STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Tropical depression unlikely in Atlantic Ocean: NHC Tue Oct 28, 9:06 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A low pressure system about midway between Cape Verde Island and the Lesser Antilles had less than a 20 percent chance of developing over the next 48 hours, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Tuesday.The NHC forecast development, if any, would be slow to occur and environmental conditions would likely become unfavorable after a couple days as the system moves west-northwest.The weather models expect the system to reach about 700 miles east of the Leeward Islands in about five days.The Leeward Islands include the Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Saint Martin, Barbuda, Antigua, Montserrat and Guadeloupe.Energy traders watch for storms that could enter the Gulf and threaten oil and natural gas platforms as well refineries along the coast.Commodities traders likewise watch storms that could hit agriculture crops like citrus and cotton in Florida and other states along the coast to Texas.If the system ever develops into a tropical storm, with winds of 39-73 miles per hour, it will be named Paloma.(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by John Picinich)
Officials: Bangladesh storm kills 15, injures 200 By FARID HOSSAIN, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 28, 2:09 am ET
DHAKA, Bangladesh – A tropical storm lashed Bangladesh's coast, killing at least 15 people and injuring 200 more, rescue officials said Tuesday.The storm, spawned by a depression in the Bay of Bengal, struck late Monday, inundating hundreds of villages, leveling several thousand huts and knocking down electricity poles, officials said.The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.At least 10 bodies were pulled from the rubble of collapsed houses in Biracial district, a hard-hit area 75 miles south of the capital, Dhaka, they said. Another five people drowned in neighboring Patuakhali district.At least 200 villagers were injured and many were taken to hospitals, they said.Dhaka's Ittefaq daily reported that the storm flooded parts of Bhola island, trapping about 10,000 people in their homes. It provided no further details.The officials said rescue workers were trying to reach people with drinking water and food.Bangladesh, a delta nation of 150 million people, is often buffeted by cyclones and floods. Cylone Sidr killed at least 3,500 people along the southern coast last year.
90 dead, 20,000 displaced in Yemeni floods By AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press Ahmed – Mon Oct 27, 4:45 pm ET
SANA, Yemen – Flooding caused by a tropical storm has killed 90 people and displaced 20,000 others in southern Yemen, police and the World Food Program said Monday.The WFP, which said 20,000 people were displaced, said it has been difficult to get aid to hard-hit Hadramut province because many roads were destroyed by floodwaters after Thursday's storm.A police official said 90 people died and 24 farms were wrecked. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on Yemenis and non-governmental organizations to help flood victims by donating money and other aid.Efforts are too slow, said Akeel Al-Ataf of Hadramut province's municipal government. We haven't seen any food or medicine in three days, and the relief efforts are chaotic.Neighboring Arab countries have sent in planes loaded with goods. Oman provided medical supplies and the Emirati Red Crescent gave $100,000 to the relief effort.Besides buildings and farms, about 7,000 beehives reportedly have been destroyed. Yemen's honey is among the most expensive in the world.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Indonesia's Sulawesi hit by 6.4 quake, no tsunami Sun Oct 26, 6:30 am
ETJAKARTA (Reuters) – An earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale jolted Indonesia's north Sulawesi island on Sunday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, the meteorology agency said.The quake struck at a depth of 32 km (20 miles), and the epicenter was 91 km (56 miles) southwest of Gorontalo town, said Suhardjono, an agency official. The agency did not issue a tsunami warning.
Indonesia suffers frequent earthquakes, being located in an active seismic region where several tectonic plates meet.(Reporting by Telly Nathalia, writing by Karima Anjani, editing Sugita Katyal)
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
Peace talks on hold as Israel prepares for February 10 vote by Ezzedine Said OCT 28,08
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's political parties decided on Tuesday to hold early elections on February 10, a decision that will leave US-backed Middle East peace talks in limbo for at least three more months.Following a meeting of the Knesset factions it was decided that the elections will be held on February 10, said Knesset spokesman Giora Pordes, adding that parliament will adjourn November 11.Both Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's centrist Kadima party and the right-wing Likud party of hawkish former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, the two frontrunners for prime minister, had pressed for holding elections as soon as possible.President Shimon Peres formally initiated the election process on Monday after Livni failed to assemble a new government coalition.Livni, 50, was elected as Kadima leader last month and hopes to take over as prime minister from Ehud Olmert, who stepped down in September over graft allegations but remains as caretaker premier.Earlier on Tuesday, two Israeli ministers called for a freeze on already stalled talks with Syria and the Palestinians until a new government is sworn in.(Negotiations) cannot advance during the election period with us and the United States, said Interior Minister and Kadima MP Meir Sheetrit.In the current political situation no agreement can be ratified by the transitional government and parliament. There can be no significant progress and the Syrians and the Palestinians understand this, he told public radio.
National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, a senior Labour Party member, said the interim government cannot make strategic decisions affecting the existence of the state of Israel.On security issues it must act, but as far as political issues are concerned it is better to wait for the results of the elections and the formation of the next government, the former defence minister said.Israel and the Palestinians formally relauched peace talks at a US-hosted conference in November. Their goal was to end their decades-old conflict by the end of this year, but the talks have made little visible progress.The White House nevertheless said on Monday it would press ahead with efforts to secure a full peace agreement by the time President George W. Bush leaves office in January despite Israel's political uncertainty.In May, Israel entered into indirect Turkish-brokered talks with Syria, reviving negotiations that had collapsed in 2000 over the fate of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.Setting the tone for his campaign, Netanyahu made it clear that if elected, he would set clear limits on what is negotiable.We will not conduct negotiations on Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people for the past three thousand years, he said in a speech to the Knesset, Israel's parliament.We will not return to the 1967 borders, he said, adding that the Golan Heights as well as the Jordan Valley and the Judean Desert in the occupied West Bank will continue to serve as the state of Israel's eastern security belt.An opinion poll published on Monday by Israel's mass-selling Yediot Aharonot newspaper said if the vote were held today Kadima -- currently the largest party in parliament -- would win the most seats with Likud coming in a close second and the centre-left Labour a distant third.
Britain urges Israel to halt settlements Tue Oct 28, 10:49 am ET
AMMAN (AFP) – Britain urged Israel on Tuesday to freeze settlement activities in the occupied territories, warning that they threaten the creation of an independent Palestinian state.Continued settlement construction threatens the goal of a two-state solution to which the Israeli government itself is committed, British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Bill Rammell told reporters in Amman.
For a Palestinian state to become a reality there has to be a complete halt to the construction and expansion of illegal settlements Israel is building on land outside its internationally recognised borders, which are those of 1967.Rammell said Britain, Jordan and all those working for peace are quite clear that such settlement activity must stop.The international community regards all West Bank settlements as illegal, and the Palestinians say continued settlement construction is a major hurdle in the US-backed peace process.More than 260,000 Israelis are estimated to live in government-authorised settlements across the occupied West Bank, with another 200,000 in settlements in annexed east Jerusalem.Rammell was in Jordan for talks with Foreign Minister Salah Bashir.Israel should take positive and practical steps towards the peace process, Bashir was quoted by the state-run Petra news agency as telling Rammell.Jordan and Israel have been bound by a peace treaty since 1994.
CNN NEWS VIDEO
http://edition.cnn.com/video/
YAHOO NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video
MIDEAST CONFLICT NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/1874;_ylt=A0wNcxFdg6xIgbkAwD6z174F
ABC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461
FOX NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3074
FOX BUSINESS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3045
AP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2529
BBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2918
REUTERS VIDEO NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2704
AFP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3091
CNBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3245
HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER
DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.
JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/
HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS TUE OCT 28,2008
09:30 AM +69.53
10:00 AM +289.72
10:30 AM +179.37
11:00 AM +58.62
11:30 AM +95.50
12:00 PM +118.12
12:30 PM +130.70
01:00 PM +221.98
01:30 PM +233.85
02:00 PM +152.60
02:30 PM +305.45
03:00 PM +456.54
03:30 PM +592.74
04:00 PM +889.35 9065.12
S&P 500 940.51 +91.59
NASDAQ 1649.47 +143.57
GOLD 749.2 +6.3
OIL 64.77 +1.52
TSE 300 +614.29 9,151.63
CDNX +7.95 816.94
S&P/TSX/60 +41.34 554.58
Dow at high today was +900 POINTS.
Dow at low today was +60 POINTS.
Dow,S&P 500 have only risein during 4 October sessions.
Dow,S&P 500 both more than 40% below Oct 2007 record high.
Dow has had triple digits in 29 of last 32 sessions if holds today.
Nasdaq down 45% from Oct 2007 high,but still 39% above 2002 low.
Consumer confidence 38.0 (OCT) VS .614 (SEPT).
October consumer confidence is record low.
GM,Chrysler still talking about a merger.
Bank of Japan considering rate cut of 1/4% this week.
Bank of Japan to lower 2008 forcast to 0% from 1.2%.
Yen drops sharply against the dollar today.
WRAPUP OF THE DAY,INTERESTING
GMAC to stop originating retail auto loans in parts of Europe.
Wall streets best day in 2 weeks.
Stocks rise only for the 5th time this month (OCTOBER).
1.4 BILLION shares trades today.
All 30 Dow stocks are higher today.
Dow up 10.9% today
Dows 2nd biggest points gain ever.
Dows 7th largest one-day percentage gain ever.
S&P 500 up 10.8% today
S&Ps 6th largest one-day percentage gain ever.
S&Ps 2nd biggest point gain ever.
NASDAQ up 9.5% today.
NASDAQS 4th largest one-day percentage gain ever.
Dow jumps nearly 900 as investors seek bargains By TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer OCT 28,08
NEW YORK – Wall Street had another astounding advance Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrials soaring nearly 900 points in their second-largest point gain ever as late-day bargain hunters stormed into the market. The Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index were each up nearly 11 percent.There didn't appear to be any one catalyst for the surge that saw the Dow nearly double its gain in the last hour of trading. Many analysts said investors were grabbing up stocks in the belief that the market had fallen too far in recent sessions. Some said buying early in the day came from anticipation of an interest rate cut Wednesday by the Federal Reserve.There is nothing fundamental that came out today or yesterday that would take it up or down. We're all groping for something meaningful to talk about, said Bob Andres, chief investment strategist at Portfolio Management Consultants.But given the relentless volatility in the market — out of 20 trading days this month, there have been only two that didn't see the Dow close up or down in triple digits — no one expects that the market is now headed higher for good.I don't think it will be a sustained move, said Matt King, chief investment officer at Bell Investment Advisors.It was clear that investors wanted to buy — they looked past news of a sharp drop in consumer confidence early in the session. The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence has fallen to 38 in October, well below the 51 analysts expected.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 889.35, or 10.88 percent, to 9,065.12. That was its second-largest point gain, coming after the 936 points the Dow jumped on Oct. 13.Broader stock indicators also surged. The Standard & Poor's 500index rose 91.59, or 10.79 percent, to 940.51, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 143.57, or 9.53 percent, to 1,649.47.The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 34.15, or 7.62 percent, to 482.55.Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by more than 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a moderate 1.72billion shares.I guess we're just coming out of this oversold situation. I think you've got a lot of players on the sidelines, said Dan Demming, trader at Stutland Equities in Chicago. There's just no one standing in a way right now.He contends investors are also anticipating an interest rate cut.The Fed is expected to cut its target fed funds rate by half a point to 1 percent.
Stock markets enjoy rebound after sharp selloff despite consumer sentiment data By Malcolm Morrison, The Canadian Press OCT 28,08
TORONTO - North American stock markets racked up solid gains Tuesday even as investors took in data indicating that U.S. consumer confidence has plunged to its lowest levels in 41 years. Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index was off early highs but still up 211.01 points to 8,748.35 at mid-afternoon. It had run ahead more than 400 points earlier in the session after plunging 757 points or eight per cent Monday as investors sold off stocks in all sectors because of worries about a global recession. The showing took the main Toronto index to a four-year low Monday in the biggest one-day percentage drop since the crash of 1987, leaving the TSX down 25 per cent this month. We're witnessing what I would say is a massive global margin call, said John Stephenson, portfolio manager at First Asset Funds Inc. It's going to continue to be volatile for the next day or two because we're coming to the month end, and that's when a lot of mutual fund companies have Oct. 31 as their yearend. I think the volatility is going to be high for a day and maybe even tomorrow.Investors fled from mutual funds last month, leaving the industry with net redemptions of almost $4.5 billion - the most of any month on record. American markets also partly revived from Monday's sharp losses as the U.S. Federal Reserve started a two-day meeting expected to result in another cut in interest rates on Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 244.92 points to 8,420.69, also off early highs. The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 2.24 points to 806.75. The Canadian dollar was down 0.52 of a cent to 77.07 cents US, still at depths not seen in about four years, because of weak commodity prices, economic uncertainty and a resurgent American currency. The loonie is down about 18 per cent since the start of October. New York's Nasdaq composite index gained 30.65 points to 1,536.55, while the S&P 500 index advanced 21.62 points to 870.54.
The U.S. Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence has fallen to 38 during October, well below the reading of 51 analysts expected. Consumers surveyed by the research group expected labour and business conditions to worsen considerably going in the months ahead. Obviously, the U.S. consumer is waking up and saying, hey, things aren't so good, I might lose my job - it's clear we're in a global recession, added Stephenson. Appliance giant Whirlpool Corp. said it will cut about 5,000 jobs by the end of 2009. There was also grim news from the U.S. housing sector. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index dropped a record 16.6 per cent in August from a year ago. Iceland said it needs US$6 billion as it raised its key interest rate by six percentage points to 18 per cent. Germany said Pakistan needs a loan from the International Monetary Fund within a week. Iceland's problems have sunk plans to take one of Canada's biggest seafood companies private. Clearwater Seafoods Income Fund (TSX:CLR.UN) said Tuesday because of the insolvency of Icelandic bank that was to provide major funding for the transaction. The TSX energy sector rose 1.6 per cent as the December crude contract reversed direction to move down $1.02 at US$62.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) advanced $1.11 to $52.18 and Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU) moved ahead 57 cents to $23.75. The financial sector was up 2.37 per cent. Royal Bank rose $1.06 to $43.56 while Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) advanced 71 cents to $37.03 despite a downgrade to sell by an analyst at Dundee Securities. John Aiken expects further stress on bottom lines on slack revenue from capital markets and increasing credit losses. Dundee has no buy rating for any Canadian bank. The gold sector ran up almost five per cent although bullion slipped $2.40 to US$740.50 an ounce. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) climbed 68 cents to $19.43. The base metals sector moved ahead 1.9 per cent as copper turned up 5.35 cents to US$1.8585 a pound. Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) rose 36 cents to $11.12 while Sherritt International (TSX:S) rose 23 cents to $3.43. In third-quarter earnings reports, Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B) booked an 84 per cent increase in third-quarter net income to $495 million as operating revenue grew 14 per cent from a year ago to $2.98 billion. Rogers shares advanced $1.40 to $30.47. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (TSX:CP) shares were up $4.03 to $47.53 after third-quarter net income dropped 21 per cent to $172.7 million on accounting items but management reported steady operating results and maintained its full-year profit forecast. Pipeline and power utility operator TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) said its third-quarter earnings bulked up 20 per cent to $390 million. Its shares rose $1.07 to $33.70. Canadian Tire (TSX:CTC.A) shares rose $1.23 to $43.23 after it said it is planning to open two experimental stores in Ontario that will offer an expanded variety of food and other consumable items as part of a new product assortment. The positive showing on North American stock exchanges came alongside similar strong advances in Asia following steep losses. Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 6.4 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 14.4 per cent - its biggest gain in 11 years - a day after plunging more than 12 per cent.
White House tells banks to stop hoarding money OCT 28,08
Reuters – The Capital One headquarters in McLean, Virginia, August 21, 2007. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters) WASHINGTON – An impatient White House is serving notice on banks receiving billions of dollars in federal help to quit hoarding the money and start making more loans.White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters Tuesday that the Bush administration is trying to get banks to do what they are supposed to do, which is lend money. Though there are limits on how much Washington can pressure financial firms, she noted that banks are regulated by the federal government.
Perino said that the administration is watching lending activity very closely and working with the banks to step it up. She said that Anthony Ryan, Treasury's acting undersecretary for domestic finance, was delivering a speech in New York on Tuesday that made this point.Meanwhile, layoffs, plunging home prices and tumbling investments have pushed consumer pessimism to record levels in October, a private research group said Tuesday. Wall Street shook it off, though, focusing instead on higher global markets amid optimism the Federal Reserve will ease interest rates further.The Conference Board said the consumer confidence index fell to 38, down from a revised 61.4 in September and significantly below analysts' expectations of 52.That's the lowest level for the index since the Conference Board began tracking consumer sentiment in 1967, and the third-steepest drop. A year ago, the index stood at 95.2.Wall Street, which has come to expect bad news on the economy, took the report in stride. The Dow gave up some of its early gains but was still up about 2 percent in midday trading, while the broader S&P 500 index rose 1.7 percent.
Investors are expecting the Federal Reserve to cut its target interest rate Wednesday by up to one-half a percentage point to 1 percent after its two-day meeting that began Tuesday.In addition, European and Asian financial markets were up significantly Tuesday on expectations of the cut.The news was not good for Main Street, though.Consumers are extremely pessimistic, said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. This news does not bode well for retailers who are already bracing for what is shaping up to be a very challenging holiday season.Separately, a closely watched index of home prices fell by its steepest ever annual rate in August.The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index dropped a record 16.6 percent from August last year, the largest drop since its inception in 2000.The 23.4-point drop in the consumer confidence index from September to October is the steepest since it fell 36.9 points from October 1973 to December 1973, when the economy was in the throes of a severe recession. Then, the index was measured every two months. The index dropped 24.3 points from December 1969 to February 1970, Franco said.Consumer sentiment is closely watched because consumer spending powers about 70 percent of economic activity.Household wealth has taken huge hits from the stock market's sharp drop this month along with the extended decline in home prices. The S&P 500 has fallen about 40 percent so far this year.That, in turn, appears to be causing consumers to significantly scale back their expectations for the current economy and short-term future.The Conference Board said its present situation index decreased to 41.9 in October from 61.1 last month, while the expectations index, which measures consumers' outlook for the next six months, plummeted to 35.5 from 61.5. These numbers are extraordinarily awful, Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, wrote in a note to clients.
But they may not persist. The drop in the expectations index likely reflects the steep drop in stock prices earlier this month and that probably won't happen again, he added. In addition, lower gas prices may help improve consumers' outlook, Shepherdson wrote. But most economists expect the labor market to continue to deteriorate with the unemployment rate projected to rise to 8 percent or higher next year from its current level of 6.1 percent. On Tuesday, Whirlpool Corp. said it will cut 5,000 jobs. That's on top of other recent layoffs of thousands of workers by Xerox Corp., drugmaker Merck & Co. Inc. and financial services firm National City Corp.
ECB chief indicates fresh interest rate cuts
LUCIA KUBOSOVA Today Oct 28,08 @ 09:28 CET
The European Central Bank's president, Jean-Claude Trichet, has indicated that the bank could cut interest rates at its nearest meeting as economic trends across the monetary union and the whole of the EU worsen.I consider possible that the governing council will decrease interest rates once again at its next meeting on November 6, Mr Trichet said at a banking conference in Madrid on Monday (27 October), according to Reuters.It is not a certainty, it is a possibility, he added.If realised, the ECB's move would come as the second reduction of interest rates within one month, following a cut in early October from 4.25 to 3.75 percent, in a co-ordinated move with five other central banks, including the US Federal Reserve.Before this synchronised action, the Frankfurt-based bank had not cut rates for more than five years, while the common step by several banks resembled a similar approach taken in September 2001, shortly after al-Qaeda's attacks on the US. Analysts predict that the ECB will in November cut borrowing costs by a half percentage point and then further on in December and in 2009.Any new monetary policy stance that we could decide on at our next regular monetary policy meeting must continue to allow us to tell our 320 million fellow citizens: you can be confident. We will deliver price stability in line with our definition of less than but close to two percent in the medium term, Mr Trichet said in Madrid.Before his statement, the prominent Munich-based Ifo economics institute argued that the eurozone central bank has room to cut interest rates and should do so, referring to a downturn in corporate sentiment in Germany, which is at its lowest level in over five years.German businesses are mainly concerned about the impact of lower exports due to weakened foreign demand.
Meanwhile, the head of the EU industry trade lobby, BusinessEurope's Ernest-Antoine Seilliere, told Bloomberg that up to 1 million people will lose their jobs in Europe next year due to the financial crunch.
Commission warns crisis could cause subsidy race
VALENTINA POP Today OCT 28,08 @ 17:33 CET
European Union competition commissioner Neelie Kroes has urged EU countries to avoid a subsidy race while trying to protect business from recession, saying that one state's cure can't aggravate the other one's illness.There is no national route out of this crisis. It would be a disaster to start a subsidy race with member states spending money not to deal with the underlying problems, but to deal with the problems caused by other member states' subsidies, Ms Kroes said in a speech delivered at The Centre, a Brussels think-tank, on Tuesday (28 October).The appeal came just hours after the European Commission approved Germany's €500 billion rescue package for banks and stated it is preparing to grant financial assistance to Hungary.Ms Kroes stressed the importance of state aid rules to prevent beggar-thy-neighbour national responses by ensuring that aid does not give recipients a disproportionate advantage and putting them in a privileged position in relation to their competitors. Europe cannot afford to have one member state's cure aggravating the illness of patients in other member states, she said.Initial proposals by Ireland for blanket state guarantees for deposits in its banks caused alarm in Britain as authorities feared a flight of capital out of British banks. The EU has since approved a revised scheme that extended the guarantees to foreign-owned banks with significant operations in the country.Particularly in an economic downturn, Mrs Kroes argued, national governments need to be very careful with every euro of taxpayer's money and to choose to allocate state aid where it has optimal effect.
That means providing aid that has sustainable benefits for a whole sector or the whole economy, she said, citing aid that raises productivity, for instance research and development. Other recommended state aid would be that which meets needs the market does not, such as the rules on risk capital for small and medium enterprises or state aid that manages transition and minimises the social costs of economic change, for instance employment aid and training.
Losses of over €2 trillion
The total financial losses by banks in the US, Britain and the euro zone are estimated at around €2.2 trillion, the Bank of England revealed on Tuesday (28 October) in its twice-yearly report on financial stability.The instability of the global financial system in recent weeks has been the most severe in living memory. And with a global economic downturn underway, the financial system remains under strain, said John Gieve, the bank's deputy governor for financial stability, in a statement accompanying the report.However, recent steps aimed at stabilising the system, including the British government's commitment to provide billions of euros in capital to beleaguered banks and guarantees for new debt, as well as extraordinary measures by the Bank of England and other central banks to provide liquidity to the strained financial system, appear to be easing tensions, the report said.These exceptional interventions by governments and central banks should help to stabilise the banking system in the period ahead, the report said. While there are still risks in the wider financial system, the immediate response to the measures has been positive.
Stock markets revive from substantial losses amid poor consumer data
By Malcolm Morrison, The Canadian Press
TORONTO - North American stock markets maintained strong gains late in the morning but down from early highs, in part because of data showing a severe drop in U.S. consumer confidence. Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index was up 170.14 points to 8,707.48. It had run ahead more than 400 points earlier in the session after plunging 757 points or eight per cent Monday as investors sold off stocks in all sectors because of worries about a global recession. The showing took the main Toronto index to a four-year low in the biggest one-day percentage drop since the crash of 1987, leaving the TSX down 25 per cent this month. We're witnessing what I would say is a massive global margin call, said John Stephenson, portfolio manager at First Asset Funds Inc. It's going to continue to be volatile for the next day or two because we're coming to the month end, and that's when a lot of mutual fund companies have Oct. 31 as their yearend. I think the volatility is going to be high for a day and maybe even tomorrow.Investors fled from mutual funds last month, leaving the industry with net redemptions of almost $4.5 billion - the most of any month on record. American markets also partly revived from Monday's sharp losses as the U.S. Federal Reserve starts a two-day meeting expected to result in another cut in interest rates. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 95.5 points to 8,271.27, also off early highs. The TSX Venture Exchange added 0.27 of a point to 809.26. The Canadian dollar was down 0.13 of a cent to 77.46 cents US, still at depths not seen in about four years because of weak commodity prices, economic uncertainty and a resurgent American currency. The loonie is down about 18 per cent since the start of October. New York's Nasdaq composite index gained 7.73 points to 1,513.63, while the S&P 500 index advanced 5.91 points to 854.83. The Fed is expected to cut its key policy rate by a half-point, to one per cent. This could bolster confidence by making borrowing more attractive. But economic anxiety remains amid signs of a deepening global slowdown. The U.S. Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence has fallen to 38 during October, well below the reading of 51 analysts expected. Consumers surveyed by the research group expected labour and business conditions to worsen considerably going in the months ahead. Obviously, the U.S. consumer is waking up and saying, hey, things aren't so good, I might lose my job , it's clear we're in a global recession, added Stephenson.
There was more grim news from the U.S. housing sector. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index dropped a record 16.6 per cent in August from a year ago. Appliance giant Whirlpool Corp. said it will cut about 5,000 jobs by the end of 2009. Iceland said it needs US$6 billion as it raised its key interest rate by six percentage points to 18 per cent. Germany said Pakistan needs a loan from the International Monetary Fund within a week. The positive showing on North American stock exchanges came alongside similar strong advances in Asia following steep losses. Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 6.4 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 14.4 per cent - its biggest gain in 11 years - a day after plunging more than 12 per cent. The FTSE 100 rose 0.5 per cent in London. Germany's DAX surged five per cent as shares in Volkswagen gained about 60 per cent after rising more than 150 per cent the previous day, boosted by Porsche's plan to expand its ownership of VW. The French CAC-40 was up 0.27 of a point. The TSX energy sector rose 1.8 per cent as the December crude contract reversed direction to move down 17 cents at US$63.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. EnCana Corp. (TSX:ECA) advanced $1.62 to $52.66 and Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU) moved ahead 45 cents to $23.63. The financial sector was up 1.24 per cent. Royal Bank rose 63 cents to $43.13 despite a downgrade to sell by an analyst at Dundee Securities. John Aiken expects further stress on bottom lines on slack revenue from capital markets and increasing credit losses. Dundee has no buy rating for any Canadian bank. The gold sector ran up almost five per cent although bullion slipped $11.90 to US$731 an ounce. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) climbed 99 cents to $19.74. The base metals sector moved ahead 2.8 per cent as copper turned up five cents to US$1.855 a pound. Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B) rose 49 cents to $11.25. In third-quarter earnings reports, Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B) booked an 84 per cent increase in third-quarter net income to $495 million as operating revenue grew 14 per cent from a year ago to $2.98 billion. Rogers shares advanced $1.13 to $30.20. Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (TSX:CP) shares were up $2.12 to $45.62 after third-quarter net income dropped 21 per cent to $172.7 million on accounting items but management reported steady operating results and maintained its full-year profit forecast. Pipeline and power utility operator TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) said its third-quarter earnings bulked up 20 per cent to $390 million. Its shares rose 85 cents to $33.48. On Wall Street, Boeing Co. shares climbed $1.70 to US$44.06 after the aircraft maker and the Machinists union reached a tentative four-year settlement to end a strike that began Sept. 6.
Toronto slumps as commodity fears grip market Mon Oct 27, 5:45 PM By Jennifer Kwan
TORONTO (Reuters) - The Toronto Stock Exchange's main index tumbled on Monday to close below 9,000 for the first time since December 2004 as worries intensified that the faltering global economy will further erode markets for Canadian-produced commodities such as oil and metals.In its second biggest percent drop in history, according to operator TMX Group, the S&P/TSX composite index lost more than 300 points in the last half hour of trade, and closed down 756.75 points, or 8.14 percent, at 8,537.34, with all of its 10 main groups lower.The benchmark index is down 27 percent so far this month.Heavily weighted decliners on Monday included Manulife Financial, which fell 15.3 percent, and EnCana Corp, which fell 8.5 percent.
Toronto's retreat was far steeper than that seen on U.S. markets due to its heavy weighting in commodity-related issues, said Andrew Pyle, investment adviser at ScotiaMcLeod in Peterborough, Ontario.The continued pressure on the commodity prices remains a theme and that's really coming from this realization that the global contagion of weaker economic growth in North America is becoming more pervasive. In other words, it's hitting more countries, Pyle said.At the end of the day, you stack up the TSX to the S&P and we still have much greater weighting and sensitivity to commodity prices.The energy sector fell 9.2 percent as oil prices settled at an 18-month low at $63.22 a barrel on worries over weakening demand. [ID:nSYD351781] Canadian Natural Resources Ltd was down 10.5 percent at C$46.55, while EnCana fell 8.5 percent to C$51.04.The materials sector, home to mining and fertilizer companies, fell 11 percent, with Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd dropping 18.8 percent to C$27.50.The market reflects what it thinks of the future and at this point it's looking for more demand erosion, said Lex Kerkovius, senior research analyst at McLean & Partners Wealth Management Ltd in Calgary.They're probably still trying to bake that into the stock prices, notwithstanding what the commodities are doing on a very short-term basis, like from a day-to-day basis. From the longer term perspective, I think the market is still nervous about the commodity stocks right now.The financial services sector was down 8.8 percent, hit by fears of a slackening economy. Manulife Financial was down 15.3 percent at C$21.17, its lowest level since January 2004, after analysts said that tumbling equity markets may force it to raise capital. Its shares are down 45 percent so far this month.Toronto's plunge followed big drops on equity markets in Asia and Europe on Monday on fears that further co-ordinated action to calm markets may not be enough to fend off a global recession.
($1=$1.30 Canadian)(Reporting by Jennifer Kwan; editing by Rob Wilson)
Financial crisis builds Polish euro-entry momentum
PHILIPPA RUNNER Today OCT 28,08 @ 09:22 CET
The financial crisis is building momentum for Poland to swiftly join the EU's single currency on 1 January 2012, with a positive political climate for the euro also developing in the Nordic states.The world crisis has shown that it's safer to be with the strong, among the strong and to have influence on the decisions of the strong, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Monday (27 October), adding that his pro-euro policy is not based on any orthodoxy, any ideology of deepening EU integration.The remarks came after a meeting with the chief of Poland's main opposition party, Law and Justice head Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who opposes an early entry date and wants Poland to hold a referendum on the move.I am not excluding that Poland's entry into the euro zone could be played out in a referendum, Mr Tusk said, PAP reports. The suggestion of a calendar to change the constitution [to allow the currency shift] and then a referendum is worth considering, but it would have to take place fast.The Polish government is on Tuesday expected to finalise a roadmap for meeting its 2012 target and to present the document to President Lech Kaczynski before launching talks with the European Commission.The country will aim to join the ERM2 mechanism - which limits the fluctuation of the Polish zloty to within 15 percent of the value of the euro - by June next year.Polish parliamentary speaker Bronislaw Komorowski on Tuesday said that any euro referendum could only concern when the single currency is to be adopted, not if, since Poland legally obliged itself to join the eurozone in its 2004 EU accession treaty.The Polish zloty dived by over 10 percent against the EU's single currency in recent days amid fears of a coming recession. US bank JP Morgan on Monday also warned in a report that the zloty is even more vulnerable than the Hungarian forint due to an imbalance in foreign debt and foreign currency reserves, indicating that Poland may need to borrow €10 billion from the IMF next year. Economists from other banks, including ING and Societe Generale, told Poland's Rzeczpospolita that the JP Morgan analysis was flawed. But opinion surveys show ordinary Poles have the crisis on their minds, with 70 percent of people saying Poland should join the euro in a GfK Polonia poll.
Nordic rethink
The reaction to the crisis in non-EU country Iceland has been even more extreme, with the Icelandic krona losing over 40 percent of its value and Reykjavik being forced to seek €5 billion in international loans to avoid bankruptcy.Almost 69 percent of Icelanders want to join the EU and 72.5 percent want to swap the krona for the euro, according to a poll out Monday in the Frettabladid newspaper. Approval for EU entry was at 55 percent before the financial storm hit.Icelanders are starting to have doubts about their krona. An increasing number think the only solution is to act with other countries and not in isolation, Iceland's Institute of Economic Studies chief Gunnar Haraldsson told AFP.Denmark and Sweden, which rejected the euro in recent referendums, have also begun a fresh debate, with the Swedish krona losing 7 percent of its value against the euro.I think to some extent, there will be a more friendly euro environment after this sharp decline in the currency. It could be an issue in Sweden's elections in 2010, SEB bank chief economist Haakan Frisen told the French newswire.
Jewish, Nazi objects found in dump near Berlin By MELISSA EDDY, Associated Press Writer OCT 28,08
KLANDORF, Germany – Yaron Svoray scrapes caked layers of dirt from a shard of glass, revealing a sunflower at the heart of a Star of David.He carefully turns it, speculating it may have been a bowl used for Passover ceremonies in pre-World War II German Jewish homes.The fragment is one of a handful of artifacts Svoray has pulled from mounds of debris in this former dump about an hour north of Berlin that locals say was used by the Nazis to deposit rejected loot from the 1938 pogrom known as Kristallnacht, or The Night of Broken Glass.Most of the people in Israel I know who went through the Holocaust, if I take this to Israel, to Yad Vashem, you'll get every visitor who is a Jew will say: Oh this is what was in our house 50 or 60 years ago, Svoray said recently at the site.For me as a Jew, if this turns out, and I'm not saying it is, but if this turns out to be a Jewish bowl from before the war, it's a treasure.Svoray was hunting for a downed Nazi plane in the area's vast stretches of woods when a former forester tipped him off to the dump, used from 1935 to 1945, outside the village of Klandorf in the largely rural eastern state of Brandenburg.After two hours of digging with his bare hands and a rusty spade found among the refuse, Svoray had unearthed what appeared to be a beer bottle stamped with a Star of David and a plate-sized alloyed metal swastika. Several weeks later he returned and found the jagged shard of the bowl.I don't claim to say this is from Kristallnacht, I claim there is enough evidence here to provoke a further investigation, said Svoray, 54, an Israeli journalist who made his name infiltrating German neo-Nazi groups in the 1990s. He would like to see the dump excavated.
Thomas Kersting, an archaeologist employed by the state of Brandenburg to care for buried memorials and archaeological sites, said Svoray's finds — which he has yet to examine — may give the area historical value.A place like this where we have objects with a Star of David directly next to a Nazi swastika, that is of course meaningful ... that gives it a certain quality of a memorial, Kersting said.But Kersting played down the likelihood of an archaeological dig, citing a lack of funds and arguing that such a disruption would be in direct opposition to his bureau's aim to maintain the sanctity of such sites.Arno Gielsdorf, who owns the strip of land where the dump sits, said his father told stories the arrival of garbage trains after Kristallnacht.Since the collapse of communism in 1989, he said, bands of scavengers have picked over the area, selling their finds at weekly flea markets in Berlin.But he is convinced the dump holds valuable artifacts.The things from Kristallnacht were buried in the deepest places, Gielsdorf said. They are still there.
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
WHO: Heart, infectious diseases, cancer kill most By ELIANE ENGELER, Associated Press Writer – Mon Oct 27, 11:56 am
ETGENEVA – Heart ailments, infectious diseases and cancer remain the world's top three killers, the U.N. health agency said Monday.Heart attacks and related problems are the top killer, claiming 29 percent of people who die each year, the World Health Organization said in a report on the global burden of disease. In second place, infectious diseases lead to 16.2 percent of worldwide deaths.Cancer, in third, claims 12.6 percent of global deaths, said the 146-page report, which is based on death registration data from 112 countries and estimates where reporting is incomplete.The figures are from 2004, the most recent records available on a wide scale, officials from WHO said. But the rankings are unchanged since 1990 when WHO first did a global check.Colin Mathers, WHO expert and lead author of the report, said he believed infectious diseases used to be the leading killer 20 to 40 years ago, but that he did not have statistics to back it up.Some 58.8 million people died worldwide in 2004, most of them over 60, the report said. Nearly one in five deaths was a child under 5.The heart disease death rate was virtually unchanged from WHO's previous study on death causes, based on 2002 figures.The rate for infectious diseases dropped from 2002, when they accounted for 19.1 of the world's deaths, partly because estimates for AIDS deaths were revised downward last year, said Mathers.Malaria deaths are also somewhat lower, and some of the other child causes have also come down a bit, Mathers said, adding that the number of deaths from measles has dropped thanks to wider use of vaccination.Women die more often from heart disease than men. The rate for females is 31.5 percent, and for males 26.8 percent, the report said.Mathers said the percentage for women was higher because there were more women living at older ages than men.But in general, men are more affected by heart diseases, he said.
Men in many parts of the world have a higher risk, he said, adding that they are more often overweight or obese, get insufficient physical activity and eat more fat and salt.Filling out the top 12 causes of death are respiratory infections including pneumonia in fourth place, 7.2 percent; respiratory diseases, including asthma and allergies, 6.9 percent; accidental injuries and drownings, 6.6 percent; newborn health problems, 5.4 percent; digestive diseases, 3.5 percent; suicide, murder and conflict, 2.8 percent; neuropsychiatric disorders, 2.1 percent; diabetes, 1.9 percent; and maternal health problems related to pregnancy or birth 0.9 percent.Dr. Ties Boerma, who heads the agency's statistics department, said there is always a time delay in assembling such data from a number of countries.Countries have a backlog of two, three years in publicizing their own information, he said.In countries where no death registration data are available, the figures are taken from research studies, which take a few years to get published, Boerma said.On the Net:
http://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/2004_report_update/en/in dex.html
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Syria orders US school, cultural center closed By ALBERT AJI, Associated Press Writer OCT 28,08
DAMASCUS, Syria – The Syrian government ordered an American school and a U.S. cultural center in Damascus closed Tuesday in response to a deadly U.S. attack on a village near the Iraq border, the state-run news agency said.U.S. officials said the raid killed a top operative of al-Qaida in Iraq who intelligence suggested was about to conduct an attack in Iraq, but Syria and the Iraqi government criticized the raid.
Outside the American School in Damascus' upscale Maliki neighborhood, activities seemed normal. Drivers waited outside the building to pick up the foreign, mostly Arab pupils as they left for home shortly before sunset.Several students and a foreign teacher said they were not aware of the closure order and declined to comment further. There was no sign of extraordinary security, with the normal contingent of three Syrian policemen standing guard near the gate.Monana Sabban, the mother of a first grader at the school, told The Associated Press over the phone that the students were told only that the school staff would meet later Tuesday and inform parents by telephone of any new developments.The school and the cultural center, which is linked to the U.S. embassy, cater to the small American community in the Syrian capital and other foreign residents.Syria said U.S. troops in four helicopters on Sunday attacked a building inside Syria, near the border with Iraq, and killed eight people.The Syrian Cabinet condemned the raid Tuesday, calling it a barbaric act.This brutal crime represents a climax of state terrorism exercised by the U.S. administration, said a Cabinet statement. It accused the United States of violating the U.N. charter, international law and international legitimacy, according to SANA.The decision to close the American school and cultural center was made at a Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Naji Otari. Ministers of education and culture were instructed to implement the move, SANA said.In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters Tuesday that he had heard about the order, but he declined to comment further because the U.S. had not been officially notified by the Syrian government.
Wood said Syria has taken steps in the right direction about stopping foreign fighters from moving into Iraq, but there is more they must do, including better screening of people coming into the Damascus airport and better patrolling of borders.The Syrians know what they need to do. We want to see those things happen, Wood said.U.S.-Syrian relations plummeted after the February 2005 assassination in neighboring Lebanon of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, for which many blamed Damascus.Washington pulled out its ambassador and clamped a diplomatic boycott on Syria, accusing it of destabilizing Lebanon, sending insurgents to Iraq and supporting militant anti-Israel groups Hezbollah and Hamas.Syria, which has for years been on a State Department list of nations that it says support terrorism, denies involvement in Hariri's assassination and calls the groups it supports legitimate resistance movements.Also Tuesday, Syria demanded the U.N. Security Council to condemn the attack and take action against the U.S.Syria expects the Security Council and United Nations members to shoulder their responsibilities to prevent such a dangerous violation in the future and hold the aggressor responsible, said the government's letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, according to SANA. In another move reflecting Syria's objection to the U.S. raid and apparently also to Baghdad's lack of a stronger response to it, the Syrian government postponed a meeting of the joint Iraqi-Syrian Supreme Committee that was scheduled to convene in Baghdad on Nov. 12. Iraq has said it doesn't approve of the raid into Syria even if the U.S. claims such operations are legitimate. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Iraq doesn't want its territory used for attacks in neighboring nations, but he also urged Syria to crack down on organizations operating on its territory that have the intention of harming Iraq.
N. Korea Threatens to Reduce S. Korea to Debris Tuesday, October 28, 2008 10:59 AM
North Korea has threatened to reduce South Korea to rubble unless it stops what the North calls a policy of confrontation. The harsh attack came after citizens from the South sent anti-government leaflets over the North in balloons. The latest leaflets made allegations about the North's leader, Kim Jong-il. Speculation about the leader's health has been rife since he failed to appear at a series of nation-praising events in recent months. The puppet authorities had better bear in mind that the advanced pre-emptive strike of our own style will reduce everything ... to debris, not just setting them on fire, the North's military said in a statement to the official KCNA news agency. It will turn out to be a just war... to build an independent reunified state on it, it added.
Military Talk
Military representatives from the North and the South held a rare scheduled meeting on Monday, at which the North complained directly about the leaflets. Analysts say the North refrained from bellicose military threats while it was receiving regular aid from the South. But the current government in Seoul, led by President Lee Myung-back, has been taking a harder line, amid questions over whether the South's so-called Sunshine Policy of engagement with the North was working. President Lee has advocated tying aid to progress on the North's nuclear disarmament. The South says the leaflet campaigns are nothing to do with the government. But the North's military statement said the acts of non-government organisations were nothing but premeditated operations against the North.
Leaflet Balloons
Many batches of leaflets have been sent from the South over the years. Activists had recently sent a new batch of tens of thousands of leaflets, attached to balloons, despite warnings from Seoul not to do so. The leaflets were printed in waterproof ink on plastic sheets and carried the names of South Korean civilians and prisoners of war believed to be held in the North, as well as a family tree said to chart Kim Jong-il's relationships with several women who bore him children. A North Korean defector now leading the leaflet campaign in the South, Pak Sang-hak, has reportedly said he has no plans to stop sending the airborne messages. US and South Korean officials say Mr Kim may have fallen seriously ill in August, raising questions about leadership and also about who is making decisions about the country's nuclear weapons ambitions.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Russia, China sign landmark oil pipeline deal by Dario Thuburn Dario Thuburn – Tue Oct 28, 9:31 am ET
MOSCOW (AFP) – Russia and China on Tuesday signed a long-awaited deal to build an oil pipeline from Siberia to China after talks between Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.The leaders watched as Chinese state energy major CNPC and Russian state pipeline monopoly Transneft signed the deal to build the pipeline from the Siberian town of Skovorodino to the Chinese border.The pipeline agreed on Tuesday would have a capacity of 15 million tons of oil per year and would be a branch of the main East Siberia-Pacific Ocean trunk pipeline, which is still under construction, officials said.We should deepen cooperation in the energy sphere. Long-term cooperation will help economic development and stability on world markets, Wen said at the opening of a Russia-China business conference with Putin in Moscow.Even after lengthy negotiations on energy ties between the two neighbours, Russia is still only the fifth-largest exporter of crude oil to energy-hungry China, despite being the world's number two producer after Saudi Arabia.Amid lower energy prices, analysts say China is now seizing its chance.We have to aim for real results. We've discussed this for many years but the results do not correspond to what they should be for two neighbouring powers, Zhang Guobao, China's top energy official, told the conference.We need to build oil and gas pipelines, increase downstream and upstream cooperation and increase cooperation in the nuclear sphere, said Zhang, head of China's State Energy Bureau, speaking through a Russian interpreter.The length of the pipeline to the Chinese border would be around 70 kilometres (44 miles). The pipeline is then planned to link into the Chinese pipeline network to reach the oil hub of Daqing in northern China.Russian newspapers on Tuesday also reported that talks were underway for a multi-billion dollar credit from the Chinese government to Transneft and Russian state-run oil company Rosneft that would help boost energy exports.The Vedomosti daily quoted Sergei Sanakoyev, a government expert, saying Moscow and Beijing had agreed a contract to supply China with 15 million tons of oil per year in exchange for up to 25 billion dollars (20 billion euros).But Vedomosti also quoted an official saying there was no deal yet.
The question of credits for Rosneft and Trasneft was discussed into the evening. If no agreement is reached on Tuesday then the signing of the deal on oil supplies could be delayed, the official was quoted as saying.The Kommersant daily quoted a source close to the management of Rosneft saying on Monday: There is no final agreement but we are oriented on these parameters. We have the whole night ahead to find an agreement.Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, has been hit by the financial crisis because of a slide in Moscow's stock markets and its massive exposure to foreign loans that it has used to expand the company in recent years.
During his visit, Wen also said that Russia and China could help boost global economic stability through greater cooperation.Russia and China are growing economies with major influence in the world... They can help strengthen the world economy, Wen told investors in Moscow.We should strengthen ties, look together at anti-crisis measures and coordinate macroeconomic policy, he added.
Russia opposes EU monitors in Georgia's breakaway provinces OCT 28,08
SAINT PETERSBURG (AFP) – Russia Tuesday declared its opposition to deploying European Union monitors in Georgia's rebel provinces, while Russian rights groups reported pillaging in Georgian border villages.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after meeting here with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner that security in the Georgian breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is assured by Russian military contingents after the recognition of their independence by Russia.As far as the European Union monitors are concerned, we believe the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan should be respected. It says they should be deployed in areas adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Lavrov said.The European monitoring mission, comprising 225 unarmed observers, deployed in Georgia on October 1 as part of a ceasefire agreement agreed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to end an August war between Tbilisi and Moscow.The EU has called for its monitors to be allowed into the rebel regions to monitor the ceasefire, but Moscow and rebel leaders have so far refused.Russia and the breakaway regions have criticised the monitoring mission, with Moscow accusing observers of taking a light view of alleged ceasefire violations by the Georgians.Several Russian rights groups Tuesday denounced the pillaging by Ossetians of Georgian villages on the border of South Ossetia, where people have tried to return to their homes after the August war.
People come during the day, look at their burnt-out homes, in ruins or ransacked, without even going inside. They don't dare spend the night nor try to repair the damage, said Varvara Pakhomenko, from the non-governmental organisation Demos, at a press conference in Moscow, after a visit to region from October 12 to 23.She said she saw bandits from South Ossetia ransack what was left of a school in the village of Kochki, some 100 metres (yards) from a Georgian police station, which she claimed police do not leave.The EU observers (in the region) are powerless because they do not have arms, she added.In the Akhalgori district, which passed under the control of Russians and Ossetians after the war, some Ossetian officials insist that people take Russian citizenship, said Tatiana Kassatkina of Memorial, adding that more than 2,000 residents have left the district.It is the only district where people have complained about theft by Russian soldiers. According to the residents, they have pillaged abandoned homes, and sometimes ones that are occupied, she said.Russian forces moved into Georgia on August 8 to repel a Georgian military attempt to retake South Ossetia, whose breakaway administration had long enjoyed extensive support from Moscow.Sporadic violence has continued despite the ceasefire, under which Russian forces later withdrew from Georgia but not the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Moscow has recognised as independent states despite protest from Tbilisi and the West.Lavrov is scheduled to hold more talks Thursday on the situation in Georgia with the Dutch foreign minister, Maxime Verhagen, at The Hague.
Russia's Medvedev Says US Arms Sanctions Short-sighted OCT 28,08
MOSCOW (AFP)--Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday slammed as short- sighted" U.S. sanctions on Russia's main arms firm over the alleged sale of sensitive military technologies to Iran.Rosoboronexport was one of 13 firms place on a U.S. State Department's black list last week under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Non-Proliferation Act.It is unfair competition, simply an attempt to cut off suppliers, Medvedev was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. We consider such sanctions as short-sighted.Medvedev said, however, that Russia will practically not feel the sanctions, which ban any U.S. government body from doing business with the Russian company and have also targeted firms from China, Syria and Venezuela.The U.S. says the sanctions are meant to punish the firms for sales that have potential to make a material contribution to the development of weapons of mass destruction or cruise or ballistic missile systems.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday described the U.S. move as inadmissible and warned the sanctions would affect talks between world powers on Iran's controversial nuclear program.
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Vietnamese president in Russia for economic talks Monday October 27, 8:50 am ET By Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press Writer.Vietnamese president visits Russia for talks focusing on trade and energy ties
MOSCOW (AP) -- Russia and Vietnam agreed Monday to boost their energy cooperation and explore new prospective oil fields.The agreements were signed after talks in Moscow between visiting Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet and Russian officials.
The deals between Russian energy companies and Vietnam's PetroVietnam envisage joint exploration of oil fields in Vietnam and third countries, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at a news conference after talks with Triet.We are planning to build new energy facilities in Vietnam and modernize the existing ones, Medvedev said.He said that the Russian-Vietnamese trade stood at $1 billion last year and was expected to reach $1.5 billion this year. Medvedev added that the two countries hope to eventually raise the figure to $10 billion.Medvedev suggested that Russia and Vietnam trade in their national currencies, but Triet didn't comment on the idea and Vietnam's attitude to that was unclear.Our relations have a very good future, Medvedev said.Medvedev added that Russia and Vietnam need to work together to make the world multi-polar and significantly safer than it is today. Russian leaders make frequent calls for a multi-polar world, reflecting their desire to counter the perceived U.S. global domination.Triet called for strengthening economic ties between Russia and Vietnam. He also said that Vietnam would like to expand cooperation with Russia in the military-technical field and boost other ties.The Soviet Union pumped billions of dollars into the Vietnamese economy in the 1960s and 1970s and built numerous industrial facilities there. Moscow helped Vietnam build a major offshore oil exploration facility, and a Russian-Vietnamese joint venture, Vietsovpetro, still accounts for the bulk of Vietnam's crude production.Vietnam and the former Soviet Union had very strong ideological ties, but the relations weakened considerably after the Soviet breakup in 1991. They have started to warm up again in recent years as the Kremlin has sought to expand ties with former allies as part of its efforts to restore Russia's global clout.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
WORLD GOVERNMENT - HERE NOW ALMOST
WORLD GOVERNMENT
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
DANIEL 12:4,1
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
REVELATION 13:1-3,7,8,12,16-18
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
REVELATION 17:3,7,9-10,12,18
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)
REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
EU CALLS FOR WORLD GOVERNMENT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7D21rPpBrk
LIST OF WORLD TRADE BLOCS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trade_blocs
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
http://www.wto.org/
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
http://www.cfr.org/
COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS (EUROPE)
http://www.ecfr.eu/
CLUB OF ROME
http://www.clubofrome.org/
MONDAY MOURNING MIDEAST STORIES
http://www.mmorning.com/default.asp
COUNTRIES AND REGIONS
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/0,,pagePK:180619~theSitePK:136917,00.html
Oct 28, 2008 Clear-out time for IMF, World Bank By Hossein Askari
In 1944, as the end of World War 11 was coming into view and in the aftermath of financial disorder following the Great Depression, the two Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), were created. The World Bank was mandated with financing the reconstruction of Europe and with long-term economic development projects in developing countries; the IMF was mandated to be the guardian of international monetary stability. However, over the years, both institutions deviated significantly from their respective mandates to become politicized, over-ambitious and grasping all decision-making in countries that fell in dire need of their resources. In the process, they have outgrown
their size, become inefficient and have lost control of their own affairs.
They now duplicate each other to a point that many ministers of finance and heads of central banks do not know the difference between the World Bank and the IMF. As a result, a number of academics and politicians have called for the fusion of the two institutions. Both institutions have incurred financial losses: the World Bank had to downsize in the 1980s, and the IMF had to do so recently. Both institutions have also played havoc with the development process of many developing countries, pushing them deep into debt and economic decline for a number of years. As the world economy has been recently shaken by unprecedented financial, food and energy crises, resulting in the socialization of the financial system of many advanced countries, the media, politicians and academics have naturally wondered whether the two Bretton Woods institutions have carried out their mandates efficiently. Unfortunately, the performance record of both institutions has been deeply disappointing. Both institutions have been criticized by many leading figures for their ill-designed policies. Over more than three decades, the World Bank has concentrated on policy lending in privatization, demobilization of armies and downsizing of countries' civil services, while neglecting agriculture development in many potentially agriculture rich countries as well as infrastructure. Such diminished emphasis on agriculture has undermined food security in many developing countries facing rapid population growth. The IMF has over the past decade renounced its monetary role. Dominated by political slogans, it has portrayed itself, instead, as a poverty fighter. Both institutions wanted to promote good governance and fight corruption in Africa, as if corruption existed only in Africa and nowhere else. Although fighting corruption has no clear or measurable meaning, most likely turning humans into angels, such demagoguery shows how far removed both institutions have been diverted from their Bretton Woods mandates.
While intransigent and dictating policies to developing countries, the IMF has always been congratulatory of US policies. Staunchly supporting former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's bailing out of hedge funds and excessive monetary and deregulation policies, the IMF has urged the European Central Bank to lower interest rates and pursue the same policy stance as the US Fed. In contradiction with its mandate to stabilize exchange rates as well as take an orthodox monetary approach to the balance of payments, the IMF was strongly, and at the same time wrongly, supportive of a deep depreciation of the US dollar through very low interest rates, as called for in its past World Economic Outlook documents, to solve external imbalances. Of the Group of 20 meeting in Kleinmond, South Africa, in 2007, Reuters reported The view of the IMF is that the move in the dollar depreciation is in the correct direction, Evidently, fast depreciation of the dollar contributed to an acceleration of commodity price inflation, food riots and crippling energy prices. As a result of the explosion of food and energy prices, real incomes have fallen sharply, economic growth has slowed and unemployment has started to rise.
Unlike natural disasters (such as floods, tsunamis and earthquakes) that cannot be predicted, financial crisis have never been random events. They were fully documented by classical economists in the 19th century and were shown to be an unavoidable result of speculative credit boom. Irving Fisher (1933) ruled out all causes for a financial crisis except a sustained speculative credit boom and over-indebtedness. Did the IMF predict the present financial crisis when it was in the stage of incubation? No. Even after the financial crisis broke in August 2007, the IMF continued to be supportive of present Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's aggressive monetary policy, which has precipitated economic recession and downfall of giant financial institutions. Recently, the IMF has fully endorsed gigantic bailouts proposed by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and European authorities and socialization of the banking sector, without explaining reasons for such endorsements and their economic, financial, and social implications. While Bernanke has recently confessed to the US Congress concerning the failure of monetary policy and suggested a stimulus program to cope with recession, the IMF has remained in a passive position. There is no plan that can be authentically called an IMF plan put forward by IMF for dealing with the financial crisis. The world community cannot afford two big institutions being the vested interest of highly paid officials and failing to achieve their basic mandates. World leaders should consider reshaping these two institutions according to the type of organization they were in the 1950s and 1960s. A major cause of the present crisis is that financial institutions refuse to deal with their basic mandates and want to extend their role to areas that do not fall under their jurisdiction. In this respect, central banks in many countries, most notably the US Federal Reserve, do not want to manage liquidity and regulate the banking system; instead, they want to promote full employment and growth, based on the Taylor rule (which stipulates how nominal interest rates should be changed in response to divergences of actual GDP from potential GDP and divergences of actual rates of inflation from a target rate of inflation) or inflation targeting.
Similarly, the IMF does not want to deal with monetary issues; it wants to fight poverty and corruption. In doing so, it has recruited anthropologists and social workers and has lost over the years its monetary know-how, as new generations of staff are no longer familiar with IMF practices as they existed. The World Bank does not want to specialize in financing growth projects; it wants to promote democracy, fight corruption and promote good governance and civil society. Both institutions have been advocating reform in member countries; now, they have to admit that they themselves need reform. The IMF should remodel itself into the organization it was in the 1950s and 1960s, basically deleting its poverty, social and structural mission, and closing its resident representative missions that number over 90 in developing countries. It is clear that more than a decade since the IMF decided to fight poverty in Africa, it has impoverished itself by going deeply into the red and has only increased poverty and destabilized a number of African countries. Often, the IMF was told that poverty reduction was the prerogative of the World Bank and a large number of regional development banks. Yet, the IMF never accepted this truth and kept on insisting on its poverty fighter role. Its poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF) amounts to a pure budgetary loan disbursed every six months to a country to finance pure government expenditures, namely large increments in salaries of the army and civil service. Such use of IMF money makes a country indefinitely dependent on the IMF to meet its military and civil service salaries. The PRGF resources and the huge operational costs for running PRGF programs should instead be added to the resources of regional development banks and finance only development projects (such as in health, infrastructure, education, agriculture, energy and so forth). The world needs an IMF that is in charge of macroeconomic policies, namely fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies, leaving trade policies to the World Trade Organization and economic development and its financing to the World Bank. The IMF has to deploy its resources and recruit experts in central banking and in the financial sector, and put in place programs for rebuilding sound and safe banking sectors in every member country, most importantly in major industrial countries. The IMF has a long way to go to fill up the regulatory gap in the financial sector, banking, securities, and futures and derivatives. It should not underestimate this important task.
The IMF has to be a lender of last resort only to central banks, or monetary authorities, of a country, using one facility for all countries, and on a temporary basis. Keeping a country for several years under a program will be totally damaging to the country as the country cannot regain control of its economic development policies and will remain forever under an IMF program. Gold used to be an anchor for central bank's issuance, and used to be, par excellence, the settlement means for international balances that cannot be settled with securities and claims. Now, we have an environment with a fiat money (paper) standard with flexible exchange rates. The IMF has to control monetary and credit aggregates in such an environment in order to establish monetary stability. For each country, the IMF should establish a benchmark monetary program against which monetary performance can be evaluated periodically. Such an indicative monetary program should be consonant with exchange rate and price stability and external sector viability. The IMF should monitor credit aggregates by sector and by maturities, and regularly evaluate the soundness of the banking system. Fast expansion of credit can only fuel speculation and deteriorate creditworthiness in a country and lead to a financial crisis when profits starts diminishing rapidly. Distorted maturities can be a cause of instability. The IMF should discourage factor and product-price distortions. Most importantly, the IMF should discourage the use of interest rates as a policy tool, as this instrument has turned out to cause instability, distort prices and create a highly unpredictable monetary framework. The World Bank should concentrate on fighting poverty and speeding up economic growth in developing countries. It has to channel International Development Association resources (low-cost funding for poorer countries) unconditionally to eligible countries and direct these resources only to long-disbursing development projects and not to quick-disbursing budgetary aid. The poorer countries need much more funding for health, education and infrastructure and for private-sector growth. World governments should also understand better the mandates of the Bretton Woods institutions. Such understanding would help both institutions remain confined to their true mandates. In recent days, the major concern with both of these institutions has been the unfolding sex scandal involving the head of the IMF, managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The IMF board at the weekend cleared Strauss-Kahn of harassment, favoritism and abuse of power after it hired a Washington DC law firm to investigate his affair with an IMF economist. The board's statement on October 25 nevertheless noted that the incident was regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment on the part of the managing director.
That scandal followed on the heels of another involving the former head of the World Bank (resulting in his resignation). And in the past, rumors have been rife throughout the institution about impropriety on the part of board members themselves. These institutions are in need of serious management overhaul. At the same time, the management of these institutions is dominated by the US, a handful of European countries and Japan. While the institutions preach good governance and management, they have been unable to adapt themselves. China is arguably the most important economic power in the world after the United States. Yet Britain and France dwarf its influence. Latin Americans are similarly under-represented. The list goes on. Will the present financial crisis shake up the Bretton Woods institutions and make them rise up to the challenges facing the world economy? This will be answered in the months to come. Nonetheless, drifting further away from initial Bretton Woods mandates and not improving their management will be costly for the world economy. Resources will be squandered. Frustration among politicians and bankers will increase. There have already been calls in many quarters and reputable newspapers (such as London's Financial Times) for a world central bank to take charge of world monetary affairs and stabilize financial markets. It's time to act ahead of the curve. Hossein Askari is professor of international business and international affairs at George Washington University. 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings)
EABC roots for southern African common market 2008-10-24 10:26:03
By Hannah Mwandoloma, Kampala
East African Business Council chairman Reginald Mengi has urged regional economic communities to work for faster expansion of intra-African trade and the creation of a common market. He described that as among the most reliable options the blocs? member countries have to withstand and cushion the impact of the on-going international financial crisis. Mengi made the appeal in an address here on Wednesday to the just-ended two-day tripartite summit of the East African Community (EAC), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) member countries. He said it was of crucial importance for Africa to expedite the process of enhanced economic integration by pooling its small economies together and quickly. Africa can achieve economies of scale necessary for rapid industrialisation and global competitiveness the private sector is ready to play its part, Mengi said. He appealed to leaders at the summit to have enough political will to adopt urgent measures that would trigger a new direction and accelerated expansion of intra-African trade. The private sector in the 26 EAC, SADC and Comesa member countries would like to see speedy regional integration which would maximise economic growth and wealth creation, he stated. The EABC chief, who is also chairman of the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI), noted that lack of adequate protection of industries hindered the achievement of the goal.
Accordingly, he called on the countries concerned to go beyond the establishment of a free trade area and consider establishing a customs union. He saw the union providing for common external tariffs that would protect the countries from being dumping grounds and protecting the viability and competitiveness of their respective industries. Mengi also warned that counterfeit goods threaten the competitiveness of industries and eventually ruin the economies of the countries they flood. According to WHO (World Health Organisation), up to 50 per cent of medicines distributed to the global market especially to poor countries are fake or counterfeit and according to the statistics of one particular country represented here today, fake drugs contributed to about 20 per cent of all deaths in 2007, he said. Observing that fake drugs were a threat to people?s lives, he pleaded for legislation to combat them and for care to be taken not to confuse generic drugs with fake and counterfeit ones.
EABC was founded in November 1997 as an apex body of business associations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Its formation was actively supported by the EAC
secretariat in view of the increasing participation of the private sector players in issues of regional integration. The council advocates free movement of people in the region, formation of private-public sector alliances to strengthen small and medium size enterprises, pooling of resources to develop infrastructure in East Africa on a regional scale and the strengthening of good governance and security. It has since grown to become the voice of the private sector in East Africa, its mission being to be an effective change agent for fostering an enabling business environment for a diversified, competitive, export-led, integrated and sustainable economy. President Jakaya Kikwete opened the Kampala summit, which ended yesterday, recommending a merger of the three economic blocs in eastern and southern Africa to speed up development in the region. The heads of state and government from 26 countries represented at the summit endorsed the idea in principle. SOURCE: Guardian
America's Monetary Woes Let the Air Out of Europe Pain from the euro zone to the emerging East.From today's Wall Street Journal
As this latest monetary bubble bursts (see here), one region that's especially feeling the pain is Eastern Europe. The emerging markets that thought they had come of age by joining the EU or the World Trade Organization in recent years are now gasping for the credit that once flowed freely.Many of the headlines so far have focused on Hungary, which moved last week to defend the rapidly declining forint with a three-point interest rate hike, to 11.5%. Budapest had made strides in reducing its budget deficit from more than 9% of GDP just a few years ago to a projected 3%-4% next year. But the government's reliance on foreign capital inflows, which tend to be dollar liabilities, now has markets guessing it won't be able to finance those liabilities.Ukraine is also struggling, though mostly because the dollar's rise and falling steel prices have left its businesses short of the foreign currency they have used to fuel the country's strong growth the past few years. Substitute oil for steel and you could say the same thing about Russia and its businesses.Moscow has much larger foreign-currency reserves than Kiev, and it is using that money to keep the Russian economy from falling even further than it already has. But Russia is paying for its inability to adopt the rule of law and diversify its economy beyond oil. It has remained a commodity play whose financial prospects fall when the price of oil falls. Vladimir Putin thought he could make Russia a great power again on petrodollars alone. Instead he's built a Saudi Arabia with more time zones and nuclear weapons.
Once upon a time, many countries to the west of this trio might have faced similar problems. The introduction of the euro has changed that, removing currency volatility within the 15-nation bloc and making it a source of stability. National politicians who might have tried to devalue their way out of trouble have been kept in check.That said, the wild swings in the euro-dollar price this decade, and especially this year, are now hurting the Continent. Such dramatic currency-price swings tend to result in misallocated capital, and the damage from that misallocation, and its inevitable correction, can be severe.The European Central Bank and its president, Jean-Claude Trichet, have been praised in these pages and elsewhere for keeping their focus on inflation. In retrospect, however, the lack of policy coordination between the ECB and the U.S. Federal Reserve has contributed to the sharp currency swings that send distorted price signals. We think Mr. Trichet and his colleagues were more right than the Fed has been, but the currency turmoil of the last 14 months has hurt everyone. The world needs better monetary coordination going forward.The ECB has signaled that it will continue to cut rates beyond the 50-basis-point reduction this month, and with the weakness in Europe's economy that may be appropriate. As with the earlier cut, the Europeans should move in step with the Fed to avoid more volatility -- and maybe overshooting on the downside. When a global economy finds itself in a global crisis, the world's leaders can't afford to work against one another.
President Sleiman at the 12th Francophonie Summit Lebanon’s message of openness and harmonious coexistence.The family photo of the summiteers in Quebec (President Sleiman is second from left in the second row)
Prime Minister Saniora meeting on Friday with Deputy Premier Abou-Jamra (left) and Minister Shamseddin.A warm handshake at the Quebec summit between presidents Sleiman and Sarkozy.And between the Lebanese president and Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper.President Sleiman addressing the summit.Mrs. Wafa Sleiman flanked by official personalities.A warm welcome for President Sleiman in Montreal.Addressing the Lebanese community in Canada’s second city.In conversation with Canadian MP Maria Mourani.President and Mrs. Sleiman attending the mass at St. Maroun’s Cathedral
On Thursday President Michel Sleiman received a delegation of graduates of the Lebanese University’s Information Faculty, with whom he discussed a number of matters. He first explained that his objective was to reposition Lebanon on the international scene”. He added, We are a country that is distinguished by its pluralism and its role in the wider world. But before assuming this role, it needs to reposition itself correctly in relation to international institutions and on the Arab, regional and international levels as a state having organized constitutional institutions and a unified position on the level of foreign policy, he said.
After underlining the improvement on the political and economic levels to the extent that Lebanon succeeds in overcoming the international financial crisis, the president spoke of preparations for the coming legislative elections, which have begun with the new electoral law, which he said was not up to the level of the aspirations of the Lebanese, but it was voted unanimously by the members of Parliament, who represent the people. It was necessary to respect this expression of constitutionality, he said.The president -- who is to visit Italy and the Vatican in a few days -- assured his visitors that the elections would take place as scheduled and stressed the need to respect their results, before announcing that a procedure was being established for the appointment of top-level civil servants, so that the appointments are made in a sound way, on the basis of criteria of competence and equality of opportunity.
On the dialogue conference, the president said he believed it was possible the meeting could have a larger number of participants, but on condition that all the participants agree and that the number of those taking part is limited and reasonable.On the subject of the reconciliations, the president argued that an important step forward had been taken on this level, notably on the Christian level.
Asked if he intended to have a parliamentary bloc, he replied, I’m a consensual president for the whole country. But that doesn’t prevent the presence of independents. It’s not necessary for them to be friends of the Administration, but rather friends of the country. I don’t need a parliamentary bloc, but a national parliamentary bloc that places the national interest above everything else and which stands behind the country, not behind the president.In the evening, the president spoke with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, reportedly on the matter of appointments. The prime minister told reporters that following the president’s return from Italy and his own return from two quick visits to Kuwait and Cairo, the Council of Ministers would hold several meetings to discuss the budget, problems affecting the regions, the projects of the Council of Development and Reconstruction and the activities of the Higher Relief Committee.Asked about the Iraqi government’s donation of two million dollars to assist Iraqis who had taken refuge in Lebanon, Saniora confirmed that the Council of Ministers had accepted this money and has placed it in an account in the central bank, where it still is.
Abou-Jamra
The rebellion of Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abou-Jamra, who is insisting on his prerogatives, was at the center of a meeting in the prime minister’s office between Saniora and Abou-Jamra, after mediation by Minister Ibrahim Shamseddin, in the presence of the latter. Following the meeting, Abou-Jamra said that what happened on Tuesday night [when he had left a cabinet meeting in protest against the reluctance of the authorities to acknowledge his claims for wider authority] was a withdrawal, not a boycott. He stressed that the meeting with Saniora served as an exchange of viewpoints and an attempt to resolve the problems concerning an important topic, namely the by-laws of the Council of Ministers.Asked about the result of the meeting, Abou-Jamra said it was neither positive nor negative, adding that what happened in the cabinet is not necessarily the cause of animosity or a rupture with anyone… We’ve agreed since Doha that the state must continue to function…The Doha Agreement stipulates that there should be no boycotts of or resignations from the national unity government.Questioned on the Abou-Jamra affair by a journalist following a meeting with Sleiman, Saniora stressed the necessity of coordination among all the ministries and with the deputy prime minister, who has a value added, but in conformity with the Constitution.After meeting with Saniora, Farid Makari, deputy House speaker and like Abou-Jamra a Greek Orthodox, told reporters he had raised the matter of redynamizing the Orthodox role in the key posts of the state.
In comments to journalists, Abou-Jamra -- a member of the parliamentary Bloc of Reform and Change led by General Michel Aoun – said the deputy prime minister should be a real deputy to the prime minister, adding that the law should be amended to allow the deputy prime minister to chair cabinet sessions and to exercise the premier’s powers in the prime minister’s absence as well as have an office at the Grand Serail.
In comments to the LBCI TV station, Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said the position of deputy prime minister was not mentioned in the Constitution. And MP Hagop Pakradounian indicated that the subject of the deputy prime minister’s prerogatives has no constitutional character, but is rather a matter of practice that has existed since 1943.Lebanese Forces (LF) MP Antoine Zahra, questioned on why he had not commented on the matter, replied that this crisis has been provoked artificially. It is not a political affair and it certainly isn’t a Christian affair. And another LF MP, Farid Habib, suggested that all the talk about the matter was being used to cover [MP Michel] Aoun’s visit to Teheran.On Friday afternoon, however, some arrangement seems to have been reached after a meeting between the prime minister and Abou-Jamra from which the latter emerged seemingly satisfied.
The Quebec summit
A high point on the country’s political and cultural calendar is the biannual summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie, (IOF) bringing together countries in which French is either the major language or -- as in Lebanon -- a language of exceptional importance on the cultural, scientific and business levels.
Having missed the previous two IOF summits, that of Ouagadougou and of Bucharest, Lebanon -- i.e. its president -- was granted the right to deliver one of the six addresses at the opening session of the twelfth IOF summit, held in Quebec City on October 17 and 18.President Sleiman’s speech, the fourth on the list, dealt with a number of subjects, including the beneficial presence of IOF observers at recent Lebanese elections, the deforestation of the country, Lebanon’s vocation as a center of religions, cultures and civilizations, but also its need for peace.He also requested the world’s French-speaking community to support the independence and stability of a prosperous Lebanon, and that community’s greater involvement in the peacekeeping operations. He ended his speech by recalling the Francophonie Games to take place in Beirut (September 27 to October 6, 2009), after Culture Minister had a day earlier promised that Lebanon would guarantee the safety of the athletes and performing artists who took part, and that Beirut could lay on a security deployment at least as intensive as that at the Quebec summit.The president was unable to attend the discussions on the French language on Sunday morning, but met with Abdou Diouf, to whom he announced, according to Dr. Khalil Karam, that Lebanon proposed to establish an observatory of the French language and to bring together all the actors on the French-speaking scene in the Middle East.Dr. Karam, personal representative of President Sleiman for Francophonie affairs, added that the president had congratulated Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ottawa and Beirut (1958-2008) and had obtained from him unlimited backing for the holding of the Francophonie Games.
President Sleiman was however unable to attend a breakfast hosted by the premier of New Brunswick, Mr. Shawn, co-host of the summit, for Stephen Harper, Quebec Premier Jean Charest and other Canadian provincial premiers. President Sleiman traveled to Montreal, Canada’s second-largest city, where he attended a religious service at St. Maroun’s Cathedral celebrated by Bishop Joseph Maroun with the help of the local Greek Catholic bishop, Ibrahim Ibrahim. Also present were sheikhs Saïd Fawaz, a Sunnite, Hassan Ezzeddin, a Druze, and Sayed Nabil Abbas, a Shiite. He subsequently received Arab ambassadors as well as members of the Canadian Parliament of Lebanese origin, before meeting with members of the local Lebanese community at the Intercontinental Hotel, one of the city’s most luxurious. Members of the community responded with enthusiasm to the invitation of Ambassador Massoud Maalouf, in cooperation with Khalil Habr, consul-general in Montreal. It was no ordinary thing for members of the Lebanese community to meet with a Lebanese president who had come to see them in their exile, and General Sleiman did not disappoint them. He received a standing ovation by the crowd in the elegant Salle St-Laurent, and his bodyguards had great difficulty in clearing a way for him through the crowd. Preceded by the director of protocol at the presidential palace, the president and his wife joined ministers Fawzi Salloukh (Foreign Affairs), Nassib Lahoud (minister of State) and Tammam Salam (Culture), while all present, belonging to all Lebanese communities, sang the national anthem with gusto.
The president told them he brought with him the greetings of every part of Lebanon -- the Kannoubin Valley, the Bekaa, the South, the Mountain and Beirut, showing by these brief and simple words that he represented all Lebanon. He then reiterated the pride he felt that Lebanon’s expatriates had raised so high the image and name of their country in North America as doctors, engineers, businessmen, politicians, lawyers and a variety of other callings. He congratulated them on their hard work and success, and especially for bearing witness to their homeland’s culture of openness and dialogue. It is the image of our Lebanon… a message of civilization which has been distorted… but which has been able to withstand attempts to disfigure it, thanks to the support of the Lebanese.He acknowledged that the way ahead would be long and would demand still more sacrifices. We still need the kind of energy you showed when you ventured forth boldly on the uncertain path of emigration. But this time for your country, to make it once more the Switzerland of the Middle East.
He told them Lebanon’s banking system was sound and stable, despite the financial crisis shaking the planet. Indeed, deposits in our banks have even increased, as have conversions of dollars into Lebanese pounds. Investments are still flowing into Lebanon and I predict a golden age in the not-distant future.We want to return Lebanon to its people, to its emigrants, and be able to say to them: Return to Lebanon.And he repeated, The way will be long, but we are doing all we can to consolidate the dialogue… to bring our cause to those who can help us… and wherever we have gone, we have received frank and sincere support. Recalling that reconciliation is a national duty, he cited as examples of national unity first the beatification of Father Yaakoub in Martyrs’ Square on June 22, then the formal opening of the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque in the same place on October 18. We could sense this same unity in St. Maroun’s Church this morning, where sheikhs were present among the Christian prelates…The state has a great duty, and we are going to try to achieve what you are waiting for. We have decided to insert in the electoral law a provision giving emigrants the right to vote in Lebanon’s elections…
Interrupted by applause, the president continued: But its application will require some time. Let us hope that it will be attained in 2013. He also reaffirmed the special facilities of work for emigrants who return to the homeland, and spoke of the reopening of the dossier of the naturalizations in such a way as to all their rights. He noted points discussed at the summit, including a direct Montreal-Beirut flight and establishment of a zone of free exchange between Canada and Lebanon, and asked those present to assist in accomplishing these objectives. He ended by stressing the solidarity of the Lebanese and the confidence he had in them.
During his stay in Montreal, President Sleiman received a visit from Canadian MP Maria Mourani, who had just been elected to a seat in the Canadian Parliament. His discussion with Ms. Mourani -- whose family hails from the Akkar District of North Lebanon -- focused on the establishment of a direct Montreal-Beirut flight, bilateral trade (the embassy in Ottawa still has no commercial attaché, despite the presence of almost half a million Lebanese living in Canada), and the question of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. It was in the early evening that the Lebanese delegation came together at Dorval Airport, with strict security in force, closing a short stay, but one of great emotion and the bearer of great hopes.
Commentary
Don't Close The Door On Free Trade Dan Brutto 10.24.08, 12:00 AM ET
In the midst of the financial crisis, another threat is nipping at the global economy's heels: the re-emergence of protectionism.Both the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy and the outgoing European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson are among those warning that the economic troubles could breed protectionism, which would curtail economic growth when we need it most.
These admonitions come on the heels of the breakdown of the Doha round of trade talks and after much public rancor over pacts including the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.Nothing would be worse for the global economy than responding to the current crisis by closing the doors of opportunity that free trade unlocks. Free trade fuels momentous, positive change. According to the WTO, cutting trade barriers in agriculture, manufacturing and services by one-third would boost the world economy by $613 billion--that's equivalent to adding an economy the size of Canada's to the global marketplace. Free trade raises income--just look no further than the clear emergence of China and India's middle class for proof. In the U.S., exports have created 12 million jobs. Beyond the economic benefits, free trade, if pursued with a long-term, fair and sustainable approach, can also build bridges among people and nations. At a time when the world seems constantly on edge, global trade presents a unique opportunity to help us overcome some of our differences and problems, whatever they may be. One of the many lessons today's turmoil offers is that a company's success should be viewed in decades, not quarters. Having a long-term vision and the commitment to stick with it--fine-tuning as needed--sustains a company through downturns and propels steady growth.Investing for the long haul was UPS's (nyse: UPS - news - people ) approach to building its international operations, which began in earnest 20 years ago this month. Our decision to go global was met initially with some internal skepticism, in part because our leaders knew it was going to be a very expensive and labor-intensive proposition.They also recognized that it represented a big departure from our core competency as a domestic delivery service, but ultimately our executives did not waver from their vision of building an international company. As the Berlin Wall fell and China began to open its doors, they saw the emergence of a global economy. They knew that if UPS didn't adapt and become global itself, it would become irrelevant.
Today, the once-questioned decision to go global is helping to insulate UPS against the U.S. economic downturn. In part that's because many of our customers are experiencing tremendous growth even in these difficult times, because they're growing global businesses.When U.S. companies grow internationally, they learn that long-term relationships are imperative to doing business around the world. Following the demise of some of Wall Street's most trusted names, I believe that business relationships are going to take on even more importance. For multinational companies, hiring locally wherever they operate is a key part of forging these relationships.When UPS first set up operations around the world, we made the mistake of sending in large groups of U.S. expatriates to run the business. But we soon realized that we would not succeed without local knowledge and relationships. UPS's philosophy of developing home-grown talent and promotion from within has helped us establish a sustainable and community-conscious business model, while providing us a deep bench of talent that understands the local culture, language and business values.That, in turn, has earned UPS the trust of the communities we serve. For example, 99% of our 5,500 employees in China are Chinese nationals. That played a big role in China's selection of UPS as the official logistics and express delivery sponsor of the Beijing Olympics.While much of the world's trade growth has come as a result of shipping lower-cost goods from emerging markets to mature ones, higher fuel costs are shifting this pattern. Businesses in the European Union and the U.S. are finding it more cost effective to source their products from nearby locations in Eastern Europe or Mexico, respectively, forming a new trend called near-sourcing. This is helping companies better distribute risk, which is an important part of financial growth and stability. And it's also providing new opportunities. For example, in Mexico, the best-paying jobs now are export-related.Sectors that export 60% or more of their production pay Mexican workers wages that are 39% higher than the rest of the economy, and maquiladora plants typically pay 3.5 times the Mexican minimum wage. These new economic opportunities can serve as a catalyst for educational development, positive political and regulatory reforms and social stability--all of which benefit us collectively.The root cause of Wall Street's recent problems, and ultimately those of the world's financial institutions, won't be solved by global trade. But the ripple effect of those problems--which have been felt by virtually everyone on the planet--can be mitigated by ensuring the free flow of goods, information and funds around the world. Protectionism is a misnomer, as trade barriers don't protect. The world is already so integrated economically that the greatest force impacting the greatest number of lives is business. How we react to our current challenges will be critical to our future. Let us keep the doors open.
Dan Brutto is the president of UPS International.
New world order for migrants needed: TU leader by MARIA ALETA O. NIEVA, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/28/2008 12:47 AM
Some 20 million workers around the world are expected to lose their jobs due to the current global financial crisis.We’ve got a very great fear for the tens of millions of workers who will lose their jobs. We believe that we will see the impoverishment of workers who will live on less than $2 a day rise by about 40 million, said Sharan Burrow, president of the International Trade Union Confederation.Burrow is also conference chairperson of the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development’s (GFMD) Civil Society Days being held in Manila from October 27 to 28.Burrow said the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that the present financial crisis is likely to lead to the loss of some 20 million jobs worldwide.According to Burrow, the ILO said that the number or working poor living on less than a dollar a day could rise by some 40 million, and those at US$2 a day, by more than 100 million.
Asian crisis lessons
Burrow said the first who will lose their jobs will be migrant workers. This was the experience during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.This is true as sectors such a construction is being hard-hit, a sector where migrant workers are numerous. During the Asian crisis in 1997, the first reaction of governments was to announce the expulsion of migrant workers to free up jobs for nationals. Last week, in the wake of the global financial crisis, a number of governments’ announced a possible tightening of their immigration intake, she said.We urge governments to think carefully about whether that’s the right economic decision, because it can, of course, constrain economies where those migrants currently live and work, and we know that for developing countries, the financial crisis will be even deeper and felt more strongly, she added. There is a possibility that migrant workers will be forced to work illegally in other countries.There is no question that people take up other jobs in other countries for a number of reasons. In a global financial crisis, if jobs are threatened, if regular channels of migration are constrained, then clearly, that will see an increase in people desperate to make an income working without documentation in many nations, she said.
Migrants first out
There are about 40 million undocumented workers in the world with 10 million alone in the US.We’re very fearful that unless governments are conscious of the fact that, migrant workers will be on the top of the list, Burrow said.She explained that expanding regular migration, protecting rights and ensuring equal treatment and the policy coherence that world leaders must take on are some of the issues to be tackled during the two-day conference.Migration is a permanent feature of each of our nations and indeed of globalization. But all too often, we forget that it is about people, working people and their families. And hence, at its core, migration must be about human rights and dignity, she said.
Protective global architecture
The global financial crisis and climate change are critical threats to world order, which require new rules, new transparency and a new global architecture, she said.
The challenge is no less for the world leaders to ensure that the potential for the mobility of the world's people, a mobility that is born of choice and not desperation, a mobility that provides opportunities and not exploitation, is framed by a new architecture of protection, she said.Migrant workers are often seen as second-class citizens who are forced to work for their survival. Even documented workers still do not receive equal treatment, she said.We have to find a new set of rules, a global architecture for protection that guarantees equal treatment that expands regular migration channels that gives us coherence within nation and across nations to ensure that migration is based on choice, she said.as of 10/28/2008 12:47 AM
Don't Sign EPA - TUC Urges Gov't By Francis Asamoah Tuffour
Wednesday, 01 October 2008
THE Trades Union Congress, has cautioned of the dangers involved in signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and appealed to the government not to sign it.
The EPA is a scheme instituted by the European Union to create a free trade area between European and ACP countries.The country stands to lose huge sums of revenue as a result of tariffs imposed on imported goods, loss of jobs, massive unemployment as well as collapse of local industries if Ghana should sign the agreement, says Kofi Asamoah, Secretary-General of the TUC.Mr Asamoah gave the advice on Monday at a durbar prior to a peaceful demonstration organised by civil society organisations, farmers and pressure groups in Accra, ahead of the African Carribean and Pacific (ACP) European Union meeting which opens in Accra tomorrow.The demonstrators, carried placards such as EPA is bad, do not sign it, It is dangerous to sign the EPA, EPA is a killer, EPA is indirectly a slave trade and Our industries will collapse if we agree, to sign it, among others.Mr Asamoah, argued that if the agreements is signed, "Ghana and for that matter ACP countries, will open their borders to goods from the European markets and such goods will enter freely without the imposition of taxes.When that happens, it will open the flood gates to sub-standard and fake goods which will also make it difficult to be regulated.The Ghana Trades Union Congress and its affiliates, in partnership with the larger civil society movement in Ghana, and across Africa are calling on the leadership of the ACP to take a second look at the agreement.We ask the ACP to note that free market principles on which the EPAs rest have for the past three decades failed to deliver the promised prosperity. Instead, free markets have led to sharp declines in employment and information of work, and continue to wipe out the livelihood of the majority of people across our countries.
Mr Asamoah said, We draw attention to the fact that the EPAs are nothing more than free trade agreements between the largest trading bloc in the world and, perhaps, the least in terms of world commerce - Africa.He said the Union has a strong stand against the signing of the EPA which the government must adhere to.Later at a news briefing, the programme coordinator of Third World Network, a civil society organisation, Mr Gyekye Tanoh, said African countries stood to lose about two million dollars a year if it signed the agreement, adding that Ghana stands to lose about 162 million dollars if it goes ahead to sign it.He urged civil society organisations, the media and other organisations to join the campaign against the EPA.
Finn’s Facts: The ACP bloc should abandon the EPA negotiations FINNIGAN WA SIMBEYE DAR ES SALAAM
LAST week Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda attended an African Caribbean and Pacific countries summit held in Accra, Ghana to represent President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete who was in New York attending the UN General Assembly. In their statement at the end of the 6th summit of ACP heads of state and government, the leaders of 79 countries accused the European Union through its executive arm, the European Commission, of pushing them to sign the controversial free trade pacts while applying the colonial divide and rule tactics. The EU which has maintained colonial model ties with the ACP bloc since 1975 when the first Lome Convention was signed in the Togolese capital, is pushing the group of poor countries to sign the controversial trade pacts called economic partnership agreements. The EU, which is negotiating the EPAs through the EC, has argued that the controversial trade pacts are important to help integrate the tiny ACP bloc economies into the global market whose rules are supervised by the World Trade Organization (WTO). In his speech at the summit, Mr Pinda accused the EU of disintegrating ACP countries by fragmenting them into several regional blocs including the recently carved, East African Community (EAC) bloc to which Tanzania belongs. A faulty and highly controversial framework agreement on EPA was signed between the EC and the EAC bloc in Kampala, Uganda last year. Among other sensitive issues included in the framework agreement are those which have been stalled at WTO since 2001 when the then Minister for Trade and Industry, Idd Mohammed Simba led a group of 40 poor countries to block an attempt by rich countries led by the United States and Europe to push for a global free trade.
Under the controversial FAEPA, the EC is pushing EAC countries to open up their markets by removing tariffs in a trade reciprocity model which will mean that other developed countries like the US and Japan will have to get the same access to our domestic markets to comply with WTO rules on non- discrimination among its 140 members. Such a move will deplete government revenue, suffocate and ultimately eliminate our infant industries while turning this country into a net aid recipient. After over two and a half decades of working with the so-called donors, most Tanzanians now know why this country’s first President the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere meant by refusing to work with them if given conditions.
Currently, the so-called donors who include the EU wield a lot of powers in the decision making process of this country, often outdoing the majority taxpayers who pay over 60 per cent of the annual budget compared to less than 40 per cent by the donors. What the EU wants to do now through EPAs is to make sure that over 50 per cent of the budget is financed by donations while the domestic market is flooded with heavily subsidized European, American and Japanese goods which will come in duty free as per applicable WTO rules. The Europeans who are behind stalled WTO negotiations of having a new round of global trade due to their selfish positions with the Americans (the US) to continue subsidizing their inefficient agriculture sector, have included a clause in FAEPA where they want an endorsement of the subs by ACP countries which may mean that over 100 WTO members belonging to the ACP-EU bloc, have approved such treacherous incentives. The Europeans also want transparency in government procurement; trade in services, investment guarantees to be discussed through FAEPA before July next year when a comprehensive EPA agreement will be signed with the EAC. Brussels argues that EPAs are not exploitative colonial model trade pacts but development tools which will help fight poverty, preserve the environment and integrate our tiny economies into the global economy. The irony is the EC has also included a clause in FAEPA which wants EAC countries not to charge duty on raw material exports which their industries need while proposing the end products to come in duty free and this will help end poverty! The way forward for ACP countries is to abandon this fraudulent and corrupted process of negotiating EPAs and resort to a more democratic and fairly organized WTO process where there are no threats and intimidation.
UAE Minister of Foreign Trade H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi receives French Minister of State Anne-Marie Idrac21 October 2008
Ministers discuss stronger economic ties to eclipse 2007 USD 6.3 billion bilateral trade, signing of GCC-EU Free Trade Agreement UAE Minister of Foreign Trade H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi has today (Tuesday, October 21, 2008) received a French delegation headed by French Minister of State Anne-Marie Idrac to discuss the strengthening of strategic and economic ties which, among others, would help surpass the USD 6.3 billion bilateral trade engaged in by the UAE in France in 2007 and expedite the signing of a vital Free Trade Agreement between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union (EU). The visit is part of a four-day tour of key GCC countries that started October 19, 2008 and wrapping up on October 22, 2008, which will cover the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Oman. France will capitalize on its current presidency of the EU to broker a faster conclusion to the round of talks that will lead to the eventual signing of a GCC-EU FTA. Minister Idrac has already met the Secretary General of the GCC and will discuss matters related to this goal with the Foreign and Trade Ministers of all four countries. The FTA is of prime importance as trade volumes between both economic blocs have doubled in the past five years and currently amount to more than USD 141 billion. The GCC is Europe's sixth largest export market, while the EU is the GCC's first trading partner.As one of the world's top import and export destinations, France is a vital ally in our quest for sustainable growth. The visit of H.E. Idrac is a welcome affirmation of our mutual commitment to higher levels of collaboration in areas which we believe are crucial to national development. It also reflects the Ministry's eagerness to expand its international economic relations, with France and with the broader European Union with which we as a primary member of the Gulf Cooperation Council hope to secure a crucial Free Trade Agreement with in the near future, said H.E. Sheikha Lubna.
Minister Idrac will be accompanied by Philippe Favre, Ambassador-at-large for international investments and President of the Invest in France Agency (IFA), who will promote France as a favourable investment destination for Gulf countries. Other officials forming the French delegation include Mr. Jean-Louis Bernard, Member of the French Parliament and Deputy Chairman of the UAE-France Friendship Committee; Mr. Alain Cousin, Member of the French Parliament and Chairman of Ubifrance; and Mr. Nicolas Wawreski, Economic Counselor of the Cabinet of the Minster of State for Foreign Trade. The French Minister will also formally launch the regional IFA office which began operations in September 1, 2008. The office will focus on enhancing coordination between institutional French executives receiving request from Gulf clients; developing a privileged relation with local investors to orient their investments towards France; and promoting investment opportunities in France complementing the specific needs and expectations of Gulf organizations. The French delegation will meet officials overseeing major infrastructural projects, including the President of the Abu Dhabi Transport Department and the Chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai. They will also interact with leading local businessmen and discuss key developments such as the UAE electronuclear project, the inter-Emirates railway, and Dubai's new underground railway. A high-ranking commercial team from the French group was able to meet with H.E. Sheikha Lubna on the sidelines of today's meeting during which the UAE official provided an overview of the national economy and the local opportunities available to French investors.We are overwhelmed by the warm reception extended by H.E. Sheikha Lubna and the genuine interest expressed by UAE investors in France's own business prospects, especially in the real estate field. We hope that UAE officials, investors and business interests can come and visit our country soon as well, so that we can return the gesture. This has truly been a productive movement towards our enhanced relations, concluded Minister Idrac.UAE imports from France rose 11 per cent between 2003 and 2007, while re-exports from the European nation also grew 31 per cent during the same period. Almost 80 per cent of the UAE's French trade was imports, while 21 per cent was exports and re-exports. Last January 2008, both countries signed several agreements to further expand economic relations, a highlight of which was a framework for cooperation on the evaluation and potential use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Among the other areas covered by the accords are basic and applied research, water desalination, agronomy, medicine, earth sciences and industry.France and the UAE have inked several Memoranda of Understanding ranging from intellectual property rights to transport and education. The two nations share similarities in their economic structure, as they are both dependent on the services and industries sectors. They are also strong performers in the World Trade Organization's latest list of top 30 trading companies in the world. France's recent assumption of the EU Presidency is perceived by many quarters as an opportunity for the UAE to collaborate with France on the former's enhanced presence in the European trade and economic arena. - Ends -
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Website : www.orientplanet.com Press Release 2008 from Orient Planet.
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
DANIEL 12:4,1
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
REVELATION 13:1-3,7,8,12,16-18
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
REVELATION 17:3,7,9-10,12,18
3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
7 And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
9 And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10 And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)
REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
EU CALLS FOR WORLD GOVERNMENT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7D21rPpBrk
LIST OF WORLD TRADE BLOCS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_trade_blocs
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
http://www.wto.org/
INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
http://www.cfr.org/
COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS (EUROPE)
http://www.ecfr.eu/
CLUB OF ROME
http://www.clubofrome.org/
MONDAY MOURNING MIDEAST STORIES
http://www.mmorning.com/default.asp
COUNTRIES AND REGIONS
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/0,,pagePK:180619~theSitePK:136917,00.html
Oct 28, 2008 Clear-out time for IMF, World Bank By Hossein Askari
In 1944, as the end of World War 11 was coming into view and in the aftermath of financial disorder following the Great Depression, the two Bretton Woods institutions, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), were created. The World Bank was mandated with financing the reconstruction of Europe and with long-term economic development projects in developing countries; the IMF was mandated to be the guardian of international monetary stability. However, over the years, both institutions deviated significantly from their respective mandates to become politicized, over-ambitious and grasping all decision-making in countries that fell in dire need of their resources. In the process, they have outgrown
their size, become inefficient and have lost control of their own affairs.
They now duplicate each other to a point that many ministers of finance and heads of central banks do not know the difference between the World Bank and the IMF. As a result, a number of academics and politicians have called for the fusion of the two institutions. Both institutions have incurred financial losses: the World Bank had to downsize in the 1980s, and the IMF had to do so recently. Both institutions have also played havoc with the development process of many developing countries, pushing them deep into debt and economic decline for a number of years. As the world economy has been recently shaken by unprecedented financial, food and energy crises, resulting in the socialization of the financial system of many advanced countries, the media, politicians and academics have naturally wondered whether the two Bretton Woods institutions have carried out their mandates efficiently. Unfortunately, the performance record of both institutions has been deeply disappointing. Both institutions have been criticized by many leading figures for their ill-designed policies. Over more than three decades, the World Bank has concentrated on policy lending in privatization, demobilization of armies and downsizing of countries' civil services, while neglecting agriculture development in many potentially agriculture rich countries as well as infrastructure. Such diminished emphasis on agriculture has undermined food security in many developing countries facing rapid population growth. The IMF has over the past decade renounced its monetary role. Dominated by political slogans, it has portrayed itself, instead, as a poverty fighter. Both institutions wanted to promote good governance and fight corruption in Africa, as if corruption existed only in Africa and nowhere else. Although fighting corruption has no clear or measurable meaning, most likely turning humans into angels, such demagoguery shows how far removed both institutions have been diverted from their Bretton Woods mandates.
While intransigent and dictating policies to developing countries, the IMF has always been congratulatory of US policies. Staunchly supporting former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan's bailing out of hedge funds and excessive monetary and deregulation policies, the IMF has urged the European Central Bank to lower interest rates and pursue the same policy stance as the US Fed. In contradiction with its mandate to stabilize exchange rates as well as take an orthodox monetary approach to the balance of payments, the IMF was strongly, and at the same time wrongly, supportive of a deep depreciation of the US dollar through very low interest rates, as called for in its past World Economic Outlook documents, to solve external imbalances. Of the Group of 20 meeting in Kleinmond, South Africa, in 2007, Reuters reported The view of the IMF is that the move in the dollar depreciation is in the correct direction, Evidently, fast depreciation of the dollar contributed to an acceleration of commodity price inflation, food riots and crippling energy prices. As a result of the explosion of food and energy prices, real incomes have fallen sharply, economic growth has slowed and unemployment has started to rise.
Unlike natural disasters (such as floods, tsunamis and earthquakes) that cannot be predicted, financial crisis have never been random events. They were fully documented by classical economists in the 19th century and were shown to be an unavoidable result of speculative credit boom. Irving Fisher (1933) ruled out all causes for a financial crisis except a sustained speculative credit boom and over-indebtedness. Did the IMF predict the present financial crisis when it was in the stage of incubation? No. Even after the financial crisis broke in August 2007, the IMF continued to be supportive of present Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's aggressive monetary policy, which has precipitated economic recession and downfall of giant financial institutions. Recently, the IMF has fully endorsed gigantic bailouts proposed by US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and European authorities and socialization of the banking sector, without explaining reasons for such endorsements and their economic, financial, and social implications. While Bernanke has recently confessed to the US Congress concerning the failure of monetary policy and suggested a stimulus program to cope with recession, the IMF has remained in a passive position. There is no plan that can be authentically called an IMF plan put forward by IMF for dealing with the financial crisis. The world community cannot afford two big institutions being the vested interest of highly paid officials and failing to achieve their basic mandates. World leaders should consider reshaping these two institutions according to the type of organization they were in the 1950s and 1960s. A major cause of the present crisis is that financial institutions refuse to deal with their basic mandates and want to extend their role to areas that do not fall under their jurisdiction. In this respect, central banks in many countries, most notably the US Federal Reserve, do not want to manage liquidity and regulate the banking system; instead, they want to promote full employment and growth, based on the Taylor rule (which stipulates how nominal interest rates should be changed in response to divergences of actual GDP from potential GDP and divergences of actual rates of inflation from a target rate of inflation) or inflation targeting.
Similarly, the IMF does not want to deal with monetary issues; it wants to fight poverty and corruption. In doing so, it has recruited anthropologists and social workers and has lost over the years its monetary know-how, as new generations of staff are no longer familiar with IMF practices as they existed. The World Bank does not want to specialize in financing growth projects; it wants to promote democracy, fight corruption and promote good governance and civil society. Both institutions have been advocating reform in member countries; now, they have to admit that they themselves need reform. The IMF should remodel itself into the organization it was in the 1950s and 1960s, basically deleting its poverty, social and structural mission, and closing its resident representative missions that number over 90 in developing countries. It is clear that more than a decade since the IMF decided to fight poverty in Africa, it has impoverished itself by going deeply into the red and has only increased poverty and destabilized a number of African countries. Often, the IMF was told that poverty reduction was the prerogative of the World Bank and a large number of regional development banks. Yet, the IMF never accepted this truth and kept on insisting on its poverty fighter role. Its poverty reduction and growth facility (PRGF) amounts to a pure budgetary loan disbursed every six months to a country to finance pure government expenditures, namely large increments in salaries of the army and civil service. Such use of IMF money makes a country indefinitely dependent on the IMF to meet its military and civil service salaries. The PRGF resources and the huge operational costs for running PRGF programs should instead be added to the resources of regional development banks and finance only development projects (such as in health, infrastructure, education, agriculture, energy and so forth). The world needs an IMF that is in charge of macroeconomic policies, namely fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies, leaving trade policies to the World Trade Organization and economic development and its financing to the World Bank. The IMF has to deploy its resources and recruit experts in central banking and in the financial sector, and put in place programs for rebuilding sound and safe banking sectors in every member country, most importantly in major industrial countries. The IMF has a long way to go to fill up the regulatory gap in the financial sector, banking, securities, and futures and derivatives. It should not underestimate this important task.
The IMF has to be a lender of last resort only to central banks, or monetary authorities, of a country, using one facility for all countries, and on a temporary basis. Keeping a country for several years under a program will be totally damaging to the country as the country cannot regain control of its economic development policies and will remain forever under an IMF program. Gold used to be an anchor for central bank's issuance, and used to be, par excellence, the settlement means for international balances that cannot be settled with securities and claims. Now, we have an environment with a fiat money (paper) standard with flexible exchange rates. The IMF has to control monetary and credit aggregates in such an environment in order to establish monetary stability. For each country, the IMF should establish a benchmark monetary program against which monetary performance can be evaluated periodically. Such an indicative monetary program should be consonant with exchange rate and price stability and external sector viability. The IMF should monitor credit aggregates by sector and by maturities, and regularly evaluate the soundness of the banking system. Fast expansion of credit can only fuel speculation and deteriorate creditworthiness in a country and lead to a financial crisis when profits starts diminishing rapidly. Distorted maturities can be a cause of instability. The IMF should discourage factor and product-price distortions. Most importantly, the IMF should discourage the use of interest rates as a policy tool, as this instrument has turned out to cause instability, distort prices and create a highly unpredictable monetary framework. The World Bank should concentrate on fighting poverty and speeding up economic growth in developing countries. It has to channel International Development Association resources (low-cost funding for poorer countries) unconditionally to eligible countries and direct these resources only to long-disbursing development projects and not to quick-disbursing budgetary aid. The poorer countries need much more funding for health, education and infrastructure and for private-sector growth. World governments should also understand better the mandates of the Bretton Woods institutions. Such understanding would help both institutions remain confined to their true mandates. In recent days, the major concern with both of these institutions has been the unfolding sex scandal involving the head of the IMF, managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. The IMF board at the weekend cleared Strauss-Kahn of harassment, favoritism and abuse of power after it hired a Washington DC law firm to investigate his affair with an IMF economist. The board's statement on October 25 nevertheless noted that the incident was regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment on the part of the managing director.
That scandal followed on the heels of another involving the former head of the World Bank (resulting in his resignation). And in the past, rumors have been rife throughout the institution about impropriety on the part of board members themselves. These institutions are in need of serious management overhaul. At the same time, the management of these institutions is dominated by the US, a handful of European countries and Japan. While the institutions preach good governance and management, they have been unable to adapt themselves. China is arguably the most important economic power in the world after the United States. Yet Britain and France dwarf its influence. Latin Americans are similarly under-represented. The list goes on. Will the present financial crisis shake up the Bretton Woods institutions and make them rise up to the challenges facing the world economy? This will be answered in the months to come. Nonetheless, drifting further away from initial Bretton Woods mandates and not improving their management will be costly for the world economy. Resources will be squandered. Frustration among politicians and bankers will increase. There have already been calls in many quarters and reputable newspapers (such as London's Financial Times) for a world central bank to take charge of world monetary affairs and stabilize financial markets. It's time to act ahead of the curve. Hossein Askari is professor of international business and international affairs at George Washington University. 2008 Asia Times Online (Holdings)
EABC roots for southern African common market 2008-10-24 10:26:03
By Hannah Mwandoloma, Kampala
East African Business Council chairman Reginald Mengi has urged regional economic communities to work for faster expansion of intra-African trade and the creation of a common market. He described that as among the most reliable options the blocs? member countries have to withstand and cushion the impact of the on-going international financial crisis. Mengi made the appeal in an address here on Wednesday to the just-ended two-day tripartite summit of the East African Community (EAC), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) member countries. He said it was of crucial importance for Africa to expedite the process of enhanced economic integration by pooling its small economies together and quickly. Africa can achieve economies of scale necessary for rapid industrialisation and global competitiveness the private sector is ready to play its part, Mengi said. He appealed to leaders at the summit to have enough political will to adopt urgent measures that would trigger a new direction and accelerated expansion of intra-African trade. The private sector in the 26 EAC, SADC and Comesa member countries would like to see speedy regional integration which would maximise economic growth and wealth creation, he stated. The EABC chief, who is also chairman of the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI), noted that lack of adequate protection of industries hindered the achievement of the goal.
Accordingly, he called on the countries concerned to go beyond the establishment of a free trade area and consider establishing a customs union. He saw the union providing for common external tariffs that would protect the countries from being dumping grounds and protecting the viability and competitiveness of their respective industries. Mengi also warned that counterfeit goods threaten the competitiveness of industries and eventually ruin the economies of the countries they flood. According to WHO (World Health Organisation), up to 50 per cent of medicines distributed to the global market especially to poor countries are fake or counterfeit and according to the statistics of one particular country represented here today, fake drugs contributed to about 20 per cent of all deaths in 2007, he said. Observing that fake drugs were a threat to people?s lives, he pleaded for legislation to combat them and for care to be taken not to confuse generic drugs with fake and counterfeit ones.
EABC was founded in November 1997 as an apex body of business associations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Its formation was actively supported by the EAC
secretariat in view of the increasing participation of the private sector players in issues of regional integration. The council advocates free movement of people in the region, formation of private-public sector alliances to strengthen small and medium size enterprises, pooling of resources to develop infrastructure in East Africa on a regional scale and the strengthening of good governance and security. It has since grown to become the voice of the private sector in East Africa, its mission being to be an effective change agent for fostering an enabling business environment for a diversified, competitive, export-led, integrated and sustainable economy. President Jakaya Kikwete opened the Kampala summit, which ended yesterday, recommending a merger of the three economic blocs in eastern and southern Africa to speed up development in the region. The heads of state and government from 26 countries represented at the summit endorsed the idea in principle. SOURCE: Guardian
America's Monetary Woes Let the Air Out of Europe Pain from the euro zone to the emerging East.From today's Wall Street Journal
As this latest monetary bubble bursts (see here), one region that's especially feeling the pain is Eastern Europe. The emerging markets that thought they had come of age by joining the EU or the World Trade Organization in recent years are now gasping for the credit that once flowed freely.Many of the headlines so far have focused on Hungary, which moved last week to defend the rapidly declining forint with a three-point interest rate hike, to 11.5%. Budapest had made strides in reducing its budget deficit from more than 9% of GDP just a few years ago to a projected 3%-4% next year. But the government's reliance on foreign capital inflows, which tend to be dollar liabilities, now has markets guessing it won't be able to finance those liabilities.Ukraine is also struggling, though mostly because the dollar's rise and falling steel prices have left its businesses short of the foreign currency they have used to fuel the country's strong growth the past few years. Substitute oil for steel and you could say the same thing about Russia and its businesses.Moscow has much larger foreign-currency reserves than Kiev, and it is using that money to keep the Russian economy from falling even further than it already has. But Russia is paying for its inability to adopt the rule of law and diversify its economy beyond oil. It has remained a commodity play whose financial prospects fall when the price of oil falls. Vladimir Putin thought he could make Russia a great power again on petrodollars alone. Instead he's built a Saudi Arabia with more time zones and nuclear weapons.
Once upon a time, many countries to the west of this trio might have faced similar problems. The introduction of the euro has changed that, removing currency volatility within the 15-nation bloc and making it a source of stability. National politicians who might have tried to devalue their way out of trouble have been kept in check.That said, the wild swings in the euro-dollar price this decade, and especially this year, are now hurting the Continent. Such dramatic currency-price swings tend to result in misallocated capital, and the damage from that misallocation, and its inevitable correction, can be severe.The European Central Bank and its president, Jean-Claude Trichet, have been praised in these pages and elsewhere for keeping their focus on inflation. In retrospect, however, the lack of policy coordination between the ECB and the U.S. Federal Reserve has contributed to the sharp currency swings that send distorted price signals. We think Mr. Trichet and his colleagues were more right than the Fed has been, but the currency turmoil of the last 14 months has hurt everyone. The world needs better monetary coordination going forward.The ECB has signaled that it will continue to cut rates beyond the 50-basis-point reduction this month, and with the weakness in Europe's economy that may be appropriate. As with the earlier cut, the Europeans should move in step with the Fed to avoid more volatility -- and maybe overshooting on the downside. When a global economy finds itself in a global crisis, the world's leaders can't afford to work against one another.
President Sleiman at the 12th Francophonie Summit Lebanon’s message of openness and harmonious coexistence.The family photo of the summiteers in Quebec (President Sleiman is second from left in the second row)
Prime Minister Saniora meeting on Friday with Deputy Premier Abou-Jamra (left) and Minister Shamseddin.A warm handshake at the Quebec summit between presidents Sleiman and Sarkozy.And between the Lebanese president and Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper.President Sleiman addressing the summit.Mrs. Wafa Sleiman flanked by official personalities.A warm welcome for President Sleiman in Montreal.Addressing the Lebanese community in Canada’s second city.In conversation with Canadian MP Maria Mourani.President and Mrs. Sleiman attending the mass at St. Maroun’s Cathedral
On Thursday President Michel Sleiman received a delegation of graduates of the Lebanese University’s Information Faculty, with whom he discussed a number of matters. He first explained that his objective was to reposition Lebanon on the international scene”. He added, We are a country that is distinguished by its pluralism and its role in the wider world. But before assuming this role, it needs to reposition itself correctly in relation to international institutions and on the Arab, regional and international levels as a state having organized constitutional institutions and a unified position on the level of foreign policy, he said.
After underlining the improvement on the political and economic levels to the extent that Lebanon succeeds in overcoming the international financial crisis, the president spoke of preparations for the coming legislative elections, which have begun with the new electoral law, which he said was not up to the level of the aspirations of the Lebanese, but it was voted unanimously by the members of Parliament, who represent the people. It was necessary to respect this expression of constitutionality, he said.The president -- who is to visit Italy and the Vatican in a few days -- assured his visitors that the elections would take place as scheduled and stressed the need to respect their results, before announcing that a procedure was being established for the appointment of top-level civil servants, so that the appointments are made in a sound way, on the basis of criteria of competence and equality of opportunity.
On the dialogue conference, the president said he believed it was possible the meeting could have a larger number of participants, but on condition that all the participants agree and that the number of those taking part is limited and reasonable.On the subject of the reconciliations, the president argued that an important step forward had been taken on this level, notably on the Christian level.
Asked if he intended to have a parliamentary bloc, he replied, I’m a consensual president for the whole country. But that doesn’t prevent the presence of independents. It’s not necessary for them to be friends of the Administration, but rather friends of the country. I don’t need a parliamentary bloc, but a national parliamentary bloc that places the national interest above everything else and which stands behind the country, not behind the president.In the evening, the president spoke with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, reportedly on the matter of appointments. The prime minister told reporters that following the president’s return from Italy and his own return from two quick visits to Kuwait and Cairo, the Council of Ministers would hold several meetings to discuss the budget, problems affecting the regions, the projects of the Council of Development and Reconstruction and the activities of the Higher Relief Committee.Asked about the Iraqi government’s donation of two million dollars to assist Iraqis who had taken refuge in Lebanon, Saniora confirmed that the Council of Ministers had accepted this money and has placed it in an account in the central bank, where it still is.
Abou-Jamra
The rebellion of Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abou-Jamra, who is insisting on his prerogatives, was at the center of a meeting in the prime minister’s office between Saniora and Abou-Jamra, after mediation by Minister Ibrahim Shamseddin, in the presence of the latter. Following the meeting, Abou-Jamra said that what happened on Tuesday night [when he had left a cabinet meeting in protest against the reluctance of the authorities to acknowledge his claims for wider authority] was a withdrawal, not a boycott. He stressed that the meeting with Saniora served as an exchange of viewpoints and an attempt to resolve the problems concerning an important topic, namely the by-laws of the Council of Ministers.Asked about the result of the meeting, Abou-Jamra said it was neither positive nor negative, adding that what happened in the cabinet is not necessarily the cause of animosity or a rupture with anyone… We’ve agreed since Doha that the state must continue to function…The Doha Agreement stipulates that there should be no boycotts of or resignations from the national unity government.Questioned on the Abou-Jamra affair by a journalist following a meeting with Sleiman, Saniora stressed the necessity of coordination among all the ministries and with the deputy prime minister, who has a value added, but in conformity with the Constitution.After meeting with Saniora, Farid Makari, deputy House speaker and like Abou-Jamra a Greek Orthodox, told reporters he had raised the matter of redynamizing the Orthodox role in the key posts of the state.
In comments to journalists, Abou-Jamra -- a member of the parliamentary Bloc of Reform and Change led by General Michel Aoun – said the deputy prime minister should be a real deputy to the prime minister, adding that the law should be amended to allow the deputy prime minister to chair cabinet sessions and to exercise the premier’s powers in the prime minister’s absence as well as have an office at the Grand Serail.
In comments to the LBCI TV station, Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said the position of deputy prime minister was not mentioned in the Constitution. And MP Hagop Pakradounian indicated that the subject of the deputy prime minister’s prerogatives has no constitutional character, but is rather a matter of practice that has existed since 1943.Lebanese Forces (LF) MP Antoine Zahra, questioned on why he had not commented on the matter, replied that this crisis has been provoked artificially. It is not a political affair and it certainly isn’t a Christian affair. And another LF MP, Farid Habib, suggested that all the talk about the matter was being used to cover [MP Michel] Aoun’s visit to Teheran.On Friday afternoon, however, some arrangement seems to have been reached after a meeting between the prime minister and Abou-Jamra from which the latter emerged seemingly satisfied.
The Quebec summit
A high point on the country’s political and cultural calendar is the biannual summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie, (IOF) bringing together countries in which French is either the major language or -- as in Lebanon -- a language of exceptional importance on the cultural, scientific and business levels.
Having missed the previous two IOF summits, that of Ouagadougou and of Bucharest, Lebanon -- i.e. its president -- was granted the right to deliver one of the six addresses at the opening session of the twelfth IOF summit, held in Quebec City on October 17 and 18.President Sleiman’s speech, the fourth on the list, dealt with a number of subjects, including the beneficial presence of IOF observers at recent Lebanese elections, the deforestation of the country, Lebanon’s vocation as a center of religions, cultures and civilizations, but also its need for peace.He also requested the world’s French-speaking community to support the independence and stability of a prosperous Lebanon, and that community’s greater involvement in the peacekeeping operations. He ended his speech by recalling the Francophonie Games to take place in Beirut (September 27 to October 6, 2009), after Culture Minister had a day earlier promised that Lebanon would guarantee the safety of the athletes and performing artists who took part, and that Beirut could lay on a security deployment at least as intensive as that at the Quebec summit.The president was unable to attend the discussions on the French language on Sunday morning, but met with Abdou Diouf, to whom he announced, according to Dr. Khalil Karam, that Lebanon proposed to establish an observatory of the French language and to bring together all the actors on the French-speaking scene in the Middle East.Dr. Karam, personal representative of President Sleiman for Francophonie affairs, added that the president had congratulated Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ottawa and Beirut (1958-2008) and had obtained from him unlimited backing for the holding of the Francophonie Games.
President Sleiman was however unable to attend a breakfast hosted by the premier of New Brunswick, Mr. Shawn, co-host of the summit, for Stephen Harper, Quebec Premier Jean Charest and other Canadian provincial premiers. President Sleiman traveled to Montreal, Canada’s second-largest city, where he attended a religious service at St. Maroun’s Cathedral celebrated by Bishop Joseph Maroun with the help of the local Greek Catholic bishop, Ibrahim Ibrahim. Also present were sheikhs Saïd Fawaz, a Sunnite, Hassan Ezzeddin, a Druze, and Sayed Nabil Abbas, a Shiite. He subsequently received Arab ambassadors as well as members of the Canadian Parliament of Lebanese origin, before meeting with members of the local Lebanese community at the Intercontinental Hotel, one of the city’s most luxurious. Members of the community responded with enthusiasm to the invitation of Ambassador Massoud Maalouf, in cooperation with Khalil Habr, consul-general in Montreal. It was no ordinary thing for members of the Lebanese community to meet with a Lebanese president who had come to see them in their exile, and General Sleiman did not disappoint them. He received a standing ovation by the crowd in the elegant Salle St-Laurent, and his bodyguards had great difficulty in clearing a way for him through the crowd. Preceded by the director of protocol at the presidential palace, the president and his wife joined ministers Fawzi Salloukh (Foreign Affairs), Nassib Lahoud (minister of State) and Tammam Salam (Culture), while all present, belonging to all Lebanese communities, sang the national anthem with gusto.
The president told them he brought with him the greetings of every part of Lebanon -- the Kannoubin Valley, the Bekaa, the South, the Mountain and Beirut, showing by these brief and simple words that he represented all Lebanon. He then reiterated the pride he felt that Lebanon’s expatriates had raised so high the image and name of their country in North America as doctors, engineers, businessmen, politicians, lawyers and a variety of other callings. He congratulated them on their hard work and success, and especially for bearing witness to their homeland’s culture of openness and dialogue. It is the image of our Lebanon… a message of civilization which has been distorted… but which has been able to withstand attempts to disfigure it, thanks to the support of the Lebanese.He acknowledged that the way ahead would be long and would demand still more sacrifices. We still need the kind of energy you showed when you ventured forth boldly on the uncertain path of emigration. But this time for your country, to make it once more the Switzerland of the Middle East.
He told them Lebanon’s banking system was sound and stable, despite the financial crisis shaking the planet. Indeed, deposits in our banks have even increased, as have conversions of dollars into Lebanese pounds. Investments are still flowing into Lebanon and I predict a golden age in the not-distant future.We want to return Lebanon to its people, to its emigrants, and be able to say to them: Return to Lebanon.And he repeated, The way will be long, but we are doing all we can to consolidate the dialogue… to bring our cause to those who can help us… and wherever we have gone, we have received frank and sincere support. Recalling that reconciliation is a national duty, he cited as examples of national unity first the beatification of Father Yaakoub in Martyrs’ Square on June 22, then the formal opening of the Mohammad al-Amin Mosque in the same place on October 18. We could sense this same unity in St. Maroun’s Church this morning, where sheikhs were present among the Christian prelates…The state has a great duty, and we are going to try to achieve what you are waiting for. We have decided to insert in the electoral law a provision giving emigrants the right to vote in Lebanon’s elections…
Interrupted by applause, the president continued: But its application will require some time. Let us hope that it will be attained in 2013. He also reaffirmed the special facilities of work for emigrants who return to the homeland, and spoke of the reopening of the dossier of the naturalizations in such a way as to all their rights. He noted points discussed at the summit, including a direct Montreal-Beirut flight and establishment of a zone of free exchange between Canada and Lebanon, and asked those present to assist in accomplishing these objectives. He ended by stressing the solidarity of the Lebanese and the confidence he had in them.
During his stay in Montreal, President Sleiman received a visit from Canadian MP Maria Mourani, who had just been elected to a seat in the Canadian Parliament. His discussion with Ms. Mourani -- whose family hails from the Akkar District of North Lebanon -- focused on the establishment of a direct Montreal-Beirut flight, bilateral trade (the embassy in Ottawa still has no commercial attaché, despite the presence of almost half a million Lebanese living in Canada), and the question of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. It was in the early evening that the Lebanese delegation came together at Dorval Airport, with strict security in force, closing a short stay, but one of great emotion and the bearer of great hopes.
Commentary
Don't Close The Door On Free Trade Dan Brutto 10.24.08, 12:00 AM ET
In the midst of the financial crisis, another threat is nipping at the global economy's heels: the re-emergence of protectionism.Both the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy and the outgoing European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson are among those warning that the economic troubles could breed protectionism, which would curtail economic growth when we need it most.
These admonitions come on the heels of the breakdown of the Doha round of trade talks and after much public rancor over pacts including the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.Nothing would be worse for the global economy than responding to the current crisis by closing the doors of opportunity that free trade unlocks. Free trade fuels momentous, positive change. According to the WTO, cutting trade barriers in agriculture, manufacturing and services by one-third would boost the world economy by $613 billion--that's equivalent to adding an economy the size of Canada's to the global marketplace. Free trade raises income--just look no further than the clear emergence of China and India's middle class for proof. In the U.S., exports have created 12 million jobs. Beyond the economic benefits, free trade, if pursued with a long-term, fair and sustainable approach, can also build bridges among people and nations. At a time when the world seems constantly on edge, global trade presents a unique opportunity to help us overcome some of our differences and problems, whatever they may be. One of the many lessons today's turmoil offers is that a company's success should be viewed in decades, not quarters. Having a long-term vision and the commitment to stick with it--fine-tuning as needed--sustains a company through downturns and propels steady growth.Investing for the long haul was UPS's (nyse: UPS - news - people ) approach to building its international operations, which began in earnest 20 years ago this month. Our decision to go global was met initially with some internal skepticism, in part because our leaders knew it was going to be a very expensive and labor-intensive proposition.They also recognized that it represented a big departure from our core competency as a domestic delivery service, but ultimately our executives did not waver from their vision of building an international company. As the Berlin Wall fell and China began to open its doors, they saw the emergence of a global economy. They knew that if UPS didn't adapt and become global itself, it would become irrelevant.
Today, the once-questioned decision to go global is helping to insulate UPS against the U.S. economic downturn. In part that's because many of our customers are experiencing tremendous growth even in these difficult times, because they're growing global businesses.When U.S. companies grow internationally, they learn that long-term relationships are imperative to doing business around the world. Following the demise of some of Wall Street's most trusted names, I believe that business relationships are going to take on even more importance. For multinational companies, hiring locally wherever they operate is a key part of forging these relationships.When UPS first set up operations around the world, we made the mistake of sending in large groups of U.S. expatriates to run the business. But we soon realized that we would not succeed without local knowledge and relationships. UPS's philosophy of developing home-grown talent and promotion from within has helped us establish a sustainable and community-conscious business model, while providing us a deep bench of talent that understands the local culture, language and business values.That, in turn, has earned UPS the trust of the communities we serve. For example, 99% of our 5,500 employees in China are Chinese nationals. That played a big role in China's selection of UPS as the official logistics and express delivery sponsor of the Beijing Olympics.While much of the world's trade growth has come as a result of shipping lower-cost goods from emerging markets to mature ones, higher fuel costs are shifting this pattern. Businesses in the European Union and the U.S. are finding it more cost effective to source their products from nearby locations in Eastern Europe or Mexico, respectively, forming a new trend called near-sourcing. This is helping companies better distribute risk, which is an important part of financial growth and stability. And it's also providing new opportunities. For example, in Mexico, the best-paying jobs now are export-related.Sectors that export 60% or more of their production pay Mexican workers wages that are 39% higher than the rest of the economy, and maquiladora plants typically pay 3.5 times the Mexican minimum wage. These new economic opportunities can serve as a catalyst for educational development, positive political and regulatory reforms and social stability--all of which benefit us collectively.The root cause of Wall Street's recent problems, and ultimately those of the world's financial institutions, won't be solved by global trade. But the ripple effect of those problems--which have been felt by virtually everyone on the planet--can be mitigated by ensuring the free flow of goods, information and funds around the world. Protectionism is a misnomer, as trade barriers don't protect. The world is already so integrated economically that the greatest force impacting the greatest number of lives is business. How we react to our current challenges will be critical to our future. Let us keep the doors open.
Dan Brutto is the president of UPS International.
New world order for migrants needed: TU leader by MARIA ALETA O. NIEVA, abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/28/2008 12:47 AM
Some 20 million workers around the world are expected to lose their jobs due to the current global financial crisis.We’ve got a very great fear for the tens of millions of workers who will lose their jobs. We believe that we will see the impoverishment of workers who will live on less than $2 a day rise by about 40 million, said Sharan Burrow, president of the International Trade Union Confederation.Burrow is also conference chairperson of the 2nd Global Forum on Migration and Development’s (GFMD) Civil Society Days being held in Manila from October 27 to 28.Burrow said the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that the present financial crisis is likely to lead to the loss of some 20 million jobs worldwide.According to Burrow, the ILO said that the number or working poor living on less than a dollar a day could rise by some 40 million, and those at US$2 a day, by more than 100 million.
Asian crisis lessons
Burrow said the first who will lose their jobs will be migrant workers. This was the experience during the 1997 Asian financial crisis.This is true as sectors such a construction is being hard-hit, a sector where migrant workers are numerous. During the Asian crisis in 1997, the first reaction of governments was to announce the expulsion of migrant workers to free up jobs for nationals. Last week, in the wake of the global financial crisis, a number of governments’ announced a possible tightening of their immigration intake, she said.We urge governments to think carefully about whether that’s the right economic decision, because it can, of course, constrain economies where those migrants currently live and work, and we know that for developing countries, the financial crisis will be even deeper and felt more strongly, she added. There is a possibility that migrant workers will be forced to work illegally in other countries.There is no question that people take up other jobs in other countries for a number of reasons. In a global financial crisis, if jobs are threatened, if regular channels of migration are constrained, then clearly, that will see an increase in people desperate to make an income working without documentation in many nations, she said.
Migrants first out
There are about 40 million undocumented workers in the world with 10 million alone in the US.We’re very fearful that unless governments are conscious of the fact that, migrant workers will be on the top of the list, Burrow said.She explained that expanding regular migration, protecting rights and ensuring equal treatment and the policy coherence that world leaders must take on are some of the issues to be tackled during the two-day conference.Migration is a permanent feature of each of our nations and indeed of globalization. But all too often, we forget that it is about people, working people and their families. And hence, at its core, migration must be about human rights and dignity, she said.
Protective global architecture
The global financial crisis and climate change are critical threats to world order, which require new rules, new transparency and a new global architecture, she said.
The challenge is no less for the world leaders to ensure that the potential for the mobility of the world's people, a mobility that is born of choice and not desperation, a mobility that provides opportunities and not exploitation, is framed by a new architecture of protection, she said.Migrant workers are often seen as second-class citizens who are forced to work for their survival. Even documented workers still do not receive equal treatment, she said.We have to find a new set of rules, a global architecture for protection that guarantees equal treatment that expands regular migration channels that gives us coherence within nation and across nations to ensure that migration is based on choice, she said.as of 10/28/2008 12:47 AM
Don't Sign EPA - TUC Urges Gov't By Francis Asamoah Tuffour
Wednesday, 01 October 2008
THE Trades Union Congress, has cautioned of the dangers involved in signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and appealed to the government not to sign it.
The EPA is a scheme instituted by the European Union to create a free trade area between European and ACP countries.The country stands to lose huge sums of revenue as a result of tariffs imposed on imported goods, loss of jobs, massive unemployment as well as collapse of local industries if Ghana should sign the agreement, says Kofi Asamoah, Secretary-General of the TUC.Mr Asamoah gave the advice on Monday at a durbar prior to a peaceful demonstration organised by civil society organisations, farmers and pressure groups in Accra, ahead of the African Carribean and Pacific (ACP) European Union meeting which opens in Accra tomorrow.The demonstrators, carried placards such as EPA is bad, do not sign it, It is dangerous to sign the EPA, EPA is a killer, EPA is indirectly a slave trade and Our industries will collapse if we agree, to sign it, among others.Mr Asamoah, argued that if the agreements is signed, "Ghana and for that matter ACP countries, will open their borders to goods from the European markets and such goods will enter freely without the imposition of taxes.When that happens, it will open the flood gates to sub-standard and fake goods which will also make it difficult to be regulated.The Ghana Trades Union Congress and its affiliates, in partnership with the larger civil society movement in Ghana, and across Africa are calling on the leadership of the ACP to take a second look at the agreement.We ask the ACP to note that free market principles on which the EPAs rest have for the past three decades failed to deliver the promised prosperity. Instead, free markets have led to sharp declines in employment and information of work, and continue to wipe out the livelihood of the majority of people across our countries.
Mr Asamoah said, We draw attention to the fact that the EPAs are nothing more than free trade agreements between the largest trading bloc in the world and, perhaps, the least in terms of world commerce - Africa.He said the Union has a strong stand against the signing of the EPA which the government must adhere to.Later at a news briefing, the programme coordinator of Third World Network, a civil society organisation, Mr Gyekye Tanoh, said African countries stood to lose about two million dollars a year if it signed the agreement, adding that Ghana stands to lose about 162 million dollars if it goes ahead to sign it.He urged civil society organisations, the media and other organisations to join the campaign against the EPA.
Finn’s Facts: The ACP bloc should abandon the EPA negotiations FINNIGAN WA SIMBEYE DAR ES SALAAM
LAST week Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda attended an African Caribbean and Pacific countries summit held in Accra, Ghana to represent President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete who was in New York attending the UN General Assembly. In their statement at the end of the 6th summit of ACP heads of state and government, the leaders of 79 countries accused the European Union through its executive arm, the European Commission, of pushing them to sign the controversial free trade pacts while applying the colonial divide and rule tactics. The EU which has maintained colonial model ties with the ACP bloc since 1975 when the first Lome Convention was signed in the Togolese capital, is pushing the group of poor countries to sign the controversial trade pacts called economic partnership agreements. The EU, which is negotiating the EPAs through the EC, has argued that the controversial trade pacts are important to help integrate the tiny ACP bloc economies into the global market whose rules are supervised by the World Trade Organization (WTO). In his speech at the summit, Mr Pinda accused the EU of disintegrating ACP countries by fragmenting them into several regional blocs including the recently carved, East African Community (EAC) bloc to which Tanzania belongs. A faulty and highly controversial framework agreement on EPA was signed between the EC and the EAC bloc in Kampala, Uganda last year. Among other sensitive issues included in the framework agreement are those which have been stalled at WTO since 2001 when the then Minister for Trade and Industry, Idd Mohammed Simba led a group of 40 poor countries to block an attempt by rich countries led by the United States and Europe to push for a global free trade.
Under the controversial FAEPA, the EC is pushing EAC countries to open up their markets by removing tariffs in a trade reciprocity model which will mean that other developed countries like the US and Japan will have to get the same access to our domestic markets to comply with WTO rules on non- discrimination among its 140 members. Such a move will deplete government revenue, suffocate and ultimately eliminate our infant industries while turning this country into a net aid recipient. After over two and a half decades of working with the so-called donors, most Tanzanians now know why this country’s first President the late Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere meant by refusing to work with them if given conditions.
Currently, the so-called donors who include the EU wield a lot of powers in the decision making process of this country, often outdoing the majority taxpayers who pay over 60 per cent of the annual budget compared to less than 40 per cent by the donors. What the EU wants to do now through EPAs is to make sure that over 50 per cent of the budget is financed by donations while the domestic market is flooded with heavily subsidized European, American and Japanese goods which will come in duty free as per applicable WTO rules. The Europeans who are behind stalled WTO negotiations of having a new round of global trade due to their selfish positions with the Americans (the US) to continue subsidizing their inefficient agriculture sector, have included a clause in FAEPA where they want an endorsement of the subs by ACP countries which may mean that over 100 WTO members belonging to the ACP-EU bloc, have approved such treacherous incentives. The Europeans also want transparency in government procurement; trade in services, investment guarantees to be discussed through FAEPA before July next year when a comprehensive EPA agreement will be signed with the EAC. Brussels argues that EPAs are not exploitative colonial model trade pacts but development tools which will help fight poverty, preserve the environment and integrate our tiny economies into the global economy. The irony is the EC has also included a clause in FAEPA which wants EAC countries not to charge duty on raw material exports which their industries need while proposing the end products to come in duty free and this will help end poverty! The way forward for ACP countries is to abandon this fraudulent and corrupted process of negotiating EPAs and resort to a more democratic and fairly organized WTO process where there are no threats and intimidation.
UAE Minister of Foreign Trade H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi receives French Minister of State Anne-Marie Idrac21 October 2008
Ministers discuss stronger economic ties to eclipse 2007 USD 6.3 billion bilateral trade, signing of GCC-EU Free Trade Agreement UAE Minister of Foreign Trade H.E. Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi has today (Tuesday, October 21, 2008) received a French delegation headed by French Minister of State Anne-Marie Idrac to discuss the strengthening of strategic and economic ties which, among others, would help surpass the USD 6.3 billion bilateral trade engaged in by the UAE in France in 2007 and expedite the signing of a vital Free Trade Agreement between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the European Union (EU). The visit is part of a four-day tour of key GCC countries that started October 19, 2008 and wrapping up on October 22, 2008, which will cover the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Oman. France will capitalize on its current presidency of the EU to broker a faster conclusion to the round of talks that will lead to the eventual signing of a GCC-EU FTA. Minister Idrac has already met the Secretary General of the GCC and will discuss matters related to this goal with the Foreign and Trade Ministers of all four countries. The FTA is of prime importance as trade volumes between both economic blocs have doubled in the past five years and currently amount to more than USD 141 billion. The GCC is Europe's sixth largest export market, while the EU is the GCC's first trading partner.As one of the world's top import and export destinations, France is a vital ally in our quest for sustainable growth. The visit of H.E. Idrac is a welcome affirmation of our mutual commitment to higher levels of collaboration in areas which we believe are crucial to national development. It also reflects the Ministry's eagerness to expand its international economic relations, with France and with the broader European Union with which we as a primary member of the Gulf Cooperation Council hope to secure a crucial Free Trade Agreement with in the near future, said H.E. Sheikha Lubna.
Minister Idrac will be accompanied by Philippe Favre, Ambassador-at-large for international investments and President of the Invest in France Agency (IFA), who will promote France as a favourable investment destination for Gulf countries. Other officials forming the French delegation include Mr. Jean-Louis Bernard, Member of the French Parliament and Deputy Chairman of the UAE-France Friendship Committee; Mr. Alain Cousin, Member of the French Parliament and Chairman of Ubifrance; and Mr. Nicolas Wawreski, Economic Counselor of the Cabinet of the Minster of State for Foreign Trade. The French Minister will also formally launch the regional IFA office which began operations in September 1, 2008. The office will focus on enhancing coordination between institutional French executives receiving request from Gulf clients; developing a privileged relation with local investors to orient their investments towards France; and promoting investment opportunities in France complementing the specific needs and expectations of Gulf organizations. The French delegation will meet officials overseeing major infrastructural projects, including the President of the Abu Dhabi Transport Department and the Chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai. They will also interact with leading local businessmen and discuss key developments such as the UAE electronuclear project, the inter-Emirates railway, and Dubai's new underground railway. A high-ranking commercial team from the French group was able to meet with H.E. Sheikha Lubna on the sidelines of today's meeting during which the UAE official provided an overview of the national economy and the local opportunities available to French investors.We are overwhelmed by the warm reception extended by H.E. Sheikha Lubna and the genuine interest expressed by UAE investors in France's own business prospects, especially in the real estate field. We hope that UAE officials, investors and business interests can come and visit our country soon as well, so that we can return the gesture. This has truly been a productive movement towards our enhanced relations, concluded Minister Idrac.UAE imports from France rose 11 per cent between 2003 and 2007, while re-exports from the European nation also grew 31 per cent during the same period. Almost 80 per cent of the UAE's French trade was imports, while 21 per cent was exports and re-exports. Last January 2008, both countries signed several agreements to further expand economic relations, a highlight of which was a framework for cooperation on the evaluation and potential use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Among the other areas covered by the accords are basic and applied research, water desalination, agronomy, medicine, earth sciences and industry.France and the UAE have inked several Memoranda of Understanding ranging from intellectual property rights to transport and education. The two nations share similarities in their economic structure, as they are both dependent on the services and industries sectors. They are also strong performers in the World Trade Organization's latest list of top 30 trading companies in the world. France's recent assumption of the EU Presidency is perceived by many quarters as an opportunity for the UAE to collaborate with France on the former's enhanced presence in the European trade and economic arena. - Ends -
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