http://faultlineusa.blogspot.com/2008/11/uks-gordon-brown-calls-for-creation-of.html
Monday, November 10, 2008
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown will give his annual foreign policy speech today at the Lord Mayor's Banquet. He will be calling for the reform of international financial institutions and the forging of a new world order.
Via London (Reuters) from an excerpt from his speech, Brown calls on the alliance between Britain and the U.S. and “more broadly between Europe and the U.S” to lead global efforts to build a “stronger and more just international order.”
Brown will meet with other world leaders in Washington next week for an economic summit to discuss long-term economic solutions to the current financial crisis. According to a summary of the speech Brown will say:
"Uniquely in this global age, it is now in our power to come together so that 2008 is remembered not just for the failure of a financial crash that engulfed the world but for the resilience and optimism with which we faced the storm, endured it and prevailed, . . . "...And if we learn from our experience of turning unity of purpose into unity of action, we can together seize this moment of change in our world to create a truly global society."
Brown will set out five great challenges the world faces and he will identify five stages for tackling the economy. Brown wants immediate action to stop the spread of the financial crisis to middle-income countries, a new facility for the International Monetary Fund, an agreement on a global trade deal, and reform of the global financial system.
Technorati Tags: Britain,UK,Prime Minister Gordon Brown,foreign policy,international financial institutions,new world order
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
UK’s Gordon Brown Calls for the Creation of a Global Society
China shares fall as stimulus plan optimism wanes
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gUwglaVKa4rA8T7lZA0w4hBgKnrgD94CLA080
SHANGHAI, China (AP) — Chinese shares fell Tuesday as optimism about the government's multibillion dollar stimulus package gave way to renewed caution about the economy and profit-taking, with losses led by financial stocks and other heavyweights.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 1.7 percent, or 31.19 points, to 1843.61 in thin trading. The Shenzhen Composite Index for China's smaller second exchange dropped 0.6 percent to 494.54.
"The package encouraged pessimistic investors yesterday, but it usually at least takes three months for policies to be implemented. And anything could happen during the period," said Xu Zhiyuan, analyst for Capital Edge Investment & Management. "Investors preferred to pull out and watch the situation more after getting in."
Investors also worried that falling inflation could turn to deflation, analysts said.
The government reported Tuesday that consumer prices rose 4 percent in October from the year-earlier period, down from a 4.3 percent rate in September.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China's biggest commercial lender, fell 1.8 percent to 3.92 yuan. Bank of China Ltd. lost 1.5 percent to 3.24 yuan, and China Construction Bank Ltd. dropped 0.9 percent to 4.35 yuan.
Ping An Insurance Ltd. gave up 2.4 percent to 25.82 yuan after the company said it had no plans yet to raise new money, a move that analysts had said would indicate it believed the global economic downturn had reached its lowest point.
China Life Insurance, the country's biggest life insurer, sank 3.8 percent to 19.9 yuan.
Sinopec, or China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia's biggest refiner by volume, tumbled 3.4 percent to 7.34 yuan. China's biggest oil producer, PetroChina Ltd., fell 2.1 percent to 10.99 yuan.
Construction-related shares bucked the trend as the government's stimulus package promised more spending on infrastructure.
Hebei Taihang Cement Co. surged by the daily limit of 10 percent for a fifth straight day to 3.82 yuan, and China Railway Erju Ltd. gained 5.4 percent to 7.37 yuan.
Real Estate giant China Vanke Ltd., rose 2.3 percent to 6.27 yuan, and rival Poly Real Estate Group, jumped 3.1 percent to 14.54 yuan.
On currency markets, China's yuan was traded 6.8273 against the U.S. dollar late Tuesday afternoon, down from Monday's close of 6.8266.
EU ready to toughen sanctions on Myanmar
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=428314
IANS Monday 10th November, 2008
The European Union (EU) is ready to toughen its sanctions on Myanmar if no progress is made on democracy, but would consider easing them if the situation improved, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels said Monday.
EU member states 'deplore the lack of progress made this year towards a genuine transition to democracy' and are 'prepared to revise, amend or reinforce the measures (they have) already adopted to keep pace with developments,' a joint statement said.
The EU is 'determined to help the people of Myanmar to achieve stability, prosperity and democracy,' the ministers said.
But the bloc holds that 'elections scheduled for 2010 will have no credibility unless the Myanmar authorities unconditionally release all political prisoners, in particular Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi, and initiate a political process with UN support,' the statement said.
The EU has long condemned Myanmar's military regime for its lack of democratic accountability and the long-term arrest of pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi.
However, Monday's meeting also welcomed the 'close cooperation' between the UN, ASEAN and the Myanmar authorities in reaction to Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the country in May.
EU: Burma vote illegitimate unless Suu Kyi freed -EU ministers urge Myanmar junta to free political prisoners
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1226318536.51
10 November 2008, 13:59 CET
(BRUSSELS) - Myanmar's next elections "will have no credibility" unless the regime releases democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners, EU foreign ministers said Monday.
The 27 foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels, issued a joint statement deploring "the lack of progress made this year towards a genuine transition to democracy in Burma/Myanmar since the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations by the military authorities."
They stressed that the Myanmar elections scheduled for 2010 will have "no credibility" unless the authorities "unconditionally release all political prisoners, in particular Aung San Suu Kyi, and initiate a political process with United Nations support" with the opposition and ethnic groups.
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD party won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but Myanmar's junta never allowed them to take office.
She has spent most of the intervening years under house arrest in the country, which has been ruled by the military since 1962.
Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.
Suu Suu Nwe jailed for over 12 years -MIZZIMA
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/1277-suu-suu-nwe-jailed-for-over-12-years.html
by Zar Ni
Tuesday, 11 November 2008 20:23
Chiang Mai – Suu Suu Nwe, National League for Democracy party leader and human rights activist was sentenced to 12 and-a-half years in prison by a court in session inside Insein prison.
A friend of Nwe, on condition of anonymity, revealed that the information relating to her sentence by the court in session inside Insein prison was given by a prison official.
"We could not meet her today. We sent what she asked for with other people who could meet family members today during regular prison visits. We learnt of the news from the prison staff," he said.
She is in good health though she suffers from heart disease. She is being held in Insein prison at present. But the details of her case are still being inquired.
The police arrested Suu Suu Nwe on November 14, 2007 while she was pasting anti-junta posters in front of 'Mya Yeik Nyo' Hotel.
She was charged under the Unlawful Assembly Act and inducing crime against public tranquility and disaffection towards State and Government.
During the trial, she staged a hunger strike in September this year after she was refused permission to meet her family members in prison.
Similarly her co-defendant Bo Bo Win Hlaing was sentenced to eight years in prison by the same court today. He had joined her in pasting anti-regime posters.
Human right activist Suu Suu Nwe, hailing from Htanmanaing village in Kawhmu Township, was awarded the '2006 John Humphrey Award' by the Canada based 'Human Right and Democracy Organization'. Along with 88 Gen woman student Ma Nilar Thein, who helped HIV/AIDS victims, she was also awarded the 'Homo Homini Award' by Czech based 'The People-in-Need' while she was in detention.
Bangladesh said tension with Burma defused -MIZZIMA
http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/1270-bangladesh-said-tension-with-burma-defused.html
by Siddique Islam
Monday, 10 November 2008 23:58
Dhaka – The scaling down of tension between Bangladesh and Burma after the withdrawal of the hydrocarbon-exploration rig by Daewoo from the disputed waters in the Bay of Bengal is a win-win situation for both countries, Foreign Affairs Advisor of Bangladesh Dr. Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said in Dhaka on Monday.
"This happy conclusion in the Bay is a win-win situation for both Bangladesh and Myanmar [Burma]. Peace benefits everyone," the Foreign Advisor told the media at the Foreign Ministry in the capital, Dhaka on Monday evening.
The South Korean Company, Daewoo, was involved in hydrocarbon explorations under a contract with Burma in block AD-7 in the Bay of Bengal; a location Bangladesh claims is in its territorial waters.
Tension mounted further when Burma sent naval warships last week to guard Daewoo's drilling about 50 kilometers south of Bangladesh's St. Martin's Island in the Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh's Foreign Advisor said Bangladesh always wants a close neighbourly relation with Burma and "our policy will be directed towards that end".
The development came a day after the Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Mohammad Touhid Hossain returned home after his three-day trip to Rangoon along with two other officials where he held talks with Burma's Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Maung Myint.
Bangladesh earlier explored diplomatic channels to engage South Korea and China, a close ally of military-ruled Burma, while Daewoo two days ago said they had already initiated the process of withdrawal of their rig from the area in the sea.
Bangladesh and Burma have so far held three rounds of talks to resolve the maritime boundary dispute while the fourth round is expected to be held in Dhaka next week when the Burmese Deputy Minister is due to visit, foreign ministry sources said.
Burma Sentences Activists to 65 Years in Prison
http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-11-11-voa11.cfm
By VOA News
11 November 2008
A court in Burma has sentenced at least 14 members of a well-known pro-democracy group to 65 years in prison.
Relatives and opposition political officials say the activists were sentenced Tuesday, during a closed hearing inside Rangoon's notorious Insein prison.
The dissidents are members of the 88 Generation Students, a group that organized anti-government demonstrations in August of last year to protest economic hardships and demand democratic reforms.
Those demonstrations led up to last year's pro-democracy protests that were later crushed by the country's military-ruled government.
The 88 Generation Students first began political activism 20 years ago when the group organized mass demonstrations to challenge the rule of Burma's military.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
Myanmar blogger jailed for 20 years: opposition
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081111/wl_asia_afp/myanmarpoliticsdemocracymedia_081111051148
Tue Nov 11, 12:11 am ET AFP/File – A crowd in front of Yangon's Insein Prison. A popular Myanmar blogger arrested after massive anti-junta … YANGON (AFP) – A popular Myanmar blogger arrested after massive anti-junta protests last year has been jailed for 20 years at Yangon's notorious Insein Prison, an opposition spokesman said Tuesday.
Nay Phone Latt, 28, a former member of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party, was sentenced on Monday along with five other activists and members of the National League for Democracy (NLD).
"Nay Phone Latt was once an NLD youth member, but he left the party when he was arrested. He was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment," NLD spokesman Nyan Win told AFP.
"The authorities are punishing the activists by investigating the cases hurriedly. There was not enough time for a defence with lawyers."
Nyan Win said the poet Saw Wai was sentenced to two years in prison for defaming the state in a poem that referred to junta head Than Shwe. He did not have any information on the four NLD members sentenced Monday.
Nay Phone Latt's blog was written in the Myanmar language and in the style of a novel. He used it as a forum to discuss the difficulties of daily life, such as the regular power outages and the rising cost of living.
The blog was banned by Myanmar's military regime, and Nay Phone Latt was arrested in January this year during a round-up of activists linked to the massive anti-junta protests in September 2007.
About 200 NLD members and activists were arrested during and after the September protests, when up to 100,000 people spilled onto Yangon's streets.
The United Nations has said that at least 31 people were killed and 74 remain missing after the military finally cracked down on the movement.
The military was outraged by the bloggers during the September protests, when they provided running accounts of state violence.
The junta cut off the nation's Internet links at the height of the protests, choking off the flow of information about the crackdown.
Myanmar's regime exerts tight controls over the Internet, banning access to news sites and even to web-based e-mail services such as Yahoo or Hotmail.
Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 elections but the junta never allowed the party to take office. Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.
Bush names special aide for Myanmar
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081110/pl_afp/usmyanmardiplomacygreen_081110221733
Mon Nov 10, 5:17 pm ET
Featured Topics: Barack Obama Presidential Transition AFP/File – US President George W. Bush has decided to nominate a former top adviser on Asian affairs, Michael Green, … WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President George W. Bush has decided to nominate a former top adviser on Asian affairs, Michael Green, to be his special envoy and policy chief for Myanmar, the White House announced Monday.
If confirmed by the US Senate, Green "will serve as our main interlocutor with other countries and organizations as we attempt to help the Burmese people," said US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
Green, who has served as senior director for Asian Affairs on Bush's national security council, is currently an associate professor at Georgetown University and holds the Japan chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington.
The post was created by the US Congress with an eye on increasing pressure on the military junta that rules Myanmar. Washington does not recognize the country's name change.
The legislation said the special representative will work with democracy advocates in Myanmar, non-governmental organizations there and in neighboring countries with an eye on bringing democratic rule to the country.
The representative is also meant to consult with the governments of China, India, Thailand and Japan, Myanmar's ASEAN partners, and the European Union to coordinate international strategy towards the country.
Obama-Clinton soap opera takes new turn
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081111/pl_politico/15498;_ylt=Ak1AQRGDPQATh6FRFh.tQA6tOrgF
Amie Parnes, Glenn Thrush Amie Parnes, Glenn Thrush – Tue Nov 11, 4:27 am ET
Featured Topics: Barack Obama Presidential Transition Reuters – Michelle Obama with daughters Sasha (R) and Malia (L) leave the stage at the 2008 Democratic National …
Play Video Video: AP Top Stories AP Play Video Video: Michelle Obama tours DC schools for her kids AP Play Video Video: Sarah Palin takes on 'rogue' criticism, 2012 AP Michelle Obama wasn’t always an admirer of Hillary Clinton, but last Wednesday the soon-to-be first lady dialed up the former first lady for pointers on protecting her two young daughters from the media maelstrom of the White House.
“Michelle may not have loved the senator, but she always respected how the Clintons raised Chelsea,” said a person familiar with Clinton’s end of the call. “They need to talk. There just aren’t too many people who have shared that kind of experience.”
An aide briefed on Obama’s side of the chat said she was “grateful” for Clinton’s “pointers” on “raising children in the public eye.”
It’s the latest phase in the ruling-class soap opera that is the Obama-Clinton alliance, where the two first families negotiate new personal relationships as Hillary Clinton wrestles with her own ambivalence about Michelle Obama’s husband, a man she once ridiculed as too callow to govern, and then worked tirelessly to elect.
These tensions have created a somewhat schizoid relationship between Clinton and the Obamas – warm on personal matters, warier on political ones, and downright frosty on the still-unresolved issue of Clinton’s mountainous campaign debt, which Barack Obama had pledged to help reduce.
“Senator Clinton did not just check the box for Obama - she went all out for him, which says an awful lot about how important she felt this election was, what kind of character she has, and the positive state of their relationship,” said Chris Lehane, an aide to both John Kerry and Al Gore during their presidential bids.
Since the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton headlined about three dozen rallies and fundraisers – working rope-lines where well-wishers often lamented her exit from the race.
Bill Clinton, who once called Obama’s Iraq policy “a fairy tale,” hosted about 20 events for Obama after the Illinois senator paid homage to him with a mid-September visit to his Harlem office.
Obama responded by lavishing praise on the pair – after months of questioning the legacy of the Clinton White House. More importantly, he embraced much of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s domestic agenda, especially her health care and green jobs proposals.
Yet a half-dozen Clinton insiders told Politico they are disappointed that Obama’s vaunted fundraising operation hasn’t reciprocated by planning new events or an Internet campaign to help Clinton pay off the $7.9 million she owes to vendors. (Clinton has already written off the $13 million she loaned the campaign during the primaries, aides say).
“I don’t think there’s a whole lot of hard feelings, it’s more like mild annoyance,” said a former Clinton aide on condition of anonymity. “There’s just not a lot of expectation they are going to lift a finger for us.”
Added another longtime Clinton adviser: “She killed herself for them, did a hundred events, went anywhere they pointed – so it’s disappointing they aren’t helping… But it’s not a big deal at this point.”
One former Clinton fundraiser took a more cold-blooded view. “In a few months, when he’s really struggling, he’ll come to her for support,” he said. “That’s when she should ask him for money.”
An Obama spokesman didn’t comment but didn’t rule out a debt retirement effort down the road.
Clinton is expecting a warmer reception from Obama on legislative issues.
People close to the New York senator say she is still struggling to define her role in the Senate following a jarring and unexpected loss. But she’s sure of one thing: she desperately wants to play a major role in crafting the health care reform Obama has pledged to introduce.
Still, she is unlikely to make immediate demands of Obama and is committed to giving the president-elect a wide berth on how and when he introduces reforms, given the economic crisis. And she’s reportedly leery of getting between Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), the ailing chairman of the health committee and finance committee chairman Sen. Max Baucus, who are both staking claims on the plan.
The Obama-Clinton relationship is less fraught on the personal front, where Clinton seems surprisingly eager to mentor Michelle Obama.
The incoming First Lady, who had been privately critical of Clinton during the primaries, first reached out to the former First Lady six weeks ago for advice on how to provide some semblance of normality for her young daughters Sasha and Malia.
“They talked for 30 minutes the first time,” said a Clinton insider. “It wasn’t just for show – it was a real conversation.”
Last week, on election night, it was Hillary Clinton making the call, congratulating Barack Obama on his victory and consoling him after the death of his grandmother, according to a Clinton spokesman.
It won’t be their last conversation. During that chat, the president-elect vowed to schedule a sit-down meeting with the Clintons in the not-too-distant future, sources say.
Posts
