Arab Women Behind In Work Force, Parliament Presence Kuwait to privatise petrol stations Three Western tourists kidnapped in southeast Iran No permission for unauthorized Sex Film posters Cash boost to fight fraud Every patient to get electronic patient record Heroin gang jailed for a total of 40 years Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman called al-Kidwa's speech "a litany of lies."
Congress facilitates international dialogue says Sheikh Hamdan
Dubai : December 8, 2003 Keralamonitor Bureau
The Gulf Traffic & MENA Rail 2003 Congress was today officially opened by Matar Al Tayer, Director of Roads, Dubai Municipality. Al Tayer welcomed over 250 delegates from around the world and 50 industry leaders on behalf of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubais Deputy Ruler and the Minister of Finance and Industry. In his message, Sheikh Hamdan said Gulf Traffic was an opportunity for important issues to be shared internationally. We are all aware that we still have a lot to do but we can benefit from the experience of others and we highly appreciate the positive benefits from holding this conference and exhibition. We are glad to share with them our different experiences, he said. More
Human Rights Day on Dec 10; Block level workshops to be conducted with participation of 1.5 lakh peopleThiruvananthapuram Dec 8: The International Human Rights Day is on Dec 10th. The social welfare department is planning to celebrate the day throughout the state. The day would be celebrated in a state level at Thiruvananthapuram, in district level in other districts, in block level in 163 blocks with the organization of workshops. In all these around 1.5 lakh people from the social, human rights and political activists would participate. The rights of children and its present state, the special issues faced by women, old and handicapped people's rights and its present state, the problems of Scheduled caste and Scheduled tribe people and solutions to it, the problems of children in difficult situations and solutions to their problems would be dicussed in the workshops. Other than the workshop, after proclamation float and general meeting would be organized. -Keralamonitor.com
Foreign films removed from censoring
Thiruvananthapuram Dec 8: The foreign films which would be shown by Kerala Chalachitra Academy from Dec 12 to Dec 19 at Thiruvananthapuram as a part of the Film Festival have been excluded from censoring through a notification from Central Government. The foreign films in the various fairs organized by Indian Federation of Film Societies in New Delhi, which would be shown to people who have been invited from different parts of India are also been excluded from censoring from Nov 25th 2003 onwards. Keralamonitor.com
Kerala Wealth Responsibility law passed
Thiruvananthapuram Dec 8: Kerala Wealth Responsibility law has been brought forth by a notification from Dec 5, 2003 onwards. -Keralamonitor.com
No permission for unauthorized Sex Film posters
Thiruvananthapuram Dec 8: The kerala government said that local self governing institutions shouldn't permit any kind of posters which have not been authorized by the publicity screening committee of the State Film Chamber of Commerce. As per the circular released in this regard give strict instructions to follow rules governing exhibition of posters and film screening. This step is taken to stop the exhibition of vulgar film posters in the state. -Keralamonitor.com
Steam locomotives for promotion of heritage tourism
Dec 8: Indian Railways have earmarked Nilgiri Mountain Railways on metre guage and Darjeeling Himalayan Railways on narrow guage for promotion of heritage tourism by steam locomotive. During the year-long celebrations of 150 glorious years of railways in India, steam loco hauled trains were run on Mumbai-Thane, Shimla-Kathleeghat, Bolarm-Monoharabad and Howrah-Bandel sections by reviving steam locomotives.At present, 33 steam locomotives are working on Indian Railways. -Keralamonitor.comIndia calls for closer dialogue and interaction among world scientists
Dec 8: India has called for closer dialogue and interaction among scientists of the world. In fact, all nations should join hands to learn from each other and share experiences for bringing about excellence in science that is relevant to the society. India today is on the threshold of a new scientific revolution and would take the lead role in the coming years. This was stated by the Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, while inaugurating the 10th Congress of Federation of Asian and Oceanic Biochemists and molecular Biologists in Bangalore yesterday, organised by the society of biological Chemists of India.
Dr. Joshi pointed out that a new discipline has emerged in biology, i.e. 'Genomics' after the completion of Human Genome project. The availability of DNA sequence information of not only humans but also many other organisms has given a new dimension towards understanding biology. Hence Bioinformatics, is essential to understand several facets of Genomics.
The Minister said that Indian biologists are actively pursuing studies on the molecular aspects of infectious diseases like tuberculosis and malaria also. The genomic information available for humans, malarial parasite and mosquito should pave the way not only to understand the disease process but also devise strategies to combat them. Development of traditional vaccines and DNA vaccines are being actively pursed both in research institutions and biotechnology industries. Human genome sequence information is also being extensively used to understand the genetic diversity in Indian population and also the enormous burden of the multigenic diseases like cancer, cardiovascular diseases and Type II diabetes in addition to monogenic, genetic disorders, Dr. Joshi said. -Keralamonitor.com
Knowledge and leadership of project managers counts in timely implementation: Mookherjee
Global Symposium on Project Management inaugurated
Dec 8: "Timely implementation of projects in any country depends on the knowledge and leadership styles of Project Managers who bring in place a plan on paper into reality in a given cost and time frame." The Minister of State for Statistics & Programme Implementation, Shri Satya Brata Mookherjee stated this while inaugurating a Global Symposium on 'Taming the Future through Project Management', here today.
Twelfth in the series, the annual three-day symposium is organized by the Project Management Associates (PMA) in collaboration with International Project Management Association, Switzerland, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation and many other organizations.
Underlining the need of exchanging new ideas on Project Management, the minister said that findings of these symposia give ideas as to how best we can organize the project management discipline and make the best use of limited resources in the present environment of development in the country. He urge upon the delegates to think of ways to train the workers and raise their skill levels with latest tools and techniques.
To highlight the Government's efforts Shri Mookherjee stated the fact that cost overrun in big Central Sector projects, even with respect to the original approved cost, have come down from 62% in June, 1991 to 22% in March, 2003. This has resulted into avoiding of indirect dissavings of more than Rs. 1,20,000 crore over a period of 10 years.
He told the gathering that the Ministry has drawn a standard Contract Management System as model guidelines for adoption by both client and the contractors of the projects. It has also made several recommendations on streamlining process of clearances. The ministry is looking into the redundant legislations related to project administration to simplify or abandon them if required. He said that the Ministry has also recommended a serious of amendments in the Land Acquisition act and suggested a national level rehabilitation package for adoption as a model.
Shri Adesh Jain, President of PMA, Shri MS Ramachandran of Indian Oil Corporation, Shri Hiroshi Tanaka, President of Japan Project Management Forum, Dr. Martin Barnes from UK and senior officers from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation were also present on the occasion. -Keralamonitor.com
India against patent laws not beneficial to humanity - Dr Joshi
Dec 8: India is against patent laws that are not beneficial to humanity as a whole. In fact all precautions must be taken to protect the patent rights of the developing world. Despite being party to TRIPs, India will not allow anything that will affect the interests of the majority of the world population, said Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, Minister for Human Resource Development and Science and Technology, while chairing a high level meeting here over the weekend to suggest modifications in the patent bill to make the new act, strong and fool-proof.
Suggesting abundant caution while dealing with patents, especially in relation to Multi-Nationals, Dr. Joshi described them of being over-exploitative. Hence he said extra caution must be taken to see that no loopholes are left. He also told the meeting to keep in mind, the differences in US and Indian perceptions on patent laws.
The Minister told the meeting that for India Micro-organisams offer largest chances for diverse activities. Hence, the focus should be on tightening patent laws concerning Biotechnology, Agriculture and pharmaceuticals. Since the chances of unforeseen circumstances are high in this area, due thought must be given while making modifications to the patent Act 1970. The new act needs to be in place before 2005, in view of globalisation and changed world economic scenario. Dr. Joshi made it clear that no scope should be left for any abuse and the new act should be protecting the interests of India in particular and humanity at large.
The meeting was attended among others by the Secretaries of the departments of Science and Technology, Bio-technology, DSIR and representatives from Ministries of Commerce, IT, HRD, etc. -Keralamonitor.com
Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry sanctions over 7,000 proposals of NGOs for grant-in-aid
Rajya Sabha
Dec 8: The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has sanctioned 7,171 proposals received from Non-Governmental Organisations for grant-in-aid during the last three years. Giving this information in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today, the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Nagmani said that these proposals were sanctioned out of over eleven thousand applications received in this regard. He said that 324 proposals are pending while the rest have not been found suitable for sanction.
Giving details, Shri Nagmani said that highest number of 2,764 proposals were received from NGOs working for the welfare of Scheduled Castes. He said that 340 proposals out of 620 received were sanctioned in 2000-01, 453 proposals out 820 in 2001-02 and 399 out of 1323 proposals during 2002-03. Shri Nagmani said that 2,118 proposals were received from NGOs to Promote Voluntary Action for Persons with Disabilities followed by 1,715 proposals for Prevention of Alcoholism and Substance (Drug) Abuse. He said 1,847 proposals were sanctioned for Promotion of Voluntary Action for Persons with Disabilities while 950 proposals were sanctioned for Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse. -Keralamonitor.com
Government committed for overall development of entertainment sector
Rajya Sabha
Dec 8: The Government has taken several initiatives to bring about changes in the entertainment sector in the interest of the overall development of this sector. Access to institutional and bank financing has been facilitated for the entertainment industry, including films, foreign direct investment policy for the film sector has been liberalized and international visibility has been afforded to Indian films by participation in global markets.
Apart from these, in order to suggest a policy framework for the entertainment industry, both at the centre and the States, a committee for development of the entertainment sector has been set up. The committee had given its first set of recommendations which, including a recommendation to fix a ceiling of 60 per cent on entertainment tax, were circulated among the States and many State Governments have lowered their entertainment tax rates. An anti piracy training programme was also organized for police officers based on the recommendations of the committee, which is expected to be the precursor of many such training programmes.
In its recent meeting the committee has made recommendations, mainly relating to a further reduction in entertainment tax rates, appointment of a nodal officer in each State assisting in anti piracy matters and facilitating a single point clearance by State Governments for foreign film crews shooting in India. The second set of recommendations of the committee have also been persuasively circulated to State Governments.
In order to bring about a receptive investment regime in the entertainment sector, within India, a committee has recently been set up to suggest a strategy to facilitate the flow of venture capital into the sector.
The Government had also constituted a committee to make recommendations for radio broadcasting. The executive summary of this committee's report may be seen on the Ministry website.
This information was given by the Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. -Keralamonitor.com
Arab News
Kuwait to privatise petrol stationsKuwait City Dec 8: Kuwait will partially privatise more than 120 petrol stations owned and run by the governments oil giant Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC), the official KUNA news agency said Sunday. KUNA quoted an unnamed source at the Ministry of Commerce and industry as saying KPC has decided to set up three companies, each with a capital of 60 million dinars ($200 million).
KPC will maintain a 20-per cent stake in each company and the remaining shares will be sold to the public. Each company will own and manage 40 petrol stations, the source said. The first of the three companies will be set up within the next two months, and the other two will be established after between six months and one year.
KPC will continue to oversee the companies for an unspecified period of time before completely privatising the stations, the source added. The issue of privatising petrol stations has been held up for several years for failing to resolve the issue of hundreds of Kuwaitis employed at the stations and who receive high salaries.
Kuwaiti police arrest illegal residents
Kuwait City - Kuwaiti police have arrested several hundred foreigners for illegally staying in the in extensive security sweeps ahead of a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit later this month. A campaign carried out on the night of Sunday-Monday in Bneid al-Gar netted more than 410 illegal residents Brigadier Mahmoud al-Dosari, cited by the official KUNA news agency. Located on the outskirts of Kuwait City, Bneid al-Gar houses thousands of mostly Iranian and South Asian low-paid labourers. Dosari said the crackdown will continue in other areas to arrest illegal residents and those wanted by authorities. Last week, some 200 police officers backed by 70 vehicles made a similar raid on Juleeb al-Shiyookh, 20 kilometres (12.5 miles) south of Kuwait City, a poor district known for its prostitution activity. Interior ministry public security chief Major General Musaed al-Ghowainem said a large number of illegal residents and people involved in illicit activity were arrested, without disclosing the number.
He said the current clampdown will be carried out in 14 districts. It comes before the annual summit meetings of the GCC leaders on December 21 and 22. Kuwait has stepped up security measures for the summit and scores of its army and national guards will assist the police force in providing security for the emirate during the meetings. Some 1.5 million guest workers live and work in Kuwait, compared to 900,000 Kuwaiti nationals.
Three Western tourists kidnapped in southeast IranTehran -Three tourists -- two Germans and an Irish national -- have been kidnapped in southeast Iran's f Sistan-Baluchistan province , a government source and the Iranian media reported Monday. According to AFP , three Westerners were snatched several days ago near Nosrat Abad, on the road between the ancient city of Bam and Zahedan, near the Pakistani and Afghan borders. Iranian authorities have received a ransom demand by telephone, he said, without specifying the amount.
The student news agency ISNA, quoting a provincial official, said an Iranian guide had been kidnapped at the same time by an "outlaw" who was demanding a ransom of five million dollars. The unofficial Rouydad news website said the tourists, who were on a cycling trip to Zahedan, were abducted by members of the Shah-Bakhsh and Narui tribes. In Berlin, the German foreign ministry said it has set up a crisis group. "The government has learned about a kidnapping involving foreigners in Iran. We have information that there may be Germans," the ministry spokeswoman said at a routine government press conference. "A crisis group has been set up."
Authorities block border areas with trenches and dust walls and have stepped up traffic searches. In June 1999, three Italian engineers working in Iran who were making a tourist visit to Bam were snatched. Later that year, three Spanish nationals -- including two priests -- and an Italian were abducted in the same area and held for two weeks. And again in 1999, three Portuguese journalists were kidnapped by drug smugglers and held for three weeks. Although most kidnappings have ended with the captives being released unharmed, one German was killed south of Tehran in February 1999.
UK News
Housing Bill reforms will help the vulnerable
Dec 8: The Housing Bill, introduced into Parliament today, will help not
only the most vulnerable in the private sector, but will also
strengthen the housing market and the Government's drive to meet its
2010 decent homes target.The Bill comprises a wide-ranging reform package and includes:
- Selective Licensing - to help councils improve local communities by
ensuring bad landlords take greater responsibility for the
management of their property and deal with anti-social tenants.
- Licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) - to improve
controls on HMOs, including a mandatory national licensing scheme
to raise the standards of some of the highest risk properties with
some of the most vulnerable people, whilst maintaining an adequate
supply of rented accommodation.
- Housing Health and Safety - to replace the current housing fitness
standard with an evidence-based Housing Health and Safety Rating
System (HHSRS). This will improve the condition of the housing
stock and help to meet the commitment to improve the worst housing
conditions for the most vulnerable people.
- Home Information Packs (HIPs) - to require anyone marketing a home
to provide key information up-front at the start of selling a home.
This will ensure the home buying and selling process becomes more
certain, transparent and consumer friendly, whilst reducing stress
and the number of failed transactions.
- Right to Buy changes - to clamp down on companies and individuals
exploiting the rules and profiting at the expense of those in need
of affordable housing.
- Social Housing Ombudsman for Wales - to introduce a new office of
Social Housing Ombudsman for Wales for the purpose of investigating
complaints against social landlords in Wales.
- Grants for Social Housing - to provide for the Housing Corporation
and the National Assembly for Wales (in England and Wales
respectively) to pay grant to bodies other than Registered Social
Landlords.As a result of a public consultation exercise on the draft Bill, the
recommendations by the ODPM Select Committee into the draft Bill, and
the report of the Home Ownership Task Force, the following provisions
have been added to the Bill:
- Further changes to the Right to Buy scheme
- Additional measures to help social landlords tackle anti-social
behaviour
- Giving unmarried different sex partners and same sex partners who
do not enter into a civil partnership the same rights in relation
to tenancy succession
- Extending eligibility for disabled facilities grant to all those
occupying caravans -Keralamonitor.comDec 8: The fight against fraud was boosted today with a £2 million cash
injection and the announcement by Home Office Minister Caroline Flint
that the City of London Police will take the lead in investigating
fraudsters and complex fraud cases.The additional investment of £2 million per year - provided by the
Home Office and the Corporation of London - will support the
expansion of the City of London Police fraud squad. This will be
backed by a further £1 million from the Home Office to fund the
capital costs of the expansion.City of London Police operate within London's 'square mile' and have
built up a wealth of expertise in investigating complex fraud cases.
Their expertise and experience will now be used to uncover and
prosecute serious fraud wherever it occurs in the south east - not
just the City.Speaking at today's British Bankers' Association Annual Financial
Crime Conference, Home Office Minister Caroline Flint said:"We are determined to clamp down on fraud and at the same time take
the profit out of crime. Fraud costs Britain billions of pounds every
year, affecting us all - not only financially but by damaging our
reputation for good business."Today's announcement means that the specialist expertise of City of
London Police in tackling fraud will help cut crime right across the
country, supported and expanded by a three million pound cash boost
this year. This is a significant increase in the resources and
expertise dedicated to fighting fraud, allowing the police to step up
and speed up investigations."I am delighted to be working in partnership with the Corporation of
London, the City of London Police and the Serious Fraud Office on
this important development, which represents a significant increase
in the resources dedicated to fighting fraud as well as bringing
together such expertise."The City of London Police will be the first force to be recognised as
a 'lead force', as outlined in the recent Green Paper on Policing:
Building Safer Communities Together, and will take the lead on all
fraud investigations across the south east.The Attorney General said:
"The cost of fraud to the UK economy has been put as high as £14bn a
year - the equivalent of £230 for every member of the population. It
is not victimless, but it is indiscriminate, hitting both rich and
poor. It is often found at the heart of criminal enterprises that can
also involve drug dealing, money laundering and people trafficking.
There is also a social dimension. Between 1997 and 2002, the number
of prosecutions for benefit fraud rose from under 12,000 to nearly
27,000. Social equality demands that we now bear down on white-
collar crime as vigorously."This extra cash is a big step forward in our fight against fraud.
The Serious Fraud Office, responsible for the investigation of
serious and complex fraud, has already received an extra £13 million
to tackle the cheats, fraudsters and money launderers who rip off the
public and divert cash from our public services. But the SFO has
never had the resources to investigate and prosecute smaller scale
fraud - meaning some criminals have been able to slip through the
net. I have said many times before that we need to raise our game in
tackling fraud. I am delighted that now, with Home Office and
Corporation of London support, the SFO and City of London police will
be able to make a real impact on the evil of fraud, which damages the
economy, corrodes business confidence and injures the public." -Keralamonitor.comHeroin gang jailed for a total of 40 years
Dec 8: Three men were jailed today as a result of a large surveillance
investigation into a gang operating in London where 10 kilos of
heroin were seized.Mehmet Ebcin (54) of Kidbrooke, Kent and Abdurrahnan Gencer (34) of
Edmonton, London, N18 were both sentenced to 14 years and Murat
Ozturk (32) of Doncaster was sentenced to 12 years. All three have
been recommended for deportation to Turkey at the end of their
sentences.Operation Ferdinand started in March 2002 in the Greater London Area
where a holdall was seized containing the 10 kilos of heroin.Paul O'Loughlin Assistant Chief Investigation Officer said;
"This operation has prevented approximately £800,000 of class A drugs
from hitting the streets of the UK. Customs is an intelligence led
organisation, committed to reducing the availability of drugs such as
heroin and cocaine."During the operation Ozturk rammed a Customs vehicle and made his
escape. He later abandoned his car in Moree Way, Edmonton leaving the
drugs and his mobile phone behind.Ebcin and Gencer were arrested in the Halfway House public house on
the A10 in the evening of 20 March. Ozturk were later arrested in May 2002. -Keralamonitor.comGreen power project boosts Philippine economy
Dec 8: A state of the art USD$500 million power station in the Philippines
backed by the UK's Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD) has
just celebrated its first successful year of operations.Developed and implemented by the BG Group in partnership with First
Generation Corporation, the 500MW combined-cycle gas turbine San
Lorenzo Power Project on Luzon Island is the largest ever power
project covered by the ECGD's Overseas Investment Insurance (OII),
which gives UK investors up to 15 years' insurance cover against
political risks.Under its scheme, ECGD, the UK's official credit agency, provided OII
cover on a USD$115 million bank loan which the BG Group and its local
partner used to finance the project. The bank loan was made available
by a consortium of banks led by ABN AMRO.The power project, located at Batangas 60 miles south of Manila, runs
on various fuels including natural gas, condensate, distillate and
naphtha and uses cutting-edge ecological and environmental protection
systems to guard against pollution.Mike O'Brien, Minister for Trade, said: "The San Lorenzo power
station, which started producing electricity about 12 months ago, has
proved to be a success story all round."It demonstrates how British companies continue to lead the way in
global investment, particularly in developing countries. And the
power project has also benefited the Philippine economy by bringing
cheaper electricity to the people of Manila."The San Lorenzo Power Project forms part of the USD$4.5 billion
Malampaya Deep Water Gas to Power development in the Philippines, one
of the country's largest industrial investments.Dr Anthony Barker, BG Group Philippines Country Manager, added:
"ECGD's support in providing Overseas Investment Insurance was
important in ensuring the development of San Lorenzo which is
projected to cut Philippines's oil imports, saving its Government
approximately USD$165 million per annum." -Keralamonitor.com
Every patient to get electronic patient recordNational Programme for IT announces contracts to run NHS care records service
Dec 8: By 2010, every NHS patient in England will have an individual
electronic NHS Care Record, announced Health Secretary John Reid
today.A 10 year contract to set up and run the national NHS Care Records
Service, which will provide the infrastructure to support this
revolution in health and care information, has been awarded today to
BT and is worth a total of £620million.The NHS Care Records Service will provide all 50 million NHS patients
with an individual electronic NHS Care Record, which will detail key
treatments and care within either the health service or social care.
For the first time, information about patients will be mobile - just
like patients themselves - and not remain in filing stores in the
buildings where treatment or care has been received.The NHS Care Records Service will connect more than 30,000 GPs and
270 acute, community and mental health NHS trusts in a single, secure
national system.Health Secretary John Reid said:
"This is a key part of reform of the NHS and will help make the NHS a
truly responsive service, which provides patients with more choice.
To help patients make these vital choices they will need access to
more information about the NHS and their own personal health and care
history than ever before. This system will equip the NHS to provide
that."At present, most patients have a number of different paper and
computer based records that cannot be quickly transferred around the
system. There is no central record containing all their health and
care information. Currently, our hospitals hold millions of paper
records that have to be manually retrieved when patients need
treatment or see a consultant. In the 21st century, this is clearly
not an efficient way to store health information."The NHS Care Record will completely revolutionise the way that
information is accessed and will make available efficient, secure and
integrated records to the right people at the right time. Patient
records will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure
that vital information about an individual's health and care history
can be available instantly to health professionals who have
authorised access. This will be of particular use to A&E staff who
can access information about emergency patients and help to diagnose
them more quickly."The care records will also cut down on time wasted by NHS staff and
the patients who turn up for appointments and find that their records
are not ready or are in the wrong place in the hospital or clinic.
Two further contracts have been awarded to the Local Service
Providers (LSPs) in the North East and London regions, which will
deliver essential infrastructure and connect to existing systems in
the NHS. They will underpin the delivery of both the NHS Care Record
and the Electronic Booking Service, which was announced in October
this year.BT has been awarded a 10 year contract, worth £996million to provide
systems to access and use the service and IT support at a local level
in the London region. Accenture has been awarded a 10 year contract,
worth £1099million, to provide systems to access and use the service
and IT support at a local level in the North East region.Further LSP contracts will be awarded by the end of the year for the
remaining regions: North West & West Midlands, Southern and Eastern.By late 2004, patients will begin to benefit from new NHS Care
Records that will contain basic patient information and health
details. The information on the NHS Care Records will grow over time
and eventually the public will be able to access their NHS Care
Record themselves. This will mean that patients will have access to
all their health information and can be more involved in making
decisions about their own care and treatment.Director General of NHS IT, Richard Granger said:
"Patients will see a modern, IT-enabled NHS, every time they come
into contact with the service. They will benefit from coordinated,
convenient and integrated care that places them at the heart of the
NHS. The NHS Care Records Service will combine a portfolio of
clinical tools, systems and services to underpin NHS Care Records and
the electronic transfer of related data and information."Patients will become more involved in their care with access to
their NHS Care Record. They will be able to exercise choice and
experience less delay and waiting - as appointments will be booked at
their convenience, test requests and results transferred
electronically to cut days from the current process and electronic
prescriptions will improve patient safety and provide a modern
service."I believe that the NHS should get a high-quality service. It now has
a world class set of suppliers who will have a real impact,
delivering urgently needed 21st century IT services. The contracts
have been set up to reward delivery of systems to the NHS on time and
to budget. We will remunerate suppliers for successful delivery but
not for delay and failure. The National Programme team will robustly
manage this process to ensure it happens."This is the second key milestone in the National Programme for IT and
follows the announcement of the contract award for the national
Electronic Booking Service in October this year. Electronic Booking
will mean that patients will be able to choose, from a menu of
options, which hospital they would like to attend at a date and time
to suit them, enabling patients to exercise choice at the point of
referral to hospital from their GP. Electronic booking will take away
the uncertainty and anxiety of waiting, sometimes weeks, to be sent
an appointment in the post that may not be suitable for the patient.
This is a crucial step in redesigning the NHS, putting patients needs
and choice at the heart of the NHS. -Keralamonitor.com
Stay sober when driving this christmasDec 8: Road Safety Minister David Jamieson today reminded motorists to stay
sober when driving during the Christmas and New Year period and make
sure they drive safely.The message coincides with the start of television advertising that
will run from today until the New Year.Drink-drive deaths have fallen dramatically over the past twenty
years. However, in 2002 there were an estimated 560 drink-drive
fatalities - a 6 per cent increase over 2001. The Government spends
£3million each year on drink-drive related activity and our penalties
are among the toughest in Europe.David Jamieson said:
"Drink drivers are still killing people. Last year, one in six deaths
on our roads was drink-drive related. The vast majority of motorists
know the dangers and obey the law - but a minority of irresponsible
and reckless drivers are ignoring it."If you are going out and enjoying yourself over Christmas - don't
turn your night into a nightmare - leave the car at home, and if you
can't use public transport, designate a non-drinking driver. Remember
that you could still be over the limit in the morning after a good
night out." -Keralamonitor.com
UN NewsAnnan, Chinese Prime Minister Discuss U.N. Reform
Dec 8: Meeting with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday in New York, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said his country is committed to working closely with the international organization and to helping its reform.
Wen told reporters after his meeting that reforms to the United Nations were necessary and that China would back reforms so that "the United Nations could better bring into play its authority and role."
"China stands ready for closer cooperation with the United Nations," he said. "We will support the United Nations in its work" (People's Daily, Dec. 8).
In a conversation that Annan called "very constructive and stimulating," the two also discussed Iraq, the Korean Peninsula and HIV/AIDS. The secretary general thanked Wen for China's financial support of Africa and for effectively containing the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in China last spring (Agence France-Presse, Dec. 8).
This was the third meeting between Annan and the Chinese leader, and the two agreed that their fourth meeting would take place in Beijing (U.N. release, Dec. 7).
Diarrhea Still A Killer Disease In Bangladesh, President Says
Dec 8: Diarrhea remains a killer disease in Bangladesh and other developing countries, claiming the lives of thousands of children under age 5 every year despite expanded treatment facilities, Bangladeshi President Iajuddin Ahmed said yesterday.
"Significant reduction in childhood mortality and much longer life spans in this region have been achieved in the last decade," Ahmed said, opening the 10th Asian Conference on Diarrheal Diseases and Nutrition. "Yet, these successes present a sharp contrast with many of our unmet health challenges" (Xinhua News Agency, Dec. 8).
The three-day conference, organized in association with the World Health Organization and UNICEF, is focusing on mortality and morbidity from diarrheal diseases and related illnesses, particularly malnutrition and other complications in infants and young children (The Independent, Dec. 7).
In the 1990s diarrheal mortality worldwide stood at 3.3 million annually (Xinhua News Agency).
Countdown To Polio Eradication Begins Next Year
Dec 8: The World Health Organization's regional director for Africa announced last week that the countdown for the elimination of polio worldwide will begin in 2004. Luis Sambo made the announcement at the 11th coordination meeting on immunization in Africa held in Luanda, Angola (allAfrica.com, Dec. 5).
According to UNICEF, the countdown to eradicate polio was originally slated for 2000, but 2,883 cases were reported in 30 countries that year. Today, nearly all regions are free of the virus, except parts of central Africa and southern Asia (UNICEF statistics).
The 180 delegates at the coordination meeting stressed strong vaccination systems and monetary contributions as necessary steps toward eradication. Sambo said that although more and more governments are strongly committed to building vaccination programs, greater efforts and funds are needed, especially in Nigeria (allAfrica.com).
International standards require a nation to have no reported cases of polio for three years before the state can be declared polio-free (UNICEF statistics).
Arab Women Behind In Work Force, Parliament Presence
Dec 8: The proportion of women in the work force and parliament is lower in the Arab region than anywhere else in the world, a meeting of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in Beirut, Lebanon, heard Thursday. Only 5.7 percent of parliamentary seats in the region are held by women, compared with the international average of 15.2 percent.
A statement by U.N. Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women Angela King read to the meeting said, "Arab women continue to be affected by the spread of poverty perpetuated by increased economic difficulties, political instability and deteriorating social conditions."
King said armed conflict in the region is also a factor and pointed out three countries - Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - that have not signed or ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
ESCWA's executive secretary, Mervat Tallawy, said Arab women have played a greater role in the regional economy since the 1995 U.N. conference on women in Beijing, but that more work is necessary. "Arab women are still suffering from the negative mentality, attitudes, and trends which harm their status, role and image in society due to traditions," she said (U.N. release, Dec. 5).
UNICEF Task Force To Address Harare Street Children Issue
Dec 8: UNICEF has helped establish a task force to address the issue of street children in the Zimbabwean capital Harare. Working with the local and national governments and nonprofit organizations, UNICEF is assessing the extent of the problem and investigating ways to combat it.
The various crises facing the country - food shortages, rapid economic decline and the spread of HIV/AIDS - have contributed to the increase in street children.
"We know that children are dropping out of school because of the food shortages, and it is definitely one reason why they end up on the street; another is the collapse of community structures and the orphan crisis (as a result of HIV/AIDS)," said Ron Pouwels, UNICEF's project officer for child protection. He said Harare had become "a magnet for these children."
The goal of the project is to better coordinate the responses to the problem, including teaching the children life and vocational skills and reintegrating them into their home communities where possible (Integrated Regional Information Networks, Dec. 5).
Wealthy States Confirm Pledge To Fund Climate Change Aid
Dec 8: Twenty rich nations on Friday confirmed at a meeting in Milan of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change that they will establish a $410-million fund to help poor countries combat climate change as promised in 2001.
The European Union will provide $369 million and Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland will contribute the remaining money.The funds were promised during negotiations on implementing the Kyoto Protocol following U.S. withdrawal from the pact. The protocol, which demands countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels, will pass only if Russia ratifies (Agence France-Presse, Dec. 5).
Melting Ice Caps Will Submerge Cities, Report Warns
Dec 8: Measures called for by the Kyoto Protocol are far too weak to prevent the melting of ice caps and other consequences of global warming, according to a new report released at a meeting in Milan of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The report, produced by the German Advisory Council on Global Change, warns that even if the protocol comes into force, it will have only a "marginal attenuating effect" on climate change and measures at least four times stronger than Kyoto are needed to prevent "dangerous climatic changes."
If the world's average temperature rises more than 2 degrees Celsius, the study says, the West Antarctic ice sheet and the Greenland ice cap would start to melt away, increasing sea levels worldwide by up to 30 feet and submerging many of the world's largest cities.
To prevent such a disaster, the report advises that industrialized countries would have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020, and by up to 60 percent by mid-century. The Kyoto Protocol would cut emissions by only 5 percent by 2012 at best, the report says.
Global emissions, meanwhile, are on track to increase by as much as 75 percent by 2020, according to former U.K. Environment Minister Michael Meacher (Geoffrey Lean, London Independent, Dec. 7).
On Friday, scientists told reporters at the Milan conference that Western Europe may get colder as a result of global warming, because the melting Arctic ice cap is cooling the warm ocean current that is largely responsible for Europe's mild weather. After five or more decades of increasingly warm weather, Western Europe may see a sharp decline in its temperatures, they said.
"To mitigate the advancement, the increase, the acceleration of that warming, we would need to take really radical steps, far more extreme than the Kyoto Protocol on global warming is proposing," said Jonathan Bamber of the University of Bristol (Emily Backus, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Dec. 7).
A similar warning came Saturday from an Indian scientist, who said that three of the country's largest cities could be under water within two decades unless global warming was brought under control.
"If the warming continues, there will be about half to one meter increase in sea level by 2020 and cities like Bombay, Calcutta and Madras will be completely submerged," said Rajiv Nigam, who works at the Geological Oceanography Division in the western state of Goa.
A one-meter rise could cause $108 billion in property damage in Goa alone, he said. "If this is the quantum of damage in a small state like Goa that has only two districts, imagine the extent of property loss in metros like Bombay," Nigam added (Agence France-Presse/TerraDaily, Dec. 6).
Millennium Goal On Poverty Hard To Reach, Study Says
United Nations Dec 8:The current atmosphere of low economic growth and trade restrictions is making it difficult for the world to meet the goal of cutting poverty rates in half by 2015, according to a new study of global economics released this morning.
"Economic growth and the reduction of income poverty usually go hand in hand, but increases in average income levels are not necessarily associated with improvements in health status and educational attainment, which constitute an important dimension of chronic poverty," says The World Economic and Social Survey 2003.
U.N. Undersecretary General for Economic and Social Affairs Jose Antonio Ocampo said, "We are learning more" about the policies that help alleviate poverty, "but the current era of low economic growth and difficulties in maintaining an open trade regime poses a threat to universally agreed goals on reducing world poverty."
Speaking at a news conference launching the survey, he said, "Not all patterns of growth have the same effect on poverty ... so on the international level, agricultural and textile liberalization would be good for the poor … but any trade liberalization has adverse effects on certain sectors of society so the way to manage those transitions ... is critical" to institute social protection policies.
"Social policy can achieve social objectives, but cannot always make progress toward economic targets such as income poverty," he said. On the other hand, "there is not a social policy that can reduce poverty except in terms of growth," Ocampo said.
Trade liberalization "can raise productivity and growth" but for those who miss out on its benefits, "social protection and adjustment support" is needed, Ocampo said.
The Millennium Development Goals sets a benchmark of reducing extreme poverty by half by 2015. Other goals, such as making education and health care more universal, require "complementary social polices," Ocampo said.
Today's report, a second of two parts, deals with policy prescriptions. The first part, released in June, dealt with statistical analyses.
The first part of the report predicted continuing global economic growth through the second half of 2003, with a 2 ¼ percent increase in gross world product for the year. The increase for 2004 could be 3 percent, the survey said. While 2004 could make a third consecutive year of growth, it is below the growth potential expected at the beginning of the decade, according to the report.
"We were correct in our predictions on the world economy" but are still calculating the exact figures, which will be released next month, Ocampo said today.
By Jim Wurst
U.N. Wire
Egyptian Library Removes "Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion"Dec 8: The Biblioteca Alexandrina in Egypt has removed its copy of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion from its exhibit after U.N. officials questioned the book's anti-Semitic nature. The book, a story of a Jewish plot to take over the world, has been dismissed as a forgery written by Imperial Russian secret police in an attempt to blame the country's troubles on Jews.
"The book was promptly withdrawn from public display," library director Ismail Serageldin said. It was displayed in a showcase of rotating samples of the unusual items in the library's collection, not next to the Torah, as some had alleged. "But its very inclusion showed bad judgment and insensitivity," he added.
The removal of the book followed a letter from UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura questioning the implications of the exhibit. Matsuura publicly denounced the book at a weekend seminar in Venice sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a group that fights anti-Semitism.
Since its founding last year, the Biblioteca Alexandrina has been "profoundly committed to its role as a center of learning and a place in promoting tolerance, dialogue and understanding between peoples, cultures and civilizations," Serageldin said.
Last year, Israeli and American-Jewish organizations criticized an Egyptian television series that sought to discover whether the book was a legitimate Jewish document. The final show was tempered by a statement saying that the book was a fraud (Nadia Abou El-Magd, Associated Press, Dec. 6).
Negotiators Near Agreement On Information Summit DocumentsDec 8: Government negotiators from 192 countries neared agreement over the weekend during preparatory talks in Geneva for this week's World Summit on the Information Society on setting global ground rules for use of the Internet (Jonathan Fowler, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Dec. 8). They remain undecided, however, about whether wealthy countries will establish a fund to help poor countries, particularly in Africa, finance new information technology networks.
The negotiators were able to reach agreement on most of the wording of the summit's two texts - a declaration of principles and an action plan - to be approved in Geneva by U.N. member states (Richard Waddington, Reuters, Dec. 7).
"Unfortunately, we didn't settle everything, but one has to be realistic," said Marc Furrer, director of Switzerland's Federal Office of Communications, who brokered the talks. "We're probably at 98 percent," he added.
Negotiators will meet again tomorrow, the day before the summit opens, to discuss wording saying that further study is needed before the proposed "digital solidarity fund" is agreed to. The United States and Japan have been skeptical of the proposed fund, saying existing development funds could be used to assist countries with information technology.
Over 60 heads of state and government are expected to attend the summit, which includes debates over freedom of the press and whether and how government should regulate the Internet.
Furrer said negotiators agreed to include wording in the summit documents maintaining commitment to press freedom as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Regarding Internet regulation, Furrer said that at the latest talks, "the political will was quite clear - we don't want a big change on Internet governance." Major decisions about controlling the Internet's core operations remain in the hands of the U.S. government and a private, U.S.-based organization called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
Some countries, particularly those relatively new to Internet use, have sought a bigger role for non-U.S. governments, perhaps through a treaty-based international organization (Fowler, AP/Yahoo! News).
The U.S. delegation at the pre-summit talks, as well as the European Union, Japan and Canada, agreed Saturday to ask U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to create an Internet working group "in an open and inclusive process that ensures a mechanism for the full participation of governments, the private sector and civil society" by 2005, when the second part of the summit will be held in Tunisia.
Approximately 12,000 people are expected to attend the Dec. 10-12 summit (John Zaracostas, Washington Times, Dec. 8).
FAO Announces 2004-05 Budget Of $749 Million
Dec 8: The Food and Agriculture Organization's governing conference passed a budget of $749 million for 2004-05, an increase of nearly $100 million over the previous fiscal year's budget, the organization announced Friday. The increase marks the first substantial one since 1994, when the FAO's budget was frozen at $650 million.
The budget will be used to carry out the FAO's mandate of fighting world hunger and reducing malnourishment in developing countries, and to fund sustainable development programs in the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors.
The governing conference unanimously approved the budget. FAO Director General Jacques Diouf originally had requested a budget of $845.1 million.
The budget is based on an exchange rate of $1.19 to 1 euro (FAO release, Dec. 5).
Groups Aiding Chechen Refugees Report Russian HarassmentDec 8: International humanitarian aid groups working with Chechen refugees are reporting increased levels of harassment by Russian authorities, with the United Nations expressing concern and the U.S. government issuing complaints to the Russian government.
Aid groups say authorities are making it difficult for them to gain access to tens of thousands of Chechen refugees living outside Chechnya. The groups reporting harassment - including inspections, demands to see that computer software has been registered and attempts to freeze bank accounts - include CARE, the International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps and Action Against Hunger. "On a daily basis, someone knocks on our door and says, 'We need to inspect you,'" one U.S.-based aid worker said.
The United Nations last week reported that Russian authorities had closed down a Chechen refugee camp in Ingushetia, evicting 1,500 displaced Chechens - the third such closing. U.N. staff members reported that they were denied entry to the camp during the evictions.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Russian authorities had cut electricity supplies to Chechen settlements and nearby mud houses even though temperatures had dropped below freezing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ingush authorities reportedly are anxious to see the refugees return to Chechnya as a display that the war in Chechnya is over, although the United Nations reports that 110,000 Chechens are still scattered in Ingushetia borderlands, many resigned to the belief that conditions in the camps are preferable to those in their homeland (Peter Slevin, Washington Post, Dec. 8).
UNHCR said last week it was monitoring the closure of the camps to make sure Chechen families in the camps were being given "voluntary" choices to relocate to other camps or to return to Chechnya. It said that of the families evicted from Alina camp, 103 families had decided to move to another camp, 72 families had decided to return to Chechnya and 27 families had not made up their minds (UN release, Dec. 5).
U.N. Calls On Sudanese Factions To Allow Aid To Reach IDPs
Dec 8: The U.N. undersecretary general for the coordination of humanitarian affairs on Friday called on warring parties in Sudan to allow aid workers to reach populations in need in the country. Jan Egeland said fighting between government and rebel forces near Darfur in western Sudan had driven 670,000 people from the area, adding to the 200,000 internally displaced persons who previously fled the area."I urge the government and militias to take all possible steps to allow humanitarian workers to safely deliver aid to people who desperately need it," Egeland said. "Parties to the conflict should honor the agreement they signed in September, which guaranteed aid workers safe and unimpeded access to people in need."
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, the main rebel faction in western Sudan, has been in peace talks with the government in recent months, but the other significant group, the Justice and Equality Movement, has refused to enter such discussions, the United Nations said.
Egeland said refugees lack water, food, shelter and sanitation facilities and that the situation is at an unprecedented low point (U.N. release, Dec. 5).
In other Sudan news, Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha and the leader of Sudan's main rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army, John Garang, resumed talks on a comprehensive peace deal Saturday in Naivasha, Kenya. On Friday, a rebel delegation made a landmark visit to Sudan's capital, Khartoum, the first since civil war began in 1983.
Observers at the talks in Naivasha said progress has been made on a comprehensive peace deal, but most say it is unlikely the two sides will reach a comprehensive peace deal by the end of the year, a date that had been touted as a goal. The chief mediator of the talks, Kenyan Lieutenant General Lazaro Sumbeiywo, said he hoped the two sides could reach partial agreement by the time talks adjourn Dec. 20, with a comprehensive agreement to follow early next year (Andrew England, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Dec. 6).
Others, including Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Ismail, believe a deal can be reached this month. Ismail told reporters in Cairo Saturday that a deal would be signed "at the end of the current year."
Outstanding issues include wealth sharing, particularly of the country's oil resources; power sharing; and the status of three areas disputed by the southern-based rebels and government (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo! News, Dec. 7).
Khmer Rouge Tribunal Expected To Start In 2004, U.N. Says
Dec 8: The U.N. official charged with organizing the war-crimes tribunal in Cambodia said today he expects the court to begin trying cases sometime next year, despite fears that a political vacuum in the country could cause delays.
Karsten Herrel, the U.N. coordinator for assistance to the Khmer Rouge tribunal, said the United Nations and Cambodian government are committed to ensuring a smooth start for the court. "We both, the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia, are starting from the assumption that the extraordinary chambers will be operational in 2004," he said.
Herrel is meeting this week with a Cambodian government task force to consider how the tribunal will work and how much it will cost to run. He said the United Nations will make a new appeal to donor nations for funding for the tribunal, which could end up costing as much as $55 million.
"We hope that in the following weeks, the full funding for the court will be achieved - not just for a few months but for the whole duration," he said of the court.
However, legislation concerning the court was not ratified by Cambodia's last Parliament, and July 27 elections failed to produce a new Parliament, meaning the legislation - and court - remain in limbo. A Nov. 5 agreement to form a coalition administration is in the process of being implemented, after which the legislation is expected to be considered and passed (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo! News, Dec. 8).
U.S. Commission Trip Cancelled After Hong Kong Visit RefusedWashington Dec 8: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has had to postpone a planned trip to China and Tibet today because Beijing has refused to allow the delegation to hold meetings in Hong Kong, sources have told U.N. Wire.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy here said the embassy would have no comment on the report.
The religious freedom commission is a U.S. agency created in 1998 to monitor religious freedom in other countries and advise the U.S. government on how to promote it. This most recent move followed an August postponement of a commission visit to China, also after Beijing insisted that the commission drop Hong Kong from its itinerary.
Hong Kong was an important part of the trip, sources say, because many China watchers are based there and because Hong Kong has more religious freedom than mainland China.
Sources speculate that China may have pulled the plug on the Hong Kong visit because it wanted to torpedo the whole trip or to express displeasure toward independence advocates in Taiwan or anti-Beijing partisans in Hong Kong.
By Steve Hirsch
U.N. Wire
Putin Allies Win Big In Russian ElectionsDec 8: Supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin swept yesterday's parliamentary elections, as officials from Europe's top security and human rights watchdog called the elections undemocratic.
The United Russia party, which is defined less by ideology than an allegiance to Putin, led its opponents with 37 percent of the vote with more than 90 percent of the ballots counted (Danica Kirka, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Dec. 8). The Communists won 12.7 percent - down from 24 percent four years ago - while two other apparently Kremlin-approved parties finished third and fourth (Steven Lee Myers, New York Times, Dec. 8).
"The United Russia party has won, the president has won. That means that democratic reforms in Russia will continue. This is a serious victory we can rightly be proud of," said Lyubov Sliska, a prominent figure in United Russia (Kirka, AP/Yahoo! News).
But Bruce George, head of the parliamentary assembly for watchdog group Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told reporters that the ballot "failed to meet ... international standards."
"Our main impression of the overall electoral process was ... one of regression in the democratization of this country," he said (AP/Yahoo! News, Oct. 8).
Throughout the campaign, state-run television criticized United Russia's opponents, including the Communist Party. Party official Alexander Kuvayev vowed to protest what he claimed were falsified results.
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov called the elections "a disgusting show ... that has nothing to do with democracy."
Low voter turnout could indicate that many Russians thought the outcome was inevitable, AP reports, and almost 5 percent of the electorate voted against all the candidates.
Depending on the success of the results in individual districts, Putin allies could control a two-thirds majority, which would be enough to amend the Constitution. The Russian president has not said he would approve of such a move, however, which would also require the agreement of the upper house and the country's regional legislatures (Kirka, AP/Yahoo! News).
Zimbabwe Pulls Out Of Commonwealth, Increasing Isolation
Dec 8: Zimbabwe yesterday withdrew from the Commonwealth after its suspension from the international body was extended, Associated Press reports. "It's quits, and quits it will be," President Robert Mugabe's government declared in a statement.
Commonwealth heads of state meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, had rejected a push led by Zimbabwe's southern African neighbors to lift an 18-month suspension for alleged widespread abuses of civil liberties.
The now 53-nation Commonwealth - whose members represent nearly one-third of the world's 6 billion people - banned Mugabe from its decision-making councils last year after he was accused of using massive force and fraud to win re-election at home.
Leading advocates of upholding the suspension - the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand - insisted Mugabe's decision would only further isolate his nation from the world.
"It is unfortunate that President Mugabe has decided to shut the door on those who could help him rehabilitate his nation in the eyes of the world," New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said today. "Zimbabwe's government seems determined to thumb its nose at international opinion."
In a statement, Mugabe's government said it would accept nothing short of full reinstatement.
"Anything you agree on Zimbabwe which is short of this position, no matter how sweetly worded, means Zimbabwe is still a subject of the Commonwealth. This is unacceptable," the government said (McKenzie/Johnson, AP/Yahoo! News, Dec. 8).
Last week, the International Monetary Fund initiated action to expel Zimbabwe because the country has not adopted policies needed to address its economic problems (U.N. Wire, Dec. 4). According to U.N. estimates, approximately half of Zimbabwe's 12 million people will need food aid next year (Agence France-Presse, Dec. 8). Click here for the Commonwealth's statement yesterday on Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth also decided that Pakistan, which was suspended in 1999 after a coup led by General Pervez Musharraf, would remain suspended unless it accepted democratic and judicial reform.
"Since there has been no progress on the resolution of the Legal Framework Order, matters remain where they were in September and therefore the decision remains what it was in September, namely the continued suspension of Pakistan," Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said.
The Legal Framework Order is a set of controversial constitutional changes implemented by Musharraf that Pakistan's main opposition parties refuse to accept.
Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said that although Pakistan "was making a good contribution to the war on terrorism," democracy in the country was far from perfect (BBC Online, Dec. 5).
U.N.-Led Disarmament Program Begins In Liberia
Dec 8: More than 1,000 government and allied militia fighters in Liberia began surrendering weapons to U.N. peacekeepers yesterday, as a campaign to disarm 40,000 rebel and government forces nationwide began, considered a major step toward ending 14 years of civil war, Associated Press reported.
"This is Liberia's last chance," said U.N. envoy Jacques Klein, who observed the disarmament process.
"I'm ready to disarm - some of us have a future," said 19-year-old soldier Papa Monger (Jonathan Paye-Layleh, AP/Yahoo! News, Dec. 7).All who disarm will receive food, clothing, health care, counseling, vocational training, schooling, apprenticeships and a modest stipend to help them return to civil society, the United Nations said (U.N. release, Dec. 7).
"The fighters who disarm today will be given an opportunity to begin a new life - free of fear, free of violence, free of the deprivations of war," Klein said.
National disarmament started with fighters loyal to former Liberian President Charles Taylor, and Klein pledged disarmament of Liberia's two rebel movements would start by the end of the month.
But leaders of Liberia's main rebel group yesterday refused to allow disarmament camps in their stronghold, Tubmanburg, Klein said (Paye-Layleh, AP/Yahoo! News).
Klein said that U.N. attempts to open a disarmament camp in areas held by the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy "has been sabotaged by some of their leadership working personal agendas against the best interests of their own people."
"They [LURD] are denying their own combatants food, health care, vocational training, financial remuneration and reintegration into society," Klein added. "One has to question their motives."
Klein also criticized some "misguided" Liberian leaders who have tried to "hamper and undermine" the process by demanding jobs for themselves and walking out of meetings.
"These people are not only breaking the promise they made when they signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, they are betraying their own soldiers and the Liberian people," he said (Integrated Regional Information Networks, Dec. 8).
U.N. troops in Liberia - due to increase in number to 15,000, the largest U.N. deployment worldwide - will oversee the building of a new army for the country after all sides disarm (Paye-Layleh, AP/Yahoo! News).
General Assembly Seeks World Court Opinion On Israeli Barrier
United Nations Dec 8: The General Assembly today voted 90-8 to request an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice in The Hague on the barrier Israel is building in occupied Palestinian territories. The approved resolution requests an opinion on "the legal consequences arising from the construction of the wall … considering the rules and principles of international law."
The vote, with 74 countries abstaining, indicated the assembly is deeply divided over bringing the issue, which many countries view as a political issue, before the world's premiere legal body. Israel, the United States, Australia and some of the small Pacific island states voted against the resolution. The abstainers included Russia, European Union countries and a large number of Latin American countries.
Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinian representative, opened the debate saying the building of the wall "is the enslavement of the whole Palestinian people on the way to being confined to cantons." He added, "This wall cannot be a means of achieving security," but is rather "an immense war crime."
"It is not possible to claim readiness to go ahead with the road map while building the wall at the same time," al-Kidwa said, referring to the plan for peace and Palestinian statehood supported by the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia. "For us, any negotiations are meaningless without first stopping the wall. For us, it is either the wall or the road map."Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman called al-Kidwa's speech "a litany of lies."
"The security fence is a temporary, proven, necessary and nonviolent measure," he said. "The fence is not a border and has no political significance."The argument that the barrier is counterproductive to peace, Gillerman said, is "mistaken and unjustified … The fence will take terrorism out of the equation" by "reducing the capacity of Palestinian terrorists to infiltrate and carry out acts of terror."
Gillerman told the assembly, "We do reject attempts to incorrectly and selectively apply [international] law, to misrepresent the nature and purpose of the security fence and to ignore the context in which Israel's actions are taken."At its first debate over the barrier on Oct. 21, the assembly adopted a resolution calling on Israel to halt construction of "the wall in the occupied Palestinian territory [which is] in contradiction to relevant provisions of international law" and requesting Secretary General Kofi Annan to submit a report on Israeli compliance with the resolution. The United States vetoed a similar draft resolution in the Security Council on Oct. 14.
On Nov. 28, Annan released the report requested by the General Assembly in the resolution adopted on Oct. 21. In the report, Annan said, "Israel is not in compliance" with the assembly resolution and said the barrier "cannot … be seen as anything but a deeply counterproductive act."
Israeli and Palestinian characterizations of the barrier vary widely, with Israel calling the structure a "fence" that is meant to protect Israelis from Palestinian terrorists and is taking up only the minimum amount of Palestinian land. Palestinian officials call it a "wall" that is annexing large areas of Palestinian land, cutting villages off from farmlands and barring movements of civilians across the structure. The United Nations refers to the structure as a "barrier."
While the ICJ has the power to issue binding decisions, an advisory opinion is not a binding ruling.
By Jim Wurst
U.N. Wire
U.N., U.S. To Probe Afghan Attack That Killed 9 ChildrenDec 8: The U.N. special representative to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi, yesterday called for a swift investigation into a U.S. air strike that left nine Afghan children dead on Saturday, saying, "This incident, which follows similar incidents, adds to the sense of insecurity and fear in the country."
The U.S. military said yesterday that it regretted the deaths and was conducting its own investigation into the bombing that targeted Taliban militant Mullah Wazir, believed to be responsible for the recent killings of two foreign workers building the Kandahar-to-Kabul highway (Ghafour/Peterson, Los Angeles Times, Dec. 8).
Seven boys, two girls and a 25-year-old man were killed when two A-10 American planes fired rockets and bullets into a group of villagers sitting under a tree (BBC Online, Dec. 7).
Brahimi, who said he was "profoundly distressed" by the incident, urged the military to make public the results of its investigation because the "protection of civilians is an obligation that must be observed by all" (Ghafour/Peterson, Los Angeles Times).
Although U.S. officials said Wazir had been killed in the attack, local Afghans told BBC Online that he had left the village 10 days earlier (BBC Online).In New York, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed his condolences to the families of the children who were killed, saying, "this is not the first time innocents have been killed as a result of coalition air strikes in Afghanistan."
Annan stressed that civilians must be protected by all parties in armed conflict and that the fight against terrorism "cannot be won at the expense of innocent lives" (U.N. release, Dec. 7).
U.S. Commander Warns Of More Attacks In Iraq; Koreans QuitDec 8: A U.S. commander warned yesterday that attacks against coalition forces may increase prior to the July 1 deadline for the transfer of power to Iraq authorities, and that violence may continue even if Saddam Hussein is captured or killed.Lieutenant Colonel Ricardo Sanchez said the killing of Hussein would have "an impact on the level of violence, but it will not end it."
Even as Sanchez spoke, a U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Mosul, northern Iraq. The soldier died after rebel insurgents detonated a bomb underneath a U.S. convoy driving through the center of the city. Two other soldiers were wounded in the attack.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who visited Iraq on Saturday, said he wants senior commanders in Iraq to consider whether the U.S. target of training and outfitting 220,000 Iraqi security forces before a sovereign Iraqi government takes over next summer would be sufficient.
"I worry that budgets will begin to get committed, and we may not know if we need more [security forces] until sometime, for example, in February or March or April," Rumsfeld said.
There are currently 140,000 U.S.-trained Iraqi security forces on the ground in Iraq (Jim Krane, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Dec. 8).
South Korean Engineers Decide To Leave After Two Colleagues Killed
Sixty South Korean contract engineers working for the U.S. government in Iraq yesterday decided to leave the country a week after two of their colleagues were killed in an ambush.
According to the Washington Post, it is the largest known withdrawal of contractors due to security concerns, and is likely to delay one of Iraq's most important reconstruction projects. The engineers were working to repair sections of Iraq's electrical power grid.
Their decision to leave follows a week of confrontations between the workers and their managers, the Post reports, which led to yelling and punching yesterday afternoon. The workers said their managers withheld information critical to their safety and did not provide them with protective equipment. They were sent to work sites without flak jackets, helmets, escorts or bodyguards.
"If I had known it would be like this I would have never come," said Hyun Do Cho, 40, an engineer from Seoul. "It was dangerous but no one told us, and they kept us working outside even into the night."
On Nov. 30, four of their colleagues were ambushed on a highway. Two died and the other two were both shot and evacuated to a U.S. hospital in Germany (Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post, Dec. 8).
Proposed Special Court Provides No Role For United Nations
A draft law is expected to be approved by the Iraqi Governing Council this week that will create a special court to try members of Hussein's government on charges varying from genocide to corruption.
Unlike other war-crimes tribunals, however, the Iraqi court would not provide a role for the United Nations - a prospect that Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch finds troubling.
Dicker said establishment of the court would mark "the first time you've had a deliberate avoidance" of international sanction. "And these trials are so hugely important for bringing some sense of justice for victims and establishing respect for the rules of law as a means of redress in Iraq," he said.
The draft law is expected to be presented before the Governing Council for approval on Wednesday. The five-person court would decide cases based on both Iraqi and international law, but would use a 1958 Iraqi law as the basis for bringing charges against members of the former regime.
That law, which makes it a capital crime to destabilize or threaten Iraq and to waste the country's resources, is a cause of concern for human rights lawyers, who believe it could lead to the court degenerating "into political show trials," in Dicker's words (Susan Sachs, New York Times, Dec. 8).
In Cairo, Palestinian Militants Reject Truce
Dec 8: Palestinian militant groups yesterday rejected a comprehensive cease-fire following several days of talks in Cairo with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.
The failure to reach a truce was a setback for Qureia, who would like to have an agreement with the militants in hand before reopening negotiations on the stalled road map peace plan with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Top aides trying to arrange talks between the two leaders met again yesterday, but there was no sign that a meeting would occur within the next few days (Greg Myre, New York Times, Dec. 8).
Palestinian groups said the talks failed because there was no guarantee Israel would halt military action. "It was difficult for us and other factions to accept a new truce without guarantees from the Israeli side, because the previous truce failed in the same way," said Nafez Azzam, a spokesman for Islamic Jihad.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said the militants had told Qureia to "go continue your negotiations with the Israelis, if you feel they are ready to reciprocate, come back." Shaath said there was "general readiness" for a truce, however.
Further talks among Palestinian groups are reportedly planned, although no date has been set.
Israel reacted by saying the militants' decision could weaken Queria's government, and that Israeli forces would take "necessary steps" if new suicide attacks were to occur. A spokesman for Sharon also said working with militants was pointless, and that "the only way to deal with terrorists is to put them behind bars" (Sam Ghattas, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Dec. 8).
In related news, disagreements broke out this weekend among members of Israel's ruling Likud party after Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a newspaper interview Friday that Israel should withdraw from most of Gaza and the West Bank and possibly parts of Jerusalem.
Hawkish members of his party today condemned Olmert for his statements, but he appears to have the support of Ariel Sharon. At a Cabinet meeting yeseterday, Sharon refused to condemn his deputy, leading political analysts to speculate that Olmert was floating the proposal on behalf of Sharon (Gavin Rabinowitz, AP/Yahoo! News, Dec. 8).
