November 19, 2004

World Media Watch

by Gloria R. Lalumia

BuzzFlash Note: WMW provides BuzzFlash readers foreign views and perspectives that are not usually available from the media here in the U.S. The presentation of these articles from these international publications is not an endorsement of their viewpoints.

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WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR NOVEMBER 19, 2004

1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--RESISTANCE LOOKS BEYOND FALLUJAH (US military superiority has prevailed in Fallujah, but it is certainly not a knockout blow to the insurgency, which will continue its resistance, at the same time working for the establishment of a political movement involving exiles in Arab and non-Arab nations for the liberation of Iraq from foreign domination… A number of important Ba'ath Party members were assigned to Iraqi intelligence missions abroad during Saddam's time. After the US occupation of Iraq these Ba'athists mostly took refuge in Syria, where they at present form a strong political movement. Similar groups are believed to exist in Egypt, Sudan, Russia, China, France and Libya. Their aim is to organize themselves into some form of a "government in exile.")

2//The Daily Star, Lebanon--OPEC REVISES DOWN EXPECTATIONS OF OIL DEMAND GROWTH (The OPEC cartel on Thursday revised down its expectations of oil demand growth for next year and projected a rare big winter stockbuild if the group keeps producing at current levels. Also on Thursday, the OPEC news agency reported the group's reference for crude fell further to $35.49 a barrel on Wednesday, down from Tuesday's $35.94 and the lowest level since mid-July. OPEC also said it would be too early to tell if a recent fall in oil rates signalled that prices had peaked…OPEC's output surge has helped replenish inventories in consuming nations and bring prices down around 15 percent from record highs over the last three weeks. U.S. crude was up 8 cents at $46.92 a barrel on Thursday…The winter stockbuild projected by OPEC is larger than the International Energy Agency's forecast last week of a 1.65 million bpd increase through to end-March if OPEC keeps pumping at current rates.)

3//Xinhuanet.com, China--CHINA PLANS TO INVEST $19 BLN IN ARGENTINA (Argentina says China will invest more than 19 billion US dollars in Argentina over the next 10 years for closer trade links, China Radio International reported on Wednesday. Argentine officials announced Tuesday that China will invest more than $19 billion in Argentina over the next 10 years, deepening trade links between the world's fastest growing economy and South America's second-largest…The largest investment includes a Chinese pledge to invest $8 billion in the coming years to expand Argentina's railway system, $6 billion over five years in construction projects, along with $5 billion in oil exploration.)

4//The Independent, UK--AGE OF GREEN CARS ARRIVES AS CANADIANS CUT EMISSIONS
(Cars that are environmentally friendly may be coming to drivers in North America faster than anyone expected after the Canadian government pledged this week to a dramatic 25 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from all vehicles sold inside its borders by the end of the decade. In so doing, Canada is joining California and seven north-eastern US states, including New Jersey and New York, in seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which means the stricter limits will eventually apply to about one third of the North American car market. This should be enough to ensure that the entire North American market is governed by the standards within a few years…For the automotive industry, the decision by Canada is more bad news. Canada produces about 2.5 million vehicles a year and sells about 1.5 million within its borders. While supporters of greener cars say the technology required will add about $1,000 (£540) to the price of the average car, the manufacturers insist the additional cost will be about $3,000. Mark Nantais, the president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, said: "It means that roughly 95 per cent of the passenger cars in Canada won't make the cut.")

5//The Moscow Times, Russia--PUTIN DEFENDS HIS POLITICAL REFORMS (President Vladimir Putin defended his course of political and electoral reforms Thursday, asserting that the changes will streamline public administration and consolidate the country in the face of terrorism without curtailing democracy. Putin spoke with journalists from three national television channels and met with pro-Kremlin State Duma deputies to reiterate his commitment to pursue his reforms, which include scrapping the popular vote for regional leaders, eliminating independent races in Duma elections, and obtaining the right to disband regional legislatures. "I don't think so," Putin said when asked by Russia anchor Nikolai Svanidze whether the changes would roll back democracy in Russia, according to a transcript of the interview posted on the Kremlin's official web site.)

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1//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong Nov 19, 2004
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/FK19Ak01.html

RESISTANCE LOOKS BEYOND FALLUJAH
By Syed Saleem Shahzad

KARACHI - US military superiority has prevailed in Fallujah, but it is certainly not a knockout blow to the insurgency, which will continue its resistance, at the same time working for the establishment of a political movement involving exiles in Arab and non-Arab nations for the liberation of Iraq from foreign domination.

In the meantime, according to Asia Times Online information gained from Iraq, the resistance will continue on its present course of limited engagements with US forces in as many different places as possible. Already serious unrest has spread to al-Anbar, Mosul, Samarra, Tikrit, Tamim, Baghdad, Babil and other places.

Command and control of a guerrilla war was mapped out well before the invasion of the country last year. By February 2003, about 35,000 Fedayeen (the paramilitary "men of sacrifice" of Saddam Hussein) had been trained for urban warfare. And Saddam also restored ties with Salafi-based Islamic seminaries in Fallujah, Islamic Sufi groups in Tamim, and coordinated a strategy under which these groups agreed to coordinate with Ba'ath Party security committees.

A key element of the resistance was that officially trained Iraqi militias and Ba'ath Party members would not themselves commit to full battle. They recruited civilians, who were given training and equipped with arms and ammunition. These latter forces, mostly religiously motivated zealots, were the cannon fodder. This was amply illustrated in Fallujah, where the leaders and "professional" soldiers had left long before the US assault on the city began.

The fleeing guerrillas took refuge in other parts of al-Anbar province in which Fallujah is located, while their colleagues in al-Tamim, Baquba and Mosul carried out organized attacks. In Mosul, the Iraqi resistance took control of the city for a time and then melted away. The strategy is aimed at spreading US forces and demoralizing the Iraqi troops which fight with them - there have been reports of widespread desertions.

Political battlefield

A number of important Ba'ath Party members were assigned to Iraqi intelligence missions abroad during Saddam's time. After the US occupation of Iraq these Ba'athists mostly took refuge in Syria, where they at present form a strong political movement. Similar groups are believed to exist in Egypt, Sudan, Russia, China, France and Libya. Their aim is to organize themselves into some form of a "government in exile."

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2//The Daily Star, Lebanon Friday, November 19, 2004
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition...

OPEC REVISES DOWN EXPECTATIONS OF OIL DEMAND GROWTH
Compiled by Daily Star staff

Group's reference for crude falls further to lowest level since mid-July

LONDON: The OPEC cartel on Thursday revised down its expectations of oil demand growth for next year and projected a rare big winter stockbuild if the group keeps producing at current levels.

Also on Thursday, the OPEC news agency reported the group's reference for crude fell further to $35.49 a barrel on Wednesday, down from Tuesday's $35.94 and the lowest level since mid-July. OPEC also said it would be too early to tell if a recent fall in oil rates signalled that prices had peaked.

The group estimated likely demand for its crude oil to average 28.2 million bpd over the fourth quarter this year and first quarter 2005, some 2 million bpd below its estimated October production, it said in its monthly Oil Market Report.

OPEC also lowered its estimate of world demand growth next year by 120,000 bpd to 1.49 million bpd as the economic expansion that has driven fuel demand this year slows, the report said.

"World oil demand growth estimates for next year have once again been adjusted to account for the lower rate of global economic growth," the report said.

(SNIP)

OPEC's output surge has helped replenish inventories in consuming nations and bring prices down around 15 percent from record highs over the last three weeks. U.S. crude was up 8 cents at $46.92 a barrel on Thursday.

Fears of a big stockbuild in the first half of this year spurred OPEC to reduce output, before Chinese demand growth strain-ed supplies more than expected and sent prices rocketing.

The winter stockbuild projected by OPEC is larger than the International Energy Agency's forecast last week of a 1.65 million bpd increase through to end-March if OPEC keeps pumping at current rates.

(MORE)


3//Xinhuanet.com, China 2004-11-17 20:37:39
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/...

CHINA PLANS TO INVEST $19 BLN IN ARGENTINA

BEIJING, Nov. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Argentina says China will invest more than 19 billion US dollars in Argentina over the next 10 years for closer trade links, China Radio International reported on Wednesday.

Argentine officials announced Tuesday that China will invest more than $19 billion in Argentina over the next 10 years, deepening trade links between the world's fastest growing economy and South America's second-largest.

The announcement of the trade and investment agreements came as Chinese President Hu Jintao opened a two-day visit to Argentina, part of a Latin American tour widely seen as an effort by China to expand the country's economic presence in the region.

Argentine officials said the multi-billion dollar investments would be made in energy production, infrastructure and Argentina's railway system in what would amount to the largest bilateral trade accord for the South American country since its 2001-2 economic crisis.

(SNIP)

The largest investment includes a Chinese pledge to invest $8 billion in the coming years to expand Argentina's railway system, $6 billion over five years in construction projects, along with $5 billion in oil exploration.

Hu's arrival in Buenos Aires followed a five-day visit to Brazil where Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva recognized China as a market economy, a move that should make it easier for the two countries to do business.


4//The Independent, UK 19 November 2004
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/...

AGE OF GREEN CARS ARRIVES AS CANADIANS CUT EMISSIONS
By David Usborne in New York

Cars that are environmentally friendly may be coming to drivers in North America faster than anyone expected after the Canadian government pledged this week to a dramatic 25 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from all vehicles sold inside its borders by the end of the decade.

In so doing, Canada is joining California and seven north-eastern US states, including New Jersey and New York, in seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which means the stricter limits will eventually apply to about one third of the North American car market. This should be enough to ensure that the entire North American market is governed by the standards within a few years.

The pledge from Ottawa will add to the pressure on the North American automotive industry to develop vehicles that meet higher emission standards of gases such as methane and carbon dioxide. About a third of the greenhouse gas emissions thought to contribute to global warming in the US come from motor vehicles.

"We're very clear where we want to go," John Efford, Canada's Natural Resources minister, told The New York Times yesterday. "Twenty-five per cent is our goal and the auto industry clearly understands that."

(SNIP)

The Canadian announcements coincided with a visit to Ottawa by Fran Pavley, the member of the Californian legislature who pushed through the tougher regulations in September. She said that the leadership her state is providing on the issue was surprising. "The rest of the world depends on California to push the agenda, push the envelope," she said.

Certainly, that push is not coming from Washington. The stricter limits are coming in spite of President George Bush, who is sceptical about the science of emissions.

For the automotive industry, the decision by Canada is more bad news. Canada produces about 2.5 million vehicles a year and sells about 1.5 million within its borders. While supporters of greener cars say the technology required will add about $1,000 (£540) to the price of the average car, the manufacturers insist the additional cost will be about $3,000.

Mark Nantais, the president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, said: "It means that roughly 95 per cent of the passenger cars in Canada won't make the cut."


5//The Moscow Times, Russia Friday, November 19, 2004. Page 1.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/11/19/001.html

PUTIN DEFENDS HIS POLITICAL REFORMS
By Francesca Mereu and Simon Saradzhyan, Staff Writers

President Vladimir Putin defended his course of political and electoral reforms Thursday, asserting that the changes will streamline public administration and consolidate the country in the face of terrorism without curtailing democracy.

Putin spoke with journalists from three national television channels and met with pro-Kremlin State Duma deputies to reiterate his commitment to pursue his reforms, which include scrapping the popular vote for regional leaders, eliminating independent races in Duma elections, and obtaining the right to disband regional legislatures.

"I don't think so," Putin said when asked by Russia anchor Nikolai Svanidze whether the changes would roll back democracy in Russia, according to a transcript of the interview posted on the Kremlin's official web site.

Putin, whose second and final term ends in 2008, also said he would refrain from amending the Constitution.

Putin said he was committed to the development of democracy during the meeting with the Duma's United Russia faction earlier in the day in a clear attempt to respond to recent criticism from the European Union and Washington that the reforms might curtail democracy in Russia.

During the interview, Putin said the reforms are designed to make Russia "a comfortable country" by eliminating security threats, including the threat of disintegration posed by terrorism. "After all, we all know that international terrorists and criminals are not planning tank attacks to capture" Russian cities, Putin said.

"But they still have global goals such as setting up their infamous caliphate," he said, referring to the desire of Muslim radicals to unite all Muslim-dominated countries into an Islamic state. "That would mean huge losses of territory for us, mainly in the south, and a possible disintegration of the whole country."

He added: "The emergence of this threat should prompt us to perfect our government structure, improve its effectiveness, and solve a range of other economic and social problems."

The president insisted that the reforms will not change the balance of power between federal and regional authorities, even though a bill that the Duma is considering would give him the right to submit gubernatorial candidates' names to regional legislatures and disband legislatures that twice refuse to support his picks. "These proposals are totally unconnected with any attempt by the head of state to obtain some kind of additional ... power over regional authorities," Putin said.

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