January 17, 2005

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 JANUARY 17, 2005


1//Khaleej Times, UAE--IRAN CONFIDENT AFTER KEY UN NUCLEAR INSPECTION (Iran said on Sunday it was confident that UN inspectors would disprove US allegations that it is conducting secret nuclear weapons work, and said its negotiations with the Europeans on the issue were "on a good track." A team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited the previously off-limits Iranian military site of Parchin, near Teheran, on Thursday. "They visited, they took some samples from the open area and they returned home. We know what the results are because we have no illegal activity," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. "After they study the results they can confirm our position," he added. The spokesman also told reporters that talks with the European Union on finding a long-term solution to international worries over Iran's nuclear drive were going well.)

2//KurdishMedia.com, UK--TURKEY CAUTIONS IRAQ OVER KURDISH VOTERS IN KIRKUK
(A senior Turkish official has cautioned Iraqi electoral authorities to reject the registration of Kurdish voters in Kirkuk who are not legally entitled to vote in the oil-rich northern city, a Turkish newspaper reported Sunday. The official was speaking after the Kurds reached a deal with the Iraqi government Friday that cleared the way for an estimated 100,000 Kurds expelled from Kirkuk under Saddam Hussein's regime, to vote for the new government in Tamim province, where the city is located, in the January 30 elections. The deal effectively tipped the region's balance of power to the Kurds, at the risk of enflaming tensions in the ethnically volatile city.)

3//The News International, Pakistan--SEVENTY MILLION ARABS STILL UNABLE TO READ OR WRITE (Although overall illiteracy rates have been falling in Arab countries, rising populations mean that the total number of people unable to either read or write continues to increase, a report produced by an Arab League body devoted to education and culture said… In absolute numbers, however, there were some 50 million illiterates in 1970, rising to 61 million 20 years later and now to an expected 70 million this year. However the report also asserted that the average rate today was higher than for sub-Saharan African countries, which it estimated at 34.6 per cent. Current trends showed the average illiteracy rate in Arab countries declining by one percentage point a year, meaning that it would take over three decades to completely eliminate the problem, the report added.)

4//The Independent, UK--TORIES DESERVE BETTER LEADER, DEFECTOR SAYS (Michael Howard will set out today to repair the damage done to his party by the defection to Labour of one of its most experienced MPs, the former higher education minister Robert Jackson. Mr Howard will claim that a Conservative government would spend nearly £35bn a year less than Labour on wasteful bureaucracy. He will follow this up tomorrow with an announcement of how the Tories would use this money they saved by cutting waste… But the planned announcement was already spoilt by a Populus opinion poll conducted in the marginal seats, for the News of the World, which predicted the Tories are now on course for their worst defeat since 1906. It was then ruined by the defection of Mr Jackson, the fourth sitting Tory MP to move over to the Labour Party in less than a decade… "The bottom line is that I think that it is in the country's best interests that Tony Blair rather than Michael Howard should form the next government," he said.)

5//The Toronto Star, Canada--FEDS PONDER EASING KYOTO TARGETS FOR BIG POLLUTERS (The federal cabinet is considering a proposal that would dramatically ease requirements for large industrial polluters to cut greenhouse gas emissions under Canada's climate change plan, The Canadian Press has learned. The proposal comes as Ottawa struggles to chart a course toward the target set by the Kyoto accord -- which calls for a six per cent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2010 -- before the treaty legally comes into force on Feb. 16. Large emitters such as oil and gas producers, electricity stations, mines and manufacturers account for roughly half the country's emissions, far more than those produced by individuals through lifestyle choices… "I would say, if the government continues with this, it's clear they're contemplating deliberately failing to meet the Kyoto target," said Dale Marshall of the David Suzuki Foundation when the document was shown to him.)

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1//Khaleej Times, UAE 16 January 2005
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile...

IRAN CONFIDENT AFTER KEY UN NUCLEAR INSPECTION

TEHERAN (AFP) - Iran said on Sunday it was confident that UN inspectors would disprove US allegations that it is conducting secret nuclear weapons work, and said its negotiations with the Europeans on the issue were "on a good track."

A team of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited the previously off-limits Iranian military site of Parchin, near Teheran, on Thursday.

"They visited, they took some samples from the open area and they returned home. We know what the results are because we have no illegal activity," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters.

"After they study the results they can confirm our position," he added.

The spokesman also told reporters that talks with the European Union on finding a long-term solution to international worries over Iran’s nuclear drive were going well.

"The Iran-EU negotiations are continuing and are on a good track," he said.

The two sides this week kicked off a fresh round of talks on a potentially lucrative trade pact after a deal clinched in November by the European bloc's three most powerful members -- Britain, France and Germany -- for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.

The trade deal forms part of a package of possible incentives Iran could earn if the talks also manage to produce "objective guarantees" the country is not seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment activities while the talks are in progress. The country insists it only wants to produce fuel for nuclear reactors, but there are fears the sensitive fuel cycle work could be geared towards making weapons.

Asefi said Iran would one day resume enrichment, but he held back from giving any timetable.

"It is clear that we will resume enrichment. We have said from the beginning that suspension is voluntary and short-term. We will eventually resume enrichment," he said.

The Europeans are pushing for Iran to accept a long-term suspension of its work on the nuclear fuel cycle, including the enrichment of uranium, to ease international alarm.

In return, Europe's three major powers are offering Iran civilian nuclear technology, including access to nuclear fuel, increased trade and help with Teheran’s regional security concerns.

Asefi said political negotiations with the EU would begin in March but he also said Iran did not want to see the United States also join the negotiating process.

"We don’t feel that there is a need for the US to take part in these talks. There is a precondition needed for this, which goes back to the US attitude," the spokesman said.

"There is no need for face to face negotiations. One should only enter negotiations when you know there will be a result."

(MORE)

2//KurdishMedia.com 16/01/2005
http://kurdishmedia.com/news.asp?id=6070

TURKEY CAUTIONS IRAQ OVER KURDISH VOTERS IN KIRKUK

ANKARA, Jan 16 (AFP) - 11h31 - A senior Turkish official has cautioned Iraqi electoral authorities to reject the registration of Kurdish voters in Kirkuk who are not legally entitled to vote in the oil-rich northern city, a Turkish newspaper reported Sunday.

The official was speaking after the Kurds reached a deal with the Iraqi government Friday that cleared the way for an estimated 100,000 Kurds expelled from Kirkuk under Saddam Hussein's regime, to vote for the new government in Tamim province, where the city is located, in the January 30 elections.

The deal effectively tipped the region's balance of power to the Kurds, at the risk of enflaming tensions in the ethnically volatile city.

Ankara is vehemently opposed to Kurdish control of Kirkuk, which many Kurds want to see as the capital of an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq, a nightmare scenario for Iraq's neighbors.

Osman Koruturk, the top Turkish diplomat on Iraq, told the Sabah daily that Ankara was not opposed to the return of displaced Kurds to Kirkuk, but warned that more Kurds than those who were actually expelled had settled in the region following the US-led occupation of Iraq.

"What is important is that the (Independent Electoral) Commission...gives the right to vote to those who have really lived in Kirkuk in the past," he said.

(SNIP)

Kirkuk is also home to a large number of Turkmens, an ethnic community of Turkish descent backed by Ankara.

The Iraqi Turkmen Front, one of the main groups representing the community, threatened Thursday to boycott the elections unless the Kurds put an end to "games" to influence the outcome of the vote in Kirkuk.

3//The News International, Pakistan Monday January 17, 2005-- Zil Haj 06, 1425 A.H.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jan2005-daily...

SEVENTY MILLION ARABS STILL UNABLE TO READ OR WRITE

TUNIS: Although overall illiteracy rates have been falling in Arab countries, rising populations mean that the total number of people unable to either read or write continues to increase, a report produced by an Arab League body devoted to education and culture said.

The report, an internal document of the Arab League Education, Science and Culture Organisation (ALESCO) that was obtained by AFP, said that some 70 million people aged over 15 in League member countries were unable to read or write. It expressed regret that a goal to halve the numbers of illiterate people between 1990 and 2000 had not been achieved, and said that on current trends it would take three decades to completely eliminate the problem.

The document also said that almost half of women in the countries concerned — 46.5 per cent — were unable to read or write, as against a rate of 25.1 per cent amongst men. The report noted however that as a percentage of total populations, the average level of illiteracy in Arab League states had fallen enormously over the past 35 years. The overall rate had stood at 73 per cent in 1970, but it had fallen to 48.7 per cent in 1990 and was now down to 35.6 per cent, the report said.

In absolute numbers, however, there were some 50 million illiterates in 1970, rising to 61 million 20 years later and now to an expected 70 million this year. However the report also asserted that the average rate today was higher than for sub-Saharan African countries, which it estimated at 34.6 per cent. Current trends showed the average illiteracy rate in Arab countries declining by one percentage point a year, meaning that it would take over three decades to completely eliminate the problem, the report added.

Mongi Bousnina, who heads the Tunis-based agency, recently warned that efforts to further reduce illiteracy levels were failing. He described the inability to read and write as "a major brake on social, cultural, economic and political development" in Arab countries. The situation today is "worrying and demands serious effort," Bousnina said.

(MORE)

4//The Independent, UK 16 January 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story...

TORIES DESERVE BETTER LEADER, DEFECTOR SAYS
Party faces worst defeat since 1906 at election despite Howard's new strategy

By Andy McSmith, Political Editor

Michael Howard will set out today to repair the damage done to his party by the defection to Labour of one of its most experienced MPs, the former higher education minister Robert Jackson.

Mr Howard will claim that a Conservative government would spend nearly £35bn a year less than Labour on wasteful bureaucracy. He will follow this up tomorrow with an announcement of how the Tories would use this money they saved by cutting waste.

Today's claim, which Mr Howard will defend in an television interview, is based on a review carried out by a team of 60 business experts headed by David James, a company trouble-shooter who has rescued numerous ailing UK enterprises, including the Millennium Dome. If Mr James's proposals were carried out, 168 public bodies would be scrapped and 235,000 civil service and other publicly funded jobs would be lost.

Their findings are an essential part of the Conservative leader's strategy for rebuilding the party's fortunes in the next general election, which is probably less than four months away. But the planned announcement was already spoilt by a Populus opinion poll conducted in the marginal seats, for the News of the World, which predicted the Tories are now on course for their worst defeat since 1906.

It was then ruined by the defection of Mr Jackson, the fourth sitting Tory MP to move over to the Labour Party in less than a decade. Mr Jackson, 58, has been MP for Wantage for 22 years, though his political career began earlier when he was appointed adviser to the European Community Commissioner, Lord Soames, in 1974.

A Conservative victory at the forthcoming election would mean "certain damage", Mr Jackson told The Sunday Telegraph.

The party has "dangerous" views on Europe, "incoherent" public service policies and had "wobbled" on Iraq. In a damning assessment of Mr Howard, he said the Tories "deserved better leadership."

"The bottom line is that I think that it is in the country's best interests that Tony Blair rather than Michael Howard should form the next government," he said.

Last night, Tony Blair praised Jackson as "a decent, fair-minded and dedicated public servant, respected across the House of Commons, who will be warmly welcomed by Labour MPs and Members."

(MORE)

5//The Toronto Star, Canada Jan. 16, 2005. 05:30 PM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer...

FEDS PONDER EASING KYOTO TARGETS FOR BIG POLLUTERS
From Canadian Press

OTTAWA — The federal cabinet is considering a proposal that would dramatically ease requirements for large industrial polluters to cut greenhouse gas emissions under Canada's climate change plan, The Canadian Press has learned.

The proposal comes as Ottawa struggles to chart a course toward the target set by the Kyoto accord — which calls for a six per cent cut in emissions from 1990 levels by 2010 — before the treaty legally comes into force on Feb. 16.

A Department of Natural Resources submission, marked "secret," would reduce the emission cuts required of so-called large final emitters to a fraction of what they were under a plan released in 2002.

Large emitters such as oil and gas producers, electricity stations, mines and manufacturers account for roughly half the country's emissions, far more than those produced by individuals through lifestyle choices.

Some say acceptance of the Natural Resources proposal would amount to an admission of failure, since it would be very difficult to find offsetting measures capable of filling the gap.

"I would say, if the government continues with this, it's clear they're contemplating deliberately failing to meet the Kyoto target," said Dale Marshall of the David Suzuki Foundation when the document was shown to him.

"It's such an erosion of the target for industry that it makes the rest of the Kyoto target practically impossible to reach."

Under the 2002 plan, large emitters would be required to cut their greenhouse emissions by 55 megatonnes from the business-as-usual forecast for 2010, a 15 per cent reduction across the board.

The plan includes about 30 other measures, including government-funded energy efficiency and carbon capture projects that would help big industry achieve cuts above and beyond 55 megatonnes.

But Ottawa also promised to protect industry's competitiveness and avoid a disproportionate burden on any region. Those promises make the target for large emitters untenable, says the Natural Resources document.

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