By Michael Schuman / Hong Kong
Monday, Sep. 22, 2008
Ten years ago, Asian bankers got a good finger-wagging from their American and European counterparts as the region's financial sectors melted down in a major crisis. Today, Asia has the right to do some finger-wagging of its own.
As the U.S. financial crisis deepens, Asia has looked on nervously, but with little fear of getting dragged into the maelstrom. Asian financial institutions have generally avoided the kind of risky, subprime mortgage-related investments that have crippled financial firms in the U.S. and Europe. Fitch Ratings figures that at mid-year Asian banks accounted for only 6% of the total losses on subprime investments at the world's banks. (European banks, on the other hand, were responsible for 47%.) Even those financial institutions that carried some exposure — like Japan's Mizuho Financial Group, which has reported subprime-linked losses of more than $6 billion through June — are considered strong enough to ride out the storm. Jesper Koll, Japan director for Singapore-based Tantallon Capital, says Japanese financial companies "are a sideshow to what is going on."
This isn't to say that Asia hasn't been affected by America's financial woes. Asian stock markets, despite a recent rally, have tumbled in recent months on concerns over the state of the U.S. economy. Losses may also continue to mount as the financial crisis in the U.S. unfolds. Major Japanese banks, for example, have some $3 billion in exposure to Lehman Bros., which filed for bankruptcy last week. Individuals have also been hurt. In Hong Kong, hundreds of residents who purchased Lehman bonds held a protest on Sunday demanding the government help secure their investments.
But Asia's financial systems "are not expected to face a crisis situation," according to a Standard & Poor's report released this month. The primary reason is that the region's banks had little need to dabble in high-risk U.S. mortgage investments. With economies roaring at home, they found ample opportunities for profit. "They had a lot better things to do with their money," says Deborah Schuler, group credit officer at Moody's in Singapore. "There is real growth in Asia and they were financing it."
Banks also learned lessons from the 1997-98 financial crisis, which was partly caused by weak risk management. Lenders haphazardly tossed money at conglomerates for questionable industrial projects and property investments, and they chased high-yield, high-risk investments around the globe. But they paid the price in bank and finance company failures. In August 1997 Thailand closed 42 finance companies, Indonesia closed 16 banks two months later, and South Korea closed 14 merchant banks in December 1997, according to Merrill Lynch. Others were sold or merged. Those that survived cleaned up their act. Credit analysts are more thoroughly trained and better technology systems allow managers to more carefully assess the risk in their portfolios. As a result, Asia's financial institutions are much more conservative than in the past.
The region might be safe for now, what the future holds is unclear. Asia's economies, though far from recession, are decelerating as a result of the overall global slowdown. That could lead to problems at home, including rising nonperforming loans. "Asian banking systems might have dodged the turmoil from the U.S. subprime crisis but they are not immune to economic slowdowns," Standard & Poor's concluded. In these turbulent times, avoiding one bullet doesn't necessarily save you from others.
—With reporting by Coco Masters/Tokyo
Monday, September 22, 2008
How Asia's Bankers Avoided Crisis
Japan ruling party picks brash Aso
Newly elected Liberal Democratic Party President Taro Aso smiles prior to the ruling party presidential election voting at the party headquarters in Tokyo Monday, Sept. 22, 2008. Japan's troubled ruling party has elected brash former Foreign Minister Aso as its new leader.
(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
By JOSEPH COLEMAN, Associated Press Writer
Mon Sep 22, 4:29 AM ET
TOKYO - Brash conservative Taro Aso easily won the presidency of Japan's struggling ruling party Monday, virtually ensuring his election as prime minister later this week amid political and economic turmoil.
Aso, 68, a former foreign minister and grandson of a prominent prime minister, received 351 of the 525 votes cast in the Liberal Democratic Party ballot. His triumph over four rivals had been widely expected.
The former Olympic skeetshooter immediately vowed to rejuvenate his troubled party and lead it to victory in as-yet-unscheduled elections in the powerful lower house of parliament.
"Who else but our party can achieve policies in order to address the public's concerns?" Aso said at LDP headquarters. "I am committed to winning the elections and take a further step to achieve economic recovery and pursue reforms."
Aso, a sharp-tongued conservative who favors the alliance with the U.S. and a diplomatically assertive Japan, backs government spending to revive the flagging economy and has said he would not raise the consumption tax anytime soon.
Aso is all but guaranteed to be elected prime minister in the LDP-dominated parliament on Wednesday, making him the third leader Japan has had since September 2006 — and the first Roman Catholic to hold the job.
Outgoing Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda threw the political world into disarray three weeks ago when he abruptly announced he would step down after only a year in office, weary of battling with a divided parliament.
The LDP runs the lower house, but the opposition took control of the upper house in elections last year, and has repeatedly embarrassed his government by blocking or delaying high-profile legislation.
The next prime minister will face mounting pressure to renew the LDP's mandate by calling early lower house elections — possibly as soon as next month.
The opposition immediately renewed its attacks, arguing the LDP has no right to govern until it proves it has public support.
"If he wants to be prime minister, he should wait until voters decide who should head the country in the general elections," Naoto Kan, a leader of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, told TBS television.
The turmoil at the top is raising worries about how the country will handle its economic troubles. Inflation is up and growth has stalled, effectively ending a lengthy period of expansion. The financial meltdown in the United States, a leading market for Japanese autos, electronics and other vital exports, has intensified the fear.
"Concerns about the political vacuum are growing as the LDP eyes a leadership battle with the opposition party," the Nikkei business newspaper said in a commentary Monday. "The public is closely watching if Aso can promptly demonstrate his leadership."
As prime minister, Aso would bring a colorful personality to a post that has suffered in the two years since Junichiro Koizumi — a silver-maned leader who publicly imitated Elvis Presley during a trip to Graceland — left office.
Koizumi's nationalist successor, Shinzo Abe, quit after only a year amid scandals and his own health troubles. The dour Fukuda, considered at first an experienced hand, failed to energize the party or draw voter interest.
Aso, however, is likely to make headlines from day one.
He has riled Beijing by calling China a military threat, angered Asians by claiming that Taiwan's educational success is rooted in Japanese wartime colonial policies, and compared the leading opposition party to the Nazis.
Aso, however, is also a determined competitor. He lost three LDP presidential races over the past seven years before finally winning on Monday. After losing to Fukuda last year, he vanished from the political stage for nearly a year until he returned in August as the No. 2 in command in the LDP — and Fukuda's presumed heir.
The ruling party drummed up a considerable amount of publicity over the past couple of weeks by crowding the presidential race with a total of five candidates, even though it was widely assumed Aso would win.
The competitors included former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, the first woman to run for LDP president. She came in third place, with 46 votes. Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano was second with 66 votes.
Political analyst Minoru Morita said the fate of Aso's government depends on the results of the parliamentary election, in which his party could lose a large number of seats in the lower house.
"As the LDP's grip on power is weakening, Aso could end up not being able to achieve anything," Morita said.
___
Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.
The Burmese Junta looks to the stars
Jean-Claude Bührer. Photo M. Bührer
21 September 08 -
One of the most feared regimes in the world relied on the stars and auspicious numbers before it cracked down on the Monks in September 2007, according to Burma expert and former Le Monde reporter, Jean-Claude Buhrer
Interview by Carole Vann, Human Rights Tribune - Exactly a year ago, thousands of Burmese monks took to the streets in a show of popular discontent at an astronomical rise in prices. Thanks to mobile phones, these images were quickly seen around the world. But the authorities rapidly and violently put down the protests and Myanmar was once again under the control of the Generals, who despite the ravages of cyclone Nargis in April remain in power.
The former Le Monde correspondent and an expert on Burma, Jean-Claude Buhrer has just published, with Claude Levenson, "Burma: the Monks against the Dictatorship"(*). He gives his view on the powerful yet also superstitious Generals.
A year after the Monks protests, we hear nothing out of Burma. What has been happening?
The Burmese Generals have, as they do after every show of popular discontent, cracked down. Since they grabbed power, the military have always used force. In 1988, when the students took to the streets, at least 3000 people were killed. Last year the military killed dozens when they fired into the crowds, stepped up their arrests and emptied the monasteries. In Burma, there are almost 500,000 monks. With the people too scared to speak out, they were the only counterweight to an omnipotent army of some half a million men. However, as a result of the authoritie’s incompetence, it was the monks who helped the population after the deadly cyclone, Nargis, hit Buma in May.
The authorities failed to act for 10 days after the protests broke out. Why was that?
The government was overwhelmed by the scale of the protests. At first the authorities did not dare take on the monks as they did not want to act against fellow Buddhists. But when it became obvious that the protests were growing and not dying out, they decided to crack down.
The date that they chose to act was also significant. The Burmese attach a lot of importance to astrology and the science of numbers. The military bases all its decisions on numbers. For them the number 9 is a good omen. They therefore decided to unleash the army on the 27 September 2008, because this date has 3 nines in it. 27 that is 2+7=9: September is the 9th month in the year: 2007 is again 2+7= 9. They believed that this was the day to act. Another example of this is that just before the popular uprisings in 1988, as the economy was going badly, the military decided to replace the bank notes of 50 and 100 kyats with notes of 45 and 90 kyats. They thought that they would bring luck. Obviously these changes made life pretty complicated for traders and householders.
Their superstitions mean that when anything is going badly, they just change the name and believe that they have solved the problem. After the major demonstrations in 1988, they changed the name of the country. Burma became Myanmar and the names of many towns changed too. They imposed these changes at the UN, just as the Khmer Rouge had done changing Cambodia into Kampuchea.
In the same vein, they inherited from Britain the tradition of driving on the left, but overnight they decided to switch to driving on the right. As the steering wheels remained on the right and people still got off buses on the left, this caused chaos. People stepped off the buses no longer onto the pavement but into the middle of the road. In 2005 they had another one of their mad whims, when they suddenly decided to move the capital from Rangoon to Naypyidaw, "the city of kings" where members of the Junta live, cut off, in a sort of bunker.
UN efforts in Burma have been a fiasco haven’t they?
In 1992, two years after the military ignored the results of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party’s resounding victory in the elections, the UN appointed a first special rapporteur, a Japanese who did not do much. Then there was a Mauritian who did not even visit. He was replaced in 2000 by a Brazilian, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, but in 2003 he became persona non grata, after he protested when he found hidden microphones while he was talking to prisoners.
It was only in November 2007, following the popular protests and a special session on Burma at the Human Rights Council, that the military let down their guard, letting Pinheiro as well as the special envoy of the UN Secretary General, the Nigerian diplomat, Ibrahim Gambari, into the country. But neither of them, ignored by the Junta, could do a lot. Frustrated, Paulo Pinheiro, threw in the towel in March, while the last mission of Ibrahim Gambari came to nothing.
Is there any way to put pressure on Burma?
The UN Security Council can’t do anything as it comes up against the double veto of China and Russia. Beijing is the main partner and arms supplier to the Junta. China has built hydroelectric dams on the border and has observation towers in Burma. As for Russia, it also provides weapons and has signed a cooperation accord on nuclear energy. For its part, India cooperates with the Junta in order to neutralise various rebellious minority groups that live on its border with Burma.
In spite of EU sanctions, Total remains one of the major investors in Burma. And the Burmese Junta can count on the indulgence of its partners in ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations), who are more interested in its gas, forests, precious stones and other natural resources. The military said at a meeting of ASEAN members that it was unmoved by external pressure and that they were used to living as an autarky. And if necessary, they would close in on themselves just like an oyster around its pearl.
Translated from the French by Claire Doole
Gene Sharp, American Revolutionary
Living quietly in Boston, Gene Sharp has had broad international influence over the last twenty years through his books and pamplets aimed at overthrowing authoritarian regimes through nonviolent resistance: Written in 1993, his 90-page pamplet “From Dictatorship to Democracy” has had the most influence, but he also wrote a 902-page “Politics of Nonviolent Action” in 1973, and co-authored a booklet, “The Anti-Coup”. Gene’s writings have had an impact in Burma, Georgia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.
Burma's secret schools of dissent, 意見の相違のビルマの秘密の学校
READING, WRITING, ARITHMETIC – AND RIGHTS: Burmese monks are adopting teaching methods used in secret refugee schools in Thailand. AFP Photo/Khim Maung Win
Monks teach children critical thinking and human rights, to groom the next generation of activists. Part 3 of three.
By Anand Gopal |
Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor from the September 22, 2008 edition Mae Sot, Thailand; and Rangoon, Burma -
Deep in the Thai jungle bordering Burma (Myanmar), a group of children gather every day for their lessons. In an elongated but modest teak shack, nearly a dozen ashen-faced children – all different ages – sit in front of a tattered blackboard. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" teacher Zaw Lazein Oo asks. Each student answers in measured English. "A doctor," answers one. "An aid worker," another replies. Such open-ended questions are unthinkable in Burma's government schools, where learning is by rote and adheres strictly to the ruling junta's ideology. But a new generation of political activists is striving to change that by setting up a network of secret schools – from the Thai-Burmese border to monasteries in Burma – that service impoverished students and teach critical thinking and human rights. "In Burma, education means obeying teachers, not fostering students' potential," says Htat Shwe, a teacher of another secret school near Mae Sot, Thailand, and a member of the underground opposition group the 88 Generation Students. (His and other activists' names in this story have been changed for their security.) Many of the teachers were active in last September's protests, known here as the "Saffron Revolution" after the color of the robes of monks who led it, and bring their politics to the classroom.
深くビルマ(ミャンマー)に接するタイのジャングルで子供のグループは彼らのレッスンのための毎日を集める。 細長くしかし適度なチークの掘っ建て小屋では、ほぼダースashen直面された子供-すべての異なった年齢-ずたずたに裂かれた黒板の前に坐らせなさい。 " 育つとき何になりたいと思うか。" Zaw Lazein Oo教師は頼む。 測定された英語の各学生の答え。 " 医者、" 答え1。 " 援助の労働者、" 別のものは答える。 そのような自由回答式質問法はBurma'で全く考えられない; 学習が機械的にあり、支配junta'に厳しく付着するsの政府の学校、; sのイデオロギー。 しかし政治運動家の新しい世代はそれを秘密の学校のネットワークのセットアップによって-タイビルマのボーダーからビルマの修道院への-そのサービスによって貧しくされる学生変え、重大な考えおよび人権を教えるように努力している。 " ビルマでは、教育はstudents'を促進していない教師の、従順を意味する; 潜在性、" Htat Shwe、地下の対立する組織のMaeSot、タイおよびメンバーの近くの別の秘密の学校の教師を88人の世代別学生言う。 (彼のおよび他のactivists' この物語の名前は保証のために変わった。) 教師の多数は最後のSeptember'で活発だった; sは、"としてここに知られていて抗議する; サフランRevolution" それを導いた修道士のローブの色の後で、教室に彼らの政治を持って来れば。
For decades, many of these activists had to learn about human rights and Burmese history by reading smuggled books or through underground political discussion groups. More recently, young Burmese in Rangoon have turned to the American Center, an appendage of the US Embassy that provides foreign books and magazines. But for ordinary, impoverished Burmese children who have no background in politics, these secret schools can open the door to a new world, says Mr. Shwe. He and his colleagues challenge students to question everything they are taught and emphasize political theory and human rights along with subjects like math and English. The schools bring education to poor Burmese refugees and introduce important ideas that students would not normally encounter, says David McLaughlin, a researcher at Michigan State University and an expert on Burmese migrant education. "Many people in Burma are so used to the dictatorship that they have no idea that they have rights under international law," Shwe says. Students in his class memorize the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and study other countries' political systems. Students in Mr. Lazein Oo's class learn words like "revolution" and "resist" during their English vocabulary lessons. Children often go back home to their parents and explain human rights to them, says Shwe. While there are 54 officially recognized schools for Burmese refugees in Thailand bordering Burma, Mr. McLaughlin says countless more are run secretly by activists.
長年に渡って、これらの運動家の多数は人権およびビルマの歴史について密輸した本を読むことによってまたは地下の政治ディスカッション・グループを通って学ばなければならなかった。 もっと最近、ラングーンの若いビルマ語はアメリカの中心、洋書および雑誌を提供する米国大使館の付加物に回った。 しかし普通のために、政治で背景がない困窮したビルマの子供は新しい世界に、これらの秘密の学校言うShwe氏をドアを開けることができる。 すべてに彼ら質問し、数学のような主題および英語と共に政治理論および人権を強調する彼および彼の同僚の挑戦学生は教えられる。 学校は貧しいビルマの避難者にミシガン州大学で教育を持って来、学生が普通出会わないという重要な考えを、言うビルマの移住性の教育のデイヴィッドMcLaughlin、研究者および専門家をもたらす。 " ビルマの多くの人々は国際法の下で権利を有することを、"わからないこと従って独裁制に使用されてある; Shweは言う。 彼のクラスの学生は人権の普遍的な宣言を暗記し、他のcountries'を調査する; 政治体制。 氏のLazein Oo'学生; sのクラスは"のような単語を学ぶ; revolution" そして" resist" 英国の用語のレッスンの間。 子供は頻繁に彼らの親に家に戻り、それらに人権を、言うShweを説明する。 ビルマに接するタイのビルマの避難者のための54の公式に確認された学校の間、McLaughlin氏は多くが運動家によって秘密に動かされることを無数ことを言う。
A network of jungle schools exists in Burma, too, often hidden deep in the mountains along the Thai border or in territory held by ethnic rebels long engaged in war against Burma's junta. "In the secret schools in Burma, students tell their friends in government schools about political rights and challenge their preconceived notions of what the rest of the world is like," Shwe says. "In this way we hope that more people within Burma will learn about the true political situation of the country and one day act to change it." While Burma once had a strong education system, years of military rule and corruption have eroded its schools. Education through secondary school is technically free, but hidden fees make it inaccessible for many. Learning is almost entirely by rote – teachers deliver perfunctory lectures that require students to repeat phrases in unison, without any explanation of underlying concepts. Such learning often leaves students unprepared for exams, and those who want to succeed are forced to pay for private tutoring with the teacher. "Usually the teacher will only pass those students who come for tutoring," says Thaw Htun, a former university student and opposition sympathizer.
ジャングルの学校のネットワークはタイのボーダーに沿う山または民族の反逆者の長いによって握られるBurma'に対して戦争で従事している領域に深く隠れるビルマに、余りに、頻繁にある; sの会議。 " ビルマの秘密の学校では、学生はその他の国々がであるものののよう政治的権利についての政府の学校の彼らの友人を言い、彼らの予想された概念に、"挑戦する; Shweは言う。 " このように私達はビルマ内のより多くの人々がit."を変える国および日の行為の本当の政治状態について学ぶことを望む; ビルマに一度強い教育制度がある間、軍事政権および堕落の年は学校を腐食させた。 中学校を通した教育は技術的に自由であるが、隠された料金はそれを多数のために得難くさせる。 学習はほとんど完全に機械的にある-教師は根本的な概念の説明なしで学生が調和の句を繰り返すように要求する形式的な講議を提供する。 そのような学習は頻繁に学生を検査のために不意に残し、成功したいと思う人は教師を含む私用個別指導の支払をするために強制される。 " 通常教師は個別指導のために来るそれらの学生、"だけを渡す; ThawHtun、前の大学生および反対の共鳴者を言う。
Such corruption extends to higher education, leading to a generational of professionals with suspect skills. "I am very underconfident in my abilities," says a surgeon outside Rangoon. "I paid to earn my degree but now I am very scared that I will harm my patients because I don't have adequate training." With government schools prohibitively expensive for many, poor families often turn to monastery education centers. Here Buddhist monks educate children free of charge in subjects such as math and English as well as Buddhism. While these centers provide relief for many poor children, they too are steeped in outdated practices such as rote memorization, says Ashin Zawta, a Rangoon-based monk. Mr. Zawta, who is associated with the All Burma Monks Alliance, an underground network of political monks, says he is now copying the methods of the activists who run secret schools. "Education is vital if we are to overturn this regime," he says. In a small, poorly lit monastery on the outskirts of Rangoon, a dozen children – mainly orphans – gather to hear Zawta lecture about Burmese history.
そのような堕落は疑わしい技術の専門家の世代に導く高等教育に伸びる。 " 私は私の能力、"で非常にunderconfidentである; ラングーンの外の外科医を言う。 " 私は私の程度を得ることを支払ったが、今私が私の患者にのでI don'害を与える非常におびえている; tに十分なtraining."がある; 多数のために非常に高い政府の学校によって貧しい家族は頻繁に修道院の教育センターに回る。 ここに僧侶は仏教と同様、数学のような主題および英語の子供を無料で教育する。 これらの中心が多くの貧しい子供に救助を提供する間、機械的暗記のような旧式の練習で余りに、言うAshin Zawtaのラングーン基づかせていた修道士を浸される。 すべてのビルマの修道士の同盟と関連付けられる氏はZawtaの、政治修道士の地下ネットワーク、彼が今秘密の学校を経営する運動家の方法をコピーしていることを言う。 " 教育は私達がこの政体を転覆させるべきなら重大"である; 彼は言う。 ラングーンの郊外の小さい、不完全につけられた修道院では、ダース子供-主に孤児ビルマの歴史についてのZawtaの講議を聞くために-は集まる。
They learn of things they may never hear about in a government school, from the details of Burma's experiment with democracy in the 1950s (which was overturned by a military coup) to the Saffron Revolution. Zawta and other monks have initiated such lessons in monasteries across the city. In Mandalay, a group of prominent monks is trying to foster critical thinking by establishing a school with textbooks from the West. "After last September, many monks realized that we need to introduce politics to the next generation, and the only way we can do that is by getting them to think critically," Zawta says. But the networks of secret schools faces many obstacles. Some rely on remittances from relatives abroad or donations from Burmese political groups. But most are volunteer efforts. In one jungle school, three teenagers teach a handful of orphans for no pay, just a bowl of rice. "We have to persist despite the difficulties," Shwe says. "We hope to create the next generation of leaders." • Parts 1 and 2 ran last Thursday and Friday, respectively .
彼らはBurma'の細部からの事の政府の学校で決して約聞くかもしれない学ぶ; (軍不意の一撃によって転覆した)の民主主義のsの実験サフランの回転への50年代。 Zawtaおよび他の修道士は街中修道院のそのようなレッスンを始めた。 マンダレイでは、顕著な修道士のグループは西からの教科書が付いている学校の設立によって重大な考えることを促進することを試みている。 " この前の9月後で、多くの修道士は私達が次世代に政治をもたらす必要がある私達が"してもいいそれらを批判的に考えるために得ることによって行う唯一の方法ことを意識し; Zawtaは言う。 しかし秘密の学校のネットワークは多くの障害に直面する。 一部は親類からの送金かビルマの政治団体からの寄付に外国に頼る。 しかしほとんどは有志の努力である。 1つのジャングルの学校では、3人のティーネージャーは支払のための少数の孤児、ちょうど米のボールを教えない。 " 私達は難しさ、"にもかかわらず主張しなければならない; Shweは言う。 " 私達はleaders."の次世代を作成することを望む; • パート1および2最後の木曜日および金曜日を、それぞれ動かした。
A helping hand for Myanmar
IMPHAL, Sept 21: Even as the North East looks forward to the gains that the “Look East Policy” being pursued by government of India can bring to the region, private players in the health sector in Manipur are gearing up to market its services to the neighbouring country of Myanmar.
And it makes sense as the health care system in Myanmar, especially on the north western border is not exactly known for its excellence.
A Myanmarese trade delegation which recently visited a city hospital – Shija Hospital and Research Institute were impressed by the set up and facility offered and declared that if there are no legal hurdles, their fellow would prefer to come here than go to south Asian countries like Singapore and Thailand.
Dr Palin, managing director of the institute, quoted Mr U Aye Ko, Secretary, Myanmar Border Trade and Commerce, one of the 17 delegates to be shown around the 200 bedded ISO certified Hospital at foothills of Langol in Imphal West in this regard. “I am impressed at the health care facilities available here,” said Mr Ko.
According to Dr. Palin, managaing director of the Shija Hospital, it costs five times less for a Myanmarese citizen to fly to Gauhati for health care than fly to Singapore or Thailand where it is prohibitively high.
“It would still be cheaper for them if they come by land route to Imphal,” Dr. Palin said speaking to The Statesman.
What's left is for both the countries to include health care in the list of trading items agreed between Indian government and Myanmar government in the Indo-Myanmar Trade Agreement, Dr Palin said. He also said a memorandum has been submitted to the state chief minister Mr Okram Ibobi Singh to urge the Centre to take the next step to suitably amend the trade treaty. n SNS
Dark Burmese days,暗いビルマ日
It is a year since a Burmese soldier shot Japanese photographer Kenji Nagai in the heart while he was covering Burma's saffron revolution for the Japanese agency APF News. Nagai's dying moments, spent lying on his back attempting to film his killer, who stood over him taking aim, were captured by another foreign journalist. Reuters photographer Adrees Latif was crouching on a bridge overhead. His image, which subsequently won a Pulitzer Prize, provoked a worldwide furore, exposing the junta's defence - that Nagai's death was caused by a stray bullet - as worthless.
それは彼がBurma'を覆っている間中心のビルマの兵士によって撃たれる日本のカメラマン以来のKenji Nagai年である; 日本代理店APFのニュースのためのsのサフランの回転。 Nagai' sの死ぬ時、彼のに使いきったあることはもう一人の外国のジャーナリストによって狙いをつけている彼に立った彼のキラーを撮影するように試みる背部捕獲された。 Adrees Latif Reutersのカメラマンは橋で頭上に身をかがめっていた。 続いてピューリッツァー賞に勝った彼のイメージはjunta'を露出する世界的な激しい興奮を誘発した; sの防衛-そのNagai' sの死は-無益ように…外部弾丸によって引き起こされた。
The killing of a foreign journalist was highly unusual in a country where reporters who slipped quietly into the country on tourist visas were rarely apprehended. I spent two weeks there earlier this year without any interference. Andrew Marshall, who covered the saffron revolution for Time, says: "The main difficulty in Burma is reporting the story without endangering your interviewees or the people who help you meet them."
外国のジャーナリストの殺害は観光ビザの国に静かに入れたレポーターがまれに理解されなかった国で非常に珍しかった。 私は干渉なしで2週を今年初めにそこに過ごした。 時間のためのサフランの回転をカバーしたとアンドリューマーシャルは言う: " それらに会うのを助ける人々あなたの被面接者を危険にさらさないでかビルマの主要な難しさは物語を報告している。
For Burmese journalists, the situation is a little different. "Getting caught can mean torture and imprisonment. It can even be a death sentence. They are the ones who run all the risks," says Nic Dunlop, a photographer who worked in Burma for more than a decade.
ビルマのジャーナリストのために、状態はやや異なっている。 " 捕まることは苦悶および投獄を意味できる。 それは死刑である場合もある。 それらはすべての危険を動かす物、言うNic Dunlop、働いた十年より多くのためのビルマでカメラマンをである。
Days after the September demonstrations were violently suppressed, after the foreign journalists had flown home, the junta rounded up local reporters and photojournalists. According to Reporters without Borders, 15 journalists were arrested and accused of sending information abroad at this time. The hunt for photojournalists was so intense that several stopped working, threw away their cameras and went into exile.
9月のデモンストレーションの後の幾日は激しく抑制された、外国のジャーナリスト空路帰国した後、会議はローカルレポーターの上でおよびフォトジャーナリストは円形になった。 Reporters without Bordersに従って、15人のジャーナリストは現時点で情報を外国に送ることの阻止され、訴えられた。 フォトジャーナリストのための追跡は複数が働くことを止め、カメラを捨て、そして亡命したほど強かった。
Among those currently detained are photographer U Thaung Sein, in prison for more than two years for photographing Burma's new capital, Naypidaw; blogger and comedian U Zargana, arrested in June for talking to the BBC about the devastation caused by cyclone Nargis; and journalist U Win Tin, who has served 19 years of a 20-year sentence for spreading propaganda during demonstrations in the 1980s.
現在引き留められるそれらの中で撮影Burma'の2年間以上刑務所のカメラマンU Thaung Seinは、ある; sの新しい首都、Naypidaw; サイクロンNargisによって引き起こされる荒廃についてのBBCに話すことのための6月に阻止されるbloggerおよびコメディアンU Zargana; そして80年代のデモンストレーションの間に19年間の広がりの宣伝のための20年文に役立ったジャーナリストUの勝利錫。
In addition, in the last week, three Burmese news agencies in exile - the Irrawaddy, the Democratic Voice of Burma and The New Era Journal, whose websites locals rely on for uncensored news - have been victims of cyberspace attacks. Each has been bombarded by requests for information designed to overwhelm servers and render sites incapable of responding to regular traffic. Fearful of further unrest during the anniversary of the saffron revolution, the junta appears to be doing its utmost to continue silencing Burmese media.
さらに、先週に、流浪- Irrawaddy、民主党の声およびウェブサイトの支部が無検閲のニュースのために頼るビルマの新しい時代ジャーナル、-の3つのビルマの通信社はサイバースペースのずっと攻撃の犠牲者である。 それぞれはサーバーを圧倒し、場所を規則的な交通に返答のできないするように設計されている情報要求によって衝撃された。 サフランの回転の記念日の間にそれ以上の不安の恐ろしい、会議はビルマ媒体を沈黙させ続けるように最大限度をするようである。
Amy Gold
Wall Street at a Crossroads
Jesse Stanchak
Posted Monday, Sept. 22, 2008, at 6:34 AM ET
After a whirlwind weekend of negotiations, the political dimensions of the Treasury Department's $700 billion mortgage bailout proposal are starting to take shape, even as the financial sector continues to shift dramatically. The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and USA Today each lead with their latest analysis of how the Treasury Department's proposal will wind its way through Congress. The Wall Street Journal leads with the end of the era of investment banking, as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs opt to become holding companies.
Now that Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson has presented members of Congress with an outline of his plan, Congress is weighing in with a few ideas of its own. While support for the concept of the buyout seems solid at the moment, the papers all say that Democrats and Republicans each have concerns they want addressed. The NYT focuses on high-ranking Democrats' desire to see greater industry regulation attached to the bill, up to and including regulating the salaries of executives whose companies participate in the buyout. Other concerns include increasing the programs' oversight requirements and perhaps including some sort of assistance for troubled homeowners. The WSJ says that the argument for housing aid adds a bitter twist to the debate, since "taxpayers are now both creditors and debtors in the housing mess." The LAT suggests the buyout may help homebuyers indirectly, even without any special aid for consumers.
House Republicans, meanwhile, want assurances that any profits made from the eventual sale of these distressed assets will be used to pay down the national debt, says the WP. Some Republicans continue to voice concern over the scope and cost of the package, but the papers all agree that the chances of anyone stalling the measure are slim. Paulson is quoted in all the papers asking Congress to pass his proposal without significant changes and saying he still hopes Congress will pass the bill before leaving for a recess on Friday.
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The WSJ explains that the conversion of the last two investment banks to commercial banking is meant to stabilize the financial titans and keep them from going the way of Lehman Bros. Becoming retail banks will mean that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will be able to use bank deposits as a cushion for their investments. In exchange, they will now face greater regulation, stricter debt limits. and, in all likelihood, lower profitability than they've seen in the past. The NYT calls the move, "a blunt acknowledgment that their model of finance and investing had become too risky."
Financial institutions are lobbying members of Congress at full tilt, reports the NYT. Some are pushing for an expanded bailout package that would go beyond just mortgages and allow the government to buy up "any financial instrument." The paper also says that several companies are especially interested in who will manage the government's new acquisitions, a contract that could easily be worth billions annually.
The NYT notes that the Asian markets' reaction to the weekend's developments were cautiously positive in early trading.
The WP fronts a man-on-the-street piece about local taxpayer resentment of the buyout plan.
The NYT goes inside with a piece on how the power of the Treasury secretary has grown over the last two years. The paper goes on to speculate about who will take over from Paulson after the next president takes office.
USAT off-leads with Pakistan saying it has declined the FBI's help in investigating the hotel bombing in Islamabad. The attack killed 53 people, including two Americans. Inside, the NYT examines the political implications of the attack.
Virginia's 13 electoral votes are in play for the first time in more than 40 years, a phenomenon that's made life easier for fundraisers from both parties. Virginians gave $25.3 million during the current election cycle, says the WP, up from $14.2 million during the 2004 campaign. Contributions to Democratic presidential candidates led donations to Republicans by about 5-to-3, with about 85 percent of all donations coming from northern-Virginia donors.
Of course, voting in Virginia has already begun for some people, according to USAT. Virginia is one of 34 states that have some type of early-voting program. The paper claims that more people will vote early this year than ever before, with one expert predicting that nearly one-third of the electorate will vote before Nov. 4.
The LAT fronts coverage of last night's Emmy Awards, in which Mad Men and 30 Rock won the top prizes.
The NYT fronts (and USAT teases) a farewell to Yankee Stadium
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