November 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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Look for the next World Media Watch on Friday, December 2, 2005.

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WORLD MEDIA WATCH FOR NOVEMBER 28, 2005

1//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia--PRESSURE MOUNTS FOR SEDITION LAWS TO BE DELAYED (The Government will come under intense pressure to make big changes in the sedition provisions in its counter-terrorism laws, with its senators expected to report today that these are deeply flawed. Sources close to the Senate committee examining the laws say its much-awaited majority report will urge the Government to delay legislating on sedition, even if it enacts other elements of the counter-terrorism bill. Sedition laws aim to criminalise the incitement of terrorism, racial violence or attacks on Australian troops but are under fire for being poorly drafted and curbing freedom of expression. … Someone could be jailed for seven years for inadvertently provoking a terrorist act through a speech, broadcast or article if it could be shown they were "reckless" in their remarks. … Senator Bob Brown of the Greens said yesterday that he had referred the anti-terrorism bill to the UN Human Rights Committee. He says it breaches international law. But the Government insists the bill complies with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.)

2//The Toronto Star, Canada--DON’T EXPECT A DEAL: MARTIN (As his Liberal government teetered on the edge of defeat in Parliament Monday, Prime Minister Paul Martin maintained on Sunday that there will be no last-minute deals with the opposition parties. "If they defeat us on Monday, then we'll have an election," he said in between serving pancakes before the Grey Cup game. "We don't want to have a Christmas election." A combined Conservative-Bloc-NDP non-confidence vote is expected to snuff out Martin's tumultuous 17-month-old mandate Monday evening. Martin would then ask Gov.-Gen. Michelle Jean to dissolve Parliament on Tuesday morning after setting an election date in the second half of January. … A clutch of recent polls suggest the parties would head into an election looking at a result similar to last year's vote: a Liberal minority government.)

3//IranMania.com, UK--PRICE OF IRAN ELECTRICITY EXPORTED TO IRAQ WILL RISE (With the proposed increase in the electricity exports from Iran to the neighboring Iraq, the price of the commodity would also increase, according to MNA. … The Iranian minister stated that Iran has the potential to export even more than the 1,000 megawatts of electricity demanded by Iraq but, in order to facilitate the transfer of electricity, the Iraqi side should first prepare its transmission lines, electricity posts and substations at its borders with the Islamic Republic. … Iran is also planning to build two 500-MW thermal power plants in Iraq, which will be built at lower costs and higher qualities.)

4//Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy--NEW JAPAN-US TIES SET TO MAKE OR MAR ASIAN AFFAIRS (Japan-U.S. relations, following President George W. Bush’s whirlwind Asian tour, earlier this month, are set to play a strong role in political manoeuverings in the region, say analysts, many of whom express misgivings over the strengthened bilateral alliance. "The summit in Kyoto between the two leaders, last week, has set the stage for a strong Japan-U.S. presence in Asia. But this new thrust will not help Japan to improve its strained ties with its Asian neighbours," says Harumi Arima, political analyst and author, well known for his coverage of domestic politics.)

5//The Independent, UK--PAY UP TO SAVE THE RAINFORESTS (A bloc of developing countries plans to make a radical proposal this week at the United Nations summit on climate change in Montreal: pay us, and we will preserve our rainforests. The group of 10 countries, led by Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, argues that the rest of the world is benefiting from the rainforests' natural wealth without sharing the cost. Sir Michael Somare, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, said timber was one of the few natural resources available to the countries and their only real option for economic growth involved the destruction of the forests. The Rainforest Coalition of countries calls that a recipe for failure - failure to preserve biodiversity, pressure to release the poorest people from poverty and failure to protect the world from the greenhouse effect. … Now the Rainforest Coalition is offering to put a stop to that - at a price. They want to be included in a scheme bringing the ingenuity of market mechanisms to the challenge of hauling the world back from the brink of ecological self-destruction.)

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1//The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia November 28, 2005
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pressure-mounts...

PRESSURE MOUNTS FOR SEDITION LAWS TO BE DELAYED
By Tom Allard

The Government will come under intense pressure to make big changes in the sedition provisions in its counter-terrorism laws, with its senators expected to report today that these are deeply flawed.

Sources close to the Senate committee examining the laws say its much-awaited majority report will urge the Government to delay legislating on sedition, even if it enacts other elements of the counter-terrorism bill.

Sedition laws aim to criminalise the incitement of terrorism, racial violence or attacks on Australian troops but are under fire for being poorly drafted and curbing freedom of expression.

The report says the laws should be redrafted to address concerns about the apparent removal of the requirement for prosecutors to show a person's comments are "intended" to provoke terrorism or acts of violence against Australian troops.

Someone could be jailed for seven years for inadvertently provoking a terrorist act through a speech, broadcast or article if it could be shown they were "reckless" in their remarks.

There is also disquiet at the so-called "good faith" defence that protects people from sedition charges and other aspects of the counter-terrorism laws that impinge on freedom of speech.
Federal police, for example, could make journalists hand over notebooks and other material without a magistrate's warrant.

(SNIP)

Labor believes the sedition rules should be scrapped.

(SNIP)

Polls suggest the public strongly supports the anti-terrorism laws, and the Prime Minister, John Howard, wants them passed in the next fortnight.

Mr Howard used his new weekly "column" in regional newspapers to defend the sedition laws. He said there was a distinct difference in the sedition laws between humour and comment and helping incite terrorism or violence against our troops.

"There will be no limits on freedom of speech or freedom of the media as a result of the bill introduced by the Government in October," he said. "[But] if people move to assist insurgents in Iraq, to provide weapons or funding for weapons, they will be at risk of moving beyond legitimate criticism to acting in a way intended to put members of the Australian defence forces at risk.

"So will language designed to incite action against our troops in Iraq." He also insisted that "there cannot be inadvertent commission of sedition; the urging must be intentional".

However, media lawyers, critics and Liberal senators have all said the new laws do not specify that any seditious acts be intentional, unlike the old laws.

Senator Bob Brown of the Greens said yesterday that he had referred the anti-terrorism bill to the UN Human Rights Committee. He says it breaches international law. But the Government insists the bill complies with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

2//The Toronto Star, Canada Nov. 27, 2005. 08:02 PM
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer...

DON’T EXPECT A DEAL: MARTIN
Dirk Meissner, Canadian Press

As his Liberal government teetered on the edge of defeat in Parliament Monday, Prime Minister Paul Martin maintained on Sunday that there will be no last-minute deals with the opposition parties.

"If they defeat us on Monday, then we'll have an election," he said in between serving pancakes before the Grey Cup game. "We don't want to have a Christmas election."

A combined Conservative-Bloc-NDP non-confidence vote is expected to snuff out Martin's tumultuous 17-month-old mandate Monday evening.

Martin would then ask Gov.-Gen. Michelle Jean to dissolve Parliament on Tuesday morning after setting an election date in the second half of January.

The themes of the campaign have already been struck and rehearsed during weekend campaigning in the battleground of British Columbia.

Corruption will be the focus of opposition leaders.

"The Liberal culture of entitlement has been 12 years in the making," NDP Leader Jack Layton said Sunday in Vancouver, citing the conclusions of the Gomery sponsorship scandal report.

"People deserve better than having their tax money end up in the pockets of well-connected Liberals."

Martin also spent the weekend in and around Vancouver, attending Sunday's Grey Cup game as well as road-testing some of his stump speech.

Martin told 350 supporters in Richmond, B.C. that he was proud of his party's determination to confront its problems and resolve them.

"When there's a problem, the Liberal party will deal with it in an open and transparent way and a conclusive way," he told a rambunctious gathering Saturday.

He then turned his attention to Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.

Sending a clear signal that national unity would by a staple of the Liberal campaign, Martin poured scorn on Harper for "his inability to speak up in Quebec for Canada."

Harper, who stayed close to his Ottawa home on the weekend, is expected to hammer Martin's Liberals on corruption while rolling out several new policy planks that address voter doubts about the Conservatives' suitability for government.

A clutch of recent polls suggest the parties would head into an election looking at a result similar to last year's vote: a Liberal minority government.

(MORE)

3//IranMania.com, UK Saturday, November 26, 2005
http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default...

PRICE OF IRAN ELECTRICITY EXPORTED TO IRAQ WILL RISE

LONDON, November 26 (IranMania) - With the proposed increase in the electricity exports from Iran to the neighboring Iraq, the price of the commodity would also increase, according to MNA.

“Iran is currently exporting 150 megawatts of electricity from some of its border points to Iraq”, Iran’s Energy Minister Parviz Fattah said adding that, however, in his recent visit to Iran, the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called for increasing the export of Iranian electricity to 1,000 megawatts.

The Iranian minister stated that Iran has the potential to export even more than the 1,000 megawatts of electricity demanded by Iraq but, in order to facilitate the transfer of electricity, the Iraqi side should first prepare its transmission lines, electricity posts and substations at its borders with the Islamic Republic.

(SNIP)

Iran is also planning to build two 500-MW thermal power plants in Iraq, which will be built at lower costs and higher qualities.

4//Inter Press Service News Agency, Italy November 27, 2005
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=31199

NEW JAPAN-US TIES SET TO MAKE OR MAR ASIAN AFFAIRS
Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO , Nov 27 (IPS) - Japan-U.S. relations, following President George W. Bush’s whirlwind Asian tour, earlier this month, are set to play a strong role in political manoeuverings in the region, say analysts, many of whom express misgivings over the strengthened bilateral alliance.

"The summit in Kyoto between the two leaders, last week, has set the stage for a strong Japan-U.S. presence in Asia. But this new thrust will not help Japan to improve its strained ties with its Asian neighbours," says Harumi Arima, political analyst and author, well known for his coverage of domestic politics.

Bush, facing growing criticism at home for failing to contain fighting in Iraq after the U.S. invasion of that country, supposedly aimed at promoting global democracy, used the tour to boost his image through voicing support for human rights and his anti-terrorism campaign.

That message was cemented in Kyoto, the first stop of his Asian tour, while at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Bush said the bilateral relations would help Asian nations to achieve greater freedom and economic prosperity.

Bush went to the extent of saying that that he saw Taiwan (along with Japan) as an example of democracy in East Asia, unmindful of the effect such statements would have on Beijing.

Bush and his entourage seemed oblivious to the rallies and demonstrations in the streets of Kyoto, calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq and for the withdrawal of U.S. bases on Japanese territory rather than strengthen them, as is being planned.

Proceeding to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Pusan, South Korea, Bush’s message grew louder, saying that a ‘’free Japan has helped to transform the lives of others in the region’’, referring to Japanese investment and aid, jump-starting several Asian economies.

Analysts contend that Koizumi's strong show of support for Bush and vice versa, plays a crucial role for the U.S. to flex its muscles in Asia, where the rising power of China and India is watched warily by both countries.

Bush pushed human rights improvement in China further, during his Beijing visit, but drew a blank, on that score, with his hosts.

"Koizumi is banking on his strong ties with Bush to help improve Japan's sagging relations with its Asian neighbours. I don't think that strategy is going to work out," said Masao Okonogi, a North Korean expert at Keio University.

Japan's past colonisation of South Korea and China continues to plague relations with these countries and recent visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine by Koizumi have escalated the tension.

Experts point out that the ill feeling has not eased after Bush's visit to Asia, despite Koizumi's plans.

(MORE)

5//The Independent, UK Published: 28 November 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article329710.ece

PAY UP TO SAVE THE RAINFORESTS
By Peter Popham

A bloc of developing countries plans to make a radical proposal this week at the United Nations summit on climate change in Montreal: pay us, and we will preserve our rainforests.

The group of 10 countries, led by Papua New Guinea and Costa Rica, argues that the rest of the world is benefiting from the rainforests' natural wealth without sharing the cost. Sir Michael Somare, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, said timber was one of the few natural resources available to the countries and their only real option for economic growth involved the destruction of the forests.

The Rainforest Coalition of countries calls that a recipe for failure - failure to preserve biodiversity, pressure to release the poorest people from poverty and failure to protect the world from the greenhouse effect.

Pointing out that the world and its climate benefits immensely from what remains of the developing world's tropical forests, but the rich countries pay nothing to ensure their safety, the Rainforest Coalition points out that: "In many forested rural areas, the only real options for economic growth involve the destruction of the natural forests."

In its natural state, the forest provides little that its inhabitants can take to market. Only by logging or burning the trees, and selling the timber, or planting the cleared ground with crops, can they increase their wealth. But the value of the tropical forest to the rest of the world is far more than just a sentiment. The forest acts as a "carbon sink", sucking up the greenhouse gases produced by the burning of fossil fuels that create the greenhouse effect. Conversely, cutting or burning the forest adds enormously to the emission of carbon dioxide, whether the trees are burnt or simply rot.

During the 1990s,according to the findings of a UN panel, 20 to 25 per cent of global carbon emissions were generated through land-use change, primarily through the degradation of forests. The amount is comparable to emissions from burning fossil fuels in the US, the single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Now the Rainforest Coalition is offering to put a stop to that - at a price. They want to be included in a scheme bringing the ingenuity of market mechanisms to the challenge of hauling the world back from the brink of ecological self-destruction.

(SNIP)

The American economist Joseph Stiglitz, has given the proposal a warm endorsement.

"Developing countries have long provided a vital global public good: maintaining global environmental assets," he said. "Their rainforests are a vast storehouse of biodiversity, and forests are major carbon sinks, reducing the level of CO2 in the atmosphere."

The next obvious opportunity for changing the Kyoto protocol to bring the rainforest countries on board is 2012. But Papua New Guinea and others in the coalition argue the change needs to happen now - and there is nothing to stop it happening.