{jcomments on}OMAR, BXL, AGNEWS, le 01 juillet 2010 –— A common market for the East African Community (EAC) trade bloc kicked off on Thursday, opening up the borders of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi to labour and capital to citizens of all member states.
BURUNDI
RWANDA
UN court jails Rwandan for 25 years for genocide
Thu Jul 1, 2010 /Reuters
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – An international court trying suspects of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide has sentenced a 75-year-old militia leader to 25 years for his involvement in the killing of up to 5,000 Tutsis, the court said on Wednesday.
Yusuf Munyakazi becomes the oldest person ever to be sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) based in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha.
The tribunal convicted the former businessman of involvement in the killing of up the Tutsis who had sought refuge at two churches in Cyangugu prefecture, South-West Rwanda on April 29 and 30, 1994.
“The trial chamber has found that Munyakazi was the leader of these attacks, and that he arrived with two vehicles carrying groups of Interahamwe from outside the Shangi and Mibilizi areas,” Judge Florence Rita Array said in her ruling.
Both attacks occurred in Munyakazi’s Cyangugu hometown in northern Rwanda.
“The trial Chamber has therefore concluded beyond reasonable doubt that Munyakazi facilitated the transportation of Bugarama Interahamwe to the two crime sites. The Chamber sentences Munyakazi to a single sentence of 25 years imprisonment,” the judge said.
Munyakazi was arrested in May 2004 in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo where he lived under a different name as a Muslim cleric.
The Chamber acquitted him of other charges related to attacks at another parish because of insufficient evidence.
In their indictment, prosecutors said Munyakazi personally transported armed militiamen to villages to kill thousands of Tutsis who were hiding inside churches.
Ethnic Hutu militia and soldiers butchered 800,000 minority Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus in just 100 days between April and June 1994.
UGANDA
Uganda: Kifumbira – the Slum Where Kakama Met His Death
Chris Kiwawulo and Eddie Ssejjoba/The New Vision/allafrica.com/01 July 2010
Kampala — For almost two weeks, Sven and Naomi Karekaho were hurting after their son, Kham Kakama, mysteriously disappeared. Kakama was kidnapped from home in Bugolobi on June 8.
The search for the one-and-a-half-year-old boy ended on a sad note when his decomposing body was found 12 days later next to a garbage skip, about 3km from Kamwokya market.
One of the suspects in the murder, Godwin Tumusiime, led the Police to Kifumbira in Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb, where they found the body surrounded by burnt cables and banana peels.
The Police are puzzled why the kidnappers murdered the boy and then asked for a sh30m ransom from his parents.
Kifumbira
A small path along a filthy water channel leads to the shanty densely populated slum of Kifumbira where one of the suspects, Brian Sajjabi Jr, lived in a rented single-room house.
Tumusiime, who was arrested in Ishaka, Bushenyi district, led the Police to Sajjabi’s room in Kifumbira Kisenyi II at the border of Kamwokya and Kyebando, a suburb in Kawempe division.
Sajjabi’s room is behind the Government-aided Kampala City Council Primary School.
George Kivumbi, a resident of the slum, says its name (Kifumbira) is derived from the large number of Bafumbira from south-western Uganda, who settled in the area decades ago. The place is now inhabited by all tribes.
Among them are Bakonjo, Bakiga and Baganda. Most inhabitants get attracted to the area because of the low cost of living. Residents pay between sh20,000 and sh60,000 per month for a one-room house. The money also caters for power.
Food is also sold cheaply. For example, a plate of matooke, rice and beef costs sh1,000. Chapatti with beans, popularly known as kikomando, goes for sh500.
Most of the houses are makeshift and small corridors separate them. Many of the houses are in poor condition with leaking roofs. There are stinking pit latrines next to houses. The place is also littered with garbage and it floods during the rainy season. Some residents, especially women, have turned their rental rooms into bars and staggering drunkards are a common sight in the area.
Most of the residents are market vendors, casual labourers or hawkers. Many of them sell charcoal, and at some stalls, women seem unbothered as flies hover over dry fish and other foodstuffs sold near garbage heaps.
A big water channel marks the border of Kawempe and Kampala Central divisions.
Residents dump garbage and human waste in the channel and the rain washes the litter down into Kyebando swamp where Kakama’s body was recovered.
Poor security
Kawempe Division resident district commissioner Edward Ssekabanja says there are about 360,000 people in the slum, part of which is in Kawempe Division and the other part in Kampala Central Division.
He says the poor security in the area is due to laxity by local leaders. Everybody minds their own business and loud music blares from joints selling local brew.
Ssekabanja adds: “Residents do not care what their neighbours do until trouble comes.”
Kifumbira is notorious for selling local brew, marijuana smoking and petty crime, says a detective, who used to work at Kira Road Police Station.
Local officials say the crime rate had gone down due to vigilance of security organs and local leaders, but it has started rising again due to laxity.
The defence secretary, Christopher Mugisha, notes that cases of house-breaking and theft are resurfacing in the area.
Who is Sajjabi?
Sajjabi’s landlord, Said Muhoozi, describes him as a reserved person who hardly had friends. He says Sajjabi once had a stay-in girlfriend, but the two separated.
He adds that he had been looking for Sajjabi to pay rent arrears amounting to sh60,000.
Mugisha says Sajjabi told him he was a student at Makerere University.
“I thought he was a student who wanted to save money. Many students rent cheap houses instead of hostels to make ends meet,” Mugisha notes.
Solomon Mukonjo, the pastor of the church where Sajjabi prayed, said he suspended him from the church when he got complaints from a parent that he had impregnated her daughter and eloped with her.
He disclosed that contrary to what the residents said, Sajjabi had never been a minister in the church.
Mukonjo added that Sajjabi was stopped from playing the piano in church because he was not a permanent member.
When the suspects were arrested, irate residents of Kifumbira wanted to lynch them, but the Police intervened.
The Police recovered over 10 simcards of different mobile telecommunications networks in Sajjabi’s house.
The Police are still investigating the murder.
Uganda to build port along Indian Ocean
01 July, 2010 /www.newvision.co.ug/By Ibrahim Kasita
TANZANIA has offered Uganda land bordering the Indian Ocean as a solution to address problems related to being land-locked, bolstering the process of East Africa Community (EAC) integration.
The land, which is next to Port Tanga situated on the northern coast of Tanzania and close to Kenyan border, will speed up transportation of goods and supplies destined for exports and imports.
“This land will link us to the sea. It is upon us to look for the money and build a port facility there because the land is available,” Eriya Kategaya, the Uganda’s first deputy premier and minister in charge of EAC affairs told Business Vision in an interview.
When the project materialises it will have answered the problems associated with relying on Kenyan route which include congestion in Port mombasa, which has been the main gateway.
The long chain of transportation makes Uganda vulnerable to any problems arising along the way, and immediately results into delays in supplies delivery causing shortages and artificial price hikes.
EAC member states – Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi – are set to effect the common market begining today.
However, the market which has about 130 million people with a combined measurement of goods and services produced in the block at about $70b faces bottlenecks like dilapidated roads, railway lines, and acute energy shortage, key requirements for investments.
“The challenges are there but we are collectively working on them to ensure that we grow the regional economy as well as attract investments,” Kategaya explained.
“We are looking at increasing power generation and ensuring connectivity within the region. Kenya and Uganda have agreed to build a modern railway system as well linking the two countries.”
The premier observed that there was still a need to harmonise the taxation policies and create a common currency which will facilitate trade in the bloc.
“This is going to be important. At the moment it is really cumbersome to transact. We will try to work on a time-table that by 2012 we establish the common currency,” Kategaya pointed out.
On the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), he called for the East African states to endorse the deal but “in phases.”
“EPAs will give us a sure regime of trade because at this moment we are just on good will
and you cannot depend on good will. It is not good,” the premier said.
“We can agree on phased-out basis since we have time to try and catch up with our European partners.”
The EPAs are a scheme to create a free trade area between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) countries.
They are a response to continuing criticism that the non-reciprocal and discriminating preferential trade agreements offered by the EU are incompatible with World Trade Oorganisation (WTO rules.
Kategaya argued that aid cannot develop the EAC bloc but trade and working hard. “The mentality of depending on hand-outs is not workable because there is no historical example of donations developing or transforming poor countries,” he said.
“Most countries develop from borrowing, saving and had their own programmes. But donors stipulate conditionality.”
Kategaya said the security and stability was key to improve investor confidence in the EAC block. “We need political stability for both local and foreign investors. Stability will increase investor confidence.”
He urged Uganda to specialize in agriculture, and education in order to be competitive in the region. “Modernise agriculture and process the raw materials by adding value,” he said.
“This will create high prices for the commodities as well as creating jobs.
The geo-position of Uganda is strategically located. This requires us to improve on communication, roads and transport because we are centrally-located.”
FACTBOX-East African common market begins
Thu Jul 1, 2010/Reuters
NAIROBI July 1 (Reuters) – A common market for the East African Community (EAC) trade bloc kicked off on Thursday, opening up the borders of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi to labour and capital to citizens of all member states.
Here are some facts about the EAC bloc:
* The EAC was first set up in 1967 but collapsed a decade later because of political and economic disagreements between original member states Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
* A treaty to revive the bloc was signed by heads of state of the three nations in 1999, setting the stage for Rwanda and Burundi to join the Arusha, Tanzania-headquartered bloc in 2006.
* EAC has a population of 126 million people and a GDP of $75 billion.
* The ultimate goal of the bloc is to have a common currency in 2012 and turn into a political federation in 2015.
* There is agreement at the leadership level throughout the bloc that a wider market will increase the region’s ability to attract investments, nurture economic growth and reduce poverty.
* The three major economies have diverse strengths. Kenya has a fairly advanced economy, Tanzania has plenty of fertile land and other natural resources such as timber and gold, while Uganda discovered huge oil deposits in 2006.
* Infrastructure, like roads and railways, is a common challenge for all the states. Governments have been allocating increased funding to the sector.
* Member states will have to make several changes to their national laws to allow full implementation of the common market in areas such as immigration, labour and customs.
* Kenyan firms like Kenya Airways (KQNA.NR: Quote) have cross-listed their shares on the Kampala and Dar es Salaam bourses. Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB.NR: Quote) has operations around the region.
* Kenya is among the top 10 sources of foreign direct investment to Uganda with 27 licensed investment projects worth $158 million.
* In Tanzania, Kenya is the second biggest investor with 270 companies operating there providing more than 100,000 jobs.
* Only Rwanda and Kenya have a bilateral agreement allowing their citizens to work in any of the two countries without a work permit. Similar agreements are required among all members. (Compiled by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Giles Elgood)
TANZANIA:
CONGO RDC :
Congolese In Belgium Protest Kabila’s Rule
2010-07-01/english.ntdtv.com
The protest against Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila, was held by 500 Congolese in the former colonial capital Brussels on Wednesday.
Protesters shouted messages of commemoration for the first president of the independent Republic of Congo, Patrice Lumumba, murdered shortly after taking power.
As the protesters gathered in Brussels, thousands in Kinshasa, Congo, were waiting for the start of the official celebrations of 50 years of independence from Belgium.
Belgium has spent weeks debating how far it should go in showing support for Kabila by celebrating the event, particularly after the mysterious death this month of Congo’s top human rights activist.
In the end, Belgium decided to send its king, queen and the acting prime minister to the ceremonies. But it ruled out letting its troops participate in the parade or allowing King Albert to give a public speech.
However, the first visit to Congo by a Belgian monarch in 25 years does not mark an easing of tensions. Two years ago, Congo withdrew its ambassador to Belgium after Belgium’s then foreign minister criticised Kinshasa over corruption and human rights.
The organizers of the protest object to Belgium’s tacit support of the current government.
The protesters marched to the European Union institutions picking up more participants along the way.
UN chief inaugurates new UN force in DR Congo
Thursday, July 01, 2010/newsystocks.com
KINSHASA, Jul. 1, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) — UN secretary general Ban ki-Moon inaugurated on Wednesday in Kinshasa the UN mission for Stabilization of the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO).
The new mandate of MONUSCO which takes over from the UN mission in DR Congo (MONUC) will continue giving priority to the protection of civilians especially women who are weighed upon by heavy burdens, Radio Okapi reported, quoting Ban.
Speaking before a number of representatives of various United Nations agencies who were gathered at the MONUSCO headquarters, Ban ki-Moon insisted on the need to protect civilians and fight against sexual violence.
“All actors including the governmental forces should be engaged in fighting against sexual violence. In my position as the secretary general, I will not spare any effort in trying to fight against this great violation of one of the fundamental human rights,” he pointed out.
Ban ki-Moon used the occasion to introduce his new special representative in DR Congo, Roger Meece.
MONUSCO is comprised of a maximum number of 19,815 soldiers, 760 military observers, 391 police functionaries and 1,050 police units.
KENYA :
Kenyan Prime Minister Odinga Will Recover From Head Surgery, Standard Says
By Sarah McGregor /www.bloomberg.com/Jul 1, 2010
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga is expected to fully recover from surgery to remove a blood clot on the outside of his brain, the Standard reported, citing the surgeon who operated on him, David Livingstone Oluoch-Olunya.
Doctors advised Odinga, who was diagnosed with a medical condition known as chronic subdural haematoma, to remain in hospital for five days and then continue to get plenty of rest, the Nairobi-based newspaper reported today.
Odinga has been travelling throughout the East African nation in recent weeks leading a campaign to convince voters to approve a new constitution in an Aug. 4 referendum, it added.
Kenya, EA states mark milestone
BY EVELYNE NJOROGE/www.capitalfm.co.ke/July 1
ARUSHA, Tanzania, July 1 – The five East African Community partner states on Thursday made history by ceding some of their sovereignty in return for a larger, integrated market, accelerated economic growth and deeper cooperation.
July 1 marked the day when borders in the East African countries became ‘figuratively erased’ as goods, capital, labour and people begun moving freely and had the right to reside and work in any of the countries without being discriminated.
But while some may want to look at the process of transforming the region into a Common Market in negative light, EAC Director General for Customs and Trade Peter Kiguta prefers to see regional integration as an act of pooling sovereignty to create space and flexibility required for social, economic and political growth.
“Integration is about finding a middle ground; each partner state has to give away something for the region. It’s not easy to integrate if you have to retain your full independence,” he told Capital Business during an interview in Tanzania.
The coming into force of the EAC Common Market Protocol means that the over 126 million people from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda will no longer be restricted to their smaller segmented markets.
It also means that barriers to trade will be eliminated while national policies, laws and systems will be harmonised across the region for the mutual benefit of all.
It will also call for the establishment of institutions and agencies and the hiring of skilled personnel to man those institutions in order to deliver services and outputs that are in line with the Treaty establishing the EAC.
Granted, this is a huge task that cannot be accomplished in a day or a week. This is what informed the provision of annexes which outline how the principles in the Common Market Protocol will be implemented and in what time lines.
For instance, partner states are required to take measures to secure the protection of cross border investments within the community ‘two years after coming into force of the Protocol.’
The EAC governments also appreciated that it would not be easy to align national laws with those of the region and therefore provided that each member should strive to progressively harmonise their laws to remove trade disparities to facilitate the free movement of goods, capital, services and labour.
Despite this provision, Mr Kiguta said it is illegal for a country to continue applying its national laws and thus every country must strive to amend its legislations and ensure that they are in line with those of the region.
This is because it would be difficult for the EAC Secretariat or any other body to enforce the regional laws, since national Parliaments have control of their legislations and doing so would be infringing on the rights of the respective National Assemblies.
“What is therefore important is that we urge partner states to ensure that they expedite that process so that the implementation of the common market can be smooth. It is that spirit that we are looking for because we (Secretariat) are limited and that’s beyond our mandate,” Mr Kiguta explained.
However, he said they are banking on the member states to live by the words and implement measures that they say they will and comply with the laws.
“Every country has to report on its progress so it becomes embarrassing for a country when it has not done what it said it would. That puts enough pressure on it and forces it to conform,” he added.
For countries that are still grappling with issues of political fears or weak economies, the EAC Treaty provides for the ‘Principle of Asymmetry’ which means countries which are better off economically can move ahead and implement regional programs while those that are unable can be supported to do so by the Community.
The East Africa business community is however not very enthusiastic about the operationalisation of this Protocol and has time and again asked their governments to speed up the resolution of sticky issues that could hamper the integration process.
The use of identity cards as ideal travel document to facilitate the free movement and the right to own land in any of the EAC countries are still contentious issues that have not been fully agreed on by the member states.
In May, traders from the five business associations in the region adopted a common position which they said would enable them to lobby their governments to address issues that affect their competitiveness.
Led by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers they identified the harmonisation of tax and investment regimes, speedy implementation of decisions and the strengthening of dispute resolutions as some of the key issues that the business fraternity want executed.
In response, the East African governments have acknowledged that the elimination of Non Tariff Barriers for instance will remain the biggest challenge as the region moves to become a single market but pledged to deal with the issue.
Such measures involve the roll-out of massive sensitisation campaigns and training of agents who will be in charge of the implementation so that they can play a facilitative role in the process.
Kenya: Country Offers to Help Clean Up U.S. Oil Spill
Kevin J Kelley/Daily Nation/allafrica.com/01 July 2010
In a reversal of roles, Kenya wants to supply aid to the United States.
And the US says it is considering accepting Kenya’s offer to send a fire boom to contain and burn some of the oil that has been spilling into the Gulf of Mexico for more than two months.
But unlike the free assistance the US gives in response to disasters, Kenya wants to be paid for its fire boom. But the country is not alone in seeking reimbursement for helping to contain and clean up the mammoth oil spill.
The State Department on Tuesday said that 27 countries had offered to help the US address the environmental disaster, with almost every offer carrying a price tag.
So far, offers from 12 countries and international bodies have been accepted. The State Department says it is still considering the other offers, including Kenya’s.
Kenya is the second African nation after Tunisia, to offer help. And a fire boom might prove quite useful.
“The National Incident Command and the Federal On Scene Coordinator have determined that there is a resource need for boom and skimmers that can be met by offers of assistance from foreig
n governments and international bodies,” the State Department said.
The Press-Register, a newspaper in Alabama, reported on Monday that no fire booms were immediately available after BP’s oil rig blew up and millions of gallons of oil started cascading into the Gulf.
ANGOLA :
SOUTH AFRICA:
American shot, robbed in South Africa
From Robyn Curnow, CNN/July 1, 2010
Johannesburg, South Africa (CNN) — An American man on vacation in South Africa was shot after being robbed on the street in Johannesburg, police said Thursday.
David James Bueche, 35, arrived in the country Wednesday from Los Angeles, South African police spokeswoman Sally de Beer said. He was planning to backpack and hadn’t arrived specifically for the World Cup, she said.
Soon after arriving in Johannesburg, Bueche was walking on a street on the outskirts of Alexandra township in Johannesburg when four men followed him in a car and assaulted him, de Beer said.
They robbed Bueche of his backpack, which held his cash, clothes, and passport, and shot him. Bueche now has a bullet wound under his right arm, she said.
Bueche made his way to a nearby house, where the occupants called an ambulance and the U.S. Embassy. He is now in stable condition at a hospital.
Police have opened a case of attempted murder and armed robbery, de Beer said.
French government denies interfering
July 1, 2010/ By Soccernet staff/soccernet.espn.go.com
The French government has denied claims it has interfered with its football federation after warnings issued by FIFA.
• Forum: Should politicians stay out?
There were suggestions Roselyne Bachelot, the sports minister, had played a part in the resignation of Jean-Pierre Escalettes as president of the French Football Federation on Monday, but that was denied by a government spokesman.
“She indeed indicated that she personally believed his resignation was unavoidable but she did not ask for his resignation,” he said. “There was never any question of the French government interfering in the affairs of the French Football Federation.”
On Wednesday, outgoing coach Raymond Domenech along with Escalettes appeared before a parliamentary commission to explain what went wrong in South Africa.
“It is normal for members of parliament to try to find out exactly what happened because it is a topic that preoccupies French people,” the spokesman added.
FIFA has past history of punishing federations for perceived political interference. Greece were European champions when they were suspended for several days in 2006; Iraq served a suspension in 2008; and Ethiopia were kicked out of their qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup.
AFRICA / AU :
Tony Blair to receive 2010 Liberty Medal
By Melissa Dribben /Inquirer Staff Writer/ www.philly.com/Thu, Jul. 1, 2010
Tony Blair, the former British prime minister now serving as a special Middle East peace envoy, will receive the 2010 Liberty Medal.
The announcement – made Wednesday by David Eisner, president and chief executive officer of the National Constitution Center, and by Mayor Nutter – came three years after the charismatic politician resigned the post he had held for a decade, having charted a centrist path for Britain’s Labor Party before his popularity waned over his support beginning in 2003 for the Iraq War.
Describing him as a man of “courage and conviction . . . who has furthered peaceful coexistence on a global scale,” Eisner praised Blair for his international diplomacy.
Blair played a critical role, Eisner said, brokering the elusive power-sharing agreement in Northern Ireland that finally resolved the 30-year conflict. He helped bring the war in the Balkans to an end and continues against great odds, Eisner said, “to help untie the many Gordian knots in the Middle East.”
Following his resignation as prime minister in 2007, Blair was appointed special envoy from the Quartet on the Middle East – the United States, the United Nations, Russia, and the European Union.
Blair is also credited with making important contributions to the world’s spiritual and physical well-being through his humanitarian organization, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, which promotes understanding among people of different religions and is working to eradicate malaria in Africa.
He leads the Africa Governance Initiative as well, which supports leaders in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in promoting economic development. And, Eisner said, he is leading an effort to promote international collaboration on environmental issues and climate-change policies.
“It is an honor to receive the Liberty Medal,” Blair said in a statement. “I am deeply indebted to the National Constitution Center for adding my name to such a distinguished list of recipients. Freedom, liberty, and justice are the values by which this medal is struck. Freedom, liberty, and justice are the values which I try to apply to my work on governance in Africa and on preparing the Palestinians for statehood. They are the values which drive the work of my faith foundation as we try to show that people of different faiths can live together constructively, in peace and harmony.”
The award ceremony, to be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 13, will be attended by former President Bill Clinton, chair of the National Constitution Center. The ceremony will be telecast live on 6ABC.
The Liberty Medal was established and first awarded in 1989 by We the People 2000 in celebration of the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. The medal honors those who exemplify the constitutional principles of justice, fairness, and a balance between individual rights and the good of the community.
The award has been administered by the National Constitution Center since 2006. Blair is donating the $100,000 in prize money to the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and the Tony Blair Africa Governance Initiative.
Joining Eisner at Wednesday’s announcement, Nutter recalled meeting the former prime minister last year at the Four Seasons Hotel. He and Blair spoke at length about how the recession was affecting major American cities.
They also shared an epic Philadelphia moment, Nutter said, confessing that at Blair’s request, he smuggled cheesesteaks into the hotel.
“He killed that cheesesteak,” Nutter said, eliciting laughter from mostly journalists in attendance.
No mention was made during Wednesday’s announcement of Blair’s part in the war in Iraq, where his alliance with former President George W. Bush and consequent commitment of British troops damaged the prime minister’s popularity at home.
The 57-year-old Blair has also been criticized recently for profiting from his stature after a decade in office, accepting handsome fees for consultant work and speaking engagements.
“You’re not going to find a world leader who isn’t going to be criticized,” Nutter said later during an interview. “You have to look at a person in the totality of their career.”
Recalling that in 1993, F.W. de Klerk, once an advocate of apartheid, and Nelson Mandela received the Liberty Medal jointly, Nutter said many of those who achieve greatness have made controversial decisions along the way.
“When you look at the totality of who Tony Blair is and what he has done,” Nutter said, “he is more than qualified for this prize.”
——————————————————————————–
Liberty Medal Honorees
2009 Steven Spielberg, film director.
2008 Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet leader.
2007 Bono, U2 lead singer, activist, and head of DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) advocacy organization.
2006 Former U.S. Presidents George
H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
2005 Viktor Yushchenko, president of Ukraine.
2004 Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan.
2003 Sandra Day O’Connor, U.S. Supreme Court justice.
2002 Colin Powell,
U.S. secretary of state.
2001 Kofi Annan,
United Nations
secretary-general.
2000 Dr. James Watson and Dr. Francis Crick, discoverers of DNA structure.
1999 Kim Dae Jung, president of South Korea.
1998 U.S. Sen. George J. Mitchell, Irish peace negotiator.
1997 CNN International.
1996 King Hussein I
of Jordan and Shimon Peres, former prime minister of Israel.
1995 Sadako Ogata, United Nations
High Commissioner
for Refugees.
1994 Vaclav Havel, president of the
Czech Republic.
1993 F.W. de Klerk, South Africa’s president, and Nelson Mandela, president of the African National Congress.
1992 Thurgood Marshall, U.S.
Supreme Court justice.
1991 Oscar Arias, president of Costa Rica, and Medecins sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), humanitarian group.
1990 Jimmy Carter, former U.S. president.
1989 Lech Walesa, founder of Solidarity, the Polish trade union.
Franklins gets an offer it can’t refuse
July 1, 2010 /www.smh.com.au
The owners of the Franklins supermarket chain says it was made a takeover offer it couldn’t refuse as the business struggled to compete in the Australian market.
Grocery and liquor wholesaler Metcash announced this morning that it had acquired the Franklins supermarket chain for about $215 million.
Metcash said it entered into an agreement with Pick n Pay Retailers Pty Ltd of South Africa to acquire the shares of Interfrank Group Holdings Pty Ltd, the company which owns the Franklins business.
Pick n Pay chairman Gareth Ackerman told the media the ‘‘compelling offer’’ was made last week and management thought it was ‘‘very generous’’.
Mr Ackerman said Pick n Pay bought the business in 2001 but it was only starting to swing back into profit last year.
‘‘Our problem was that we weren’t getting the adequate return from a Pick n Pay perspective to a
ctually continue the business,’’ Mr Ackerman said.
Asked if the company was getting back its total investment in the business, Mr Ackerman said: ‘‘Put in this way, we’re not walking away with a huge profit, we’ll be lucky, I think, to get our capital back.’’
Mr Ackerman said the sale of Franklins marked the company’s exit from Australia, as Coles owner Wesfarmers and Woolworths continued to dominate the market.
He said Pick n Pay did not expect to have any problems with Australian Competition and Consumer Commission approval of the deal.
Metcash chief executive Andrew Reitzer said the IGA network would significantly improve its competitive position against the national chains in Australia’s largest grocery market, NSW.
The move would also increase the market share of Metcash supplied retailers in the state from 11 per cent to 17 per cent, he said.
AAP
ChemSpec, Kairos, Standard Bank: South Africa Equity Preview
July 01, 2010/By Janice Kew/Bloomberg
July 1 (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 fell for a second day, sliding 439.88, or 1.7 percent, to 26,258.82. The measure lost 8.7 percent in the quarter, the first quarterly decline since March 2009.
Chemical Specialities Ltd. (CSP SJ): The paint manufacturer said it expects to post a loss of 12.82 cents a share in the year through March 31, from a profit of 12.91 cents a year earlier. ChemSpec, as the company is known, rose 2 cents, or 2.5 percent, to 82 cents.
Kairos Industrial Holdings Ltd. (KIR SJ): The mining-gear maker posted an annual loss per share of 38.80 cents in the year through Feb. 28, from a loss of 0.7 cents a share a year earlier. Kairos was unchanged at 8 cents.
Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. (PIK SJ): South Africa’s second- largest food retailer sold its Australian unit, Franklins, to Metcash Trading Ltd. for A$215 million ($180 million).
Reunert Ltd. (RLO SJ): The technology and cabling company appointed Nick Wentzel as its new chief executive officer, replacing Boel Pretorius from Aug. 1. The stock fell 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, to 57.39 rand.
Standard Bank Group Ltd. (SBK SJ): Africa’s largest lender releases residential property prices for June. South African house prices rose 2.3 percent in May from a year ago, as the economy rebounded from its first recession in 17 years. Standard Bank slid 2.27 rand, or 2.2 percent, to 102.39 rand.
Total Client Services Ltd. (TCS SJ): The technology and software provider’s loss in the year through Feb. 28 widened to 12.6 million rand ($1.65 million) from 591,757 rand a year earlier. The company’s stock was unchanged at 4 cents.
Zambia Copper Investments Ltd. (ZCI SJ): The Bermuda-based copper miner with three mines in Zambia reported profit rose to $19.4 million in the year ended March 31, from $500,000 a year earlier. The stock was unchanged at 11.50 rand.
Shares or American depositary receipts of the following South African companies closed as follows:
Anglo American Plc (AAUK US) fell 2.5 percent to $17.23. AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (AU US) dropped 0.1 percent to $43.18. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BBL US) fell 3.1 percent to $51.44. DRDGold Ltd. (DROOY US) gained 2.1 percent to $4.35. Gold Fields Ltd. (GFI US) retreated 1 percent to $13.37. Harmony Gold Mining Co. (HMY US) added 2.1 percent to $10.57. Impala Platinum Holdings (IMPUY US) fell 1.6 percent to $23.32. Sappi Ltd. (SPP US) shed 1.1 percent to $3.78. Sasol Ltd. (SSL US) retreated 2.3 percent to $35.18.
–With assistance from Nicky Smith in Johannesburg. Editors: Paul Richardson, Karl Maier.
UN /ONU :
UN CHIEF ARRIVES IN DR CONGO TO ATTEND EVENTS MARKING INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY
accra-mail.com/010710
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived today in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as he begins a two-nation trip to Africa, his third to the continent over the past month.
Mr. Ban is scheduled to take part in a gala dinner tonight in the capital, Kinshasa, which is being hosted by Joseph Kabila, the President of the DRC.
He will also hold a bilateral meeting with Mr. Kabila and other heads of State during his visit.
The centrepiece of the UN chief’s visit will take place tomorrow when he attends events being held to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the DRC’s independence from Belgium.
Mr. Ban then travels to Gabon for the last leg of the trip. In other visits to Africa over the past month, he has visited Malawi, Uganda, South Africa, Burundi, Cameroon, Benin and Sierra Leone.
Accra / Ghana/ Africa / Modernghana.com
USA :
CANADA :
Canada blocks debt relief as Congo marks jubilee
$8 billion package held up over mining rights
0107 2010/www.thestar.com/Les Whittington
Ottawa Bureau OTTAWA—An $8 billion debt relief package for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been held up because of Canada’s concerns about mining rights in the mineral-rich African nation.
Congolese President Joseph Kabila was hoping to be able to announce the debt-relief deal on Wednesday as part of ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the DRC.
But a decision on the debt by the World Bank has been put off temporarily at Canada’s request because of concerns arising from a dispute between the Kinshasa government and a Canadian mining company, Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals.
“Canada remains concerned about the recent cancellation of mining contracts by the DRC government, and believes that the international dispute settlement mechanism initiated by First Quantum Minerals should be allowed to run its course,” a spokesperson for Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said.
The Canadian government also referred Wednesday to a statement contained in the declaration signed by leaders of the G8 in Muskoka last weekend.
“The illicit exploitation of — and trade in — natural resources from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has directly contributed to the instability and violence that is causing undue suffering among the people of the DRC,” G8 leaders said. “We urge the DRC to do more to end the conflict and to extend urgently the rule of law.”
More than three million people have died in the past decade in the former Zaire as a result of disease, hunger and armed conflict fed by competition for the country’s mineral riches.
The G8 also urged the DRC to become a signatory to the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, or EITI, to enhance transparency in the petroleum and mining industries in the African country.
A World Bank spokeswoman interviewed by Reuters news agency confirmed the delay in the debt-relief deal. However, it could be approved within days after further discussion, officials said.
First Quantum Minerals is seeking international arbitration after the DRC government closed its $700 million (U.S.) Kolwezi copper tailings project following a review.
A spokesperson for Flaherty said Ottawa has been trying to temporarily slow the debt relief process for the DRC “to raise concerns over governance problems and issues facing foreign investors” there.
“We will continue to work with our international partners to ensure Canadian investment in the DRC is protected, while empowering those within the country as they work towards peace and sustainable economic development,” the spokesperson said.
Suspected Russian spy Christopher Robert Metsos goes missing in Cyprus after making bail
BY Helen Kennedy /DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER /www.nydailynews.com/Thursday, July 1st 2010
The Russian spy case offered up another plot twist Wednesday, but one they should have seen coming.
The purported bagman for the nest of suspected suburban sleeper agents went on the lam – just hours after he was released on bail.
Christopher Robert Metsos, 54, was nabbed Tuesday by Cypriot police as he prepared to board a flight to Budapest with a Canadian passport, which was seized.
For some reason, he was granted $25,000 bail and promptly vanished. He was last seen Tuesday night at the hotel where he had paid up front for two weeks.
Metsos’ lawyers said they couldn’t find him and Cypriot police said he didn’t check in as required Wednesday night.
Cyprus, a Mediterranean island close to Europe, Asia and Africa, is famously infested with spies, arms dealers and other shady characters.
Escape is easy: Frequent ferries run from the Turkish northern part of the divided island to Turkey, Syria or Lebanon.
The 10 accused deep-cover agents arrested in the U.S. Monday remain behind bars. The FBI says Metsos traveled in and out of the U.S. bringing them cash from their spymasters in Moscow.
Mayhem at Canada’s G20
A shit-show at clash with police and protesters
July 1, 2010/ by Ira Wells in News /www.ffwdweekly.com
“Somebody throw that poo!”
It is impossible to pinpoint with any precision the moment when the “legitimate,” democratically respectable protest ended and the aimless rabble-rousing began at the G20 protests in Toronto last Saturday. But wherever that line was drawn, I was reasonably confident that we had crossed it when the calls for poo-throwing began.
In the few hours since the G20 protests had commenced, I had heard a seemingly infinite number of chants and rants against the Harper government, against capitalism, against the G20, and, increasingly, about the police. (Not that the word “police” was much in use among the marching comrades: “corporate cops” was the most polite epithet, followed by “pigs,” “filth” and other all-purpose pejoratives centred on the male and female sex organs.) But now, as I found myself in the midst of a crush of protestors in Toronto’s financial district, where a trashed and smouldering police cruiser was visible behind a line of riot police, a new chorus had arisen.
“Throw the poo!” admonished a young female protester. “Yeah,” another screeched, “let’s give those pigs some poo!”
To be fair, the tone of the proceedings hadn’t always been this crass. Many of the protesters I spoke with had firm and informed opinions on a multiplicity of topics — from the virtues of bank taxes and continued stimulus spending over deficit reduction and austerity measures, to the complicity of G20 countries in supporting policies of environmental despoliation, corporate wantonness and neo-imperialism. But by 4 p.m., the issue of safe abortions in Africa would have to wait. These folks were ready to throw some shit.
Perhaps eager to distinguish himself in the theatre of combat, one bearded protestor was now huddled over the crap in question — a souvenir courtesy of one of the many horse-mounted units patrolling the streets — using his bare hands to load his grainy payload into a white plastic bucket. Having fashioned his biological weapon, this literal shit-disturber momentarily melted back into the throng of metaphorical ones.
The riot cops, meanwhile, seemed to be gearing up for something. Gas masks were applied. Tear gas launchers were suddenly trained on the crowd. A mounted unit was coming up from behind the line; several minivans and Escalades worth of riot cops suddenly appeared from the rear, disgorging their armoured contents onto the streets behind us. At least one of the reinforcements was equipped with a military-style assault rifle. The police were boxing us in.
It was at this point that your humble servant decided to abandon his watchful post.
As I beat my retreat, I saw that a good many of the windows lining Bay Street had been smashed in, and various Marxist and nihilist slogans had been scrawled across walls and windows in red and black spray paint: “people over profits,” “fuck corporate rule,” “kill cops.” Canada Post mailboxes had been hurled into the streets. Perhaps a kilometre down the road, another police cruiser had been set ablaze. Someone yelled that full-scale rioting had broken out on Yonge Street.
In the weeks leading up to the G20, Bill Blair, Toronto’s police chief, had said that his most pressing fear was the indiscriminate carnage of radicals bent on “breaking windows, burning cars, overturning street furniture.” Despite the months of preparation, the hulking security price tag, and the thousands of officers at his disposal, it had taken the so-called “Black Bloc” less than three hours to make a reality of Blair’s fears.
A HARD RAIN
Protesters had begun congregating under a light drizzle at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning. Smaller protests had taken place throughout the week, each mobilizing on behalf of a different cause: anti-war demonstrations took place on Monday, “gender justice” on Tuesday; environmental issues on Wednesday; and indigenous rights on Thursday. All of this was leading up to Saturday’s massive “People’s First Rally and March,” where this incredible diversity of voices would merge and coalesce into a single blast of protest. The “People’s March” would be colourful, noisy, perhaps a bit raucous. But it would be peaceful. At least, that was the plan.
From its genesis, the inescapable fact of this gathering was the fantastic diversity of its constitutive groups. At any given moment, you might see a guy dressed up as a freakishly overgrown banana (his cause: vegetarianism) standing next to a fully veiled, flag-waving African woman (her cause: Ogaden sovereignty) next to a grey-haired, superannuated hipster (his principle cause: sparking up a fat one).
Queen’s Park, named for Queen Victoria in 1859, is bisected into north and south lawns at the Ontario legislature. On Saturday morning, the north lawn, by accident or design, was the base of operations for groups who were protesting a certain leader’s presence in the city. So a sizable group of Ethiopian Canadians protested against the arrival of Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian prime minister, who they call the “black Hitler.” A few dozen Falun Gong, whose members are subjected to horrendous persecution including forced labour and organ harvesting in China, protested against Hu Jintao, China’s president. And dozens of Vietnamese Canadians were railing against the inclusion of Nguyan Tan Dung, the Vietnamese prime minister, accused of various human-rights violations.
If the mood on the north lawn was one dominated by political urgency — the collective alarm and horror of people protesting against vile and in many cases ongoing human-rights abuses in their home countries — the mood on the south lawn was something much closer to nostalgia. Here, you found a huddle of middle-aged union-types trying to keep dry under a tree. Aging hippies mingled with undergraduate radicals, passing joints and bitching about “the man.” The dress code was protest chic: boots, bandanas and cammo. “Less G20, more 420,” read one popular T-shirt. Another was simpler: “Fuck the G20.”
The slow drizzle of rain had turned into something closer to a torrent, as had the influx of protesters themselves, who now numbered in the thousands. The soundtrack — when it wasn’t overpowered by drumming and chanting — consisted mainly of Billy Bragg’s recorded renditions of Pete Seeger songs: songs about emancipatory equality, songs lionizing the innate power and dignity of collective struggle.
Pete Seeger liked to think that his guitar could kill fascists, but none of the highly nostalgic, highly reified tropes and rituals of contemporary “protest” could snuff or even contain the violent element in their midst, the so-called “Black Bloc” or anarchist radicals who would very soon highjack the message, if not the protest itself. If you looked closely enough, in between the abortion activists and vegetarians and those calling for an end to the “occupation” of Gaza, members of the Black Bloc were already there — some of them anyway, hiding in plain sight.
THERE’S A RIOT GOIN’ ON
I spoke with a score of protesters at every phase of the chaos that ensued, although only one identified himself as an “anarchist.”
At the “tent city,” where some 30 tents were pitched, and where Naomi Klein had rallied the troops the night before, Sean Hodgson may have been an anarchist, but the very fact that he revealed his name (and spoke to a reporter) is a fairly solid indication that he’s not of the rock-throwing, fire-starting p
ersuasion. Rather, he said, he was concerned with “tangible goals”: creating jobs, increasing social programs and welfare.
I asked him why he wasn’t a Marxist, since Marxists believe in those things too. “Marxism has a hierarchical structure,” he replied, “in which a few elite members direct the cause. Anarchists believe in the power of populism, in the ability of people to make their own choices. We’re not as Stalinistic as Marxists or the unions.” He said he wasn’t interested in making a fuss at the security fence, as other militants had vowed to do. A confrontation with the police, he pointed out, would only justify their presence. Even the anarchists, it seemed, were opposed to anarchy.
Anarchy, however, would not be denied.
After a few quasi-official speeches on the lawn of the Ontario legislature — in which the “Alberta tarsands” were repudiated as “the worst environmental catastrophe in the history of the planet” — the People’s March was underway. Here, finally, was the protest of protests, an amalgamation of every conceivable group and cause.
Protesters, nearly 10,000 of them now, proceeded south on University Avenue, shouting, “The people united will never be defeated.” During a scheduled stop at the U.S. Consulate, protesters were encouraged to hurl some cathartic invective at the American guards.
The Marxists, Maoists, socialists, anarchists, journalists, performance artists and hundreds of curious onlookers turned south and suddenly were greeted by several hundred riot police.
It was at this point that a pattern began to unfold, one that would last well into the night. A huge crowd of protesters and onlookers would find themselves in a standoff with dozens or hundreds of riot cops. An exchange of views would take place. Protesters would inform the cops that they were doing the bidding of filthy capitalists. They would chant: “Whose streets? Our streets!” or “No justice, no peace — fuck the police!”
The riot cops, for their part, were essentially impervious to a seemingly boundless display of impertinence. One girl dropped to her knees and simulated fellatio on one of these armoured statues. Other protesters sparked up joints and offered the cops a toke. “Protesting the G20,” at this point, had become synonymous with the idiotic harassment of police officers.
But the admirable discipline displayed by the riot cops came at a price. For while they were engaged in these futile standoffs, smaller groups of black-clad radicals would race off and go about their business, completely unopposed. What the authorities evidently failed to anticipate was that the riot cops themselves were a primary attraction for protesters. These cops had become the most accessible face and symbol of everything the protesters loathed; they played a crucial role in creating the protests that they were then forced to disperse. And so they were complicit in providing what was essentially a photo opportunity for peaceful protesters, while the violent Black Bloc had the run of the city.
The police response was indeed fearsome, but it was also lugubrious. It seemed irrationally obsessed with hemming in large groups of benign spectators, while the Black Bloc raced around vandalizing streetcars, torching abandoned police cruisers and ransacking much of Yonge Street. One protester I spoke with was convinced that that was the point. “They’re not interested in stopping anything,” he said. “We [the protesters] are putting on a show for them, but they’re also putting on a show for us.”
“All of this,” he continued, gesturing to the lines upon lines of riot cops, mounted units and bicycle divisions before us, “is Stephen Harper’s way of showing us what underlies his vision of democracy.”
We were standing outside the “Free Speech Zone,” which had just ceased to exist. Moments earlier, hundreds of riot cops had plowed through Queen’s Park, arresting anyone who showed signs of resistance. One girl sat down and refused to budge; she was summarily handcuffed and hauled off to the makeshift detention centre. A riot cop gave me a solid shove with his shield. “Move,” he said. “What happened to the ‘Free Speech Zone?’” I asked incredulously. By way of response, he raised his baton and uttered a single word: “Comply.”
A FEARFUL SYMMETRY
In the end, everyone declared victory. In a press conference later that night, police chief Blair commended his officers for having “never lost control” of the streets. Meanwhile, the Black Bloc (who are, from what I could tell, uniformly white, and mostly on the small and nerdy side of the social equation) had successfully defaced much of downtown, wreaked millions of dollars worth of property damage and had completely dominated the summit itself in terms of media attention.
Of course, the only real winner in all of this is Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who scored victories both in front of and behind the fence. We’re told that Harper engineered what is by all accounts an unprecedented level of consensus among the G20 nations, who agreed to slash their deficits in half by 2013. At the same time, by holding the summit in a virtually uncontrollable urban centre — one in which, authorities admitted for weeks in advance, violence would be impossible to stop — the prime minister has managed to further alienate and marginalize left-wing dissent in this country by associating it with pictures of burning police cars and broken windows. The violence, which was all but certain to unfold, justified the gargantuan security spending and, in the minds of many Canadians, further discredited the protest movement. The PMO issued a statement repudiating the violent “thugs,” and waited for approval ratings to soar.
By Monday morning, a semblance of normalcy had returned to downtown Toronto. Clean-up crews were going about their business. The controversial security fence was being disassembled. The storm of democracy, or whatever it was, had passed us by.
Some things, however, will not be soon forgotten, such as the Ontario government’s shameful passage of the “Public Works Protection Act,” a secret bill designed to curb constitutional freedoms. Nearly 1,000 people were arrested over the course of the protests, and Toronto police used tear gas against the city’s population for the first time ever. The promised “Free Speech Zone” was forcibly shut down. Canadians have a new and disturbing set of images burned into our political consciousness — weird, incongruous scenes, pictures of riot cops and protesters squaring off outside a Tim Horton’s. The windows will be repaired and the slogans erased. But the psychological landscape has been permanently altered.
There were no end of surreal moments during the protest, but one sticks out in particular. The People’s March was headed south when the crowd was forced to part around a young woman who was eating dessert in the middle of the protest route. She was seated alone at a nicely set table of white linens, politely consuming what appeared to be an entire chocolate fudge cake.
“Are you with a cause?” somebody asked the teen. She ignored the question, every ounce of attention focused on her delicious dessert. Some observers were nonplussed. “What the hell does that have to do with the G20?” I heard somebody grumble. As though by way of an answer, the young woman licked her lips and went in for one more delectable bite.
AUSTRALIA :
Sorry boys, says FIFA
Dhiman Sarkar, Hindustan Times/ July 01, 2010
Johannesburg,
This World Cup’s been about apologies. Thierry Henry put his hand up and said sorry after helping France qualify and when they exited, Flourent Malouda sounded contrite. Coming from Switzerland, Sepp Blatter knows French but the FIFA president told the media in English that he has apologised to the English and Mexican football associations.
Following Sunday’s refereeing gaffes, the media had turned on the heat and after Nicalos Maingot, a FIFA communications official, had stonewalled questions saying he didn’t have the authority to comment, Blatter met the media here on Tuesday.
“The only thing I can do is yesterday I have spoken to the two federations (England and Mexico) directly concerned by the referees’ mistakes.
“I have expressed to them apologies and I understand they are not happy and that people are criticising,” Blatter said.
Blatter’00s apologies are as famous as some of the famous refereeing gaffes or goalkeeping howlers.
After the 2006 finals, he apologised to Australia for the penalty through which Italy knocked them out but backtracked saying he was misquoted. With Jerome Valcke by his side, Blatter overruled the FIFA general-secretary’s saying that the debate on using goalline technology won’t be opened.
Valcke though had spoken before Sunday’s double disaster.
“It is obvious that after the experience so far in this World Cup, it would be nonsense to not re-open the file of technology at the business meeting of the International FA Board in July.
“We will naturally take on board the discussion on technology and have first opportunity in July at the business meeting. Personally, I deplore it when you see evident referee mistakes but it’s not the end of a competition or the end of football, this can happen.”
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), which decides on the rules of the game, had in March decided against further experimentation with goal-line technology.
The IFAB comprises football associations of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and FIFA.
FIFA has four votes to one each for the British associations which means no rule can be passed if FIFA objects.
Accepting that “something has to be changed”, Blatter also spoke of a new initiative to improve refereeing standards but didn’t elaborate.
And like Valcke the other day, he warned France with a possible suspension if the government interfered in the affairs of their football association.
The comment comes after reports that the former chairman Jean-Pierre Escalettes and coach Raymond Domenech would have to appear before a parliamentary committee.
EUROPE :
CHINA :
China’s Xinhua launches global English TV channel
Thursday, 1 July 2010/news.bbc.co.uk
China’s state news agency Xinhua has launched a 24-hour global news channel in English.
Officials said CNC World would present “an international vision with a China perspective”.
The launch is being seen as an attempt by China to develop its influence abroad and counter foreign media views.
Beijing keeps close control over media in the country – it often accuses Western media of bias and of reporting only negative news stories from China.
CNC – China Xinhua News Network Corporation – said it would offer “a better view of China to its international audiences” and enable “more voices to be heard by the rest of the world”.
“It will broadcast news reports in a timely way and objectively, and be a new source of information for global audiences,” said Xinhua’s President Li Congjun at a launch ceremony in Beijing.
He said the launch was an “integral part” of Xinhua’s efforts to adapt to the “rapid growth of new media”.
Wu Jincai, controller of CNC World, told the BBC’s Chinese service: “China is a big country hoping for peaceful development, and if we have the ability to do this, we should do it.”
He said the channel was aiming to reach 50 million viewers within its first year, and insisted that the coverage would remain objective.
“We are a news channel, not a propaganda station,” he said.
Global reach
Xinhua is already the largest of China’s three state media organisations, alongside the flagship Communist Party newspaper, the People’s Daily, and broadcaster CCTV.
Beijing has been pouring millions of dollars into the broadcasters in an attempt to promote its own messages about China to the wider world.
Last July, CCTV began broadcasting in Arabic to some 300 million potential viewers in 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The channel was already broadcasting in English, French and Spanish as well as Chinese.
All the media outlets, as well as smaller independent news organisations, are closely controlled by Beijing, either directly or through self-censorship to avoid being shut down. They routinely face restrictions on what stories they can report.
China frequently complains that foreign news organisations present a biased or unfair view of news from the country, focusing on negative stories and ignoring positive developments.
South African PMI Drops Below 50 for First Time in Eight Months
July 01, 2010/By Nasreen Seria/Bloomberg
July 1 (Bloomberg) — South Africa’s purchasing managers’ index fell below 50 for the first time in eight months in June, indicating a contraction in manufacturing, Kagiso Securities Ltd. said.
The seasonally adjusted index slid to 48.4 from 51.1 in May, Johannesburg-based Kagiso said in an e-mailed statement today. The PMI had been above 50, which indicates an expansion in factory production, for seven consecutive months.
The drop in manufacturing, which accounts for 15 percent of the economy, raises doubts about the strength of the recovery. Concern that the European debt crisis may stall global growth also worsened manufacturers’ expectations of future sales, Kagiso said.
“There are clear signs of a momentum loss in the rate of output growth,” Andre Coetzee, head of fixed income at Kagiso, said in the statement. A drop in employment is “another worrisome development.”
The index measuring business activity dropped to 45.2 last month from 49 in May, while the new sales orders index declined to 50.4 from 51.9, Kagiso said.
“The latest factory survey data suggests that the contribution of manufacturing to overall GDP growth in the second quarter should be meaningfully less than the 1.3 percentage points added during the first quarter,” Coetzee said.
The employment sub-index fell 1.5 points to 45.9, according to the survey. South Africa’s jobless rate rose to 25.2 percent in the first quarter, the highest of 62 countries tracked by Bloomberg, even as the economy expanded an annualized 4.6 percent.
The Bureau for Economic Research, based at the University of Stellenbosch near Cape Town, and the Institute of Purchasing and Supply South Africa conduct the PMI survey on behalf of Kagiso.
–Editors: Karl Maier, Vernon Wessels
Rand Falls to 2-Week Low on Strike Concern, Slower China Growth
July 01, 2010/By Garth Theunissen/Bloomberg
July 1 (Bloomberg) — The rand slumped to a two-week low against the dollar on more signs China’s economy is slowing and concern workers at South Africa’s state power utility may strike, cutting industrial output across the country.
South Africa’s currency lost as much as 0.9 percent to 7.7248 per dollar, the weakest intraday level since June 14, before trading 0.7 percent down at 7.7122 as of 10:20 a.m. in Johannesburg, from a close of 7.6566 yesterday.
China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index declined for a second month, falling to 52.1 in June from 53.9 in May, compared with analysts’ median forecast of 53.2. The New New-York based Conference Board this week made downward revisions to its leading economic index for the country, the world’s fastest- growing major economy. South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers said it will serve a strike notice on Eskom Holdings Ltd., which produces about 95 percent of the country’s power.
“Disappointing manufacturing data out of China and indications that Eskom workers could go on strike next week, explains why the rand is weaker this morning,” Michael Keenan, a currency strategist at Standard Bank Group Ltd. in Johannesburg, wrote in a research note. “Risky assets, to which the rand remains highly correlated, have come under renewed selling pressure.”
Commodities account for about half of South Africa’s total export earnings, according to data from the country’s Department of Mineral Resources.
The rand weakened 0.8 percent against the euro to 9.4563. A close at that level would be the lowest since May 25.
Government bonds rose for a second day, with the 13.5 percent security due September 2015 rising 12 cents to 122.88 rand. The yield on the bond fell 3 basis points to 8.01 percent.
Investors added to bets the central bank will lower its 6.5 percent benchmark interest rate when it next meets on July 22, forward-rate agreements show. The cost of three-month contracts for cash in three months fell 2 basis points to 6.41 percent. The rate reached a 6 1/2-year low of 6.36 percent on April 21.
–Editors: John Kohut, Linda Shen.
INDIA :
More men seek help with forced marriages
Calls to government helpline rise by over 65%
Amelia Hill /The Guardian/Thursday 1 July 2010
There has been a sharp increase in the number of men seeking help with forced marriages, the government has revealed.
The rise of over 65% in calls from men to the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU) last year is so significant that experts now believe far more British men are being forced into wedlock than had been thought.
“The calls we receive are the tip of the iceberg,” said a spokesman for the FMU. “It now seems likely that men account for one in five of all the forced marriages that take place to British citizens.”
Men at risk are usually aged from 15 to 24, but the FMU recently received a call to their helpline from a 62-year-old widower whose family was trying to force him to marry a 35-year-old woman because they no longer wanted to care for him. Cases also include an underaged man taken to Pakistan and forcibly engaged to his five-year-old cousin.
Just two weeks ago, the FMU took a call from a young man living in Leicester whose family had locked him in his bedroom after discovering that he was gay. He told the FMU that his family were downstairs, discussing whether to take him to India and either kill him, abandon him there or marry him off.
“Professionals and communities can be very intolerant towards men being forced into marriage, even if they have learnt to be sympathetic to women in the same situation,” said the spokesman for the FMU. “It can be hard to persuade people to believe it even happens.
“But the threats to these young men are very real. We received a call recently from a young man taken to Pakistan. He didn’t know he was going to be married, and when he refused, he was locked in a room. Every day, his father came in to beat him – we’re talking broken legs and sexual abuse.”
Last year, the FMU gave advice and support to 1,682 men and women regarding suspected forced marriage. More than 220 calls and emails involved male victims, up from 134 in 2008. As of the end of May this year, there have been 88 calls from men for help.
The majority of calls come from men linked to Pakistan, followed by India and Bangladesh. But the FMU has also received calls from British men with links to the Middle East, Africa and eastern Europe.
“Boys and men who are forced into marriage find it harder to ask for help than women,” said Jeremy Browne, Foreign & Commonwealth Office minister for Consular Policy. “Of course, women make up the majority of forced marriage victims, and over 1,400 reports of women facing this abuse were dealt with by the FMU last year. But people often don’t realise that men can be victims of forced marriage too.”
Men report being forced into marriage because they are gay or bisexual, or because their families suspect that they are. But it can also be a result of family commitments to relatives abroad or their own expectations, securing visas or an attempt to control their son’s behaviour or protect a family’s reputation. “This kind of abuse must not be tolerated,” said Lynne Featherstone, equalities minister.
Men and women who have been forced into marriage, or who fear they are about to be forced, can apply for a Forced Marriage Protection Order. Since coming into force in 2008, more than 150 orders, which can also be applied for by others acting on their behalf, have been taken out
India asks Pakistan to arrest more Mumbai suspects
07/01/10/www.news8.net/Written By ASIF SHAHZAD
ISLAMABAD (AP) – India pressed Pakistan on Saturday to put more suspects on trial for alleged links to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, a sign of persistent tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals despite efforts to resume peace talks. Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said he had raised the issue with Pakistan’s interior minister during meetings of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, or SAARC, in Islamabad.
“I am confident that something good will emerge out of that meeting,” he said.
Chidambaram did not say whom New Delhi wants to be prosecuted in Pakistan. But Indian authorities earlier pointed to hard-line cleric Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.
Saeed is a founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a banned Pakistani militant group blamed in the attacks that killed 166 people in India’s financial capital. He now heads a charity, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, that is alleged to be a front for Lashkar.
Pakistan courts have ruled there is not enough evidence to detain Saeed, and Islamabad has pushed New Delhi to provide more information that could help the case against the cleric.
Pakistan has arrested at least seven other people in connection with the attacks, and they are facing trial. But Islamabad has not said publicly whether it is seeking any more suspects.
This past week, Zimbabwe arrested a Pakistani man whom the African country’s state-run Herald newspaper said was wanted by Islamabad for involvement in the assault. Imran Muhammad, 33, was picked up for using a fake passport while trying to enter South Africa, which is hosting the World Cup soccer tournament, police said Saturday, adding that he was not being held on any terrorism charges.
Pakistani officials could not immediately be reached for comment, but Zimbabwe police said they were in contact with them.
In May, an Indian court sentenced the only surviving gunman from the attacks to death. Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani, was one of 10 men who attacked two luxury hotels, a Jewish center and a busy train station in Mumbai. Millions around the world watched the violence unfold live on television.
In Islamabad, the SAARC ministers issued a statement vowing to cooperate in the fight against terrorism, and Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said his country would not be a haven for militants.
“No act of terrorism will be allowed from Pakistan to be replicated like Bombay or anywhere,” he said, using the former name for Mumbai.
In recent months, the two neighboring nations have taken steps toward resuming peace talks aimed at resolving issues dating back six decades, including a dispute over the territory of Kashmir. India’s foreign secretary met with her Pakistani counterpart earlier in the week to prepare for ministerial-level talks.
Also Saturday, a suspected U.S. missile strike killed two alleged militants in a Pakistani tribal region that is considered a base for insurgents accused of attacking Western troops across the border in Afghanistan, officials said.
The missile, fired from an unmanned drone, flattened a house near North Waziristan’s Mir Ali town, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.
They said one of the men was a foreigner.
The United States frequently uses missile strikes to target Taliban and al-Qaida (web | news) operatives in Pakistan’s northwest, especially the lawless tribal regions near the Afghan border where many insurgents hide. Pakistan publicly protests the strikes as violations of its sovereignty, but is believed to have assisted in at least some of the attacks.
The U.S. doesn’t publicly acknowledge the existence of the covert CIA-run program.
Associated Press writer Chengetai Zvauya contributed to this report from Harare, Zimbabwe.
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