October 31, 2003

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World Media Watch

by Gloria R. Lalumia

BUZZFLASH NOTE: Once again, these are the views and perspectives of the individual papers, not of BuzzFlash or Gloria. They offer BuzzFlash readers a way of reading what other nations are saying about the crisis, whether we like it or not. We repeat: This is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.

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1//The Jordan Times, Jordan--KING PLEDGES TO HELP REBUILD IRAQ (His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday said the Kingdom was ready to help rebuild Iraq and reactivate its important Arab and international role, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. At a Beit Al Baraka meeting, King Abdullah told Iraqi Electricity Minister Ayham Samaraie that Jordan was willing to extend every possible assistance for reconstructing Iraq in all fields, especially in rebuilding and reoperating electricity generation plants....Currently, Iraq can only obtain 5,000 megawatts.)

2//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--CHINA-NORTH KOREA: 'LIPS AND TEETH' SET TO PART? (...one issue of crucial importance that has been largely overlooked is the fluctuating relationship between North Korea and China. The once-cohesive bond between the two states has shown clear signs of unraveling in recent months and could be irreversibly damaged if upcoming talks prove unfruitful...The important question for North Korea is whether it can afford to let China slip away, just as Russia has. China supplies North Korea with 80 percent of its energy, commodity and fuel requirements, and is responsible for approximately 40 percent of Pyongyang's imports... North Korea's short list of allies has been shrinking with each year - thus Pyongyang's cronies should cringe at the thought of losing yet another trusted partner.)

3//Daily Yomiuri, Japan--SAVINGS RATE SLIDES AS POPULATION AGES (The nation's famously high savings rate is in decline. As unemployment and wage cuts lead to lower incomes, people now have less money to put into their savings accounts. Another factor is the rapidly aging population. More and more elderly people are making ends meet by spending their savings... But, the savings rate in Japan dropped below that of France and Germany in 2001, and it is now falling close to the low rate seen in the United States...If the savings rate continues to decline, it may adversely affect the economy, according to experts.)

4//The Moscow Times, Russia--COURT FREES UP ELECTION COVERAGE (The Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled as unconstitutional one part of the law that restricts media coverage of election campaigns, and in doing so, gave journalists more room to do their jobs, critics of the law said. The ruling, read by Court Chairman Valery Zorkin, cancels an umbrella clause in the law on guarantees of voters' rights, which defined campaigning so broadly that reporting information on a candidate could be construed as a violation if it was capable of swaying voters. Previously, any detail characterizing a politician could be seen as helping or hurting a politician's image...Alexei Simonov of the Glasnost Foundation said he, too, was pleased with the decision, but the damage had already been done. "The mechanism of fear and pressure on journalists has already been let loose. So on the surface, it changes things, but in reality, it doesn't.")

5//Inter Press Service, Italy--FIRST ROUND OF INDIANS V. CHEVRON/TEXACO IN COURT (Indigenous communities and the U.S. oil company ChevronTexaco are facing off in a court in this Ecuadorian city in a lawsuit for alleged contamination in the northeastern provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana...The risk of cancer is three times greater in areas near the Texaco oil production sites than in other parts of the country, according to a 1999-2001 study conducted by a team led by physicians Miguel San Sebastián and Anna-Karin Hurtig, with the Manuel Amunarriz Epidemiology and Community Health Institute in Coca, capital of Orellana province... Among the findings were that the risk of cancer of the larynx was 30 times higher in oil-producing zones than in other parts of the country, while the risk was 18 times higher in the case of cancer of the digestive tract, 15 times higher with respect to liver and skin cancer, and five times higher for stomach cancer.)

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1//The Jordan Times Thursday, October 30, 2003
http://www.jordantimes.com/Thu/homenews/homenews1.htm

KING PLEDGES TO HELP REBUILD IRAQ

AMMAN (JT) - His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday said the Kingdom was ready to help rebuild Iraq and reactivate its important Arab and international role, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

At a Beit Al Baraka meeting, King Abdullah told Iraqi Electricity Minister Ayham Samaraie that Jordan was willing to extend every possible assistance for reconstructing Iraq in all fields, especially in rebuilding and reoperating electricity generation plants.

Attending the meeting, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Azmi Khreisat said an office would be set up at the National Electricity Company to provide information on Iraq's electricity projects. Khreisat added that the government was also ready to train Iraqi personnel working in the field.

(SNIP)

Samaraie said that Jordan would use an electricity linkup with Egypt, which would at later stages link the Kingdom with several regional countries, to partially supply Iraq with its electricity needs.

He added that Iraq will rent mobile power stations from Arab and Western countries to produce part of its daily electricity needs, estimated at 18,000 megawatts. Currently, Iraq can only obtain 5,000 megawatts.

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2//Asia Times Online October 31, 2003
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/EJ31Dg01.html

CHINA-NORTH KOREA: 'LIPS AND TEETH' SET TO PART?
By Devon Rowcliffe

BUSAN - When twilight ascends upon East Asia this Friday evening, the future direction of North Korea's increasingly tenuous relations with China may become much clearer.

North Korea has received an exhausting amount of media coverage over the past several weeks: for initially scoffing at a security offer from the United States, threatening to explode a nuclear bomb, testing several short-range missiles, spewing yet more of its tiresome brand of garrulous statements, and ultimately agreeing to take a serious look at the aforementioned US security pact.

However, one issue of crucial importance that has been largely overlooked is the fluctuating relationship between North Korea and China. The once-cohesive bond between the two states has shown clear signs of unraveling in recent months and could be irreversibly damaged if upcoming talks prove unfruitful.

China's parliamentary head Wu Bangguo is visiting North Korea this week, a brief trip that will give Pyongyang the opportunity to halt any further deterioration of its ties with Beijing. A previous planned meeting was canceled when North Korea accused China of being "in cahoots" with South Korea regarding Pyongyang's nuclear program. The upcoming "friendly" talks are likely to play an important role in deciding whether China chooses to remain a firm ally of North Korea, or if Beijing instead elects to become a "friend at arm's length" with Pyongyang, as Russia has become in recent years.

(SNIP)

The important question for North Korea is whether it can afford to let China slip away, just as Russia has. China supplies North Korea with 80 percent of its energy, commodity and fuel requirements, and is responsible for approximately 40 percent of Pyongyang's imports. While it is questionable whether China would aid North Korea in the event of war, the two countries still technically share a mutual defense pact. Beijing is adamantly opposed to economic sanctions upon Pyongyang, and yields the power to veto such efforts if proposed in the United Nations Security Council. China's tight security at its border with North Korea helps prevent a mass exodus of refugees from the Stalinist regime. Beijing frequently serves as a mediator between Pyongyang and its traditional foes at multinational talks, a role that no other country is likely to volunteer for. Finally, China provides invaluable advice to North Korea on its sluggish adoption of market economic traits. Pyongyang risks losing clearly a vital partner if China and the North become estranged bedfellows.

The onus will be on North Korea at this week's talks to reassure China that a genuine alliance between the two countries is worth salvaging. North Korea's short list of allies has been shrinking with each year - thus Pyongyang's cronies should cringe at the thought of losing yet another trusted partner.

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3//Daily Yomiuri Oct 31 2003 12:25AM (JST)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm

SAVINGS RATE SLIDES AS POPULATION AGES
Yomiuri Shimbun

The nation's famously high savings rate is in decline. As unemployment and wage cuts lead to lower incomes, people now have less money to put into their savings accounts. Another factor is the rapidly aging population. More and more elderly people are making ends meet by spending their savings.

The decline in the savings rate due to aging of the population is pointed out in the "Annual Report on the Japanese Economy and Public Finance 2003," released Friday by the Cabinet Office. The report expresses fear about the negative impact the aging population may have on the country's economic growth in the future.

According to the latest flow-of-funds numbers published by the Bank of Japan, the amount of money put into savings or stock investments by households between July 2002 and June 2003 was about 1.3 trillion yen less than the combined amount of the savings spent and borrowings in the same period. This means that households were short of money for a full year--the first time that has happened since fiscal 1990.

Also prominent is the decrease in the household savings rate, or the amount of money each household puts into its savings out of its after-tax income. The rate was down 2.9 percentage points to 6.9 percent, according to the "System of National Accounts 2001" released by the Cabinet Office.

(SNIP)

Saving money used to be seen as a virtuous thing in Japan, and many Japanese had a higher savings rate than their counterparts in the West. Through financial institutions, their savings were invested in companies or used to buy government bonds. In this way, the savings were an engine for the rapid recovery and growth of the economy after the end of World War II.

But, the savings rate in Japan dropped below that of France and Germany in 2001, and it is now falling close to the low rate seen in the United States.

An estimate by Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc. shows that the savings rate during the 12 months until June this year has come down to 1.3 percent. In the United States, the savings rate is beginning to go up thanks to low stock prices--making it possible that the U.S. savings rate could even surpass that of Japan's.

(SNIP)

If the savings rate continues to decline, it may adversely affect the economy, according to experts.

The white paper also pointed out that the investment rate--the ratio of private capital investment and public investment against GDP--tends to be linked with declines in the savings rate.

In the United States and other countries, if the amount of domestic savings decreases, shortfalls in investment funds are covered by capital flows from overseas. However, structural barriers in Japan limit the flow of foreign investment into the country.

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4//The Moscow Times Friday, Oct. 31, 2003. Page 1
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2003/10/31/002.html

COURT FREES UP ELECTION COVERAGE
By Caroline McGregor
Staff Writer

The Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled as unconstitutional one part of the law that restricts media coverage of election campaigns, and in doing so, gave journalists more room to do their jobs, critics of the law said.

The ruling, read by Court Chairman Valery Zorkin, cancels an umbrella clause in the law on guarantees of voters' rights, which defined campaigning so broadly that reporting information on a candidate could be construed as a violation if it was capable of swaying voters.
Previously, any detail characterizing a politician could be seen as helping or hurting a politician's image.

Kaliningrad journalist Konstantin Rozhkov said his newspaper was fined 2,000 rubles ($65) and ultimately closed by the authorities for having called a general a general, an artist an artist and the son of a murdered deputy, the son of a murdered deputy. "That was the law," he said in an NTV interview.

But that no longer is true.

Too much of what is simply information could be seen as campaign material, Zorkin told reporters gathered in his chambers after the decision. Now only those media reports that are expressly designed to affect voters' choices should be taken as inappropriate.

(SNIP)

Alexander Veshnyakov, chairman of the commission, which monitors press coverage of the campaigns, reminded the press Thursday that election season events must be reported as fact, distinct from any commentary and with equal focus on all candidates and parties.

If a media outlet is found to be in violation, after initial fines and warnings, the commission can turn to the Press Ministry to take the case to court.

Alexei Simonov of the Glasnost Foundation said he, too, was pleased with the decision, but the damage had already been done. "The mechanism of fear and pressure on journalists has already been let loose. So on the surface, it changes things, but in reality, it doesn't."

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5//Inter Press Service October 30, 2003
http://www.ips.org/index.htm

FIRST ROUND OF INDIANS V. CHEVRON/TEXACO IN COURT
Kintto Lucas

NUEVA LOJA, Ecuador, Oct 30 (IPS) - Indigenous communities and the U.S. oil company ChevronTexaco are facing off in a court in this Ecuadorian city in a lawsuit for alleged contamination in the northeastern provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana.

After making its way through U.S. courts for a decade, the lawsuit filed by a group of Ecuadorian indigenous people and peasants was remitted last year to the Superior Court of Justice in the northern Ecuadorian town of Nueva Loja, near the Colombian border.

On May 7, the president of the court, Judge Alberto Guerra, announced that the court would hear the case. A few days later the parties met in a hearing, but failed to reach an agreement for settling out of court.

On Oct. 21, the Nueva Loja court began to hear testimony and evidence from the plaintiffs in the case against the California-based ChevronTexaco. Wednesday was their last day to present evidence.

The plaintiffs complain that crude oil and wastewater was dumped in Ecuador's northeastern Amazon jungle region by Texaco from 1967 to 1990. Texaco merged with Chevron in 2001.

ChevronTexaco is to submit its evidence next week.

The 88 plaintiffs, representing 30,000 peasants and indigenous people, are demanding one billion dollars in compensation and the clean-up of 600 open pits containing wastewater.

(SNIP)

The plaintiffs say that Texaco ignored standard industry practices, such as reinjecting the wastewater deep underground, and instead dumped it into open pits, from which it leaked into nearby rivers and streams.

''That is why we are fighting. We only want justice. They must clean up the crude and repair all the harm caused,'' said Alfonso Ureña, who lives near one of the pits.

The risk of cancer is three times greater in areas near the Texaco oil production sites than in other parts of the country, according to a 1999-2001 study conducted by a team led by physicians Miguel San Sebastián and Anna-Karin Hurtig, with the Manuel Amunarriz Epidemiology and Community Health Institute in Coca, capital of Orellana province.

(SNIP)

Among the findings were that the risk of cancer of the larynx was 30 times higher in oil-producing zones than in other parts of the country, while the risk was 18 times higher in the case of cancer of the digestive tract, 15 times higher with respect to liver and skin cancer, and five times higher for stomach cancer.

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