September 28, 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 SEPTEMBER 28, 2005

1//The Daily Star, Lebanon--SAUDIS TO GET U.S. AID FOR ‘WAR ON TERROR’ (U.S. President George W. Bush has certified that Saudi Arabia is cooperating in the "war on terrorism," clearing the way for aid that would otherwise have been blocked under U.S. law. The move was announced late Monday in a memorandum for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as a close Bush aide headed to Riyadh after criticizing the kingdom's human rights record. "I hereby certify that Saudi Arabia is cooperating with efforts to combat international terrorism and that the proposed assistance will help facilitate that effort," Bush said. The White House released the document as close Bush confidante Karen Hughes, the newly minted U.S. undersecretary for public diplomacy, prepared to meet with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah. Under a 2005 spending bill, direct U.S. aid to Saudi Arabia is forbidden unless the president certifies that Riyadh is cooperating with efforts to combat international terrorism and that the money will help that campaign. Supporters of the measure acknowledge that the overall sum of current aid is small, but say that they were principally concerned with keeping a close watch on potential future U.S. financial and military assistance to the kingdom.)

2//The Scotsman, UK--BRITAIN SET TO RUN OUT OF FUEL WARNS CBI BOSS (Businesses could be forced to close down and lay off workers this winter because the country's energy reserves are so low, the director-general of the CBI warned yesterday. "If we have a cold winter, we are going to throw the switch, businesses will shut down, people will lose their jobs," Sir Digby Jones said. "If we don't sort out our decrepit supply system, we are, this winter, going to run out of fuel." According to the CBI, Britain has only 11 days' gas held in reserve to power industrial users during a hard winter. In comparison, other European countries keep an average of 55 days in reserve. His warning came as the Met Office yesterday issued an "amber alert" to contingency planners in the government - including the NHS and Highways Agency - and in the energy industry to prepare for a "colder than average winter.")

3//Gulf News Online, United Arab Emirates--IRAN TO USE TRADE TO PUNISH UN VOTE ENEMIES (Iran has threatened to use trade ties to punish countries that voted to refer it to the UN Security Council in future over its nuclear programme. The news could prove to be a sharp blow to India and Japan, who were both looking for major energy deals with the oil and natural gas rich nation.)

4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong--HURRICANE CALLS TO INDIA (It is the kind of crisis management only possible in an era of perfect connectivity in a global world. Call center executives based in the Indian state of Gujarat are guiding residents of Texas afflicted by Hurricane Rita. The call center located in the city of Gandhinagar is run by Effective Tele Services and is informing affected Texas residents about safer locations, evacuation and relief operations. … The helpline was immediately started, with executives providing information sourced from the Internet by monitoring websites and maps. "All calls from our Texas office are being diverted to India," said Iyoob.)

5//The Moscow Times, Russia--PUTIN HINTS HE MAY STAY IN POLITICS (President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday hinted that he wanted to play an important role in government after 2008, and spent most of a three-hour call-in show talking about bread-and-butter issues, from salaries and health care to the needs of the country's 13 million hearing-impaired people. In the show -- his fourth since becoming president -- Putin focused as expected on social issues, including how a promised extra $4 billion would be spent. He also touched on the familiar themes of Russians abroad and territorial rights. … Responding to a caller who urged Putin to change the Constitution via a referendum so that he would be able to stay in power after 2008, the president reiterated that he would not seek to change it to allow himself to run for a third term. "I see my job as not staying in the Kremlin forever, so that the same face will be shown on television. ... I see my task as creating conditions for the country's long-term development, so that young and educated managers come to govern the country," he said. "I don't consider it appropriate to introduce any changes in the Constitution." However, Putin hinted he might retain an important role after stepping down in 2008. "As they say in the Army, 'I will find my place in the order of things,'" he said. After the call-in show, journalists asked Putin to clarify his remark, but he declined. "Let's keep the suspense," he said, Interfax reported.)

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1//The Daily Star, Lebanon Wednesday, September 28, 2005
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp...

SAUDIS TO GET U.S. AID FOR ‘WAR ON TERROR’
Bush envoy criticizes kingdom's human rights record

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

U.S. President George W. Bush has certified that Saudi Arabia is cooperating in the "war on terrorism," clearing the way for aid that would otherwise have been blocked under U.S. law.

The move was announced late Monday in a memorandum for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as a close Bush aide headed to Riyadh after criticizing the kingdom's human rights record.

"I hereby certify that Saudi Arabia is cooperating with efforts to combat international terrorism and that the proposed assistance will help facilitate that effort," Bush said.

The White House released the document as close Bush confidante Karen Hughes, the newly minted U.S. undersecretary for public diplomacy, prepared to meet with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.

Under a 2005 spending bill, direct U.S. aid to Saudi Arabia is forbidden unless the president certifies that Riyadh is cooperating with efforts to combat international terrorism and that the money will help that campaign.

Supporters of the measure acknowledge that the overall sum of current aid is small, but say that they were principally concerned with keeping a close watch on potential future U.S. financial and military assistance to the kingdom.

Hughes, U.S. undersecretary for public diplomacy, is on a regional tour aimed at improving the image of the United States, widely reviled in the Arab and Muslim world over its invasion of Iraq and support for Israel.

But ahead of her arrival in the Red Sea city of Jeddah yesterday, Hughes criticized Saudi Arabia's human rights record, although she admitted that democratic reforms in the oil-rich Gulf kingdom could take time.

"We are concerned, and I am going to say it in Saudi Arabia, about human rights issues in the kingdom," she told reporters accompanying her on her three-nation tour.

"They've got a long journey there and a lot of work to do," she said.

International rights groups and some Western countries accuse the Saudi government of rights abuses against both citizens and expatriate workers, chiefly Asians. Riyadh denies the charges.

Saudi Arabia applies a strict form of Islamic law and the death penalty is meted out for murder, rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking. So far this year there have been 70 executions announced by Saudi authorities.

The Saudi government announced earlier this month it would set up a human rights agency, the second such watchdog in the kingdom.

Hughes also said that although 15 of the hijackers in the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States were Saudi nationals, the kingdom has itself been "the victim of terror attacks ... and has become an important partner of the United States in counterterrorism measures."

(MORE)

2//The Scotsman, UK Tue 27 Sep 2005
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1998912005

BRITAIN SET TO RUN OUT OF FUEL WARNS CBI BOSS
James Kirkup, Westminster Editor

Businesses could be forced to close down and lay off workers this winter because the country's energy reserves are so low, the director-general of the CBI warned yesterday.

"If we have a cold winter, we are going to throw the switch, businesses will shut down, people will lose their jobs," Sir Digby Jones said.

"If we don't sort out our decrepit supply system, we are, this winter, going to run out of fuel."

According to the CBI, Britain has only 11 days' gas held in reserve to power industrial users during a hard winter. In comparison, other European countries keep an average of 55 days in reserve.

His warning came as the Met Office yesterday issued an "amber alert" to contingency planners in the government - including the NHS and Highways Agency - and in the energy industry to prepare for a "colder than average winter."

The UK energy minister Malcolm Wickes admitted the truth in Sir Digby's words at a fringe meeting of the Labour conference in Brighton attended by both men. Mr Wickes conceded that industry could be badly hit by an unusually cold winter.

Sir Digby last night told The Scotsman that Britain's historical position as a net exporter of energy, coupled with government red tape, had left the country poorly prepared for a cold season.

Until recently, Britain was a net exporter of gas from the North Sea, and because that gas was nearby and on tap, less effort went into constructing gas reserve stations, experts say.

Now, Britain is becoming a net importer of natural gas, much of it from Russia, yet, as ministers admitted yesterday, the UK still lacks proper reserve capacity.

Many of the UK's current generation of electricity generators are gas-fired, and their output would be curtailed by any shortfall in gas supplies. Because domestic electricity users are always given priority over commercial customers, there is no realistic chance of even the worst winter affecting households.

But, as Mr Wickes admitted, most businesses have "interruptible" contracts with their energy suppliers, meaning that they would be the first to be hit by any energy shortage.

"We could have a tight winter," said Mr Wickes. "This is not about shutting off domestic customers, but there could be problems for industry."

Mr Wickes said that responsibility for any energy reserve problems lay with industry. Companies, he said, had been "a little slow" in investing in reserve capacity.

But Sir Digby insisted that government planning officials were ultimately to blame for obstructing companies' attempts to prepare for the long-anticipated decline in North Sea reserves.

"Since 2003, many local authorities have denied planning permission to build new storage capacity, and when industry has appealed those decisions and taken them to central government in Whitehall, [Deputy Prime Minister] John Prescott's office has refused as well," Sir Digby said.

Warnings of potential power interruptions are not confined to industry. Earlier this month, Prospect, a trade union whose members include engineers, scientists and other energy specialists, warned that predicted low temperatures mean "there is a very real threat this could be the winter our luck runs out."

Alan Johnson, the Industry Secretary and Mr Wickes' boss, tried to downplay the warnings last night, insisting there was only a one-in-50 chance of a winter cold enough to exhaust reserves. "And even if it happens, there is no risk to domestic supplies," he said.

(MORE)

3//Gulf News Online, United Arab Emirates Published: 27/9/2005, 20:28 (UAE)
http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/RegionNF.asp?ArticleID=184035

IRAN TO USE TRADE TO PUNISH UN VOTE ENEMIES

Agencies Tehran: Iran has threatened to use trade ties to punish countries that voted to refer it to the UN Security Council in future over its nuclear programme.

The news could prove to be a sharp blow to India and Japan, who were both looking for major energy deals with the oil and natural gas rich nation.

(SNIP)

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, said: "We will reconsider our economic cooperation with those countries that voted against us.

"India's vote came as a great surprise to us," he added.

In June, India signed a $22 billion deal to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran for 25 years from 2009. India has also been seeking to pipe gas overland from Iran.

Iran is already Japan's number-three oil supplier. But Japan is seeking to increase imports from the Islamic Republic through a $2 billion development of the giant Azadegan oilfield in Iran's southwestern oil heartlands.

4//Asia Times Online, Hong Kong Sept 28, 2005
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GI28Df01.html

HURRICANE CALLS TO INDIA
By Siddharth Srivastava

NEW DELHI - It is the kind of crisis management only possible in an era of perfect connectivity in a global world. Call center executives based in the Indian state of Gujarat are guiding residents of Texas afflicted by Hurricane Rita.

The call center located in the city of Gandhinagar is run by Effective Tele Services and is informing affected Texas residents about safer locations, evacuation and relief operations.

The Indian arm of the US-based firm came into play when its two call centers in Texas were temporarily shut down due to fear that they could suffer damage from Hurricane Rita. "I received a frantic call from Robert Hurst, a senior judge in Texas on Friday night," said Jim Iyoob, the center's director in Gujarat and a resident of Texas. "He requested me to set up a helpline at the business process outsourcing [BPO] center to help evacuees in Texas find a temporary shelter from the hurricane," he said.

The helpline was immediately started, with executives providing information sourced from the Internet by monitoring websites and maps. "All calls from our Texas office are being diverted to India," said Iyoob.

Earlier, the Indian BPO industry, under the aegis of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), wrote to the US Department of Homeland security offering over 1,000 call center seats to assist rescue and relief operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the months of August-September.

"We have written to the US ambassador to India as well as the Department of Homeland Security to commit call center seats to handle calls relating to information on missing people, as well as information on aid and relief to victims of Hurricane Katrina. All major BPO and IT companies in India have offered to allocate seats in their existing call centers," a Nasscom statement read.

Another recent international crisis was handled from India, though on a much bigger scale. Indian call centers took the bulk of the calls from citizens in London and the rest of Britain in the aftermath of the terror blasts in July.

(MORE)

5//The Moscow Times, Russia Wednesday, September 28, 2005. Issue 3262. Page 1.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/09/28/001.html

PUTIN HINTS HE MAY STAY IN POLITICS
By Oksana Yablokova and Francesca Mereu
Staff Writers

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday hinted that he wanted to play an important role in government after 2008, and spent most of a three-hour call-in show talking about bread-and-butter issues, from salaries and health care to the needs of the country's 13 million hearing-impaired people.

In the show -- his fourth since becoming president -- Putin focused as expected on social issues, including how a promised extra $4 billion would be spent. He also touched on the familiar themes of Russians abroad and territorial rights.

In an echo of reactions to previous call-in shows, one of Putin's promises -- that a pensioner in the Stavropol region would get her water pipes fixed, or else her governor would not be reappointed -- came true before the day was out.

Responding to a caller who urged Putin to change the Constitution via a referendum so that he would be able to stay in power after 2008, the president reiterated that he would not seek to change it to allow himself to run for a third term.

"I see my job as not staying in the Kremlin forever, so that the same face will be shown on television. ... I see my task as creating conditions for the country's long-term development, so that young and educated managers come to govern the country," he said. "I don't consider it appropriate to introduce any changes in the Constitution."

However, Putin hinted he might retain an important role after stepping down in 2008.
"As they say in the Army, 'I will find my place in the order of things,'" he said.

After the call-in show, journalists asked Putin to clarify his remark, but he declined.
"Let's keep the suspense," he said, Interfax reported.

Speculation has been rife that Kremlin officials are searching for a way to keep Putin in power after 2008. Putin most recently reiterated his intention not to run again to a group of visiting foreign policy experts earlier this month, but he said at a news conference in Finland in August that he would have liked to stay if the Constitution had allowed it.

During the 2 hour, 55 minute-show, which aired on Channel One and Rossia, as well as on state-run Radio Mayak, Putin answered a total of 60 carefully screened questions, including 14 he said beforehand. In addition to questions that arrived at a special call center by telephone and Internet over the past five days, Putin fielded questions via live linkups with 12 Russian cities and the Latvian capital, Riga.

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