{jcomments on}OMAR, AGNEWS, BXL, le 21 mai 2010 – blackstarnews.com- May 21, 2010–Johnnie Carson, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs will ask Uganda’s president Yoweri K. Museveni to consider the “long term stability” of the East African country, before next year’s presidential elections, The Black Star News has learned.
RWANDA
UGANDA
U.S. Prefer Ugandan Leader To Retire?
blackstarnews.com /By Milton Allimadi /May 21, 2010
Johnnie Carson, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs will ask Uganda’s president Yoweri K. Museveni to consider the “long term stability” of the East African country, before next year’s presidential elections, The Black Star News has learned.
Asked whether this meant the United States will ask the Ugandan to consider retirement, a U.S. lawmaker said, “President Museveni should consider all options that would ensure Uganda’s continued, and long-term stability. Uganda’s partners are interested in truly democratic elections.”
The lawmaker did not want to be identified.
The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, who meets the Ugandan president this week, will also urge Museveni to pave the way for the replacement of his hand-picked Election Commission with a new one, after allowing opposition parties to participate in the appointment of a new Commission, the lawmaker said.
Museveni has been in office since 1986 and for decades had received uncritical backing from the U.S. and the U.K. His government is seen as a useful Western proxy in Africa, for example, supplying thousands of troops to prop the U.S.-backed government in Mogadishu.
U.S. lawmakers were alarmed by the tone of a report issued by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in April in response to a Congressional Directive to Clinton to monitor preparations for the elections, the elections itself, and the aftermath.
In blunt language, Secretary Clinton in her first report said the credibility of the Uganda elections next February was “damaged” since all the members of the Election Commission had been appointed by president Museveni.
The report was also critical of the Uganda government’s failure to prepare a credible voter role; allowing the opposition access to media; and allowing the opposition freedom of movement to campaign.
The U.S. State Department tried to block the dissemination of the report, which was published exclusively by The Black Star News. “This report is a privileged communication with Congress,” Russell Brooks, a State Department spokesperson had told The Black Star. “The Administration will not publicly release the report.”
Secretary Clinton is to issue a report updating the status of the election preparations every four months; and a final report one month after the election.
Ugandan soldier killed in Somalia
www.monitor.co.ug/By Risdel Kasasira /Friday, May 21 2010
Kampala
A roadside bomb killed a Ugandan soldier yesterday morning and injured two others while on foot-patrol in the Somali Capital, Mogadishu.
The spokesperson of African Union Mission in Somalia, Maj. Barigye Ba-Hoku, told Daily Monitor on phone from Mogadishu that the peacekeepers were patrolling the city.
“It was an improvised explosive device that exploded and killed one of our soldiers who were patrolling in Afixione,” he said.
Maj. Ba-Hoku, however, dismissed reports that Islamist fundamentalists had killed the peacekeeper in the mortar-attack on ships allegedly carrying AMISOM weaponry at Mogadishu Seaport.
Barbaric act
“That is rubbish being fronted by the propagandists. This was a minor incident of an IED. We have no ships to carry weapons,” he said.
He described the attack as “a barbaric act” by elements opposed to having a peaceful Somalia.
At least 40 Ugandan peacekeepers have died in Somalia since 2007 when Uganda and Burundi deployed four battalions under AMISOM to support the beleaguered transitional government of Somalia.
When asked whether the dead had been identified, Maj. Ba-hoku said they would first inform the family of the victim before giving his identity.
Each family of the soldiers killed on duty in Somalia is supposed to receive $50,000 (about Shs100m) as compensation but some families have not received their payments due to delays in the release of money by the African Union.
TANZANIA:
CONGO RDC :
KENYA :
Kenyan admits to W.Va. scam plot
By Andrew Clevenger/Staff writer/sundaygazettemail.com/May 21, 2010
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Kenyan man living in Minnesota pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering in federal court Thursday for his role in an international scam that defrauded four states, including West Virginia, out of $3.34 million.
Paramena J. Shikanda, 35, of Minneapolis, admitted that he helped funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars to Kenya from a bank in Minnesota after associates set up bank accounts under names very similar to vendors with state contracts.
Shikanda discussed getting paid for his participation with co-conspirators in Minnesota, according to a stipulation of facts attached to his plea agreement. Court records do not indicate how much he was eventually paid.
Shikanda is the third defendant to plead guilty as part of the scheme. Two other defendants, Angela Chegge-Kraszeski and Collins A. Masese, each a Kenyan native living in America, also cut deals with federal prosecutors.
In December, Chegge-Kraszeski admitted that she did much of the legwork in setting up the scam.
Following instructions e-mailed by her handlers in Kenya, she used a South African passport express mailed to her from Dubai to incorporate dummy corporations with names very close to actual companies that provided services to West Virginia, she said. Instead of Deloitte Consulting LLC and Unisys Corp., the fake companies were named Deloite Consulting Corp. and Unisyss Corp.
Later, she traveled to Minnesota and opened bank accounts under the names of the dummy corporations, she said. She also bought postage for and mailed multiple envelopes, which she later learned contained fraudulent eVendor Agreement forms, which rerouted legitimate payments to the new bank accounts, she said.
On March 20, 2009, West Virginia transferred $919,916, intended for Deloitte Consulting for providing data systems for the Department of Health and Human Resources, but the money ended up at a fraudulent account at a TCF Bank branch in Minneapolis.
Between March 26 and 30, the conspirators wired more than $467,000 to banks in Nairobi, according to Shikanda’s stipulation.
In April, Masese admitted that he used a fake California driver’s license to open a bank account at a TCF Bank branch in Minneapolis. Although he said no money from the scam passed through the account he set up, Masese said he knew that co-defendant Michael M. “Mikie” Ochenge planned to use the account to launder stolen money.
Three codefendants — Ochenge, Robert M. “Robe” Otiso, and Albert E. Gunga, all Kenyan nationals living in Minnesota — are scheduled to go to trial on Monday.
A Charleston grand jury indicted Chegge-Kraszeski in June, and five months later the other five defendants were charged.
Before anyone caught on, the scheme had netted $919,916 from West Virginia, with an additional $1,288,037 stolen from Massachusetts, $869,546 from Kansas and $301,571 from Ohio, according to the November indictment.
Shikanda faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. at a later date. Masese also faces 20 years, while Chegge-Kraszeski faces up to 10 years in prison.
The U.S. Secret Service and the Internal Revenue Service spearheaded the investigation, with additional help from the U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.
ANGOLA :
NYMEX-Crude falls under $70 as euro zone fears weigh
21/05/2010 /Reuters
TOKYO, May 21 (Reuters) – U.S. crude futures fell below $70 a barrel on Friday on fears that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis will harm economic recovery and weaken crude oil demand.
FUNDAMENTALS
* NYMEX crude for July delivery was down $1.05 at $69.75 a barrel by 0003 GMT, after tumbling $1.68 on Thursday, amid growing fears that the euro zone’s handling of its sovereign debt crisis could jeopardise global economic growth. [ID:nLDE64J1GY]
The June contract for U.S. crude, which expired on Thursday, settled down $1.86 at $68.01 a barrel.
* Oil inventories at the key U.S. Cushing, Oklahoma crude oil hub rose by 500,000 barrels in the week to May 18 to 39.46 million barrels, according to a report from energy industry data provider Genscape released on Thursday. [ID:nN20142515]
* Seaborne oil exports by OPEC, excluding Angola and Ecuador, will rise by 280,000 barrels per day in the four weeks to June 5, an analyst who tracks future shipments said on Thursday. [ID:nWLA4611]
MARKETS NEWS
* Japan’s Nikkei average was down 2.8 percent on Friday after Wall Street tumbled and the yen strengthened against the euro on worries about disunity among euro zone leaders on how to address the region’s debt crisis. [.T]
* The euro edged higher against the dollar on Thursday, after rallying broadly the previous day, up on short-covering as players likely trimed positions after a slide in global equities over the past few days. [FRX/]
* The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index , a commodities bellwether that tracks prices across 19 futures markets, fell 1 percent on Thursday, as worries about the eurozone crisis led investors to sell oil and other key raw materials. [COM/WRAP]
DATA/EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Friday:
— U.S. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Kohn Speaks (0915 GMT)
— U.S. ECRI Weekly Economic Activity Index (1430 GMT)
PRICES Oil prices as of 0003 GMT Contract Mnth Price Change Day ago pct MA-20* NYMEX Contracts US Crude JUL0 $69.75 -1.05 -$1.68 -2.32% $77.98 Heat Oil JUN0 188.18 -2.01 -4.33 -2.23% 214.37 RBOB JUN0 195.00 -1.45 -5.07 -2.52% 221.67 Natgas JUN0 $4.098 -0.008 -$0.052 -1.25% $4.155 ICE Contracts Brent JUL0 $70.83 -1.01 -$1.85 -2.51% $81.49 Gasoil JUN0 — +0.00 -$16.00 -2.59% $685.05 Note: U.S. heating oil and RBOB gasoline contracts listed in cents per gallon. * = 20-day moving average for continuation month. (Reporting by James Topham)
SOUTH AFRICA:
SABMiller gives little to cheer about
By Amy Wilson/www.telegraph.co.uk / 21 May 2010
SABMiller shares took a hit after the brewer narrowly missed profit forecasts and warned a widespread improvement in consumer spending is unlikely until the end of the year.
While earnings improved in Latin America, the company’s most profitable region, along with South Africa and North America, profits did not pick up in Europe or Asia.
“A broader recovery in consumer spending is not expected before the second half of the current financial year,” said Graham Mackay, chief executive. He added there was an “uneven” recovery in its markets, and growth is not expected to even out until SAB’s second half, starting in October.
The football World Cup, which is being held in South Africa – SAB’s former home market and its second-most profitable region – is likely to give a modest boost to sales this year.
SABMiller’s operating profit fell to $3.09bn (£2.2bn) from $3.15bn a year earlier, missing analysts’ forecasts of $3.4bn. Pre-tax profit slipped to $2.93bn from $2.96bn and revenue rose 4pc to $26.4bn, including sales from its joint venture in North America with Molson Coors. SABMiller’s shares dropped 123p to £19.12 yesterday.
In Latin America sales rose 7pc to $5.9bn and earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation rose 18pc to $1.39bn as the company succeeded in raising prices in Colombia and Peru.
The majority of SAB’s European business is in Poland and the Czech Republic, where the weak economy weighed on sales. Revenue fell 9pc to £5.6bn and beer volumes dropped 4pc.
Mr Mackay has said in recent months SABMiller is looking into the possibility of moving its headquarters out of the UK, which accounts for a very small part of the business. However, the new Government’s tax plans are a step in the right direction, he said yesterday.
SAB will pay a final dividend of 51 cents on Aug 13, taking its total payout for the year to 68 cents, a 17pc rise.
Zimbabwe Power Utility Scuttles Reported Export Deal with S. Africa’s Eskom
Gibbs Dube/www1.voanews.com/21 May 2010
Washington
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority is producing some 1,100 megawatts compared with a national requirement of 2,000 megawatts and is obliged to import electricity from Mozambique and Zambia
The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, which was reported to close to an agreement with Eskom of South Africa to export 300 megawatts of power during the World Cup, said Thursday that it will not be exporting power.
Sources said ZESA broke off negotiations with Eskom after the Combined Harare Residents Association and two Bulawayo civic groups threatened to take steps to block the deal in court. They said that if the agreement was established, Zimbabwe – or much of it – was likely to be left in the dark.
ZESA is currently struggling to meet domestic power needs with industry and commerce almost crippled by inadequate electricity supplies. The state-run utility is producing some 1,100 megawatts compared with a national requirement of 2,000 megawatts and is obliged to import electricity from Mozambique and Zambia.
ZESA spokesman Fullard Gwasira told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that Eskom has not formally asked ZESA to supply South Africa with electricity for the cup since the Zimbabwean company is unable to meet domestic needs.
“We support the World Cup, but unfortunately at this moment we do not have the power resources to support the showcase as we do not have enough power for our own market,” Gwasira told VOA.
Naomi Campbell given ‘blood’ diamond by African leader, war crimes trial told
James Bone in New York /The Times/ May 21, 2010
Naomi Campbell has seen the inside of many courtrooms, but she has never been before a UN war-crimes tribunal — until now.
The British supermodel is set to play a starring role in the trial at The Hague of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian President. International prosecutors asked UN judges yesterday to force Ms Campbell to testify over allegations that she received a huge “blood diamond” from the besotted Liberian strongman.
“Ms Campbell, as the actual recipient of the accused’s gift of diamonds, is clearly in a position to provide material evidence about this event,” the prosecutors said. “Her anticipated evidence supports the prosecution allegations that the accused used rough diamonds for personal enrichment and arms purchases for Sierra Leone.”
Mr Taylor is charged with crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, enslavement and conscripting child soldiers, in the 1991-2001 war in neighbouring diamond-rich Sierra Leone.
Prosecutors allege that he armed the Revolutionary United Front, a rebel force known for mutilating its victims, in exchange for diamonds mined illegally in rebel-held areas.
The UN Special Court for Sierra Leone in January heard claims that Mr Taylor gave Ms Campbell a “large diamond” after a September 1997 dinner hosted by Nelson Mandela.
Ms Campbell was a guest of Mr Mandela on board the Blue Train, a luxury South African rail service. Also on the trip was Mia Farrow, the actress. Mr Taylor later joined the party for dinner.
The claim about the diamond was first made by Ms Farrow, now an outspoken campaigner on African issues. She said that, at breakfast, Ms Campbell described a visit in the middle of the night by two men sent by Mr Taylor.
“She said during the night, some men had knocked at her door and she, half asleep, had opened the door and it was representatives of President Charles Taylor and that they had given her a huge diamond,” Ms Farrow told ABC News.
“There’s no doubt in my mind. And she said she was going to give it to Nelson Mandela’s children’s charities and I thought no more about it,” she said.
Prosecutors allege that Mr Taylor received diamonds from Sierra Leone rebels shipped in mayonnaise jars, and took them to South Africa to exchange for weapons. Under cross-examination, Mr Taylor was asked about the alleged gift. “Total nonsense,” he replied. Ms Campbell has also denied receiving a diamond from Mr Taylor. “I didn’t receive a diamond, and I’m not going to speak about that. Thank you very much. And I’m not here for that,” she told ABC television last month before storming out of an interview.
The Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund said that there was no record of Ms Campbell giving it a diamond.
AFRICA / AU :
Africa: Malawi Court Jails Gay Couple For 14 Years For “Unnatural Act”
newsjunkiepost.com/By Gilbert Mercier /2010/05/21
NEWS JUNKIE POST
Today, a court in Malawi imposed the harshest sentence legally possible on Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Muonjeza, an openly gay couple. The two men were arrested last December after holding a marriage ceremony. The judge, Nyakwawa Usiwausiwa, sentenced the two men to 14 years’ imprisonment with hard labor for “unnatural act” and “gross indecency”.
The magistrate told the gay couple that “gays don’t have a place in Malawi society, and that the country is not ready to see its sons getting married to its sons”. The judge added that the long prison term was “imposed to protect the public from people like you, and so others are not tempted to emulate this horrendous example.”
Meanwhile, foreign government and human rights organizations such as Amnesty International are strongly condemning today’s sentencing of the two men. The government of the UK, the US and Norway expressed great concerns and disappointment over the verdict which they view as a grave violation of basic human rights.
“We are deeply dismayed by the conviction. We are also very concerned by the allegations of their mistreatment while in police custody. The conviction and sentencing to the maximum of 14 years imprisonment runs counter to a positive trend. The UK urges the government of Malawi to review its laws to ensure the defense of human rights for all, without discrimination on any grounds,” said a statement issued by the British government.
A brief statement made by John Warner, public affairs officer of the US embassy in Malawi, concurred with the statement made by the British government and said the US views “the discrimination of sexual orientation and gender identity as integral to the protection of human rights in Malawi and elsewhere in the world.”
Amnesty International is calling on the Malawian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the couple.
“Being in a relationship should not be a crime. No one should be arrested and detained solely on the basis of their sexual orientations. Their human rights, the rights to freedom from discrimination, discrimination of conscience, expression and privacy have been flagrantly violated,” said Michelle Kagari from Amnesty International.
However, in Malawi, some religious organizations welcomed the sentence saying that “homosexuality was unacceptable both culturally and spiritually”. Muslim Association of Malawi Sheik Yusuf Kanyamula said the court was “lenient as the Quran said people who indulged in same sex unions deserved death”.
Biden to travel to Africa in June
By the CNN Wire Staff/May 21, 2010
Washington (CNN) — Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Egypt, Kenya, and South Africa during the week of June 7, the White House announced Thursday.
Among other things, Biden will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak “to discuss a full range of bilateral and regional issues,” according to a White House statement. The vice president will also represent the United States during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Biden will be joined by his wife during the trip, the statement noted.
Mining tax a sovereign risk of Africa proportions
The Australian /May 21, 2010
TALKING POINT
THE super-profits tax has turned Australia into a banana republic par excellence. If you invest in Africa you know there is a risk of a coup and some kind of seizure of assets or request for backhanders — commonly referred to as sovereign risk.
Had Australia announced a 5 per cent excise tax phased in over time the markets would have digested this with little more than a murmur.
But the way in which this tax was launched has altered Australia’s standing in the international community forever. Since the ASX touched 5000 it has retreated over 12 per cent in a month to below 4400, while the Dow has fallen only about 7 or 8 per cent. (The US economy is the one that is struggling, not ours.)
International investors have been baling out of Australian markets, particularly mining and banking, and the dollar has fallen. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
Arthur Galletly, Rockingham, WA
EMOTIONAL language from both sides regarding the proposed tax for the mining industry hides the fact that business decisions will be made on the basis of returns. Many companies have assets in other parts of the world and will consider which can give best returns. They will also be analysing internal and external environments unique to these countries that will impact on development of these assets.
Unfortunately the 40 per cent tax on mining profits (a third tax on the mining companies, already paying royalties and company tax) will have a significant impact and if the assets in other parts of the world will give a better return after all issues are factored in then investment dollars will simply shift to those overseas assets.
Overseas governments will see the Australian tax as a rare gift.
If mining companies reduce investment in Australian assets there is a strong possibility that our assets will be taken over by investors from China and/or India. If this new tax creates an investment shift into foreign-based assets and cashed-up China and India move in and own most of ours the irony would be almost unpalatable.
Arthur Alexander, Port Melbourne, Vic
MINERS claiming that the proposed tax is responsible for the postponement of new projects (“PM’s mate stalls $18bn mine plan”, 20/5) would perhaps be more persuasive if they conceded that the euro crisis and concerns about the longevity of China’s infrastructure boom played at least a minor part in their decision making .
Norm Neill, Darlinghurst, NSW
COULD we start to hear the potential benefits to Australians of a 40 per cent super- profits tax? The immediate benefits I foresee include more government funds for facilities that make for a progressive country.
Regardless of the miners’ opinions about a declining mining-based economy, Australia offers so many tangible benefits to efficient mining. There are very few real restrictions.
As I and many of my friends see it the product being mined belongs to the people of this country and they deserve what the government decides is a proper return for their goods.
Paul Bartels, New Farm, Qld
IT appears that Canberra feels justified in imposing this tax because of mathematical modelling which, so it seems, dependably predicts the future of the Australian mining industry.
One is permitted to wonder if the modelling techniques employed by Ken Henry on this are methodologically comparable to those which produced the wildly inaccurate prediction of 8.5 per cent unemployment as a result of the GFC, on the basis of which the Rudd government committed us to tens of billions of needless debt on an overdone stimulus.
Predicting the future through mathematical modelling is a notoriously fraught and inexact exercise. If the views of industry leaders are not seriously listened to, serious errors are likely inevitable.
James Miller, Sydney, NSW
Eye surgeon told to leave country
By Bruce Atkinson/www.abc.net.au/21052010
An eye surgeon on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast says he will not sit more exams that may allow him to stay in Australia.
South African-trained Dr Mark de Wet has been informed by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) that his qualifications are below the required standard.
He failed a written test and has been told he must leave Australia within a month, despite being lured to Caloundra by Queensland Health in 2007 and performing almost 1,900 eye operations.
Dr de Wet has been told to appeal against the decision but he says that is not an option.
“The college is just going to then keep on benchmarking me all the time until it suits them to release me and my feeling is that my work in the area speaks for itself and you only have to go to the 13 private ophthalmologists who send me public work and I send the public work back and ask them what they think of my capabilities,” he said.
“I don’t think any more benchmarking is going to make any difference to whether I’m capable or not.”
RANZCO director Dr Bill Glasson wants him to appeal against the decision but Dr de Wet says that is insulting.
“Appealing means uncertainty – I’ve had uncertainty for five years – I’m tired of uncertainty, I want certainty in my life,” Dr de Wet said.
“I want to know that I can practice here and I’m approved and I want to know that I’ve got permanent residence and I want to know that I can bring money across from South Africa and really settle here without this uncertainty all the time,” he said.
Naomi in diamond war trial
By RHODRI PHILLIPS /www.thesun.co.uk/21052010
SUPERMODEL NAOMI CAMPBELL could be called to testify at a war crimes trial over claims an African president gave her an uncut “blood diamond”.
Liberian leader Charles Taylor is said to have made the gift following a reception shortly after taking office.
Taylor – accused of arming rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone in return for uncut gems – is now on trial in Holland.
He denies ever possessing the diamonds. But prosecutor Brenda Hollis says British beauty Naomi’s testimony would provide “direct evidence” he was lying. Ms Hollis also wants actress Mia Farrow to testify.
In a written statement to the UN-backed court, WOODY ALLEN’s former wife said she was at the reception with Naomi, hosted by NELSON MANDELA in South Africa in September 1997.
She said the next morning Naomi told her that two or three men had woken her by knocking on her door and “presented her with a large diamond which they said was from Charles Taylor”.
Another witness said she heard Taylor declare that he was going to give Naomi diamonds and saw them delivered.
“Blood diamonds” are those mined in rebel-held regions of Africa and sold to fund warfare.
A court spokesman said Naomi denies being given any. The model – 40 tomorrow – has apparently told prosecutors through her lawyer that she was “concerned for her safety” and “did not want to involve herself in the case”.
Her London publicist declined to comment.
The hearing is being held in Leidschendam, Holland, after being moved from The Hague last week. Taylor, 62, is charged with 11 counts of murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers and terrorism.
Around 120,000 people died in Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, with rebels cutting off the hands or arms of thousands more.
UN /ONU :
Obama Setting Up a Clash With the Hague Over Darfur
By BENNY AVNI, Special to the Sun/www.nysun.com /May 21, 2010
UNITED NATIONS — President Obama is setting up the next big clash between America and the International Criminal Court, according to human rights activists who say Washington’s Sudan envoy undermines the Hague-based world judicial body’s prosecution of President Bashir.
In stark contrast to the Bush administration, which has eyed the ICC’s concept of “international jurisdiction” with much healthy skepticism and declined to join the court, Mr. Obama’s team has sent observers to ICC gatherings and vowed to cooperate with Hague investigators in what is largely seen as an attempt by some of the president’s top jurists to promote full American membership.
At the same time, Mr. Obama’s personal envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, testifying at the Senate last week, said he is supporting an African Union initiative to create locally-based “truth and reconciliation mechanisms.” Hague watchers fear that such mechanisms will undermine the ICC’s ambitious – and first ever – indictment of a sitting head of state.
Mr. Bashir was indicted in 2008 by the ICC’s prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, on allegations of war crimes at Darfur. But the leader of South Africa, President Mbeki, who has long complained that the ICC only takes up African cases, responded to the indictment with a counter initiative to set up a “hybrid” body of Sudanese and international jurists who would look into Darfur cases. The African Union embraced Mr. Mbeki’s plan, and announced it would shun the ICC.
Now America is “coming to support Mbeki’s approach, and that’s a change,” the United Nations’ representative in Darfur, Ibrahim Gambari, told me today.
Speaking to the Senate’s foreign relation committee last week, Mr. Gration said that the Obama administration remains supportive of “international efforts” to try genocide suspects. But, he added, America is also pursuing “locally-owned accountability and reconciliation mechanisms in light of the recommendations made by the African Union’s high level panel on Darfur.”
Administration officials deny that Mr. Gration’s testimony represents a policy change, saying that since October 2009, the Obama administration has supported both the international track and the regional approach. When it comes to Darfur, “we are for accountability, period,” a State Department official told me today.
Critics say Mr. Gration’s embrace of the Sudan-based trial process will allow Mr. Bashir to get off the hook. “Sudan’s courts are under the thumb of Bashir’s dictatorial regime,” the director of the David S. Wyman Institute for holocaust studies, Rafael Medoff, said in a statement. He has set up “Bashir Watch,” a group tracking the movements of the Sudanese dictator. “If Bashir is tried before a local Sudanese court, there is a real danger he will escape with a slap on the wrist,” Mr. Medoff added. America “has a moral obligation to facilitate Bashir’s arrest and bring him to justice” at Hague.
The Bush administration, which studiously refrained from any hint of support for the ICC, nevertheless declined to block the U.N. Security Council referral to the Hague of Darfur, where Secretary of State Powell has said “genocide” is taking place. Mr. Ocampo then indicted Mr. Bashir, calling on all ICC members to arrest and bring him to justice. But the African Union and the Arab League declined to cooperate, allowing uninterrupted visits by Mr. Bashir to several African and Arab capitals.
In the West, the debate over Mr. Bashir’s prosecution has long pitted human rights advocates against proponents of “real-politik.” Several public clashes erupted even within the Obama administration over Sudan policy, as General Gration advocates a go-easy approach to the Khartoum regime, while a group of hardliners, led by the American envoy here, Susan Rice, demands that Mr. Bashir pay for his crimes.
Mr. Gration nevertheless has raised Khartoum government’s ire when he recently suggested an American support for establishing an independent state in the oil-rich south of Sudan, where a referendum on secession is scheduled for January.
The south Sudan independence movement commands a sizable majority in the largely Christian and Animist region. If the south splits from the country, the war in Darfur, which is in the west of Sudan, may escalate anew as the locals demand independence as well. Fearing the loss of oil revenues, Mr. Bashir’s government has warned a split could lead to horrible bloodshed.
Washington is talking now about a “peaceful divorce” between the south and Khartoum, Sudan’s ambassador here, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, told me today. America should instead discourage secession and “avoid sending mixed signals,” he said.
USA :
US ‘appalled’ at Malawi convictions
(AFP) /21052010
WASHINGTON — The United States said Thursday it was “appalled” by the jailing of a gay couple in Malawi, calling it a step backward in the protection of human rights in the southern African country.
“The United States is appalled by today’s sentencing of same-sex couple Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza to 14 years of hard labor,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.
“We view the criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity as a step backward in the protection of human rights in Malawi,” he said, reading a statement.
“We are particularly disturbed by the severity of the sentence. The government of Malawi must respect the human rights of all of its citizens,” Crowley added.
“The United States views the decriminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity as integral to the protection of human rights in Malawi and elsewhere in the world.”
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs also issued a statement, bolstering the extremely strong reaction from the United States.
“The criminalization of sexual orientation and gender identity is unconscionable, and this case mars the human rights record of Malawi.
“We urge Malawi and all countries to stop using sexual orientation or gender identity as the basis for arrest, detention, or execution,” Gibbs said.
Chimbalanga and Monjeza were arrested on December 28 after holding an illegal same-sex wedding, accused of violating “the order of nature”. They were convicted Tuesday and sentenced Thursday to 14 years hard labor in jail.
The men’s lawyer, Mauya Msuku, said he would consult with his clients on filing an appeal.
Homosexuality is illegal in Malawi and the couple was arrested under sodomy laws.
U.S. spells out how it will combat world hunger
May 21, 2010/Reuters
(Reuters) – The U.S. global anti-hunger strategy will focus on a small number of countries where collaborative projects can expand local food production and reduce chronic hunger, the Obama administration said on Thursday.
Politics
Rajiv Shah, head of the U.S. Agency for International Development, outlined the administration’s strategy, called Feed the Future Guide, at a daylong conference. It described how to match international donations and expertise with local efforts.
At the G8 summit last year, nations pledged $20 billion to combat chronic hunger around the world. One billion people suffer from food shortages. The figure climbed when food prices soared in 2008.
Key to success, said Shah, was for national leaders to develop hunger-fighting initiatives, based on proven techniques, that have local support. A month ago, the United States said it would focus on hunger in 20 nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
“We are supporting this country-led approach because we know it can unlock the potential of all our development partners to make sustainable, systemic advances toward a food-secure future,” said Shah.
Investments in agricultural productivity, along with local market development and new research will result in more food and lower prices, said the administration.
The 20 focus countries are Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia in Africa; Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Tajikistan in Asia; and Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, and, Nicaragua in Latin America.
Oxfam America, an international development group, said Congress should approve a White House request for $1.6 billion to support the initiative and pass legislation to double U.S. spending for agricultural development in food-short regions.
(Reporting by Charles Abbott; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Biden coming in Obama’s place
May 21 2010 /www.iol.co.za
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will attend the opening ceremony of the World Cup in South Africa on June 11.
Biden will also visit Egypt and Kenya, the White House announced on Thursday.
The announcement appears to have ruled out the possibility of President Barack Obama attending the World Cup, which he had said he would like to.
Biden will be accompanied by his wife Jill, and is also expected to watch the United States’ opening match of the tournament against England in Rustenburg, about 120 km northwest of Johannesburg, a day after the opening ceremony. –
Reuters /staff reporter
SABMiller serves up a flat performance
By Adam Jones /www.ft.com/ May 21 2010
A surge in profits in Latin America was not enough to stop SABMiller from disappointing the stock market with its annual figures yesterday.
The world’s second-biggest brewer by volume also remained cautious about the economic outlook for its markets, saying a broader recovery in consumer spending was not expected before the autumn.
SABMiller is one of the most internationally diverse companies in the FTSE 100. Its emerging market exposure – in Latin America, Africa, Asia and central/eastern Europe – is balanced by a big presence in the mature US market.
Its beer brands include Italy’s Peroni, the Czech Republic’s Pilsner Urquell, China’s Snow and South Africa’s Castle.
Yesterday, the brewer said earnings before interest, tax and amortisation rose 6 per cent to $4.38bn (£3.05bn) in the year to March 31, less than the $4.5bn consensus forecast by analysts.
Pre-tax profits fell 1 per cent to $2.93bn, reflecting higher exceptional charges, on sales down 4 per cent to $18bn. The total dividend rises 17 per cent to 68 cents following a final of 51 cents.
One of the bright spots for the group was Latin America, where it is the dominant brewer in Colombia , Peru, Ecuador, Honduras, Panama and El Salvador. Latin American ebita rose 17 per cent on an underlying basis to $1.39bn. “Latin America has been a pretty positive story,” said Graham Mackay, chief executive.
However, some analysts had expected it to do even better in the region and there was also disappointment at its profit growth in Africa – excluding South Africa – and Asia.
SABMiller tried to assuage those concerns by saying the missed forecast reflected extra marketing spending in the second half, as well as investment in new breweries.
It also expected Indian profits to rebound following a regulatory tussle.
Mr Mackay said there was not yet any sign of the sluggish US beer market perking up, adding that demand in its central and eastern European markets was still “very subdued”.
He predicted that the football World Cup, which begins in South Africa next month, would deliver a 4 to 6 per cent increase in beer volumes for its local operations during the tournament.
SABMiller shares, strong performers over the past year, closed 123p lower at £19.12.
CANADA :
Ethiopia’s Meles Headed for Election Win as West Pours in Aid
May 21, 2010/By Jason McLure/Bloomberg
May 21 (Bloomberg) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, whose nation receives billions of dollars in Western aid, is headed for an easy re-election on May 23 after stifling the opposition, according to analysts and human-rights groups.
“The government has pretty effectively disbanded the leadership of the opposition and undercut its ability to undertake any effective challenge,” Jennifer Cooke of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in a May 13 phone interview from Washington.
A former Marxist guerrilla leader who has ruled Africa’s second-most populous nation since 1991, Meles, 55, has been a key ally in the fight against Islamic militants in neighboring Somalia. Development aid to Ethiopia from the U.S., U.K., the World Bank and other donors rose to $3.3 billion in 2008 from $1.9 billion in 2005, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Canada invited Meles to represent Africa at the June Group of 20 meeting in Toronto.
Under Meles, Ethiopia, Africa’s top coffee producer, has pursued an economic model that mixes a large state role with foreign investment in roads, dams and power. The government controls the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corp., a state-run monopoly, and owns all the land, while companies owned by the state or the ruling party dominate banking and trucking. Almost a sixth of its 85 million people depend on food aid.
“What Ethiopia is doing is looking at the Chinese model and taking bits and pieces of it and adapting it to their own context,” David Shinn, the U.S. ambassador to the country from 1996 to 1999, said in a May 11 phone interview from Washington. “I think they’re comfortable with the way China does things and the way China handles human rights issues.”
Discredit Election
The government dismisses opposition charges of harassment as false and intended to discredit the vote. It says economic growth in Ethiopia of more than 7 percent annually over the past five years is the main reason it will win re-election.
“Regarding governance, regarding social development, the people of Ethiopia know for sure the future of Ethiopia lies with this government and so we have no need to compete in an undemocratic way,” Communications Minister Bereket Simon told reporters on May 12.
Meles’ Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) has used a combination of harassment and arrests and withholding food aid and jobs to thwart the opposition Medrek alliance, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a March 24 report entitled “One Hundred Ways of Putting Pressure.”
U.S. Policy
The U.S., under presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, hasn’t criticized Meles’ growing authoritarianism, Jeffrey Steeves, an African politics specialist at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada, said in a May 12 phone interview.
“Obama has been largely silent on human rights issues in Ethiopia,” Steeves said. “It’s quite ironic that we have the rhetoric about transparency, good governance and human rights and yet Ethiopia remains at the top of the aid list.”
Opposition leader Birtukan Mideksa, 35, has been jailed for life since Dec. 29, 2008, for violating conditions of her earlier pardon. The United Nations Human Rights Council has said she was the victim of arbitrary detention, and the U.S. State Department in March labeled her a political prisoner.
“The State Department fully understands the negative effect that the jailing of Birtukan Mideksa and others has on the overall political climate in Ethiopia,” Alyson Grunder, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, the capital, said in a May 14 e-mail. “We pursue human rights issues within the context of a broad governance and democratization agenda that we have with Ethiopia.”
Trumped-Up Charges
Medrek says that three of its activists have been murdered during the campaign and that hundreds more have been beaten and jailed on trumped-up charges.
“The EPRDF wants to totally block any opposition presence in the next parliament,” Merara Gudina, a Medrek leader and founder of the Oromo National Congress, said in a May 12 phone interview.
This year’s campaign has been significantly less free than the last election in 2005, when state television broadcast live debates between the ruling party and opposition and newspapers gave widespread coverage of politics, says Dan Connell, a lecturer in African politics at Simmons College in Boston.
Pervasive Fraud
The opposition won a record 172 seats in the 547-member parliament in that election as well as control of the Addis Ababa city government. The largest opposition alliance accused Meles’ party of pervasive fraud, and dozens of members refused to take their seats in parliament.
In demonstrations afterward, security forces loyal to Meles killed 193 people in Addis Ababa and arrested tens of thousands of opposition supporters, including Birtukan and Addis Ababa mayor-elect Berhanu Nega.
“The regime has already done so much to weaken its opposition and to set up the outcome in advance that they will not face the same contest,” Connell said in a May 13 e-mailed response to questions.
–Editors: Karl Maier, Paul Richardson
2010 Set to Become the Hottest Year On Record
www.earthweek.com/21052010
This year is unfolding as the hottest ever with both the April and the entire January-April periods ranking the warmest on record.
Analysis by the U.S. agency NOAA confirms earlier predictions that the year could turn out to be the warmest since reliable instrumental temperatures records began in the late 1800s.
The combined global land and ocean surface temperature average for April was 58.1 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.35 degrees warmer than the 20th century average.
The same coverage from January through April was 1.24 degrees above the average of the past century.
The previous record warmest year was 1998, and early indications are that 2010 will be warmer still.
Despite a bitterly cold and snowy December and early January in the eastern U.S. and Canada, satellite analysis reveals that the extent of snow cover in North America was the smallest for any April since satellite records began in 1967.
A statement from NOAA said that warmer-than-normal conditions “dominated the globe, with the most prominent warmth in Canada, Alaska, the eastern United States, Australia, South Asia, northern Africa and northern Russia.”
Image: NOAA
Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation Launches Mobile Website
May 21, 2010 /www.marketwatch.com
PARK RIDGE, NJ, May 20, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation (HERC) announces the launch of a mobile version of its website, www.hertzequip.com, which provides customers in the field the ability to conduct business with HERC directly from their smart phone. Without the need to download an “app,” HERC’s mobile website offers customers a full equipment catalog, allows users to submit rental requests, find the nearest HERC location, and contact the Company directly from their phone.
“We are excited to be on the forefront of offering customers a mobile solution for their equipment rental needs,” said Gerry Plescia, Executive Vice President & President, HERC. “As the latest technology enables our customers to do more with their mobile devices, they expect suppliers to do the same and offer more services through this channel. HERC’s mobile site has been designed to allow customers to increase efficiencies while on a job site. With easy access to HERC, clients can raise their productivity levels while reducing down time, thus positively impacting the bottom line.”
Hertz Equipment Rental maintains a fleet of late model construction and industrial equipment air compressors and tools, earthmoving equipment, forklifts and material handling equipment, pumps, as well as trucks and trailers. The Company also rents small tools, equipment and contractors’ supplies. With approximately 250 locations in the U.S. and Canada, Hertz Equipment Rental offers daily, weekly, monthly and long-term rentals, tools and supplies, as well as new and used equipment for sale.
Hertz Equipment Rental provides customers the ability to rent cars and trucks through Hertz Local Edition — from one convenient location in select locations. In addition, Hertz Entertainment Services is a division dedicated to the special vehicles and supplies equipment needs of the film and entertainment industries. Hertz Energy Services which plays a significant role in the supplying the power requirements for the Entertainment group, also provides power for temporary, stand-by or emergency response situations. Hertz Plant Services which caters to large industrial clients, Hertz Service Pump for custom pump configurations, and Hertz Aerial for man lift equipment are also divisions of Hertz Equipment.
The Hertz Corporation, a subsidiary of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!htz/quotes/nls/htz (HTZ 10.23, -0.97, -8.66%) , is the world’s largest general use car rental brand, operating from approximately 8,200 locations in 146 countries worldwide. Hertz is the number one airport car rental brand in the U.S. and at 78 major airports in Europe, operating both corporate and licensee locations in cities and airports in North America, Europe, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. In addition, the Company has licensee locations in cities and airports in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Product and service initiatives such as Hertz #1 Club Gold(R), NeverLost(R) customized, onboard navigation systems, SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio, and unique cars and SUVs offered through the Company’s Prestige, Fun and Green Collections, set Hertz apart from the competition. The Company also operates the global car sharing club, Connect by Hertz, in New York City, Berlin, London, Madrid and Paris. Hertz also operates one of the world’s largest equipment rental businesses, Hertz Equipment Rental Corporation in the United States, Canada, China, France and Spain.
SOURCE: The Hertz Corporation
AUSTRALIA :
EUROPE :
All at sea against piracy?
Fri, May 21 2010/ byClive Leviev-Sawyer/www.sofiaecho.com
Seizures of ships by pirates off the coast of East Africa increased sevenfold from 2005 to 2009, according to the International Maritime Organisation, although naval operations in the area appear to be paying off, producing a significant drop in the number of attacks in the first quarter of 2010.
In the Gulf of Aden, where Nato and other ships patrol, there were 17 incidents in the first three months of 2010, compared with 41 in the same period last year.
For all that, regular news of seizures in the Gulf of Aden has left more than one household of Bulgaria’s merchant mariners in the grip of worry, and the country is by no means alone in wanting an end to the scourge.
In April 2010, the United Nations Security Council put forward the possibility of setting up special international tribunals to try pirates.
A resolution adopted by the Security Council called for all states to criminalise piracy in their domestic laws and “favourably consider the prosecution of suspected, and imprisonment of suspected, pirates apprehended off the coast of Somalia, consistent with applicable human rights law”.
No one could fail to sit up and take notice when, in early May, Moscow sent special forces to act against the hijackers of oil tanker Moscow University, with a pirate killed and 10 captured in a shootout. The Russians said that they put the corpse and the 10 prisoners in a boat, gave them food and water but no navigation equipment, and let them go. Media reports suggest none of the hapless boatload survived.
Russian news agency Interfax quoted the defence ministry’s Colonel Alexei Kuznetsov as saying that inadequacies in international law were the reason to let the pirates go, even though Russia initially said that the pirates would be taken to Moscow for trial.
Action stations
In Kenya, there are about 100 pirates already on trial or awaiting trial; there are 38 in the Seychelles and a number have been transported for trial to, among others, the United States, France and the Netherlands, according to a May 7 report by the BBC.
In April, it emerged that warships from Nato’s counter-piracy mission, code-named Operation Ocean Shield, together with vessels from the EU Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) and Combined Maritime Force were increasingly working together in the waters of the Somali Basin to deter and disrupt attacks from pirate gangs.
Ocean Shield, the successor to the earlier Allied Provider and Allied Protector operations, was approved by the Atlantic Council in August 2009 and has been extended until the end of 2012.
A statement by Allied Maritime Command Headquarters Northwood said that while the Gulf of Aden had seen a drop in piracy over the past year, due in part to the warship patrols from maritime nations, pirate attacks in the Somali Basin – an area the size of Australia – had risen in recent months.
At the time, the Nato task force conducting Ocean Shield was one of three coalition task forces operating in the fight against piracy. The task force was made up of five ships, one each from Britain’s Royal Navy, and the United States, Turkish, Greek and Italian navies. Other countries that routinely have contributed ships are Germany and Spain.
An important aspect of Ocean Shield is that it additionally offers states in the area assistance in their own capacity to combat piracy, at their request, according to Nato.
The politicians
There has been no shortage of input from politicians about proposals for action against piracy, and the need to deal with the situation on land in Somalia has been raised in the debate.
In mid-May 2010, the UN General Assembly held a day-long informal meeting on piracy, with assembly president Ali Treki quoted in a UN News Service report as having called for broader international efforts against piracy.
He called for a “truly holistic approach” covering political, security, governance and humanitarian needs in the Horn of Africa country, which has had no functioning central government and which has been torn by fighting among factions for close to 20 years.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that piracy could not be solved at sea alone but needed action on land to re-establish security and stability.
“There is simply too much water to patrol, and an almost endless supply of pirates,” Ban said.
Ban is among those scheduled to travel to Istanbul for a high-level international conference on Somalia on May 22. The conference, co-hosted by the UN and the Turkish government, is intended to advance Somalia’s peace process which aims to foster political stability, security and reconstruction.
The Security Council has requested that Ban present a report within three months on possible options for prosecuting and imprisoning suspects in connection with piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Horn of Africa.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was scheduled for a May 18 to 21 series of visits to Kenya, Tanzania and Seychelles, the countries most affected by piracy off the east coast of the continent, “to explore with them operations for effective and sustainable solutions,” her office said ahead of the visit.
“Piracy is one of the big challenges of our times both for the region and for the international community,” Ashton said. “It undermines maritime security in the Indian Ocean and stability and development in the region. We need to tackle both the root-causes and the symptoms of the problem in a comprehensive manner. We want to build a partnership with the countries in the region towards sustainable solutions based on local ownership with international support,” she said.
During her visit, Ashton was scheduled to visit one of the vessels as well as surveillance aircraft taking part in Operation Atalanta, which was launched by the EU in December 2008 to contribute to the protection of World Food Programme vessels delivering food aid to displaced people in Somalia and to the protection of vulnerable vessels in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.
The EU recently launched a training mission, EUTM, in Uganda to train Somali military personnel. In April, a UN trust fund set up as part of the international fight against maritime piracy unveiled $2.1 million of projects against piracy.
The five projects being backed by the fund are focused largely on efforts to prosecute piracy suspects, the UN News Service said. Four projects will help strengthen institutions in the Seychelles and the autonomous Somali regions of Puntland and Somaliland in efforts to mentor prosecutors and police, build and renovate prisons, review domestic laws on piracy and increase the capacity of local courts. A fifth project is aimed at helping local media disseminate anti-piracy messages in Somalia.
Previously, the fund set up an emergency money facility to help pay the costs involved in prosecuting piracy suspects, such as travel expenses for witnesses, court equipment and the transport of suspect.
Ships’ log
These are some of the incidents of hijacking of ships with Bulgarians aboard as crew
April 2009: The 32 000-ton Malaspina Castle, with 16 Bulgarian sailors on board, is hijacked in the Gulf of Aden. The British-owned and Italian-operated ship and its crew were released on May 10 after the payment of a $2 million ransom.
December 2009: The St James Park, with five Bulgarian crew out of a total complement of 26, is hijacked in the Gulf of Aden.
January 2010: The UK-flagged Asian Glory is hijacked; eight of its crew of 25, including the captain, are Bulgarians. A month later, the pirates are reported to have demanded a ransom of $15 million.
May 2010: Somali pirates hijack the Panega, a chemical tanker en route to be cut up for scrap. It has a 15-member all-Bulgarian crew.
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br />May 2010: The St James Park is freed, without the size of the ransom being disclosed.
Gay couple given 14-year prison term in Malawi
BILL CORCORAN in Cape Town/The Irish Times/ Friday, May 21, 2010
A MALAWIAN court’s decision yesterday to sentence a gay couple to 14 years in prison for gross indecency and unnatural acts has triggered a wave of international condemnation.
Malawi’s former colonial ruler, the United Kingdom, was one of the first to respond, saying it was “deeply dismayed” by the men’s jailing, which ran counter to the progress the country had made on improving human rights.
“The UK urges the government of Malawi to review its laws to ensure the defence of human rights for all, without discrimination on any grounds,” a joint statement issued by the foreign and commonwealth offices read.
Michelle Kagari, deputy Africa director of Amnesty International, called the sentence “an outrage” and described the men as “prisoners of conscience” for whom the rights organisation would continue to campaign.
Amnesty told The Irish Times it was sending representatives to the country in June to investigate, meet all the parties and take further action upon their return.
Malawians Tiwonge Chimbalanga (26) and Steven Monjeza (20) were arrested and charged by the police on December 28th last year after they publicly celebrated their engagement in the southern African country’s capital, Blantyre.
During the court case, Mr Chimbalanga and Mr Monjeza denied the charges of gross indecency and unnatural acts and their lawyers said their constitutional rights had been violated.
On Tuesday Judge Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa found both men guilty, but defence lawyer Mauya Msuku argued they should be given a light sentence because their actions had not harmed anyone.
“Unlike in a rape case, there was no complainant or victim in this case. Here are two consenting adults doing their thing in private.
“Nobody will be threatened or offended if they are released into society,” he said after the ruling.
However, Judge Usiwa-Usiwa was not swayed by the defence’s argument and, under laws dating back to the colonial era, he jailed the men for 14 years with hard labour, the maximum sentence he could hand down.
“I will give you a scaring sentence so the public will be protected from people like you; so that we are not tempted to emulate this horrendous example,” the judge told the two men in court, before adding: “Malawi is not ready to see its sons getting married to its sons.” Mr Msuku has said the men would appeal the judgment to the country’s high court.
Homosexuality is illegal in Malawi and anti-gay sentiment is widespread among the population. The stance against homosexuality is also strongly supported by the Protestant church.
A number of rights activists have called on donor aid to be withdrawn from Malawi.
In a statement issued yesterday, Minister of State for Overseas Development Peter Power said: “I have been following this case very closely through our Embassy in Malawi and, along with our EU partners, have regularly emphasised to the authorities our serious concern about this case.”
CHINA :
INDIA :
Madagascar: Military Mutiny Rattles the Capital
By BARRY BEARAK/ www.nytimes.com/May 21, 2010
Just 14 months after a military coup toppled its elected government, Madagascar faced the possibility of another takeover Thursday as elements of the military gendarmes staged a mutiny in Antananarivo, the capital. The rebels and security forces exchanged gunfire and, according to Malagasy radio reports, two gendarmes were killed. Late in the day, Reuters reported that security forces had overrun the barracks where the renegade gendarmes were holed up, quoting a colonel as saying, “They have fled.”
Anglo American, BHP, SABMiller: South African Equity Preview
May 21, 2010/By Janice Kew/Bloomberg
May 21 (Bloomberg) — The following is a list of companies whose shares may have unusual price changes in South Africa. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names and prices are from the last close.
South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index declined 837.53, or 3.1 percent, to 26,337.51, the biggest retreat in almost two weeks.
Anglo American Plc (AGL SJ): Government officials brief lawmakers on the establishment of a state-owned mining company. Anglo American fell 7.89 rand, or 2.8 percent, to 273.36 rand. Exxaro Resources Ltd. (EXX SJ), the South African coal producer, slid 50 cents, or 0.5 percent, to 106.50 rand.
ArcelorMittal South Africa Ltd. (ACL SJ): South African ports and rail operator Transnet Ltd. said a strike over pay will continue today as labor unions consult with their members over the latest offer. Shares in Africa’s largest steelmaker fell 4 rand, or 4.9 percent, to 77.50 rand.
BHP Billiton Ltd. (BIL SJ): Copper in London rebounded as its fall to a three-month low yesterday increased its discount to Shanghai prices, encouraging purchases by Chinese traders.
Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange gained as much as 0.5 percent to $6,640.50 a metric ton, and traded at $6,620 at 12:09 p.m. in Singapore, after earlier falling as much as 1.3 percent. BHP, the world’s largest mining company, lost 5.05 rand, or 2.5 percent, to 201.24 rand.
Cipla Medpro South Africa Ltd. (CMP SJ): The maker and distributor of drugs for India’s Cipla Ltd. hosts its annual meeting of shareholders. Shares in the company declined 10 cents, or 1.8 percent, to 5.50 rand.
Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI SJ): Africa’s second-largest gold producer plans to open a mine in Mali within the next three years that will boost production from West Africa to more than 1 million ounces a year, Business Day reported. Gold Fields climbed 1.80 rand, or 1.8 percent, to 101.80 rand.
Sasol Ltd. (SOL SJ): Crude oil was poised for a third weekly decline as European leaders struggled to contain the region’s debt crisis and reports cast doubt on the strength of the economic recovery in the U.S., the largest energy consumer. Sasol, the world’s biggest maker of motor fuel from coal, fell 7.10 rand, or 2.5 percent, to 273 rand.
SABMiller Plc (SAB SJ): Deutsche Bank AG rated the world’s second-largest brewer as a “hold” with a price estimate of 235 rand in new coverage, citing a weak outlook for consumer spending. Shares in the brewer dropped 11.64 rand, or 5.1 percent, to 216.81 rand.
Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:
Anglo American Plc (AAUKY US) fell 5.9 percent to $17.10. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) dropped 3.7 percent to $39.32. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BBL US) fell 5.9 percent to $50.32. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) retreated 3.9 percent to $4.19. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) lost 2.6 percent to $12.65. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) slipped 4.5 percent to $9.24. Impala Platinum Holdings (IMPUY US) fell 6.9 percent to $22.45. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) lost 7.8 percent to $3.29. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) declined 5.3 percent to $34.21.
–Editors: Alastair Reed, Vernon Wessels.
BRASIL:
EN BREF, CE 21 mai 2010 … AGNEWS / OMAR, BXL,21/05/2010
