after the 2000 land reforms, when property was seized often violently and without compensation.

But Chan insists that while Mugabe “took the decisive action that prompted a chain reaction”, western powers knew “exactly what disinvestment would mean”.

“If the West is serious about helping Zimbabwe redevelop, it is going to have to start putting investment back in,” he said.

Britain once had cordial relations with Zimbabwe, hosting the 1979 Lancaster House talks that led to independence and initially giving financial support to Mugabe’s new government.

But ties went downhill in the late 1990s, coinciding with a shift in the politics of both countries.

In 1997, Tony Blair’s Labour government came to power in London making it clear it accepted no moral responsibility for colonialism and would not fund any land reforms unless they they directly benefited the poor.

According to Brett, Mugabe was also coming under political pressure at this time from veterans from the war of independence, civic organisations and the MDC, which prompted him to escalate the land reforms.

“They wanted to have resources which they could use politically,” he said.

When the reforms backfired, it was obvious who to blame.

Dr. Sue Onslow of the LSE says her research has found no sign of an agreement on British compensation for land reforms at Lancaster House, but said Mugabe never made this clear to his supporters.

“The problem was that it was a fudge and they didn’t go back and spell that out clearly to their political supporters,” she told AFP. “And now they are blaming the British government.”

CHINA :

South Africa condoles with China’s quake victims
April 16, 2010/ english.peopledaily.com.cn/Source:Xinhua

South African President Jacob Zuma on Thursday offered condolences to China’s quake victims, expressing his full confidence in the Chinese authorities in handling the earthquake which had killed about 600 people in China’s Qinghai Province.

“It is unfortunate that natural disasters have become a common phenomenon around the world and continue to gravely afflict humanity at a time when people experience a myriad of development challenges,” Zuma said in a statement to the South African Press Association.

“I have all the confidence that the Chinese authorities will deploy all the necessary efforts to save more lives in this disaster and bring the much needed relief to the affected communities,” he added.

India pitches for greater IBSA, BRIC role
www.thehindu.com/2010/04/16

Siddharth Varadarajan

Multipolar economy is giving rise to new geopolitics

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IBSA, BRIC attracting increasing attention for their potential role as catalysts for a new order

Manmohan terms IBSA “a strong moral force in today’s unsettled world”

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Brasilia: India on Thursday joined Russia, Brazil, China and South Africa in holding back-to-back summits of IBSA and BRIC that underscore a shared quest for greater collective influence within the changing geometry of the international system.

The two groupings — of which Brazil and India are common members — were originally meant to meet here over two days in the rising powers’ answer to the G7 platform of top industrialised countries. But with China’s President Hu Jintao cutting short his visit because of an earthquake in Qinghai, the India-Brazil-South Africa forum and the Brazil, Russia, India, China group both met within hours of each other on April 15. Details of the BRIC summit were not available at the time of going to press.

With the world financial crisis exposing the weakness if not irrelevance of existing global institutions, IBSA and BRIC are attracting increasing attention for their potential role as catalysts for a new order.

The U.S. sees the G-20 as one way to dilute the influence of these groupings, which bring together some of the largest and most influential members of the erstwhile second and third worlds. “If it is no longer possible to solve big international issues without developing and transition country involvement,” World Bank president Robert Zoellick said in a recent speech advocating a “new geopolitics for a multipolar economy,” “it is also no longer possible to presume that their biggest members, the so-called BRICs, will represent all.”

Calling IBSA “a strong moral force in today’s unsettled world,” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived here from Washington on Wednesday, said the significance of the grouping extended well beyond the bilateral ties between its three members. Among the areas he identified for coordination within IBSA were greater access to developed markets, reform of the United Nations, climate change and terrorism.

Brazil was represented at the IBSA summit by President Lula da Silva and South Africa by President Jacob Zuma.

With parallel meetings of IBSA parliamentarians, businesspersons, editors and academics being held here simultaneously, the Prime Minister drew attention to the fact that interaction among the “three major democracies” goes beyond the government level. Though trade between the three countries has grown significantly, the $10 billion target for intra-trade has not yet been reached. And transport linkages, especially with India, remain underdeveloped.

In a first for IBSA, the forum also held a ministerial level meeting with the Foreign Minister of Palestine, Riad Al-Malki. The three nations are jointly funding sports facilities for the Palestinians in Ramallah. India was represented by Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma. The Ministers expressed strong disappointment over the continued construction of settlements by Israel in the Occupied Territories and committed IBSA to “pro-actively” support the formation of a viable Palestinian state.

At the trilateral level, 16 working groups in areas as diverse as agriculture, transport and defence have been operating for the past few years. Joint naval exercises under the rubric of IBSAMAR are being held, highlighting the group’s potential role as a provider of maritime security from the southern Atlantic to the southern Indian oceans. Negotiations for a trade arrangement between India, Mercosur and the Southern Africa Customs Union are also being expedited.

The IBSA summit’s focus on social inclusiveness suggests the three countries also see value in learning from each other’s welfare programmes like the Brazilian Bolsa Familia and India’s employment guarantee scheme. And their special emphasis on Haiti’s reconstruction is a reflection of their stated commitment to the wider developing world.

Brazil, India, S Africa urge talks on Iran
Fri, 16 Apr 2010/ www.presstv.ir

Brazil, India and South Africa have called for a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear issue, adding that the country’s nuclear rights should be respected.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and South African President Jacob Zuma in a trilateral summit in Brasilia on Thursday “recognized the right of Iran to develop nuclear programs for peaceful purposes in keeping with its international obligations.”

The leaders, in a joint statement, underlined “the need for a peaceful and diplomatic solution of the issue,” AFP reported.

This is while Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim on Thursday declared that his country feels “great affinity” with China over Iran’s nuclear issue.

Russia and China, two veto-wielding nations of the UN Security Council, have repeatedly voiced their opposition to new sanctions against Iran, saying that such sanctions will not help to solve the Islamic Republic’s nuclear issue.

“Our impression… is that the effectiveness of sanctions is debatable,” Amorim said.

MGH/MMA

INDIA :

China and Brazil to boost co-operation
By Jonathan Wheatley in Brasília and Jamil Anderlini,in Beijing
www.ft.com/Published: April 16 2010

The second Brics summit was cut short last night when the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, returned earlier than planned to his country because of Wednesday’s earthquake that killed at least 600 people in a remote Tibetan region.

Meetings in Brasília between the heads of state of Brazil, Russia, India and China were brought forward from today and took place alongside meetings of the heads of state of India, Brazil and South Africa, originally scheduled to precede the Brics summit.

Mr Hu and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s president, held closed talks but did not discuss China’s currency, a Brazilian government official said.

Henrique Meirelles, governor of Brazil’s central bank, said this week the undervalued renminbi was having a negative impact on the global economy, adding to mounting international pressure on China to allow its currency to appreciate. But a senior diplomat said before the meeting the issue was not on the agenda and neither was the replacement of the US dollar as a global reference currency.

In a joint plan between Brazil and China due to be signed by the two presidents yesterday evening, the countries said they would work towards using their own currencies in bilateral trade, an idea they first proposed last May.

The 8,000-word document contains a host of proposals for bilateral co-operation in areas such as politics, economics, trade, energy, mining, financial services and agriculture.

The proposals are at times contradictory. On trade, the two countries say they are “ready to jointly oppose protectionism in any form” but later call for measures “that protect the interests of farmers in developing countries”.

The document also reflects the slow pace at which bilateral relations have developed. Brazil recognised China as a market economy in 2004 but has yet to implement that recognition. In yesterday’s agreement it promises to address the issue. China promised to invest billions of dollars in Brazil. That too has failed to materialise.

However, yesterday’s agreement says: “Both countries put emphasis on the joint development and processing of minerals, such as iron, aluminium, nickel, copper and coal. Therefore, both sides agree to extend China’s investment in Brazil, including investments in infrastructure to support exports to China, as well as the process of adding value to the production and processing of minerals on a local basis.”

New program makes sure e-waste is recycled right
By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY /2010-04-16

More companies and recyclers are taking steps to ensure that old electronic devices such as TVs and computers aren’t dumped in poor countries.
The Basel Action Network, a Seattle-based non-profit that largely exposed the overseas dumping of U.S. electronic waste, on Thursday launched a program to use third-party auditors to certify recyclers who don’t export hazardous electronic waste.

The so-called eSteward recyclers will also agree not to dump the waste in U.S. landfills and agree to meet other criteria.

The certification is intended to provide companies and consumers with some assurance that the waste, which can include toxins such as lead and mercury, is disposed of safely.

The Government Accountability Office, in a 2008 report, declared that U.S. electronic waste was often disposed of unsafely in such countries as China and India. There, workers reclaim gold, silver and copper from the waste, often in open-air acid baths that leave a toxic sludge.

The Basel network also says it won assurances from 13 organizations, including Samsung, Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), Capitol One Financial (COF) and the Natural Resources Defense Council, that they’ll use eSteward recyclers whenever possible.

Wells Fargo had already been using recyclers who pledged not to export. The eSteward pledge led to changes for others, says Jim Puckett, Basel’s executive director. The Natural Resources Defense Council, for one, had not adequately tracked its e-waste, says the council’s senior scientist, Allen Hershkowitz.

So far, Basel has certified three recyclers and seven sites.

Before eStewards, even companies that wanted to avoid export of electronic waste had to “hope for the best,” when they handed their waste to recyclers, says Robert Houghton, president of Ohio-based recycler Redemtech. It is an eSteward and counts major companies among its customers. Now, “They can get some proof,” Houghton says.

Basel’s standards compete with another set launched in January. It was crafted by industry and backed by the Environmental Protection Agency.

That standard, dubbed R-2, doesn’t ban the export of hazardous electronic waste but requires that it be handled safely. Instead of a ban, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries says, efforts should be made to help poor countries develop safe recycling.

BRASIL:

EN BREF, CE 16 avril 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,16/04/2010