Yangon | July 3

AFP - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon prepared Thursday for a risky visit to Myanmar amid warnings that his trip will be a "huge failure" if he fails to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Ban is set to arrive in the military-ruled nation on Friday for a two-day visit that the UN says will focus on pressing the junta to free all political prisoners -- including the opposition leader and Nobel peace laureate who is currently on trial. He is due to meet junta leader Senior General Than Shwe and members of opposition parties including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), but

abc.net.au- Richard Shumack is a postgraduate student at Melbourne University connected to the National Centre for Excellence in Islamic Studies. He is a Fellow of the Centre for Public Christianity. In this oped published at abc.net.au Schumack looks at President Obamas' recent speech in Cairo, and breaks open the penetrating thought of Muslim philosopher Shabbir Akhtar and comments on Akhtars book A Faith for All Seasons: Islam and the Challenge of the Modern World in the context of modern attempts to find common ground between Christianity and Islam.

Charles Lewis | June 27

National Post - Pope Benedict, whose official pronouncments mostly cover matters or religious faith and sexual behaviour, is about to weigh in on the ills of the economy.

In Charity in Truth, which should be released next week, he is expected to point out the failings of capitalism and lament the world's roiling markets, exploited workers and the harsh disparity between rich and the poor.

"Many conservatives will be shocked and disappointed by the encyclical, which will reflect Benedict's skepticism toward unbridled capitalism based on greed," wrote Father Thomas Reese, an American Jesuit scholar and an expert on the Vatican.

Forty years ago, I travelled to Medellin, Colombia with my father, carrying with me a cassette player and a handful of cassettes. Among them was a Jimi Hendrix tape. Playing it for the kids there, one enthusiastically related; "Ah! Yes! Cha cha cha!" Not even "rock and roll!", but 'cha cha cha'... (??!) That really clued me in on a very unexpectedly wide cultural chasm, albeit bridged nonetheless. Mostly.
    This came to mind as I learned tonight of 'Afghan Star'... -Only I was the one figuratively saying 'Ah! Yes! Cha cha cha!'...

June 26

Bloomberg - China’s central bank renewed its call for a new global currency and said the International Monetary Fund should manage more of members’ foreign-exchange reserves, triggering a decline in the U.S. dollar.

“To avoid the inherent deficiencies of using sovereign currencies for reserves, there’s a need to create an international reserve currency that’s delinked from sovereign nations,” the People’s Bank of China said in its 2008 review released today. The IMF should expand the functions of its unit of account, Special Drawing Rights, the report said.

The restatement of Governor Zhou Xiaochuan’s proposal in March added to speculation that China will diversify its currency reserves, the world’s largest at more than $1.95 trillion. Chinese investors, the biggest foreign owners of U.S. Treasuries, reduced holdings by $4.4 billion in April to $763.5 billion after Premier Wen Jiabao expressed concern about the value of dollar assets. That reduction came a month after China boosted its holdings by $23.7 billion to a record.

“Zhou Xiaochuan sees the current international financial system is flawed, putting too much emphasis on the dollar as a reserve currency,” said Kevin Lai, an economist with Daiwa Institute of Research in Hong Kong.

Daniel Howden | June 25

The Independent - Six years ago, the world came together to stop a trade in gems that was fuelling civil war in Africa. Now the architect of the deal has quit, warning that jewels 'have blood all over them' again

The leading architect of the international system to stop the trade in blood diamonds has warned that the safety net is close to collapse with governments and the industry failing to act against gross violations.

Ian Smillie, the "grandfather" of the landmark Kimberley Process, that was agreed in response to appalling civil wars in Africa fuelled by illegal gems, said he had "stomped out" on his scheme as it was no longer working.

"It isn't regulating the rough diamond trade," the Canadian expert said yesterday. "It is in danger of becoming irrelevant and it's letting all manner of crooks off the hook."

Thalif Deen | United Nations | June 24

IPS -

An international conference on the global financial crisis - hosted by the United Nations - is being marginalised by Western countries which have refused to send any of their political leaders to the meeting.

Of the 126 countries participating in the three-day conference, scheduled to take place Jun. 24-26, there will be two heads of state, four vice presidents, 10 heads of government, three deputy prime ministers and 32 ministers.

But an overwhelming majority of the top level attendees are from the developing world, including Ecuador, Venezuela, Philippines, Brazil, Iran, Gambia, Laos, India, Bangladesh, Honduras, Zimbabwe, China, Russia, Barbados, Malaysia, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The only relatively high level Western representation is a deputy prime minister from Luxembourg and six ministers from Finland, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands and Britain.

Asked whether this is an attempt undermine the conference and marginalise the United Nations, the President of the General Assembly Fr. Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann said: "There are countries and institutions that are against this global conversation for obvious reasons."

Brussels | June 19

UPI - Confidential documents written by the EU team investigating last year's Russian-Georgian war assign much of the blame to Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

A majority of EU experts say the Georgian president, and not the Kremlin, ordered the first military strike against two breakaway provinces, according to the documents obtained by German news magazine Der Spiegel. The Georgian offensive into South Ossetia and Abkhazia escalated into a five-day war with Russia that the powerful neighbor won.

That doesn't mean the Kremlin is entirely innocent. A senior member of the EU experts' commission tasked with probing the conflict, Otto Luchterhandt, a German international law expert, argues the Kremlin was legally entitled to counterattack but violated "the principle of proportionality" with its massive intervention in Georgia. Other commission members are also arguing that Russia is to be blamed.

** Der Speigel:EU Probe Creates Burden for Saakashvili

Stephanie Nebehay | Geneva | June 19

Reuters - The United States on Friday took up its seat for the first time on the U.N. Human Rights Council, vowing to be a strong advocate for people worldwide who suffer abuse and persecution.

In a policy shift, the Obama administration sought and last month won an elected seat at the 47-member Council, which the previous government had shunned over what it called its "rather pathetic record" and frequent scrutiny of U.S. ally Israel.

Washington said it would use its new voting power at the three-year-old body "to be a tireless defender of courageous individuals across the globe who work, often at great personal risk, on behalf of the rights of others."

Shirong Chen | June 15

BBC -
Chinese President Hu Jintao and other leaders are gathering in Russia for the ninth Shanghai Co-operation Organisation summit.

Some will also attend the first summit of the four emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The main agenda item at the meetings in Yekaterinburg will be how to deal with the global economic crisis.

Putting the two top-level meetings next to each other highlights the dominance of the economic crisis for both groups.

The two meetings are further signs of a global power shift.

The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, or SCO, was formed in 2001 by China, Russia and the four Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to curb extremism in the region and enhance border security.

India, Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia later joined as observer members.

It was China's answer to a multi-polar world and increasingly it has played a role in promoting regional security, for example by contributing to reconstruction in Afghanistan.

John Vidal | June 13

The Guardian - Across the globe, as mining and oil firms race for dwindling resources, indigenous peoples are battling to defend their lands – often paying the ultimate price

It has been called the world's second "oil war", but the only similarity between Iraq and events in the jungles of northern Peru over the last few weeks has been the mismatch of force. On one side have been the police armed with automatic weapons, teargas, helicopter gunships and armoured cars. On the other are several thousand Awajun and Wambis Indians, many of them in war paint and armed with bows and arrows and spears.

In some of the worst violence seen in Peru in 20 years, the Indians this week warned Latin America what could happen if companies are given free access to the Amazonian forests to exploit an estimated 6bn barrels of oil and take as much timber they like. After months of peaceful protests, the police were ordered to use force to remove a road bock near Bagua Grande.

...

Peru is just one of many countries now in open conflict with its indigenous people over natural resources. Barely reported in the international press, there have been major protests around mines, oil, logging and mineral exploitation in Africa, Latin America, Asia and North America. Hydro electric dams, biofuel plantations as well as coal, copper, gold and bauxite mines are all at the centre of major land rights disputes.

June 12

AFP -

The UN Security Council was expected to adopt tougher sanctions targeting North Korea's atomic and ballistic missile programs in response to the Stalinist state's nuclear defiance.

The 15-member body was to meet at 15:00 GMT for a likely vote on a draft resolution agreed by its five veto-wielding permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - plus Japan and South Korea.

The text calls on UN member states to slap biting sanctions on North Korea.

They include tougher inspections of cargo suspected of containing banned items related to North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile activities, a tighter arms embargo with the exception of light weapons and new financial restrictions.

Passage is a foregone conclusion - nine votes in favor are required with no veto - after more than two weeks of intensive bargaining among the seven sponsors.

The compromise text seeks to punish Pyongyang for its May 25 underground nuclear test and subsequent missile firings in violation of UN resolutions.

_{** S.Korea sends more troops to N.Korea border
** No signs of another N. Korea nuke test -- Seoul''s DM
** US fears third nuclear test in North Korea
** Pyongyang puts squeeze on enemy
** Bosworth Offers Olive Branch to NK}

Christoph Seidler | June 11

Spiegel Online - There are five states competing for control of the Arctic's oil and gas reserves, with Russia leading the pack. The US looks likely to remain on the sidelines, but what opportunities will the natural resource grab present for Canada, Norway and Greenland?

In the game Monopoly, players try to amass as much property as possible. The course of the game quickly becomes clear -- whoever owns Boardwalk is on a winning streak and whoever owns Baltic Avenue is sure to end up empty-handed. Money, meanwhile, is the sole means to reach the game's goal. In real life, however, things aren't always as simple as a board game.

In the case of the Arctic region, the major players use scientific data and the somewhat vague rules of international law. Increasing their territory means a gain in prestige for these countries, and serves to provide energy security as well. It's also a chance for them to take responsibility for the environmental risks in the region that will eventually affect all countries. But which of the nations around the polar region will emerge as the winner of this Arctic Monopoly game? Is there even such a thing as a winner here?

Daniel Howden | June 11

The Independent -

The rich world is failing to deliver on its side of an historic pact to improve the living conditions of millions of people in Africa, according to an assessment released today.

Only a third of the aid promised by the G8 group of industrialised nations has made its way to sub-Saharan Africa. This year's Data report describes the collective G8 assessment as "grim", blaming "exceptionally poor progress" by France and Italy, which were singled out as being responsible for 80 per cent of the funding shortfalls.

Almost a decade since they were set, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, designed to eradicate extreme poverty by 2010, remain out of reach and rich nations are in danger of "defaulting" on their commitments.

The G8's self-imposed deadline is 18 months away but only $7bn (£4.3bn) of the $21.5bn in aid that was promised at the Gleneagles summit in 2005 has been delivered, according to One, the authors of the Data report.

The auditors are scathing in their assessment of France under President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italy under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. "Certain members of the G8 are meeting and even beating the targets they set for themselves", says the report, which praises Germany and Britain, but "France's delivery is disappointing, and Italy's performance is an utter failure".

June 9

VOA - North Korea says it will use its nuclear weapons both to defend itself and as an offense against those who seek to attack the regime.

An editorial published Tuesday in North Korea's state-run Minju Joson newspaper says its nuclear arsenal will be a strong deterrent against any enemies, and will also be used to carry out a "merciless offensive" against those who violate its dignity and sovereignty.

The latest salvo from the reclusive communist regime comes as the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (United States, Britain, France, China and Russia), plus Japan and South Korea, negotiate on a new resolution to impose tougher sanctions against Pyongyang for last month's underground nuclear test.

The latest draft includes new restrictions on North Korea's trade and financial dealings with the outside world, as well as an expanded arms embargo and tighter inspections of its ship-based cargo.

Jorn Madslien | June 8

BBC -

Global military spending rose 4% in 2008 to a record $1,464bn (£914bn) - up 45% since 1999, according to the Stockholm-based peace institute Sipri.

In contrast with civilian aerospace and airlines, the defence industry remains healthy.

"The global financial crisis has yet to have an impact on major arms companies' revenues, profits and order backlogs," Sipri said.

Peace-keeping operations - which also benefit defence firms - rose 11%.

Missions were launched in trouble spots such as Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

"Another record was set, with the total of international peace operation personnel reaching 187,586," said Sipri, or Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

As the world's aerospace and defence industry prepares for next week's Paris air show centenary, it seems much of the focus is set to shift away from troubled civilian aircraft makers, which are struggling with reduced orders from recession-hit airlines, towards the companies that make fighter jets and other military hardware.

In total, the 100 leading defence manufacturers sold arms worth $347bn during 2007, the most recent year for which reliable data are available.

Ouuu bad bad China, how dare they spend $84.9bn to our $607bn ;)

John Vidal | June 8

The Guardian - The new report confirms uncontrolled waves of violent, eco-damaging and illegal fishing activity worldwide, but with some of the biggest offences connected to the European market

Pirate fishing is out of control, depriving some the most world's most vulnerable communities of food and leading to ecological catastrophe, a three-year investigation has found.

"Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is one of the most serious threats to the future of world fisheries. It is now occurring in virtually all fishing grounds from shallow coastal waters to deep oceans. It is believed to account for a significant proportion of the global catch and to be costing developing countries up to $15bn a year," says the report by the Environmental Justice Foundation.

Unscrupulous Chinese, European and Latin American companies, using flags of convenience, are operating illegal gear, fishing in sea areas they are not allowed and are not reporting their catches, the investigators found. In addition, ships are laundering illegally caught fish by transferring them at sea to legal boats making it impossible to identify catches.

Jorn Madslien | June 3

BBC - Purchasing power long ago overtook manpower as the most important lever in the race towards military might.

Currently, personnel expenditure accounts for less than 40% of global defence spending, according to Datamonitor.

As hi-tech machinery continues to reduce the need to use soldiers to fight wars, this proportion is shrinking.

Meanwhile, the amount spent on defence is soaring in every region of the world.

In 2007 alone, global defence spending rose 8.4% to $1,140.5bn, according to Datamonitor, which predicts a near 34% increase to $1,527.6bn by 2012.

** Global Peace Index 2009

Katherine Butler | May 30

The Independent -
A permanent and enigmatic smile plays on the lips of Omar al Bashir. At least it does in the portraits of him which bear down on the streets of Khartoum. The billboards carry rousing slogans: "The man of our epoch", "Al Bashir, symbol of national pride and dignity" or "A leader who is targeted for his successes".

In person, the smile is there too. The military dictator may be a pariah who could, in theory, be bundled away in handcuffs at any moment and put on trial charged with masterminding acts of murder, rape and ethnic cleansing on an industrial scale in Darfur. But for a wanted man, he looks relaxed, grinning and nodding as a delegation of British Muslims, led by the former Labour peer and would-be peace broker Lord Nizar Ahmed, prods him about his decision to expel the leading international charities from Darfur.

Bashir, a former army General who seized power in Sudan in a 1989 coup, installing an Islamist regime, was indicted on seven counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity in March. But if he lies awake at night, either because his conscience is troubling him or because he fears a jail cell in The Hague awaits him, it doesn't show.

Pepe Escobar | May 28

Asia Times - The earth has been shaking for a few days now all across Pipelineistan - with massive repercussions for all the big players in the New Great Game in Eurasia. United States President Barack Obama's AfPak strategists didn't even see it coming.

A silent, reptilian war had been going on for years between the US-favored Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline and its rival, the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline, also known as the "peace pipeline". This past weekend, a winner emerged. And it's none of the above: instead, it's the 2,100-kilometer, US$7.5 billion IP (the Iran-Pakistan pipeline), with no India attached. (Please see Pakistan, Iran sign gas pipeline deal, May 27, 2009, Asia Times Online.)

This whole saga started way back in 1995 - about the time
California-based Unocal started floating the idea of building a pipeline crossing Afghanistan. Now, Iran and Pakistan finally signed a deal this week in Tehran, by which Iran will sell gas from its mega South Pars fields to Pakistan for the next 25 years.

Frances Robles | May 27

Miami Herald - Cuba's decades-old suspension from the Organization of American States appears to be coming to an end.

As more countries clamor to lift the communist country's 1962 suspension from the hemispheric group, the U.S. State Department threw a curve ball at the debate late Tuesday by submitting a new proposal that would eventually allow Cuba back to the OAS -- as long as Havana abides by the organization's democratic principles.

The OAS meets Wednesday in Washington to review three proposals submitted that ultimately reach the same goal: an end to Cuba's suspension.

Just how the suspension should be lifted will be taken up at the group's permanent council meeting in Washington, where they will hammer out a final agenda for thegeneral assembly next week in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

The council will decide which of the three proposals submitted that lift Cuba's suspension will be voted on in Honduras.

Ahmadinejad also proposed a debate with Obama at U.N. headquarters in New York, "regarding the roots of world problems."

Just in from American Free Press.
I love the adverts at the bottom of the page, Gideons, Scriptures for America, Poem of the Man God, Miracles of St Joseph...

AFP’s (heh ~graham) editor crashed the secret meeting of the global elite and uncovered some scary schemes.

Bilderberg boys are a bunch of grumpy old men but remain fiercely dedicated to usurping sovereignty in the United States and throughout the world. Patriots can celebrate their setbacks but never let up: Bilderberg still threatens the sovereignty of all nations while fighting for world government.

May 20

BBC -

Somalia's neighbours have called for the UN to impose a "no-fly zone" and a port blockade to prevent Islamist forces obtaining weapons.

The emergency meeting of the Igad grouping also called for sanctions to be imposed on Eritrea, which denies charges it arms Islamist forces.

A BBC correspondent says officials hope the naval task force off the Somali coast could enforce the blockade.

Islamists have gained ground recently and control much of the south.

The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) said the Islamist-controlled ports of Kismayo and Merca should be subject to a blockade "to prevent the further in-flow of arms and foreign fighters".

Humanitarian flights would be allowed to continue despite the proposed no-fly zone, the Igad statement said after a meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Louis Charbonneau | United Nations | May 18

Reuters - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon plans to name former U.S. President Bill Clinton as his special envoy to Haiti, U.N. officials said on Monday, in a move that could attract investment in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation and help stabilize the country.

"The announcement is expected to come soon," one U.N. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The official said a formal announcement could come as early as Tuesday.

Clinton, who has galvanized efforts to help the impoverished Caribbean nation recover from the devastating impact of four hurricanes last year, accompanied Ban on a trip to Haiti earlier this year.

Several other diplomats confirmed the appointment of the former president, who is trying to help Haiti through his Clinton Global Initiative foundation.

"This is something that has been in the works for some time," a diplomat said.